One person’s account

Pei Changyun’s first‍​​⁠‌​‌‌​‍​⁠⁠⁠​‌‍‍‍⁠‌⁠‍‍ reaction was that the Empire’s star network system had been hacked or had encountered a major glitch.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m still searching for the cause…”

Long Dream scanned through the data and finally found something.

“Your Majesty, there’s a private StarBlog account… that has gone viral across the entire StarNet. It seems related to Marshal Huo Chao. According to statistics, this account’s follower count skyrocketed from zero to three hundred million in just a few hours.”

StarBlog and StarNet had a relationship similar to that of a social media app and an entire national internet network. The former was only used by some people, while the latter was something every citizen relied on daily.

This was the equivalent of the entire nation simultaneously watching one person’s StarBlog and engaging in a heated discussion about it.

“?”

Pei Changyun was confused.

He had never been interested in entertainment platforms and didn’t understand them well.

But for something to dominate the StarNet’s trending list was no small matter. Just a few hours ago, the top trending topics had been #Huo Chao’s Resurrection# and #The Empire Declares War on Illusory God Church#— matters of immense national importance.

His frown deepened. This was anything but simple.

“What account is it? Pull it up for me.”

The next second, a massive screen projection appeared in the Emperor’s private study.

It was a StarBlog homepage.

The profile picture was a hand-drawn chibi-style image—a newborn sun peeking out from behind clouds.

The username was:

[Why Is Xiaoyunyun Ignoring Me Today]

Below it was an ever-growing follower count that was skyrocketing in real time.

At that moment, Long Dream used the Emperor’s authority to contact the StarBlog platform’s official operators and confirmed the account’s identity.

“Your Majesty, this has been verified as Marshal Huo Chao’s account. The backend authentication includes real-name verification and facial recognition records.”

And just then, the StarBlog platform, eager to capitalize on the viral moment, had officially bestowed the account with a shining golden verified badge—”Certified: Marshal Huo Chao.”

Pei Changyun: “…”

A terrible premonition crept over him.

But the Emperor didn’t quite understand how these things worked, so he casually scrolled down—and the first post he saw was—

[Why Is Xiaoyunyun Ignoring Me Today]:

“AAAAAH! I swear, this guidebook is amazing! It actually works!!! Tested and proven personally, 100% effective!!! So happy to share this with everyone! [Heart] [Heart] [Heart]”

Below it was a now-invalid purchase link, though the text remained visible:

《The Ultimate Love Guide》 – Limited Offer: 99.99

[In just six months, make even the coldest and most heartless person utterly devoted to you, until death do you part!】

The top pinned comments were early reactions from skeptical users:

“Is this a bot? How much did they get paid for this ad? Who actually believes in these trashy love guides?”
“This is so corny… The poor target of this guide must have suffered.”
“Almost a hundred credits for this nonsense? I wouldn’t even pay 9.99!”

But as Pei Changyun scrolled further, the comment section’s tone had completely shifted—

“AAAAHHH I KNEEL! Where can I get a copy of Marshal Huo Chao’s Love Guide?!”
“HELP, THIS IS TOO GOOD. The Ultimate Love Guide that kept the Emperor widowed for 300 years—I NEED IT!!!”
“WHY?! WHY IS THE PURCHASE LINK BROKEN?! IS THE COMPANY STILL IN BUSINESS?! PRINT A MILLION MORE COPIES IMMEDIATELY!!! DON’T MAKE ME BEG!!!”

Pei Changyun: “…”

He expressionlessly continued scrolling.

Humans were naturally drawn to gossip. At this moment, all discussions of war, conspiracies, and slander had been completely forgotten—instead, everyone’s focus had shifted to the shocking revelation of the legendary romance between the Marshal and the Emperor.

“Forget the Church conspiracies—this is nonsense! The truth is, Marshal Huo Chao worked his ass off chasing after the Emperor using a damn love guide!!!”
“Am I the only one curious about ‘Xiao Feng’? Who the hell is that?! There’s actually someone in this world who can beat Huo Chao every time??”
“HAHAHAHA HELP I CAN’T BREATHE—so Huo Chao’s daily life was either getting beaten up by Xiao Feng or chasing after Xiao Yunyun???”
“SOB SOB SOB am I the only one who feels bad for Xiao Yunyun being widowed for 300 years??? Midnight loneliness must be rough… Though, since he’s a Beta, I guess his needs aren’t that high?”

<hr>

Twenty minutes later, the Emperor couldn’t take it anymore.

He forcibly shut off the StarBlog page and his entire body was rigid. A vein annoyingly throbbed at his temple. He endured the humiliation for a few agonizing seconds before finally—

“HUO! CHAO!”

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Because this was too humiliating.

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“Your Majesty, the space jump is about to commence. Please prepare yourself.”

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This was precisely why Pei Changyun had only brought a small Royal Fleet.

