(Bonus chapter 19/25, with thanks to Bei Ming Luo Yu for the tip.)
After the noble leaders on both sides died, the nobles one rank below them formed Noble Councils, then each elected a warlord as commander.
Both warlords belonged to the High King's royal bloodline, though the connection was rather distant. They were relatives, but only just.
Once the two warlords took power, the war, which had been on the verge of ending, suddenly intensified again.
They inherited the entire political legacy left by the first and second princes, including their banners.
The first prince's banner bore a silver shield, and his faction was known as the Silver Shield Council.
The second prince's banner bore a patterned shield, and his faction was known as the Flower Shield Council.
Both warlords knew that as long as they defeated the other, they could claim the crown and become the High King of a Knight World!
That temptation was more than most people could resist. Thus, under the two warlords' mobilization, the fighting grew fierce again.
When Li Qinwu first looked at the star chart, he had planned to collect white sugar from Sweet Star and sell it here on Iron Shield Star.
The nobles of Iron Shield Star were wealthy, and they loved desserts.
Sweet Star's sugar was one of a kind in the entire universe. It could fetch an exorbitant price on practically any planet.
That did not include the sugar stockpiled aboard the other Armed Merchant Ships in his fleet. That sugar belonged to the captains and their respective armed groups. Li Qinwu was not stupid enough to encroach on his subordinates' interests.
Counting only the sugar that belonged to him, selling it all would earn enough to buy a warship one or two kilometers long.
But who could