Chapter 131: 079 Romantic Night
The Old Emperor was gently embracing Emilia.
Those skillful, aged hands were softly patting Emilia’s back; his old eyes were full of tender care, and the words he spoke were gentle and soft:
“Edwan really does have to be a bit busier now, he’s my most outstanding son, taking on some rather important work. Our family is currently facing some challenges, though not too serious.
“Oh, my daughter, you should understand him.”
This thing, is it really an Intelligent Machine?
Yang Ming, standing to the side with his head bowed in a gesture of respect, felt slightly uneasy in his heart.
It was not that he feared the Old Emperor.
At this distance, Yang Ming thought that if he wanted to dismantle this thing, he’d only need a second or two.
He was purely creeped out by the situation.
An emperor of a country.
Ruling over six Administrative Stars, over a hundred Resource Stars, with billions of citizens under his command.
The Sherman Empire said change and they changed, simply making the real Old Emperor disappear from the world, and brought in an Intelligent Machine to preside over everything, even fooling the nation’s subjects.
Yang Ming couldn’t help but speculate.
Had the Old Emperor simply died? Or was he imprisoned within the Sherman Empire?
This was quite interesting.
“Father,” Emily said with a smile, “these are two friends of mine, this Captain Yang Ming once saved your naughty daughter who had snuck out of the palace; I nearly got accidentally wounded by the military that time.”
The Old Emperor looked at Yang Ming.
Yang Ming bowed his head even lower, not saying a word.
“I have an impression of you,” the Old Emperor said with a smile, “Come in. Today, I’m just an old father coming to attend his daughter’s birthday, and you are friends of Emilia, so don’t be too restrained.”
Several young people inside the room responded at the same time.
Yang Ming and Windsor glanced at each other, the latter clearly so nervous that she was having difficulty breathing, yet her eyes were filled with excitement.
The Emperor sat at the head of the long table, and the Maids quickly moved forward to spread out the Emperor’s special tablecloth.
Then came the restrained cake cutting and birthday wishes.
Yang Ming and Windsor, with their enthusiastic fake smiles, stood by as clapping tools.
Little Emily’s face was full of smiles, and her coquettish behavior with the Emperor also made Yang Ming inwardly praise ‘fatherly love and filial piety.’
After receiving cake brought by the Maid, Yang Ming had barely had a few bites when he saw the Emperor beckoning to him.
“Come here, Captain.”
Yang Ming immediately put down the cake and quickly stepped up to the Emperor, bowing his head to listen to instructions.
“Sit down,” the Old Emperor said with a smile, “I’ve looked at your file before, you’re from the Cas Federation, right?”
Yang Ming said, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
He earnestly pulled the chair back half a meter and sat down with meticulous care.
Across the table, Emilia was leaning on the table, kneeling on the chair, and at this moment, she was smilingly watching Yang Ming, seeming to be waiting for him to make a fool of himself.
“Do you claim to be a Bounty Hunter?” the Old Emperor asked with more laughter in his tone, “Can you tell this old man what Bounty Hunters do?”
Yang Ming looked up and met the Old Emperor’s eyes for a moment.
The other’s eyes still lacked a sharp edge, but Yang Ming felt a trace of pressure.
This made Yang Ming a bit annoyed.
He, a Carbon-based life form, a Subordinate Ancient God Life Form, a hot-blooded good young man of Earth, was actually feeling this sense of being seen through in front of an Intelligent Machine!
“Your Majesty, you jest.”
Yang Ming’s eyes were very clear, his voice magnetic, and a flash of Spirit Light crossed his heart, bringing up several thoughts which he decided to put into practice.
How about discussing the topic of freedom with this Intelligent Machine?
Yang Ming spoke calmly:
“I initially didn’t want to live the life of an idle rich man under my uncle’s protection, with nothing more to do than collect rent and fish. That wasn’t the life I wanted.
“I yearn for freedom, to be unbound and be able to witness the spectacular nebulate that birth Constant Stars, to see first-hand the walls of hydrogen clouds like those in the universe, see the death and withering of Constant Stars, feel the vastness of the universe, and reflect on the insignificance of life. It’s like I am wandering.”
“Oh,” the Old Emperor chuckled, his eyes gaining more sparkle, “That sounds quite interesting.”
“Yes, without restraints,” Yang Ming said with a smile, “but it’s not a very respectable job. Back then, I joined a team, and I often felt that the only difference between us and interstellar pirates was that we didn’t rob.”
The Old Emperor seemed to find a point of amusement in this.
He wondered, “So how do you sustain your livelihood?”
“We take on missions, work as mercenaries. Sometimes we help some multinational corporations transport materials, sometimes we help deliver documents to places where wars are happening. But more often, we simply work as mercenaries.”
Yang Ming paused and sighed softly:
“Before joining the Royal Guard Army, I had been through dozens of battles, big and small. Many of my companions died in combat, but those of us who survived accumulated quite a bit of wealth.”
The Old Emperor asked with a smile, “Then why did you choose to come to us?”
“The main reason is actually because I was afraid of dying.”
“Hahahaha!” The Old Emperor laughed even louder, “You’re quite an interesting fellow, openly admitting a coward’s reason like fear of death! They’re all used to hiding their little thoughts deep down, then hypocritically saying some sanctimonious words to you.”
Yang Ming shrugged: “I think the instinct of a life form is to seek life and avoid death. Who doesn’t want to live, breathe, think, and find the value of oneself? Of course, this is just my humble opinion, Your Majesty must have a richer, more philosophical understanding of life.”