Chapter 249

Chapter 249

Arnold returned to the Imperial Capital quickly.

With Deenlie and Herli now in the Wandering Star Region, he didn't need to rotate out. Arnold was the first Grath to come home after Norton.

He even showed off in the Grath channel for a while, then Baide teased him for a bit longer.

Arnold stepped through the door, expecting to be greeted by Adelaide's steaming hot food, his mother's caring inquiries, Ye Mo's hugs, or even Norton's—well, forget Norton, his big brother had never done anything like that anyway.

But he hadn't expected this. If he had known, he would have traded places with Deenlie and let Deenlie come home first.

Arnold bent down to protect his ears. "Mom—"

Sylvia cut him off with a long sigh.

"Tell Deenlie that if anyone looks for him, don't say anything or agree to anything, even if it sounds like a good deal. And of course, don't mistreat the prisoners. Actually, just tell him not to show his face or negotiate—let his adjutant handle it."

There were faint dark circles under Sylvia's eyes. Herbert stood nearby, equally exhausted, covering his mouth as he yawned—something he would never normally do in front of others.

The Philiet family always conducted themselves like textbook political animals. At the very least, they all appeared polished and refined at all times.

Gu Chuan had contacted Grath as soon as he got word from the Star Alliance. Recently, Sylvia and Herbert had been organizing meetings and studying materials on the Star Alliance. Sylvia had almost immediately identified the key point from these materials: a resource war. She needed to determine, from the limited information available, where Grath would rank in all of this and weigh the pros and cons of joining the Star Alliance.

Then she heard that Deenlie had started a fight with the Star Alliance in the Wandering Star Region.

Sylvia: Exhausted smile.jpg

Though after hearing the full story, her anger subsided a bit—she admitted the conflict was understandable given Deenlie's temperament; he had probably held back somewhat—that didn't stop Sylvia from getting agitated. She had been working late into the night for days.

Baide and the others knew about the Star Alliance matters, especially Norton. Secretary-General Lin had probably reported to him long ago. When Sylvia took over, she had mentioned it to Norton once.

But they probably hadn't taken it seriously. Sylvia hadn't gone into detail with them. Even if she had broken it down step by step for Baide, he would have just let it go in one ear and out the other, finally tossing her a casual, "Oh, it's fine, darling. Let them try to beat me first."

As for Norton, he would think he was surrounded by incompetents who couldn't even handle this, then urge Secretary-General Lin to work harder.

When Sylvia took over, the civilian staff in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments were almost in tears with gratitude. The queen's return was the best thing that had happened to them in years. The amount of hair they had lost over Grath's affairs was visible for all to see. With Sylvia around, they could at least count on her to rein in Grath a little. When new problems arose, they wouldn't have to work in silent resentment—the queen would strike first, and they could work while enjoying the show.

Arnold probably didn't even know why Sylvia was angry, but he knew when to be sensible.

"Okay, Mom. You've worked hard. I'll tell him right away. But I didn't do anything—it's all Deenlie's fault. I told him to grab a few more mother ships; we don't have any yet."

Sylvia, who had been about to let go, tightened her grip again. Mo Mo pulled his ear down a little more and added, "Tell Deenlie not to touch the mother ships either. We'll get our own, but not like this."

Arnold quickly changed his tune. "Okay, okay! I'll tell him he's too barbaric."

Then he muttered quietly to Sylvia, "Ye Mo is still here, Mom..."

At least don't hit him in front of Ye Mo. He was Ye Mo's elder and needed to save face.

Sylvia glanced at Ye Mo, who was standing nearby.

Ye Mo looked both amazed and a bit frightened, clinging to Adelaide as he peeked at them. When Sylvia looked over, he instinctively ducked behind Adelaide, and the little robot followed suit.

Norton stood behind Ye Mo.

Ye Mo had never seen Sylvia angry. She was always smiling, gentle—even when adjusting his collar, she was as soft as a breeze.

Good thing he had always listened to Sylvia, Ye Mo thought.

Sylvia coughed and let go of Arnold, her voice softer than usual. "Come on, our Mo Mo, time to eat. There's your favorite dessert today!"

"Oh, okay."

Hearing that Sylvia didn't seem too angry, Ye Mo breathed a sigh of relief and sidled up to her, whispering, "I'll give my share to Sylvia. Sylvia, don't be mad at Arnold."

Sylvia cupped his face and kissed him. "Oh, how obedient our Mo Mo is! You must be hungry—let's go eat."

Arnold rubbed his ears off to the side, falling in behind Norton. It didn't hurt, but it was embarrassing. He grumbled, "It's all Deenlie's fault. Big brother, you have to teach him a lesson."

Norton hummed in acknowledgment, then said quietly to Adelaide, "Give my portion to Ye Mo."

