The sky brightened early. The purple canopy of the Silent Sun Galaxy shed its dark gloom, replaced by a translucent light violet.
Jiang Lijin pushed open the door, and a smoky, savory aroma wafted through the courtyard.
Tian Que stood by the stone table, tongs in hand, flipping slices of meat on an iron griddle. The meat was cut paper-thin, oil sizzling as it was forced out by the high heat. He still wore his black combat suit, a particle blade holstered at his waist, yet the barbecue task didn’t seem out of place at all.
Hearing the door open, Tian Que glanced over: "Ready to eat."
Jiang Lijin walked over and looked at the griddle. Besides the meat, there were a few golden-fried alien bird eggs.
Xiao Yi swallowed in her mind: [Host, Tian Que’s cooking—such a waste he doesn’t run a street stall.]
Jiang Lijin ignored it, washed her hands, and sat down at the table.
The courtyard gate was pushed open from outside. Tian Yan strode in lightly, green eyes gleaming with the crafty satisfaction of a successful scheme.
"Good news," Tian Yan said, pulling out a chair. "The main star took the bait."
Tian Que shot him a glance without speaking, sliding the plate piled with grilled meat in front of Jiang Lijin.
"Give me the details," Jiang Lijin said, picking up her chopsticks and taking a piece of meat.
Tian Yan leaned in. "Late last night, I had someone dump that batch of experimental waste laced with the corrupted formula into the main star’s largest underground auction house. That place is a den of snakes and dragons—the old emperor’s spies are always watching. Sure enough, the waste hadn’t even been up for half an hour before some anonymous buyer snapped it all up. Tracking signals show it went straight into the Royal Intelligence Bureau’s underground lab."
Jiang Lijin bit into the meat—crispy on the outside, tender inside, perfectly cooked. "And the old emperor’s reaction?"
"Panicked," Tian Yan laughed, pulling over a chair to sit. "The Royal Intelligence Bureau restored seventy percent of the formula overnight. Coincidentally, seventy percent of that formula overlaps heavily with the spiritual stabilizer the old emperor drinks daily. The only addition was a purified version of Soul-Eroding Grass."
Soul-Eroding Grass: a high-tier toxin that slowly destroys neurons. Colorless, odorless, long-term consumption leads to spiritual power depletion and eventually brain death.
Chiron pushed open the door of the west wing and walked out. His eyes carried the weariness of an all-nighter. He approached the table and set a terminal on its surface.
"I sent a little assist too," Chiron said, voice slightly hoarse. "At three in the morning, the old archive of the Central Hospital was hit by a hacker attack. The opponent was covert, but I deliberately left a backdoor. They stole an encrypted medical report."
Jiang Lijin looked up. "The old emperor’s?"
"Yes," Chiron said, pouring himself a glass of water. "The report showed trace amounts of Soul-Eroding Grass toxins in the patient’s system. It was timestamped six months ago, with the attending physician’s name being Graven’s most trusted confidant."
Tian Yan clapped his hands. "Beautiful! The formula plus the medical report—the evidence chain is complete. The old emperor’s been bedridden for years and paranoid by nature. He’s probably furious by now."
Jiang Lijin swallowed her food and wiped her hands with a napkin. Both of them worked with ruthless efficiency, the series of traps laid flawlessly.
"Any movement from Tinia?" she asked.
"Glad you mentioned that. That kid Tinia is a genius when it comes to PR."
"He leaked Graven’s lab’s entire financial flow, highlighting the massive expenditure on buying Soul-Eroding Grass. Now every netizen in the galaxy is guessing what Graven needed all that poison for."
Jiang Lijin watched the scrolling data, tapping her fingers rhythmically on the table.
"The old emperor won’t sit idly by," she analyzed. "Graven is dead, but his interest groups are still alive. Once the old emperor is sure Graven poisoned him, his first step will be to wipe out these people."
No sooner had she spoken than Tian Yan’s terminal blinked red—a top-priority alert.
Tian Yan opened the encrypted channel, scanned the incoming message, and his green pupils narrowed instantly.
