Melina hadn’t expected Lin Xiaohe to come pick her up in person.
She clasped Lin Xiaohe’s hand and shook it warmly. “We’ve been waiting for the Party Leader’s call at all times.”
And she meant we. Over these past few days, Melina had recruited quite a few new members to the Star Grain Party—including her own secretary.
Whether it was taking just one person or taking a whole group, it didn’t matter.
Lin Xiaohe agreed to stay in the First Star Ring for half a month to give the Star Grain Party members time to gather.
Melina booked a room at the Renault Hotel and filled Lin Xiaohe in as they walked. “Most of these people lost their home planets to the Zerg. They believe the Federation didn’t put up a real fight. A smaller portion just think the Federation has no future.”
And then there was that last little bunch—the ones who joined out of sheer, fanatical admiration for Lin Xiaohe and the Stellar Humans. They wanted to become Stellar Humans themselves, and that was their only reason.
“Their backgrounds are pretty diverse, but I’ve vetted every single one of them. They’re all strong-willed people—elites from various fields. They should be a real asset to the Star Grain Party’s growth down the road.”
They walked into the hotel lobby.
The bustling chatter that had filled the space fell silent for a brief moment.
The hotel guests stole glances at Lin Xiaohe and her group, but no one dared to approach them.
Ignoring the stares, Lin Xiaohe and Melina made their way to the room.
Wesley trailed behind them like a lost puppy—one moment he was the steady, reliable right-hand man, the next he’d turned into nothing but a goofy, grinning son.
Melina took one look at his foolish expression and gave him a few sharp pinches.
Wesley pouted dramatically. “Mom, don’t you love me anymore?”
Melina shot him a deadpan glare.
Watching the mother-and-son banter, Lin Xiaohe couldn’t help but think of her own family back on Kyushu Star.
Grandpa, Grandma, my siblings—they must all miss me so much.
A sense of urgency tugged at her heart. She wanted to hurry back to Kyushu Star. Were the fruits ripe yet? How many harvests of wheat had they gathered? And just how similar was it to Blue Star?
Back in the room, Wesley chattered nonstop, reenacting everything that had happened recently with dramatic flair for Melina.
Some of it she already knew, but she still listened with focused attention, her eyes fixed on her son.
Only after Wesley had finished and grabbed a glass of water did Melina turn to Lin Xiaohe. “Party Leader, what are your plans for the fallen planets of the Sixth Star Ring?”
Lin Xiaohe thought for a moment. “I should have a way to purify them.”
Melina pressed further: “Are you planning to start the purification work as soon as we get back?”
Lin Xiaohe caught the hint that Melina had other ideas. “That was my original plan. Do you have any suggestions?”
Melina gave a calm smile. “I suggest we hold off for now.”
“Oh?”
“Right now, the forces in this star sector are divided into four factions: the Zerg, the Empire, the Federation, and us. We’re the smallest in scale, but our combat power is nothing to sneeze at—we could even tip the balance in the war between the Zerg and the Federation.”
Lin Xiaohe nodded in agreement. “Go on.”
Melina continued, “Whatever the Party Leader decides—whether to side with the Federation or not—keeping the Sixth Star Ring as it is right now is the most advantageous move for us.”
“If you choose to help the Federation, we need to negotiate terms. At the very least, the Sixth Star Ring should become our territory.”
Wesley nodded vigorously. Exactly!
Melina’s lips curved into a faint, mocking smile. “I’ve been in politics long enough to know exactly how Federation politicians operate. When they need you, they’ll praise you to the heavens—even promise you the entire Federation. But the moment the situation changes, they’ll tear up those promises without a second thought.”
“Keeping the Sixth Star Ring in its current state prevents them from going back on their word. The Federation has no technology to evolve fallen planets—they can’t do a thing with the Sixth Star Ring.”
Lin Xiaohe felt Melina was making a whole lot of sense!
She’d had enough of those people’s ugly faces. “Melina, keep going!”
Melina had been mulling over these plans for the Star Grain Party’s future for a long time, turning them over in her mind again and again.
