If the Saturn campaign were postponed for another six months, it would also benefit the Terran Mercenary Corps, as by then the colossal Dreadnought-class battlecruisers would be successively completed, bringing about a qualitative transformation to the entire Corps and enabling them to handle all manner of emergencies with far greater ease.

Yang Ying snapped back from his thoughts, surveyed his surroundings, and saw the room was a wreck due to his earlier punch. Not wanting to trouble others with the cleanup, a slight thought moved in his mind, and the scattered objects instantly floated upward before settling back into their proper places; in the space of a single breath, the entire command center was restored to its original state.

Next, Yang Ying proceeded to the General Staff Headquarters located at the base's center.

As the human population grew, various functional departments matured accordingly. They were indispensable assistants to Yang Ying: he was responsible for setting the broad direction, while these departments handled countless details.

The General Staff Headquarters was the first department established and remains the most powerful department after Yang Ying himself. Its total personnel has expanded to about five hundred, responsible for managing and coordinating the military and political affairs of the human race. Their jurisdiction extends beyond the Terran Mercenary Corps to include all humans on the floating continent.

Matters such as material allocation, personnel promotions, exercise planning, operational planning, and research initiatives all fall under the purview of the General Staff Headquarters, though they are responsible only for drafting the plans, not for their actual execution. For instance, if the General Staff draws up a battle plan, it serves merely as a reference for the field commander; the actual command of the operation remains with that commander.

Arriving at the Headquarters, Yang Ying gathered the supervisors of each sub-department—a total of more than ten people—for a short meeting. After clearly outlining the situation, they began to discuss and study the matter together.

By the next day, several plans had been formulated. Yang Ying selected the one that best suited his temperament as the final operational plan for this action.

Kalia returned to Yang Ying’s command room. Yang Ying handed him the final plan and stated, “Proceed exactly according to this. Execute the order.”

With that command, the entire Terran Mercenary Corps sprang into efficient operation.

It was not easy to deal with those ministers by force; their status was special, fundamentally different from that of the Caesar family. They controlled the daily operations of the government, and eliminating them through direct physical assassination carried a high risk, not to mention a very low success rate. This was because the location of the Earth United Government was one of the most heavily fortified places in the entire human world. Union Island was permanently guarded by at least one Peak Master, two Psionic Masters, and dozens of Psionicists ensuring the government's safety.

Furthermore, the Karsian Embassy was also situated on Union Island, and the Karsian Ambassador, Jiayouna, was herself a Master-level expert.

Setting aside these considerations, even if the method of physically eliminating the ministers succeeded, it would inevitably cause massive repercussions. Human society as a whole would relentlessly hunt down the culprits, resulting in an utterly negative outcome.

Yet, despite so many adverse factors, Yang Ying could not and would not simply let them go.

Publicly, if they remained firmly entrenched in their positions, postponing the Saturn campaign for six months would face considerable resistance.

Privately, if he did not strike down these politicians, Yang Ying felt an unbearable splinter lodged in his heart.

“Therefore, our first step must be to remove them from their respective positions.”

Yang Ying returned to the Phantom Agent Operations Hall he had used during the attack on the Caesar Group. He announced the details of the plan to the several hundred Phantom Agents already assembled: “There are ten ministers who favor deploying forces two months from now. They have banded together, moving in concert. What we must do is use public opinion!”

The hall fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Every Phantom Agent maintained impeccable discipline, showing no whispering or fidgeting, all keeping their gaze fixed on Yang Ying.

Yang Ying paused and continued, “I thank you for the infiltration plan our Phantom Agents began deploying several months ago. After months of investigation, we have secured evidence of sex scandals or economic crimes for all ten individuals. Now, what I require of you is to disseminate this evidence across the network and let the judicial system bring trouble upon them!”

Finding leverage over all ten ministers made this plan almost perfectly advantageous, but Yang Ying couldn't tell if he should be happy or dismayed—not a single one of the ten ministers was clean!

The Phantom Agents responded in unison with a crisp salute: “Yes, Officer!”

This sort of operation was second nature to the Phantom Agents. Once they had familiarized themselves with the mission parameters, Yang Ying commanded, “I declare the plan officially initiated!”

The Phantom Agents immediately began their work. Aided by the base’s advanced computer network and the supercomputer Kevin, massive streams of data secretly flowed into the networks of Mars and Earth.

