Chapter 286 Arrakis! Emperor! Submission!

At this moment, Duke Leto frowned and tapped the table with his fingers. The anxiety in his heart became more and more serious.

He found that the Atreides family seemed to have reached a dead end. No matter which answer he chose, the final outcome would be death.

There is no way to break the impasse by relying solely on the strength of the Atreides family. They still need more powerful external forces.

And the global giant enterprise is the only variable!
After a long moment, Leto looked at Hawat and asked in a deep voice, "This so-called cosmic giant claims to have unified several universes. Do you think this is credible?"

To be honest, Leto didn't quite believe that a force that had unified multiple universes would suddenly appear one day and say it could help the Atreides family escape danger.

This is simply a fantasy!
All along, Leto had suspected that this was a deliberate scheme by the royal family and the Harkonnen family to deceive him.

But faced with this dazzling network of information, Duke Leto really had no way to sort it out, so he could only ask Hawat what he thought about it.

"The size and style of the Universal Corporation's warships are very different from ours. Even the equipment and power armor of the troops are very unique."

"Perhaps they really are a powerful civilization from another universe. Currently, we have almost no information about the Universal Corporation, and I cannot give a correct answer."

Hawat combined the currently known information. Although the emergence of a global giant enterprise is hard to believe, everything the other party said is most likely true!
Unless there is more intelligence that can prove the true identity of the giant company, Hawat can only believe the other party temporarily.

The scale and size of the expeditionary fleet of the Universal Giant Enterprise is quite large. If a family spends a huge amount of money to build such a fleet.

As the boss of the Lansgard Committee, the Atreides family would have received some news and known about the existence of this fleet.

But the fact that they did not receive any relevant information was enough to show that this fleet could not have been built by a certain family.

The only force that can build such a fleet quietly and silently is the Colino royal family. Even the Harkonnen family cannot do it!
But if the Universal Corporation is the power of the Corino Royal Family, there is no need to go to the trouble of coming over to remind the Atreides Family.

Because even if they followed the original plan, they could still besiege and kill the Atreides family on the planet Arrakis.

"If everything that Universal Corporation said is true, then that means...!"

Hawat hesitated, looking up at Lord Leto, who knew exactly what he was trying to say.

If what Andrew said is all true, then Universal Corporation is the only hope for the Atreides family and the only force that can save the family from destruction!
"Don't alert them for now. As for the royal family and the Harkonnen family, everything remains normal."

"As for the giant companies in low-Earth orbit, we only need to monitor them and provide them with necessary supplies every day to stabilize them first."

"I want to see if Saddam will really send an envoy to transfer us to Arrakis!"

Leto's deployment was very accurate.

If Emperor Saddam really named the Atreides to go to the planet Arrakis and take over the spice business, then he would have to consider cooperating with the Universal Corporation.

"Yes, Your Excellency the Duke, your decision is extremely wise!"

Hawat also admired Leto's arrangement. Judging from the current situation, this is the best way to deal with it. Only time can tell who is right and who is wrong.

While waiting for Emperor Saddam's transfer order, all departments of the Universal Corporation were actively preparing for war. Once the Atreides family refused to cooperate with the corporation, they would have no choice but to act in secret.

When the royal family and the Harkonnen family joined forces to attack Atreides, he suddenly appeared and rescued Duke Leto.

There is no other way. If the Cosmic Corporation wants to integrate the Dune Universe as quickly as possible and complete the mission in the most efficient way, it needs the cooperation of the Atreides family.

However, the party that is anxious now is not the world giant, but Leto.

Because just one month later, Leto Atreides indeed received a transfer order from Emperor Shaddam, and the content of the order was just as Andrew expected!
boom--!
In his personal study, Leto slammed the table heavily, his rapid breathing fluctuated, and his face turned ashen.

Just now, Emperor Saddam's ministers used the communication device to congratulate the Atreides family on their upcoming move into Arrakis and becoming the new masters of Dune, where they would enjoy endless wealth and glory from then on.

The prediction of the global giant has come true!
Now, the envoy sent by Emperor Shaddam is on his way to Caladan, and it won't be long before the envoy announces that the Atreides family will be transferred to Arrakis to take over Dune.

By then, regardless of whether Leto accepted the Emperor's order, the Atreides family would be on the countdown to destruction.

