Star Odyssey

Lu Yin lowered his gadget and returned to King Zishan's palace. He then summoned Phantom Sting to ask him about the locations of all of Aegis’s bases. 

Phantom Sting was able to share the locations of a few, but these were only the bases that Mafioso Planet was aware of. However, Aegis was not just an assassination organization, as they were also a mercenary company that took on protective details and other similar missions. Just the eastern weaves alone contained more than a thousand separate detachments of Aegis’s mercenaries, not to mention the hidden contacts and assassination commissions. 

Lu Yin did not bother trying to hide the matter of Aegis attempting to kill him. Instead, he announced it while also declaring that the Great Eastern Alliance would purge Aegis from its territory. It didn’t matter if they were mercenary detachments or underground contacts that took on assassination requests; anything related to Aegis was to be purged so long as there was even a sliver of a connection to the conglomerate. 

This was the greatest undertaking that the Great Eastern Alliance had ever attempted since its establishment, and the entire Great Eastern Alliance was mobilized. 

After just a few days, any organization that was known to be related to Aegis was purged from the eastern weaves, and all of their personnel were captured. Aegis’s assassins were either captured or killed, which led to great losses for Aegis within the territories of the Great Eastern Alliance. 

The greatest loss that the corporation suffered was the loss of Aegis’s training grounds.

They had many training grounds scattered throughout the Outerverse that were specially used to train mercenaries, assassins, bodyguards, and other specialists. It took exorbitant amounts of time and money to build each training ground, and losing any one of their training grounds was a massive loss for Aegis. But this time, the Great Eastern Alliance had eliminated a dozen training grounds within just a few days after the allies moved to weed out Aegis’s public strength. 

Also, because of Aegis’s training ground being eliminated, many people in the eastern weaves learned about Aegis’s hidden activities and how the company did not merely provide mercenaries and bodyguards but was actually more of an assassination organization. 

The Vastdearth Sect, Evenground Palace, the Six-Fingered Tribe, and others all contacted Lu Yin to ask what had triggered this move. 

Lu Yin did not hide anything, and he straightforwardly shared the details about what had happened between him and Aegis, though he did keep the company’s full strength hidden. He didn’t want anyone defecting from the alliance out of fear, as the Great Eastern Alliance had not yet solidified as a single entity. 

In many people’s eyes, Aegis was one of the wealthiest corporations in the Outerverse, though they had never bothered considering just how powerful such an organization really was. 

Lu Yin believed that once Aegis’s true strength was revealed, Greenpeak Gorge, the Vastdearth Sect, and the other powers might possibly not want to participate in the operation against Aegis. And Lu Yin definitely could not risk facing such a monster on his own. 

Of course, even if he did not speak up, there was no way Aegis would remain silent. To prevent Aegis from threatening the various great powers of the Great Eastern Alliance, Lu Yin attributed many past assassinations to Aegis, regardless of whether or not they were actually guilty. Even Mafioso Planet’s assassinations ended up being thrown onto Aegis’s head, which incited many voices of condemnation. 

Many powers and great families had suffered from their members being assassinated in the past, and those killers had finally been found. Despite the fact that the true culprit was the person who had hired the killer, Aegis had still been the executioner. 

Suddenly, the cries to purge Aegis from the Great Eastern Alliance’s territory grew louder, as countless people called for the company to be eradicated.

Lu Yin was the type of person who generally did not do much, but as soon as he made up his mind to accomplish something, he would see it through to the very end, and he would not tread slowly either. Given Aegis’s attitude in the call, it was obvious that Lu Yin could not coexist peacefully with them, so he would go all the way when moving against them. As a bonus, he was also using Aegis as the Great Eastern Alliance’s first trial. 

Beep beep beep!

Lu Yin activated his gadget as the screen appeared before him. Madam Nalan greeted his eyes, though she was looking at him with a stern face. “Your Highness, are you really waging war against Aegis?” 

“I’m not the one who wants a war, but they started things with me first,” Lu Yin defended.

