PFC Chapter 73: The Roman Parliament
Chapter 73: The Roman Parliament
Interstellar Era 257, Star Marker (1, 3, 1, 4c0).
Everyone in the Alpha Fleet, including Zhou Yuan, was astonished to notice that the twelve Earth-like planets were concentrated within a spatial range nearly one hundred billion kilometers in diameter. Countless spaceships moved back and forth between these twelve planets. Around these twelve planets as the center, on outer "spheres" with radii of one billion kilometers, ten billion kilometers, and one hundred billion kilometers, countless space-based weapons were deployed, forming three spherical defensive walls. Within this spatial range with a diameter of two hundred billion kilometers, a large number of Roman Empire warships patrolled, and the warp space was also sealed off by the warships' gravity. Even the Earth Empire, in a galaxy much larger than this Canis Major dwarf system, currently only has nine Earth-like planets.
The Roman Empire's homeworld base can be described as a veritable interstellar fortress!
Zhou Yuan couldn't help but sigh. Both of these civilizations in the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy were quite extraordinary. Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. If the Roman Empire didn't have so many warships and such great strength, how could it have fought against the Star Luo Empire?
The Roman Empire's 67th Fleet and the Alpha Fleet halted near the outer perimeter of the Star Fortress. Due to strong demands from the Roman Empire's Council, the Alpha Fleet was required to be stationed outside the Star Fortress. Four or five other Roman Empire fleets also concentrated at the edge of the Star Fortress's space-based weapon system, positioned not far from the Alpha Fleet.
Commander Fernova, commander of the 67th Fleet of the Roman Empire, personally left his flagship and piloted a luxury spaceship to the vicinity of the Alpha Fleet to pick up Zhou Yuan and Wei Shan.
The luxurious spaceship entered the Roman Empire's interstellar fortress. Traveling at near-light speed, the spaceship soon arrived at a planet in near-Earth orbit within the core area of the interstellar fortress.
The planet is filled with patrol ships flying overhead, and towering buildings stretching into the clouds. Spaceships shuttle back and forth between these buildings.
The luxurious airship, escorted by a large number of ships, landed in a docking area outside a huge high-rise building, which Fernónio said was the Roman Empire Parliament Building.
A large number of officials were already waiting at the dock, and outside the cordon, there were many journalists with cameras and microphones broadcasting live.
When the three of them first appeared on the spaceship, they caused a small commotion as everyone curiously looked at the human civilization from the Milky Way.
Zhou Yuan and Wei Shan walked down the spaceship's gangway, smiling and waving. The man and woman, along with their friendly smiles and waves, naturally became the headline news in the Roman Empire that day.
The Roman Empire's high-ranking official, who had been waiting, smiled at the two as they landed, extending his hands to embrace them. Zhou Yuan and Wei Shan hesitated for a moment, then both bent down to hug the official.
Led by the official, a group of people, escorted by a large number of guards, boarded a hovercar and arrived at the Roman Empire Parliament Building ten minutes later. The high-ranking official who had received them, Fernova, Zhou Yuan, and Wei Shan were teleported to the building's conference center by light.
This enormous conference center was already filled with various intelligent civilizations. Half of them were from the Roman Empire, while the others were likely vassals or allies of the Roman Empire. These beings were all suspended by a special levitation device, some sitting, some standing, some lying down, and some reclining.
After the two took their seats, the hall resounded with a long and continuous applause, cheers, and shouts from different creatures.
A young, Roman man on the platform gestured for everyone to be quiet.
"Respected Mr. Zhou Yuan and Ms. Wei Shan, I am Roca, the Speaker of the Council of the Roman Empire. On behalf of the Roman Empire and its allies, I warmly welcome the two envoys from the Earth Empire in the Milky Way."
Another round of applause, cheers, and shouts rang out.
Just as Zhou Yuan was about to speak, a cockroach-like creature in the audience spoke up: "According to Fernova's previous report, you are from the Earth Empire of the Milky Way? May I ask, envoy of the Earth Empire, how many warships did your country send this time?"
“Kuran, you must not be disrespectful to the envoy,” Roca shouted.
“Yes, Speaker.” Kuran bowed his head.
"Speaker, it's alright. Gentlemen, the Earth Empire has only just begun to develop. Due to limitations in resources, population, and technology, our Empire's warship manufacturing capacity is limited. Our fleet's mission this time is interstellar exploration, and our interstellar exploration fleet has approximately one million warships and spaceships."
"Only one million ships?" The audience began to whisper and murmur amongst themselves, and it was clear that most of the Romans and other creatures seemed disappointed.
“They come from a distant galaxy!” Fernois exclaimed, reminding his compatriots not to forget this.
"Earth messengers, you say you come from the distant Milky Way galaxy. How long did it take you to get here?" asked a councilor whose body resembled a bear.
The question was like magic; the audience fell silent, everyone staring at Zhou Yuan and Wei Shan, even Fernova pricked up her ears.
"Hmm, let me think. It's been too long, I don't even know how many times I've slept. Shan-mei, how long did it take us to get here?" Zhou Yuan tapped his head, seemingly trying to recall exactly how long it had been.