Arnold immediately chimed in, "Then my dessert goes to Ye Mo too."

He was Ye Mo's favorite elder, after all.

...

In the Wandering Star Region.

Carter soon received an urgent communication from the Star Alliance.

"...They got into a conflict with a Grath who was undergoing review, losing a mother ship to capture. Now they've retreated to their original stopping point."

The adjutant reported with an indescribable expression.

Carter burst into hearty laughter. "This is the most satisfying thing I've heard in days."

Undergoing a review was somewhat humiliating. He hadn't gone into details with the other side, just vaguely mentioned conducting some checks with local forces.

But compared to the Star Alliance's situation, undergoing a review—where you completely lose the initiative—had become less embarrassing.

Even Lance, who had been punished to organize documents for Carter in the command room, couldn't help but say, holding a stack of files, "Those arrogant bastards finally got what they deserved."

The Star Alliance was no nominal coalition. It had its own military and armed forces, as well as top-tier technology. As the organizer of the resource war, various countries were happy to keep funneling talent and technical support into it, so it had always been very assertive with its member states.

Carter seemed in a good mood, leaning back in his chair with a relaxed posture. "Tell them I need to speak directly with their leader."

"Uh... that might be a problem."

Lance put down his documents with some displeasure. "At a time like this, they're still holding onto their pride? What are they thinking?"

The adjutant's face was expressionless. "No, sir. Their leader has been captured and is now out of contact."

Both of the Star Alliance's leaders had been on the mother ship that was dragged away.

Under normal circumstances, when multiple mother ships were present, the highest authority would stay in the middle—safer and more convenient for making quick decisions.

But this time, they had come to recruit new members. Normally, all they needed to do was record and transmit the new member's information and make a public announcement. So they had been relatively relaxed. Even when they encountered the Zerg, they assumed their mother ships could easily outrun them and avoid the battlefield, keeping their formation unchanged.

Then, as soon as they entered the Wandering Star Region, they ran into Deenlie. Before they could exchange more than a few words, battle began—or rather, it wasn't really a battle, because the Star Alliance lost a mother ship before they could even react.

Carter fell silent for a moment, then said, "First, reply that we're negotiating with Grath."

...

After dinner, Arnold played with Ye Mo for a while. Ye Mo was quite affectionate with Arnold, who had been away from home for some time.

He gave Arnold a rare hug and touched his ears. "Does it hurt? Sylvia's been very busy lately and really tired. Don't be mad."

Arnold looked dismissive. "Hurt? It doesn't hurt at all. I'm not mad at Sylvia—I've matured. You, on the other hand, what are you scared of? You're so obedient; I've never seen you Graths so obedient."

"Adelaide said Sylvia's been working hard, so we'd better behave."

Norton came over from the side. "Going there today?"

He was referring to the garden.

Lately, Ye Mo had been tidying up the garden. He had only ever taken care of his own small greenhouse, mostly just checking on the plants’ growth. He had no experience with a garden this large. Plus, Norton had already mentioned that Adelaide had not ordered anyone to do major work on the garden. Initially, Ye Mo was worried, but soon he wasn't.

Norton seemed to know what he was doing—he even fixed the paths Pawpaw had broken, which Ye Mo had never done. Anyway, Norton took his time, didn’t want any help, and worked side by side with Ye Mo.

They had recently added a gravel path in one corner. That corner was Ye Mo’s favorite spot, with a swing and a small table on higher ground offering a great view. Adelaide sometimes arranged afternoon tea for Sylvia and Ye Mo there.

Now they were working on the big trees nearby. These trees had a little wooden house and a spiral staircase winding around the thickest trunk, but they had grown so lush that the house and decorations were now hidden. Norton was up in the tree, trimming the branches bit by bit, with leaves drifting down. Ye Mo ran over to drag the branches away, with a little robot following him.

Norton quickly snatched a branch he had just cut that was starting to fall. He didn’t tell Ye Mo—who was eager to help—to back off; he just paused.

Arnold, who had been about to pull Ye Mo back, sat down again, realizing he should have known—with his brother around, nothing would go wrong. So Arnold took the opportunity to go find Deenlie.

"Deenlie, Mom is furious. She says don't do anything rash. Don't kill every last one of them, and don't touch that mother ship. Just don't do anything."

Deenlie was silent for a moment, then contacted his adjutant. "Don't move the mother ship for now. Withdraw the personnel."

The adjutant looked regretful. "Then I'll tell the tech division to hold off on coming over."

"Good, got it. Tell Sylvia I won't do that."

Arnold grumbled indignantly, "You'd better not do it. Mom got mad at me because of you—it's your fault."

Baide quickly stepped in. "That's right, that's going too far. Deenlie, Arnold, tell Sylvia I've told Deenlie off."