Chapter 372 Fire, Torches, and People Holding Torches
The Sherman family let White Ghost serve as the commander of the expedition for a few months, and at the end, they also gave White Ghost enough respect.
Flowers, applause, honors, all live broadcasted simultaneously on official channels across the territory;
The one who brought the Emperor's personally written commendation order was the imperial singer and princess Daphne, who was wearing an elegant evening gown.
Witnessing the awarding ceremony were Imperial Prince Kinov and the Supreme Commander of the Military;
Yang Ming received an "Imperial Peace Medal" and the rank of major general without actual title from the military, and was promised the title of "preparatory duke" by the Council of Elders, which meant that Yang Ming only needed to wait for an honorary duke to die of natural causes, and he would be automatically promoted to the honorary duke of the empire.
Of course, the real Grand Duke of the Empire has absolute say in a certain field.
For people like Yang Ming, titles and honors are more important than practical significance.
What's more, the four words "White Ghost" no longer need the blessing of other titles within the empire.
Yang Ming took the opportunity to give a brief speech.
He felt that he was indeed thicker-skinned now, and could just say some high-sounding words with an extremely sincere expression.
“It is not good news for me to be forced to leave the front line before the war is over.
"Now that the war has entered a stable period and the New Federation's capital fleet has been paralyzed, the Empire can continue to teach this regime, which has committed many crimes against the Empire in the past hundred years, a lasting and profound lesson.
“I don’t think the award I received today represents the entire military. The martyrs who died in the war deserve more respect, and their families deserve more condolences.
“I will use all the material rewards given by the Empire, as well as all the income from my past live broadcasts, including all the income from the genuine White Ghost peripherals, to establish a special fund and operate it openly to care for the families of soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country. When you encounter difficulties, troubles, or are too sad, you can find my fan club in various ways.
“Some people say that war is a disaster for human civilization.
“Some people say that war is an extension of politics, a means for politicians or the privileged class to seek benefits.
“But here, in this war to defend the interests of the empire and maintain the dignity of the empire, our soldiers are not sacrificing for politicians or the privileged class. We will make all sacrifices valuable, and when someone tries to devour these values, I will stand in front of you and fight them to the end.
"Next, I will go to other battlefields. Now I can proudly declare to all those noble lords in the empire who have done bad things that I am back."
Yang Ming ended the performance with a threatening sneer.
There was warm applause all around.
Obviously, none of the nobles present felt that they would be targeted by the White Ghost. In fact, in order to ease the conflicts, the Empire had been continuously carrying out aristocratic rectification campaigns, but the effect was never as obvious as the time when the White Ghost led the team.
Yang Ming was transferred back this time to focus on this area.
Originally, Yang Ming thought that the live broadcast would end here.
Daphne held the commendation order in front of Yang Ming, bowed slightly, and took the initiative to step forward and give Yang Ming a kiss.
Yang Ming immediately took a half step back, covering his cheek, with an expression as if he was bullied by Daphne.
Daphne reacted very quickly, smiled elegantly at Yang Ming, then bowed slightly and said to Yang Ming:
"Mr. White Ghost, I heard that you are single now. I wonder if I have the opportunity to become your partner in your life journey. I can accept it temporarily or long-term."
Yang Ming nodded with a smile: "Sorry, Your Highness, I have no plans to fall in love for the time being."
Daphne immediately asked, "Is it because you were broken up with by Captain Catherine before, and you still have trauma in your heart?"
Yang Ming stared at Daphne, and Daphne just smiled and blinked gently.
"Yes," Yang Ming sighed, "I think I will not consider another relationship in the short term. I will continue to work hard for the promises I made and fulfill the promises I made to the people of the empire who trusted me."
"That's a shame," Daphne sighed softly.
Yang Ming walked forward with a smile, gave Daphne a hug, patted her shoulders gently four times, then turned around and left in style.
The old princess glanced at Daphne with a hint of suspicion in her eyes.
This part doesn't match what they had agreed on before.
