Chapter 990 — Cecil in Motion

Hetty nodded, and thereupon gave a general account of what had happened within and beyond the Empire since Gao Yang's departure, then began to describe in detail everything that had occurred since the deterioration of the Typhon divine calamity: including the sudden attack on the Longwind Line, the battle at Winterwolf Fortress, Anluo's surrender, and the many reports that had only recently come in from the vicinity of the Winterwolf Line.

In the course of this, she also spoke in detail of the various responses the Supreme Council of State had made to the shifting situation, as well as the plans the Triumvirate had currently drawn up and their considerations for the future.

Throughout the entire account, Gao Yang scarcely interrupted; he merely listened earnestly and quietly, nodding slightly most of the time, only occasionally offering an opinion on some matter or inquiring about a detail. His brow furrowed now and then, but as Hetty's report went on, it finally smoothed out completely.

By the end, there was even a hint of a smile on his face.

Rebecca watched the changes in her ancestor's expression with some bewilderment — not being particularly adept at reading faces, she did not at this moment understand what Gao Yang was thinking.

At last, Hetty's long report came to an end, and the relaxed, gratified smile on Gao Yang's face grew more pronounced. He let out a soft breath and looked up at Hetty. "Very good — I am glad to see that after my departure, everything has been running in good order."

"But of course," Hetty said at once. "Maintaining the Empire's normal order during your absence — that was the command you left us before you went."

Gao Yang smiled. "Indeed... and yet this was precisely what worried me most before. Now, of course, I need not worry."

There was not the slightest falsehood in his words; this was truly what had been on his mind. For a long time he had often worried whether the order he had built possessed sufficient stability, whether it could sustain and run stably in his absence — and now all of it had undergone an unexpected test, and the conclusion was gratifying.

Even though he had left the Empire, even though such a grave emergency had occurred, the Supreme Council of State had not fallen into chaos; everything ran in good order. Shifts in domestic public opinion, the supply of goods, the deployment of personnel, and production and daily life were all handled properly by one department after another, while the Triumvirate held firm to the "helm" at the very top of the Empire.

Of course, all this perhaps came with preconditions: Gao Yang had not been away too long, and everyone knew he could return at any moment; General Anluo had made the right choice and had not let the situation spiral entirely out of control; many departments of the Council of State were merely running on inertia and had not yet truly begun to bear the strain of a prolonged state of war. But even so, the performance of the Supreme Council of State and the Triumvirate this time had set Gao Yang considerably more at ease.

Faced with her ancestor's affirmation, even the ever-composed and serene Hetty did not conceal her delighted smile.

She drew a soft breath and asked Gao Yang, "Do you have any objections to our response plan?"

"What you have done at this stage is very good — after taking Winterwolf Fortress you did not rashly advance, but chose to hold the line in place and wear down Typhon's counterattacks. That was the most correct decision," Gao Yang said. "This is indeed a divine calamity. The 'normal people' on the Typhon side clearly have no will to fight, but an army in the grip of the God of War's faith will still keep attacking their 'enemies.' So military conflict is unavoidable — but there is no need for us to plunge deep into Typhon's heartland to solve their problems for them.

"At this stage, apart from holding the line, our main task is to understand the internal situation in Typhon and to understand their plan for dealing with this divine calamity. If we truly mean to lend a hand, we should start from that direction — as for the front-line battlefield, just make a token effort to placate that God of War who has so thoroughly got himself killed through sheer stupidity."

Hearing her ancestor describe a fearsome mad god as having "literally bored himself to death," Hedy was struck dumb for a moment, then could not help but burst out laughing.

The nerves she had kept wound so tightly for so long finally loosened, if only a little.

And that was precisely Gaosong's purpose—from the moment he had laid eyes on Hedy, he had known that this descendant of his had been under far too much strain of late.

"As for the situation inside Typhon," Gaoyang continued after a brief pause, "has Number Twenty-Five sent any word back?"

"Not yet," Hedy said, shaking her head. "Typhon's situation is unclear at present. Given that elements among their upper ranks have already shown signs of contamination by the God of War, Aldernan is very likely to launch large-scale investigations and purges. To guarantee the safety of our informants, the intelligence department has suspended proactive contact with all our covert assets—including those of the Trajectory Project and the Number Twenty-Five dedicated line. But should anything unusual occur, they will get word out provided their own safety is assured."

Gaoyang considered this briefly, then nodded. "...Yes. The correct response. That is how it should be."

Then he looked at Hedy, about to ask a few more questions—but just at that moment, a familiar psychic ripple suddenly entered his mind.

"Ancestor?" Hedy looked at Gaoyang in confusion as he abruptly fell into a trance. "Is something wrong?"

Gaoyang raised a hand to signal her to wait, then swiftly focused his mind to listen to the brief message Daniel was transmitting—the content was extremely condensed, receivable even without immersing himself in the network, clearly intelligence that had been abridged and compiled before being sent; under the present tense and dangerous circumstances, such caution was entirely necessary.

A moment later Gaoyang raised his head and gave Hedy a faint smile. "What a coincidence... Number Twenty-Five has just contacted me."

Hedy's eyes went wide at once. "There's new developments on that front?"

"...Two things. First, Number Twenty-Five has more or less determined how that earlier 'declaration of war' was smuggled out of Obsidian Palace. Second—and more importantly—Luo Yan Augustus has already declared Typhon in a state of emergency, and used the occasion to push through three emergency decrees in a single day: the dissolution of Parliament, the sealing of the city by the Imperial Guard, and... the temporary revocation of all exemption privileges held by the national church."

As he spoke, Gaoyang could not help letting out a soft breath, his tone tinged with feeling: "...That is really something..."