I'm Trying To Go Broke, So Why Do I Keep Getting Richer?!-Chapter 187: Checkmate

Leo stared at the holographic display, the blue light reflecting in his narrowed eyes.

The sheer audacity of Fiona’s move was astonishing. And Leo knew what she was doing.

By labeling Earth, a relatively low-profile middle-tier planet, as the aggressor, she hadn’t just given her military a reason to exist; she had given the vultures circling the Lionel Family a reason to wait.

Interests of many big people were on line, as they simply wanted to recover their money from the Lionels. They didn’t care where that money came from.

If the Lionel Family was ’recovering stolen assets’ from a ’terrorist organization’ like the Hero Tower, the intergalactic courts and the Warlords would hold their fire.

No one wanted to interfere with a ’righteous war’ if it meant the Lionel treasury might actually be recovered and opened.

Even the Galactic Union wasn’t in a position to interfere since they had bigger things to worry about like the Ancient Houses that were also having a conflict of their own.

"She isn’t just blackmailing me," Leo mumbled, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "She’s gambled the entire family’s remaining fortune on a single hunch. She thinks I won’t let the Earth burn."

"It’s either that, or she wants the Hero Tower to come clean, and hand me over to them."

Leo was quite taken aback by this bold stance. At the moment, he had two choices. He could either turn around, or ignore earth.

On the screen, the Lionel fleet began to move as the speech was completed. It was as if the Lionel Family didn’t want to waste a single second.

Even many unfamiliar warlord ships followed the Lionel Family’s fleet to ensure that it wasn’t an attempt of Fiona to escape from them. However, none of them planned to intervene if it was actually a war.

Massive warp-drives occurred simultaneously, visible even from the ground as the sky distorted.

These weren’t just ordinary ships... They were machines that were created to destroy cities and beyond.

Fiona stepped down from the podium, her face filled with sadness. But as soon as the cameras cut, the grief vanished. She walked into the shadows of the hangar where her personal guard waited.

The person who was dressed in armor, was none other than the same maid that had served food last night. And now, she was the commander of this fleet.

"Lady Fiona," a commander bowed, her armor clanking. "The coordinates for Earth. But it won’t be easy to take that planet down, even if it’s a newly elevated planet. They also have connections with a few powerful planets..."

Fiona answered, her voice dropping a little. "I don’t need to win a war. I only need to make them understand what’s at stake. If they are smart enough, they should give me what I want, and avoid this."

Meanwhile, 11 light-years away, the Hero Tower was in a state of absolute chaos. Alarms were ringing across every floor.

"The Lionel Family?" Many heroes were looking at the massive army on their screens, slamming their fist onto a conference table. "We haven’t even sent an envoy to their sector in three decades! Why are they accusing us of kidnapping a Patriarch?"

"We don’t have time to waste! Try to establish contact with them! We just make them understand that we have nothing to do with it!"

"What if they don’t agree? They look like they are pretty determined! We should also prepare for war! Even if we lose, we will at least make them suffer!" A hero clenches his fist.

"Contact the planets that are friendly to us. See if we can get the Galactic Union to stop these bloody vultures."

"Even if we contacted them, it won’t help. Just to get a response, it will take at least a few hours. By then, this war would have ended. They would be at our doorstep in half an hour after all!"

"Keep trying to contact the Lionel Family, while preparing our defenses!"

The Heroes came up with a decision that realistically there were only two options. Either they had to get the Lionel Family to change their mind, or fight properly!

Most of them knew that only the second option was more realistic at this point.

Immediately, Blaze gave order for the Hero Tower to prepare for the forthcoming battle. Even the defence of the earth was activated.

Various nations had already declared an emergency, telling their citizens to get to bunkers, or stay in their houses if they thought it’s safe enough.

Even the world leaders had started moving to safety, accompanied by their security details.

....

Back in his ship, Leo turned away from the screen.

He stood up, and immediately went to a nearby room, where Ulen was keeping the old patriarch hostage.

Even in this room, Ulen was watching the news since there was nothing better to do.

Leo looked at the old man, the kidnapped Patriarch,who was currently bound in a stasis field in the corner of the room. The old man’s eyes were open, filled with a mixture of terror and pride as he watched his granddaughter’s broadcast.

"Your granddaughter has quite the spine," Leo remarked, picking up a small, black comms device. "She’s willing to commit genocide just to get you back. Or rather, to get the key you’re hiding."

Leo sighed, checking the time. "She thinks she found my weakness. She thinks that because I’m from Earth, I’ll play the hero and trade your life for the safety of my home."

He tapped a few commands into his terminal, connecting to a hidden network he had spent months creating.

"Unfortunately for her," Leo continued, his voice devoid of warmth, "I stopped playing by your rules the day your family put a price on my head. If she wants a war, I’ll give her one. But it won’t be fought with ships."

"Mmmm!" The old man tried to make a noise, to ask what Leo was planning. However, his words remained muffled.