"Reporting!"
"Enter."
Guan Residence.
The guard strode into the Old Man's bedroom.
"Urgent telegram from the General Staff Department. We've lost contact with the Fourth War Zone and the Seventh Fleet."
"Should we send someone to confirm?"
The Old Man did not reply.
He silently rose and walked to the window with his hands behind his back.
No one knew what he was thinking, but his trembling cigarette-holding hand made it clear that he was very excited.
"I can't fight the Alliance, but you think I can't deal with a few nasty neighbors?"
The guard could not make out the Old Man's expression, but he heard every word clearly.
In the eyes of the older generation, those vicious neighbors posed a far greater threat than the bastards across the ocean.
"Pass on my orders."
"Yes, sir."
"The seas are rough. Poor signals... are perfectly normal."
"Tell the General Staff Department to carry on as usual. No one is to make a move without my orders."
"Also..." The Old Man stepped forward, his face flushed, and instructed, "Turn away all visitors. Tell them I'm sick, gravely sick, and fucking contagious."
"Bring the Guard Regiment over. No outsiders are to disturb me."
"Yes, sir."
Only after the guard had gone far away did the Old Man let out a heavy breath and murmur, "Old Sun, I've set the stage for you. Put on a grand show for the whole world."
"All personnel!"
Clack, clack, clack.
The moment over a hundred gun barrels pointed straight at the Kou Islanders outside the Imperial Palace.
The world fell silent.
Public outrage and national righteousness alike were silenced in the face of overwhelming firepower.
"If you want to talk reason, go talk to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I'm no good with words. All I