Chapter 434: Cheating and Having Fun
"Captain Kole, this way please."
The two girls, who were wearing high-slit tight long skirts, led Yang Ming and walked in a light gray corridor.
The security here is tight, but the level of automation is very low, and most areas rely on manual sentry and patrol.
Almost every three to five meters, there is a simulated gravity device to increase the weight of the mountain and avoid the gravity detection commonly used today; the coating on all four sides of the corridor is also made of special materials that can absorb the electromagnetic waves emitted by various instruments to the greatest extent.
Yang Ming kept looking around, behaving like a seasoned pirate captain, with a little excitement of exploring the unknown, but also a bit of cunning and alertness.
In short, no matter who looks at it, he doesn't look like he's acting.
Yang Ming seldom wears a robe.
His daily attire is usually in shorts, slippers, and a vest for homely purposes, slim-fitting dresses and military uniforms of the two empires for formality, and his most exciting attire is his White Ghost Exoskeleton Armor - Battle-Damaged Edition.
He had only worn the robe two or three times, and when he walked, he always felt that he had no protection and no sense of security from being wrapped up.
"Where are we going?"
Yang Ming couldn't help but ask.
The girl in front turned her head and looked over, and gave Boss Yang a charming smile: "Let's go see our mother."
"Uh, you two are blood sisters?"
"No," they explained softly, "Mother is a respectful title, similar to other cultural systems, you can understand it as a priest, bishop, educator or person in charge."
"Mother is the person in charge of this base."
Yang Ming asked: "Is that a woman?"
"Yes, you have obviously accepted this concept. Generally speaking, only 72 percent of 'mothers' are women, because women can be more tolerant and gentle when facing enemies."
"What about you?" Yang Ming asked knowingly, "What position do you hold in your organization?"
"Agent?"
"Or rather, my mother's personal guard."
Yang Ming gave a thumbs up and did not hesitate to praise the two girls who were spiritually influenced by him.
After turning seven or eight times, Yang Ming had no idea where he was inside the mountain. He just felt like he was wandering in a Zerg nest, completely losing his sense of direction.
"Captain, the front is my mother's reception room."
The two girls stopped and pushed open two alloy doors. A green metal screen came into Yang Ming's eyes.
The relief on the screen is very simple, just a lush tree.
The overall tone of the relief is dark. In the upper left corner of the screen relief, a branch about the length of a little finger, along with seven or eight leaves on the branch, are marked with bright colors.
Does this represent the "status" of this base in their organization?
If this is true, then the person I am going to meet next is just a small boss in the Tree of Life religious gang?
"Please come in, we are going to prepare refreshments for you."
Yang Ming nodded and made a brief eye contact with the two girls, but did not detect any danger warning.
If you want to play a certain profession well, you must learn to think like a practitioner of that profession.
Boss Yang cleared his throat, raised his hand to straighten his collar, and rubbed the soles of his shoes lightly at the door before going in, looking around like a hawk.
The room is quite large and simple in structure. Behind the screen is a U-shaped sofa with a coffee table in the middle. The art decorations hanging on the four walls are all within the normal aesthetic range of human beings.
There is a woman with gray hair and wearing a loose robe. She is kneeling in the front left corner and praying silently to a metal statue more than three meters high.
Yang Ming hesitated for a moment.
This statue always looks so familiar. This goddess with wings and an angel-like shape has a sexy and beautiful figure and face...
"Captain Kole."
A soft, gentle and somewhat magnetic female voice was heard, and the 'mother' slowly stood up and turned to look at Yang Ming.
Boss Yang gave a smile that he thought was very friendly.
This is an old man with a kind face. Although his eyes are clear, they are full of indifference and calmness after experiencing vicissitudes of life.
"Oh, what should I call you? I heard from them that you are the person in charge here?"
“Yes,” the old man nodded with a smile, “You can call me by my last name, Carmen.”
"Mrs. Carmen," Yang Ming performed a gentleman's salute that was popular , "I want to express my gratitude for your helping hand. If it weren't for the help of the Domingos, I would have been captured by those imperial soldiers and taken back to collect the bounty."
"You're welcome, Captain Kole. I heard from them that you also provided a large amount of supplies and guns for our sacred and brave soldiers."
"That's different," Yang Ming said, "That's my business."
"Really? Please come and sit over here. Your maintenance robot is on the way."
Mrs. Carmen said with a smile:
"Please forgive us for our impoliteness, but we had to dismantle it and read its information to verify the authenticity of your identity.
“You and the Imperial Fleet appeared almost at the same time, which does give us some additional concerns.
"Besides, this should be your first time coming directly to our home planet... What are you doing here?"
"Actually, I deviated from the course," Yang Ming sighed. "I was originally going to do a business, selling two invisible airships to my client on Planet R230, but I don't know how I was spotted by the Empire's patrol border fleet on the way, and the angle deviated during the hasty jump."
