Chapter 205: The Empire's Foundation
The steel jungle with a gray and black background has long been rusted;
On the ground full of cracks and potholes, the few pedestrians are still hurrying by.
In the police hovercraft parked on the street corner, the big Deputy Sheriff Merge sat in the main driver's seat, swaying his body back and forth.
A female singer with a sexy voice sang loudly on the car's speakers. When the song reached its climax, Deputy Sheriff Merge couldn't help but snap his fingers a few times, and the amplitude of his shaking became even greater.
Sheriff Murg is in high spirits these days.
Two months ago, when he mustered up the courage and humbled himself to invite the young nobleman to assist in the investigation, he has embarked on a smooth road and been exposed to a very new way of thinking in handling cases.
I really don’t know what’s going on with Xiaohui’s brain. No matter how difficult a case is, he can solve it right away with just a few clicks.
Even their branch chief wanted to recruit Hui into their police force through special recruitment to be a consultant or deep cooperation scholar;
But Hui just smiled and shook his head, pointing to the Imperial Star poster hanging on the wall.
He has no ambitions on Sakaar.
Anyway, this is a really nice young man.
Every time he did things for the police station, he only took a small commission. Although the commissions added up were enough to make ordinary police officers jealous, this amount of compensation was nothing compared to his achievements.
Buzz, buzz!
There was a slight vibration from the steering wheel, and the news he subscribed to popped up on the central control projection screen.
[The White Ghost has arrived as promised, and the corruption information of the sixth deputy minister of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the third-level ministers has been made public! ]
[The Imperial Supreme Court condemned White Ghost's behavior of overriding the judicial system and hoped that White Ghost would deliver the information he had to any procuratorate.]
"pretty!"
Murg roared excitedly, pointed at the projection with both hands, grinned and cursed:
"Damn! It has to be you! The White God!"
Outside the car window, Yang Ming came jogging back with two bags of barbecue.
Murg quickly restrained his exaggerated expression, lowered his eyelids, slightly flattened the corners of his mouth, turned down the volume of the music, and restored his usual dignity.
Yang Ming walked to the car door, and Sheriff Merge leaned over and pushed open the passenger door.
"This restaurant is really good," Yang Ming said, his mouth full of oil, "but the hygiene index is not up to standard."
"The air on this planet is full of pathogens. How can you care whether the food is up to standard?" Murg said in a deep voice. "We have two cases waiting for us to handle today."
"No," Yang Ming said seriously, "Are there no living people in your police station? You're dragging me into any small case? I won't take any cases other than homicides in the future."
Murger grinned, "There is a homicide case today, and the investigation team is waiting for us to go over and investigate the scene."
Yang Ming smiled and said, "Are there any more reporters?"
"They are like wild dogs that have smelled meat. Every time a vicious case occurs, they rush over to ambush you," Murg muttered. "Reporters from several nearby administrative planets have begun to stay here. You are now a celebrity in the narrow area of the empire."
Yang Ming sneered: "What's the use? No one has come to me for endorsement."
Murg couldn't help but roll his eyes, and he slammed the accelerator with his foot. The hovercraft drove towards the nearby "no man's land" with a trail of dust.
Yang Ming raised his hand and tapped the frame of his glasses.
In the thinking space of a certain mechanical thinking body.
The girl wearing a gray plaid shawl put down the pipe that was still emitting wisps of smoke, looked at the newly assigned task, and clicked her tongue softly.
Great, life is back.
…
Bang!
A pair of bare fists slammed down on the alloy-panel conference table.
This made Captain Gris, who was sitting in the corner, frown.
Guy, doesn’t your hand hurt?
Grace put down the network access terminal in his hand and looked at the female officer who had just smashed the table. The other party had her hands behind her back and was obviously in pain.
“Lawless!” The female officer yelled without caring about her manners. “This White Ghost is simply lawless! Does he still have the laws of the Empire in his eyes? Does he still have the dignity of the Empire? Does he really take the Imperial Star seriously? This damn bastard! What’s the difference between what he did and lynching!”
Gris lowered his head and rubbed the tip of his nose, deciding to avoid speaking as much as possible today.
He didn't want to put himself in the trap of his menopausal boss.
However……
The female boss locked her gun directly on him: "Gris, are you blind or deaf? Can't you see that I'm angry? You are the only soldier who has had close contact with the White Phantom, and you even defended the White Phantom before. Why are you dumb now? Speak!"
A group of captains attending the meeting burst into laughter.
"Well," Gris said slowly, "I didn't expect that White Ghost would stop killing bugs and start working as a people's prosecutor, frantically reporting corruption within the empire. I didn't expect that he would report your second uncle and slander that kind old man."
