I chose the safe house, and the Human Alliance regretted it.

"What did you find?" Qi asked.

Wang Wei looked at Qi and shook his head. "No."

Wang Wei knew that even if he asked directly, Qi wouldn't tell him.

It would be better to wait and see, until all the people from the Yu Dynasty return.

If there are problems with the entire Yu Dynasty, they will naturally become apparent in time.

Qi withdrew his gaze and looked at the planet again.

Below, the people from the underground world emerged again, their vitality gradually returning.

"Let's go to the First Empire," Wang Wei suddenly said. "Trouble is coming, and your people have returned."

Qi's expression shifted. "You sensed it?"

"Mm," Wang Wei nodded.

"Okay," Qi's voice wavered slightly, "then let's go back."

Wang Wei remained silent, but the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

He took Qi's hand. "I'll take you back."

Qi was taken aback when Wang Wei held her hand.

Before she could pull it back, the two disappeared into the ruins of Yu.

Emperor Star City is a shop that does not cheat the poor.

Wang Wei pushed the door open and came in; Zi Jin was in the shop.

She heard the door open, looked up abruptly, and saw Wang Wei; she visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"They're back? The Empire has already begun its operation," Zi Jin said urgently.

"Hmm." Wang Wei walked in. "I know, trouble is indeed coming."

Zi Jin asked worriedly, "Will you step in to help the Empire overcome this crisis?"

Wang Wei smiled slyly: "It depends on your performance."

As he spoke, he reached out and pinched Zi Jin's chin.

Zi Jin blushed.

Wang Wei withdrew his hand, ceasing his teasing: "Let's get down to business."

"Bring me the star map of the eighteen empires," Wang Wei said.

Zi Jin's expression brightened, and he displayed the star map.

Wang Wei scanned the vast star fields of the eighteen empires and casually marked hundreds of planets in each of them.

He said, "Let these empires concentrate people on these planets."

"Okay," Zi Jin nodded. "I'll let them know."

"And then?" she asked.

"And then?" Wang Wei said softly, "Wait for trouble to come."

Zi Jin was puzzled, but seeing Wang Wei's expression, she still chose to comply.

The news spread to all eighteen empires on the same day.

Based on the planets designated by Wang Wei, the empire began a large-scale migration and preparation for war.

Wang Wei was confident that he could stop the so-called chaos.

But just to be on the safe side, and also for the sake of my reputation.

He still allowed these empires to transfer all their people to their own territories.

The First Empire's capital, Purple Emperor Star, issued its first mobilization order, extremely brief in content and coldly worded:

"The entire Empire is on final alert. All non-combat personnel must evacuate to their designated star systems within seventy-two hours."

"All Tier 3 personnel are to be immediately integrated into the Imperial combat force. All starships, weapons, and supplies are to be placed under the unified command of the Empire."

Evergreen Empire, Xuantian Empire, Dayan Empire, Cangwu Empire, Yaoguang Empire, Beidou Empire...

Seventeen empires all released similar content within half a day.

The wording and tone may differ, but the core message remains the same:

Aside from combat personnel, the entire empire's forces are being mobilized in preparation for a major war.

In the border star system of the Evergreen Empire, transport fleets are sending non-combatants to designated planets.

On the industrial planet of the Hunyuan Empire, all factory assembly lines have been converted to military supply mode.

The civilian production line was dismantled and converted into a military production line.

For the source ore, the Eighteen Empires adopted a near-scorched-earth approach to frantically process energy fluid.

The fleets of the eighteen empires completed an unprecedented convergence on the star map.

Star-destroying warships, meteor-star warships, small frigates, supply ships, medical ships, reconnaissance ships...

—All flying objects departed from their respective bases and converged on the same coordinate.

The First Empire, a planetary spaceport

The last old warship, carrying a group of people of all ages, slowly rose into the air, and the dockworkers looked up to watch it fly away.

The number of Imperial ships was so large that the Joint Command's star map system needed to be refreshed three times in a row to fully load all the points of light.

The points of light on the star map changed from sparse to dense, from dense to thick, and from thick to a whole nebula that was slowly rotating.

The Allied Forces Headquarters was where eighteen heads of state gathered.

The command center displays a holographic projection of the commanders-in-chief of all eighteen fleets.

The First Empire's ruler rose: "Gentlemen, there was no pre-planned strategy for this battle. We have no way out. Victory or death!"

The empire was prepared for total destruction.

The most direct manifestation of all this was that even the commercial street in Emperor Star City gradually darkened.

As night fell, the streetlights in the commercial area were turned off one by one, and the doors were closed one by one, until only the lights at the end of the street remained on.

The lights were a cold color, like a row of emotionless eyes.

Everyone is doing the same thing.

All the warships are converging in the same direction.

The empire brought out everything it could, and then silently took its place.

The eighteen empires used the last ounce of their strength.

The Empire will prevail.

However, while the empire was on emergency mobilization, Wang Wei was leisurely sitting in the shop drinking, and Bai Lu was summoned by him to serve him.

"Want to try some?" Wang Wei handed Qi a cup.

Qi sat opposite her, picked up the glass of wine, took a sip, and put it down again, her brows furrowing slightly.

He was clearly dissatisfied with the taste of the wine.

Qi put down his wine glass. "You seem very confident."

Wang Wei laughed, "At worst, we can just run away."

"The problem that the Yu Dynasty couldn't solve in ten thousand years, you can't expect me to solve it all by myself, can you?"

Qi looked at Wang Wei and remained silent.

She sensed that Wang Wei's attitude towards her had changed.

Wang Wei picked up his glass of wine, took a sip, put it down, suddenly stood up, reached out and grabbed Bai Lu's wrist, and walked towards the third floor.

A moment later, some inappropriate sounds came down from upstairs.

Qi frowned.

She took a deep breath and went outside.

On the third floor, on the suspended bed

"Um... ooh... you... did it on purpose..." Bai Lu said haltingly, her face flushed.

"What do you mean by 'intentionally'?" Wang Wei asked.

Bai Lu whispered, "You... did it... to... um... to spite her?"

Bai Lu refers to Qi.

"Am I that bored?" Wang Wei joked. "You can try to keep quiet."

"You scoundrel... um... ooh..."

The gloom of war hangs over the empire, but springtime shines brightly here.

For several days in a row, Wang Wei did not come downstairs.

Qi became increasingly irritable, and at one point couldn't help but go upstairs to confront Wang Wei.

But Bai Lu's groans forced him to retreat.

Qi stood alone outside the door. The commercial street was deserted, from the entrance to the end.

On the seventh day, the sky over Imperial Star City turned red.

At first, it was just a light blush on the horizon, like the afterglow before sunrise.

Then that crimson hue began to spread, deepen, and cover the entire sky.

The starlight was tinged with that red, and the shadows cast on the ground turned into a somber reddish-gray.

Wang Weicai slowly put on his clothes.

"Here it comes."

He whispered.