272: Chapter 273 Voting

"Dumpling! Can you hear me? I've pretty much figured out what they're made of!"

Dog Brother looked at the radar screen and spoke rapidly, "The space fleets of these three major families don't look very strong! At the very least, in terms of space warfare, with the advantage of our Mass-Energy Conversion Cannon, we have an overwhelming chance of winning!"

"Moreover, their fleets are currently scattered, busy chasing down those straggling pirate ships. Their organization is very low."

Dog Brother lowered his voice and proposed a bold tactic, "What do you think? Why don't we just go all in? Taking advantage of this chaos, let's turn our cannons and wipe out the fleet of that Yelute Family, which has been hostile to us, in one go?!"

Dumpling, on the other end of the communicator, was silent for a moment.

"Forget it, Dog Brother."

Dumpling calmly rejected this tempting proposal, "If we're going to fight, we do it properly, head-on. Sneak-attacking our own allies during the chaos is definitely not a good idea right now."

"Brother! All is fair in war!" Dog Brother was getting anxious, "If we miss this chance to loot a burning house, it'll be gone for good!"

"You're right, but we are merchants." Dumpling's tone was serious, "Merchants value integrity. Our Baby Bus has finally established a foothold here. Even if we want to stab them in the back, we have to go through the motions and formally declare war first! Otherwise, who would dare do business with us in the future?"

Dog Brother sighed, knowing he couldn't persuade him, "Alright, I'll listen to you."

Since they weren't attacking allies, Dog Brother could only command the crew to continue cleaning up the battlefield, collecting the debris and supplies floating in space.

Not long after, Wu A Level Combo, who was leading the boarding party, sent a video transmission.

The Big White Bear's furry face was covered in blood, "They are indeed Rogue Traders with trade permits, but they're just a low-class, minor house. It seems they only own two barren mining planets. These guys usually engage in this kind of dirty 'dog-eat-dog' business."

"That one-eyed boss has already been slaughtered by me with a single slap!" the Big White Bear said dismissively.

"If he's dead, he's dead. Keeping someone like that is just a waste of food," Dog Brother replied casually, preparing to hang up the call.

"Wait, there's one more thing." Wu A Level Combo turned the camera to point at the dense crowd of bottom-layer laborers in the frigate's bottom cabin, who were as thin as skeletons,

"There are many bottom-layer slaves locked in the bottom cabin of this ship. When we just broke in, these people even took advantage of the chaos to launch an uprising and helped us a little. How should we handle them?"

Dog Brother thought for a moment and arranged, "First, have logistics move some flour and compressed dry rations from the warehouse and distribute them to stabilize their mood. Then, take a few experienced brothers to screen them one by one. Focus on seeing if there are any Genestealers or cultists mixed in. If they check out fine, incorporate all of them into our logistics labor camp."

…Back to the planetary surface.

Dumpling, Luluchiu, and the crowd of players working on the ground breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that the space battle had been a complete victory and that a frigate had been captured.

However, as the president of the chamber of commerce, Dumpling did not have much of a happy expression on his face; instead, his brows were tightly locked.

"It's too coincidental!" Dumpling rubbed his chin, recalling what Penny had said, and muttered to himself.

Luluchiu leaned over and asked curiously, "What's too coincidental?"

"The timing of these Rogue Traders appearing is just too coincidental!" Dumpling analyzed, "They didn't come early or late, but happened to appear just as we reached a cooperation agreement with Melissa Family, and they suddenly jumped out of the Warp. Moreover, as soon as they appeared, they targeted House Sading, which was preparing to recruit us, and launched a ground assault!"

Luluchiu reacted extremely quickly, and after a little thought, she understood the stakes involved, "You mean... this pirate attack wasn't a coincidence, and it's very likely that the third family, which has always been xenophobic, is behind this?"

"I can only say it's very possible." Dumpling sneered, "Killing with a borrowed knife—the political trick natives love to play the most."

The two had just returned to the temporary rest cabin. Outside the door, there was a burst of hurried footsteps.

The head of Melissa Family—Grand Duchess Ran, walked in with a livid expression, surrounded by a group of royal guards.

"Apologies for disturbing your rest." The Grand Duchess's face looked very unpleasant.

She hesitated for a moment, didn't continue beating around the bush, and said straight to the point, "The intelligence department has just confirmed that this sudden pirate attack was secretly orchestrated by Yelute Family! They wanted to use the Rogue Traders to eliminate you and take the opportunity to weaken the strength of House Sading!"

The Grand Duchess took a deep breath and looked at Dumpling with burning eyes, "Moreover, the combat power you displayed in the space battle just now is also very shocking. Therefore, I, on behalf of Melissa Family, formally request you! Launch a full-scale crusade against Yelute Family now! As long as you send troops, our two families, along with House Sading, will fully assist you on the flanks and in logistics!"

Dumpling looked at this strong woman who was trying to use the players as a gun, thought for a moment, and did not immediately get carried away by victory and agree.

"Madam, this is, after all, a full-scale war involving three planets." Dumpling spoke in a bureaucratic tone, "I need to hold a meeting with my companions to discuss this first. We will give you a definitive answer very soon."

