Chapter 1406: Chapter 530: Differences

Long before Liu An ascended the throne, the Nanxiang Liu Family had actually been secretly manipulating the Shattered Star Ring for tens of thousands of years through remote control methods. However, their techniques were not as extreme as Liu An’s, who even went so far as to modify genes. Consequently, their level of control over the Shattered Star Ring was not as strong as Liu An’s.

It’s not that the Liu ancestors couldn’t achieve this, but rather that there was no need.

At the time, the Nanxiang Liu Family had not become as powerful as they are today, were still far from the rank of Marquis, and lacked the reputation of being one of the Empire’s strongest Earls. Excessively aggressive methods would have aroused suspicion and invited attacks.

Only until Liu An’s generation did they leverage the accumulated efforts of many generations, put all their strength into seizing the last opportunity, and utilize various strategies—both visible and covert, relaxed and stringent—finally achieving today’s situation.

Throughout the Liu Family’s continuous rise, the Five Elder Clan underwent years of transformation, evolving from a force that could pressure Earls to eventually being forced to subdue and hide. In fact, many rulers within the Five Elder Clan, upon reviewing history, have had to face a harsh reality.

The reality was that the pirate groups of the Five Elder Clan, occupying the remote and frigid border regions, were stronger, more determined, and more potent in various aspects compared to the Empire’s civilians living in luxury inside the Nanxiang Star Cluster. It was akin to how humans from the Empire, since the beginning of Origin at Source Star, were rumored that those born in high-latitude frigid zones were often better warriors than those born in bountiful mid-to-low latitude regions.

The reason why the Five Elder Clan seemed powerless against the formidable Liu Family, aside from the unique abilities and titles of the Nanxiang Liu Family, stronger than the past Nanxiang Marquis, was primarily because, despite the Shattered Star Ring being close to the Nanxiang Star Cluster, a Fold Jump Subspace Channel could never be established. Therefore, transportation relied on ships traveling at speeds far below the speed of light, excluding them from the Empire’s system. They couldn’t publicly receive comprehensive technological support nor conduct trade activities in a reasonable, legal, and safe manner, and have always depended on the black market rules firmly controlled by the Nanxiang Liu Family.

In the past, even those whose wealth matched top Viscounts were constantly pursued by disasters, forced to abandon homes and flee for life, rebuilding from scratch, living primitively. With no seasons, civilian young often fell ill; no day-night cycle led to biological clocks dependent entirely on personal lighting, yet even lighting costs considerably more energy than others; no gravitational pull meant most people’s bones didn’t grow normally, appearing tall, but their bones were as fragile as thin pancakes. To train warriors, they had to expend energy and materials to construct gravity platforms for growth; even breathing fresh air required energy costs.

The above hardships are merely a fraction of the countless sufferings experienced by these border refugees. To write it all down would easily require a lengthy document of tens of thousands of words.

If they were truly bottom-tier civilians, with no hope, only obliviously drifting along with the aim to live another day as the sole belief, then it would be another story.

However, as long as there are people, there will be classes. Once in a position of vested interests, there’s always a desire for a better life and more gains. Yet, the people within the Five Elder Clan lacked identity, registration, and were not accepted by the system, fundamentally unable to improve their circumstances.

Thus, Liu An’s transfer of power was akin to completely lifting the shackles that had hung over the Shattered Star Ring pirate communities for countless years, providing tremendous hope to the Five Elder Clan rulers, who, despite having profound foundations, were perpetually forced to remain outside the Empire, enduring bitter lives.

Therefore, it didn’t take much effort for the Five Elder Clan to, under Grune’s diplomatic coordination, each deploy their entire forces and begin assembling their armies.

The remaining pirate groups within the Shattered Star Ring, after years of hibernation, once again put forward all their accumulated assets, traversing the donut-like regions of the Shattered Star Ring by either conventional flight or utilizing Fold Jump Subspace Channels, marching extensively toward the assembly points.

Perhaps it was coincidental, or perhaps destined by fate, that the headquarters established around the Pacquiao Pirate Group’s Staff Department, after precise calculations, soon reached a conclusion: based on simulation, the Alliance Army could just manage to complete the assembly of the grand army right before the Red Blade’s Second Expeditionary Army crossed in a direct line, and this assembly wasn’t at a single point. Upon each reaching their designated combat zones, it could perfectly form a spatial blockade against the Red Blade’s Second Expeditionary Army.

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