She revealed a bitter smile. “Your Highness, if possible, try not to become mortal enemies with Aegis. They are not like the Innerverse powers, and they have very deep foundations in the Outerverse, to the extent where even I don’t know which powers support them from the shadows. They have nurtured countless mercenaries as well as countless assassins over many years, which has led to them having partnerships with countless powers. It’s not very prudent to wage an all-out war against them.” 

Lu Yin replied, “I’m aware of this, but you should know about them trying to assassinate me. If I don’t respond to such blatant aggression, then what was the purpose in establishing the Great Eastern Alliance? How can I continue walking my path in the future? If Aegis is willing to try to kill me just because of some mild offense, then how will they treat others? Aegis is attempting to use me to assert their dominance over the current Outerverse.” 

She replied, “Has Your Highness considered the possibility that this might be a part of Wei Rong’s schemes? That he might be the one instigating you into becoming enemies with Aegis?”

Lu Yin emotionally answered, “Wei Rong is indeed smart, and it’s not impossible for this to be something that he planned. However, my current circumstances are clear. So what even if we know that he’s the one who started this? Aegis and I are incompatible, and Aegis will either completely back out of the areas where I have control, or Aegis will simply take care of me. There are the only two possible outcomes.”

She sighed. “Your Highness, the scariest aspect of Aegis is not just their assassins and Enlighters, but rather their control of the human heart. They are adept at creating public panic, as this is what their mercenaries are best at. They may not necessarily act directly against you, but rather the entire Great Eastern Alliance.” 

Lu Yin’s brow arched up. “Do you have any suggestions?”

She solemnly answered, “If Your Highness truly wishes to wage an all-out war against Aegis, then you cannot go in blind. You must know exactly how much strength Aegis has hidden within the Great Eastern Alliance, and you must come up with ways to discover where their headquarters are hidden. You will need to learn exactly how powerful they are and who they cooperate with, but I am unable to provide you with such assistance.” 

Lu Yin instantly made a connection. “Amethyst Exchange?”

The beautiful Madam Nalan smiled sweetly. “I don’t know anything about what Your Highness is speaking of. I merely gave you some friendly advice as one of the Outerverse’s four great corporations. Since Your Highness doesn’t wish to heed my advice, then I’ll simply wish you speedy success.”

And with that, she disconnected from the call. 

Lu Yin opened the network to search up some information on the Amethyst Exchange when a name suddenly appeared in his mind: Zi Xianxian. This girl had given him 5% of Zenyu Star’s Amethyst Exchange’s annual profits as a gift despite Lu Yin having never interacted with Amethyst Exchange before. They were another one of the Outerverse’s four great corporations, and such an excessive gift had guaranteed that Lu Yin would remember them. It seemed that it was time to pay a visit to this Zi Xianxian. 

Suddenly, his gadget received another call, and Lu Yin answered it. Huan Sha appeared on his screen, looking solemn as her eyes contained both anxiety and resentment. “Your Highness, there’s a problem. Dozens of planets throughout the empire are being attacked, and the preliminary casualty estimation numbers in the tens of millions. Three military bases have been completely destroyed, and a dozen ministers have mysteriously died. Over a thousand companies have declared bankruptcy, and protests and demonstrations have erupted in various filaments of the empire. They’re protesting the creation of the Great Eastern Alliance while also claiming that you are trying to pull in outsiders into the empire.” 

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, as Aegis had acted yet again, and with quite ruthless methods once again. 

Following Huan Sha’s report, En Ya also delivered a report. Various allies of the Great Eastern Alliance had also suffered losses. Over a hundred disciples from the Vastdearth Sect who had been out training had died. The Six-Fingered Tribe, the Tri-Banner Federation, Greenpeak Gorge, and more had also suffered from assassinations, whereas the Evenground Palace’s Mistress Mu Nichang had personally suffered from an attack, and she had even been mildly injured. Numerous casualty reports continued to pour in. 