The female boss rolled her eyes and said, "My second uncle is a corrupt official. He went to jail anyway. What's the point of you saying this?"
"I have to say that White Ghost is too aggressive," Gris changed to a more comfortable sitting position, rotating the ray pen in his fingertips back and forth, "I can understand the pressure he is under now. He is very afraid that the empire will choose the Valkyrie instead of him, so he is frantically proving his own value."
A captain reminded: "There is no way to confirm whether the Valkyrie is still alive."
"That's almost inevitable. Didn't the Valkyrie recover last time?" one person said, "According to those researchers, the Valkyrie reserved seeds in advance, which are her cell tissues, and then allowed the cell tissues to divide and differentiate rapidly, just like embryonic development."
“Were these all done under natural conditions?”
"Just like White Phantom has high-tech support, why can't Valkyrie have a team behind her?"
"What does this mean? White Ghost and Valkyrie are representatives of two secret families in the empire?"
“That’s enough!”
The female officer, with her 150-pound body, roared at a volume close to the human limit:
"All you can do is daydream and speculate. Can't you come up with some constructive suggestions? Has no one ever done any research? Did I give you such high permissions just to let you pick up girls and men and show off your omnipotence in front of gays?
"Don't you dare be any more useless!"
A group of captains stopped fighting and each of them lowered their necks to act like heroes.
Grace raised his right hand: "I investigated."
The female officer frowned and stared at this guy: "What did you investigate?"
"look."
Grace turned the ray pen in his hand twice, and a fan-shaped diagram suddenly appeared on the projection screen.
Grace said calmly:
“No one knows the White Ghost better than I do.
"Look, these are the thirty-six imperial officials that White Ghost has reported so far. What are their characteristics?
“First, their official ranks are all at the third, fourth, and fifth levels. There are neither first- and second-level officials, nor low-level administrative officials below the fifth level.
“Secondly, most of the officials reported were from economically prosperous administrative planets, and far away from the imperial star circle.
"Third, White Ghost is constantly increasing his pressure. The overall trend of his reporting officials is from low-level to high-level, from marginal departments to powerful departments. It is possible that he will report some second-level officials at the level of the heads of administrative stars. This is also the main reason why the higher-ups are putting crazy pressure on us now."
He paused and continued:
“From my personal perspective, White Ghost did a great job.
"But from the perspective of procedural justice, White Ghost has seriously challenged the current public security, procuratorial and judicial systems. The empire has lost face. He is sacrificing the government's credibility to enhance his personal influence."
The female boss said: "No matter what his starting point is, this step is actually wrong. He has offended the entire bureaucracy. The officials are absolutely uneasy about his continued existence."
Gris sighed.
The female boss asked: "Then what do you think is the benefit of him doing this? Is it just to gain the public's praise and satisfy his inner vanity?"
" No ," said Gris, "His goal should be to improve his status in the hearts of the people and use public opinion to hold the empire hostage."
"Why?" One captain was puzzled.
Gris smiled and said, "If you were the White Ghost, what would happen to you after you were caught by the Imperial Special Forces?"
“Being studied.”
"Locked in a nutrient tank."
"Fuck! The memories of the dead suddenly started to attack me, never mind the nutrient tanks!"
Half of the cyborg captains fell silent.
Gris said:
“He’s afraid that he’ll end up in this situation after surrendering to the Empire, so he keeps making things worse.
“Try to attract the attention of the one at the top. When the eyes above are cast down, everything will be completely different.
"The political status quo of the empire determines that higher-level officials attach more importance to public opinion, and the life and death of White Ghost can be determined by the above sentence."
The female boss muttered, "You mean, as long as we gain White Ghost's trust and make him believe that we won't harm him, slice him up for research or detain him for a long time, he might cooperate with us?"
"No?" Gris asked, "Can you guarantee it?"
The female boss sighed, "Of course not. In fact, someone above us is very interested in the abilities he and the Valkyrie have shown."
"See, this is the dilemma of the White Ghost."
Grace spread his hands and said, "If we can't win his trust, we can only find a way to break his technical advantage."
Someone said: "He has stolen too many secrets through online information. Half of the officials in the empire are now in danger. The bureaucrats are panicking and the people are getting excited. This may lead to a political disaster."
The female boss glared at Grace.
This guy talked for a long time and gave a very thorough analysis, but he couldn't come up with any useful solutions.
"Report!"
There was a shout from the door, the female boss turned her head and signaled the messenger to come in.
She took the gold-rimmed document from the messenger, looked down at it, her expression changed several times, and then she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, let's end today's meeting here. We don't have to worry about the White Phantom anymore. Let's resume normal training."
