The uncle and nephew before getting into the luxury car they'd rented:
They'd acted exaggeratedly, spoken in booming voices, stared vacantly, and used a frosty Galactic dialect to discuss businesses that brought in millions every day.
After getting into the luxury car, its network cut off...
The smile at Yang Ming's lips quickly faded, and his gaze sharpened in an instant. He pointed his watch face at the car's console and quickly pressed a button.
Kolev used his monocle to run a scan for a few seconds, checking every spot inside the luxury car where a listening device might be hidden.
The moment the hovercar pulled away from the rental company, the interface on the central console changed.
A virtual beauty in a blue-and-white striped miniskirt hopped out from the border of the fixed screen and greeted them cheerfully:
"Boss, long time no see!"
Lü had successfully taken control of the luxury car.
"It's only been two days. How is that a long time?" Yang Ming asked. "Report the Feinan's location."
"In synchronous orbit on the far side of the planet."
With her hands clasped behind her back, Lü brought up a transparent view of the planet's surface. A pale purple dot hovered behind the planet—that was the Feinan's location.
Lü reminded him, "Boss, Planet Yilando has an expensive defense system. The Feinan can't approach the surface directly."
The projection on the car's central console changed rapidly, revealing a retro castle built atop a mountain. It caught Yang Ming and Kolev's attention.
The immense castle was right there in the scenery to their left.
Lü's voice was bright and lively:
"This is the Luofeng Royal Palace, on the outskirts of Yilando City. You should be able to see it directly.
"The mountain beneath the palace has been hollowed out, and there's a large military base inside. The defense system is housed there. In addition, it has a large number of anti-ship surface-defense cannons and a sensitive detection system."
Lü paused, then added:
"If the Feinan approaches the palace, there's a ninety percent chance it'll be detected. If it approaches Yilando City, the chance is fifty percent."
Kolev looked puzzled. "How did you calculate those odds?"
Yang Ming smiled. "They're risk assessments. The Feinan can't provide us with Fire Support for now."
"But I can provide comprehensive intelligence support," Lü said with a smile. "Boss, it's just as you said. Things are chaotic here."
"Switch to autopilot," Yang Ming said. "Send the data directly to me as text, and find a way to track down this person."
His watch projected a photo of a sexy woman.
Lü's lips curled down. "Boss, your secretary's only been gone for two days, and you've already settled on a new target? Are you a lowly primitive life-form ruled by your lower half?"
"Get to work! You talk too much."
Yang Ming scolded her irritably, while Kolev narrowed his eyes and chuckled beside him.
It was rare to see Yang Ming lose a verbal exchange and have no way to get back at her.
A few seconds later, Yang Ming's watch vibrated softly, and message after message popped up.
Yang Ming focused on compiling the intelligence, while Kolev began to enjoy driving along the edge of the bustling city.
"Tsk."
Yang Ming scratched his head in annoyance and asked quietly, "Lü, have you found that woman yet?"
"I've found a few clues, Boss," Lü explained. "Since you haven't authorized it, I can't hack into the military network here. I can only search outward from the two police patrol ships that took the target away."
Yang Ming said, "Block all outgoing signals here. Don't let anyone eavesdrop on me."
"Of course, Boss."
"Is it bad?" Kolev asked.
"We might have stumbled into trouble," Yang Ming said. "That woman's identity is crucial. We have to figure it out as soon as possible... But, looking at it another way, we came to the right place."
"How so?"
Yang Ming turned to look out the window at the bustling neighborhoods flashing past.
"This place looks peaceful, doesn't it? In reality, it's already like a powder keg, ready to explode at the slightest spark."
Kolev's eyes lit up. "Are we here to light the fuse?"
"We're here to make a profit. Why would we go out of our way to set it off?" Yang Ming narrowed his eyes with a smile. "Since we're here, I'll go over my plan with you."
Kolev yawned. "All right. While this old man still has enough energy left after that long journey."
"According to the information Lü gathered, there are five major factions in the current Luofeng Empire—or, more precisely, on Planet Yilando."