Lu Yin had underestimated Aegis’s capabilities, as they had actually retaliated against the entire Great Eastern Alliance, showing that their influence had spread throughout all the eastern weaves. 

“Your Highness, some people in Northcastle Weave, Eastly Weave, and various other places have started spreading slanderous rumors about the Great Eastern Alliance. Quite a few organizations from those weaves have now vowed to never join the Great Eastern Alliance,” Lord Garope reported. 

“Your Highness, the empire’s transport vessels were destroyed by an unknown group. Not only did they destroy the resources being carried, but they also killed everyone on the spacecraft. They were utterly merciless,” Gavin reported.

…

Bad news flooded in one after another, which fully put Aegis’s enormous influence on display. All of these incidents could not have been accomplished by Aegis on its own, but after existing in the Outerverse for countless years, Aegis had established relationships with many other organizations. Thus, they did not need to take any direct action now since there were many others who were happy to make a move on Aegis’s behalf. 

Just Mafioso Planet alone had been able to gather many secrets concerning quite a number of forces throughout the eastern weaves, so there was no need to even mention Aegis, which was the largest assassination group. 

The Great Eastern Alliance declaring war on Aegis was akin to poking a bee’s nest, and countless people now realized the terror of this company. 

The Great Eastern Alliance was a legitimate and open power, but Aegis hid in the depths of darkness. Thus, the alliance would always be at a certain disadvantage no matter how the war was waged. 

Meng Tianlong had long since contacted En Ya, hoping that Lu Yin would quickly come up with a solution. He had a feeling that he was being implicated. The Vastdearth Sect had had no dealings with Aegis in the past, but they were currently being targeted without a valid cause. He was especially concerned because he could already tell that Aegis was not a group that would cave to pressure. Instead, they would only bring about more trouble. 

Meng Tianlong was not the only one who had reached out; Mu Nichang, Feng Shu, Bach Shamus, and the other leaders had all done the same, and they were frequently calling En Ya in hopes that Lu Yin would quickly resolve the conflict with Aegis. 

Lu Yin ended his call with En Ya. The cons of this alliance had now appeared. It had been established too quickly, and their hearts had not unified yet. In fact, they were even suspicious of one another. As soon as trouble appeared, such an alliance would quickly fall apart. These people were all only thinking of their own organization, and they had no concern for the overall alliance. 

This was indeed the first trial, and it even targeted every single member of the Great Eastern Alliance. If they successfully passed this trial, the Great Eastern Alliance would become as steady as a boulder, and it would gradually pull in the remaining eastern weaves.

However, if they failed to make it through this trial, the Great Eastern Alliance would cease to exist, and Lu Yin would become a joke throughout the entire Outerverse. He would never let such a thing happen, and he was busy pondering over the situation as he left King Zishan's palace. 

Zenyu Star was the capital of the Great Yu Empire, and as such, it was exceptionally busy. Practically all the major corporations had a branch on the planet, especially after the Great Yu Empire had unified Frostwave Weave and increased their prestige even further. Even Shamrock Enterprises, which was a great corporation that was found throughout both the Innerverse and Outerverse, had established a branch on the planet. 

Amethyst Exchange had similarly established a mall here, and it was large enough to occupy an entire block on the busiest street on all of Zenyu Star. This street also held the offices of Shamrock Enterprises, the Mavis Bank, and various spacecraft companies, making it the financial hub of the entire Great Yu Empire. Any company that could afford a venue on this street had to be able to influence at least a galaxy or even an entire filament. 

Amethyst Exchange’s mall sold all sorts of items, so there were many people coming and going on a daily basis, as well as many people who visited just to window shop.

Lu Yin followed the crowd into Amethyst Exchange’s mall and looked around inside, fairly surprised at what he saw. There was indeed everything available in this place. Various retail stores sold products that catered to all aspects of human existence, and there were also powerful cultivators standing guard nearby. There was merchandise as far as the eye could see, and nearly every universally recognized brand could be found within this trading center. This was Amethyst Exchange.