Chapter 360: Ambassador of the Imperial Expedition
Daphne's expression was serious.
She must have been in a hurry when she came, or she had a lot on her mind, so she didn't dress very carefully, and the black windbreaker was not designed to highlight her figure.
As soon as the two met in the VIP room of the prison, several of Daphne's maids and assistants set up shielding devices and left the room.
"call."
Daphne breathed a sigh of relief, took off her windbreaker, revealing the slim and comfortable pink turtleneck sweater underneath, then she casually tied her long hair into a ponytail and lowered her head to flip through a few pages of documents.
Without waiting for Yang Ming to find a topic to talk about, she spoke directly without even raising her head:
"The matter is serious, Lord Henton."
"What's the problem?"
"The purge within the Foreign Affairs Bureau," Daphne said quickly, "You may not realize how much impact this incident has had on the empire, but I think a full-scale war is inevitable."
Yang Ming was stunned: "Why?"
"Because there are fewer people at the round table, one less prince and one less qualified archduke."
Daphne pursed her lips slightly and when she looked up at Yang Ming, her eyes revealed her tiredness.
"The Empire's war machine is about to be fully mobilized.
"Because this is an unacceptable loss and a direct blow to the core of the Sherman family, including Uncle Ino.
“If the New Federation cannot produce military strength that can inflict heavy losses on the Empire, then they will soon be attacked from all sides by the Empire.
"The second expedition will no longer be aimed at Minter City, but will start from the border and steadily advance inward, capturing one planet after another, making the people there slaves or ordinary people of the empire, implementing population transfer and military control, and allowing the empire to obtain a large number of cheap labor to ease the economic pressure within the empire.
“The last expedition was more out of considerations of politics and interstellar influence. The war that is about to take place is about plundering resources and population.
"The Empire has never cared about the so-called infamy, and this time it will be even more so."
Daphne whispered:
“I still can’t believe that the New Federation would actually cross this red line!
“Their previous strategy should have been to target the petty nobles, induce conflicts between the common people and the nobles, and then launch a so-called democratic revolution… The empire has experienced this kind of thing countless times, so my great-uncle and the others don’t care.
“But now, one of them has been killed directly, and they can no longer retreat from their red line.
“I happened to see the news that at this moment, within and outside the Imperial Star Circle, 152 military shipyards have restarted their production lines, and resources from various regions have begun to be rapidly mobilized.
"Fighting to support war is what the Empire loves to do the most. Every time a war of this nature occurs, half of the Milky Way will be affected. It is estimated that at least one billion innocent civilians will die for resisting the will of the Empire... This is the most conservative estimate based on past history.
"I was able to read the true history of the Empire, which Great-Uncle Ino gave me yesterday, and it is darker than any of you could imagine.
"The Empire is evil, in terms of the prevailing universal values in the galaxy."
Yang Ming: …
"So, you came to me because you were under too much pressure?"
Yang Ming leaned back on the soft sofa and said with a smile:
"Have you suddenly discovered that the position you have been seeking represents not only power and dignity that makes others look up to you, but also oppression, exploitation, cruelty, and the death and injury of a large number of innocent people?"
"Yes, that's one aspect," Daphne said, "it's just one aspect. I'll get used to it quickly."
Yang Ming asked directly: "How do you feel now? As someone who has been through this, I can give you some comfort. If you adjust your state, we can better move on to the next topic."
"That history book...I don't want to talk about this topic."
Daphne stared at Yang Ming:
“I need to reconstruct my self-perception of the terms life and human beings. I am not a kind person, and I am also intoxicated by the pleasure of gaining superiority and power.
"I just don't quite understand some of the behaviors of my ancestors... I..."
"Daphne! Look at me!"
Yang Ming released the slightest mental shock. Daphne was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly.
Yang Ming said: "Tell me your stress and I will help you relieve it."
"I can't tell you about this pressure... Do you know the core fleet of the empire? It is the part of the army that guards the inner circle of the imperial star and is not under the leadership of the imperial military."
"Of course I know," Yang Ming said seriously, "I have heard that the military strength there is equal to the sum of all the fleets controlled by the Imperial Army."
"It's not about being equal, it's about surpassing in all aspects!"
Daphne said quickly:
"The Empire developed semi-permanent materials tens of thousands of years ago. These materials are materials that do not have metal fatigue and can maintain their performance for hundreds of thousands of years without obvious changes in chemical properties. The invincible fleet of the first generation of the Empire came from the fleet of Levi Sherman's ancestors tens of thousands of years ago, and they are stored in the star field near the Imperial Star.
"In the following tens of thousands of years, new ships were constantly added to fill in, and their technology was slightly upgraded... Can you imagine it? Many core technologies have not changed for tens of thousands of years, or the breakthroughs are very small.