"Right on the money," Tian Yan said, voice brimming with excitement. "Ten minutes ago, the Royal Guard surrounded the mansions of three cabinet ministers. All three were Graven’s die-hard loyalists. The emperor ordered them removed from office on charges of treason and sent to the Imperial Prison."
Chiron froze, cup in hand. "Those three control nearly a third of the main star’s city defense force. Pushing them like that will force a rebellion."
"They’ve already rebelled," Tian Yan said, scrolling to the bottom of the dispatch. "The city defense forces refused to hand over command and exchanged fire with the Royal Guard in the Third District. The main star is now under full lockdown, the spaceport sealed."
Civil war had broken out—faster than Jiang Lijin had anticipated.
The old emperor, blinded by the fear of poison, had pushed Graven’s remnants into a desperate fight for survival. The empire’s core fortress of power was crumbling from within.
Jiang Lijin leaned back in her chair, watching the battle reports flash on the holographic screen.
Tinia’s money, Tian Yan’s intelligence network, Chiron’s fake data. Three forces working together had cornered a massive empire into the brink of internal collapse.
"What about Baal?" Jiang Lijin suddenly asked. With the main star in chaos, the Federation wouldn’t just do nothing.
Tian Yan pulled up a public notice from the Federation Military Command. It was just a single line.
[Federation First Fleet Commander, General Baal, announces starting today a live-fire military exercise in the border star zone, lasting two weeks. Nearby main star residents have been evacuated.]
That position was right where the city defense forces and the Royal Guard had clashed.
Jiang Lijin smiled.
Baal wasn’t running an exercise—this was a blatant threat, while also ensuring the evacuation of main star civilians and building public goodwill.
Four men, each pushing their limits to perfection.
"This game is satisfying," Jiang Lijin said, raising her water glass like a toast to the people at the table. "Good work."
Tian Yan grinned and clinked his glass with hers. "As long as the boss is happy."
Chiron also raised his glass. The cups met with a crisp sound.
Tian Que didn’t pick up a cup. He used his tongs to place the last piece of grilled meat into Jiang Lijin’s empty plate, his voice calm: "Eat more. You’re too thin."
One sentence shattered the tense, strategic atmosphere they’d just built.
Tian Yan rolled his eyes, utterly exasperated by his brother’s lack of romantic finesse.
Jiang Lijin looked at the meat on her plate and then at Tian Que’s stoic profile. She picked up her chopsticks and ate it.
Xiao Yi was drowning in pink bubbles in her mind: [Wow~ Tian Que is so good at this! Who doesn’t love a loyal, silently feeding dog type!]
After breakfast, Tian Yan went to the underground communications room to follow up on intelligence. Chiron returned to his room to continue polishing the medical data loopholes, ensuring the emperor’s people couldn’t find flaws.
By afternoon, Tian Yan came out of the underground communications room with the latest battle update.
"The three cabinet old-timers got away," Tian Yan said, downing a gulp of cold tea. "They broke through with their remaining troops, hijacked three starships from the spaceport, and fled the main star."
"Which direction?" Jiang Lijin asked.
“Chaos Star Sector.” Tianyan’s green eyes flickered with a hint of cunning. “I’ve already had everything prepared over there. Once they land, we’ll strip them clean of their remaining funds and weapons. Call it recycling.”
Jiang Lijin let out a soft laugh. That guy really knew how to wring every last drop out of a situation.
“What about the old emperor?”
“She was so furious she coughed up several mouthfuls of blood and completely passed out.” Tianyan shrugged. “The medical team’s doing everything they can to revive her. But she was already bedridden and clinging to life. Now that the corrosion herb’s toxicity has been fully triggered, she doesn’t have long left.”
The supreme ruler of the empire was about to fall.
And the one who had set it all in motion was sitting right here in the black market courtyard, drinking tea and enjoying the breeze.
“Notify Baal.” Jiang Lijin stood up and brushed off the non-existent dust from his clothes. “The act has gone on long enough. Send someone to contact those escaped cabinet ministers. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Federation needs them to keep causing chaos inside the empire.”
Tianyan made an OK gesture. “Got it.”
Jiang Lijin turned and went back into his room.
