These enemies, appearing from nowhere, were overwhelmingly powerful, materializing instantly before them; half of the Andu Empire’s military was still on leave.

Caught completely unprepared by the powerful enemy’s sneak attack, the Andu Empire suffered devastating losses, losing four core planets of significant strategic value overnight, sending the entire nation into shock.

Before they could even grasp the identity of the enemy, a dozen crucial planets came under simultaneous attack and fell almost at the same moment.

All of this transpired within a mere two days; it was as if, in the blink of an eye, the Andu Empire had been severed of a quarter of its territory—and the most vital quarter at that.

"I never expected the Andu Empire, under the rot of those parasites, to have weakened to this extent," Qin Liuxing muttered bitterly aboard the flagship of the Ge'an Royal First Fleet.

Zhong Yun merely smiled without speaking. If it weren't for his control over the majority of the hidden jump points in Sector A, and if it weren't for this overwhelmingly powerful fleet supported by the Little Princess’s aid… conquering a quarter of the Ge'an Empire's territory in two days would have been an absolute fantasy.

Qin Liuxing had also played a vital role. Without the intelligence he provided, Zhong Yun would never have been able to devise such a meticulous plan to seize the Andu Empire’s wealthiest regions in one stroke.

Securing this quarter of their territory was tantamount to decapitating the Andu Empire’s main rear base, weakening their strength by half.

What a pity. Zhong Yun couldn't help but muse wistfully. If only the nation’s actual strength were a little greater, perhaps we could have swallowed the entire Andu Empire whole.

The assault on over twenty planets with the strongest defensive forces represented the entirety of the Galactic Empire’s available might. Any more, and they would have been helpless.

Taking these planets wasn't inherently difficult; they simply needed to completely eliminate the enemy forces, dispatch large armies to occupy armories, armament corporations, and key government facilities. Under the pressure of massive armies, the common populace couldn't stir up any major trouble.

Internal transportation within the Andu Empire was convenient, boasting numerous spatial jump points, especially in several of the more critical administrative planets, which held jump gates capable of reaching nearly every world.

The Andu Empire struck with the force of a falling mountain, attacking through thousands of jump points simultaneously, determined to annihilate the enemy and reclaim their territory in the shortest possible time.

Due to the demands of their logistics, the Andu Empire’s jump points operated without restriction. Unlike the jump gates of mid-tier civilizations which required a waiting period of several minutes before a second use, their cooldown was merely one second.

Moreover, the most prosperous administrative planets utilized true spatial tunnels.

What surprised the Andu Empire was the unexpected weakness of the opposing force; they couldn't hold out for even a single day. Once they broke through, they discovered that they had only been fighting mechs. Throughout the entire operation to liberate their territory, they never sighted a single battleship.

They quickly reacted and ordered the capture of prisoners alive. But this was immediately met with heavy casualties; these mechs were extremely fanatical. Once immobilized, they self-detonated, inflicting severe losses upon the Andu Empire’s forces.

The commanding officer of the Andu Empire’s counterattack had a face ashen gray. They had already destroyed tens of millions of mechs, yet the fighting will of the remaining mech warriors had not collapsed; instead, it intensified. One by one, they launched suicide attacks against the nearest warships, causing significant casualties to the army.

In the end, they failed to capture a single prisoner. An army so fearless of death sent a chill down their spines.

However, regardless of the cost, they had repelled the enemy and recovered all their lost territory, allowing them to offer some explanation to the public.

In the aftermath, while the occupied zones suffered relatively minor personnel losses, the rest of the nation endured catastrophic damage.

Four of the nation’s top ten research institutes—equipment and personnel alike—were completely cleared out and moved.

Furthermore, every arsenal, mechanical manufacturing plant, and bank vault within their borders was almost entirely emptied within a mere ten-plus days, as if scoured clean by a plague of locusts, leaving the inventory teams stunned speechless.

All high-level officials unanimously determined that this was the work of pirates. But pirates could not possess such immense military power. No advanced civilization would permit the emergence of a pirate faction capable of threatening the security of an advanced civilization.

The Free Planets were the exception. If the various Free Planets had not united, they too could not pose a threat to any single advanced civilization. Given the current tense situation, advanced civilizations were too preoccupied developing their own power structures to pay attention elsewhere, creating fertile ground for the Free Planet Alliance to grow.

Had this occurred in the past, the Executive Committee of the Grand Galactic Federation would have long since united their forces and eradicated this burgeoning power entirely.

The leadership of the Andu Empire were left to wonder if the Free Planet Alliance was behind this raid. In Sector A, after all, it was truly hard to find any other force possessing such formidable military strength.

While the Andu Empire was preoccupied guessing the culprit, the leadership of the Galactic Empire was steeped in collective euphoria. The spoils Zhong Yun brought back this time were far too rich.

Not only did he bring back countless manufacturing facilities, but he also secured a massive number of scientific and technical talents from advanced civilization nations—a complete industrial chain and a pool of personnel capable of sustained research.

