Chapter 1616 - 606: The Flaws of Imperial Power

Chapter 1616: Chapter 606: The Flaws of Imperial Power

If it requires conventional flight to return, even with the current technological level of the Red Blade Army, it would take at least one hundred and twenty years, and considering the battle time, the return journey for the Vanguard Army could take over two hundred years.

Two hundred years is enough time for the Red Blade Clan to rapidly propagate and expand its population again, and to form an even larger, new fleet.

Ren Zhong initially thought that by voluntarily undertaking the heaviest combat tasks, Jin Shi would immediately agree.

To his surprise, she paused for a moment and then said, "Your intentions are good, though your fleet has suffered heavy damage. We are all aware of the potential you and the Red Blade Clan have. Your proposal could indeed significantly reduce the losses of the Alliance Army in the Far Border Star Domain. However, the current fleet size of the Red Blade Clan already far exceeds the limit that the title of Marquis can bear. Previously, the Empire didn’t pursue this because the temporary war management regulations gave you relatively lenient conditions. But judging by your and your clan’s capabilities, by the time of return your fleet size will completely exceed the limits... This is not my personal opinion, but rather there are now a few different voices within the Empire Core."

Ren Zhong suddenly understood.

What must come will inevitably come.

This familiar feeling.

He suddenly realized why the Mechanical Empire, despite occasionally producing such hacks like the Chosen One, always ended up defeated.

This might well be the unignorable drawback brought about by the very nature of a feudal royal power society structured on bloodline families.

Clearly, the Imperial Family hasn’t grasped the severity of the situation.

The Ascenders, Pilgrims, and Spirit Demon Race have already begun initial cooperation. The imminent downfall of the shaky Mechanical Empire is at hand, yet you are still worried about the frontline generals being too strong?

Does this imply that my previous psychological examination, where my loyalty was showcased, is just for show and doesn’t count?

Due to Ren Zhong’s silence, Jin Shi seemed to sense his mental activity and further said, "I know what you’re thinking, but your loyalty to the Emperor is beyond doubt, it’s just that the Empire must be built on these rules, and no one can be an exception."

Ren Zhong took a deep breath and decided to bring out something.

"Previously, I’ve already submitted my complete battle report with the Second-class Mother Empress. I don’t know what the Supreme Military Department and the Royal Academy of Sciences think, but over here, I do have some terrifying guesses yet to be confirmed. I hadn’t submitted them earlier because a conclusion hadn’t been reached, and I couldn’t make alarmist claims. But now, I think it has to be discussed."

...

Ren Zhong eventually achieved his goal.

Despite knowing well the possibility of "raising a tiger to future threat," the Supreme Military Department still agreed to his plan.

The three hostile human factions are suspected to have united.

A few words, yet a significant affair.

This calamity almost instantly blasted through the power structures of the Mechanical Empire from top to bottom.

Ren Zhong urged the Red Blade Science Academy to use the super large range spiritual shock unleashed by the Second-class Mother Empress as the Source, to present some ambiguous conclusions, while concealing Yang Misi’s Theory and God’s Particle Theory.

The conclusion isn’t that definitive, mostly just conjectures of possibilities, yet it still has an impact.

Back then, the influence range of that spiritual shock was actually not just the Red Blade Battle Zone, even the nearby Far Border Alliance Army felt it and suffered heavy losses. However, this spiritual interference was abrupt and fleeting, soon overshadowed by the complex changes in the battle situation.

The Far Border Branch and the Royal Academy of Sciences have also done many analyses on this phenomenon and obtained the detailed battle report submitted by Ren Zhong post-war.

Nevertheless, their understanding wasn’t as deep as those tech personnel on the frontline, right next to the Second-class Mother Empress, in the Red Blade Vanguard Corps.

So, we just assumed the Ascenders learned new technology from the Spirit Demon Race without realizing the involvement of Spirit Demon Race and Pilgrims in this matter, which is quite reasonable.

Now that Ren Zhong has raised this possibility, we have comprehensively estimated and believe the probability of this being true is over 80%, which is very reasonable indeed.

Upon confirming the calamity, be it the Imperial Family or the many high-ranking nobles, ministers, and departments with authority in the Empire Core, everyone felt a sense of indescribable fear.

The four human factions have been in chaotic war for nearly ten million years.

During the course of this long period, the four parties fought their battles independently, seizing the chance to engage in endless slaughter wherever possible.

In the early days, the Mechanical Empire, as the origin clan of humanity, held an absolute advantageous position. Gradually, however, it was beaten to the point of having no breath, its territory contracted time and time again, now falling into an absolute weak position.

Currently, any one of the other three parties far surpasses the Mechanical Empire. Forget about joining forces; any of the other three factions could launch a full-scale war and the Mechanical Empire faces the possibility of annihilation.

It’s just that there are frictions between these three parties, and neither wished to start a full-scale war against the Mechanical Empire to avoid letting the other two reap the benefits, hence they never initiated one.

But now, since the already advantaged three parties have chosen to join forces, their purpose is clear: for the three tigers to fight for dominance, first suppress and eliminate the shivering prey, lest it escapes or stands by watching them fight and then executes a counterattack.

If the popular phrase from Ren Zhong’s era still existed, these high-level figures within the Mechanical Empire would leap out and shout, "You lack martial virtues!"

Regrettably, this is civilized warfare, boasting cannot solve problems or change the situation.

The Mechanical Empire indeed stands at the crossroads of complete ruin.

The foundational rules laid down by Marquis Zhenjiang Jin Shi and Ren Zhong to establish the Empire, have silently become obsolete.

Maintaining the regime is paramount, but the prerequisite for regime is the existence of your nation.

No matter how sacred royal power is, it must be built on the foundation of the nation and tribe.

If the Empire really suffers defeat, and original humans are nearly wiped out by the other three parties, then what use is royal power anymore?

...

Six years later, the grand new Red Blade Vanguard Corps finally set off.

Thanks to resources provided by remnants of space creatures, the newly formed Vanguard Corps expanded its fleet scale by almost half compared to when it set off from the Far Border Star Gate on its return journey, while personnel numbers haven’t changed much.

But everyone knows this is just the beginning.

In the next two hundred years, this fleet will continue to expand.

More and more ships will be built.

More and more members of the Red Blade Clan will be born, grow up during the return journey and combat, taking on combat positions, research roles, production tasks...

Just as Ren Zhong planned, although this counterattack seemed to delay his acquisition of the Marquis title, it is essentially about letting the Red Blade Clan adapt to this civilization form that excels in one hand nomadic warfare and in the other hand thriving development during the "Close the Door and Beat the Dog" campaign.

In the meeting, Ren Zhong told Han Zhixin, "You were once the best Administrative Officer inside the Red Peak Earl Mansion, during the Second-class Mother Empress campaign, you were the best Chief Supply Officer. Now your position is Legion Commander, the task I’m handing to you is for the elite warriors who survived the previous campaign to take the lead and nurture a 10 trillion-strong formidable army during the sweep and suppression."

Han Zhixin simply nodded, "Understood."

Training soldiers, this is precisely Han Zhixin’s forte.