Mrs. Carmen nodded slightly: "There are indeed relevant detailed records in your maintenance robot."
Yang Ming nodded with a smile.
Of course there is a record. This is the script designed by Labdo. He took a few glances at it and wrote it down.
The door opened, and the two girls came over with their heads down, bringing two cups of warm refreshing drinks.
Yang Ming kept his eyes fixed on one of them. He wanted to deliberately reveal a little weakness to the other party.
"Captain Kole, how much did you lose this time?"
"Oh, don't mention it," Yang Ming said with a depressed look, "However, being able to survive is the best gift that the starry sky has given me. Praising the starry sky is a reward to me."
"Do you have any other merchant ships?"
"There are four or five ships ," Yang Ming said with a smile, "but I think, compared to merchant ships, what I have more is this experience."
Mrs. Carmen smiled and said, "You are an expert in this industry. Can I ask you a few questions?"
"Of course," Yang Ming crossed his legs, "You can ask anything you want."
"I heard that you were a pirate in the past, and I have also learned about this industry," Mrs. Carmen said gently, "I heard that people in your profession have certain close combat capabilities. When you want to stop a merchant ship, you have to use special assault boats to get close to them."
"Hahaha."
Yang Ming smiled heartily, his eyes shining, and began to talk:
“You are talking about a nail boat. Actually, when doing business, nails are only used in about 30% of the cases.
"Other times, we have a tacit understanding with the merchants. We show them weapons that can sink them, and they give us a toll.
"Those remote trade routes that are not patrolled by large or medium-sized national fleets are our valuable assets. In fact, we rarely encounter extreme situations where merchant ships are actually destroyed. I once had a record of not firing the main gun for three consecutive years."
Mrs. Carmen smiled gently: "That sounds peaceful."
"You are one of the few elders who use such words to describe our profession."
"Then why don't you do it?"
“It’s mainly because of safety issues.”
The old face of Old Kolev appeared in Yang Ming's mind, and his eyes became somewhat distant:
“The threat from our peers is the biggest challenge for us. It is not easy to get out of this unscathed. I only announced the disbandment on the spot after ensuring that my crew members have received sufficient dividends.
“Then I started a transportation business.
"In fact, I am already very old. I have a wish. When I have left enough footprints in the Milky Way, I will drive a 100-meter-long transport ship converted from a protective ship, jump to the edge of the Milky Way, and carry the ashes of my deceased lover to sail forever in the gaps between large galaxy clusters."
Mrs. Carmen's eyes revealed a longing that was not disguised: "What a romantic ideal! I didn't expect that you are still so sentimental."
"Alas," Yang Ming sighed, staring at Mrs. Carmen, with a faint red light flashing in his eyes, "So, what about you?"
Mrs. Carmen's response seemed to become a little slow.
She murmured, "Me? What?"
"Your story," Yang Ming said gently, "Don't you want to explain this tree of life to me? You saved me, I should find a way to repay you."
"Yes, you should repay us, but we want you to be a non-staff member so that we can share your fleet and channels."
"Is that all?"
Yang Ming raised his eyebrows slightly.
These guys are pretty good, but since he has already taken action, there is no need to stop.
It’s fun to cheat for a while;
Keep cheating and have fun.
"Come on," Yang Ming took a sip of tea, "tell me about your tree of life. I am really curious about you. I will help you."
"You are such a respectable captain."
Mrs. Carmen hesitated for a moment. She did not notice anything unusual about herself. She just felt that the man in front of her was extremely kind and trustworthy. She could tell him all her secrets, which was a good thing for her nation and ideals.
Of course she didn't know that this was the mind control of the ancient god's life form.
…
“In the beginning, sixteen great pioneers responded to the call of the Goddess and established the original Tree of Life.
"Initially, we were not a religious organization in the broad sense. We did not have many programs or clear religious worship. The purpose of this organization was to promote greater unity in society, fight against bad trends in society, and actively carry out orderly childbirth activities.
"Orderly childbearing refers to family-style childbearing, where adult men and women form a family and live together, raising children together.
"Why is there such a concept as 'orderly childbearing'?
"It's simple. With the rapid development of Domingos, we are under great pressure to survive because we are a small country and too close to the powerful Sherman Empire. We have been seeking to join the Democratic Alliance or the Federation of Destiny in the Milky Way. Then we have been impacted by many so-called advanced concepts.
"Our economy has been gradually controlled by powerful foreign capital with various financial instruments, and the welfare of the people has been continuously exploited. Like other small countries, Domingos Star has also become a processing plant for low- and medium-end manufacturing.
"The environment is polluted, resources are rapidly consumed, there are more and more immigrants, and the local ethnic culture is disappearing. With the accelerated development of urbanization, compared with the slow improvement of social welfare and the increasing pressure of life, the cost of raising children and the cost of education are also soaring, so our ethnic fertility rate has dropped significantly .