Once these assets were fully assimilated, they believed achieving advanced civilization status was just around the corner.

As everyone celebrated joyously, Zhong Yun felt a touch of regret; if their strength had been slightly greater, perhaps they could have devoured the entire Andu Empire.

What a shame.

Zhong Yun had long planned to raid the Andu Empire. For this purpose, he had prepared thousands of mining vessels in advance, purely for transporting goods, but he had never found a suitable opportunity.

The arrival of the Ge'an Royal First Fleet signaled to him that the chance had come, leading to the events that unfolded.

After bringing the goods back to his homeland and handing the spoils over to his people, Zhong Yun single-handedly accompanied the Royal First Fleet to the Ge'an Empire to fulfill his promise.

The Little Princess could no longer stall. The great families had reached an agreement and officially delivered her a final ultimatum: in two months, a formal wedding would be held for her and the representative they had chosen for her.

The Royal First Ship sailed at its maximum velocity, arriving at the Ge'an Empire precisely on the day of the wedding.

The Empress's wedding was, naturally, an unprecedented spectacle, causing the entire nation to erupt in fervor.

Zhong Yun, as a special guest invited by Her Majesty the Empress, gained entry to the wedding venue.

If he had arrived alone, entry would have been impossible; the Empress insisted on inviting him, requiring some degree of deference. They assumed that he, by himself, could not stir up any significant trouble.

However, Zhong Yun had acquired two tails trailing behind him. He paid them no mind, wandering around on his own to admire the famed scenery of the Ge'an Empire.

He couldn't help but feel a surge of irony internally. The royal family of the Ge'an Empire had once pursued him across the cosmos, intent on his immediate demise. Who could have guessed that today, he would transform into their savior, rescuing the last heir of that very dynasty.

It was a wedding of unmatched grandeur. One principal was the most outstanding young man from the Qiu family, the most powerful noble house in the Ge'an Empire; the other was the newly ascended young Empress.

This wedding was destined to become the most talked-about event of the century.

At the wedding site, all high-ranking officials of the Ge'an Empire were gathered—only those possessing immense power could attend, and they arrived with their wives and daughters to witness this grand occasion.

As the exceptionally handsome and spirited groom, accompanying the Empress, who was radiant, noble, and incomparably beautiful, ascended the supreme dais, the atmosphere in the hall reached its zenith.

Amidst this extremely festive setting, the Empress’s face, hidden beneath her white veil, seemed oddly out of place. Her expression was somber, showing not a trace of the joy expected on a wedding day. Her eyes swept across the crowd, seemingly searching for something.

Zhong Yun stood in the farthest corner, gently swirling a wine glass in one hand, observing the front row of people with a playful gaze. To stand at the very front indicated they held the highest status among those present.

The dozen or so individuals in the center, their faces betraying unconcealed smugness, must have been from the Qiu family. The others on either side, wearing expressions of indignation, were likely representatives of the other two major families.

The rest, either smiling broadly or maintaining blank expressions, were probably the neutral faction. The smaller group showing expressions of profound grief and indignation were likely the Little Princess’s supporters.

Recalling the list the Little Princess had given him, Zhong Yun quickly sorted out who was friend, who was foe, and who could potentially be swayed to his cause.

"...By the witness of the Gods, I pronounce..."

When Zhong Yun snapped back to attention, the officiant was about to make the final declaration. The square was utterly silent.

"Wait."

Zhong Yun’s voice was not loud, but in the quiet plaza, it echoed throughout the entire assembly.

Almost everyone turned their heads simultaneously toward the source of the sound. They saw an ordinary-looking young man striding forward with defiance.

Seeing Zhong Yun finally arrive, the Little Princess felt her tightly clenched hands finally relax, and a wave of exhaustion washed over her. Thank heavens, he had come.

Witnessing someone disrupting the ceremony, the expressions of those present varied wildly. The Qiu family members all looked icy cold, their eyes radiating killing intent. Others first cast probing glances at their neighbors before breaking into looks of schadenfreude.

Most people were content to watch the show; some even voluntarily parted to make way as they saw Zhong Yun approaching.

Everyone could see what the Qiu family was plotting, but the Qiu family’s power was overwhelming, making them untouchable. They dared not voice their anger, but seeing someone dare to cause trouble now, even if they didn't believe this young man could harm the Qiu family, they were happy to see them publicly embarrassed.

The patriarch of the Qiu family frowned. He instantly recognized the newcomer as the guest invited by the Empress. He hadn't expected him to be so tactless as to come and cause a scene.

Huh? Weren't two people assigned to watch him? Where are they?

"You cannot marry her," Zhong Yun walked through the crowd as if he were the only one present, looking up sharply at the young groom on the platform.

"On what grounds, you?" the groom looked down disdainfully, seeing only a foolish man overestimating himself.

"On mine," Zhong Yun laughed boldly. The groom on the platform shuddered as if struck by lightning, spat blood a meter away, and collapsed, his face still holding an expression of utter disbelief.