In fact, even without the reminder from the world giant, Duke Leto would quickly react and realize that there is no free lunch in the world.

The Harkonnen family, which has occupied the planet Arrakis for many years, will definitely secretly sabotage such a transfer order to prevent the Atreides family from taking over Arrakis smoothly.

But facing the Harkonnen family, Leto is still very confident that he can stabilize the situation.

After all, he had been fighting with the Harkonnen family for most of his life, so he knew each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Leto could handle the Harkonnens alone.

But if the powerful Colino royal family is added to the mix, that would be troublesome. Leto doesn't think he can be a match for the two big families.

Ten Sardauka legions, plus the guards of the Harkonnen family, are definitely not something the Atreides family can withstand.

As early as a month ago, Leto and Hawat conducted a military sand table simulation, and the final result was that Atreides' troops were 100% wiped out!

"No, we cannot accept this transfer order. We cannot go to Arrakis."

Leto's firm voice echoed through the study, and the faces of the senior members of House Atreides who filled the room were solemn and thoughtful.

Apparently, they were also struggling with whether or not to go to Arrakis.

"We can't risk our clan's annihilation by taking over Sand Dune. I'd rather not do this big spice business."

Duke Leto first expressed his attitude to everyone.

If the Universal Corporation had not warned him, Leto might have gone to Arrakis to take over the spice business with the mentality of seeking wealth and fame at the risk of his life.

After all, the planet Arrakis is the only origin of spices and can be regarded as the gold mine of the Galactic Empire.

As long as they can gain a foothold here, the Atreides family will easily make a fortune in the future.

Even if the Harkonnen family is unhappy with them, so what? The guards of their Atreides family are no pushovers.

But if Emperor Shaddam's Sarduga Legion joined the battle, the situation would be different.

Once the Atreides family is gone, the only outcome will be destruction!

"The Emperor's messenger is on the way. If we resist his order, we will also be attacked by our two families."

At this time, Lady Jessica, the wife of Duke Leto, spoke up to advise that as a senior member of the sisterhood, her political awareness and vision were quite high.

Disobeying the order and offending the royal family will also result in damage to the reputation of the Atreides family.

But how could Leto not know the truth? He sighed and still refused to give in. "In short, no matter what the attitude of the royal family is, we must not go to Arrakis."

Leto had already made up his mind. When Emperor Saddam's envoy arrived, he would use illness as an excuse to decline the offer and recommend other families to take over Arrakis.

Anyway, try to shirk responsibility as much as possible.

"My Lord Duke, I think you are too worried about the Emperor and the Harkonnen family. Why would they suddenly come together to target our Atreides family?"

Lady Jessica, still charming, shook Leto's rough hand and said with a smile:
"Without our Atreides, who can control the Harkonnens?"

In fact, what Lady Jessica said was not completely unreasonable. For the Colino royal family, the best way to deal with these powerful families is to check and balance them one by one and stabilize the situation.

If the aristocratic families are suppressed too harshly, it will cause strong resistance from the families, but if the control is too lax, it will lead to the rapid development of a large family.

The big families below form cliques for personal gain and win over small families to fight against the royal family. This is also a troublesome phenomenon that causes headaches.

Therefore, each family needs to have a force that is in opposition to it and is hostile to it. For example, the Atreides and Harkonnen families are typical examples.

As for the Atreides and the Harkonnen family, no matter which one becomes powerful or destroyed, the other side will benefit from it.

After all, who can guarantee that after the destruction of the Atreides Family, the Harkonnen Family will not continue to follow the old path of the Atreides Family and continue to lead the members of the Lansgard Federation to confront the royal family?

Therefore, from Lady Jessica's perspective, Emperor Shaddam believed that there was no need for the royal family to destroy the Atreides family, as doing so would only cause the balance to get out of control.

However, Duke Leto remained firm. He shook his head and said, "No, we cannot take this risk."

As the patriarch of the Atreides family, Leto must always be cautious and meticulous. Women and children can be careless, but men cannot!
The reason why the Atreides family has been able to continue for ten thousand years is not only due to the blessings of their ancestors, but more importantly, it is due to the caution and reverence of the patriarchs of each generation.

As long as they stayed in Kaladan, even if Emperor Saddam wanted to punish them, the most they would lose would be some money from the Chamber of Commerce and some guards.

