Ch.100The World Still Turns (3)

# Chapter 100: The World Still Turns (3)

Even though part of the foreign intelligence network that Arto had painstakingly built had collapsed…

That didn’t mean they could just sit back and do nothing.

“The Minister will likely return tomorrow or the day after at the latest, so we need to prepare as much as possible before then.”

“Understood, Assistant Minister Riel.”

Riel officially began serving as acting Minister of Diplomatic Affairs, trying to respond to the current situation as best as possible.

“First, Zeltech collapsed in less than a month… Let’s gather information on why it fell apart so quickly.”

“We’ve just received intelligence from the northeastern spy network.”

And with the timely arrival of this information, they learned how the situation had unfolded…

As soon as Riel saw it, she found herself involuntarily blurting out one of Arto’s frequent expressions.

“What in the dog-shit hell is this?”

And for good reason—the process of Zeltech’s downfall could only be described as a total catastrophe.

———————————

“A Warlord’s fleet… this is quite valuable.”

“I acknowledge that.”

Although Zeltech had managed to absorb the Warlord’s fleet forces by luck, there was one serious problem.

“Wah, I’m a baby admiral, I have no special skills, wah.”

“Where has my precious elite fleet gone… orororong…”

The problem was that Zeltech’s elite forces had been completely decimated during Prosnack’s eastward advance and the Warlord incident.

At least with pirates, who appear anywhere and anytime, they could gain sufficient experience dealing with them, but…

“Zeltech’s fleet consists only of the very young or the very old.”

“There are no experienced personnel, just a large fleet that’s empty inside—now is our opportunity.”

Prosnack, always sincere about killing other nations, would never miss such an opportunity.

“Disrupt the neighboring countries’ intelligence networks, and if possible, completely destroy them.”

“Especially Sebeli’s intelligence network must be brought down.”

They swiftly destroyed the northeastern intelligence network of the Holy Sebeli Empire, which had been careless under the pretext of a cooperative relationship.

After rapidly dismantling the anti-Prosnack intelligence networks of surrounding countries…

“Now!!!”

They broke through Zeltech’s western border defense fortress cluster in an instant, rushing their fleets toward the capital before Zeltech’s fleet could even react.

Of course, no matter how skilled Prosnack was at mobile warfare…

It still took time to break through Zeltech’s defensive line, which had been fortified with fortress networks throughout the region as a lesson from the previous war.

“Do you take us for fools?”

“Go! For Zeltech’s victory!”

While the numerous unmanned fortresses sacrificed themselves to buy time, Zeltech’s fleets hurriedly engaged in interception battles against Prosnack’s fleet, but…

“Prosnack is too stroooong!!!”

“Pathetic, idiots, die.”

Exposed to pure killing intent without mercy, Zeltech’s former Warlord fleets turned to cosmic dust without even putting up a proper fight.

Worse still, there was no proper coordination between fleets, resulting in sequential deployments against Prosnack’s large forces, making them easy targets.

With their fleets decimated once again, Zeltech’s only hope was help from neighboring countries, but…

“Please help us! Prosnack is ravaging our entire territory and turning our customers into soap!”

“…How do you expect us to help you?”

Kerzin, which had the highest probability of helping, was unable to move due to the large Prosnack fleet deployed at the border.

As for the Sir-Horde Alliance…

“What nerve do you have to crawl in here?”

“Ah.”

“Return to your so-called great nation immediately.”

They remembered what Zeltech had done along with Fuxviet during their early founding days.

The Zeltech ambassador who went to request support was driven away without being able to say a proper word.

And finally, the Fuxviet Federation…

“Ah, this cool sensation… it’s time to return to expansionism.”

“No, you bastards!!!!”

After undergoing extreme radicalization, they launched Soviet-style expansionist actions against Zeltech.

“How could these bastards betray us like this after we helped them hold out against the Warlord?!”

“Oh, blame those lowly businessmen of the now-defunct Mekt-Fux for that.”

“But come to think of it, isn’t Zeltech also just a bunch of businessmen?”

“Oh.”

Already lacking in military strength, Zeltech now faced a two-front war against both Prosnack and Fuxviet…

“It seems meaningless to hold out any longer.”

“That’s correct.”

“It appears our only option for survival is to abandon our homeland and flee to other countries.”

Zeltech’s corporations and most of the pragmatic citizens embarked on a mass exodus to somehow survive.

Of course, being the wealthiest nation in the galaxy, Prosnack and Fuxviet fleets would naturally swarm to plunder them, but…

“Leave a certain amount of capital in the capital city.”

“Why are you confiscating our private property?!”

“It is to create bait so that you can escape safely.”

Thanks to Zeltech’s leadership who felt responsible for the current situation…

And the final fleet that, though battered, had somehow survived and evolved into veterans…

And finally, the citizens burning with the will to fight, wanting to strike one last blow against either Prosnack or Fuxviet…

Thanks to their voluntary sacrifice as “bait,” most of Zeltech’s numerous corporations and civilians were able to safely cross the border.

