Garan Star.

Inside the Imperial City, Wuji Palace.

The black pupil stood on the high platform with a gloomy face, his eyes full of killing intent.

In the main hall, no one dared to look up, and they all fell to the ground, and some of them were even trembling with fear.

Fear! Fear! Nervousness!

All kinds of emotions lingered in everyone's hearts, and the anger of the emperor was really terrifying.

And at the foot of the steps, kneeling two old ministers, one is the military minister Fu Min, and the other is the inspector chief Shi Jiquone.

Seven days have passed since the end of the second battle.

In the past seven days, the news that the Garan Empire has lost all the starships and eight starfleets that have been tragically wiped out has been can't be covered at all, and it has already spread to hundreds of life planets in the empire, almost everyone knows about it, causing widespread heated discussions.

Such a major defeat in the war not only greatly frustrated the empire's interstellar military strength, but also disgraced the new emperor Heitong, who had not been on the throne for a long time, and the majesty of the imperial power was challenged.

Hei Tong even heard that there were rumors on the Internet that Hei Tong was incompetent, nepotistic, and self-serving, and was mainly responsible for the defeat of the war.

Isn't this a slap in the face of Chi Guoguo?

After losing the battle, no one comforted them, but the people complained.

Could it be that as the emperor's black pupil, he doesn't want to win a big battle?

The angry black pupil directly issued the 'Royal Public Opinion Control Order', and as soon as the order came out, many people who were spreading rumors were arrested, whether it was the media or the public, they soon did not dare to squeak anymore.

However, the mouth of the people is more important than the defense of Sichuan!

Black Hitomi knew that he could gag the people's mouths, but he couldn't stop their thoughts.

Moreover, some officials put forward opinions, claiming that the more they are not allowed to say it, the easier it is for them to become indignant and resentful, especially the families, relatives and friends of the fallen officers and soldiers of the eight starfleets, and they will definitely be even more resentful.

After losing the battle, and not letting the people talk nonsense, what will the people think in their hearts?

Originally, not long after Hei Tong ascended the throne, his foundation was still shallow, and not everyone, all forces, and even all the royal family were absolutely obedient to him, and there were still many people who were not convinced.

The defeat in this battle obviously made those who had opinions about the black pupil and those who were not convinced see it as a joke.

Even those who dared to make irresponsible remarks about the emperor were secretly supported by forces behind the scenes, deliberately intensifying the contradictions and shaking the dominance of the black pupils.

However, imperial power is hegemony!

The black pupil who was furious did not take the advice of the counselor, and it is impossible for the emperor to speak without counting, and the 'Royal Public Opinion Control Order' issued must be implemented to the end.

It's just that Black Pupil is not stupid, if he didn't have some tricks, he wouldn't have killed the third prince Natak to become the emperor back then, he knew that the contradictions of the people had to find an outlet, so he made a major event that happened on the battlefield public.

This incident, of course, is the 'desertion turmoil' incident of the Fourth and Eighth Fleets.

The second battle, which was commanded by the new commander of the interstellar combat force, Yaze, was in full swing, and it can be said that it is still inseparable from the enemy, and it is quite possible to win.

In order to increase the chances of victory, Black Hitomi deliberately arranged for the fourth and eighth to form a support force to rush to help, but what was the result?

According to Yaze's instructions, these two fleets were supposed to quickly attack the enemy's old nest, Harak, but before the attack began, a number of warships suddenly reported major Class I failures and had to withdraw from the battlefield.

One was enough, and the two fleets were like a race, withdrawing again and again, and as a result, the two fleets were reduced by 20 warships.

Class I major failures, is that easy to happen?

Why is it that after losing the battle, the people can scold the emperor for being incompetent and inappropriate, but not blaming the 20 starships that escaped from the battle?

Black Pupil issued an imperial decree to investigate this major incident openly, justly, and strictly, and all major media must follow up and report it.

At this point, these 20 warships that withdrew from the battlefield and returned for such an absurd reason naturally became the target of the people's verbal criticism and frenzied spitting, and many people also shifted the spearhead one after another, blaming them for the reason for the defeat in the war.

Under the encouragement of many well-intentioned people, various military brick scholars and senior research scholars soon emerged among the people, who made generous statements to analyze how the escape of these 20 warships led to the defeat of the second battle, and if they participated in the battle, what a brilliant victory the empire would have reaped.