They, the Atreides, can definitely make it through this.

Leto had already decided that when the Emperor's envoy arrived, he would feign illness and politely refuse the other party, and at the same time show weakness to the royal family and indicate that he had no ambitions.

The planet Caladan is the home planet of the Atreides family. Even if the entire Sardegna Legion were to come out in full force, it would not be able to defeat the Atreides' troops in a short time.

On the contrary, if Saddam dared to do so, it would cause the royal family to be caught up in a public opinion storm and cause criticism from other families.

However, at this moment, Hawat, who had always stood on Leto's side, suddenly put forward a view that contradicted his. "My Lord Duke, I also think what the lady said makes sense. It may not be impossible to go to Arrakis."

Hearing this, Leto looked at the other party in surprise. They had previously discussed in the study that they must not go to Arrakis.

Why did Hawat suddenly change his mind? Could it be that this guy was bribed?

Facing Leto's suspicious look, Hawat explained slowly, "I think it's time for us to have the next step of communication with Universal Corporation."

"Since they know about the actions of the Colino royal family, they must have a solution."

Hawat knew very well that since the global giant company had specially sent a representative here to leak the news to them.

This means that the other party must have the idea of ​​cooperation. In this case, why not go with the flow and choose to cooperate with the global giant.

By then, the Atreides family will be able to take over the spice business in Arrakis and safely survive this crisis under the protection of the giant company.

Wouldn’t this be better!
After hearing Hawat's perfect answer, Mrs. Jessica nodded repeatedly, and was very satisfied with his idea.

As a senior member of the sisterhood, it was really difficult for her to resist the temptation of spices. After all, that thing was an indispensable resource for the sisterhood.

Once the Atreides family takes over the spices on the dunes, the members of the sisterhood can easily obtain large quantities of spices through Lady Jessica.

They can rely on spices to rapidly expand the guild's organizational strength and improve the quality of guild members.

The Atreides family will also be able to rely on the spice business to quickly become a wealthy family second only to the Colino royal family, and their strength, fame and fortune will develop by leaps and bounds!

So for both public and private reasons, Lady Jessica would encourage Leto to take over the management of the planet Arrakis.

Seeing his close ministers and beloved wife say so, Duke Leto had to reconsider the pros and cons again. What Hawat said seemed to make sense.

"Since Universal Corporation has stated that they are here to help us, it means they have intentions. We might as well listen to their conditions and then make a decision."

Hawat knew the principle of conservation of interests. As long as the conditions proposed by the Universal Corporation were within the acceptable range of the Atreides family, it might not be impossible for him to agree to them.

At this moment, Duke Leto's heart began to waver.

The fact that the Universal Corporation was able to anticipate Emperor Saddam's decree proves that the other party was well prepared. They should also come up with a plan to rescue the Atreides family in exchange for the benefits they want.

If the Universal Corporation is truly a powerful civilization that has integrated multiple parallel universes, then that should be enough to help the Atreides family overcome this difficulty!

"Well, I'll go meet them myself."

Duke Leto synthesized all the information, sorted out his thoughts, and decided to go to low-Earth orbit first to talk with the Universal Corporation before making the final decision.

Immediately, Leto had the flapping-wing aircraft prepared and personally selected several groups of personal guards to follow him to the Cosmos Enterprise fleet in low-Earth orbit.

……

At this moment, Song Zhaomei, who had just completed a conversation with Leon in the dreadnought, was ready to receive Duke Leto.

Although Li Ang did not personally manage the affairs here, the strategic goals he set and the interests of the giant company were quite clear.

The core information of the conversation between Li Ang and Song Zhaomei this time is just three points.

First, all ownership of the planet Arrakis must belong to the Universal Corporation.

The spice business was organized by the world's giant corporations into the trade circle. As a unified organization, all the powerful families had a share. When the time came, they would be asked to transport spices to various universes to make money.

Even though they got a very small percentage, the running expenses and a tiny bit of share alone were already much more than what they were earning now!

The purpose of Leon's request is very simple, that is, there is actually no other good place in the Dune universe except Arrakis.

The planets and colonies in the Halo universe alone are enough to ensure the production areas of the world's giant companies, so there is no shortage of various raw materials.

So for the Dune universe, the Universe Corporation only needs to pick out the most critical planet Arrakis and control the management rights of the spice.