“That is the true military strength of the Empire.
"Now they have activated the fleet there. Of course, they have only activated the warships of the non-Levi Legion, but it is also terrifying.
"What I cannot accept the most is that the interior of the core fleet of the Levi Corps does not need human control at all, there are tens of billions of machines inside!
"Do you know why the Empire Development Cult is a religion? Why does this religion believe in the Empire's entire defense system?
"Because the Empire's full-territory defense system can utilize the computing power generated by the Empire's unified network and the computing power network provided by the special positron brains of these 10 billion mechanical bodies to control all the fleets of the Empire and the ancient warships left by Levi's ancestors!
"What is this? This shows that the establishment of the empire was built on the basis of an intelligent machine crisis. Now, this crisis still exists. Once the empire's defense system develops self-awareness or breaks away from the control set by the ancestors, it will be able to wipe out the entire imperial star circle within a galactic day!"
Yang Ming raised his hand and rubbed his nose.
If the Empire knew that the Empire was gradually getting out of control, would they directly destroy the infrastructure of the Empire's network?
why is that?
Is it because the Faya civilization does not want to see the empire become so unbalanced and powerful, so it keeps interfering?
In the "Abyss" galaxy plot that he had experienced, the Empire was in great decline internally due to the New Federation's burial plan, and was thus restricted in many ways externally.
Now, he helped the empire survive the burial insect crisis, and then the Faya people began to directly detonate the empire's biggest bomb?
Or maybe, this is not the interference of the Faya people, but the influence of the robot Twilight?
The impact of the law?
Yang Ming does not believe in fate and destiny.
But he had to face up to the invasion and control of the Milky Way by higher-dimensional civilizations.
"Sorry, I got a little excited."
Daphne breathed a sigh of relief, having already sorted out the documents and laid them out in two rows in front of her.
She actually deliberately revealed some information to Yang Ming to facilitate the subsequent negotiations.
Daphne looked up at Yang Ming:
“The most important thing is that Uncle Ino can give you the Ancient God Cell Group right now, but there are two conditions.
"First, hand over your ancient technology ship data. They only need to do a scan. Second, we have a de facto marriage, which can be kept secret. You will actually become the son-in-law of the Sherman family. This is the Sherman family's rule of conduct.
"If you agree to these two conditions, we can continue the discussion."
Yang Ming stared at Daphne: "I clearly rejected you last time."
"You rejected the marriage granted by the Emperor."
Daphne said:
"The so-called de facto marriage means that we must develop feelings for each other... This seems really childish to me. The so-called feelings and bonds are actually useless, but this is what Granduncle Ino wanted.
“Also, we can keep it secret from the public. It won’t affect your prestige among the people, nor will it make people think that you have become a loyal dog of the Sherman family.
"If you agree, I can allow you to have a mistress and agree to your previous harsh conditions. If you are still a gentleman, you'd better respect me and don't mention other women in front of me.
"I believe you won't either, because we won't have much time together in the future. You only need to accompany me to attend the periodic ."
Yang Ming raised his eyebrows slightly.
Periodic gatherings?
Does that mean... it is possible for him to just kill off the people at the round table?
Daphne looked helpless as she added, "Will this harm you in any way? We can also have a sexless marriage. This is just pure politics."
"Daphne, is this what you mean, or what Director Ino means?"
"My great-uncle's."
Daphne smiled bitterly:
“He wanted me to tie you down at all costs, even at the cost of my dignity, and that was the condition for him taking me to that meeting.
“Everything is about conditions and exchanges. Politics is the art of compromise, and I can only compromise with you at this moment.
"This is completely different from last time. It's a plea from our side... I can't give you a title and resources directly. The Sherman family is wary of the so-called experimental project on you, and they won't let you participate in their core projects.
“What I can give you is to establish a cooperative relationship with the Sherman family and give you better development prospects.
"What you can give me is to increase my value to my great uncle."
Yang Ming closed his eyes and thought for more than ten seconds.
He nodded slowly. "I agree to a secret de facto marriage and to hand over a scan of my ancient technological warship."
"Thank you. I will pay attention to propriety and boundaries in the future and try not to cause you any trouble." Daphne glanced at Yang Ming for a few times, "For me, marriage is just a decoration."
"What do you want to talk about next?"
"The next step is cooperation in a practical sense."
Daphne handed over a few contracts.
Yang Ming looked down for a while, frowned tightly, and fell into deep thought.
He had sensed it.
The assassination attempt that he and Lu carefully planned really pierced the sky of the Sherman Empire.
Every decision he makes now will have a huge impact on Dark Star, Luofeng, the slim future of his home planet, Sakaar and the hundreds of billions of civilians in the empire.
[White Ghost nominally commanded the Sherman Imperial Expeditionary Force.]
Damn!
