The Filial Son

The music was slow and melodious, and the nobles in their evening gowns were immersed in the gentle steps and swirling skirts. It was late at night, but the sky was ablaze with color, and the Tarsonis City was ablaze with lights that burned all night long.

Every few minutes, a beautiful meteor shower would fall from the sky, a sight to behold as merchant ships and engineering vessels returning from Tarsonis space passed through the atmosphere.

Augustus in excellent physical condition and danced with almost every woman who invited him. Annabella, the matriarch of the Terra Family, even invited him to spend the night in the Terra Sky Tower.

Women didn't care whether he was a descendant of the Mengsk Family; they just liked young, handsome officers, and men like Edmond Duke were ignored.

The hostess of the banquet Andrea Tagore, seemed less concerned with the military representatives she had invited and more focused on the perfectly smoked Antiga yak meat before her. Her sturdy ceramic dentures and chewing aids helped her chew the tough meat cleanly and efficiently.

When Augustus finally had a moment to stop and sit back down next to Raynor, who was already stuffed, the men from the various Old Families began to gather around again.

The representatives of the Old Families were already aware of Augustus's identity. Even if they didn't have time to learn more about his background, the group's leaders and assistants would explain it to them. Most of them avoided Augustus and the Mengsk Family behind him, or treated them with indifference.

The first person is Viscount Cornelius Blueback of the Blueback Family, a renowned arms dealer family—primarily known to officers and soldiers in the army during the Guild Wars. The Electromagnetic Rifle used by the Marines were designed and manufactured by a subsidiary of the Blueback Group, which was also simultaneously designing railguns of different calibers and ship armament upgrade technologies.

The war destroyed many colonies and killed millions of people, but the wealth of arms dealers like the Blueback Family expanded rapidly in a very short period of time, and their status and reputation rose accordingly.

However, human desires are never satisfied. The war between the Kel-Morian Combine and the Terran Confederacy is coming to an end, but the arms dealers' factories are still operating at full capacity.

Astute arms dealers keenly sensed the signs that the next war was imminent, like sharks drawn by blood smelling the scent of blood.

Cornelius, sporting a small mustache, was very friendly, behaving amiably. "Young Augustus, I am Cornelius Blueback, the patriarch of the Blueback Family. I met your father, Angus, more than a decade ago; he was a brave and upright man."

"Some people insist that Angus should be held responsible for the Korhal IV riots, but I don't think so. The Korhal have their own thoughts and the right to pursue a better life and freedom, and every citizen of the Confederacy should be treated in accordance with human rights," Cornelius said.

"Do you really think so, Mr. Blueback?" Augustus seemed quite surprised. "To be honest, under the influence of my foolish, incurable, and mentally unstable father, Korhal IV is in complete chaos. People have nothing to do all day but hold parties, marches, smash shops, and loot goods that don't belong to them."

"Order in Korhal is becoming increasingly chaotic, the economy is on the verge of collapse, and a wave of unemployment has arrived."

"Oh, this is terrible." Cornelius took out a silk handkerchief and wiped away non-existent tears, saying sympathetically, "The Confederate Congress should provide the unemployed Korhal with the necessary unemployment benefits. This is so heartbreaking; I wonder how many people will starve to death!"

"May God bless Korhal," Mr. Cornelius said, making a praying gesture.

"You think so too? Then I hope you can give some support to my people. They are starving and lack food and clothing. Our industries have ceased to function due to worker strikes and attacks by the Confederacy Resistance Army. Local companies are laying off large numbers of workers due to plummeting profits. The problem of food overproduction has been exposed, and a third of the city's total population is starving to death in the slums."

"Is that so? The Confederate Congress hasn't done enough. Those members who are just coasting along should apologize for this. No, they should resign immediately." Although Cornelius said this, his face showed a "don't lie to me" expression.

"I really don't know what will happen to the people there after the war breaks out between Korhal and the Confederacy," he sighed.

"Why is there war?" Augustus exclaimed in surprise, as if horrified by Cornelius's words. "Sir, do you wish for my homeland to be stained with blood? Good heavens, that is a truly wicked thought."

