A wretched smile of despair gradually appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The last thought that lingered in the world was.
In the next life, I must be a corrupt official!
Honest official?
Even a dog wouldnât want to be one!
I didnât get to eat the corrupt officialâs meat, yet I got beaten by them. Better to eat the meat first and then take the beating.
...
This world.
Many things are relative, like time and space, and also like a smile.
When a smile disappears from one personâs face, it will surely appear on anotherâs.
In the 27th star system of the "Kasha Civilization Federation," on the Constant Star Train drifting in the universe, Chen Mang was sitting at the control panel, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably rising in an insane grin, unable to close.
In such a good mood.
Even the scallion oil noodles Fang brought over tasted even more delicious!
The gains from this operation far exceeded expectations!
Originally, the theoretical strategic resources of these 17 cities should have been "170 trillion tons of copper ore" and "170 trillion tons of iron ore."
Of course.
Thatâs theoretical. In reality, there wouldnât be that much, so his actual expectation was 50 trillion tons of iron ore and 50 trillion tons of copper ore in hand, which would be good enough since more was surely embezzled here!
Even places close to the Insect Race Civilization, the areas that would be impacted the first instant war breaks out, dared to embezzle half of the strategic resources.
Here, itâs already considered good if everything isnât embezzled.
Butââ
The actual resources in hand were.
trillion tons of iron ore, and 90 trillion tons of copper ore!
Exceeding half by a great deal!
Such an abundance of resources is enough to upgrade the Train Armor to Level 200, and all the Seven-color Level components inside the train to Level 200!
The "Akanon Light Energy Main Cannon" can also be upgraded to Level 200!
The Fixed Star will usher in the Level 200 era!
All Level 200!
While other trains almost impossibly have Divine-level Supermodel Effects, itâs standard for every component on the Fixed Star.
They run really fast.
Locking down the wormhole doesnât bother them. Theyâve long fled; catch them if you canâitâs unlikely.
Next, there will be a massive upgrade!
The following Constant Star Train will possess the strength to snatch meat on the battlefield during the war between two top civilizations, and with the quickly rising strength of the Fixed Star, do a few more big scores!
Until it can interfere in the war between the two civilizations!
Then continue getting stronger from it!
From interference to control, and ultimately consuming the foundation of both civilizations, causing the Constant Star Train to surge in power again, launching deeper into the universe!
Step by step elevation.
Everything is perfect.
Just at this momentââ
"Ding."
An alert popped up on his watch from the Kasha Daily, which he set as a special attention; he was eager to know how the Kasha Civilization would define this matter. They would probably say he took away 170 trillion tons of iron ore and 170 trillion tons of copper ore. Those people are likely to pin the blame on him again.
But he didnât care.
Whatever.
Resources in hand are what truly matter, as long as his identity is unknown and they canât catch him, reputation is nothing.
However...
Upon seeing the headline news of the daily, Chen Mangâs expression gradually became peculiar.
-
"Kasha Daily."
"Seven hours ago, the strategic reserve resources of 17 cities on the Gemini Star were devastated in a massive plunder. According to statistics, the loss exceeded a trillion, causing extremely serious damage to the Kasha Civilization."
"After investigation."
"This vicious incident stemmed from the statement made by the leader a day prior, announcing an inspection of all strategic reserve resources seven days later. Any malicious possession would face severe punishment."
"Numerous corrupt officials on Gemini Star collaborated to orchestrate this notorious event, attempting to balance the books with such despicable and childish means to avoid legal punishment."
"Perceptive and courageous, the leader instantly saw through it and was enraged by this."
"All the corrupt officials were prosecuted five hours ago and shot on the spot."
"In the severe times of the Kasha Civilization expedition, any act harming internal interests will be a traitor to civilization!"
"..."
-
"..."
Chen Mangâs face turned slightly peculiar as he scrutinized this daily; was something wrong with the situation?
He originally thought he would be the one to take the blame. He was already prepared to humbly be a balance-sheet Saint; he didnât mind, as long as he had the resources.
But it seemed like...
The title of Saint was too appealing.
Everyone wanted to be a Saint.
The mayors of those 17 cities, and the Star Captain, all scrambled to balance the books, and he... ended up being the one to be balanced?
"Is this right?"
He looked at the other reports in the Kasha Daily, searching but not finding a detailed investigation process. He highly suspected there was no investigation at all; after all, several warehouses were overflowing.
They truly didnât embezzle.
There are good people among the masses!
Good.
He found information that these folks were all wiped out, and all the estates, trains, funds, remote relatives on other planets were confiscated, totaling over a trillion resources, all nationalized.
In a corner, he found an inconspicuous piece of information.
"A well-known Kasha Civilization war commentator, online alias Air-conditioner, hanged himself at home in the early hours yesterday. Family revealed he suffered from severe depression."
He actually knew this person.
He had just read this personâs post yesterday.
The post was highly pessimistic about the Kasha Civilizationâs expedition and disseminated many negative news. Committing suicide today didnât seem like suicide. Words convey emotions, and the information in this personâs text was extremely rational; even though it was pessimistic, it wasnât despairing.
A person like this couldnât possibly commit suicide.
"..."
Chen Mangâs eyes slowly narrowed; he seemed to understand why this matter was handled this way and what the leader of the Kasha Civilization intended.
A glimpse of a leaf can tell you about the fall.
Itâs very obvious.
This leader was preparing to silence dissent and consolidate all resources, mobilizing the entire foundation of the Kasha Civilization, uniting to thoroughly fight against the Insect Race Civilization.
As for his side...
No one cared.
"Good, good that no one cares."
Chen Mang grinned in satisfaction; he was extremely pleased with the yield of this plan, most importantly there were no hidden troubles. Someone balanced the account for him, so what comes next is giving the train a massive upgrade!
Then...
He also wanted to partake in this war and take a bite.
This caliber of war, if he can get a bite, it would be far richer than robbing Gemini Star; even a little bit of foundation leaking would fill him full.
Did one job.
Made the Constant Star Train soar sky-high.
Insect Race?
Suddenly, the Insect Race seemed mediocre; their resource consumption ability was nowhere near his. What he lacked was a huge amount of resources; he could instantly digest however much he got, a capability other civilizations didnât possess.
This also meant his path of ascension could never be a step-by-step gradual climb.
Instead, his strength always remained flat, with almost no change, and after a big job, it would shoot up sharply, zoom, zoom, zoom!
If this were in a stock market.
It would be a sure-fire monster stock.
Quite nice, he liked it.