In all forty or fifty years of his life, Ning Zhiyuan had never felt so exhilarated.
The Galactic Throne made a little loop of a few thousand kilometers, turned back around, and reversed the natural order by relentlessly pursuing Shoigu's fleeing fleet.
Now the tables had turned!
Of course, there was no suspense. The Corvette easily caught up with the fleeing fleet, and two Red Lasers effortlessly pierced those little fishing boats.
With that, all the rebels were annihilated. Xi Yan truly controlled every military force in the Empire, having eliminated these destabilizing military elements.
"It's over. It's all over."
After losing contact with his last warship, Alexei slumped to the floor.
How... had things come to this?
Without their fleet, they were lambs awaiting slaughter.
Escape back to the Ring World in a lifepod?
Alexei's pride would not let him become a deserter. Besides, with three million Army troops on the Ring World, going down there would merely postpone his death.
All was lost...
The makeshift command room was deathly silent. Alexei's hunched body trembled faintly as his hand slowly lowered, finding the cold pistol at his waist.
"Hahahaha!"
"From this day forth, I am the Empire's one and only Marshal!"
"The Marshal wields supreme power and commands all three services. None refuse to submit, and no land lies beyond his domain. His achievements rival those of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He deserves to be Emperor of the Interstellar Human Empire!"
"Well said, Beta. I appoint you Imperial Preceptor. You may involve yourself in all matters of the palace and all laws of the court."
Xi Yan stood in the ruins of the Central Grand Hotel, with shattered bricks and rubble stained red by pieces of people beneath his feet.
He let out an evil villain's laugh to celebrate his victory, idly shooting the breeze with Beta as he did.
Beta's processing power was immense. While calculating the positions and weapon trajectories of the fleets far away in space, it also broadcast live footage of the battle to Xi Yan.
Xi Yan's laughter grew increasingly wild.
The battle had gone exceedingly well. Every Sublight Warship had been destroyed, and Ning Zhiyuan's fleet had won.
It must have been thanks to his excellent guidance!
Shoigu? Gerasimov? Neither could last a single exchange against me!
In truth, Xi Yan could have told Ning Zhiyuan to kite them from the outset. But that would have made it easy for the enemy to notice something was wrong early on and switch strategies to defend the Starport. So Xi Yan had decided to sacrifice Veronica's fleet, lure Shoigu's fleet out, and wipe them out in one fell swoop.
Veronica had managed her fleet too well, leaving those under her command loyal only to their general, not to him, the Marshal.
That left Xi Yan with no choice but to arrange a little accident for those ships.
So far, the results looked good.
"The traitors are eliminated! All power under heaven rests in my hands!"
Xi Yan roared with laughter, standing proudly amid the ruins of the Central Grand Hotel and looking immensely pleased with himself.
Secretary of State Ailiveer stood far behind him on the road, with General Veronica and General Prigozhin beside her.
"How long has he been showing these symptoms?" Ailiveer's face was deathly pale. The scene before her was simply too horrific.
"Miss Secretary of State, if you're feeling unwell, you should head back first," Prigozhin suggested kindly.
"No, this is my chance to prove myself. I have to leave a good impres-bleurgh!"
The Little Secretary of State dropped to the ground.
Meanwhile, Xi Yan's laughter grew ever more deranged.
Since Prigozhin simply could not get any ammunition, he had handed his best artillery unit directly over to Xi Yan in a fit of anger.
Xi Yan had pretended to accept the banquet invitation, but had never actually intended to attend. Once he learned that Shoigu and almost all the others would be there, a wicked idea had occurred to him.
Hey, I have an idea!
So Xi Yan spent the forty thousand points he had earned in a single match to call in a JB-2 on the Central Grand Hotel. (BFV makes a cameo.)
In other words, the artillery aimed at the hotel and bombarded it mercilessly while the Army surrounded the entire building.
After more than ten full minutes of bombardment had emptied their entire stock of shells, Xi Yan still felt he had not quite had his fill.
Then Xi Yan ordered the special forces to move in and check whether anyone was playing hide-and-seek with him.
Anyone they found would be fed a little lead peanut on the spot.
