Chapter 1588 Whirlpool Undercurrent (Part 1)
Earl Stern Vaughn sat boredly on the emerald throne of the Minas Theater. This is a work of art carved from biological teeth and aquamarine. Silky jade threads are also woven into the joints.
Then, the ruler of Vaughan Hive, the largest hive in Sagan, let out a sigh and used his armored fingers to wrap around a strand of hair hanging down on his wig, which was braided into a braid. The long braids, the bright turquoise and the rough texture of gold are intertwined, which are the colors of the Vaughn family.
The Sagan System was originally a sub-system of the Badab System. The Empire slowly established several important Imperial outposts within the Maelstrom area during the 38th and 39th millennia. These outposts served as the Empire of the region. Influence and defensive power like a swaying beacon have become increasingly prominent.
Three of the important star systems have formed a distant trade chain, allowing resources in the Maelstrom area to continuously flow into the treasury of the human empire. These three star systems are Siniax, Sars Gan and Badab, this shows the importance of the Sagan galaxy.
Especially after the Badab planet was ravaged by the flames of war, and the Sineax system was severely damaged by the Chaos war gang, the Sagan system became an important supply and trade node for the empire in the Maelstrom region, and its status continued to rise. It also brought immeasurable wealth to the local ruling family.
Usually, ruling families like them are also called trade lords. In principle, they accept the supervision of the Inspector General of the Star Territory of the Ministry of Interior. However, in fact, as long as they pay sufficient tithe tax and franchised trade tax, other Openly opposed to imperial rule, no one cared what they did.
The initial cause of the Huron Rebellion was his conflicts and frictions with the trade lords in the Maelstrom region, which eventually attracted the attention of the high-level empire.
The count moved his body, resting his chin on his knuckles, looking at the performance in front of him.
The dancer, with shining buns on her head, runs across the stage like a mermaid, spinning among scattered groups of female warriors wearing hoods and male warriors wearing ritual armor, moving like silver fish.
The female dancers all wore black body colors that represented sadness, and their long black hair was also arranged into a fishtail shape. Then the male and female dancers' bodies rippled, and began to rotate gracefully as the ribbons were dragged down from the long poles. .
But his thoughts were not on the stage, but on a letter in his arms. The letter came from the smuggler and pirate giant who served him. The content was very simple, Huron, the overlord of the Maelstrom Preparing to convene a new pirate alliance, business may be affected to some extent during this period.
But Stern Vaughn didn't care about this benefit, he just cared about why Huron suddenly came to do this.
Although the Vaughn family is loyal to the empire, in an area with entangled interests like the Maelstrom, absolute loyalty is difficult. Sometimes you have to swim in gray spots. After all, the Vaughn family can firmly sit in the hive. The ruler's position is not only due to the family's conveyor belt of interests in the upper echelons of the empire, but also due to the fact that one of their ancestors once served in the Star Claw Chapter in the past. Although all information about that person has been erased, Stern probably knew that his ancestor might still be alive - in another identity.
But so what?
The interests in the maelstrom that occupies the center of the galaxy are so huge. Terran bureaucracy, Mars, the Ecclesiarchy, Rogue Traders, the Tribunal, the Assassin's Chamber, every institution, and even everyone is involved here, and they are trying to get the most for themselves. interests.
Only the scale of smuggling in a single Sagan system, Stern deduced that it may be close to one-fifth of the trade volume in the solar system, and this does not include some "semi-legal" smuggling.
"What tricks is the Black Heart King playing again? I heard that he seems to have gotten something from Abaddon."
Stern stared at the dancers, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and then picked up the table He was holding a wine glass and shaking the handle of the flute wine glass with his left hand.
The next second, a girl holding a conch-shaped wine bottle came to his side almost immediately.
She looked to be only about thirteen or fourteen years old, with a slender figure and a special sense of vulnerability. She had beautiful blue eyes, beautiful blond hair, and skin as shiny as ivory. She wore a sleeveless short skirt decorated with sequins. It could barely cover her buttocks.
Stern looked at the girl, raised his eyebrows slightly, and looked away before stretching out his wine glass. The girl flinched at the sudden movement, but when she poured the wine, she did not let any precious drop of wine spill. After all, this bottle of wine was more expensive than her life.
"Is this all you need, my lord?"
she asked in a whisper.
"That's it for the time being."
Stern dipped his slightly dry lips with the wine, but did not drink it directly.
“But don’t wander too far.”
He watched the dancers absentmindedly, and the waitress left like a breeze.
Taking a sip of wine, the count tried hard to think about all the recent events in the Maelstrom area. The Black-Hearted King seemed to be more active than before. In just half a year, he plundered several surrounding galaxies and destroyed them. He created a world of pilgrims, desecrated the saint's church, and made the top leaders of the state church furious.
Listening to the rumors, it seems that the National Church has mobilized several nuns to counterattack. However, although the National Church is powerful, their power in the Maelstrom is not strong. Retaliating against Huron may not be an easy goal. At most, they will take out a few unlucky pirates. Vent your anger.
“I don’t know what caused Huron’s wind——”
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps interrupted Earl Stern’s thoughts. He turned his head and saw three people walking straight through. The passage came near him, and one of them smiled and said hello from afar:
"Earl, have we disturbed you?"
Knowing that there must be something wrong with the other party, Stern Just smiled and shook his head.
"Of course not, please sit down."
These are the only three people who can act like this in this place.
The first, a middle-aged man wearing a silver-trimmed dress, is George Shatelle, the president of the Silver Oak Galaxy Business Federation. This chamber of commerce almost monopolizes all trade routes in the Sagan galaxy, and As far as Stern knows, they also run several smuggling chains and even control two or three pirate groups. They are really a group of guys who take both black and white.
The second one, a somewhat old-fashioned guy wearing a gray-green military uniform, is Admiral Busby Garrett, the senior commander of the local guard of Sagan Prime. His family is another small It is said that the ruling class of Ewing's Nest City is doing a flourishing business of illegal drugs and human trafficking, and this guy looks serious, but Stern knows that this bitch not only married more than twenty wives, but also secretly Li also likes to use family slaves for hunting activities.
The third one, dressed in gray robes, looks ordinary, with a bald head and a featureless face. His apparent identity is just a grain merchant named Bartola Keita, but in fact He is the deputy leader of the largest gang organization in the galaxy, the Thirty Silver Coin Society. The entire gray industry of Sagan Prime, such as brothels, casinos, underground bars, gladiatorial arenas, etc., are monopolized by them, and they also own several special smuggling chains. It can provide the upper levels of the hive with things that cannot be obtained through ordinary channels, such as alien creations and special alien beasts.
(End of this chapter)