The United Government was completely stunned. They had been racking their brains over how to deal with the three Yanglu cities on Earth, but before they could act, the Orbital Knights had started fighting among themselves.
"Looks like the war's coming to an end, Inaho," Yunko said happily. "That tactic worked so well. Brilliant!"
"It's called sowing discord, Yunko," Inaho replied like the top student he was. "In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhou Yu of Eastern Wu used this strategy during the Battle of Red Cliffs. He successfully got rid of Cao Cao's naval commander."
Yunko's eyes sparkled. Her classmate wasn't just smart—he had depth.
Seeing how popular her little brother was with girls, Inaho's sister finally relaxed. She'd been worried he'd never find a wife with that poker face of his.
"Yunko, Inaho, what are you two talking about?"
"Inaho was explaining Romance of the Three Kingdoms," Yunko said admiringly. "Zhou Yu used the same trick we just pulled."
Yuki Kaizuka thought to herself, 'I didn't even know that novel had stuff like this.' But she had to admit the plan worked—bold and smooth. "Now that the Orbital Knights are fighting each other, Earth's pressure is easing up. The colonel said once they finish tearing each other apart, the princess will announce a ceasefire with Earth."
Yunko let out a breath of relief. "That's great. I've been wanting to go home. War's no fun at all."
But Inaho was still worried about the princess. He didn't trust Count Kuruteo—or rather, Liu A'dou. He suspected Liu A'dou had ulterior motives.
Right now, Liu A'dou was using the princess as his banner. It felt amazing. This was the path of a real power player. The princess beside him had even less political sense than Empress Dowager Cixi. Liu A'dou figured he might as well stage a coup and take over completely.
In the original story, the princess was always blindly idealistic. Especially in the second season—when Slaine united part of the Martian knights to take over a resource-rich area on Earth and build a new nation, putting pressure on Earth. You could say it was ambitious, but it clearly benefited Mars before independence.
But the moment the princess woke up, she immediately left Slaine. Instead, she sought out the son of the declining Kuruteo family and even proposed marriage, causing Slaine to lose the support of the people. That crushed his fighting spirit and pushed him into a final, desperate battle.
Sure, the princess wanted peace. But as the first heir to the VERS Empire, shouldn't she have prioritized the interests of Martians before chasing her own political dreams? Yet all she cared about was ceasefire—ignoring what Mars had sacrificed and whether Earth would even accept a peace deal from a nation that started the war.
She probably thought: 'Mars has superior technology compared to Earth. Offering peace is me doing you a favor. It's a kind of charity.' Earthlings, if they had any sense, should gratefully accept it. There was no choice. Mars could start or stop the war whenever they liked. Earth just had to take it.
But peace granted like charity never lasts. Even if there was a temporary ceasefire, Earth would still be Mars's sheep. Mars could shear the wool whenever they liked—or slaughter them for meat. And they expected the sheep to thank them for not killing them? That kind of dignity-crushing peace—no one with self-respect would want it.
Earth couldn't tolerate that kind of insult. So now, let Liu A'dou lead Earth to victory.
"That boy named Liu A'dou is something else," said Colonel Darzana while speaking with the Delkalion crew leaders. Aside from marveling, she really had nothing else to say.
"To stir up clouds with one hand and bring rain with the other—this is what real power looks like," added the support unit's young major. His strength was just unreal.
The whole show was orchestrated by Liu A'dou, completely stealing the spotlight from Inaho. Inaho was a dazzling warrior, but Liu A'dou was like a magician general. Inaho could turn the tide of a single battle, while Liu A'dou was shaping the entire war.
"We've also gotten in touch with the United Government. They've praised Liu A'dou's success highly and even asked about his next plan."
"Wait, is Liu A'dou actually planning to bomb the VERS homeland?" the young major asked in disbelief.
"I think so. He wants to do what the U.S. did to Japan in World War II," the colonel replied. She knew the top brass was already considering it. Word would come down soon.
"They also know we've got access to Martian tech now. The Martian Factor Simulation Box has been delivered. Liu A'dou might soon become our official leader."
That's right. Liu A'dou had been promoted—straight to major general. The Delkalion now belonged to him. Just the simulation box alone could grant Earth a hundred years of technological advantage. Add to that the fact that Liu A'dou had sparked a civil war between the VERS Empire's royalists and anti-royalists? Honestly, a major general promotion was still too low.
"War is just an extension of politics. Throwing ourselves into a bloodbath is the last resort. Earthlings are not the same as Martians. The VERS Empire is feudal, where royal power is everything. Only nobles' lives matter. Commoners are just tools of production—they're worth a bit, but they're not essential. But Earthlings are free and democratic. We're not tools. That's why we need to win this anti-invasion war at the lowest possible cost. And that means we need to nuke Mars." That was Liu A'dou's first command meeting as major general.
Everyone fell silent. They were thinking about how many lives a nuke would take. Liu A'dou said Martians were tools, but they weren't idiots. They knew Martians were originally Earth colonists too.
"If you're not ready for this, I'll have the United Government replace you."
Then Inaho was the first to step forward. "This is war. Dropping a nuke really is the most efficient way to limit casualties. I'm in."
That poker-faced genius—cold-blooded killer. Liu A'dou liked him.
Then Rayet, daughter of a Martian spy who'd volunteered to join the army, stood up too. "The Martians didn't care about casualties when they invaded. To me, they're all enemies. Doesn't matter how many die."
The major added that soldiers must have the courage to face war. They didn't fight just for the sake of fighting. They fought to end the war. If they could reduce Earth's losses, they were willing to carry out the mission.
Only a few from the Japanese district hesitated, second-guessing everything. They looked kind, but really, they just didn't want to be labeled butchers. None of them stopped to think how many Earthlings the Martians had killed. So Liu A'dou waved his hand and kicked them out.
When this was all over, they could sit on the sidelines and watch the Delkalion crew get crowned heroes and gnash their teeth in envy.
The Delkalion transported a full load of nukes into Yanglu City and quietly installed them. Then, under the pretense of escorting the princess back to Mars, Liu A'dou activated the space gate.
The civil war was still raging—more and more intense. The number of Yanglu Cities dropped rapidly. Only about half were left—17 in total—and they were battered and barely able to fight.
The royalists had won. They came to the moon to see the princess off. After she left, they still had to go to Earth to seize resources and grab land. In that, they were no different from the anti-royalists.