"Of course, the Blueback Family has always opposed meaningless wars and advocated peaceful coexistence between different peoples and political systems." Cornelius waved his hand. "I was only talking about a possibility. War, nobody wants war to happen."

"The Blueback Family supports the Korhal people's demands for further autonomy and for Korhal to become a neutral trading planet. If you need me to prove it, the Blueback Mining Group will hold a press conference today to support the Korhal people's legitimate pursuit of rights and freedoms."

"Then you should go see my father. He hasn't been too busy lately; I'm already planning to send him to a mental hospital," Augustus sighed. "The Korhal don't believe that senator who speaks so eloquently on the podium is a madman."

"He seems to be in good spirits." Cornelius frowned, then seemed to lose interest in continuing the conversation with Augustus: "Excuse me, young man of the Augustus family, I must leave for a moment."

"I hope we'll have the chance to meet again someday." Augustus no longer complained about his "foolish" father.

"There will be an opportunity." Cornelius put on his bowler hat and hurried away.

After Cornelius left, a member of the Tagore Family walked toward Augustus. As he looked in that direction, Augustus saw Nova Terra with her lifeless eyes and her shyly smiling sister.

"Augustus Mengsk, the lady wishes to take a picture with you." Unexpectedly, this member of the Tagore Family did not say much to Augustus, nor did he engage in the expected probing or coercion.

At this moment, Andrea Tagore was posing for a photo with many officers, including the Duke Family, and inviting Augustus seemed to be just a normal procedure.

Augustus walked toward the pre-arranged shooting location and stood among flowers next to the eldest and most powerful lady of the Tagore Family. They stood very close, and it seemed that Andrea was not afraid of the son of the famous nationalist agitator.

"You have a good father, son." Before filming began, Andrea Augustus, "He taught you the loyalty and courage of the Mengsk Family. You are worthy of your name. Anderson from UNN said that all the praise in the world is worthy of you."

"As Confederacy soldier, you deserve all praise."

"Thank you, Mrs. Tagore," Augustus.

"You are excellent, Augustus. I've heard that Angus Mengsk is old and senile, and that Korhal is in chaos under his rule." Andrea sighed deeply. "The Old Families has always chosen its leaders based on merit, but apart from Tarsonis, too many planets have forgotten their traditions."

"You're right, that's exactly what I was thinking."

"So, what do you want me to do?" Augustus asked.

"He will inherit it," Andrea said.

"Inherit. Your father."

The banquet ended before midnight, and the Tagore Family servants had to wait until all the guests had left before they could come to clean up, replace the carpets, and wash the silverware that had been repeatedly wiped clean. This meant they had to work very late.

"What did that old witch say to you just now?" Augustus whispered to Raynor as he returned to his side.

The guests began to leave one after another. The leader of the Old Families left directly on his private yacht, while the other nobles had to travel by luxury cars.

"She made me inherit my father's senator seat and the rest of the Mengsk Family business early, then declared Angus a madman and shot himself in some unknown alley," Augustus.

"What happened after that was rather ordinary. She wanted me to purge the revolutionaries from the senators and then declare martial law in Korhal. The Confederacy would then deploy Marines to replace Korhal's planetary defense forces and take over the entire planet."

"What will happen next is predictable. Korhal IV will be completely under the control of the Confederacy, and the many policies that Angus has forced the Senate to pass over the years to protect local businesses through his political maneuvering and influence will become meaningless. Politicians have plenty of ways to undermine the backbone that supports a colony's industry and economy."

"I've never heard of the Senate being hereditary, and does she think you're an idiot? Once the Marines move into Korhal, you'll become their puppet," Raynor said. "They'll have agents monitoring you, and Korhal will never have a chance to rise again."

"How did you answer?"

"This is what I said: I will offer up my father's head by next May." Augustus shrugged and said, "As long as it can lead my people out of their predicament and avert a war, I will not hesitate to sacrifice my father for the greater good."

"I must speak decisively and resolutely, without hesitation."

