Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 1356: Captured Knight

The Doeschers primarily worked in the logistics industry, though they also had some limited dealings with the federation’s military.

After all, they were not a bona fide military-industrial enterprise. Their operations leaned more toward the civilian side, which might explain why they only ranked 97th in the federation.

Sein’s question surprised Jeremy, but he did not object right away. Instead, he asked why Sein wanted to get involved with the military.

“My father told me that sometime within the next few hundred to a few thousand years, there will definitely be major changes around our civilization. It could be a catastrophe or an opportunity, if we managed to seize it,” Sein said.

“Are you talking about... the Magus Civilization?” Jeremy asked, his brow furrowed.

“Yes,” Sein replied with a nod.

The strained relationship between the Gallant Federation and the Magus Civilization was no secret, even to well-informed ordinary citizens.

However, on the grassroots level, most people in the federation did not really pay much attention to it.

Maybe it was due to the federation’s top-down propaganda, or maybe it was just the way society worked here.

To ordinary folks, war felt like something distant and unrelated to their lives. In fact, more than ninety percent of federal citizens had no idea that war was quietly approaching.

This was the same in the Magus Civilization too.

Only mages and knights of Rank Four and above were aware of the upcoming Clash of Civilizations.

As for those at Rank One or Two, it was simply not their business.

When the time came, they would follow orders, go where they were told, and charge when instructed. There was no need to overthink it, as there was not much they could do anyway.

Thanks to his family background, Jeremy was more informed than most.

He was also a sharp and thoughtful young man.

The average federal citizen lived between five hundred and eight hundred years, but someone like Jeremy was almost guaranteed to live beyond three thousand.

With such a long life ahead of him, Jeremy clearly wanted to make something of himself.

As far as he knew, the Doescher family had been trying to align with the Icarus Group at some point within the past thousand years.

Over the past few centuries, they had really started working more closely with major military-industrial enterprises in the federation.

The family never divulged much to the young members, like Jeremy, but that never stopped him from forming his own judgments and analyses.

Sein’s words struck a chord deep in Jeremy’s heart.

He could not help but ask, “Do you have any specific plans?”

“I didn’t at first, but over the years, I’ve gradually developed some, and it involves them.” Sein pointed toward Linda, the angel robot standing behind him.

Robot manufacturing had found its way into nearly every aspect of life in the Federation.

One reason for the Gallant Federation’s low birth rate was that even lower-class citizens now had access to robot spouses.

These companions were highly intelligent, so much so that they were practically indistinguishable from real people.

Of course, those so-called robot spouses were very different from the intelligent robots Sein actually needed to deal with, like the Titanfangs.

Robot spouses still operated within pre-programmed boundaries. In essence, they were just “tools” or “inanimate objects”, unlike Titanfangs, which could be considered true “lifeforms”.

Linda was just an advanced device. While Sein might come off a little lecherous in front of Jeremy, he was not the kind of person to actually do anything with a robot.

To him, a robot like Linda was no different from an undead skeleton. Both were man-made objects.

What did interest him, though, was her appearance. She had been modeled after the angels.

“Robots can definitely play a big role in wartime,” Jeremy said. “But have you decided on a specific type to invest in?”

He continued, “Domestic-use robots are easy enough. There are plenty of factories on the market we can partner with. But if you are aiming for something specific...”

Sein cut in, “Of course it has to be military-grade robots! And the production quality and scale must not be too low. You don’t have to worry about sales. Even if they don’t do well in the Gallant Federation, I have solid channels in the Zeak Empire.”

“The real problem is that I still lack access to military-grade manufacturers and production sites. But I have already gathered a good amount of info. I think we should begin our survey, starting with this.” Sein tossed Jeremy a star map filled with notes and markings.

His excitement, along with the detailed star map, made it clear that this was not some passing whim. He had put real thought and effort into his plan.

Jeremy caught the star map and began studying it carefully.

There were more than a hundred military manufacturing companies worth surveying, which left Jeremy at a bit of a loss for words.

Some of the more peripheral ones were within Jeremy’s reach, thanks to his connections and status.

But there were also several higher-tier ones that even he would have a hard time getting close to.

Given the combined resources between him and Sein, being able to work with the peripheral ones was already decent enough.

Although he had not fully committed to Sein’s plan yet, Jeremy felt it was worth a shot. After all, they were still in the early research phase.

“Survey these military-grade manufacturers, huh? I’ll look into it later,” he said.

“Hmm... over a dozen of them are on mechanical planets,” Jeremy mumbled as he examined the map more closely.

“Who knows, maybe one day, you and I could own one mechanical planet ourselves, dedicated to producing our own line of products,” Sein joked, though it sounded more like a subtle lure.

Jeremy began to drift into his own visions of the future.

What he did not realize was that, among all the marked locations on Sein’s star map, one particular star domain sat dangerously close to Nexon—territory tightly controlled by the federal military.

***

Sein had just managed to win over Jeremy and was already working to leverage his connections to get closer to the true target of his covert mission.

Meanwhile, in a maximum-security federal prison located in a remote star domain, a muscular Rank Four knight was strapped to a pristine white platform deep within the facility’s innermost chamber.

He lay flat, completely restrained by metal chains and locks that suppressed his strength.

The knight’s brow was furrowed, though he seemed to have fallen unconscious. Several sharp syringes hovered above him.

“The Magus Civilization is getting more and more brazen. This is already the third Rank Four creature we’ve caught infiltrating the federation’s territory in the past century! Do we really have to trigger the Doomsday Plan ahead of schedule?”

A voice echoed through the reinforced jail.

Two fleets, each with an Erubus-class titan ship that could match overlord-level beings, patrolled the star domain around this facility, making it obvious that the people present here were among the federation’s top brass.

“The first two Rank Four mages we captured are already dead. We need to find out the Magus Civilization’s purpose from this knight before he ends up the same. We also need to find out if there are any other Rank Four or higher beings still hiding within our Federation’s borders. We’ve caught plenty of low-ranking infiltrators over the years, but only Rank Fours and above are worth real attention. I’m sure the Magus Civilization has also captured many of our own agents,” one voice said.

“The Magus Civilization officially declared war on us during the last Magus Alliance Conference. Honestly, launching the Doomsday Plan early is not entirely unjustified. Still, we will need to put it to a vote. The majority must agree,” a third voice chimed in.

“Enough debate. Send this Rank Four knight to the Apollo Solar-class Experimental Base. Have the researchers there extract information from him. And this time, make sure we get something useful—unlike the last two,” the final voice said coldly.