Chapter 375: Fallen Star, Handling Loose Ends, Mercy
The ownership of this planet belonged to the East Galaxy Company, a subsidiary of the Tang Group.
As the president of the East Galaxy Company, Elder Mandel's favorite thing to do was sit by the floor-to-ceiling window in his top floor office, nine hundred and ninety-nine meters high, smoking his pipe and watching the bustling scene outside.
He counted the airships flying past one by one, and the warships docked at the spaceport one by one. For Elder Mandel, he wasn't counting vehicles, but money.
Those Marauders and Space Pirates who were unwelcome on other planets were the best guests for Fallen Star. After all, they brought supplies and galactic credits. Counting money was undoubtedly the happiest thing for Elder Mandel. Once upon a time, although he had some connections in Knowhere, he only had a few shops. He had never dreamed that he could reach this point.
As the president of the East Galaxy Company, his power radiated across Fallen Star and hundreds of nearby habitable planets. The East Galaxy Company's energy trade directly and indirectly influenced tens of thousands of civilizations.
Some outsiders even called him the Governor of the Eastern Galaxy.
Governor! Elder Mandel liked this appellation. He half-reclined on his lounge chair, smoking the jade-stemmed pipe personally bestowed upon him by the Big Boss. White smoke curled from his nostrils beneath his curved horns.
He liked this plant from Earth; it allowed his mind to relax amidst his busy schedule and helped him enter a state of meditation.
"Hmm?"
Elder Mandel held his pipe, watching the spaceships and warships that brought wealth to Fallen Star. His gaze passed through the modified porthole glass, looking at the half-empty spaceport. His eyes instantly narrowed. His already small rhinoceros eyes were now squinted into mere slits.
"Kaimi!!"
Elder Mandel tapped twice in the void. The glass porthole in front of him turned into a virtual screen. On the other side of the projection was a rather large office. A rhino man who bore some resemblance to Elder Mandel was embracing a white rhino woman, whispering something in her ear that made the white rhino woman giggle uncontrollably.
His hand was rubbing the white rhino woman's body, and his face, which had rhino horns, was nuzzling against the female rhinoceros's face.
Elder Mandel's virtual projection suddenly appeared before him, startling the young rhino man, who quickly let go of his secretary's hand and jumped up from the sofa.
"Uncle!" the young rhino man called out nervously to Elder Mandel.
Elder Mandel looked at his nephew from the same clan, his face filled with disappointment: "Call me President at the Company!"
"Yes, President! Is there something you need me for?" The young rhino man waved his hand, dismissing his secretary from the office, and looked at his uncle fawningly.
"Why have there been so few Marauders coming to Fallen Star recently? You're in charge of the spaceport's management, you should know what's going on?" Elder Mandel inquired.
The young rhino man suddenly understood: "Uncle, President, you're asking about this. I've inquired, and it's because the Sovereigns' fleet attacked a batch of goods we were transporting last time. Now, everyone in the Eastern Galaxy is saying that the Sovereigns are going to take action against Fallen Star. These Space Pirates and Marauders are all in a wait and see state for safety. The number of ships entering the spaceport has decreased by one-third recently!"
"Sovereign!" Elder Mandel took a puff from his pipe. As an old businessman who had been involved in the black market for so many years, Elder Mandel naturally knew the Sovereigns – arrogant and proud. However, Sovereign's strength was undeniable.
If they really attacked Fallen Star, things would be quite troublesome. However, the conflict with the Sovereigns had already been reported to President Ryan, and he believed the Big Boss would send someone soon.
But there was still one matter to handle right now.
Two rays of cold light seemed to shoot out from Elder Mandel's eyes as he looked at his nephew from the same clan: "What about that batch of goods?"
"President, uh, Uncle, what goods are you talking about?" Kaimi stammered, facing Elder Mandel's unusually serious face. "It's that batch of goods originally scheduled to be sent back to headquarters, that batch of jade stones!"
