Chapter 1587: Chapter 1587

Du You’s message arrived, and the first to know were the military officials of the Star Ring Alliance, followed by several others within the Alliance.

A number of people gathered together to discuss the matter: "That guy is back. What are your thoughts?"

"Hmph, I have a grudge against that guy, so all I want is revenge. Except for his life, I don’t need anything else." A seemingly young voice sounded, but in the darkness, no one could see who it was.

Then, an elderly voice rose: "All I want is that one vein of ore. I’ve mentioned this long ago, haven’t I?"

"Alright, alright. Then the technological data I need, don’t fight me for that either."

"Who would want such things? I want fleets, warships. Even if you have the data, manufacturing it yourself is too troublesome. It’s far more convenient to just buy them outright." Another person voiced their opinion.

"I’m simple. I won’t compete with you over those things. All I want is Ke Jisi."

Well then, there’s actually a pursuer of Ke Jisi here. However, this approach to pursuing her is certainly surprising. Do they truly believe that ruining Du You’s territory will win them the beauty’s favor? Or perhaps, they’re only after the person herself.

Next came a series of discussions—or, more accurately, a dividing-up conference. The people gathered here were already planning how to partition Du You’s territory. After all, the place was far too prosperous, with far too many resources.

"The current issue is how to ensure our interests remain intact. Keep in mind, we can’t act directly ourselves. We still need the Blood-colored Empire at the front lines to make a move first."

"Relax. We’ve already coordinated with the Blood-colored Empire’s front line. As long as they follow our instructions, we’ll relinquish the battlefield here to them."

At that moment, a faint voice chimed in: "Relinquish it to them? That doesn’t seem quite right."

"Hmph, what’s wrong with that? They’ve mobilized ten star-fortresses for this war. Even if the resistance here is fierce, it’s impossible to hold out. Rather than fighting tooth and nail, it’s better to yield to them. Hmph—once our own star-fortresses arrive, we’ll take it back again. Right now, our priority is to ensure the interests of our Star Ring Alliance are not impaired."

Not impaired—but merely transferred from someone else’s hands into their own.

Since they couldn’t protect their own interests, wasn’t it better to have others do it for them?

"By the way, what do we do about Du You’s recent distress signal? Are we just going to ignore it?"

"Ignore it? How can you call it ignoring? Other places still require reinforcements—those places are far more urgent. His territory has so much military power; let him hold on for a while longer."

"Hey, hey, hey! His warships have been destroyed, and that loss belongs to me!"

"Alright, enough. Warships are bound to suffer some losses. Here’s the deal—we’ll pool money later and compensate you proportionally." Another peacemaker chimed in. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁

"Why should we compensate? Who told him to choose those warships!" Instantly, the conference descended into a cacophony of arguments.

Everyone fought tooth and nail for their own interests. As for the overarching strategy, many present seemed utterly indifferent.

After the military learned of this news, it was the Blood-colored Empire’s turn to hear it. To be fair, it was the military that had taken the initiative to reveal the news; otherwise, the Empire wouldn’t have found out so quickly.

Upon hearing of Du You’s appearance, within a star-fortress, a group of individuals gathered. They even opened communications to conference remotely with people from other locations—all for Du You alone.

"That man has appeared, right in his own territory. Looks like he’s planning to go head-to-head with us."

"We must eliminate him this time. Absolutely cannot leave him alive."

Du You was young, but his personal combat prowess was extraordinarily formidable. The strength he demonstrated last time already surpassed that of a tier-6 warship. Without deploying tier-6 fleets, he was practically invincible. And even if fleets were dispatched, capturing him wasn’t guaranteed. Should he initiate a surprise attack, even fleets could potentially be annihilated.

The most critical factor was Du You’s infiltration ability displayed previously. He had managed to penetrate directly into a star-fortress and completely destroy it. Several simulations later, it was found that even with all safeguards in place, Du You still had an alarmingly high success rate.

This kind of threat must not be allowed to persist. Who could say what devastating role he might play on the battlefield?

Initially, this location wasn’t a particularly significant battlefield. The reason the Empire opened a frontline here stemmed entirely from their focus on Du You.

At this point, they still didn’t fully grasp the extent of personal power. After all, tier-7 combatants had never appeared in this world.

"What about the alliance’s intentions? Are we really going to follow their stipulations? If we do, it’ll be difficult to kill the target. Considering his strength, capturing him without large-scale assaults won’t be easy."

"Why should I care? It’s nothing more than mutual exploitation anyway. This time, our plan is to overthrow the Star Ring Alliance. Even if we don’t obliterate it, we must cripple them—to buy time and resources for our expansion. Stick to the optimal combat plan; their opinions don’t concern us."

"Exactly; if any spoils are left over, they’re ours. Why should we let them take it?"

The two factions harbored their respective schemes, already plotting against each other before the war had even begun.

Soon enough, aside from these two forces, news of Du You’s appearance spread across multiple factions. Especially to the Professional Association members, who felt a sense of reassurance upon hearing of his return.

Unlike the local inhabitants, they were thoroughly familiar with Du You’s reputation. Famous far and wide—a tier-7 powerhouse—how could they not know of him? With a tier-7 combatant on the scene, even ten star-fortresses seemed unlikely to pose much of a threat.

Some with hidden agendas had now quieted down. Of course, even within the Professional Association, meetings were held constantly. After all, everyone fought for their own interests, albeit in different ways.

But one thing was clear: after Du You’s appearance, the starry sky outside grew strangely silent. Ten star-fortresses began converging here, with two advancing directly toward the area. Fleet operations in space took varying approaches—some brazenly assembling, others covertly moving closer—subtly encircling the galaxy where Du You resided.

It seemed that full-scale warfare was now less than a month away.