But having crossed the border and transformed into “refugees,” their ordeal was just beginning.

—————————-

“So, the corporations, having assets spread throughout the galaxy, used those to manage the situation?”

“That’s correct, Assistant Minister Riel.”

If Arto were here, he would have exclaimed “Rothschild!” in admiration.

Unfortunately, Arto was still being held by the Emperor, so there was no one present to express such admiration.

Riel naturally brought up the next topic, which was about the refugees.

“What about the Zeltech refugees? Did they go to Kerzin or Sir-Horde?”

At Riel’s question, the official giving the report hesitated for a moment before saying:

“…Currently, the majority of Zeltech refugees are coming to us.”

Hearing this, Riel made an expression of disbelief.

“Why would refugees from the northeastern edge come all the way here to the west?”

“Well… eastern and southern countries refused to accept these refugees.”

“…?”

Hearing this, Riel showed a reaction of incomprehension.

I mean, Sir-Horde is one thing, but what about Uko’Praknar or our vassal state, the Nurbal Republic?

And beyond them, there’s Roirakan or Riksi, and other countries?

But as the story unfolded, Riel couldn’t help but slap her forehead in surprise, like a Chilean uncle.

——————————–

“Please accept us.”

“Us? Accept you?”

Although the Nurbal Republic had gained several star systems from Uko’Praknar as compensation for damages…

It was still one of the smaller interstellar nations in the east.

They lacked both the capacity and the land to accommodate the large number of Zeltech refugees who had successfully escaped with the help of the “bait.”

And the next region, Uko’Praknar, wasn’t any better…

“Let’s skip this place.”

“Yes.”

Being in a state of forced punitive damages collection by the Galactic Alliance, the refugees quickly skipped over it.

The next stop for the refugee caravan was the Roirakan Republic, which had disciplined Uko’Praknar, but…

“We don’t accept stateless refugees.”

“We’ll pay you, please!”

“I said no entry without citizenship.”

Giving them a taste of the hardship of being stateless, Roirakan mercilessly drove them away.

Of course, the reason Roirakan acted this way was clearly because they were wary of their neighbor, the Fuxviet Federation…

The refugees knocked on the doors of the next country, the Riksi Congressional Territory, starting to desperately seek settlement.

But…

“We’re busy dealing with a rebellion right now, and you expect us to take in refugees?”

Unfortunately for the Zeltech refugees, separatist movements were flaring up in Riksi at that very time.

“We can’t accept refugees. Get out.”

“We won’t leave! We’d rather die!”

-BOOM!!

Only after some refugee ships were destroyed by Riksi’s increasingly irritable fleet did they change direction and head elsewhere.

And so, after circling the galaxy, the refugees finally arrived at a paradise(?) where they could settle down.

————————————-

After hearing this, Riel made an expression that was difficult to describe and said:

“Well… um, yes, it’s good that they came… So are these people now divided between us, Ztrakfor, and Kar-Du?”

“About that, most of the Zeltech refugees who went to Ztrakfor are now coming back to us, saying it’s too scary being on the frontline with Prosnack.”

Hearing this, Riel sighed deeply and said:

“…Just put them in the border region for now, and we’ll let the Minister handle the rest when he returns.”

“Understood, Assistant Minister Riel.”

She was effectively passing the buck to Arto.

And after somehow getting through the day’s work, Riel…

“Sigh.”

Heaving deep sighs, she called Ash, who was still squirming in orbit.

“Count Ash, today has been so exhausting.”

-“Uh… did you contact me just because you’re tired?”

The reason was simply to vent the stress that had built up in her neural network by complaining about this terribly difficult situation.

Thanks to this, Ash, who had been mindlessly squirming, was surprised by this sudden life complaint but continued to listen.

“…so that’s why I’m suffering.”

-“I see…”

“In a way, this is all part of my ‘duty’ and ‘purpose’ as the Minister’s assistant, but I wonder if I really have to suffer this much…”

After the words ‘duty’ and ‘purpose’ were mentioned together.

Ash, who had been awkwardly responding to the communication, suddenly paused…

-“Duty… purpose…? That’s right, I have something to do… Wait, why am I here… Where is this… No, I need to go… to that place…”

“Count Ash?”

After muttering to himself, the communication was forcibly terminated.

Right after that.

“A-Assistant Minister Riel! Count Ash, who was next to the open-air shipyard, suddenly disappeared without saying anything!”

“This is… a warp, a warp reaction!”

“How could this happen in a place without a hyperspatial jump route?!”

Faced with the sudden big event of Ash’s escape, Riel silently looked up at the sky…

And at that moment.

-Beep!

-“No… don’t… please stop…”

Holding Arto, who looked emaciated, with sunken eyes and seemingly drained of all muscle…

-“Riel! Good work while I was gone! Go and pick up Arto!”

Artlaia, whose skin had become smoother, eyes filled with vitality, and body overflowing with energy compared to two days ago, contacted Riel with a cheerful voice.

Seeing this, Riel was caught in a dilemma about how to explain all that had happened during Arto’s absence.