"That's what I like about you." Raynor asked again, confirming, "You're not really going to do that, are you?"

"Even if I did that, as long as the Confederacy can produce evidence that I murdered my father, I will be disgraced in Korhal, and the Mengsk Family's reputation will plummet. I don't want to leave the choice of my fate to others; more often than not, I prefer to take the initiative," Augustus said to Raynor.

At that moment, Annabella Terra approached Augustus with her two daughters. "Nova, this is Uncle Augustus."

"Hello, Uncle Augustus." Nova Terra's voice was soft and sweet, sounding well-behaved and adorable. She was a lovely little girl. She inherited her father's blond hair, beautiful light green eyes, and the Terra Family's handsome features. Her dead fish eyes, which appeared when she was extremely surprised or deep in thought, were also just like her father's.

"Is this your youngest daughter?" Augustus briefly conjured up the image of a cold-blooded, ghostly female agent of the Empire in his mind, but he found it difficult to reconcile that image with the little girl before him.

"Her name is November, but we all call her Nova," Annabella said.

"November, and my name is August," Augustus said, leaning down to Nova.

"Oh," Nova exclaimed, her eyes widening as she looked at him.

"Alright, we should probably head back now." Raynor glanced at his watch and said, "It's almost midnight."

"Lady Terra, see you tomorrow." Augustus said, reaching out to touch little Nova's forehead, but she quickly dodged away.

"Goodbye, Uncle," Nova said.

"My dear Augustus, you can come to the Terra Sky Tower tomorrow to see me." Clara took Augustus's arm. "You know what? You are unlike any other nobleman in Tarsonis."

Nova suddenly slapped her forehead with her Small Hands. This was the most traumatic day of her life. Due to her strong Psionics talent, Nova could actually hear the thoughts of everyone in the entire Tagore Sky Tower, including the servants busy dozens of floors below. This telepathic ability was something Nova couldn't control at the moment; she could only passively accept these telepathic messages and couldn't refuse them.

Left with no other choice Augustus had to agree to Clara's request to escape. As he stepped into the elevator and walked downstairs, he said to Raynor, "We still need to find a place to spend the night and install the Umojan Psionics shield at our residence, but I don't believe the Confederacy would go so far as to have a combat hero who is currently enjoying great fame assassinated."

"I thought you were going to abandon us and go home with them," Raynor said, waving to Clara Terra, who was waving at Augustus, and Nova was mechanically waving her hand.

"If necessary," Augustus waved to Annabella, "But I must stay by your side to prevent scoundrels like Tychus and Harnack from causing any trouble."

"I think you're scared." Raynor seemed quite smug in some inexplicable way.

"I admit that." Augustus's words left Raynor speechless. "This overly blatant enthusiasm frightens me."

"After all, I'm still just a child," he said.

"I've already sent Londerstein and the others to stay at a hotel owned by the Mengsk Family. We'll go there to find them."

Half an hour later, Augustus found Lisa and the others waiting for him at the Traveller's Hotel in the center of Tarsonis, which was the agreed location. Everyone was sitting on the sofa in the hotel lobby waiting for their commander's return—except for Tychus Finley.

"Where is he, Londerstein? I'm entrusting this class to you."

"The tracker I put on Tychus shows he's somewhere in the slums right now," Londerstein said. "He forced his way out and even got into a fight with Harnack."

"Don't worry about Tychus, he'll come back on his own in a while," Augustus said after a moment of silence.

Thanks to hanhzx, Floating Boat, Star Ring 1, Electric Shock Maniac, Qi Xingping, Lingxiao Cloud Bridge, B and Z, Misaka Misaka o, Lazy Reader, Everything for the Girls, Leisurely Xiaomi D, cuixingshi, Black Blood Eggplant, Silly Little, Singing Sky Star, Green YY Lemon, Black Car Driver Pikachu, a708020, Hmm Oh Ah Ha Clam Shrimp, Agent Rongrong, I Can Still Send, Immortalking, Blank, Fruit Treasure Trove, and Half Sauce for their monthly tickets.