"Uncle, wasn't that batch of jade stones destroyed by the Sovereigns' fleet? You know that!" Kaimi insisted, despite the cold sweat dripping down his back.
Elder Mandel glared sternly at Kaimi, "Come to my office. There are some things I need to tell you face-to-face!"
Without waiting for Kaimi to speak, Elder Mandel directly ended the virtual communication.
Kaimi, feeling uneasy, put on a jacket and drove a hovering airship to Elder Mandel's office. That building was also the center of the entire Fallen Star.
Kaimi looked out through the airship's porthole. Despite the impact of the Sovereigns, the number of pirates coming to Fallen Star to fence stolen goods had decreased significantly, but Fallen Star still lived up to its name, filled with a bustling atmosphere of bright lights and alcohol... Various airships, small spaceships, and hovering vehicles traveled along the different routes, and the streets below were also crowded with people. Especially the weapons shops and entertainment venues along the streets, business was still booming.
Casinos, red-light districts, bars – although the ways of playing and the people were different from Earth, what was the same was that these places, along with the black market, supported Fallen Star, this den of debauchery.
Many Space Pirates and Marauders brought in supplies by the shipload. After selling them, the galactic credits in their hands hadn't even warmed up before they were turned into alcohol, beverages, and drinks and other consumables.
Then they would order a few alien dancers of different flavors, and large sums of galactic credits would be spent.
These Marauders coming and going from Fallen Star were not pushovers, but the security of Fallen Star was abnormally good.
The reason for this naturally relied on the teams of iron soldiers patrolling in the sky. These mechanical soldiers loaded with heavy firepower, with their thick energy cannon ports, were enough to make any Marauder who got drunk and started causing trouble calm down.
Not to mention the Escort Fleet that was permanently suspended in outer space at the spaceport.
However, whether it was the energy consumption of tens of thousands of iron soldiers patrolling back and forth every day, or the supplies for that Escort Fleet, converted into galactic credits, it was an astronomical figure. But compared to the revenue brought by Fallen Star, this energy consumption was just a drop in the bucket.
Kaimi drove his airship, watching the prosperous scenes along the way, his heart burning with fervor. The idea in his mind grew stronger. As long as he could persuade his uncle, this den of debauchery that earned a fortune every day would be... The airship quickly arrived at the center of Fallen Star, a vast complex of buildings covering tens of thousands of acres. This was also the headquarters of the East Galaxy Company. The density of patrolling iron soldiers here was at least ten times stronger than in other places. On the hundred-meter-high city wall, every two or three meters, there was a gargoyle sculpture crouching. Every ten meters or so, there was a large-caliber energy turret. These large-caliber energy cannons had a range of up to thirty thousand kilometers, and their force was enough to shatter the protective shield of a normal Tier 2 starship.
Of course, the price of these energy cannons was also terrifyingly high. The price of one main cannon was comparable to a normal quasi-Tier 2 warship.
And the entire East Galaxy Company had hundreds of energy cannons installed on this city wall alone.
Besides the regular iron soldiers, there were also some mechanical guards with different appearances from the iron soldiers patrolling here. However, no one had ever seen these mechanical bodies called Sentinels deployed.
Or rather, intruders who had alarmed these Sentinel Robots had never been left alive.
With hovering energy cannons everywhere and laser ports hidden in the dark, Kaimi's airship was immediately locked onto as soon as it reached the nearby airspace. If it weren't for the identity recognition on Kaimi's airship,
The strict security system, without even a warning, the dense firepower would have instantly blown up his airship.
"Uncle!"
After passing through layers of security check, Kaimi arrived at the top floor office and saw his biological uncle, Elder Mandel, the President/CEO of the East Galaxy Company, a subsidiary of the Tang Group.
As soon as Kaimi arrived at the office, Elder Mandel threw a set of documents at his face. Kaimi picked up the documents and, after just one glance, his complexion turned pale, and his rhino horns trembled slightly.