After the live broadcast ended, all major portals in the empire were quickly flooded with entries about "The Empire Songstress's Failed Love Confession", which did help to ease the public opinion.
Inside the ship's lounge.
The old princess found Daphne who was removing her makeup and frowned:
"Daphne, why did you suddenly use such a radical strategy just now? Kissing a man directly will give people the impression that we royal women are frivolous and ignorant of etiquette. Besides, you already know that he is somewhat resistant to the power behind you.
“That’s not a very sensible thing to do.”
"Aunt, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself," Daphne whispered. "I have to at least announce to the public that this is my man, Daphne, so that other women who want to take advantage of him should stay away from him."
The old princess whispered, "You mentioned Captain Catherine."
Daphne smiled and said, "Yes, auntie, she is Hamton's ex-girlfriend."
"What kind of woman is that? Is she attractive?"
"Warrior, one of the most powerful transformed warriors in the empire."
"Wow, then I really have to worry about your fragile little body. That's right, they are cyborgs. Oh, I haven't tried the taste of a cyborg yet."
Daphne: ...
It’s okay, my aunt didn’t delve too deeply into these issues.
Her aunt's attention was clearly on more exciting matters.
Half an hour later.
This venue is located in Lounge No. 4, which is specially used to receive princes and nobles.
Daphne pushed open the door of the lounge and saw a warmly decorated reception room and two rows of hangers filled with military uniforms.
She took two tentative steps forward and asked softly, "Hanton?"
Click.
The door of the lounge closed by itself, and Yang Ming's voice came from behind the door:
"Your Highness, it seems you have received some news."
Daphne immediately turned around and changed into a strapless tight dress. With her soft body curves and fair skin like that of a porcelain doll, she interpreted the beauty and sexiness of the imperial aristocracy.
She followed Yang Ming's example and crossed her arms: "My partner, you are too slow to react. Something happened to your ex-girlfriend."
"Yeah?"
Yang Ming curled his lips slightly: "I am in the army, I have no source of information, and I know nothing about these things."
Daphne said:
"Of course, it's just a suspicion now. My intelligence sources show that the Imperial Military Intelligence Agency only captured Catherine appearing on the impoverished planet where the rebel leader was hiding. This is not direct evidence. The Super Reformer Organization is now conducting a self-examination, and the Military Intelligence Agency may intervene at any time.
“Your loyal partner, Captain Gris, has led the Skywrath Fortress’ secret forces to search for Catherine.
"However, the most suspicious thing now is that Captain Catherine suddenly disappeared six galactic hours ago. There is a chip from the Super-Changer Organization in her brain that can display her location in real time. She seems to have realized that she has been exposed."
Yang Ming smiled secretly in his heart.
The members of the Super Modifier Organization now all have the double surname Bligh, and the Bligh people are called the Black Perverted Little Ghost.
Yang Ming frowned tightly: "Catherine, with the rebel leader? Are you sure?"
"Of course," Daphne raised her head slightly, "This is the woman you have been obsessed with. If I guess correctly, you will be in some trouble next. You need to cooperate with the investigation. In the Empire, treason is the most serious crime."
Yang Ming wondered, "Super reformers need to be branded with thoughts."
"The thought imprint can be cracked," Daphne said. "For example, if the thought imprint restricts their loyalty to the empire and the emperor, they can use self-suggestion and intense hypnosis to tell themselves that the emperor has been sidelined and the empire is on the wrong path, and that they must set things right in order to save the empire... This has happened before, and now the entire Super Reformer organization is conducting self-examination."
Yang Ming rubbed his eyebrows and lowered his head in thought.
“I still don’t understand…”
"That's none of your business, Hamton. Look at me."
Daphne took the initiative to move forward and cupped Yang Ming's cheeks with both hands.
"We are partners. I have put all my resources on you. Don't leave me with nothing, okay?"
Yang Ming smiled, brushed her hand away, and said slowly: "Then should I thank you again, Princess?"
Daphne felt a surge of anger in her heart.