“Party Leader, if you choose to side with the Zerg, the fallen planets of the Sixth Star Ring can serve as our incubation bases. As for the ordinary survivors, they can be resettled on Kyushu Star.”
Lin Xiaohe didn’t hesitate. “There’s no way I’m cooperating with the Zerg.”
Melina had her answer now. Her eyes gleamed. “Then we stay neutral. During that period, the Sixth Star Ring becomes our buffer zone against both the Federation and the Empire. Their fleets won’t be able to resupply here, so they’ll leave us alone.”
“When the war ends, if the Federation wins, we can use the fallen planets to build up our strength.”
And how would they build up? By breeding their own Zerg, of course.
“If the Zerg wins, we can attack or retreat as needed.”
In short, Melina didn’t advocate purifying the Sixth Star Ring’s planets. She was much more inclined to use those transformed worlds to cultivate a Zerg army loyal to Lin Xiaohe!
Wesley grew nostalgic for the old Wasteland Star. “Mom, when will the planets get purified?”
“Not until the Party Leader becomes the ultimate victor.”
By then, the Party Leader’s domain would surely stretch far beyond just a single Sixth Star Ring!
When the Federation, the Empire, and even the Zerg bowed at her feet—that would be the time for the Sixth Star Ring to be reborn.
“Alright, I understand. Melina, thank you so much for your advice. Give me some time—I need to think it over.”
Lin Xiaohe mulled it over for three days and came to the conclusion that Melina was absolutely right.
She was now responsible for a whole crew—hundreds of thousands of people depending on her.
If she limited herself to just Kyushu Star, she’d essentially be building her own cage.
What really clinched it was that something deep in Lin Xiaohe’s soul—the Chinese genes embedded in her very being—had been stirred!
In the affairs of the world, long division leads to unity, and long unity leads to division.
As a Chinese person, even if you ran a tiny convenience store in a small county town, you’d still dream of unifying all the convenience stores in that county.
And now, the entire star sector was torn apart.
Chaos had arrived, and heroes were vying for supremacy.
How could she not throw her hat into the ring?!
Once Lin Xiaohe made up her mind, she and Melina spent the following days quietly visiting certain talents.
Melina: “My mentor—his students are spread far and wide. He’s a political mastermind with his own theories on how to build a governing system.”
Because his theories clashed with the Federation’s orthodoxy, he’d never entered politics and chose to remain a professor instead.
Lin Xiaohe: “Let’s go have a chat.”
A chat they had. The mentor’s eyes lit up the moment he heard them out. He held out for all of three minutes before nodding in agreement.
Melina: “The former chief mechanic of Mechanical Life—he came back to the First Star Ring to recover from psychic energy burnout. He’s incredibly skilled, but he’s biased against our Star Grain Party.”
Lin Xiaohe went to see him and got an earful of abuse. “Yep, definitely biased. That’s fine—with enough exposure, his views will change.”
No sooner had she said that than Wesley went crack—one swift chop to the neck, and the poor white-bearded old man crumpled.
Melina: …
When a scholar meets a soldier, reason doesn’t stand a chance?
She cleared her throat twice and pressed on. “The former director of the First Hospital—a pillar of the Federation’s medical system. He should have been on the front lines, but he couldn’t bear to leave his wife and son behind. He’d rather resign than go to war. And he’s also pretty biased against you.”
Mainly because Lin Xiaohe’s very existence had upended so many medical theories that it nearly shattered his academic convictions.
Lin Xiaohe made a decisive call. “Take him! His family, and all the equipment from his private lab—pack it all up and bring it along!”
Taking advantage of the chaos and panic in the First Star Ring, Lin Xiaohe and her people—with sound reasoning and friendly persuasion—convinced quite a few others to join their ranks.
It wasn’t until the day before their departure that Lin Xiaohe suddenly remembered she’d forgotten one important person.
…
Cassian looked up—and there was Lin Xiaohe, grinning mischievously at him.
He was about to say hello when he saw her raise her hand in shock.
A swift motion, up and down.
Cassian blacked out, still wondering in his dazed final moment: What on earth is she trying to do?!