"Tell me, what's going on with that jade stone mine?"
Elder Mandel looked at his nephew with a cold face and gave a cold laugh: "If the Sovereigns hadn't attacked the fleet this time, I really wouldn't have known that the owner of those jade stone mines on Luoman Planet turned out to be my nephew!"
"You guys are really bold! Modifying the company's survey results and taking three mining planets under your name! Then reselling the jade stones to the company and making huge profits! Kaimi, I really underestimated you before!"
"Uncle, listen to my explanation, this wasn't just my idea!" Kaimi said somewhat flustered: "Tucker, and Uncle Durren also participated, this was everyone's idea!"
"Uncle, you've done so much for the company, it's not too much for us rhino people to get some benefit, right? Besides, Uncle, some things are only truly yours when you get them in hand..."
"Enough!" Elder Mandel directly interrupted Kaimi, his voice low: "Kaimi, I don't care whose idea this was, this matter has damaged the company's interests, and I will report everything to the Big Boss!"
Tapping his emerald jade stone ashtray, Elder Mandel warned: "This matter ends here. I've done some things for the company these past few years, and I have some standing with President Ryan. Hand over the property rights to those few planets, and the company won't make things difficult for you. But you can't stay on Fallen Star. Take a sum of money and go back to your homeworld! The money you've saved these past few years is enough for you to live a wealthy life on your homeworld!"
Kaimi took a deep breath. He looked at the uncle he had always feared, rubbed his hands repeatedly, and finally mustered his courage: "Uncle, the expansion of the East Galaxy Company over the past few years has all been driven by you. You keep talking about the Tang Group, but in my opinion, you are the owner of the East Galaxy Company, the owner of Fallen Star!"
Elder Mandel looked at his nephew with a strange gaze and sighed heavily: "So, what are you planning to do!?"
"Uncle, this conflict with Sovereign is an opportunity. We should take this opportunity, using the Sovereigns, to completely seize this Star Zone. This will be the place of our people's rise!"
Kaimi waved his hands, describing the future prospect to Elder Mandel with some fervor: "In the future, our people will also become overlords of the universe, just like the Kree and the Nova Corps members!"
Elder Mandel gave his cheap nephew a cold look, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes. He asked casually, as if unintentionally:
"Is this just your idea?"
Kaimi shook his head: "Uncle, this is the idea of all the members of our rhino Revival Society. This Fallen Star belongs to our clan, and so does the East Galaxy Company!"
"We can't keep doing this, Uncle. Why should outsiders take the lion's share of what we've worked so hard for?" Kaimi said indignantly: "I feel it's unfair to you, Uncle..." He puffed out his chest, saying proudly: "Uncle, over the past few years, our people have placed their own manpower in various departments of the East Galaxy Company. As long as you give the command, the East Galaxy Company will be your own! If you fear the Tang Group, we can also cooperate with the Sovereigns! I've already talked to them, and they will send a fleet to provide reinforcements!"
"You've made a fool of yourself!" Elder Mandel looked at his cheap nephew with disgust, but his gaze shifted to the side of the office, a bitter smile on his face.
"Who, who is there!" Kaimi followed Elder Mandel's gaze and saw that in the previously empty spot, the air rippled, and a man with something like a rooster comb on his head was sitting cross-legged, picking his teeth, half-reclining on the sofa.
Next to the sofa was a metal cage, inside which was a Rocket Raccoon, baring his teeth and claws, wearing armor.
"Yondu! Why are you here!?" Kaimi looked at the unkempt man before him. It was Yondu Udonta, the Cobra Commander of Fallen Star's Mercenary Fleet!
"Every family has a rebellious child. Back then, mine was also hated by everyone and everything, always wanting to go against me!" Yondu said in a hoarse voice, grinning sinisterly at Kaimi, the little rhino man, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth.
"Uncle!" Kaimi was so scared he kept retreating, turning to his uncle for help.