Deserters on the battlefield have been the most hated since ancient times.

In this pinnacle battle that is almost related to the fate of the empire, there is more than one interstellar battleship that defected, so the resentment of the people was completely ignited, and no one still felt that the emperor was at fault.

What Hei Hitomi was most satisfied with was the families of the fallen soldiers, who put up banners at the gates of the Inspectorate and the Military Supervision Institute all day long, demanding that these deserters must be severely punished, or at least executed collectively in public.

There are even widows of fallen soldiers who came to the palace to go on a hunger strike to petition, hoping that the emperor can make decisions for them and give justice to the soldiers who fought to the death on the battlefield and sacrificed their lives for the country.

Moreover, those manufacturers, suppliers, and even workers who designed and built starships are united vigorously, they want to make a name for themselves, and the starships they have built with huge funds must be qualified and meet the quality requirements, but they are not so easy to have Class I major failures, and they also demand a thorough investigation and give them justice.

Divert the contradictions!

Control public opinion!

In just a few days, Hei Tong played with his imperial power technique, and he was stunned that he was scolded and criticized by countless people, and turned into a good emperor image who worked hard day and night for the country and the people.

As for the fault of losing the war, of course, it was those deserters, and Black Hitomi even made a TV network speech specifically for this, denouncing the despicable defection of these deserters to the hundreds of billions of people in the Garan Empire, claiming that this is an unforgivable act that is more unforgivable than treason and defection to the enemy, and once it is verified, all of them will be executed.

The rhetoric has been released, and the emperor's attitude is so resolute, so the investigation is still a fart!

Anyway, no matter how you investigate, the 20 starships with a total of 7,180 crew members are dead, and the investigation is nothing more than to find out the real evidence that they deliberately damaged the starships, so as to avoid the war and flee on the grounds that they could not fight due to a major failure of Class I.

As for the evidence...... It is best to have evidence, even if there is no evidence, then it is necessary to create evidence to prove that His Majesty's judgment is accurate, that their fearful escape is true, and that the anger of the people is justified.

There is no excuse for the sin you want to add!

But......

As the Minister of Military Affairs, Fu Min actually has sympathy for the more than 2,000 crew members.

He knew that there was danger in fighting, especially against a strong enemy, so many fleets and starships were destroyed, even if they did participate in the war, could they really change the tide of the war? I'm afraid it would only increase the number of casualties.

What's more, the Eighth Fleet is a well-known 'port fleet', in which there are many children of powerful people and relatives of the royal family who serve in it, and it is inevitable that they will be greedy for life and death.

Although Fu Min has sympathy, how dare he risk the world's condemnation and intercede for these people?

Although he very much hopes that His Majesty can forgive and pardon them, at a time when the interstellar defense force is seriously lacking, so that the empire can retain some combat effectiveness, especially the 10 battleship crews of the Fourth Fleet, although they have also escaped back, but the necessary training quality is still there, if they can sincerely repent, shame and courage, maybe it is still a very strong combat power.

They are all active sailors, more familiar and professional than those retired veterans who have been temporarily recruited, newly recruited recruits, etc., and they can fight when they are pulled out, without any training.

It's a pity that the black cauldron of the second battle was lost, and the emperor Heitong made it clear that he wanted to let these thousands of crew carry it.

Fu Min's only hope is that during the investigation, the existing battleships that can be found have indeed had Class I major failures, and there is no fraud and sabotage, so that the crew is innocent, they are not guilty, and they can continue to serve the empire.

However......

The idea is beautiful, Fu Min wants to keep a little spark for the empire of interstellar combat troops, but the reality is cruel.

All 20 warships were publicly investigated, and the whole process was followed by the media, with the participation of countless experts in the empire, and the deliberate destruction of warships to produce major Class I failures.

What made Fu Min even more speechless was that the thousands of shipwrecks who were locked up for quarantine and examination did not withstand the examination for too long, and many of them confessed.

But at this time, a special case also appeared.

Any starship is operated in three shifts, and the captain has the greatest rights, but the command staff will not operate and maintain the battleship.