Although Melissa Ran did not get the commitment she wanted, she could only nod helplessly and turn away with a gloomy face.

"Luluchiu." Dumpling turned his head, "Go send a guild broadcast, let the core brothers on the ground return to the Baby Bus first. We'll have a meeting, briefly go over this matter, and set the tone."

"Okay, on it."

…Inside the Baby Bus, in a simple tactical meeting room. The life-skill players, who had just experienced a great victory, were all flushed with excitement. It must be said that although war is cruel, the mental stimulation brought by victory is far greater than the harvest from farming or doing business.

Dumpling sat in the main seat and, without holding anything back, gave everyone present a rough explanation of the Grand Duchess's request and the current situation.

"That's roughly the situation." Dumpling tapped the table, "The path before us is clear now. We can directly declare war on that family called the Sun's Child (Yelute Family), and the other two families will publicly support us. But this certainly won't be a one- or two-day battle; this local war might last for a very long time. What does everyone think?"

As soon as his voice fell, the players in the meeting room exploded like a boiling pot, chattering endlessly. The hot-tempered ones slammed the table and shouted, "Don't talk nonsense, just push and attack!"; the conservative players suggested that they should slowly farm and manage here first to stabilize their base; there were even conspiracy theory buffs who suspected that the entire event was a huge trap set by the Grand Duchess.

But amidst the arguing, not a single player raised the concern that they wouldn't be able to win. After all, if the worst came to worst, even if the Baby Bus couldn't win in terms of military strength, as long as they offered some benefits on the forum and called for support from the various major legions back at the Yuanwang Star System headquarters, wouldn't everything be solved?

Seeing the topic drifting further and further away, Penny stood up, pressed her hands down, and signaled everyone to stop letting their thoughts wander.

"Brothers, listen to me for a second." "Actually, I've always felt that from the moment we made contact with them, the direction of this plot hasn't been normal. Think about it, according to the Grand Duchess, these three major families have been balancing each other and operating in this remote galaxy for nearly ten thousand years!"

"A stable pattern for ten thousand years! How could they tear off their masks and go so far as to hire hitmen and start a civil war just because we outsiders appeared? Isn't that ridiculous?"

Penny concluded, "Therefore, I think this is highly likely a plot trap. Since we are a life-skill guild, we should focus on steady management and developing trade with peace of mind. There's no need to be free muscle for NPCs."

This statement from Penny was immediately accepted by some life-skill players. After all, for farming players, the key is stability. Once involved in a war and something goes wrong, they might not even be able to protect their existing interests.

But on the other side, Dog Brother, who was sitting opposite, immediately stood up and retorted mercilessly, "Bro! Wake up! This is just a game! This isn't about playing political games in the real world!"

Dog Brother said loudly, "Where would NPCs have so many convoluted tricks in their code logic? Even if it really is some earth-shattering conspiracy, what are we afraid of? We can respawn when we die! If the ship is gone, at worst we go back and screw bolts for a few months to build a couple more! Call over more brothers, won't we be able to solve it with overwhelming firepower anyway?"

Dog Brother pointed at the holographic star map and shouted in distress, "I think we should just push and attack! Opportunity knocks but once, brothers! Our guild's progress is already lagging too far behind other major legions! Didn't you see the forum today?!"

"Those heavy-tasting beasts from Bear Ridge are currently driving Flesh Mecha everywhere, chasing and hacking at Tyranids! Those muscular bros from the Brotherhood of Steel have already started teaming up to farm monsters near the Chaos warbands' territory! Brother Kun and his group are even more incredible; they are going straight north to fight the Necrons!"

"Everyone is crazily exploring and grabbing territory! Are we content with hiding in the rear, farming, and being resellers every day? Can you stand this disparity?!"

This speech, which struck directly at the players' competitive spirit, instantly ignited the whole room. This pro-war argument was immediately met with enthusiastic support from the vast majority of players.

Dumpling saw that both sides held their own opinions, and continuing to discuss would just be a waste of breath. He stood up and clapped his hands, "Alright, alright, stop arguing. Since we can't agree, let's use our guild's old method—everyone log off and initiate an anonymous vote directly in the QQ group!"

Thus, everyone quickly returned to their rest cabins and decisively chose to log off. In the real-world guild QQ group, a vote on whether to launch an interstellar war against Yelute Family was quickly launched.

After a tense ten-minute vote, apart from some pure "salted fish" players who chose to abstain, over eighty percent of the players ultimately chose to support joining forces with the other two families to attack Yelute Family.

Once the voting results were out, the players put their helmets back on and logged on one after another. Although there had been some disagreements internally before this, since the result had been decided, The Fourth Calamity displayed extremely high execution, no longer engaging in any meaningless internal friction. Everyone immediately performed their respective duties and entered a state of combat readiness.

And Dumpling, accompanied by Luluchiu, went to the Grand Duchess's residence again. They officially announced to the outside world that the Baby Bus Chamber of Commerce would join forces with the Lady of the Lake, Melissa Family, to publicly declare war on the Sun's Child, Yelute Family!

Not long after, the Lord of Mountains and Seas, House Sading, which had received conclusive evidence of the pirate attack, also publicly issued a statement officially declaring war on Yelute Family!