More often than not, the highest expression of a man's lowbrow tastes amounted to little more than getting drunk with a beauty on his lap and waking to rule the world. Yu Lian was no exception. Still, though he had become a corrupt ruler, he felt he could at least avoid becoming a depraved and incompetent one. With superhuman willpower, he tore himself away from the lingering, intoxicating fragrance and returned his attention to the clash of iron and fire.
On August 12, 287, Yu Lian's fleet reached the Toristan System, just one jump from the Celestial Domain. By then, his fleet had grown to more than five times the size of the enemy forces in the Domain.
Yu Lian admitted that he had never fought a war this comfortably in three lifetimes. He had plenty of experience winning against the odds, but he had never before experienced the reverse: outnumbering his enemy.
And so the tragic lessons of historical figures who thrived in adversity but fell apart when fortune favored them began to weigh on him again. Wang Jujun, Cao the Chancellor, and King Fu were surely looking down at him with dead fish eyes.
For that very reason, Yu Lian kept reminding himself to stay clearheaded and cautious.
He had no intention of entering the imperial capital and gnawing through its concentric layers of defenses. Instead, he had his forces seal off every major route into the city.
At the same time, he sent out detachments to sweep through the rest of the Empire's territories that had yet to be fully subdued.
As for Yu Lian himself, he set up his headquarters in the Toristan System, just one jump from the Celestial Domain, and calmly began handling affairs from across the Empire.
By then, there was naturally no