Yue An didn't know what Ji Xiuyun understood from his words.

After losing control for a short while, the man quickly returned to normal at a speed that left Cat speechless.

Not only did he return to normal, but he was even more relaxed than before.

He would even let Yue An go out alone to play – the type where he would drive his mech and leave the team alone to play around.

Ji Xiuyun and the others only stayed on planet s18a01 for three days.

Ji Xiuyun used the media of the 18th Galaxy to announce the war and post-war plans to the entire galaxy. Then, he quickly left the planet and flew towards the nearest planet that had already become the Free Army's sphere of influence.

For Ji Xiuyun, war was a very relaxed but also a very heavy thing.

It was relaxed because he could always easily control the situation. Even if the whole situation was unfavorable, he could rely on himself to turn the tide.

The heavy thing was the things behind the war.

Ji Xiuyun had already found out the era and country that Yue An lived in before he came here. It was a country with a long history and a strong country. During the period when Yue An's writing was popular, the entire country was stable and prosperous.

Yue An, who grew up in a peaceful environment, had never come into contact with real war. Even if he always claimed that he was a cat who had killed enemies on the battlefield.

But the enemies he killed were all ferocious interstellar pirates.

Unlike the Free Army, which was mostly made up of civilians, the Free Army was not picky when it came to recruiting militias.

When they really ran into each other, Ji Xiuyun was very clear about what would happen.

— — Real war was cruel. Even if the enemy was dressed in rags and fought back with crude weapons, they had to be killed without hesitation.

This kind of situation had happened more than once when Ji Xiuyun first conquered this galaxy.

This was not a problem that could be easily accepted and solved. It was also not a simple war between invasion and anti-invasion.

There had always been a lot of friction at the borders. When Ji Xiuyun was young, the planet he was born on had been harassed by the elite soldiers of the 18th Galaxy. The 17th Galaxy had always been active in fighting back.

Strong enemies were eyeing them covetously. Once they showed weakness and didn't fight back, their home would be invaded.

Giving in was equivalent to death.

Resisting and then swallowing the enemy into their territory was the most basic solution. At the very least, the 17th Galaxy would return to peace.

But for the people of the 18th Galaxy who were not from the border planets, this war was an unexpected disaster.

Both sides were protecting their home. It was hard to say who was right and who was wrong.

Because it was hard to say who was right and who was wrong, soldiers who went to war for the first time would always show their softness.

From Ji Xiuyun's understanding, Yue An was an obedient cat who could accept many things smoothly.

However, he didn't want Yue An to see this too early because sometimes, the war would develop too fiercely.

Yue An's heart was full of bright sunshine. Everything he did was what he believed to be the right thing to do.

For example, he followed Ji Xiuyun out to catch pirates. He also followed Ji Xiuyun out to quell a rebellion.

Even though Ji Xiuyun repeatedly told Yue An about the relationship between the two galaxies many times, Yue An still firmly believed that it was to quell a rebellion.

In his words, if there was a war against the government in a part of the empire's territory, then it was a rebellion.

But in fact, it was the empire's fault that such a thing happened.

Ji Xiuyun didn't think that a rebellion, or an uprising, would happen.

At the very least, it wasn't something that could be fought under the banner of justice and righteousness.

Ji Xiuyun also mentioned to Yue An what kind of enemy they would face, but Yue An didn't agree with him.

Ji Xiuyun could almost imagine what the Free Army was like in Yue An's mind.

Elite soldiers, strong generals, and above average weapons and equipment. They also had many formations and talismans to support them. They even used cults to brainwash the civilians.

— — This was probably because the prophet in the Free Army gave him such an illusion.

Ji Xiuyun showed him the information of the vanguard troops to prove that what he said was true.

At the same time, he also showed evidence to show that if the Free Army was really that awesome, they would have killed the 17 galaxies long ago instead of taking advantage of the situation from time to time.

Taking advantage of the situation was often chased back.

Yue An felt that Ji Xiuyun's words made a lot of sense. Then, he once again expressed his ugly rejection of Ji Xiuyun.

"I think that with how crafty humans are, they might have secretly kept their big moves on themselves. You can't be sure that they won't run to the frontlines."

At that time, Yue An was very worried that Ji Xiuyun would screw things up if he didn't agree with him.

Ji Xiuyun asked him back, "Then, if a civilian held a knife, a sharp object, or even a rock in front of you as a weapon, would you be able to attack him?"

Yue An's answer was, "Why would I attack a civilian?" In the next second, he was thrown out by Ji Xiuyun to receive the rest of the troops.

Along with the regiment commander of the Seventh Army, a destroyer, and a mecha clan with 100 people.

Thus, he didn't see a civilian holding a knife, a sharp object, or even a rock as a weapon and rushing to kill.

When Yue An came back with the rest of the troops, the war that lasted for half a month had already ended.

Before Yue An walked down the spaceship, he was still thinking that the Free Army's resistance was unexpectedly weak.

They landed on a piece of land covered in smoke and scorched earth.

The cries of children and women could be heard from afar. There were also soldiers in regular army uniforms who were silently and orderly collecting the corpses of their comrades and enemies, as well as innocent civilians who had been implicated. They cleaned up the battlefield and set up a special refugee service counter.