Just as she was about to speak, Yang Ming suddenly reached out and lifted her right hand high. A force pulled her and made her spin face to face with the man in front of her, with her back against the door of the lounge.
Yang Ming placed his other hand on Daphne's face and looked down at her.
Daphne became inexplicably nervous.
She looked up at Yang Ming, her breathing became a little disordered, her snow-white skin trembled slightly, her pale lips opened slightly as Yang Ming approached, and her long eyelashes also closed slightly.
Sudden.
"Don't you like women?"
Yang Ming's voice came from a few meters away.
Daphne opened her eyes and found Yang Ming already sitting on the sofa with a playful look on his face.
"You are so ungentlemanly!"
Daphne snorted, feeling a little sore in her wrist. She lowered her head and walked to the seat opposite Yang Ming.
Her posture still maintained the elegance of a princess.
"I will stay with you from now on. The original plan was for you to catch the nobles and rectify their work style, and to serve in the Imperial Military Intelligence Bureau. But now that Captain Catherine has happened, the follow-up arrangements have become unknown.
"However, I will try my best to help you control the impact."
"Don't worry," Yang Ming closed his eyes and took a nap on the sofa. "Catherine is just my girlfriend, not my wife. I can explain that she approached me before to try to make me betray the empire, but I stand firmly on the side of the empire."
"You've changed a lot suddenly," Daphne said softly.
Yang Ming smiled and said, "Nothing will change. I am who I am. I just figured out some things. I'll give you a sentence. This is my motto."
"What?"
“Give up illusions and prepare for struggle.”
Daphne shook her head, unable to comprehend the meaning of this sentence.
…
At the same time, somewhere in the empire, on a poor planet with a population of 200 million, in an abandoned underground fortress.
Catherine, dressed in combat uniform, was standing in front of several simple military solid-state screens with a frown on her face, staring at the data constantly flashing across the screens.
She asked softly, "Have you all evacuated?"
"Boss, the brothers have all evacuated. How did we get exposed this time?"
"Someone betrayed our information about the organization we had contacted before," Catherine said with a cold expression, "Don't worry about it. I have sent people to eliminate the so-called revolutionary army that is in cahoots with the imperial authorities. They have existed for so long, and they really have their own way of survival."
"Those bastards!"
"Boss, why not just attack the empire right now!"
"Yes, Boss. Other resistance groups dare not show up, but we are the Super Reformers. We have the force to assassinate high-ranking officials and capture warships. What's more, we have a trump card!"
"Notify all contact points to destroy all intelligence materials and enter a completely silent passive reception mode."
Catherine said:
“We have worked so hard for so long, now all we need to do is wait.
“Yes, we do have the basic conditions for an uprising now, but the empire is now caught in a war with other powerful countries, and domestic conflicts are bound to become more intensified. We still have the opportunity to unite more resistance organizations.
"To overthrow the empire, we need not millions of machines or millions of soldiers, but the resistance spirit of hundreds of billions of people. It is this flame that we want to ignite.
"Beyond this, all other sacrifices are meaningless. Do you understand?"
"yes!"
"I'm going to take a rest. If anything happens, wake me up immediately."
Catherine nodded slightly, turned and walked towards the passage at the side. Several men and women looked at each other, and their expressions became much more relieved.
The bosses have gone to sleep, which means they are very confident that they can avoid this disturbance.
In the lounge, Catherine turned on the shielding device, pursed her lips tightly, and her expression became more solemn.
She walked to the simple desk, turned on her communicator, thought quietly for a few minutes, and finally found the special contact and sent a message.
[Thanks for the reminder, otherwise we would have lost at least half of our core members. ]
The other party immediately responded: [You're welcome, these are just instructions from my boss. Captain Catherine, my boss may have to publish some opinions that he has broken up with you a long time ago. I hope you can understand.]
Catherine sighed and continued typing:
[Now I just feel that he allowed me to act recklessly and played a game of uprising with me.
