Star Lord started thinking again, but his brain truly wasn't up to the task. After thinking for a long time and coming up with nothing, he could only stare blankly at Nick.
Nick pressed his lips and said, "So much money can't be spent overnight. If it were all spent at once, it would even impact the currency market. Obviously, it was accumulated gradually over many years..."
Suddenly, an idea popped into Star Lord's mind. He said, "Rocket bought a part from the black market the other day and told me it cost three hundred. But when I looked online, it was only one eighty. Later, he confessed he actually spent the money to buy a gift for that otter! Seriously, it's not like I'm that unreasonable. If he wants to buy a gift for his girlfriend, he could just say so. Would I deny him the money?"
Then he rolled his eyes and said, "So the interstellar council might be doing the same. They could be buying items far exceeding their actual value and then reporting those inflated prices, accumulating a lot of debt they can't repay, saying they've funded the Space Pirates."
Nick sighed. Star Lord's mind was indeed lacking. He said, "What you described is a form of corruption, but that's not what's happening. Here, let me explain straightforwardly."
He then explained to Star Lord about the interstellar council's overspending and borrowing issues. It was evident Star Lord didn't fully grasp it, but he understood the most crucial point. He said, "They can't repay the debt, and the Three Great Empires don't want them to repay it either. So why not just agree together to write off the debt?"
"Yes, that was their initial plan. Just find someone skilled at bookkeeping without letting the matter get exposed, and balance the accounts without involving any real money transactions. But very unfortunately, they chose Shiller, who is pretty good at bookkeeping."
Star Lord couldn't help but cover his forehead. He said, "Isn't the Supreme Wisdom online?"
"Everyone underestimates Shiller's destructive power, right?" Nick laughed again and said, "With our meddling, they can forget about resolving this matter easily!"
"Oh, I get it. They wanted to quietly balance the accounts, but you guys didn't want them to succeed, so you exposed it, dragging us into trouble."
"I've explained so much to you, and you're still not getting it? It's not about harming you; it's about giving you a partnership opportunity. Because we know you would only admit to the debts if they were pinned on you, since you are our friends."
Star Lord's brain visibly froze for a few seconds. Nick continued, "Yondu is a clever person. He has stood firm for so many years despite the encirclement by the Three Great Empires. Even risking having a bad reputation, he wants to protect his home. He never truly went rouge; he's waiting for an opportunity with a more astute method."
"Opportunity? What opportunity?"
"An opportunity to deal a mortal blow to the Three Great Empires." Nick's expression turned serious as he said, "He deeply understands that it's absolutely impossible to shake the rule of the Three Great Empires by being a hero. Even if the Human race, even if we've defeated the Three Great Empires several times and pinned them down for beating, the order of the Interstellar Society won't crumble easily. We need an opportunity, like a crack on the ground, and once there's a crack, bugs can crawl in. Understand?"
Star Lord seemed to finally have a realization. He said, "So, we have shared interests, right? We both want to deal with the Three Great Empires."
"That's correct. The Ravagers and the human race alike have had enough of the Three Great Empires' tyrannical hegemony. We want to overthrow the existing order and establish a new order. So, no matter how sturdy this wall is, we're going to carve out a crack even if we have to suffer and bleed for it. Do you think someone who can be a Space Pirate for so many years would fear bearing another bad reputation?"
"I understand now. That's why, when Yondu received this news, his first reaction wasn't to clarify or explain but to find friends within the council to figure out what's going on. He probably senses this might be an opportunity."
"This is an opportunity," Nick said. "From what I told you earlier, you keep looking at it from the Ravagers' standpoint. But didn't you realize? The interstellar council's funding for pirates, the biggest victim isn't the pirates themselves."
To Star Lord's ears, this sounded quite striking. He realized he was indeed too emotional, getting angry just thinking about the Ravagers possibly being framed.
But in fact, with this news going public, who's the unluckiest?
The Space Pirates were already pirates without a good reputation. They are capable of anything and no one has any expectations of them. But the interstellar council and Three Great Empires are different.
Don't be fooled by the Three Great Empires controlling the entire Interstellar Society from behind; they do so in secrecy. Politics is essentially a game where everyone knows the answer but won't ask the inappropriate questions. They know the Three Great Empires control the Interstellar Society, but they don't ask because it represents stability. Being the vested interests, they won't disrupt this stability.
However, if this question gets asked, even placed on the table for discussion, then the collapse of order isn't far off.
A giant strong enough won't ever allow others to discuss whether he is powerful, nor permit discussions on his justice. Once discussions spread, and everyone starts asking questions seeking answers, it means this giant has already declined.
The Three Great Empires are just like this. After this news broke out, there should have been a tacit silence, because everyone knew that behind the interstellar council were the Three Great Empires; the Three Great Empires chose to fund the Interstellar Pirates, and no one could comment on it.
