Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 232 - 152: United Front

Chapter 232: Chapter 152: United Front

Ever since Li Hua transformed into a human form, Jiuyue had plenty of things to deal with these past few days.

She had to help Li Hua adapt to human life properly. As someone who had gone through it herself, she knew all too well the differences between humans and monsters.

This was a form of progress, and once a monster got used to the human form, they would never want to turn back.

Jiuyue felt that this was what people meant when they said, "It’s easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to return to frugality from extravagance." The human form was simply too convenient, and most of the facilities on this planet were designed with humans in mind. Moreover, monsters would feel a strong sense of shame after transforming.

It was much like the mythical tale of Adam and Eve’s apple: when everyone was running around naked in the back hills, no monster thought there was anything wrong with it, but once they took on human forms, none of them would do it anymore.

"That is to say, the monsters in the back hills were actually streaking!"

Based on Jiuyue’s narrative, Tang Qianqian summarized a shocking fact.

However, after learning this fact, she suddenly found it somewhat difficult to look the monsters in the back hills in the eyes.

The story of Adam and Eve’s apple seemed to be just as effective for humans.

"What’s there to be so surprised about? Would you expect the chickens in a farm to be dressed up?"

Jiuyue gave Tang Qianqian a sidelong glance.

Of course, chickens in a farm are better off the more naked they are, preferably without a single feather left on them. That would indicate that they’ve achieved a milestone in their robust growth.

The Bai Yu chicken that was napping on her lap seemed to have heard the news about its kin and looked up curiously at its caregiver.

Seeing this, Jiuyue gently stroked its head, and the Bai Yu chicken closed its eyes and rubbed its head against the palm of her hand, uttering an appreciative "ying ying" sound.

Jiuyue had always thought that chickens were one of the most magical species in the world, and even the Bai Yu chickens from outer space were no exception.

This little fellow, when in its chick form, had only a head and was the size of a palm, making it hard to associate it with the cosmic monster that had nine heads and could spit fire, water, and poison.

"Li Hua."

"Meow?"

"Don’t space out. Look, this is pants, this is shorts, and this is a skirt; the cutting for each of these is different."

Jiuyue spread out the three examples on the table.

The pants, shorts, and skirts were all provided by the enthusiastic student Tang Qianqian, who had been refused by Jiuyue when she wanted to provide white stockings as well.

White stockings were too advanced for Li Hua who only had the title of "Junior Tailor".

Tailoring was a skill every monster had to master after transforming into a human because store-bought pants wouldn’t have special accommodations for tails, and trapped tails were a problem every monster would encounter.

Before meeting Mr. Mingyuan, Jiuyue made all her clothes herself.

For monsters, the road to adulthood was fraught with difficulties, requiring the mastery of many additional life skills.

"By the way, where’s the senior?"

Tang Qianqian lost interest after watching for a while and asked, recalling that Jiuyue’s skirts and pants were mended by the senior. Jiuyue had shown them off to others more than once.

Thinking about it, the senior’s abilities were truly versatile.

Even without using them for fighting, he could still be an outstanding tailor, carpenter, or cleaner.

"He’s in the library looking up some books about the Extraditor."

Jiuyue said without lifting her head.

Recently, the universe has been anything but peaceful.

With the Sixteen Star Summit approaching, the merger of the Universe Company and Shanqi Commerce Association has caused quite a stir, even wreaking havoc within the company. Somewhere in the cosmos, the company’s falcons went to war with three small planets simultaneously, a conflict that erupted after the spokesperson for the Iron Guard Consortium publicly opposed the merger.

The reason was that three planets controlled by the Iron Guard Consortium experienced uprisings. The regime backed by the company fell, and after civilian rebel organizations seized the capital, they blew up the Universe Company’s headquarters.

This act was akin to a firm slap in the face of the Iron Guard Consortium.

At first glance, this sequence of events, which seems like something concocted by the Department of Shock, actually unfolded, with each link filled with disbelief yet amazingly interconnected.

Why did uprisings occur on three planets at the same time?

Why were the long-oppressed rebels able to seize power within just a few days?

And why did the Iron Guard Consortium’s suppression forces, which met with a cold reception on the front line and failed to gain any advantage in their favored guerilla warfare, fail miserably?

Almost everyone who saw these news reports had the same questions because, on paper, those three planets combined weren’t a match for the Iron Guard Consortium, and, as Mr. Mingyuan put it, the rebel forces were no different in scale from the Forgetful Void on Blue Star.

They could only cause minor trouble; if they truly faced the company in direct conflict, they would be eradicated in no more than three days.

An answer seemed to emerge when a war correspondent captured footage of a flagship suspected to belong to the Eastern Battlefront on the front line.

The so-called Eastern Battlefront refers to the Eastern Star Region designated by the Universe Company. That area is known as the most chaotic war zone among many star systems, having endured over a hundred years of war with the company, which obliterated seven planets. During that time, the strategic command changed leadership several times, and most survivors from those planets turned into cosmic pirates, routinely ambushing the company’s merchant fleets.

This was a mess that even the company found to be a headache.

It wasn’t just the cosmic pirates causing headaches, but also the Mysterious Organization funding them from behind the scenes.

Some believed it was Shanqi Commerce Association, but no one ever produced conclusive evidence.

As Tang Qianqian listened to Jiuyue’s account and searched for recent news about the cosmos on her cellphone, she felt deeply shocked, thinking life was filled with surreal and dark humor.

While "The Mystery of Tang Qianqian and the Secret Chamber" was still being performed at the academy, the vague rumblings of a second interstellar war had already begun.

Events of completely different styles were simultaneously occurring in her life.

"So, you understand how much pressure Mr. Mingyuan has been under lately, right?"

"Eh? If the company and the cosmic pirates of the Eastern Battlefront are clashing, what does it have to do with senior colleague?"

"Originally, it had nothing to do with him. But just yesterday, a war correspondent risked their life to interview one of the rebel leaders, who, in front of the camera, announced to the entire universe that this was not the act of terrorism that the company portrayed, but rather a righteous act to defend their planet."

For the first time, public opinion in the universe began to shift against the company, or more accurately, against the Iron Guard Consortium.

While the spokesperson of the Mandala Consortium did not directly comment on the actions of the Iron Guard Consortium, they made a timely call for the defense of universal peace, citing the recent events on Blue Star to emphasize the importance of peaceful development.

It seemed as though they had long been prepared to decisively separate themselves from the disgrace.

Moreover, the rebel leader directly addressed the war correspondent, mentioning Duan Mingyuan by name.

He highly praised Duan Mingyuan, considering him a pioneer in the fight against corporate oppression, whose actions encouraged other planets in the universe experiencing similar circumstances to Blue Star.

The rebel leader believed that terms like "terrorist" and "rebels" were disparaging labels the company used for them. He hoped the war correspondent would refer to them as the United Front.

Duan Mingyuan has been under great pressure recently.

When Jiuyue interviewed Duan Mingyuan for his thoughts on the matter, he only uttered three words, then refrained from commenting further.

—"Fake news."