The blond-haired young man, Chamos, looked out over the almost entirely silent city of Durag. He was not a person from Yifu, and he had no deep feelings for Durag, but he could still sense the weight of history and the spirit of the Yifu Republic Federation that filled the city.
Young Chamos ca from a capitalist family in the kingdom of Severi on Lingge Star, a family of enormous wealth, rich enough to rival nations and even capable of influencing the politics of the kingdom significantly. Not long ago, in the turmoil that shook Lingge Star, the kingdom of Severi made an agreent with Teizene: Severi would concede and pay tribute without Teizene launching a military invasion against them. To negotiate such terms, Severi had paid a heavy price.
The fall of the Yifu Republic Federation had been witnessed by all; the kingdom of Severi knew that they could not possibly defeat such a formidable enemy as the Lizard People and that compromise was the best way out. Although they were required by Teizene to do a great amount of labor, forced to contribute vast materials and even to supply a regular quota of people, Severi also gained an opportunity to take revenge on the Yifu people. The Teizene Empire conscripted people from other nations on Lingge Star to co to the Yifu Republic Federation, to rule over the Yifu people with high pressure and help Teizene exploit everything.
Chamos was sent to Durag under such circumstances; he watched as one vibrant, angry life after another turned into a lifeless, walking corpse. Yifu people were herded into factories, working numbly, only showing intense panic and fear when they were selected as food for Teizene people, but it was of no use.
Chamos walked into the office, where his father, the elder Chamos, sat. People from Lingge had a peculiar tradition with their nas; they inherited them, with the eldest son taking the father's na directly with a special suffix. Thus, a family might have Elder Elder Chamos, Elder Chamos, Younger Chamos, Little Chamos, and the like. Other children had no right to inherit the na; they often chose new nas, and if that branch flourished, their nas would also be passed down.
"Father, do you think what we're doing now is right?"
The elder Chamos, wearing gold-rimd glasses with a floral design, lifted his head from the thick stack of docunts and looked at his son's calm but suppressed emotional face, sighed deeply, and said, "In this world, there are no truly right or wrong motives for action, only the motives of gain and loss. The so-called right thing is because others will apply positive feedback to this correct action; you get psychological or material satisfaction, and the opposite for wrong actions. But now if we do not do what we are supposed to do, next to be chewed to bits by the jaws of the lizards will be our bodies, and Severi will be the country trampled and ruined."
Upon hearing his father's statent, Chamos could only remain silent.
The elder Chamos stood up, patted his son's shoulder, and said, "No one can defeat the Teizene people; even if there are only a few thousand of them, they have terrifying technology, invincible military equipnt. Even if all 2.2 billion of us Lingge people were to unite, it would still not be enough to withstand them. Eagles have the survival ways of eagles; field mice have the survival ways of field mice. What everyone does is just for the sake of staying alive."
Chamos nodded, turned, and left the office, but as he departed, he whispered softly, "What's the point of living if you have no soul?"
Chamos exited the office building just in ti to see one of his subordinates, a traitorous Yifu person nad Sali Ji, dragging a frightened yet beautiful girl toward the office building.
Chamos did not need to think to know what Sali Ji was doing; he had seen both Yifu and Severi people do the sa thing many tis before—taking locals who had beco slave laborers, especially the good-looking girls, into their rooms to defile them.
"Wait a mont," Chamos suddenly called out to Sali Ji.
Seeing it was his direct supervisor, Sali Ji hurried over with bows and scrapes, "Lord Chamos, your excellency, are you well?"
Chamos, feigning a sleazy smile, said, "You have good taste, my friend, snagging such a beautiful girl. Look at those curves and that face; truly unrivaled."
Sali Ji's face turned pale. Chamos had not spelled it out, but the ssage was clear. Although Sali Ji had beco a lapdog for Teizene, in this puppet regi, those from Severi who were outsiders held higher status, and these forr commoners could never hold their own.
"If your lordship likes her, please take her for your enjoynt," Sali Ji offered.
"Heh heh, since that's the case, I won't stand on ceremony with you," Chamos replied.
Without a word, Chamos took Jenna back to the building and entered his office suite.
Jenna hadn't expected to be waylaid en route, much less by a Severi. She didn't know if it was luck or misfortune, but she had sowhat resigned herself to her fate, just like many other girls who had suffered the sa fate.
Once inside the room, Chamos paid no more attention to Jenna, instead sitting on the sofa and pouring himself a glass of wine.
It seed odd to Jenna; the man had seed so lecherous just before, yet now that they were in the room, he didn't seem to have any intention of doing anything to her.
"Make yourself comfortable. I just brought you here on a whim. Too many girls have been ruined by these people; one less tragedy is always better than one more," Chamos said, sipping his wine without glancing in her direction.
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Only then did Jenna realize that this man had saved her.
She hurriedly said, "Sali Ji threatened with the safety of my family. If he doesn't get , he might take it out on them."
Chamos replied, "I won't let him do that."
Jenna let out a small sigh of relief, "Thank you."
With a touch of self-mockery, Chamos said, "I never thought a Yifu woman would thank a Severi."
Jenna argued, "There must be good people among the Severi, just as there are bad people among the Yifu. But the Teizene, they're all bad, no, they're not even human; they're the cruelest beasts."
Chamos actually nodded, "That's probably right."
Jenna was puzzled, "If you also dislike the Teizene, why would you help them oppress others?"
"Because I'm like you, I actually don't have a choice," Chamos said with a long sigh.
As both fell into silence, suddenly a huge "Fireball" fell from the sky, striking a Teizene munitions depot more than ten kiloters away from the building.
A trendous explosion ensued, shaking the very ground, and Jenna even fell to the floor.
The color drained from Chamos's face. He quickly went out to the balcony to look, only to see countless giant fireballs raining down from the sky toward the ground!
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