In an instant, scandals concerning the ministers spread rapidly across both planets and countless orbital city colonies.

Because the ministers’ sex scandals were interwoven with numerous explicit photos—all featuring the ministers themselves with actresses or exceptionally beautiful women—these images ignited a frenzy of interest among countless netizens, causing the dissemination speed of this material to outpace ordinary news tenfold or more.

In the highly advanced networked world of the 26th century, various media outlets were no longer things the government could suppress. Even Bernard, the Minister of Propaganda, after viewing thousands of explicit photos featuring himself and dozens of R-rated videos circulating on major websites, could only roll his eyes, froth at the mouth, and collapse unconscious.

His subordinates managed to revive him. Upon regaining consciousness, he sputtered for a moment before roaring, “Investigate immediately! Find out who is opposing me! I want them dead!”

Released alongside his explicit photos were the detailed transaction records of his bank accounts. This evidence, combined, almost definitively proved his bribery, or at the very least, substantiated charges of possessing assets from unknown sources, leaving him virtually no room for defense.

The communications channel for the Ministry of Propaganda was soon choked with emails from every direction, an overwhelming flood of invective. However, Bernard had no energy left to pay attention to these things; he even entertained the thought of fleeing to escape imminent imprisonment but ultimately abandoned it.

Union Island was surrounded by ocean. Even if he could evade the agents of the Special Security Bureau and catch the fastest aircraft before the arrest warrants were issued, the judicial system agents would find him before the plane landed. There was no time left to escape.

Bernard’s face cycled through shades of green and white, before he grit his teeth and snarled, “Invite the other ministers for me. Convene an emergency ministerial meeting immediately. We must find a solution!”

Simultaneously, the other nine ministers encountered similar circumstances. Overnight, their reputations were utterly ruined. The documentation was so detailed that it threatened to erase every contribution they had made during their tenures; moreover, their contributions had significantly outweighed their failures during their terms, making their current situation even more fatal.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court had just been informed of the matter. After browsing the information online, he immediately signed arrest warrants and dispatched them to the Special Security Bureau, which was responsible for protecting the personal safety of high-ranking government officials. The agents of the Bureau were the highest-grade bodyguards, always staying close to their charges, but when necessary, an arrest warrant allowed them to take their protectees into custody.

There were only six arrest warrants issued because four ministers only had sex scandals without any associated economic crime records.

These four ministers came from established noble families, which already possessed vast holdings, making the need to accept bribes unnecessary. However, they had certainly used their authority to benefit their families and allied factions politically or financially. But these minor maneuvers were all legal and above board, skillfully exploiting loopholes in the law, bringing tangible benefits to their families without leaving any actionable evidence. In terms of methodology, they were far more astute than the other six ministers.

Barring any accidents, the sex scandals could only tarnish their character; they were insufficient grounds for judicial proceedings or impeachment, unless it could be proven that the partners in those affairs were coerced—in other words, proving a violation of criminal law would offer grounds for impeachment.

But in reality, Yang Ying did not need to prove they had sufficient grounds for impeachment. The simultaneous eruption of widespread scandals involving all ten ministers was enough to warrant a massive assault by the United Congress on the ministers, leading representatives from around the world to cast votes of no confidence against the current administration. In effect, the political careers of these ministers were sealed for an early end the moment the files were released.

Bernard had overestimated his influence. The emergency ministerial meeting did not successfully convene. Before it could begin, ministers began submitting their resignations to the President, attempting to preserve a shred of final dignity.

After all, resigning sounded better than being impeached.

Several ministers implicated in economic crimes immediately surrendered to the courts after resigning, seeking reduced sentences.

When Bernard arrived at the meeting room, the other nine were nowhere to be seen, but Marshal Duncan and the Minister of Health and Welfare sat calmly in the room.

“What are you doing here? This has nothing to do with you!” Bernard shrieked at Marshal Duncan, his nerves clearly frayed.

“Just here to see you off one last time. The people you’re waiting for aren’t coming,” Marshal Duncan said languidly.

“Did you do all this!” Bernard misunderstood, assuming the overwhelming tide of public opinion originated from Marshal Duncan. Thinking it over, he conceded that with the Marshal’s influence in the military, it was possible.

“It wasn’t me,” Marshal Duncan shook his head, looking at Bernard with a cold sneer. “However, I must also thank the person behind this. The expression on your face right now is magnificent. If that person could see it, they would surely feel that all of this was worth it.”