A group of cyborg captains looked puzzled, but when their female boss waved her hand, they stood up, saluted , and quickly left the meeting room.
"Gris stays."
Grace spread his hands and complained to his colleague who was looking at him with a gloating look: "I have outstanding abilities, but I can't help it. I always get special treatment from the higher-ups."
"Go to hell!"
A group of men and women burst into laughter.
The female boss looked at Gris, motioned him to come forward, and threw the paper into his arms.
"Pack your bags and prepare to report to the Imperial Star. You have been selected to join the White Ghost Response Team. Next, you will serve in the 402nd Unit of the Imperial Star Guard Corps."
"Hmm? Unit 402?"
Gris glared for a moment, but soon felt relieved.
The chaos caused by the White Ghost is getting bigger and bigger, so it is reasonable for the Empire to dispatch the legendary super-cyborg army.
Their special forces are just cannon fodder.
If you really want to see the top technological strength of the Milky Way, you have to look at the narrow but extremely crowded star field in the Imperial Star Circle.
Grace asked tentatively: "After I finish the cooperation, will I come back to report?"
"With your character, how can you join that unit?" the female boss scolded angrily, "You are just doing odd jobs for others and no one wants you!"
"That's not necessarily true," Gris replied calmly, "I'm an expert on white ghosts."
…
"I'm back."
Yang Ming stretched lazily and pushed open the door of the manor villa.
The decoration has been replaced, making the house look more cozy. There are also some green plants worth thousands of Emperor Star Coins in the corners, and they are blooming with Mrs. Deli's favorite flowers.
The only thing that remains unchanged is the somewhat abandoned manor.
Viscount Godoy felt that he could not appear too wealthy, so he tried his best to resist the urge to paint the exterior walls.
Otherwise, not only would others easily become suspicious, but it would also be difficult to explain to Mrs. Deli.
"Come and have dinner," Mrs. Dale said in a gentle tone, and took the coat from Yang Ming's hand.
They were no longer awkward with each other.
After Yang Ming gave his "younger and younger sister" a bunch of study books and exam simulation questions, Mrs. Deli had already seriously accepted the eldest son of the family.
The family's dinner is gradually becoming more sumptuous.
Viscount Godoy made the excuse that he had taken on several big jobs online and signed a remote work agreement with a shipyard, and that he had been staying up late every day recently... playing holographic games in the study.
"Hui, I saw it all," Godoy said with a smile, "You helped the police solve another big case today, right?"
"It's not a big case," Yang Ming said with a smile, "It's very interesting. It can not only help me gain some fame, but also make my life on Saka less boring."
"Thanks to you," Godoy filled Yang Ming's bowl with hot soup, "I've been receiving invitations to parties and private family gatherings lately. Luckily, everyone knows that I'm poor, so I said, if you let me go to the party, I'll have to buy new clothes, otherwise Deli will kill me."
Yang Ming laughed a few times.
Mrs. Delly said helplessly: "Necessary social interaction is still necessary. You have to consider the children, dear."
"Don't be impatient," Godoy said, "Those who helped us when we were in hard times are our true friends. Those who have become attached to you now because they see you have a new power will abandon us again without hesitation when we are down and out."
Mrs. Delly nodded gently.
"I might have to leave," Yang Ming whispered.
"Hmm?" Godoy was stunned for a moment, and a trace of thought appeared on his face, which had looked much younger recently. "Indeed, it's time for you to leave. Are you ready to go?"
"Emperor Star Circle," Yang Ming said, "Looking for a job in the police system. I have already received a letter of recommendation from the chief of the Saka Star Police Department."
"Yes, you are very famous now, and they will make great use of you."
Godoy put down the spoon, looked up at Yang Ming, and then cleared his throat.
"Okay, go ahead. If you feel your career is not going well, you can always come back. This is your home, young man."
Madam Deli pursed her lips and said, "I heard that the Imperial Star Circle is very exclusive, and the nobles there don't regard the nobles outside as human beings. I think... I think you might as well get the title of baron, and then go there to develop."
"Thank you ma'am, but I have plans."
"Well," Madam Delly sighed softly, "You will be liked by everyone. You are outstanding, better than those young nobles."
Yang Ming felt a little embarrassed by being praised.
His glasses vibrated slightly.
Yang Ming quickly grabbed the glasses and put them on his nose. The mirror surface immediately reflected light slightly, and Yang Ming saw a series of messages.
[Boss, there is a strange ship approaching Sakaar, do you want to hide first? ]
Strange ship?
What?
Yang Ming blinked, and the glasses interface automatically refreshed, showing a new picture.
It was a ship shaped like a sea urchin, and the moment Yang Ming saw the ship, his muscles tensed up.
Damn!
Imperial Stinger!