In his opinion, as long as his uncle stood on his side, they could completely bury Yondu here. Perhaps they could even take the opportunity to seize command authority over the Mercenary Fleet.
Elder Mandel looked at his nephew, who was arrogant but lacked ability, with disgust and gave a cold laugh: "Idiot, you're scared like this by just one Yondu, and you still want to seize the East Galaxy Company? Tell me, what ability do you have? Can you command warships in combat? Or can you coordinate the administrative management of Fallen Star? Useless! I let you manage the spaceport, and you keep having problems. Besides hiding in the office and playing with women, what else can you do?"
Kaimi's complexion turned red from Elder Mandel's scolding, and white steam faintly rose from his rhino horns. He tried to retort several times but couldn't muster the courage under Elder Mandel's icy gaze.
"Gah gah gah gah gah!" Yondu laughed, his voice hoarse: "Looks like you haven't told this nephew of yours what we are in pursuit of?"
Elder Mandel looked at Kaimi with disappointment and shook his head.
"I didn't tell him about the Immortal Register. I didn't even tell them about the Big Boss's great power! Since I took the position of president of East Galaxy, I originally planned to help my homeworld's people within a limited scope. Oh, you should understand, that's human nature!"
Elder Mandel looked at Yondu.
Yondu let out a strange laugh: "Of course, I understand. After I took command of the fleet, the first thing I did was stuff the old guys who followed me into the fleet!"
"President Ryan is relatively easy to talk to, as long as you don't delay his matters!"
Elder Mandel rubbed his forehead: "Yes, the company has always been very lenient in this regard, but I didn't expect these stupid, despicable, unsalvageable junk to actually target the company's interests.
That batch of jade stone mines is related to the Boss's progress in building the Heavenly Court, and they actually dared to embezzle! And they were audacious enough to collude with Sovereign and attempt a rebellion!"
"The person sent by the Big Boss will be here soon, you'd better handle loose ends cleanly!" Yondu sized up Kaimi, grinning at Elder Mandel: "Do you need my help?"
As Yondu spoke, he blew a whistle, and a red light circled around Kaimi nimbly, scaring him into trembling.
It wasn't that Kaimi hadn't seen Yondu's indestructible Yaka Arrow. During his time on Fallen Star, he had personally witnessed many troublesome Space Pirates and Marauders die under this Yaka Arrow. But he never expected that one day, he would be pointed at by the Yaka Arrow.
Under Yondu's control, he could even feel the cold sensation of the Yaka Arrow's arrowhead grazing his body. He, who had always boasted of being a tough guy in front of his secretary, trembled uncontrollably.
"I won't trouble you. After all, he's my own nephew!"
Under Kaimi's tearful and grateful gaze, Elder Mandel shook his fat body and rose from the lounge chair. He walked over to Kaimi and patted his shoulder.
"Uncle!—"
Kaimi looked up at his uncle, the gratitude on his face not yet faded,
"Don't blame Uncle!"
Elder Mandel put his arm around his neck from behind, gripped his chin, and exerted force. Snap! After a crisp sound of bone breaking, Kaimi fell softly to the ground.
"Someone, clean this up!"
As soon as Elder Mandel finished speaking, a robot walked out from the corner of the office, lifted Kaimi's corpse onto its shoulder, and carried it out.
Watching the old rhino man take out a handkerchief to wipe his palm, the Rocket Raccoon locked in the cage saw the cruel scene that had just occurred and immediately quieted down.
"How should you deal with your people? Do you need help? I can send them back to your homeworld!"
"No need. If you do something wrong, you always have to pay the price. I've already sent Sentinel Robots to handle loose ends!"
Elder Mandel waved his hand and walked to the cage, examining the Rocket Raccoon inside: "So this is the Raccoon the Big Boss specifically asked for. Doesn't look like much?"
