Abyss Solo

The assimilation experiment is even more complex and slow than Lyu had anticipated.

Yang Ming initially thought he just needed to sleep several times to pass through directly, but unexpectedly... he was mostly conscious most of the time.

Being conscious was one thing, but Lyu also thoughtfully designed a 'small room' for him, where his consciousness could enter this virtual room to read books, enjoy music, and appreciate film works.

What should have been a relaxing assimilation experiment turned into... confinement.

However, Yang Ming felt a dual growth in his physical strength and spiritual power, and subconsciously seemed to sense that Po Suo next door became somewhat closer.

Shouldn't this be considered, blood is thicker than water?

This body only has partial genes from Po Suo, so it's not really some elder-younger dynamic, right?

Whenever Yang Ming thought about the ethical issues involved, he felt a bit of a headache.

There is actually another advantage to confinement.

He could promptly receive reports from Lyu, closely monitor what was happening outside, and respond effectively to various events.

In the past year and more, Yang Ming directly made decisions on a 'grand total' of eight affairs.

Building on this 'busy' work, he used his small consciousness room to watch over thirty TV dramas, hundreds of Galaxy blockbuster movies, dozens of classic literary works, and thoroughly studied the Sherman Empire's war history.

——He indeed wasn't idle.

Yang Ming was also curious about what the big shot next door was doing. He had Lyu stealthily probe Po Suo's mental state, and then discovered...

She was asleep.

The ability of such a person truly made Boss Yang incredibly envious.

However, fortunately, he could stay awake for long periods, as the rate of worsening border issues in the Luofeng Empire far exceeded the expectations of Yang Ming and Edwan.

From the bits and pieces of information Lyu collected, Yang Ming could roughly reconstruct the sequence of events.

After Lady Mag, who was fully responsible for Luofeng Empire-related affairs, returned to the Foreign Affairs Bureau, she immediately held over ten meetings, and half a month later, the Foreign Affairs Bureau held a high-level closed-door meeting above deputy bureau level.

That was the strong signal from the Sherman Empire's Foreign Affairs Bureau towards the Luofeng Empire.

As for Princess Luna...

Her daily activities involved attending various high-end noble gatherings and occasionally going to some secret manor parties, without much value of attention.

After that, before Yang Ming's underground laboratory was completed, three incidents occurred at the Luofeng Empire border.

First, two merchant ships were attacked by a 'pirate group' for no reason, with crew and cargo becoming the ship's burial offerings.

And this pirate group operating in this Star Domain was actually under Yang Ming's command, formally part of the Molly Miss Group, the Mimili gang.

After this incident occurred, Mimili, who was helping with some assassination tasks, was immediately recalled by Yang Ming to the Luofeng Empire, leading her pirate group to temporarily stay away from the Luofeng border while covertly investigating the source of the attacking ships.

The Sherman Empire should not directly strike Luofeng.

They must have utilized some vassal forces outside the Empire.

The attack on merchant ships triggered a security crisis along the Luofeng trade lines, impacting Luofeng's economy to a certain extent, but both Yang Ming and Edwan did not pay much attention to this impact.

Just half a month after the merchant ship attack incident, the outermost newly developed Resource Star of Luofeng was blockaded by a combat fleet consisting of more than a dozen warships.

This Resource Star, internally numbered [T204] in Luofeng, is rich in dozens of industrial minerals, with Luofeng having heavily invested in it over two years, already building surface bases and initial refining factories, just about to start generating profits, when these uninvited guests arrived.

This fleet came from the Nonar United Kingdom, relatively close to the Luofeng Empire.

This kingdom has over twenty main administrative stars, with a population exceeding fifty billion, with paper military strength far above Luofeng.

Coincidentally, although this United Kingdom is not a vassal state of the Sherman Empire, they were conquered by the Sherman Empire Expeditionary Corps more than six hundred years ago, still having the 'tradition' of tributing to the Sherman Empire, and always standing in the same political position with the Sherman Empire.

Pseudo vassal state.

Originally, there were four medium-sized nation-states and dozens of Resource Stars buffering the border between the two countries, so theoretically, there shouldn't be any conflict.

Yet, the Nonar United Kingdom adamantly claimed that this Resource Star had already been marked by them, and had been reported early to major interstellar organizations, accusing Luofeng of unauthorized mining, demanding compensation for economic losses and confiscation of all surface equipment.

Unbelievably shameless.

Interestingly, before the official voice from the Luofeng Empire, and before the major official media acquired by the Molly Miss Group reported on it, related public opinion already emerged within the Luofeng Empire.

With a newly formed alliance, Luofeng Empire's citizens, their national honor swelling, immediately started a grand-scale denunciation campaign, protesting against the Nonar United Kingdom in various ways.

This left Edwan with no way out.

This conflict was unavoidable.

Militarily, Luofeng dispatched a mixed fleet of thirty-two various warships to forcefully expel the Nonar United Kingdom's fleet.

Diplomatically, Luofeng urgently sent a mission to the Nonar United Kingdom, making a solemn negotiation with that kingdom.

Edwan publicly made a statement, expressing that the people of the Wind Alliance all hope for peace, and would never actively conduct any act of war outside Luofeng's borders; furthermore, the Resource Star is naturally within the Luofeng territory, with no pre-marking claimed.

The fleets from both sides faced off outside the T204 planet.