Suo Kexiao stayed with Su Shuang and did not leave, holding numerous intentional talks. Moreover, on this planet initially inhabited only by a primitive civilization, Suo Kexiao even hooked up with a girl for the night.
The principle of non-interference by the Galactic High Governance Council was completely abandoned here in the Galactic Empire. The Galactic Emperor, boasting himself as the ruler of the Galaxy, intended to bring every race and civilization within the Galaxy under his control. Not long ago, Su Shuang arrived here and casually destroyed a nation still in its Feudal Era. Unlike Bai Zhongqi, who would reconstruct societies benevolently, Su Shuang only established various facilities in the locations he chose. This left the people of Sid Star in a state of panic and anarchy. Nonetheless, a few were drafted by Su Shuang to perform some service-oriented work.
The next day, Su Shuang and Suo Kexiao received an order from the Galactic Emperor to take over more than thirty civilizations in the Orion Arm.
These thirty-plus civilizations were originally members of the Snow Dragon Alliance in the Snow Dragon Galaxy.
"It seems that Star Devourer has a stronghold here," Suo Kexiao remarked, growing a bit more serious.
He flashed a sly smile, looking at Su Shuang and asked, "Shall we take a little revenge?"
Su Shuang made his signature gesture, furrowing his brows.
"The strength of the Iridium Star is trapped in the New Orion Arm. Here in Orion Arm-5 Star Sector, they have only one planet and three fleet-sized military forces. Compared to the overall might of the Iridium Star United Empire, which might even be greater than several major forces combined, provoking a fleet of three fleets seems a bit like kicking someone when they're down."
Suo Kexiao chuckled, "What, has Divine General Su Shuang forgotten the days when Star Devourer schooled him? It's okay to settle a small score now and then settle a bigger one later."
"I only have two fleets, and you have only two as well. Our warships are an assorted bunch, although all upgraded with 'Crystal Cube Core'. But the weakest are only level 25, 26, and the strongest barely reach 29, scarcely any above level 30. I am not one to be blindly confident; Star Devourer is a formidable opponent and his fleets won't be easy to defeat."
Suo Kexiao smiled lightly and asked, "How many Crystal Cube Cores do you still have?"
"About two thousand five hundred," Su Shuang replied.
"Hmm, I still have over eighteen hundred," said Suo Kexiao.
Su Shuang asked, "Where do you plan to find warships?"
"Aren't we about to take over those thirty-plus civilizations? They have warships, don't they? With one round of upgrades, it won't take long, and we could assemble at least eight thousand advanced warships. I admit that Star Devourer's military strength is not weak, but a standalone stronghold planet and three fleets in the outer reaches of space, do they match up to our nearly strategic fleet group level force?"
Originally, a part of the Snow Dragon Galaxy was ripped away, forming the current Orion Arm-5 Star Sector on the Orion Arm. The Galactic Empire, following the standards of the Galactic Emperor, had already started demarcating astronomical regions for the newly formed galaxy. The eight major spiral arms were designated as eight Great Star Zones, and the star sectors below the Great Star Zones no longer had distinct names, but were differentiated by the name of the spiral arm followed by numbers.
Ever since the merger of the galaxies, the civilizations of the Snow Dragon Alliance in the Orion Arm-5 Star Sector have been living in constant dread. Initially under the political guidance of the Iridium Star United Empire, after the merger of the galaxies, Nuoye Star also lost the support from the Empire's homeland. Moreover, Bai Zhongqi had instructed Nuoye Star to adopt a more conservative strategy, thus the dependent relationship between Snow Dragon Alliance and Iridium Star had begun to loosen.
The complete dissolution of this dependency occurred following the Galactic Emperor's decree across the Galaxy.
Although the decree was said to be transmitted, at least Bai Zhongqi did not receive it in the Orion Arm. This so-called decree was actually transmitted multiple times, each time in different star sectors. The Galactic Emperor dispatched a large number of envoy ships, traveling at Critical Curve Speed to various locations, then using them as communication relays, transmitting the message in electromagnetic waves to "proclaim to all under heaven."
"The Galactic Empire returns, the mighty Galactic Emperor invites all intelligent creatures of the galaxy to pay homage, and will lead you to prosperity, completely eradicated the cosmic and galactic disasters."
The prowess of the Galactic Empire, backed by several already submissive major civilizations, made this material quite persuasive. Some civilizations submitted to the Galactic Empire without any resistance.
The Snow Dragon Alliance also received a specific decree not long ago, but unlike the civilizations from the Second Universe, the submission of the major heads did not carry much confirmatory significance. Rather, some powerful features of the Galactic Empire, such as military fleets, industrial manufacturing, and super-technology footage and manufacturing parameters, had astonished all the civilizations within the Snow Dragon Alliance.
After all, only two civilizations were high-level civilizations, merely at level 25. The prestige and capabilities of the Galactic Empire were far beyond these civilizations' imaginations.
When Su Shuang and Suo Kexiao led the Galactic Empire's advance fleet to the capital star of Light Valley Civilization, Light Valley Star, they encountered no resistance.
The leader of the Light Valley Civilization bowed respectfully to the two Divine Generals, stating, "We are very fortunate to become a part of the Galactic Empire, and we hope that the political status of independent governance promised by the Galactic Emperor to each civilization can be upheld."
Suo Kexiao responded casually with a smile, "Mr. Leader, you need not worry. Whatever you have been managing in the Light Valley Civilization can continue as before. If there were previous demands for you to engage in unequal exchanges, now under the decree of the Galactic Emperor, no one can threaten you. Of course, the small civilizations you have threatened before can now bring forward the decree of the Galactic Emperor to refuse paying tribute or engaging in unequal exchanges."
The leader of the Light Valley Civilization had already realized this point to some extent, but in this chaotic environment, having a real solid backer was still most important. Anyway, they had previously aligned themselves with Iridium Star, and now that Iridium Star could no longer be relied upon, switching to the Galactic Empire was a logical step.
Su Shuang continued, "It seems you were previously reliant on the Iridium Star United Empire. The Galactic Emperor has now classified Iridium Star as a calamity, marking it as a common target for retribution across the Galaxy. I understand that there is an Iridium Star stronghold on a planet in Orion Arm-5 Star Sector, and now I need you to provide some warships to join the punitive force I lead."
The leader of Light Valley Civilization waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "That's not possible, our warships are much weaker compared to those of the Iridium Star, and we can't match them."
Suo Kexiao laughed, "You don't have to worry about that. The technological strength of the Galactic Empire is beyond your imagination. Just provide the warships, and we naturally have the ability to make them capable of combating those of the Iridium Star. It serves us no benefit to send you off to die in vain. As Divine Generals under the Galactic Emperor, we need to maintain our dignity; winning disgracefully could jeopardize our future prospects for promotion, right?"
The leader of Light Valley Civilization was skeptical, but at that moment, he didn't have much room to refuse.