Rocket heard Elder Mandel's words and immediately bared his teeth at him: "Hey, listen up, no matter who you guys are, you'd better let me go, or else I, Grandpa Rocket, will definitely not let you off!"
"Quite fierce!" Elder Mandel pulled back his finger, which had almost been bitten, and said to Yondu.
"Of course. I had a lot of trouble catching him. Oh, right, besides us, there seems to be another group of people looking for this little guy! I even had a bout with them and lost two warships and dozens of crew members. You need to reimburse me!"
"I just procured a batch of new Nova Tier 2 warships. I'll give you two!"
"Tier 2? I want two Tier 3 warships!"
Elder Mandel glared at Yondu, who was asking for a huge amount: "Alright, I'll give you two Tier 3 warships, but there's a condition. You have to give me the contribution points for capturing this little guy!"
"Uh!" This time, Yondu wouldn't agree. He chuckled dryly: "Tier 2 is fine, Tier 2 can be used too!"
What a joke, contribution points within the company were so valuable, how could he give them up?
Elder Mandel glanced at him sideways and opened a star map. In the dense star systems, one area was marked in red.
"This is the Star Zone controlled by the Sovereigns. These Sovereigns, although the number of pure-blooded individuals is less than a million, they control one hundred and seventy-two habitable planets, possess over several billion servant armies, tens of thousands of remote-controlled warships, and over a dozen servant army fleets..."
"How about it, do you have confidence in your fleet against the Sovereigns?"
Yondu shrugged: "Don't be kidding. You know the quality of the Marauders and Mercenaries under me. This scale of operation is not something we can handle."
"The total number of warships in the entire East Galaxy Company is no more than three thousand, but the warships that can truly engage in high-intensity combat are no more than a thousand, and they are all active warships you got from the Kree and the Nova Empire! It's not easy to bring them out!"
Elder Mandel looked at Yondu: "Didn't I tell you to modify them?"
"Come on!" Yondu grinned: "No matter how much you modify them, some things can still be seen at a glance. A dozen or a few dozen ships are fine, but if hundreds of active warships are sent out, others who don't know might think that the Kree and the Nova Empire are standing behind us!"
"Then there's no method. We can only wait for the Boss to send someone again. I hope the person the Boss sends this time isn't like the Goddess of Death (Hela) from last time!"
Mentioning Hela, Elder Mandel and Yondu exchanged glances and both shivered. Clearly, Hela's ruthlessness from last time had left a deep impression on them.
"Compared to that Goddess of Death (Hela), I now think how merciful you were to send your nephew on his way. I think compared to his soul falling into her hands, he would rather die by his uncle's hand!"
"Alright," Elder Mandel seemed to not want to continue this topic. He interrupted Yondu: "You mentioned recruiting Marauders, is there any progress?"
"Only a few small groups who couldn't make ends meet chose to join us. You know, Marauders have always liked freedom, and coupled with the fact that the three major empires are fighting fiercely over the territory left by Thanos during this time, Marauders are not short of business!"
Yondu played with the Yaka Arrow in his hand. With each breath, a mist-like white line flowed between his nostrils and the Yaka Arrow.
This was the cultivation method for the Hundred-Step Flying Sword that Yondu had exchanged for contribution points from the Big Boss. It was said that it could allow him and the Yaka Arrow to become one, and when cultivated to a high level, he could control the Yaka Arrow to kill people invisibly with just a will, without needing to blow a whistle.
"Then forget it!" Elder Mandel waved his hand and changed the subject: "There's one more thing. The Boss wants us to investigate an Organization located in the Science Citadel on Wundagore Mountain.
Their Leader's nickname seems to be the High Evolutionary. You've been a Marauder for so long, have you ever dealt with them?"
"High Evolutionary? That name is really lame. I haven't heard of it, but colleagues who hang around Wundagore Mountain should have heard of this Organization. I'll find an acquaintance to ask later!" Yondu controlled the Yaka Arrow in his palm to float up and shook his head.
(end of chapter)