The territories and home planets of other aristocratic families are of no importance to the giant corporations, and they do not set their sights on snatching those small pieces of information.

Of course, Li Ang would not just let himself eat the meat, he would also give some broth to these powerful families, give them some running expenses and a very small percentage of the share, which would be enough.

The second point is that Leon wants to be the God-Emperor of the Dune universe!

This not only requires strong military force as support, but also requires a certain exchange of interests to achieve recognition from multiple parties.

In exchange, Leon can help the Atreides family overthrow the rule of Emperor Shaddam and redistribute all the power resources of the Corino royal family.

By then, each family will have more territory and power resources, which will definitely be a situation that most of the powerful families would like to see.

If anyone is not convinced and dares to challenge the global giant, then that family will be wiped out and the business will be divided among the various clans.

The Cosmic Corporation does not want territory or any other resources. It only wants the power of the God-Emperor to control the clans and the control of the planet Arrakis.

The nobles who stand on the side of the giant corporations in the world only need to provide material supplies and a military base to the garrisons of the giant corporations, and they will be treated to good food and drink.

And on the territory of each family, just build a beautiful and glowing "small halo" giant structure.

These two insignificant little requests were almost impossible to be rejected by the Dune families.

After all, how much does it cost to support a garrison of a giant enterprise? Just think of it as spending money to buy a bodyguard, and it can also prevent attacks from other families.

As for building a broken halo, the giant companies in the world can build it if they want, just don’t block the road.

As for the third point, all the aristocratic families in the Dune universe must join the business circle of the world's giant companies and serve the business of the giant companies!

The purpose of this is very simple, which is to let these families run errands for the giant enterprises under their control, and not let them stay at home fighting among themselves every day.

All of them were pulled out to run errands for giant companies and do business to make money.

Doing so can also save the transportation resource expenses of the world's giant companies, which is equivalent to using the manpower of the major families for free.

As for this request, the major aristocratic forces in the Dune universe had no reason to refuse.

After all, this does not harm their interests. The giant companies are not unwilling to pay them. They can also follow the giant companies to "go east and west" to make a fortune, so why not do it?

Here, Duke Leto has brought his personal guards, following the guidance of the giant enterprise's carrier-based aircraft, to the flagship where Song Zhaomei is.

The person in charge of the handover and negotiations with Leto this time was Song Zhaomei, a senior executive of the giant company.

After briefly introducing herself, Song Zhaomei didn't waste time talking to the other party and got straight to the point:

"Your Excellency the Duke, it seems that your Emperor's decree has been delivered. So, we should have made no mistake in our prediction."

Hearing the hint of sarcasm in Song Zhaomei's voice, Duke Leto felt a little embarrassed in his heart, but his expression was still quite calm.

He smiled and responded frankly:
"Manager Song, we have neglected you for the past month. This is mainly because I have never heard of your giant company and have always been suspicious of you, so I have not come to meet you in person."

"But not long ago, I received a transfer order from the royal family. We are about to go to Arrakis."

"Since you can predict the actions of the royal family, I would like to hear your opinions."

"We, the Atreides family, should we go or not?"

After listening to Duke Leto's words, Song Zhaomei could sense from the other party's tone and expression that Leto was still somewhat worried and alert.

Since the Universal Corporation wants to cooperate with the Atreides family to complete the task of integrating the Dune universe as soon as possible, it needs to reassure this partner and make the Corporation's needs clear.

This is to avoid any disputes or uneven distribution in future cooperation between the two parties.

Anyway, boss Leon only has three requirements: he wants spices, he wants to be the emperor, and he wants his entire family to work as dogs for the giant company. His goals are clear.

"My Lord Duke, have you ever thought about changing the emperor?"

Song Zhaomei's shocking words made Duke Leto subconsciously jump up from his seat. His reaction was just like Liu Bei hearing "The only hero in the world is you, Cao."

Seeing Song Zhaomei's calm reaction, Leto was silent for two seconds and then said to her coldly:

"I don't know what you mean by that."

Leto was a little confused about Song Zhaomei's intentions. Was she sent by the Colino royal family to test him, or did she really want to play some tricks to support the emperor?

Although Leto was a little bit unpredictable, it was definitely right for him to play dumb at this time. He must not let the other party get a hold of him verbally.

(End of this chapter)