(PS: Sorry, sorry, the plane was delayed for half a day, it was a nightmare. Now I owe three more chapters! I'll return them as soon as possible! Once I'm done, I'll ask for votes again!)
Edwan looked at the projection of Yang Ming, his eyes full of confusion.
Why is he suddenly giving a gift to the Emperor of the Sherman Empire?
This is neither the birthday of the old Sherman Emperor nor his funeral. Besides, a vassal state doesn't need to directly present gifts to the old Emperor, and they don't have such a custom.
"Why give him a gift?"
"For safety," Yang Ming chuckled, "Even though we have defeated a rather strong opponent, the crisis hasn't been averted, and instead, it's likely to increase. The Sherman Empire's Foreign Affairs Bureau won't let us go."
Edwan sighed, "I know that, the situation will become more severe, especially after we've shown strength we didn't originally possess. The Sherman Empire will no longer look down on us... but I think we should have two to three years of safety."
"No, Edwan," Yang Ming replied, "you're underestimating the efficiency of the Imperial Military. Although the Empire's nobles and various political departments are inefficient and slow, the military has always been swift and decisive."
Edwan leaned back in his chair, massaging his forehead continuously.
"You're always right, Ming. I know you have your reasons, but making me give a gift to His Majesty and attach some nauseating flattery, that's more uncomfortable than killing me. All the tragedies I've seen since childhood stem from that old bastard, and you know it."
"Edwan, we can't act emotionally."
"I'm just venting to you," Edwan laughed, "you prepare the gift and draft the flattery, I'll handle the rest."
"Alright," Yang Ming was about to hang up the call, but added, "Later, I'll help you select an assistant, a mechanical assistant. Do you prefer a male or female?"
Edwan laughed, "Does the appearance of a robot matter?"
"Don't you already have a girlfriend?" Yang Ming said, "Plus, the robot I'm sending is more than just looks."
"Wow, that sounds mysterious. Make it female then," Edwan shrugged, "Narissa wouldn't get jealous over that."
"Alright, I'll arrange it then."
Yang Ming ended the call, turned to look at Lyu and 026 next to him. 026 instinctively pointed at himself, "Boss, am I to go monitor His Majesty Edwan?"
"What would you do there," Yang Ming said, "Lyu, pick a reliable Mechanical Thought Body, and I'll test its stability. Bring out the terminator TXX for Edwan."
"Yes, Boss... if you think placing a robot capable of leveling half a city is reliable, I have no objections." Newest update provıded by 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
Yang Ming blinked, "Is that thing stable?"
"It is stable," Lyu explained, "but if it's hit by a ship's Main Cannon's high-energy ion beam, due to the battery's self-destruction, its explosion would be tremendous."
"Getting hit by the Main Cannon is death anyway, so what if the explosion radius is bigger," Yang Ming laughed, "producing hundreds of suicide robots sounds fun."
That robot, personally named TXX by the boss, is made entirely of controllable deformable liquid metal, costing as much as a Light Battlecruiser, utilizing special technology inherited from Intelligent Mechanic Dusk, unmatched in current Milky Way human civilization.
Why not build hundreds of battleships with those resources?
"Boss, because of your command to expand Dark Star, I've drained everything, and we're still very poor," Lyu puffed her cheeks, "If you're going to be so extravagant, how about dismantling my main brain and selling it for scrap metal first."
"Just joking, why are you angry, 026 calm your Sister Lyu down."
Yang Ming stretched lazily as he stood up, "I'm going to exercise in the gravity simulation room."
Lyu made a funny face at Yang Ming's back.
026 thought for a while, then adopted the 'Turtle Wave Qi Skill' posture, slowly pushing towards Lyu, making sound effects with his mouth, "Boom!"
Lyu was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter as if hitting her funny bone, lightly punching 026's shoulder, causing the latter's loose clothing to ripple slightly.
"You're so annoying! I'll dock your pay for punning!"
026 provocatively raised an eyebrow.
She easily accomplished the task assigned by the boss.
Yang Ming found a short-term risk mitigation strategy for Wind by having Edwan try to flatter the old Sherman Emperor from a distance.
This Emperor might be considered the weak link of the Empire.
Even Edwan, being the Emperor of a vassal state, finds it challenging to present gifts to the old Emperor of the Sherman Empire.
Generally, communication with Wind is only through the Imperial Foreign Affairs Bureau.
And the current crisis and trouble Wind faces come from this Foreign Affairs Bureau.
It's hard to ensure that the Foreign Affairs Bureau won't intercept the gifts sent by Luofeng Empire, seal off the news, and prevent the old Emperor from disrupting their actions;
Moreover, the Bureau might add some materials to these gifts, inciting the Emperor of the Sherman Empire to resent the Luofeng Empire, thus giving the imperial fleet a justified reason to act.
If the Foreign Affairs Bureau is secretly controlled by elite members of the Sherman family, they would absolutely do such things.
Therefore, Yang Ming must make the matter widely known, letting the old Sherman Emperor know in advance that they have gifts to send to Emperor Star, with detailed records of the gift items and their conditions, to prevent issues with the gifts.