But this time was different. Perhaps it was the repeated military defeats that shook the prestige of the Three Great Empires, or perhaps someone was stirring the pot behind the scenes. In any case, the moment the news broke out, it sparked a discussion across the entire network.
The Three Great Empires' propaganda was well done; on the interstellar internet, one could only see their positive information. This information blockade had lasted a long time, spanning several generations across various species. Some people were born and lived in such an information cocoon, believing the Three Great Empires to be synonymous with strength and justice, and they did not believe such news. Or rather, most people did not believe it.
However, within every civilization, there are not only such controlled and deceived masses; there is also an elite class that knows the truth. This group of people, once they turn their backs, are the most formidable.
Funding Interstellar Pirates is not a big deal; anyone with a bit of brains knows this is the Three Great Empires nurturing bandits to maintain their power. The key lies in the monetary issue: where the hell did the interstellar council come up with twenty trillion?!
No one knows the answer to this question. And this elite class, with their sources of information, didn't refrain from questioning, thinking that this figure might be exaggerated or fabricated. But because they have sources, they knew it was personally spoken by the Minister of Propaganda and even recorded in the system.
That day, it was Jarvis who hacked into the system to alter the data. The Supreme Wisdom didn't catch him at the time, and consequently, had no way to deal with him afterward, so the data remained as it was. It was previously mentioned that this system, made convenient for modification, was full of loopholes, and now it has come to reap its karma. The system is like a sieve, and anyone can come in and take a peek. Upon seeing that long string of numbers, everyone would slap their thighs twice in disbelief.
This group of elites shifted their focus from funding the Interstellar Pirates to "where did this money come from". Or rather, they were more concerned with where exactly did this money go?
This isn't merely a few billion; this is a whole twenty trillion. If this money truly existed, a tiny leak from the fingers would be enough for them to live lavishly.
Even if the money had long been divided, at the very least, someone should know whose hands it landed in, right? Being in such a core position of the cosmic political circle, not having a shred of information about such a major event is what truly frightened them.
It didn't matter much whether they got a piece of it or not, but what if it fell into the hands of their political adversaries? What if it ended up in the hands of a hostile civilization? Worst case scenario, it falling into the hands of the Interstellar Pirates is unacceptable; who knows what those madmen would purchase with such money?
Fear drove everyone to hurriedly and anxiously start investigating. But it was evident that the Three Great Empires were unwilling for them to investigate, because the investigation itself was very dangerous. Who knew what might be uncovered? What if they truly uncovered something?
Hence, the Three Great Empires promptly stopped them from investigating. And as an old saying goes: what's officially denied often turns out to be true. Their prevention only confirmed the existence of that twenty trillion, didn't it?
If you're not afraid of people knowing, why stop the investigation?
Among those cleverly thinking through this, there was also a bit of unease. To be honest, they were skeptical that other politicians or any Interstellar Pirates might have gotten all the money. They believed more that perhaps the Three Great Empires took out a sum to do something but didn't want them to know, so they falsely claimed it was to fund the Interstellar Pirates.
Such matters cannot be pondered too deeply. Because funding Interstellar Pirates, which could ruin the reputation of the interstellar council and the Three Great Empires, served as a blind eye technique, then what they truly intended to do must be monumental?
Those who had already mingled into the core political circle knew the inhumane experiments conducted by the Three Great Empires in the cosmos. They knew those experiments were just minor affairs; the Three Great Empires never abandoned their pursuit of the laws and the origin power. Could it be that this money was used on that?
Then suddenly someone remembered: the Supreme Magician was invited by them to be the Councilman. It's known that both sides had just fought a major battle, yet they elevated him to the top position in the interstellar realm. Didn't the Three Great Empires care about face?
This issue also cannot be deeply pondered. The fact that the Three Great Empires disregarded their face but insisted on bringing in the Supreme Magician indicates their ambition is enormous.
It's all connected, all connected. These Little Smart Ghosts immediately realized there's a traceable pattern to the Three Great Empires' actions. The massive fund and the Supreme Magician's arrival likely have an inevitable connection, and such connections all point in one direction: the mysterious origin power.
Alright, alright, alright, the Three Great Empires, seeing they can't beat the Human race, are preparing to learn from the Human race's methods. Is it the so-called learning from foreign strengths to suppress foreign powers?
Those with agile minds immediately thought: if you can learn, so can I! What good is throwing so much money at it? There's been no apparent progress, otherwise, you wouldn't have invited the Supreme Magician; this endeavor depends not on financial might, but on talent. Now that the Supreme Magician is the Councilman, if you can meet him, I can too.
You've been cordoning off the cosmos with your technology for so long, it's like hitting a wall now. Since we're all starting at the same point, why should I be inferior to you? The Kree Empire and Skrull Empire are still Mechanical Civilizations; who says that I won't surpass them if I learn more?
As soon as the news was released, it didn't take a day for Strange to entirely end his leisurely idling and plunge into a whirlwind of busyness.