Then, two rows of guards dressed in splendid attire ran to either side of Yang Ming, drew their metallic swords from their waists, and formed a crossed 'sword' gate above Yang Ming's head.
The Old Emperor stood up, clapped his hands, and the music immediately ceased, as the spot-amplification equipment carried the Old Emperor's voice throughout the banquet.
"Look, everyone," this is our Sherman Empire's hero! The true Guardian of the Emperor Star's Glory! Hanton!"
Applause erupted everywhere.
The Old Emperor beckoned to Yang Ming warmly, who smiled as he approached, standing in front of the Old Emperor.
The Old Emperor took the longsword presented by a maid, pressed the tip onto Yang Ming's left and right shoulders in turn, sweeping outward slightly, then handed the longsword back to the maid, smiling as he watched Yang Ming.
An official reminded from the side, "Viscount Hanton, according to Imperial etiquette, one should kneel on one knee to accept the Emperor's conferral."
Yang Ming nodded with a smile, stepped back with his right leg, and, bowing his head, knelt on one knee.
This Old Emperor was definitely seizing the opportunity for a photo op!
Sure enough, the Old Emperor stepped forward, leaned down to help Yang Ming up, as a hovering camera orb flew by, continuously snapping a series of photos.
Yang Ming was helped to his feet.
The Old Emperor smiled and said, "My knight, the Empire is proud of you."
"Your Majesty, what is all this?"
"Of course, it's your reward," the Emperor said with a smile, narrowing his eyes as he took a box that the official brought over and handed it to Yang Ming, "Open it and see."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Yang Ming opened the box and saw a golden tulip badge, and beneath it, a small scroll.
It was the Royal Medal of Valor, one of the top three individual honor medals in terms of prestige within the Sherman Empire, which entitled the bearer to treatment equal to members of the Royal Family in any region of the Empire—though only in form.
The scroll was extraordinary. Yang Ming unfurled it and immediately his eyes lit up upon seeing the peculiar material and the content written on it.
An Honorary Earlship, personally conferred by the Emperor, allowed one to designate any small Administrative Star as a private territory with a hundred-year term.
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Even though it was only for a hundred-year term, and not a private territory that could be passed down as family heritage, it was still a tangible reward!
He would not only have between eight and fifty percent of the tax revenues from this small Administrative Star but also the right to establish a private fleet, using this small Administrative Star as his fleet's home base!
Thank you, Great Elder.
Yang Ming sincerely expressed his gratitude to the Great Elder.
Without the Great Elder giving him this opportunity, how could he possibly have so quickly advanced in noble rank and even secured a small Administrative Star from the Sherman Empire for a hundred-year term!
Then, Yang Ming blinked at the Emperor and muttered softly, "Your Majesty, the cells."
The Old Emperor looked at Yang Ming with eyes full of pure innocence.
Yang Ming coughed and said quietly, "Your Majesty, you promised me, the Ancient God Life Form's cells."
"When you are promoted to a Duke," the Old Emperor said, tapping Yang Ming's arm lightly, "don't rush, child, I believe you can do it... I let you mess with the Elder Court, never thought you would nearly bring the whole thing down, and now there's a mess waiting for me to clean up, and you still have the nerve to ask for Ancient God Cells?"
If this wasn't being set up, what was it?
The Old Emperor turned and loudly said, "Let the banquet continue, bring a table and chair over here, I wish to have a thorough chat with Honorary Earl Hanton."
Sitting to the Emperor's right and slightly below him, Yang Ming began to murmur about something to the Old Emperor, looking somewhat glum in the presence of the Royal Family members.
"Hanton, there are a few matters that I cannot make sense of," the Old Emperor mused.
"Within the core area of the Energy-Gathering Bomb, the energy release was comparable to the main cannons of a battleship. Based on the Valkyrie's physical resilience, which couldn't withstand a two-hundred-meter gunboat, even if your body were stronger than the Valkyrie's, you shouldn't have been able to survive.
"Your Majesty, this is also my question," said Yang Ming as thoughts rapidly streaked through the depths of his mind, though he remained composed on the surface and said in a low voice,
"Your Majesty, this is also my question. I received an anonymous message ten seconds before the explosion warning me.
"At that time, I kicked the car out of the floating traffic lane, and thanks to the super-strong material of the floating lane area, barely managed to avoid serious injury.
"Unfortunately, it resulted in the loss of innocent lives."
"That's not important," the Old Emperor said casually but then wondered aloud, "I had people thoroughly investigate the communication in the area at that time, and no related information was captured."
Yang Ming, with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, are you suspecting that I planted the bomb myself?"
"There was that conjecture, but it was quickly dismissed. You didn't have the means to get that bomb," the Old Emperor sighed. "I found the culprit who planted the bomb. However, you must already know that."
Yang Ming nodded, admitting to the information but not denying it.
The Old Emperor asked, "What did you do to Elder Pison?"
"I used some tricks."
"His memory is extensively scrambled. However, I had his brain dissected and digitally sorted out. Inside, there's a vast array of crime records from the Great Elder's faction."
The Old Emperor clicked his tongue:
"And it's certain, this fellow called Pison hasn't undergone any form of memory alteration surgery, yet his memories don't contain any message of giving orders to the culprit.
"The bomb didn't come from the Elder Court."