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“…Do it.”

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Since he was going to be socially annihilated anyway, they might as well all go down together. The Emperor had officially given up.

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“This StarBlog account could be fake. There’s no way Marshal Huo Chao has such a dumb personality!”

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However, the real game-changer was the appearance of the Forbidden Abyss and Huo Xianfeng. Their words were undeniable proof.

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Analysis posts started dominating the discussions:

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Moreover, only someone as close as Xiao Feng would know about Huo Chao’s StarBlog account. Even the accusation from Stelin—that Pei Changyun had offered the Forbidden Abyss to the Zerg King as a tribute—was completely debunked. The Forbidden Abyss had actually been voluntarily handed over by Huo Chao himself.

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All of it would be completely undone in mere hours.

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And a few offhanded comments from Huo Xianfeng.

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—Fate was truly unpredictable.

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The real deep connection was between Huo Chao and Huo Xianfeng.

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Jiang Ci and his teachers calculated the energy reserves of Bright City and prepared a report for Zhou Jiuya.

“The defense barrier consumes too much energy. Since we couldn’t shut it off for a while, we lost a third of Bright City’s total reserves in just one week—that’s enough to power the entire First Legion’s warships and mechas for a month.”

With the First Legion’s supply line from the Empire severed, they had been relying on Bright City’s military industry for resources. For now, supplies weren’t an issue, but if they wanted to sustain a large-scale war, they would need to be strategic.

“But it’s strange. Why are they only probing with long-range attacks?”

Jiang Ci found the tactic illogical. Just then, Huo Xianfeng’s voice came through the comms, cutting into the Central Temple’s feed.

“No, their army was on the way during the third missile barrage. But they turned back midway.”

“How do you know that?” Jiang Ci asked in surprise.

“We’ve been using satellite radar for monitoring, but we didn’t detect anything—”

He suddenly fell silent.

Because at that moment, the Forbidden Abyss transmitted footage of the Illusory God Church’s retreating army. They looked like they were in a rush to return.

“Satellites aren’t reliable. Zerg scouts detected a massive surge of metallic energy waves and have already started tracking it.”

The satellites belonged to the Illusory God Church. Had they really taken control of them? Or had the Church deliberately let them think they had control? After all, the Church had abandoned Bright City too easily—it was impossible that they hadn’t left something behind.

Jiang Ci focused on the key detail: “Wait—you’re tracking them too?!”

“No. I just had Forbidden Abyss record a long-distance shot.”

It seemed that after his previous failure at the Holy Relic White Tower, Huo Xianfeng had become a bit more cautious.

“I have the coordinates for the Holy Relic White Tower, and their retreat direction doesn’t match it. This means their forces must have a second base. But what made them turn back so suddenly?”

“—Probably because of the failed coup at the Imperial Palace a few hours ago.”

Zhou Jiuya strode into the Central Temple. He had been closely monitoring the situation on Eternal Cloud Planet and was well aware of the dramatic events that had unfolded in the Empire over the past few hours.

Huo Xianfeng immediately caught on and his expression darkened.

“You’re saying they originally planned to attack Bright City while launching a coup against Pei Changyun?”

“Exactly.”

—That explained everything.

Huo Xianfeng nodded in understanding.

Zhou Jiuya closed his eyes, feeling a deep sense of dread. It was only at this moment that he roughly understood the extremely sinister move of the Illusory God Church.

Huo Chao’s video first threw the entire Empire into chaos, then directly pressured Pei Changyun. Facing overwhelming skepticism and the rebel army waving the banner of justice, Pei Changyun might not even be able to protect himself, never mind another person.

If it weren’t for Huo Xianfeng’s sudden appearance and suppression, the First Legion would have been caught unprepared and thrust directly into war.

Amidst the confusion in military morale, they would’ve most likely lost.

Huo Xianfeng raised an eyebrow.

“Then there’s no problem. Once we find their base, we’ll strike!”

Jiang Ci: “…”

He was about to say something when Nora came in again, carrying Dr. Wen on her left shoulder and dragging several large medical diagnostic instruments with her right hand.

“Flowie ~ I’m back~”

When she first brought Dr. Wen over, she was in such a hurry that she’d only brought the person and not the tools. Dr. Wen had to go through great pains to explain to the little girl.

So Nora nodded, went back to get them herself, but not understanding much anything, she returned to carry Dr. Wen back to choose the instruments.

Dr. Wen: “…”

All in all, it was a tough new experience.

At that time, Jiang Ci thought the war was coming and didn’t have time to deal with it. Only now did he see the kind Uncle Wen showing an expression for the first time that suggested the world wasn’t worth it.

“Come… come over, A-Ci.”

Dr. Wen’s voice was very weak.

“I… I’ll give you… a check-up…”

Jiang Ci: “…”

I’m sorry.