"Then, two schools of thought emerged in society. One was to rely on social institutions to arrange fertilized eggs, and the other was to introduce a large number of low-quality people from poor countries to fill the vacancies in low- and medium-end manufacturing industries.
“This is of course short-sighted and fraught with negative consequences.
“So, sixteen pioneers stood up, they were politicians, businessmen, artists, and without exception, they were all pure Domingos.
“The Tree of Life developed very quickly afterwards, and we were able to unite half of the planet to a certain extent.
"It must be pointed out that they do not exclude immigrants from other planets, but Domingos has always been the place where the Domingos people thrive. They can build their own homes in their hometown, and when we become wealthy, we can also provide them with material and technical assistance. This is the attitude of the Tree of Life towards outsiders. It is not extreme, but has clear principles.
"Then, when we were somewhat back on track, our politicians, who were bought by the new federation, made some wrong moves that cost us dearly.
“You should have heard of the Domingos Massacre. Hundreds of millions of people died tragically in that war, and half of the Domingos were captured and became slaves of the empire.
"The mission of the Tree of Life, as these events progressed, there was an evolution..."
Mrs. Carmen's narration turned into a long sigh.
Yang Ming wondered, "Evolution? Has the concept become more intense?"
"Yes, you guessed right."
Mrs. Carmen smiled bitterly and continued:
"The seeds of hatred took root in the Tree of Life organization, and from then on, we had an enemy, the Sherman Empire.
"Not only that, we also extremely hate those New Federation people who started the war but turned a blind eye after the war broke out."
"But," Yang Ming asked, "As far as I know, many Domingos have chosen to cooperate with the New Federation."
Mrs. Carmen sighed:
“Hatred and death have divided the Domingos into two factions: one is the revenge faction, and the other is the extreme radical faction. The extreme radical faction is still being used by the Federation and has become a terrorist organization that is feared by the interstellar world.
"Of course, the revenge faction is more moderate. What we want is to return all the sufferings endured by this nation to the empire. Because of the political structure of the empire, our enemies are clearly the aristocracy of the empire and the Sherman royal family.
“After all the suffering, Domingos could not afford to be divided, and we made a lot of trade-offs to ensure that the two factions could work together.
"In order to retaliate against the Empire, we have formulated three hundred-year plans."
Yang Ming frowned slightly.
Three Centennial Plans?
The Domingos are cruel enough to involve more than a dozen generations in revenge .
Mrs. Carmen said:
“After our detailed calculations, we found that there is only one way to defeat the empire, and that is fertility.
“Population is the foundation of everything. Only when our population base is large enough and gradually blossoms and bears fruit in various regions of the Milky Way can our national soul be passed on.
"In the first 100-year plan, we exceeded many goals, including uniting the slave tribes within the empire, sowing the seeds of the Domingos in an orderly manner on more than 100 planets, and infiltrating the empire's army step by step through our large population within the empire.
“The path that they are taking as an ultra-radical faction, which seems risky to us, ensures the continued existence of the Domingos in terms of culture and tradition.
“Next, we just need to stay committed to this path, and every Domingo will give birth to at least two or three healthy individuals, and maintain their purity and faith through family education.
“The Tree of Life has therefore become a symbol of faith for the Domingos.
"Later, the Empire attacked us and we successfully went underground. We no longer spread our influence abroad, but instead led the Domingos throughout the galaxy through our home planet."
Mrs. Carmen's eyes revealed a bit of satisfaction and intoxication.
She asked softly, "Captain Kole, do you think we will succeed in taking revenge on the Empire?"
Yang Ming: …
"The goddess has been protecting us all the time," Mrs. Carmen murmured, "Whenever we get into trouble and lose our way, the goddess will send down oracles to help us overcome the difficulties."
Yang Ming was stunned for a moment: "Does this goddess really exist?"
"Yes," Mrs. Carmen looked at Yang Ming and lightly revealed the biggest secret of their organization, "She is the god of reason and wisdom."
The god of reason and wisdom?
This is really shameless.
Could this be an organization created by the Fayya people to overthrow the empire? That shouldn't be the case. The Fayya people never claim to be gods. They usually play it real... huh?
God of reason and wisdom... Reason...
Yang Ming was stunned.
He stood up suddenly and rushed to the metal statue in the corner. He imagined what the statue would look like after being coated with a layer of realistic skin, and then slowly compared it with the twin-tailed girl in his memory. The two images seemed to be constantly overlapping.
"Hmm..."
Boss Yang swallowed and stared at the statue.
The Domingos Massacre, the Tree of Life, the Domingos' 300-year plan, the revenge empire's goal was to overthrow the royal family and purge the nobility...
"groove?"
