Chapter 293 The Emperor's Right Hand
This palace is so luxurious.
The imperial palace in Yang Ming's impression is the palaces and pavilions in the history of his hometown, which is nothing more than a steel-structured "cyber Forbidden City".
But the palace of the Sherman Empire was not complicated, it was even a bit simple.
The palace module is embedded in a giant frame structure with a base area of approximately 100,000 square meters. The four sides are metal screens that can project different simulated scenery.
The architectural style is mainly tall and spacious. Several scattered palaces are dotted on the bronze metal square, as if telling the insignificance of human beings and human creations in the scale of cosmic time and space.
These palaces are where the emperor lives, works and entertains.
Yang Ming saw some black frames with sides of dozens of meters on the ground by the roadside. They were square or rectangular in shape. They seemed to be various buildings. If the emperor needed it, a metal hall would slowly rise up.
Solemn and depressing.
"Viscount Hanton," the old man in front of Yang Ming turned his head and tried to lower his voice, "You are very smart, and we trust you, but you must be careful not to make His Majesty feel disgusted with you."
Yang Ming nodded immediately: "Don't worry, Great Elder, life is important."
"Don't talk nonsense," the great elder frowned and said, "Your Majesty would not wrongly accuse a good person."
Yang Ming: …
Too low.
My licking servant attribute is still too low.
The group walked for more than twenty minutes before arriving in front of a magnificent metal hall.
When Yang Ming got closer, he discovered something strange about the place.
The outside of the hall is wrapped in a layer of camouflage, but there is actually a different world inside.
After walking through the virtual film, you will see a fountain, two rows of flower beds, and more than a dozen white jade steps leading to the real emperor's office building.
More than a dozen beautiful maids dressed in gorgeous clothes, lying or sitting beside the pool with intoxicated looks, oblivious to the people around them and self-absorbed, should be part of the scenery here.
Looking up, Yang Ming saw very realistic blue sky and white clouds, and felt the light and heat of the stars.
The real hall is behind the pool. It looks square. All the artworks displayed in front of the hall cannot even fill the space of a shirt. The symbols of men and women seem to be mixed here.
Art is like this.
Yang Ming stood outside the hall. Several elders took deep breaths to suppress their panting, straightened their robes in unison, lowered their heads, stepped over the threshold that was several dozen centimeters high, and rushed in.
The Great Elder shouted, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Viscount White Ghost Hanton's condition is no longer serious!"
Inside the hall, the old emperor who was getting his manicure and skin care done raised his hand and waved, and the maids carrying beauty equipment sets lowered their heads and retreated.
Yang Ming could tell at a glance that this beauty instrument should be produced by New Federation.
"Hmm? Really?"
The emperor glanced at the elders below and said with a smile, "Has my Royal Guard Knight recovered?"
“Not fully recovered!”
The Great Elder whispered:
“Your Majesty, genetic modification experiments are inherently extremely risky. Currently, there has only been one successful case of an Ancient God modification. Even the Martial God No. 1 experiment lost its sanity and became a monster in human form.
"In a sense, Viscount Hanton's body is fraught with great hidden dangers, and the possibility of losing control or self-collapse cannot be ruled out.
"Your Majesty, the original human body is a gift from nature, and your body represents the pinnacle of the human species."
The old emperor smiled suddenly.
Yang Ming curled his lips slightly outside the hall.
He was careless. He didn't expect that these old foxes asked him to pretend to be seriously ill and wanted to use him as a weapon.
The conflict between the emperor and the Council of Elders was also revealed to him.
"Thank you for your concern, elders," the old emperor said with a smile, "Since he is a patient, please bring a chair and put it here... Hanton, please come in quickly, what are you doing standing outside?"
Yang Ming stepped into the gate, raised his head and chest and saluted.
Afterwards, Yang Ming looked at the chairs brought by the maids, hesitated slightly, and then walked forward and sat in front of the Great Elder and others.
The great elder, who had been bowing all the time, lowered his head even lower.
The old emperor of the Sherman family smiled with narrowed eyes and spoke a few caring words to Yang Ming in a gentle voice. He looked just like an old man next door who would show concern for a college student who had just returned to the village.
The old emperor changed the subject and said, "Hanton, did you hear what the great elder said just now?"
