Chapter 2916: The Speaker’s Fury Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Well—”
Meng Xiaolang was dumbfounded. He thought that he had heard wrong.
What—what—what had he just heard? The Speaker of the Supreme Council of the Star Glory Federation, the leader who should be in a high position, was actually leading the charge?
It was one thing to be at the frontline, but it was a whole different thing to be at the forefront of a battle formation. In the history of mankind, which supreme leader had been so fearless?
Meng Xiaolang blinked and looked at his companions, who were all shocked and confused.
But when they looked at Ding Lingdang’s blood-red, burning robe on the light beam, they realized that they had not heard wrong. The Speaker of Parliament, who was known as the ‘Red Fire Dragon King’, was really going to be the sharpest blade of the federation!
Meng Xiaolang’s face was still somewhat frozen, but deep inside his veins, nerves, and internal organs, a cluster of strength was already burning. There was no telling who was the first to start roaring. In short, within half a minute, fanatical roars resounded around Meng Xiaolang and on every warship of the federal army.
“Federal army, crush all the enemies blocking our way in the future. Forward, forward, forward!”
“What”
Even all the parliament members and experts on ‘Kunlun’ were shocked. They looked at each other in dismay. No one knew what was going on. How could they not know that the Speaker of Parliament was going to personally take action? Ding Lingdang couldn’t have acted on her own, could she? This was too -this was too
“This is too reckless!”
On Prairie Fire, the flagship of the federal army, Chief of Staff Bai Kaixin roared hysterically for the hundredth time, “Who does she think she is? A muscular, simple-minded general? This is our first attack! Our first! We don’t even know the details of our enemy. We don’t even know whether the so-called ‘friends’ are really reliable or whether she has dug a trap for us. She is the supreme leader of the federation, the symbol of the Cultivation civilization, and she is going to charge out without a care? Is there no procedure for such a major event? Is there no need for a democratic parliamentary vote?”
Bai Kaixin burst into fury for a long time. He went through the rules of the parliament and the military laws in his head, only to find, “When the Speaker of Parliament is determined to charge into the enemy lines, the voting procedure of the parliament will be implemented.
It was understandable. None of the predecessors who drafted the federal laws, the basic laws of Cultivators, and the voting procedures of the parliament had foreseen that the people of the federation would elect such a barbaric and reckless Speaker!
“She is too reckless. I have to stop her. No wonder she did not want to give a speech in the cockpit and insisted on doing it in the hangars. She also said that it would be more fun to be together with the soldiers of the grassroots level. Damn the ambience. She is hiding from me because she is guilty. I should’ve known that she was going to make her own decisions!”
Bai Kaixin was furious. He was about to reach out to the Speaker of Parliament, when Ding Lingdang cut off the communication with him.
Maybe, she wouldn’t dare resume communication with Bai Kaixin until her ‘Big Fire Dragon Sparrow’ reached the front of all the starships.
“We-“
Bai Kaixin knew that it was too late to stop them now. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he scratched his head and asked, “How did we get such a Speaker?”
“Mr. Speaker, don’t you think that it is too reckless and that you should think twice?”
Inside the workshop of Burning Prairie, Jin Xinyue opened her arms and blocked Ding Lingdang. One third of her eyes were filled with admiration, one third with confusion, and one third with resolution without any hesitation.
Despite the boldness of the old witch who came up with the ‘Dark Moon Plan’, she did not expect that her Speaker, her master’s wife, and her strongest competitor in her life would be so bold.
Calling Ding Lingdang ‘reckless’ was already giving her a lot of face. It should be called ‘crazy! “Reckless?”
Ding Lingdang stopped. She pushed her long, burning purple-red hair to the back of her head and tied it up with a super-alloy headband. She looked at Jin Xinyue with a vague smile and said, “Just ‘reckless’? Are you not trying to say things like ‘insane, idiotic, brainless, muscular, and simple-minded?”
“Huh?”
Jin Xinyue was completely confused. “Speaker… Master’s wife, if you know everything, why are you still so stubborn? You are the Speaker of Parliament. Whatever happens to you, the morale of the federal army will be greatly affected. I’m sorry. If you don’t give me a satisfactory explanation, I will not let you take the risk and act recklessly!”
“Is that so?”
Ding Lingdang’s eyes and lips curled as she looked at Jin Xinyue, who was all serious, and smiled. “You think you can stop me?”
“We have to stop them whether or not we can.”
Jin Xinyue gnashed her teeth. “It is my duty, just as it is your duty to stay in the pivot and not take any risks!
“Then, what if I had a reason to go there after careful consideration, not one but three?