"Five?" Kolev was startled, but immediately perked up. "Why hasn't this country fallen apart yet? Who are they?"
"Since it's an empire, the most powerful faction is naturally the royal family."
Yang Ming briefly explained:
"You might find it hard to believe, but this prosperous, crowded modern city we're looking at is governed by an autocratic monarchy.
"Pay attention: the royal power hasn't been hollowed out by a parliament or a cabinet.
"It's real royal power. Every matter is discussed by the emperor of the Luofeng Empire and his ministers."
"Oh?"
Kolev murmured:
"That's rare. How could all the interest groups tolerate an emperor with real power for long? Take the Sherman Empire. After its last reform—the one that introduced the New Calendar—the military and the government reached a balance, and the royal family was nearly stripped of all its power. The emperor retained the right to declare and end wars, but he had to respect the opinions of the ministers and the Senate."
"The reason is simple."
Yang Ming smiled.
"The Luofeng Empire's royal family is essentially a puppet of the Sherman Empire's royal family.
"The tribute they pay every year goes straight into the private accounts of the Sherman royal family.
"The Sherman Empire won't allow the Luofeng Empire to reform, so of course it can't. The emperor here has real power, but he's also a puppet. That's led to two factions within the royal family."
"Which two?"
"You'd better take notes."
Yang Ming spoke slowly:
"The Royal Conservative Faction, which firmly supports the emperor and wants to maintain the status quo.
"The Royal Reformist Faction, backed by ministers and outside capital, which wants to reform the Luofeng Empire and reduce the Sherman Empire's exploitation and control of the region.
"Outside the royal family, there are two forces opposed to it. One is the Free Revolution Party. The royal family has suppressed them many times, but their goal is to launch a revolution and overthrow the monarchy. They're backed by big New Federation capital.
"The other is the New Industrial Federation, a complicated force of capital. It's also the faction we can approach most easily right now, and our target for integration in the next stage."
Kolev counted on his fingers. "The conservatives, reformists, revolutionaries, and federation—that's only four... Oh, those four are already more than enough to give me a headache! What's the fifth?"
"The military."
Yang Ming clicked his tongue.
"According to the current intelligence, even the royal family has to answer to them.
"They're led by a few old men in the military. They only protect their own interests and don't care who rules the country. As long as they get enough military funding and no one interferes with their businesses, they're satisfied."
"The military has businesses?"
Kolev pondered for a moment.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Yang Ming, but with things like this, how are you supposed to get a planet? It's almost impossible. In the eyes of these bloodsuckers, even the most barren planet is a juicy prize."
Yang Ming smiled. "Do you know why I chose to come here and develop a foothold?"
Kolev obligingly asked, "Why?"
"All the habitable planets that are developed, being developed, or undeveloped are controlled by the major factions. I can't spend the five short years I have exploring the stars and searching for new habitable planets."
Yang Ming's fingers moved rapidly across his watch face.
"Here, the officials are corrupt and move their assets elsewhere. Anyone with the means to leave has already left, and the people who remain are trapped on their own planet. They're desperate.
"As long as we find an opportunity—through business or some other means—we could even get ourselves a title and a fief. Taking control of a barren Administrative Planet would make it easy to win over the people. With the Milky Way Galaxy's current average civilization level of 2.35, as long as I can control the planet, I can smoothly complete the first stage of the objective.
"Everything is for the sake of passing the assessment."
Kolev fell silent for a long while, using the brain he'd had for seventy-three years to analyze the information Yang Ming had given him.
Soon, Kolev accepted Yang Ming's reasoning. "You're right. At this stage, this is the best place for you to make your mark."
"Of course," Yang Ming said with a mysterious smile. "I also have a backup plan."
"What plan?"
"Those three Ruins Administrators gave me a little advantage in the Gravekeeper's Pilgrimage assessment. More precisely, it's a little BUG."
Yang Ming narrowed his eyes with a smile. "Who says a first-level civilization has to be a civilization of carbon-based life-forms?"