Wei Shan lowered her head, stroked her hair, and pondered for two or three minutes. "Big brother, it seems to be 150,000 years."
"No way? 150,000 years!" Everyone gasped, their expressions varying, some disappointed, others filled with admiration. Even Fernúa seemed momentarily stunned.
Zhou Yuan raised his bewildered face, seemingly unable to believe how much time had passed. He quickly glanced around; some people were surprised, while others were deep in thought. Fernão nodded, seemingly approving. Roca lowered his head, his expression uncertain.
"We hope to join hands with you to fight against the Star Luo Empire."
"To form an alliance with the Roman Empire, one must have a certain level of strength. Besides, your fleet only has one million warships."
“Yes, we understand. But I have already notified our comrades in the Galactic Earth Empire and requested that they send more reinforcements.” Zhou Yuan really wanted to pull Wei Shan away; he couldn’t stand these arrogant guys.
"Your Excellencies are very grateful for your support. However, according to the rules, we regret to inform you that if you wish to form an alliance, you must prove your strength. Only then can the council consider whether you are suitable for an alliance. Back then, our Cobalt Blue Empire was chosen by the Roman Empire to become its ally, and this was achieved through our imperial fleet's battles against the Star Luo Empire. Even the other allies present here are all exceptionally powerful, having annihilated a large number of Star Luo Empire's fleets." A member of the Cobalt Blue Empire's council seemed to be quite blunt.
"Yes, Councilor Cobalt Blue is right." The audience echoed in agreement.
Is this what they mean by "strength speaks for itself"? Although Zhou Yuan was somewhat disgusted by the senator's blunt words, he still agreed with them. In interstellar warfare, strength truly is the most important factor. A weak civilization is either annihilated, annexed, forced to choose sides, or forced into hiding to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
"Speaker, members of parliament, what should we do to prove our strength?"
"Councilor Cobalt Blue, why don't you two each send a warship to fight it out?" one of the councilors said with a touch of humor.
"Great! Great!" The councilors erupted in laughter, applause, whistles, and shouts.
Speaker Roca gestured to stop them, saying, "Gentlemen, fighting will only damage the harmony between our two sides. I have a suggestion: if the envoy fleet can conquer Sva, we can become allies with them."
"Let them attack Svastar? Impossible!" Zhou Yuan and Wei Shan clearly saw Fernova jump up.
Upon hearing the name Swahsin, the members of parliament below the stage all looked at Speaker Roca in silence, creating a tense atmosphere.
Zhou Yuan and Wei Shan sensed that the atmosphere in the center of the council was rather strange after Speaker Roca mentioned Sva Star. Zhou Yuan then fell into deep thought.
"An Earth messenger?" Roca asked softly, seeing Zhou Yuan deep in thought.
"Speaker, I apologize, I was just thinking." Zhou Yuan then raised his voice, "Attack Svastar? We're willing to give it a try." A gasp rippled through the audience.
“Good, that’s a good idea.” Roca turned to Fernova. “Fernova, you will lead the fleet to cooperate with the Earth Empire’s envoy fleet to attack Sva Star. The deadline is three months.”
"Yes, Your Excellency."
“I await your good news. Fernois, please entertain the two envoys. I have a meeting with the council elders shortly.”
"Yes."
Roca tapped the table with his gavel and adjourned the meeting.
Fernova led the two away from the conference center, piloting their luxurious spaceship, leaving the planet and arriving at the reception area of his flagship. Fernova's flagship was quite large, approximately six or seven hundred kilometers long.
“Sorry, you two, that’s just how those councilors are. I’m used to it.” Fernois smiled at the two of them.
"It's alright. Finova, why do you all seem so nervous whenever Speaker Roca mentions Sva?"
"The Roman Empire and its allies launched a fierce attack on Sva Star for more than a month, but they still failed to take it from the Star Luo Empire."
What's so special about Swastar? Why are you all fighting over it?
"Swa Star is a prison planet, where political enemies, opponents, prisoners of war, hostages, and interstellar heavy criminals of the Star Luo Empire's supreme ruler, Leidam, are imprisoned. In particular, it holds Leidam's sister, Princess Leifia, who advocates for peaceful coexistence in this star system."
"You want to liberate Lefia, put her in power, and thus end the war?"
"Yes. But Lydam has heavily guarded Sva, and we haven't been able to take it down after a long siege."
"Why doesn't Lydam just kill his sister, Lefia? Wouldn't that be easier?"
"Will killing his sister cause even bigger unrest? We don't know either."
"Commander Fernova, Speaker Roca has assigned our two fleets to cooperate and take over Sva within three months. We want to know detailed information about the Star Luo Empire, including their fleet strength, the planets they occupy, their fortresses, the Star Luo Empire's supreme ruler Lydam, Lydam's sister Lefia, and especially information about Sva."
"Okay, we'll send it to you as soon as possible. It should be ready in half an hour."
"Thank you. Let's both return to our fleet now. As for the joint operations deployment plan, please contact our fleet commander, George."
"it is good."
Fernova ordered an adjutant to pilot the luxury spaceship and deliver Zhou Yuan and Wei Shan to the Alpha Fleet.
Half an hour later, the Alpha Fleet received a series of detailed information from Fernova.