"I heard it, Your Majesty," Yang Ming nodded, "What the Great Elder said actually makes sense..."
"Hmm?" The old emperor's eyes were sharp.
Yang Ming said: "But it is obvious that the Great Elder does not understand the Ancient God Transformation Experiment."
The old emperor's eyes suddenly softened.
"Really?" The old emperor asked with a smile, "Then tell me, what's wrong with the opinions of these elders? "
"In fact, none of the experiments on the fusion of ancient god genes and human genes have been successful," Yang Ming said seriously, "The ancient god life forms are likely to be biological weapons of higher-dimensional civilizations. Compared with the technology mastered by higher-dimensional civilizations, our fusion experiments are really... too superficial."
The old emperor narrowed his eyes, then laughed out loud.
The elders behind Yang Ming breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at Yang Ming.
"You are such an interesting fellow," the old emperor said with a smile, "My Emperor Star is good in every way, except that it is rigid, boring, and full of low-brow fun. You have helped me find some rare fun."
Yang Ming kept a serious expression.
Is there anything fun about this?
The old emperor continued, "Do you know why I called you here?"
"Your Majesty, I have made preparations to be a patrol soldier," Yang Ming said seriously, "The Super Reformer Organization is defending the Imperial Star, and I should join them!"
"No hurry, what's the hurry?"
The old emperor slowly put down the legs he had just raised, sat on the edge of the spacious chair, looked down at Yang Ming, and stretched out his hands.
"Look here, Hamton, every normal person has two hands, right?"
"Yes, your majesty."
"So we can hold two completely different things at the same time. For example, I hold the sunshine in one hand and the shadow in the other hand."
The emperor spoke slowly.
Yang Ming discovered that the emperor's attention was actually focused on the elders of the Council of Elders behind Yang Ming.
The Emperor continued:
“Because this is you, Hanton. You are a powerful warrior who has made outstanding contributions to the empire. I think you can become an even brighter star in the empire and get the honor you deserve.
“But I have too many things in my left hand. The military, the Council of Elders, various government departments, the development of the cult, the provincial governor, tens of millions of nobles…Hanton, you are now placed here. It is too crowded here. Too many people are eyeing the limited honor and want to use it to reflect the value and meaning of their own existence.
"Look at my right hand, Hamton."
The emperor gently scratched the five fingers of his right hand.
“This place is empty, and only a very small number of outstanding young people like you are placed here by me.
"I have seen the record of your fight with the Valkyrie. You have grown from a weakling to a powerful one. Now, you have a force close to the absolute value. I cherish your ability and admire your character of not fearing strong enemies.
"Right now, the empire has no external enemies, so your military force should not be wasted.
"Why not just come to my right hand, and I will give you something you can't imagine."
Several elders looked a little pale.
Yang Ming naturally understood what the old emperor meant.
He wanted to establish a secret force under the emperor's command, holding a sharp blade in the shadows to consolidate his control over the empire's visible forces, eliminate dissidents and suppress disobedience.
This was probably said deliberately for the old guys in the Council of Elders to see, and it was obviously meant to scare them.
"Don't rush to make a decision, Hanton. I respect you."
The old emperor laughed and said:
"You are a smart person. You can find the difference here and think about your own interests. I won't force you to do something you don't like. There is absolutely no need for us to do this.
"You are a hero, a hero who protects this country, so I am grateful to you.
"Okay, you still look a little weak, go and rest first. I heard that your girlfriend is also in Emperor Star, you two can have a good time together, you energetic young people."
"Yes, Your Majesty, thank you for your concern."
Yang Ming stood up, saluted, turned around and passed by several elders.
The old emperor narrowed his eyes and looked at the expressions of the elders. When Yang Ming was about to leave the palace gate, he said, "By the way, Hanton."
Yang Ming immediately turned around and looked at the old emperor seriously.
"I have a cocktail party here tonight, probably around ten o'clock... The time calculation method of the Imperial Star is the standard of the Milky Way. If you are willing to come to my right hand, hang the badge I gave you on your chest, and come directly here, I will introduce you to some equally motivated young people."
Yang Ming nodded with a smile, saluted again, turned around and walked away slowly.
The old emperor watched Yang Ming's back gradually moving away, until he knew that Yang Ming had walked out of the curtain and disappeared in the simulated scenery.