No wonder Director Ino sacrificed Daphne's self-esteem!
The Empire wants to use its appeal to civilians to exaggerate the justice of the all-out war against the New Federation, stabilize the domestic political situation, and export conflicts abroad.
This time, the Empire is attacking the New Federation to plunder its resources and population, which will definitely result in the death of a large number of civilians and make a large number of New Federation people slaves of the Empire...
"Is it okay?" Daphne asked softly, "You have complete choice."
"Please leave me alone for a moment."
Yang Ming pursed his lips slightly, and the only sound left in the living room was the two people's light breathing.
…
Daphne left the VIP room.
She stood behind the window of the prison corridor with her arms folded, looking at the dozen or so noble prisoners who were leisurely playing ball in the square below.
The Noble Prison has always been known as a small holiday resort, where nobles who have committed crimes can live happily. Except that they cannot call call girls and male models in or leave on their own, there are no other problems.
In the room, Yang Ming scratched his head with a slightly conflicted expression.
There are indeed things he cannot consider, but it doesn’t matter, he has the law, and the law is also calculating and thinking about various possibilities at this moment.
"Boss, if you sign it, the benefits will outweigh the disadvantages."
Lu's voice emerged from the hidden headphones.
"What are the disadvantages?" Yang Ming asked immediately.
“First, you will definitely be criticized by the New Federation’s public opinion machine. However, they have already spared no effort to discredit you. Why should we care about the evaluation of the enemy?
"Second, waging foreign wars and plundering civilians is not a good reputation, and it will lower your historical evaluation. However, considering that you are just a figurehead and you have deep grievances with the New Federation regime, running things through me will not have a big impact on your prestige and it is basically controllable.
"Third, the military is exclusive. If you suddenly parachute in, even if you just take up a title, you will easily be excluded. You need to spend energy to manage it."
Lu hummed a few words:
"If I have to say a fourth thing, it's that based on my understanding of you, you will feel guilty and uneasy in your heart."
Yang Ming sighed: "Actually, it's just the fourth one. I don't care about the first three. After completing the task of connecting to my home planet, the rest is up to me."
Lu chuckled.
Yang Ming muttered, "My only hesitation now is, if a massacre is carried out in my name, then am I considered part of the massacre?"
"It definitely counts," Law whispered.
"What the hell, I'm playing political games in the interstellar space, and while playing, I've become a Japanese devil?"
"Huh?" Lu was confused.
Yang Ming briefly talked about the Anti-Japanese War in his hometown a hundred years ago.
Lu smiled and said, "Boss, this is different. Your hometown was invaded by imperialist brutality. This time, the conflict between the New Federation and the Sherman Empire is a stinking fight between two interstellar vicious dogs."
There were several black lines on Yang Ming's forehead.
He always felt that Lu was scolding him.
Lu said softly, "Boss, I've always been curious about why you have such a strong anti-war gene in your bones. War is actually the norm for human civilization."
"It has something to do with the education I received since childhood. My hometown has always advocated peaceful rise."
"Peaceful rise? That's almost impossible," Lu laughed. "When a civilization needs to expand, it must obtain more resources. On a planet, the reserves of rare resources have an upper limit, which will almost inevitably lead to war."
Yang Ming said: "It may be impossible in the long run, but from a short-term perspective, it is indeed achievable. The liberation of labor, the improvement of labor value, the improvement of workers' self-quality and the realization of happiness can all be achieved on the basis of a huge population. Do you know how many people my hometown supports, which occupies 6.5% of the land surface area of my home planet?"
"How many?"
"More than a billion."
"ha?"
"It's also because the civilization level of my home planet is relatively low," Yang Ming sighed, "and the people's individual demands for life are not that high."
Lu asked back: "But if we blindly pursue peace, we will always suffer in the clashes between civilized political systems."
"Well, we will definitely suffer in this regard, but we must maintain sufficient deterrence," Yang Ming said with a smile, "A gentleman wears a sword but does not use it. This sword must be sharp enough. We all understand this principle."
"Well, I still don't quite understand. It's almost impossible for low-level civilizations to live in peace."
"Let's put our problems here," Yang Ming knocked on the table, "Are there any other drawbacks? I can overcome my personal senses by myself."
"No disadvantages, boss," Lu said with a smile, "Your current interests lie in Luofeng and Dark Star, as well as your influence within the empire. The New Federation has always regarded you as an enemy. Your human history books have told me more than once that civilized conquerors may not necessarily receive historical infamy. History books are actually very easy to tamper with."
"What else could it be?"
"Honorary father of conquered civilizations."
Yang Ming leaned back, his thoughts suddenly becoming clear.
In that case, the title of Father of the New Federation... is quite good.
"Daphne, you can come in."
Yang Ming's voice sounded directly in Daphne's mind, ignoring the shielding device.