As a result, on some warships, the captain and other middle and senior commanders instructed them to carry out deliberate sabotage, and some of the crew members who are greedy for life and afraid of death sabotage without permission, and when the battleship has a major failure and must withdraw from the battle sequence, some of the crew members are changing rest and resting, and they do not know it at all, and when they wake up, the battleship has already returned home.

Therefore, among the more than 2,000 crew members, a considerable number must be innocent.

Those who destroyed the crew and commander of the battleship to evade the battle, of course, deserve to die, but those innocent should not be implicated, but should be acquitted immediately, and then the case should be closed as soon as possible, and at the same time, those starships with major Class I failures should be quickly repaired, so as to reorganize the starfleet and resist the enemy's attack at any time.

For the sake of the empire and the consideration of the entire war situation, the military minister Fu Min put forward an admonition to the emperor, and also brought in the chief inspector Shi Jiru, who also clarified in his admonition that some of the ship's crew were indeed on duty and did not know that they were innocent.

……

Today is the day when the case is concluded, and it is the last day to announce the final results of the emperor's disposition to the people of the whole empire.

At this court meeting, all the civil and military officials gathered, also because of this big case of 'fleeing from war' that shocked the entire empire.

However, the two people who Hei Hitomi trusted the most, and the two important ministers in charge of investigating the case, Fu Min and Ji Quinone, actually signed a joint admonition, hoping that Hei Hitomi could spare the innocent crew and preserve a trace of fire for the interstellar combat force.

What a smart person the black pupil is, how can he not know that the two ministers are actually thinking about the empire and the war situation, and they have no selfish intentions, and they are both graceful and powerful, severely punishing those who make mistakes, forgiving innocent people, and they are more able to withdraw justice and integrity, and reward and punish them in moderation.

Are those innocent really innocent?

Although they took turns to sleep, it is true that there is a shift record, but in order to take care of privacy, there are no surveillance cameras in the crew's rest cabin, who knows if they secretly got up and participated in the sabotage?

What's more, like some middle and high-level commanders, they also say that they are sleeping, but they can give orders and verbally let their subordinates do sabotage, how can this be proven?

There must be innocent people, but there is no evidence!

If there is ironclad evidence, Black Hitomi will definitely not say a word and pardon those innocent people.

But without evidence, does Black Hitomi dare to pardon?

If such an admonition is really adopted, what will the people of the empire think, and what should the families of those who have fallen in battle think?

When the time comes, it will definitely make a fuss!

Besides, Black Pupil has already made a speech on the TV network, and the person in this case will be severely punished, who in the empire does not know, who does not know?

Do you want to let the black pupil stand up to the infamy of the people of the world and issue a full pardon?

But even if they were all pardoned and acquitted, Black Hitomi was not worried that they would fight for the country again, who knows if they would repeat their old tricks again, or even defect from the battlefield?

Once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of the well rope!

These 7,180 crew members have been hated by hundreds of millions of people, and everyone is eager to skin them and cramp them and be sentenced to death, how can the black pupil be pardoned?

Besides, the combat effectiveness of these people is not necessarily very important, the Garan Empire is not without them, it will definitely be defeated, after all, the first and second fleets, which are far more powerful than them, have all been wiped out, are they scum, do they have a sense of existence?

Is it the will of the people that matters, or is the war important?

The black pupils are constantly fighting their thoughts, and the two Fu Min, who are prostrate on the ground, are also waiting for the emperor's decision.

Inside the main hall, the atmosphere was condensed to the extreme.

This terrible silence is full of a sense of solemnity, and it makes people feel like they are going to suffocate.

The black pupil took the admonition and paced back and forth, his teeth clenched, and his cheeks bulged.

After a few moments, the black pupil suddenly stopped.

I'd rather kill three thousand by mistake than let one go!!

His brows condensed, and his black pupils suddenly multiplied with murderous aura, as if he had returned to the time when he blew up the Planet Wheat Ze and killed the stubborn third prince Natak in one fell swoop.

At that time, he was also so decisive.

"Kill it!!"

With a loud shout from the black pupil, the book was also thrown down by him.

Syllable~

The sound of the letter landing on the ground is insignificant.

But the emperor's black pupil's order was really deafening!

The atmosphere in the entire hall seemed to have dropped to zero degrees suddenly, making people feel a biting cold, really silent and lifeless......

(End of chapter)