Miss Witch doesn't want to be a diva

The southern star region, the Winddra star field, the 'Dove White' residential planet.

The singer 'Shiqinghua' Grey lives here, and Tilan was also a guest here recently.

"It was about ten years ago that I came up here." Tilan and Grey stood side by side, feeling that time passed by in the blink of an eye.

"Yeah." Gray's voice was still faint, like the cold white stone cliff.

The two walked on the wasteland by the sea, where there were many large rocks corroded by the sea water. In the cracks of some rocks there were many shells and conchs washed ashore, but most of them had already weathered and were not as beautiful as those commonly seen in various film and television works.

In the past, Tilan would probably have thought of many things because of the broken remains of these shells, such as the beautiful things of the past, which are now only left with the outline of the shell, and the soft inside has disappeared due to the decay of time, etc., which would have made her feel sad.

Although I can still sense a trace of emotion passing through my heart, it soon dissipates with the wind. As for why, it is probably because after experiencing and witnessing so much over the years, my heart has become vast and broad, and is no longer easily shaken.

The Fifth Era, the Dark Sun, the New Races, the Disputes among the Factions in the Twilight Era. Today, the Federation is also in the midst of a wave of dramatic changes in the times, experiencing ups and downs.

I used to think that when good friends get together, they have to talk a lot, and communicate, complain, confide, and share all kinds of big and small things in each other's lives. But now I feel that except for a few things like birth, aging, sickness and death, most of them are trivial matters not worth mentioning. I no longer have the desire to confide everything. I feel peaceful and comfortable to sit together with the people in my memory, have a meal, and take a walk.

Over the years, Grey has supported Tilan in all matters big and small in the southern star region, but because of the large number of things, the two have only communicated through the Internet. Now that she has found some time, the girl also wants to visit Grey to express her gratitude.

It sounds a bit utilitarian to say that they are trying to build relationships and maintain relationships. Tilan doesn't want their relationship to be completely reduced to political alliances. She is also quite interested in this secluded singer. She has been living on the "Pigeon White" residential planet for some time, and the two often take walks and communicate together.

As always, Gray didn't talk much. Her aura was always as cold and indifferent as a sea cliff. The title of 'Stone Blue' was really the most appropriate for her.

"Actually, you don't have to stay here with me every day." The two of them gradually stopped and stood on a high stone cliff by the sea.

"I know, but it's not a burden to me." Tilan tilted her head slightly and looked at the singer next to her in a dark blue dress.

"Grey should be able to sense it. I also like quietness and solitude. I happen to like your usual lifestyle too." Tilan blinked slightly.

If she didn't carry so many expectations and missions, the singer's career would probably be the same as Grey's. If she didn't have a firm heart and was still as timid as when she was a child, even if she had great talent, she would not dare to take that step, and her future would be the same as Ewen Qilin. If her mother and father had not come out of Jielou City, she would have been bound to the Pan-Eastern forces since childhood, and now she would probably be like Luo Fenghua, working for the forces and factions to which she belongs.

Because of her loneliness in childhood, she lost many people to rely on. Although it was difficult in her early years and the initial stages, this allowed her to not be tied to any factional labels and to freely choose the direction of her future life.

Because of the struggle between life and death and the rejection of her sister, although she was sad and internally consumed for a while, this painful period also forced her to think about the meaning and way out of her life, so as to avoid being like Ewen Qilin, who was too gentle and kind and lost her edge.

Because she was born in the Four-Leaf Crystal Star Region with a profound historical background but in decline, she could not sit idly by and watch everything happen, thus avoiding the path of loneliness and coldness because of her personality.

Although she had experienced many ups and downs since childhood, but now thinking about it carefully, these experiences were like a carefully planned trajectory, avoiding several major obstacles and keeping her life on track. She didn't want to say thank you for the suffering, but fate was sometimes so wonderful that some well-placed pruning of obstacles could make the trees straighter.

After listening to Tilan's words, Grey raised his head slightly.

"Tilan is more lively than before," she commented.

"It's like a flower that has shed its awkward restraints and blossomed completely freely." She smiled.

For this singer, smiling is a very rare expression, but as Tilan said, the basic personalities of the two are actually very similar, so after seeing Tilan's growth, she also feels a little relieved and happy.

So she stopped admonishing and asked, "How long will you stay this time? If time is enough, let everyone make a few more works for you."

