Chapter 878 - Suspicion (1/2)

The governing planet of the Pioneer Party was located in Star Zone 3, and the upper echelons within the party were observing the situation of the battle.

In the conference room, the upper echelons of the party were gathered, and the atmosphere was completely different from the meeting in the Ancient Emperor Party. Everyone had a bright smile on their face, with the Pioneer Party’s leader glowing with radiance.

Their army had the upper hand, and it was impossible for them not to be happy.

“The Ancient Emperor Party and Descendant Party are being forced back, and the citizens are also crying out for us to overthrow the rulers. The situation is to our advantage at the moment,” the staff sergeant in charge of analyzing the battle situation said.

The Pioneer Party leader had a bright smile on his face but said, “We need to be even more careful during such a moment and prevent the enemy from fighting back in desperation.”

Although the situation was looking good, he knew that it was impossible for the Ancient Emperor Party to surrender. The result of losing would be extermination.

Just as everyone was discovering the situation, the internal comms rang, and it was an emergency message from the intelligence personnel.

The appearance of the intelligence personnel appeared, and he had a strange look on his face.

“Your Excellency, the Ancient Emperor Party made an announcement.”

“Send it over immediately.” The Pioneer Party leader raised his brows.

Very quickly, the announcement of the Ancient Emperor Party appeared on the screen, and everyone present began reading it.

In this first half of the announcement, the Ancient Emperor Party claimed that they were the rightful rulers of the Gulal Civilization and criticized the Pioneer Party for using armed forces to seize authority. They then claimed that the Pioneer Party were traitors and called for the citizens to reject the Pioneer Party. They also began hiring help from the galaxy.

The details of the public announcement were extremely ordinary. They were trying to preserve their status as rightful rulers and suppress their opponents. They had made use of such a tactic for many years already, and the upper echelons of the Pioneer Party were extremely used to it. After they won, history would be written by them, and it would be useless to call them traitors now.

The way they saw it, it was completely useless for the Ancient Emperor Party to seek aid from the galaxy. This was only a civil war, which did not go against the Peace Treaty. With the Black Star Army on their side, no one in the Shattered Star Ring would go against the Black Star Army just for a Star System Civilization.

The mercenary groups that had some size would not help them, and the other civilizations would only watch by the side. Even the Bloodshed Land would not go against their titular ally for such a small matter. Thus, it was impossible for the Ancient Emperor Party to find any aid. This was the powerful effect of seeking aid from the Black Star Army. They were able to prevent the enemy from finding any support.

The Pioneer Party’s leader then read until the end and was stunned.

“Wait a moment… the Ancient Emperor Party is trying to seek aid from the Black Star Army‽”

The Pioneer Party’s leader rubbed his eyes and thought that he had misread something.

To think that the Ancient Emperor Party actually wanted to employ the Black Star Army and attempted to convince the Black Star Army to help them.

The upper echelons of the Pioneer Party all looked at each other with confused looks on their faces.

Just what was the meaning of seeking aid from their enemy‽

Even if the Black Star Army was external aid, they had already signed an employment contract. Why would they publicly break the contract? Would this not be destroying their own reputation? Furthermore, the Black Star Army was a Beyond Grade A organization, and since they had already decided to help the Pioneer Party, why would they suddenly go back on their word?

Even if you want to try and rope the Black Star Army over to your side, you should do it privately, right? With the current status of Black Star, would he openly go back on his word? Do you think he will go back on his word because of money? That’s impossible!

But if the objective of this is to drive a wedge between us, isn’t it far too coarse a method?

“It seems like the Ancient Emperor Party has truly gone crazy,” the Pioneer Party leader said with his mouth cramping up. “This should be the funniest joke that I have ever heard.”

“Hahaha…”

Everyone could not help but burst into laughter.

…

Not too long later, the announcement of the Ancient Emperor Party was spread all throughout the Gulal Civilization.

It was not just the Pioneer Party who were puzzled. Even the Descendant Party were completely bewildered.

Are my teammates fools‽

The members of the Ancient Emperor Party felt extremely embarrassed. They were currently fighting with the enemy, but their higher ups actually tried to seek help from the enemy. Just what was this stupidity?

There were many who interpreted this as the upper echelons being pessimistic about the outcome of the battle, and morale took a large hit.

On the Black Star Army’s side, the members of the army could not help but laugh.

We are currently fighting a war. Can you please be more serious and not tease us like that?

Just when everyone was laughing at the actions of the Ancient Emperor Party, the players received a different message.

The plea of the Ancient Emperor Party had actually become a mission on their interface. A Grade S mission for them to help the Ancient Emperor Party.

All the players gasped in shock upon discovering that.

“So, it turns out that this is a faction series mission. It should be a Grade S mission that can be triggered regardless of which party we aid.”

“However, the army has chosen to support the Pioneer Party, so we have no choice but to choose them as well.”

“Hmm, if we support a faction up into power, we will be able to successfully change the entire fate of a civilization. I think we found a way to strike it rich.”

“What if we persuade the NPCs to start another party and support the party. Would it be even more fun?”

This mission attracted the attention of many players, and they began to show off their creativity as they discussed the matter.

However, the influence of this new mission stopped there. Not a single player would choose to accept it.

The players were not fools, and accepting this mission would mean that they had to oppose the army. It would probably be no different from leaving the faction. They had fought in the army for three versions already and accumulated plenty of faction Contribution Points. Furthermore, the potential for growth in the Black Star Army was also extremely high. A mere Star System Civilization was not worth them betraying the faction.

Furthermore, the chances of the Ancient Emperor Party winning were far too low. Thus, it would be much better for them to keep to the Pioneer Party mission, especially since both were Grade S missions anyway.

After a month into the employment mission, the players had an understanding of the three parties. The Ancient Emperor Party was not anything good, and there was no meaning to help them.

With Summer Night Flower as an example, the number of players in the Shattered Star Ring willing to take risks had decreased. Thus, the players were only interested in the opportunity presented to them by the Ancient Emperor Party but uninterested in actually completing the mission.