The two exchanged a smile, utterly confident about this expansion.
It was like a snowball rolling downhill. The Emperor had already set it rolling faster, and nothing could stop it now.
"Your Excellency Governor, His Excellency Vigertly, the Star Sea Empire's envoy, has arrived," a deputy aide said as he hurried over to report.
"Show him in!" the Governor said with a smile.
"Yes, sir."
A few minutes later, having steeled himself, Vigertly put on a stern expression and strode into the conference room.
"I must say, you're very lucky, Envoy Vigertly," the Governor said with a smile, interrupting him mid-sentence. He pointed to the holographic projection. "The colony fleet is ready. Please witness New Hope's third expansion!"
"What?!" Vigertly's stern expression crumbled. He stared at the smiling Governor in shock, as if he were dreaming.
Whatever complicated feelings Envoy Vigertly had, New Hope Colony's expansion proceeded according to plan. The enormous fleet passed through the star gate around the Black Tortoise Mobile Fortress and arrived in the Border Galaxy, then made a Hyperspace Jump directly to its target star system.
Envoy Vigertly and his accompanying military attaché managed to remain calm when they saw the Imperial Fleet crush the system's forces with overwhelming ease. After all, the empire was a Super Civilization that spanned the stars; it was only natural for it to have considerable strength.
But a week later, once the expansion war had largely ended, the two exchanged bewildered looks as they watched a vast number of Transport Ships deploy noncombatants, including priests, onto the many planets in the star system.
"Do they really regard their Emperor as a god?" Vigertly asked hesitantly. The Star Sea Empire itself had several sages, and even a Great Sage, so they naturally understood the power of Psionics. In a scientifically