"Time?" Tilan closed her eyes and thought.

"About three months, and then I'll go to the others." She was referring to the other singers in the southern star region.

"Okay." Gray replied briefly.

——————

In April 1271 of the Sixth Era, Heshia Tilan visited the singer 'Azurite' Grey in the Fengdela star field. The two stood together on the top of a mountain with a great view and took a photo. They then sang a new ballad "White Doves on the Deserted Beach" together.

This cooperation can be said to be a starting point, because in the next year or so, Tilan visited several other singers in the southern star region one after another, and released new songs in collaboration. These new songs filled the gap in the number of new albums that Tilan had released in the past years due to her busy schedule. It also enabled the various star regions in the southern star region to gain a better understanding of each other because of the news of album shooting and exchanges, making the connections between the various star regions closer.

In August of the same year, under the initiative of the delegation sent by the Central Star Region, 21 star regions in the Eastern Star Region joined the "Brilliant Stars" organization and signed a large number of cooperation projects and development plans.

For the construction and development of the project, the Central Star Region dispatched a large number of engineers, technicians, security teams, and some escort starships into these star regions. This move was opposed by other star regions in the Eastern Star Region, but the opposition was of little use. Instead, it highlighted the division and fragility within the Eastern Star Region.

After that, the tripartite alliance in the Eastern Star Region existed in name only, and the major star regions that did not join the "Brilliant Stars" began to split into several small organizations. On the one hand, they did not want to lose their autonomy and return to the rule and management of the federal central government, but on the other hand, they could not unite with other star regions. They lacked a common interest basis and no strong will to unify each other.

Regarding the current situation, these small organizations are particularly hostile and hate those star regions that have defected to the central government of the Federation. They believe that they have betrayed the Eastern Star Region, causing the Eastern Star Region, which had originally gained independence, to fall under the blood-sucking control of the central government of the Federation again.

Faced with such remarks, those star regions that defected to the Federation and joined the 'Brilliant Stars' also fought back and expressed opposition. They accused those star region factions that wanted to gain 'independence' of being groups that benefited from economic prosperity and independence. Star regions like them, which already had poor economies and backward industrial and technological foundations, needed more support from the Federation in order to get out of the predicament of stagnation.

The two sides had huge differences in interests, and naturally they came to completely different results. Under this situation, neither side could convince the other in the debate, and in the end the public opposition became increasingly intense.

The following year, a shipping fleet departed from the Central Star Region and headed for the Eastern Star Region. On the way, it was attacked by unknown forces. A large amount of expensive equipment transported by the fleet was lost, including thousands of technical experts from the 'Brilliant Stars' organization.

After this incident, the Federal Central Star Region immediately dispatched several rapid search and rescue fleets to patrol, but in the end they only found the remains of the shipping starship in the black area 4 light years away from outer space, and the cargo and personnel on board were completely lost.

Faced with this bizarre accident, the 'Brilliant Stars' organization issued a severe condemnation, blaming several factions in the Eastern Star Region, believing that they had privately looted the fleet.

"This kind of fast and professional attack method, as well as the way of handling the aftermath, is definitely not something that ordinary pirates can achieve. They also have no channels to sell the goods unless they have the support of other 'forces' behind them!" stated the special investigator sent by the Federal Central Government.

"We have reason to suspect that this is a despicable act done by 'certain' factions for their own selfish reasons. They are trying to use violence to intimidate those gentle and kind people so that they will give up cooperation and turn to them."

"I want to tell you that they are wrong! Such vile behavior will not defeat the brave citizens of the Federation, and we at 'Brilliant Stars' are committed to supporting those backward and impoverished star regions, breaking through the barriers between the stars, and establishing a highly connected, integrated human civilization where thousands of stars shine together."

"In order to deal with those vicious groups that illegally invade and secretly sabotage, we have applied to the Federal Central Council to increase the security level in the future, send more fleets to escort the fleet, protect the various nodes on the Centauri spiral arm, and build more space stations. They will eventually light up this dark sea of ​​stars like stars!"

Representatives of the 'Brilliant Stars' organization made a grand statement at the press conference. Shortly thereafter, with the support of the 'Fire Lotus-Brilliant Stars' joint faction, the Federal Central Parliament passed several bills in succession to support the transport fleet in increasing its escort capacity and allowing them to use starships and combat units that are two generations behind the main fleet.

