Liangbing fell into deep thought. Holy Keisha was still around to suppress the ox-ghost snake-gods in the Known Universe. If she really went offline, even if the demons didn't declare war on the angels, other fools would definitely pop up to oppose them. With help from certain people, Hua Ye would be the first to make a move.
The Triangular Bodies' brains evolved even faster than those of the Shenhe Body. Carl had once told her that a war between them and the Triangular Bodies was inevitable in the future. Holy Keisha had the wisdom to suppress the Triangular Bodies, and He Xi was no worse, but Angel Yan was another matter.
"You wouldn't say all that unless you knew something. Prince of Shenhe Civilization, you can speak directly with Space. Though you might not know how to put it right now, you're basically something like the will of the universe."
"You're also the lifelong pursuit of my Space-Time Gene. Here's the thing: the Demon Legion is unlikely to accept you. The younger generation of angels has fought us for thousands of years, after all."
"Take this. If the need arises, go to Huanyun Planet and mobilize the Tianqi Legion's soldiers. Remember, only use it at the most critical moment." As she spoke, she tossed a silver token to Su Xinghe.
"This is my Tianqi Order. Only with it can you mobilize the Tianqi Legion's 300,000 troops. I may be an angel, but I've given you the token. Next, the Queen is going to Earth to recruit a few soldiers. I hear there's a monster being held under restraint over at NATO. Come with me and take a look. We can get to know each other better."
Su Xinghe stared at the Tianqi Order in his hand, secretly astonished. With this, he could mobilize 300,000 veteran soldiers from the Tianqi Legion. They'd been retired for many years, and most of them were probably Third Generation Super Soldiers. Liangbing had one of these, and He Xi surely did too. By that reckoning, he had more authority than Angel Yan, the future King of Angels—at least when it came to military power.
It was hard to imagine what Angel Yan would think in the future when she saw a group of veteran Angel Warriors at his back. After all, Angel Yan couldn't mobilize the older generation of angels.
"Stop staring at it. He Xi has one too. After the Three Kings Era ended, Keisha had the older generation of angels step back from the front lines to preserve the angels' foundations. Heaven City has only about 30,000 regular guards, and with the Nine Defenses, anyone from outside the Angel Civilization trying to break in would lose seven or eight out of every ten soldiers."
Su Xinghe nodded without speaking. The Nine Defenses were undeniably powerful. Even with Carl and the Triangular Bodies' combined help, Hua Ye had needed five or six years to take the city, and his losses had indeed been enormous. But the defenses weren't foolproof. In the story he'd seen before transmigrating, Hua Ye had captured Merlot Heavenly Court, and Angel Yan had retreated to Freyzer with the remaining angels. At a guess, they'd been reduced to at most two-thirds of their original numbers.
"Your Earth really is something. Your technology's behind, but your food's pretty good. You've got a real talent for it." Liangbing held a freshly grilled skewer and ate as she spoke.
"A Pre-Nuclear Civilization. Someone will have to guide them in the future. Will it be you, or Galaxy Power?"
"I have no intention of guiding them. Wars follow their own laws. Interfering too much may be good in the beginning, like Holy Keisha's Order of Justice. The universe has been peaceful for over ten thousand years, and the Angel Civilization has grown powerful. But the young angels who grew up under Keisha's protection are terribly weak when faced with a real crisis."
"If the people of Earth truly can't find their own way forward, then they can be left behind. So as long as you stay outside Huaxia, I won't stop you from doing what you want. I've lived here for over ten years, after all. I have family here too."
Liangbing was satisfied with this deal. Earth was huge; losing a little land wouldn't matter. She could still recruit soldiers as she pleased. And once Keisha was taken offline, as long as he was around, the angels wouldn't get the chance to retaliate against the demons. With Keisha offline, He Xi would hold the most sway in Heaven City.
Based on what she knew of He Xi, she wouldn't take Liangbing on herself. She'd tell Angel Yan, "Act like a king. Fight the wars you want to fight." They were only a bunch of new recruits; He Xi could kill a group of them with a single slap. They were all low-level angels converted from other civilizations, so they weren't worth much anyway.
"Fine. I've got what I wanted. Whether you release the little monster or do something else, you can handle it yourself. Just don't cause trouble in Huaxia. That'd be dangerous."
"Wait, little brother. I'm not causing trouble in Huaxia, but since you know so much, I'll be upfront with you. To take Holy Keisha offline, we'll have to control Lena. Lieyang knows a bit about this too, but everyone aboard the Juxia still has to die. I'll blow up the Juxia and then take Ducao out with a sniper shot. I'm telling you now so you don't jump in and beat me up later. That wouldn't be good."
Liangbing added that not because she was truly afraid of Su Xinghe, but because she was afraid of He Xi, who was with him. That woman was absurdly strong—the kind of opponent against whom physical attacks were useless.
When she fought Keisha, at least they traded blows with their weapons. But when she fought He Xi, halfway through she'd realize she didn't even know where He Xi was—and then it would be over.
"OK. The Juxia isn't mine, so do whatever you want."
"Your Highness the Prince, you're back. The Super Seminary just sent an invitation, asking whether the angels could send a representative to teach the Xiong Bing Lian soldiers the basics of wormholes and Dark Matter computation encoding. Should we accept or refuse?"
Su Xinghe thought it over. Helping the Xiong Bing Lian would be a good thing; if they grew stronger, he'd have less pressure later on. Besides, basic wormhole theory and Dark Matter encoding weren't advanced technologies at all. They were practically the equivalent of Earth's nine years of compulsory education. In the Angel Civilization, even a teenager probably knew all this.
"Of the entire Super Seminary, aside from Lena, only a few old hands like Ducao really understand these theories. But I can handle this myself. You should keep an eye on Earth and the Solar System lately. I expect war to break out here soon."
"Your Highness's concerns are well-founded. There are indeed large fleets from the Taotie Civilization near Pluto, enough to surround Earth. If necessary, you could have us intervene. A mere few hundred ships from the Taotie Civilization would be wiped out after a few Great Judgments if we joined forces. If the fighting actually reaches Earth, it'll suffer heavy losses before those Xiong Bing Lian soldiers even have time to react."
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