"Do you guys have anything else to do?" the old emperor asked softly.
"Your Majesty, please think twice..."
"You can go back and rest now," the old emperor said with a smile, "You are all older than me, and it is not easy for you to be so strong."
The three elders bowed their heads and left.
In the hall, the old emperor hummed a tune happily, and the sofa under his seat floated up and flew to the entertainment area on the left.
…
"Hanton!"
Catherine's cry of surprise lingered in Yang Ming's mind for a long time.
It was the first time that Yang Ming saw the captain of the Super Reformer lose her composure in front of outsiders. She was usually strong and calm in front of outsiders.
The two kissed passionately on the streets of the city on the surface of the Imperial Star, hugging each other tightly, as if they had experienced the separation of life and death.
The punctual Catherine chose to leave work early against the rules. In the suite of the dormitory, the two expressed their longing for each other in a passionate and tender way.
After everything calmed down, Yang Ming held Catherine in his arms, letting her smooth back press against his chest, and teased a strand of her hair with his fingers.
"Have you recovered a little?"
Yang Ming said softly:
"If you don't like the nobles of the Empire, you don't have to pay any more attention to them. The Empire's problems cannot be solved by just one or two cyborgs."
"I knew that, so I chose to avoid it."
Catherine sighed softly and lay more comfortably in Yang Ming's arms. Her soft long hair spread on Yang Ming's chest, exuding a faint fragrance.
She murmured as if in a dream:
“I have always felt that although the empire is relatively backward in terms of system, this is also due to tens of thousands of years of history. Moreover, the empire has continuously improved and changed its own system. Although it has retained the imperial power, it has kept it in a high cabinet and used it to restrict the privileges of the aristocracy.
"But when I... when I saw that those warriors who had fought with me on the battlefield were captured, reduced to slavery, and subjected to endless insults by the imperial nobles, this was the thing I could not accept the most.
“Before, I was responsible for protecting the safety of those princes and emperors, but they were more ridiculous and disgusting than each other.
"I am almost going to collapse. They are at the top of the empire's power, but they have never thought about what to do for the vast majority of the people in the empire."
"Catherine, this is the Empire."
Yang Ming said in a gentle voice:
“I did some research when I came here. Although most of the emperor’s descendants have fallen into various desires, a small number of them are still quite good.
“They call the surface paradise, but many princes and princesses refuse to enter the paradise and have always lived on the second inner floor. The atmosphere there should be relatively good.
"Anyway, now that I'm here, just stay with me and don't worry about this anymore. Let them fend for themselves."
"Well," Catherine reached back and stroked Yang Ming's cheek with her fingers, "I love you, Hanton."
Yang Ming's heart was moved, and he immediately bent down to kiss her.
Catherine suddenly thought of something and asked, "Why did you come here at this time?"
"The Elders' Council keeps urging me."
"You should stay outside for a while longer," Catherine mused. "We are about to start the Super Reformer's Thought Imprint Recasting Plan. All Super Reformers will receive new Thought Imprints in batches. The content of the Thought Imprints will be modified to require unconditional loyalty to the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor."
"I've thought about this before."
Yang Ming said in a gentle voice: "Isn't it possible for Bly to be unaffected by the ideological imprint?"
"Yes, although he has always claimed that his brand is healthy, because the brand itself is a strong psychological suggestion achieved by a machine, for Bly, who has extremely strong mental strength and willpower, the thought brand cannot work."
Yang Ming had already received accurate answers to what Catherine said from Bly before he came.
Yang Ming smiled and said, "My mental strength is not inferior to that of Bligh. This kind of thought imprint cannot hurt me. Besides, I may not necessarily participate in this plan."
"The Senate will take coercive measures."
"Don't worry, the Elders' Council is in a lot of trouble right now."
Yang Ming thought of the old emperor's words, the badge, and the old emperor's slowly shaking right hand, and said with a smile:
"I will also be one of their troubles."
Catherine didn't understand.
9:30 PM, Galactic Standard Time.
Catherine had fallen into a deep sleep exhausted. Yang Ming activated several layers of protective warning devices and searched in the closet for a long time before finally choosing an imperial military uniform and wearing the badge given by the emperor on his chest.
He wanted to see what this descendant of Levi Sherman was up to.
