"Honestly, I think I'm pretty straightforward too." Yu Lian gazed at the flowerbeds in the domed garden before him, sounding rather proud. "I'm a boring, straightforward pragmatist. I'm not particularly committed to any particular ideology or set of principles. I care about results, that's all. Can't help it—my culture and everything I've ever been taught tell me that performance is what matters."
"As a capitalist who ought to be strung up on Skytower's antenna mast to dry, I'm also quite fond of discussing performance," Yanni said with a smile. "So, darling, tell me: the operation to seize the Emperor's Scepter was more or less a success. But in terms of results, does that scepter belong to you?"
Hmph. The capitalists were trying to sow discord among the working people again.
Yu Lian would have loved to say that, but he had to admit it was a fair question.
"I'm genuinely curious about what they'll do next. Chester Rozers will probably want to send the Emperor's Scepter to New Shenzhou, as a pillar of stability for you. But Mr. Babaru and Yaxiu Stein might have other ideas. What does a strategic weapon capable of deterring both the Empire and the Alliance mean to the Original Color Interstellar, who are struggling to survive in the Fermo Nebula?"
"It means inviting disaster," Yu Lian replied. "They're an uprising that isn't even a political entity yet. In the eyes of most nations, they're terrorists. Once they have a strategic weapon, the Empire and the Alliance will put aside every dispute and crush them with even greater force than they used to hunt down the Serpent."
Princess Rainbow Rose gave Yu Lian a knowing, faintly amused look. "You're right. But will your followers really have the sense to see things that clearly? Their differences were