Chapter 409 The Hunt Begins

"Your Highness, do you mean that more people are leaning towards the Regent, which is not a good thing for him?" Natalia stepped forward and followed Agnes.

"Sir Natalia, think about how many people who leaned towards the Regent can guess his true intention?

Most people still think that Norton II just wants to overthrow the Leon family and replace them. The internal struggle of the empire is nothing more than the final showdown between the 'old king' and the 'new king', so leaning towards the Regent now may still make you a loyal minister and a member of the old residence."

Agnes turned around and said:

"But in fact? What Norton II wants is most likely a revolution that betrays his class. If the great nobles who leaned towards him knew that Norton II wanted to kill them, how do you think they would react?"

The words of the Imperial Princess made Natalia silent. As an Imperial noble, although her family has leaned towards the Princess's faction, it is also considered an old noble of the 'Saint Saunière Zhengxing Longqi'.

So when she put herself into that scene and thought about it, she had to admit that she really couldn't accept the deprivation of the privileges of the nobles.

Even though her family was very open-minded in treating the people in the territory, apart from exercising the tax power in the territory normally, they did not use the privileges of the nobles too much.

Seeing that the head of her guards fell into silence and did not speak for a long time, Agnes smiled.

"It seems that you already have the answer, Natalia."

"Yes, Your Highness." Natalia lowered her head, and the expression on her face also looked a little ashamed.

"Don't feel ashamed. There may not be a real "saint" in this world for hundreds of years. Most people will change their original intentions after gaining status, power, and wealth that surpass others. It is difficult to abandon these things. This is human nature.

Even I am no exception, or it is more difficult for me to give up the power in my hands. I also cannot accept the end of the royal family's rule over the Star Dragon Empire."

Agnes said while looking back at a star dragon emblem decorated in the interior - that is the exclusive emblem of the royal family.

"Perhaps Norton II is such a rare saint who can betray his class and start a revolution for his ideals, but what about his followers? What about his staff?

Can these nobles really give up their superior status, position, and life because of his words and accompany him in the revolution?

Not to mention those who joined halfway and had ulterior motives. They may not even know what Norton II wants to do."

Natalia nodded after listening to Agnes' words, and then asked: "Your Highness, how should we deal with it next? Just wait and see?"

"There is no other good way, right?" Agnes stopped looking at the emblem and looked at her guard leader again.

"The current situation is not suitable for us to take the initiative. We should first find a way to defend the basic situation, at least to ensure that we have at least one card in our hands in the final battle.

Well, try to contact the Atlas Group to see if they or Mr. Amber can cooperate."

Natalia nodded, and then said: "I understand. Should we let Viscount Bavs contact them?"

"Well, let him go, but I still remind him to put away his domineering temper."

"Yes, Your Highness. Then I will take my leave first."

Natalia bowed slightly and left the room.

Agnes walked to the table, took a sip of the still steaming tea, and slowly said after a while:

"Is there any news from the emperor?"

"Your Highness, I am sorry for my incompetence. I have not received any valuable news yet. The three groups of people who lurked in the palace have been cleared out recently due to the sudden overall replacement of the personnel inside the palace, so we are temporarily unable to obtain information about the palace and the underground."

No other voices appeared in the room, but a voice that could not be identified after being processed still sounded in Agnes' ears.

"What does the emperor want to do with such strictness?"

Agnes frowned slightly, obviously not expecting such a situation to happen, "What are the origins of the new people who were replaced?"

"A group of the most devout church deacons and fanatics selected by Archbishop Jules Mazarin."

"Interesting."

——

Another month passed quickly, and the production on Pella IV slowly recovered to 60% of the pre-war level during this period. Although all kinds of materials are still a bit tight, at least there is no need to rely on the fleet of the Yuge family for large-scale material transportation.

As Atlas continues to deploy some production lines on the planet, the problem of material shortage will be completely solved over time.

The troops that have completed large-scale combat missions will have an easier time, especially the two heavy synthetic brigades that have been fighting for the longest time, which have begun to rotate personnel back to the Tower of Babel for rest.

As for the remaining battles against stragglers and some rioters who took advantage of the fire, they were handed over to the ten newly formed brigade-level units, and they were also asked to perform some practical training in long-distance maneuvers, security battles in civilian environments, and anti-guerrilla warfare.

Because in the predictions of Amber and senior staff, these subjects are likely to be the subjects that will be encountered the most when facing land battles in the future, except for large-scale head-on confrontations.

On this day, when Amber, Hogg and others were observing a brigade-level unit performing long-distance maneuvers in the command cabin on the ground, an emergency communication sounded on Amber's personal terminal.

After arriving in an empty armored command vehicle, Amber connected the communication, and Isabel's serious and anxious face suddenly appeared on the tactical surface in front of her.

"Amber, the federation has officially issued sanctions against us."

Amber was not surprised when he heard the news. After all, he had told Isabel that this would happen before.

"What are the specific sanctions?"

“For the products sold by Atlas Group to companies in the federal territory, additional tariffs will be imposed. At the same time, we are suspected of being an illegal monopoly, requiring us to open source quantum entanglement communication technology, and finally restricting all Atlas employees. The time spent in planets, space cities, colonial satellites and other areas within the Federation, and high-level supervisors, directors and other positions will even be monitored."

Isabel quickly recounted the refined content of the sanctions, and Amber had a 'sure enough' expression on her face as she listened.

"Huh, it's similar to the previous speculation. I want to disgust us, but I don't want to go too far, so I didn't directly ban us from conducting trade activities within the federal territory."

There was a hint of disdain in Amber's tone, and he paused and continued:

"But essentially, this method prevents us from competing with the federation's traditional military industry. The military-industrial complex should also take some actions, right?"

"Yes, Amber." Isabel nodded, "The federal military industry giants are very unified. Within a day, they have announced the launch of various new types of equipment, basically benchmarking against our flagship products. Obviously, they want to Take this opportunity to 'hunt' us in the market."

"I'm afraid they won't come. The earlier and more urgent they come, the greater the chance will be for us."

Amber, who had already arranged the response in advance, did not have much fluctuation at this time. He was just about to say something, but Isabel suddenly received an urgent message.

Seeing Isabel's changed expression, Amber's expression could not help but become serious. After a moment, she heard the Atlas intelligence chief say:

"An automated emergency message just came in from our offices in Rubion 5 - they were under armed attack."