I Need Help!

I Need Help!

"We, Corellia, merchants. We, seeking, furs, rare metals. Please, let us, go home." A cylindrical robot translated one word at a time.

Beside the robot, the three armed men captured earlier were sprawled across the table, groaning weakly and occasionally forcing out a word.

Tang Xiao sat across the interrogation room table, one leg crossed over the other as he watched their performance. T-850 stood expressionlessly behind him, feet shoulder-width apart and hands clasped behind his back in the standard military stance.

One Earth standard day had already passed. Over those twenty-four hours, at the Mainframe's demand and under the Marines' beatings and coercion, the three armed men had been forced to say countless things for analysis. Perhaps from the moment they left their mothers' wombs until now, even counting their infant cries, they had not spoken as much in total as they had in this single day.

The analysis of this language called Galactic Standard had now surpassed 40%, allowing for a certain degree of conversation. However, analyzing its letters, writing, and grammar would still take some time.

The three armed men had no idea that their miserable future lay ahead. They continued putting on their pitiful act, hoping that Tang Xiao, who looked rather kind and was not very old, would show mercy and let them go.

Tang Xiao turned a blind eye to their performance and asked the translation robot, "Where is the Imperial Capital?"

The three men looked confused upon hearing the translation. One of them corrected him, "Galactic Republic, not Empire. Coruscant, capital."

"Then who leads the Jedi Order?" Tang Xiao asked again.

The three men remained utterly baffled and shook their heads to show that they did not know.

That made sense. Although Jedi Knights held an extraordinary status during the Republic era, they acted discreetly, silently protecting the Galactic Republic. To ordinary people across the Milky Way Galaxy, the Jedi were mostly just legends.

Tang Xiao thought for a moment and changed his question. "Who is the Chancellor of the Galactic Senate?"

They considered the question for a while before one of them finally answered, "Phineas Valorum."

Tang Xiao's expression changed. He asked one final question. "Has there been a war on Naboo?"

The three men shook their heads.

Without saying a word, Tang Xiao rose and left the interrogation room, heading straight for the bridge.

The Administrator has left. Let us continue. Please use the most accurate words to describe this cat's appearance. The Mainframe's voice sounded, and several burly Marines walked in and snorted coldly at the armed men.

Before long, miserable howls rang out from the interrogation room.

Back on the bridge, Tang Xiao sat in the central seat, leaning against the backrest as he stared blankly at the command center ceiling. He had now narrowed down the current point in the Star Wars timeline to within twenty years, but he could not feel happy about the result no matter what.

Tang Xiao was undoubtedly a Star Wars fan, and before being transported here, he had naturally known plenty about it. In the Star Wars story he knew, the more than ten years Phineas Valorum served as Chancellor were also the most chaotic decade of the Galactic Republic.

Because within these twenty years, the Milky Way Galaxy would face an unprecedentedly terrifying war and upheaval, with nearly every corner of the galaxy dragged into the flames of conflict. In that war, the Galactic Republic, with its history of more than 25,000 years, would meet its final destruction. Just like the Eternal Empire, the Infinite Empire, the Sith Empire, and even the Killiks from hundreds of thousands of years ago, all of which had once appeared in this galaxy and flourished for a time, it would vanish into the river of history.

Tang Xiao began sorting through the Star Wars plot in his memory. The Chancellor of the Galactic Senate was currently Phineas Valorum, and the war on Naboo had not yet broken out. That was an important turning point.

Because the Battle of Naboo would ultimately force former Chancellor Phineas Valorum from office, allowing Sheev Palpatine to become the new Chancellor of the Republic. Then... ten years after the Battle of Naboo, under his schemes, the Galactic Republic would completely descend into division and war.

The exploited Outer Rim planets declared the formation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and opposed the Galactic Republic. The two sides fought a full-scale war lasting three years, which came to be known as the Clone Wars because the Galactic Republic made extensive use of Clone Troopers.

Sheev Palpatine, perhaps the greatest conspirator in Star Wars history, had orchestrated it all. He used that war to ultimately overthrow the Galactic Republic, destroy the Jedi Order, and wipe out the resistance forces in the Outer Rim.

Then, upon the ruins of the Galactic Republic, he crowned himself Emperor and renamed the Galactic Republic the Galactic Empire. {Note 1}

Thinking of this, Tang Xiao let out a long sigh, his head swelling with pain.

This was a dark age... Palpatine was one of the foremost conspirators and ambition-driven men in Star Wars history... Whether in politics or intrigue, personal strength or influence, he far surpassed Tang Xiao in every way... How am I supposed to survive this?!

"Submit to him? Join the Galactic Empire and become a pawn of His Majesty the Emperor?" The thought flashed through Tang Xiao's mind, but his gaze immediately turned cold. "Impossible! These things... are mine!!"

Tang Xiao looked at the busy people in the bridge command center and muttered to himself, "If this is the Republic era... then, with the Senate still in place, before our strength develops, we also need someone in the Senate to speak for us. Perhaps we can secure more assistance... That's right... I need a politician..."

He understood that in the Star Wars world, at least for now, the Galactic Senate still called the shots. And what did that mean? If handled properly, a politician's mouth might be worth more than an entire fleet!

The Galactic Republic in Star Wars was precisely such a democratic regime, liberal to the extreme. Under such circumstances, even if they lacked strength of their own, an outstanding politician could still win greater benefits for them.

Dawn Star Planet had only one planet. Even if all the technology in the database were realized in an instant, they would still lack the foundation needed to face the coming war. So... they needed more allies and a better political environment.

Tang Xiao looked up at Clement and Qi Jian's backs and shook his head slightly.

They would not do.

Clement's specialty was not in this field at all. There was no point expecting her to enter politics. Qi Jian, having come from a staff officer background, was merely a Normal class figure himself, and his abilities were still limited.

He had also noticed that most Normal class people were relatively young, Elite class people were slightly older, and among the Master class, there were quite a few old men in their fifties and sixties.

This showed that these classifications were only based on a person's current achievements. Given enough time and experience, Normal class people could also become Master Class figures.

But cultivating talent was only one aspect. If he wanted to contend with Palpatine—no, that was not even the right way to put it. Right now, he was not even qualified to step onto the stage. He first needed to ascend to the great stage of the Milky Way Galaxy before discussing whom he could contend with.

He needed a Master Class politician! That way, they could steadily expand their strength at home while securing more benefits in Republic politics.

Tang Xiao took a deep breath and began flipping through the list of personnel who could be awakened. Suddenly, he noticed that the list seemed to have changed! It had previously shown three classes—Normal, Elite, and Master—followed by three question marks.

But now, one of those question marks had been revealed: Legendary Class!

A Legendary figure!

"Mainframe! When did Legendary figures unlock?" Tang Xiao asked in surprise.

After you awakened, Administrator. If you did not possess sufficient strength, Legendary Class figures and those of even higher rank would not pledge loyalty to you. Forcibly awakening them might instead cause chaos. Every figure of that class possesses such capabilities, perhaps even worse.

{Note 1}: This is the main plot of the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, as well as the long-running animated series Clone Wars.