[I am now afraid that when my uprising fails, he will grab me and bring me to his side, and tell me - look, you have tried and you should stay by my side obediently from now on.
[After some recent reflection, I realized that he is too powerful.
[He secretly developed such a huge force under the nose of the empire, controlled the super-changer organization, and possessed the appeal and prestige among the people that could slightly challenge the royal family. ]
The other party sent a smiley face and continued to reply: [Didn’t you realize that your future rebel army is also a semi-direct force in my boss’s territory. ]
Catherine was stunned: [Did he plan this long ago? ]
[No, my boss just respects your choice, but your development path has been in my calculations before.]
[You? Who are you exactly? ]
[Me? I am the boss's assistant, the boss's most trusted assistant. You can call me Lawyer.]
"Law?" Catherine whispered.
Words kept popping up on the projection screen in front of her:
[I can tell you now that if you want to overthrow the empire, the existing resistance forces alone cannot accomplish even one percent of the task. However, the existence of resistance forces, insurgents, and revolutionaries has extremely high symbolic significance. You are the torch, and this torch is responsible for illuminating the darkness before dawn.
[I hope that you can continue to be a helper to my boss in the future, and a comrade and partner beyond personal feelings.
[The power held by the boss is actually far beyond your imagination, and the strength of the enemy is also far beyond your imagination. 】
Catherine raised her hand to cover her forehead: [Can you describe it briefly? ]
[Do you think that the modular design of the Imperial Star and its ability to absorb the energy of an entire star as energy reserves are simply used to demonstrate the Empire's technology?
[In the Empire's dimensional upgrade plan, the Imperial Star is the core of the upgrade. Of course, I have not been able to find the core data in it.
[But don't worry, that's not an enemy you need to worry about.
[Please become fire, illuminate the darkness of the empire, and burn off the shackles on the people. ]
Catherine replied: [I can only be the one who walks forward holding the torch. The real fire is not me, but us.]
[You are increasingly showing the qualities of a rebel leader. ]
Catherine smiled and shook her head, ending the conversation in a relatively happy mood.
…
Half a day later.
The border of empire.
In a transport ship that had just returned to the empire, Yang Ming was sitting quietly in the corner, holding a military book.
Daphne hurried over, sat in front of Yang Ming, and whispered, "Things are a bit troublesome."
Yang Ming asked without even looking up: "What's wrong?"
"Neither the Super-Changers Organization nor the Military Intelligence Bureau can find Catherine's whereabouts. Forty-two Super-Changers also disappeared. It has been confirmed that there may be some kind of organization among them. This organization has already revealed clues before, but it has not attracted attention."
clatter.
Yang Ming closed the book and looked up at Daphne who was a little anxious.
"You'd lose your temper over something like this?"
"Of course not," Daphne snorted. "Great Uncle Ino was furious. Those were all important experimental materials for him, especially Catherine...Great Uncle had complained before that he had not collected valuable data for a long time. He had previously asked the Super Modifier Organization to provide a group of powerful Super Modifiers, and Catherine was on the list...This might not be a coincidence."
Yang Ming nodded slightly.
Sorry, this is just a coincidence. Catherine has been preparing for the uprising for a long time. This time it was just accidentally exposed.
But this also avoided a greater crisis.
Daphne asked, "Can you find where she is?"
"Sorry, I can't get in touch with her either." Yang Ming placed the specially made watch in front of Daphne. All the data inside had naturally been altered by Lu, and all the chat records had been forged. "You can confirm it yourself."
Daphne hesitated for a moment, but still grabbed the watch and searched it carefully.
Soon, she handed the watch back.
"Next, don't say anything and don't worry about this matter. I will handle it for you."
Boss Yang smiled and nodded.
"Are we going to the Military Intelligence Bureau next?"
"Well, you have to gain some real power first. Major General Atlo of the Military Intelligence Bureau has a good relationship with you and happens to be your subordinate."
Ah, it seems not bad to have a gigolo occasionally, at least it saves you a lot of trouble.