Only afterward did he finally arrive to inspect the results, watching the great battle overhead along the way.
A heavy, bloody stench filled the air. Pieces of people littered the rubble, blasted everywhere.
Xi Yan took a deep breath, a faint flush of excitement rising in his cheeks.
"What a marvelous scent... My enemies should feel honored to have died at my hands!"
"Is his mental state really all right?" Prigozhin asked quietly.
"He'll live. Who gets through life without going a little crazy? Besides, who can rein him in now?" Yu Shuo took it in stride. He was squatting nearby, still using his Wristband to defend the territory of Great Han.
With no particular sorrow, they realized that Xi Yan had seized every ounce of power. Politically and militarily alike, he could rightfully be called a dictatorial Marshal.
And with the Marshal's right of succession by primogeniture on top of that...
Oh, hell. He really had become emperor!
It hadn't been like this just a few days ago... How had things changed so quickly?
Now all they could do was... Long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty, long may he reign! Welcome the great Emperor of the Interstellar Human Empire back to his throne!
There was little egalitarian sentiment in the Interstellar Human Military Junta. Whether they had an emperor or a dictatorial Marshal made no difference to them.
In the interstellar age, a strong, resolute imperial head of state could better protect the citizens. Failing that, they needed a powerful, centralized imperial institution.
"Marshal."
Two fully armed special forces soldiers dragged over a portly, middle-aged white man. "We found the rebel leader Shoigu in a corner at the edge of the hotel."
Xi Yan looked over in surprise.
Shoigu had lost every trace of his former arrogance. He was covered in dust and blood, and his mouth had been firmly gagged, depriving him of any chance to spew trash talk.
"He survived all that bombing?" Xi Yan sounded puzzled.
One of the soldiers immediately answered, "Marshal, to avoid hitting our own people, the artillery aimed most of its fire at the central area. This fellow hid along the edge right from the start."
"I see. Then I really did make the right call sending you in to search the place." Xi Yan nodded.
The two soldiers remained where they were. Xi Yan turned back to them and asked in confusion, "Why are you still here?"
"Marshal, you should decide how to deal with the rebel leader Shoigu."
"Hmm, fair enough. Have you interrogated him, then?" Xi Yan considered it.
"Yes. He has confessed to all his crimes and revealed where he hid his assets. There's no more intelligence to extract."
"Good." Xi Yan turned away again and said flatly, "Then, since you've gotten everything out of him, why keep him around? So he can keep consuming our food and manpower?"
"...Yes. Understood."
The two soldiers nodded, turned, and dragged Shoigu away. Moments later, several muffled gunshots sounded from behind the ruins.
"If you oppose me, you'd better be prepared to be suppressed by my heavy firepower." Xi Yan swayed his head as he muttered to himself, thoroughly pleased.
He summoned the special forces officer. "Young comrade, are there any other survivors?"
"Yes, Marshal." The officer stood ramrod straight, then nodded as he answered, "They survived our bombardment by hiding in an underground air-raid shelter. We're preparing to breach it."
"Hmm, they do have weapons. Rushing in would only cause unnecessary casualties, and I don't want you getting hurt." Xi Yan rubbed his chin, then raised a finger. "Hey, didn't I have you prepare an alternative plan? Bring it over."
"Yes, sir."
Two soldiers hauled over a large cylindrical alloy canister with considerable effort and gently set it on the ground.
An ominous yellow warning symbol was plainly emblazoned on the canister.
"Ah, I, Xi Yan, have always been merciful. I cannot bear to see others suffer."
Xi Yan touched the icy surface of the canister and shook his head with a sigh.
With the officer's help, he put on a gas mask, then turned his back and waved a hand.
"The air in the basement is terrible. Pump in some fresh air for them. Make them more comfortable."
With that, Xi Yan walked away with his hands behind his back, taking everyone well clear of the area.
"Yes, sir." The soldiers, also dressed in full protective suits, carried the canister to the basement entrance.
Before long, wisps of pale yellow smoke slowly drifted up through the shattered walls, quickly dissipating into the air.
Brilliant sunlight scorched the earth as General Veronica opened a pitch-black parasol over Xi Yan.
Before you continue