The old man seemed to have anticipated Li Xiaofei's question long ago. He said, “Everything was already planned.”
“Planned?” Li Xiaofei was taken aback.
The old man explained, “The troop transport system of Chongque City was set up even before the city itself was established. Even if Heaven ceased to exist, this system would continue to operate in an orderly manner. It would transport troops to the Star Battlefield on schedule every cycle.”
It sounded like a computer program. But clearly, this system was far more complex than any ordinary software.
Rumor had it that human experts on the Star Battlefield had created puppet war dolls with capabilities akin to super robots, possessing tremendous combat power. It was possible that those transport starships were piloted by such puppets.
No wonder the entire Chongque City would go into a frenzy of mobilization whenever those starships arrived.
Li Xiaofei asked in surprise, “If that’s the case, then shouldn’t we be able to send someone through the Star Battlefield to contact Heaven?”
“There’s no way to make contact.” The old man replied, “The front lines are under heavy pressure, and all battle zones are deeply entangled. The leaders of the human legions are fighting their own wars, and the supreme commanders are all present at the front. As a result, Heaven is empty. All routes to it have been kept strictly confidential to prevent the Reapers from launching a decapitation strike against it. Chongque City once sent spies to gather intelligence on the front lines, but they returned with nothing.”
Li Xiaofei fell silent. This news was not good for him. His aunt had once said she would take the young miss and the others to Heaven...
Did they return? Where exactly is his aunt now? Li Xiaofei’s mind was a jumble of thoughts.
The old man said, “I can help you ascend to the position of city lord and eliminate the remnants of Song Jinglun. In return, you must help me find the one who possesses the Primal God’s divinity, break through the fog, and locate Heaven.”
Li Xiaofei continued to ponder in silence.
“You also want the treasures of Heaven?” he asked.
The old man shook his head and said, “Luo Ge and I were both born and raised in Heaven. My term ended two hundred years ago, and I should have returned to my homeland. Yet, I’m still stranded out here. I just want to go back and see the starry river of the Milky Way, walk once more through the Peach Garden, and stroll past the Southern Heavenly Gate... I want to see my limping father again, catch a glimpse of my mother and younger sister. To others, Heaven is a treasury, a place of wealth and power. But to me, it is simply my home.”
Li Xiaofei glanced at the tall, valiant woman beside him. She, too, turned out to be someone from Heaven.
Li Xiaofei said, “I’ve heard that Song Jinglun had close ties with Heaven. There were even special envoys from Heaven who met with him multiple times and offered him great support.”
The old man replied, “It was nothing more than a performance. No special envoy from Heaven has ever come to Chongque City since Chang’e.”
Li Xiaofei fell into thought. What the High Chancellor said was not impossible. If the people in Chongque City learned that contact with Heaven had been lost, then Song Jinglun’s position as city lord would have been extremely difficult to maintain. Sooner or later, chaos would have erupted within the city.
By putting on this act, Song Jinglun had deliberately created the illusion of continued contact with Heaven, thereby reinforcing his hold on power.
Li Xiaofei thought for a few seconds and quickly made a decision.
“Deal.” He agreed to the High Chancellor’s proposal for cooperation.
First, he needed to stabilize the situation in Chongque City and pull the major base planets out of suffering. Then, he would have to go to Heaven to search for his aunt anyway. If he could work with someone like the High Chancellor, one of Heaven’s generals, his chances of finding Heaven would be much higher.
As for what the High Chancellor truly desired, whether it was genuine homesickness or simply greed, it didn’t matter much to Li Xiaofei. If it turned out to be the latter, he would simply kill him when the time came.
A smile appeared on the High Chancellor’s face. He immediately began issuing a series of rapid orders. The entire Council system sprang into action. Soon after, public opinion across Chongque City’s major media platforms began to shift.
The once-dominant narrative that Li Qingchen assassinated City Lord Song Jinglun was abruptly overturned. In its place, a new report emerged, Song Jinglun had been ambushed and killed by Reapers while on an inspection tour near the asteroid region known as Planet Sea.
All sides were in an uproar. The reversal of this news was nothing short of explosive. What followed was a relentless bombardment of information that overwhelmed everyone’s minds.
The High Chancellor personally confirmed Li Qingchen had pursued the Reapers across tens of millions of kilometers and successfully avenged City Lord Song Jinglun. The corpse of a Reaper was even publicly displayed.
Soon after, Zhou Chenglong, Li Sheng, and several others were named by key witnesses as traitors. They were accused of betraying Song Jinglun from within the city, leading to the Reaper ambush.
They even revealed the mastermind, Zhou Chenglong’s wife, Lin Yi, whose true identity turned out to be the Eden Organization’s chief representative stationed in Chongque City.
A series of large-scale battles broke out within the city. Many factions were drawn into the conflict. But in the end, the High Chancellor’s faction emerged victorious. The loss of Song Jinglun had reduced the City Lord’s Office forces to a crumbling mountain. They became like rats crossing the street as they were hunted and scorned. The traitors, including Zhou Chenglong, went into hiding and fled from pursuit.
In stark contrast, Li Xiaofei was elevated as a model of righteousness. Numerous reports about him flooded major platforms. His combat skills, achievements, and even his Black Hole level strength were all widely publicized.
Eventually, with the support of some defectors from the City Lord’s Office, the majority of the Council, and under the endorsement of a mysterious Heaven emissary, Li Xiaofei soared to power and was named Acting City Lord of Chongque City.
The development of events had taken a dramatic turn. Many people had not even begun to comprehend what was happening when Li Xiaofei had already risen to the position of Acting City Lord.
It was the classic tale of a nobody’s stunning reversal of fate. Of course, this was merely how ordinary people perceived the dramatic shift. Only a handful of those truly standing at the peak of power understood just how terrifying the hidden currents and schemes behind it all really were.
The clandestine wars, the killings, betrayals, reversals, deaths, and struggles had taken place within just a few dozen days. There were enough to compose an epic opera.
Li Xiaofei stood inside the City Lord’s Office at the heart of Core District A, overlooking the surrounding buildings.
He had retrieved the City Lord’s Purple-Gold Token from Song Jinglun’s corpse. Since he had that and a legitimate appointment, he had finally seized complete control over Chongque City.
The power of the Purple-Gold Token was astounding. It was the master key to the entire city. Chongque City had been forged from an entire planet, and this ‘key’ granted control over numerous formations within the city, effectively turning the entire metropolis into the domain of whoever held it.
After experiencing the might of the Purple-Gold Token firsthand, Li Xiaofei couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of dread. If he hadn’t lured Song Jinglun out of the city and battled him there, it would have been far more difficult to kill him.
In truth, Song Jinglun had been quite unlucky. He had thought himself invincible and only brought his elite black-armored, ghost-masked subordinates to capture Li Xiaofei. Had that ambush not failed, he wouldn’t have died so easily, nor would the Purple-Gold Token have fallen into Li Xiaofei’s hands so readily.
It all felt as if it had been fated by the heavens. Now firmly seated as the City Lord, Li Xiaofei wasted no time in launching sweeping reforms. Many of Song Jinglun’s old policies were immediately abolished. In particular, the regulations concerning the various base cities were completely reinterpreted.
But Li Xiaofei knew that he needed to build a truly loyal inner circle to fully implement his vision. He began making all kinds of strategic arrangements. Yet, the High Chancellor never rushed him. He placed great trust in Li Xiaofei and continued to give his full support.
“We’ve waited so many years already, what difference does another one or two make? No rush, no rush.” The High Chancellor smiled as he spoke to Luo Ge, sipping tea calmly.