At this moment, the pitch-black military uniforms looked like mourning clothes used to hold a memorial ceremony. It was solemn and silent.

No one came up to talk to the rest of the troops.

The regiment commander of the Seventh Army, who had completed his mission, didn't say anything either. He just picked a few teams and a few officers who came along with them and immediately joined the rest of the troops.

They all had their own things to do.

Yue An was stunned for a moment. He didn't only see soldiers wearing the uniform of the Free Army. There were also many corpses of civilians stuck together with the corpses of the regular army soldiers. Their expressions were ferocious as if they wanted to die together with them.

Not only that, among the prisoners who chose to surrender, those who were wearing the uniform of the Free Army didn't have any killing intent in their actions.

It was the kind of aura that would be stained by human life. It was almost invisible on their bodies.

Yue An was stunned for a while. He was caught off guard by the scene in front of him.

He seemed to understand the meaning of Ji Xiuyun's words.

No wonder Ji Xiuyun threw him out after asking him that question, Yue An thought.

If he stayed here and the other party really had talismans on them, the one who would suffer a setback wouldn't be Ji Xiuyun, but him.

Because he wouldn't do anything to these civilians.

The Free Army did indeed use talismans and formations as secret weapons, and it was very likely that the higher-ups would keep them by their side. Yue An understood this logic.

But his logic was that the Free Army had so many tricks up their sleeves, so they wouldn't lack funds.

The Free Army was able to spread quickly in the Eighteenth Galaxy. In addition, they were joined by the old government army of the Eighteenth Galaxy. Their strength was definitely not ordinary.

At the very least, in every branch base, there should be a way to perish together with Ji Xiuyun and the others.

But in reality, there weren't any.

The selfishness of humans was far beyond Yue An's expectations.

They would rather watch the people under them die than reveal even the slightest bit of hope in their hands.

Even if this hope was to perish together with the enemy.

Yue An simply couldn't believe it.

Talismans were very difficult to detect. They didn't even need to be used in a profound way to make Ji Xiuyun suffer in silence. But they weren't willing to give out even a single talisman?

Before he left, he had repeatedly warned Ji Xiuyun to be extremely careful of such underhanded tricks. But in the end, there wasn't even a single talisman??

Those talismans could be kept and brought into the coffin, right?

Yue An's concept of "how low could a human's bottom line be" was refreshed once again.

Fortunately, Ji Xiuyun wasn't like that.

Fortunately, Ji Xiuyun was fundamentally a good person.

Yue An looked at the final battlefield in the city. Even the ground had been shaved off a few meters, the buildings had collapsed, and there were potholes everywhere. He took a deep breath.

He heard footsteps behind him. When he looked in the direction of the sound, he saw that it was the military reporter.

The reporter asked him, "Aren't you going to go down and help?"

Yue An didn't answer. He was silent for a while. Then he asked, "Why not film this?"

As he said this, Yue An pointed at the tragic scene below.

"Because the civilians and the government don't need to know about this," the reporter replied.

He seemed very calm and natural, as if this was a matter of course. "They will only hear about the victory and the rough number of casualties. Even if they are doing a live broadcast of the battle, they will only film the distant smoke from the battlefield."

Yue An was stunned. "Why?"

"One is a psychological problem. The other is …" The reporter paused. He seemed to be hesitating whether to say it or not.

He tilted his head and looked at Yue An. He sighed softly and said, "If we really see the situation at close range, it will arouse a large number of anti-war sentiments."

Yue An frowned slightly. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a boy crying and calling for his mother.

He was being held by a man in the Free Army uniform. The man was silent. He was looking down at an arm that was exposed under the collapsed building.

His face was a little dirty, and his expression was numb and empty. He stood there with the child in his arms like a statue.

"He is waiting for the Empire's army to help him remove the pillars and debris. He doesn't even know when he will be able to wait," the reporter explained.

"Why is there a war?"

Yue An heard the reporter say in a low voice, "I've seen this scene many times, and I want to ask the same question every time. If I'm like this, those who live in a peaceful environment will definitely think the same."

The anti-war public opinion had a limited impact on the frontlines. However, people's emotions were always biased towards the weak.

Even the soldiers who had personally picked up the butcher's knife and caused all of this were the same. When faced with the abuse and complaints of the family members who had broken down, they would be surprisingly patient.

Everyone had kindness in their hearts.

No one would casually take the lives of innocent people, especially the weak and powerless.

If the soldiers were like this, then the civilians who lived far away from the battlefield in a peaceful environment and had no understanding of the reasons and meaning behind the war were even worse.

The Empire couldn't let their heroes not receive flowers and applause when they returned in triumph. Instead, they would become executioners who would be cursed.

Yue An asked, "What's the process after this?"

"For at least half a month, most of the troops will stay here to clean up the battlefield, bury all the dead, and stabilize the public's emotions.

Then, the main battle force will depart, leaving the logistics and government officials to deal with the aftermath. The local government will officially be on the right track, "the reporter replied.

"Oh." Yue An nodded. He stood up and ran to find Ji Xiuyun.

Three hours later, Kitty's live broadcast, which had been closed for nearly three months, quietly reopened at one o 'clock in the morning in Sintes.