Ding Lingdang extended three of her fingers. Before Jin Xinyue was surprised, she continued. “Firstly, you should be very clear that, although our main force has marched out and jumped to the battlefield in time for the most crucial battle of the civil war of the imperium, our fleet was not prepared at all because of the high demand for speed. Most of the starships were short of fuel and ammunition. Some of them only had three to five bases of firepower. Many of the crew members of the starships were temporarily assembled. Many of them were new soldiers who had just been recruited from the military school and had never seen blood before. Some of the starships were even low-level warships that were only suitable for the defense of the low-Earth orbit. They had not been strengthened or modified yet. They were merely there to make up the numbers. They were born with deficiencies and fought with injuries.
“You and I are both clear about the situation. Many soldiers and high-level experts at the grassroots level know that we are bluffing. In a sense, it is not just a military risk but also a ‘strategic deception’. It all depends on whether or not the enemy is fooled by us.
“Therefore, our teamwork is not very good, and the morale of the soldiers is definitely not very high.
“Besides, this is our first battle since we arrived in the center of the sea of stars. It is our first real battle against the legendary main force of the Star Ocean Imperium. It is perfectly normal for the soldiers to hesitate or even be extremely nervous. Under such circumstances, other than me leading the charge, do you think there is any way that the entire army can summon 120% of their courage and launch a suicidal attack in a few minutes?
“Hehe. Anyway, as the ‘Supreme Commander’ of the three armies who does not live up to my name, I’m not good at strategical commands in the first place. It’s better not to interfere with a professional such as Chief of Staff Bai when it comes to the mobilization of the fleet. Why don’t I shine a little bit in the field that I’m best at?”
“Well…”
Jin Xinyue pondered for a moment and had to admit that Ding Lingdang was telling the truth. “Secondly, you know that, although the parliament has passed the motion of ‘entire troops’, there are still a lot of people who are against such military risks. I’m afraid that, if the battle at the frontline is not going well, these people will cause trouble again and retreat.
Ding Lingdang continued, “The Speaker of Parliament is going to fight in person. Whatever the outcome is, even if I’m heavily wounded, it will still raise a lot of public opinion among the people. Even the excuse ‘revenge for the Speaker of Parliament’ will be enough to force those who are hesitant to turn back. They will not be able to overturn the resolution that they will fight to the last drop of blood!”
“I see!”
Jin Xinyue suddenly realized what was going on. It was like the first day she met Ding Lingdang. “Thirdly, and most importantly, you think that I am reckless and crazy, don’t you? That’s right. I want to leave such an impression on everybody, especially the Immortal Cultivators in the center of the universe!
Ding Lingdang smiled and said, “Compared to the Imperium of True Human Beings, the Star Glory Federation is just a small country. Even if we help the new empire win the war, we still don’t have enough bargaining chips on the negotiation table.
“If the negotiators on our side were rational enough and a standard politician, it would be very difficult for them to get any benefits. They would be easily taken advantage of by the Immortal Cultivators who supported the revolution.
“But what if the negotiator on our side is an irrational, unscrupulous, lawless, and out-and-out lunatic?
“Sometimes, a lunatic who does not play by the rules and dares to flip the table at any time is more likely to muddy the water and win more benefits at the negotiation table.
“Don’t the guys in the center of the sea of stars regard the Star Glory Federation as a backward, barbaric country? Then let me, the ‘Queen of the Barbarians’, have some fun and leave a deep impression of ‘unreasonable and insane’ on them. Let them know that I don’t care about anything, that I will do anything, and that I will break up with them if they don’t meet my demands. At worst, we will die together!
“I pretended to be ‘insane’, you pretended to be ‘reasonable’, and you and I sang the same tune. The young emperor of the new empire was named ‘Li Jialing’ or ‘Wu Yingling’. That’s why he was fooled by us. Therefore, as the first battle of the glamorous debut of the ‘queen of the barbarians’, how could I not march forward?
Jin Xinyue was dumbfounded. Her beliefs were greatly undermined, if not shocked.
She had thought that only a foxy girl like her would play tricks. She didn’t expect that even her beloved master’s wife, Ding Lingdang, had turned bad!
“Don’t look at your master’s wife in such shock, as if she is really a brainless
savage.” Ding Lingdang extended two of her fingers and lifted Jin Xinyue’s chin. She smiled and said, “Even if she is a barbaric woman, she hasn’t been the Speaker of Parliament for nothing. She won’t be as impulsive as she used to be. Just do what you need to do and explain to Bai Kaixin and the rest of them for me. I believe that he must be hopping mad right now!”
Pushing Jin Xinyue away, Ding Lingdang strode toward her ‘Great Fire Dragon Sparrow’.
“Right. There is another insignificant, personal reason.
Climbing onto the breastplate of the big Fire Dragon Sparrow, Ding Lingdang had put down the facial cover that had been carved with nine dragons, revealing only a pair of burning, ferocious eyes. She turned around and said to Jin Xinyue, one word after another, “Li Yao is trapped in the depths of the sea of stars. I’m in a hurry to find him, and those ignorant scumbags are still bothering me. How infuriating!
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s the f*cking election of the imperium, the emperor, or the gods and devils of the universe.. Those who hinder me, Ding Lingdang, from finding a husband will all—die!”