The six main fleets have always been the battle benchmark of the Rose Federation. The patrol fleets of other star regions are probably one generation behind the main fleets in terms of starship strength and technical level, while the escort fleets of local star regions are two generations behind, and ordinary civilian commercial escort fleets are three generations behind. This proposal is equivalent to raising the technical authority of commercial escort fleets by a whole generation, approaching the military level.

Although many people suspected that this accidental robbery might have been planned by the Federation Central Star Region itself, and the two sides had heated arguments online, the reaction among the people and various local star regions was that all parties had plans to upgrade their fleets and purchase new warships.

Some large trade alliances, such as the 'Sun Ship Trade Alliance', 'Ember Star Mutual Aid Trade Alliance', 'Leaf Poetry Delivery Association', 'Grain Ear Association', 'Southern October Star', etc., have increased the escort lineups of their own fleets in this trend.

This move is like an arms race. If all major trade alliances have increased their escort capabilities but their own have not, then for security reasons and an assessment of strength, partners will definitely be more inclined to give shipping orders to those powerful trade alliances rather than choose weak trade alliances.

In addition, if pirates and illegal looting organizations really exist, when other fleets increase their escort capabilities but your own fleet does not, the probability of being attacked will double and you will face more malicious attacks.

At this point, a large number of orders were thrown to military industrial enterprises. Whether it was starships, mechas, fighter jets, or various autonomous combat units, the demand was growing rapidly, and this trend was not limited to the eastern star region, but spread to various star regions and star fields like waves, because the bills promulgated by the Federal Central Parliament were effective for all star regions and star fields.

"Since they are all expanding their ships' capacity and enhancing their combat capabilities, no matter what the situation is, we also need to upgrade simultaneously to cope with various situations that may occur in the future." A representative stood up and spoke.

In the conference room, Tilan, wearing a black dress, sat at the head of the table, thinking. At the conference table in front of her sat representatives from various star regions in the southern star region. What they were discussing today was whether they needed to follow up on the current situation.

"I agree with Marco's suggestion." Another representative raised his hand and spoke.

"Although the cause of this accident and the forces behind it are confusing, it has already happened, and as all parties have begun to expand their ships and increase their combat power, we must not stand still."

"The shipping safety in the southern star region has always been good, thanks to our frequent exchanges and our exceptional unity under the banner of the 'Emerald Dragon'. However, this is not a reason for us to give up expanding our combat power."

"The situation in the Federation is extremely unstable right now. We, the Emerald Dragon, possess technology that everyone is jealous of, and we are also the object of jealousy and hatred in many people's hearts. Even if we don't need it now, we can't say that we won't need the protection of a powerful fleet in the future."

"Otherwise, once the situation worsens and the enemy suddenly launches a massive attack, they will not be able to gather enough combat power in a short period of time and will be overwhelmed by the enemy. At that time, it will be too late to expand the ship capacity and improve combat power."

"The production cycle of a main battleship is at least 16 months, which is nearly a year and a half. With the current level of technology in the Central Star Region after acquiring the 'Sons of the Stars' Alliance, the advancement of their warships and fighters will only be faster. If we want to maintain deterrence in the future and not be easily led into a war, we must do our best to improve the combat effectiveness of the fleet to prevent being defeated by surprise attacks." His words were sincere and high-spirited, and he received applause from many people after he finished speaking.

After that, many people also expressed similar opinions of agreement. However, even so, many people still looked at the girl sitting at the head. After all, the current 'Emerald Dragon' was established by her, and everyone present was a member who swore allegiance to her. If she vetoed, then no matter how many people's suggestions were made, it would be useless.

Gradually, the scene became quiet. Tilan raised her head and looked at the people who were looking at her. She closed her eyes slightly and then opened them.

"I understand what everyone is thinking." She knew everyone's concerns and uneasiness about the military expansion in various star regions of the Federation.

"But what I think is that this arms race may be an endless vortex that will draw everyone in, and at a certain point, it will be impossible to stop it."

"'When holding fierce weapons, one will naturally have the urge to use violence.' When all factions have a large number of combat fleets, some conflicts can no longer be resolved peacefully as in the past." She sighed silently.

"Perhaps, this is the inevitable fate, and we can only face it head-on."

"Announce to the public that we, the Emerald Dragon, will also begin to expand our escort fleet to protect the safety of the fleet and the star field."

"Yes! Princess Heshia." Everyone stood up and responded loudly.