"Wait!"
"You're planning to create a machine-intelligence crisis!"
Kolev quickly covered his mouth, staring at Yang Ming in shock as he whispered:
"If this gets out, you'll have a dozen dreadnoughts right over your head! They'll unleash their full Fire Support on your planet!"
Yang Ming shrugged. "Don't worry, Uncle Haton. I have a solid plan. Our priority is to get a normal Administrative Planet. If that doesn't work, we can get a Resource planet instead."
"Stick to the first plan! Listen to me! We can definitely handle the people and politics here!"
Kolev said firmly.
Yang Ming smiled. "Don't worry, Uncle. There are a lot of parameters for passing the assessment."
He opened his watch, took a screenshot of an interface, and sent it over to Kolev.
Oh, what was this?
A silver-white frame appeared before Kolev. Two tabs sat in the upper-left corner, labeled [Personal Attributes] and [Civilization]. The screenshot showed the [Civilization] tab.
'Affiliated Civilization' was followed by the word 'None.'
'Owned Administrative Planets' and 'Overall Development Index' were both followed by '0.'
The overall index was divided into four sections:
Technology, humanities, education, and military.
The technology section included innovative applications, basic theory, military technology, and civilian patents; the humanities section included culture, entertainment, thought well-being, residents' sense of belonging... and so on.
Without exception, every item was followed by a zero.
"What do you think? Pretty clear, right?" Yang Ming said with a smile. "Lü and I put it together. It gives us a straightforward picture of every metric."
Kolev asked quietly, "What are personal attributes? Can you satisfy an old man's curiosity?"
"No," Yang Ming said seriously. "I don't want to ruin the bond between us as uncle and nephew."
"Yeah, right." Kolev gave the steering wheel a smack. "I don't want to know!"
Ding, ding!
Lü's virtual avatar appeared on the hovercar's central console.
"Boss, we have a problem."
"Go ahead." Yang Ming quickly adjusted his expression.
Lü immediately said, "I found the last place that woman appeared. She was on a military fleet in the airspace near this planet. They knocked her unconscious and carried her aboard. It doesn't look like things will end well."
"Have you figured out who she is?"
"Not yet. She may be connected to the royal family... Do I have permission to hack into their military network? Their Firewall is outdated, and it's filled with little toys left by spies from all sides."
Yang Ming thought it over. "That'll increase the risk of exposure."
Lü sounded dissatisfied. "Boss, you need to trust me more!"
"Don't I trust you?"
"I mean trust my abilities," Lü quickly clarified. "Besides, that wasn't the problem I was talking about."
A three-dimensional navigation map appeared on the Projection screen. Seven or eight red dots appeared on it, then rapidly enlarged and switched to live camera feeds.
Each red dot represented a black-painted Hovercar. The 'military' markings on their license plates made it clear that this convoy came from a powerful organization.
The intercepted communications also made Yang Ming and Kolev's expressions change slightly.
It was a work call between two Middle-aged Men:
"...Yes, sir. We've located the targets. They rented a car and are heading for the city center."
"Don't let them get near the city center. Try not to cause a disturbance."
"Understood. Once we catch up, we'll stop them immediately."
"Search them thoroughly. If you find anything suspicious, use any means necessary to make them talk... Or, you understand what I mean. The general gave me this task, and I can't mess it up. At the very least, I can't come back empty-handed."
"Don't worry, sir. I know what to do. Even if the chip isn't on them, they must be spies from an enemy nation."
"Good. It's in your hands. Make sure it's done cleanly."
Bzz.
The call ended.
Yang Ming and Kolev looked at each other.
Kolev frowned and muttered, "They really do have a gift for foresight. We're a lot scarier than spies."
Yang Ming raised a hand and rubbed his brow.
Was his brilliant plan going to fall apart before it even got started?
A chip? What chip? What was going on with that woman?
Yang Ming's thoughts immediately became a mess.
"Boss, they'll intercept you in about twelve minutes," Lü warned. "I recommend abandoning the operation here. The transport module can send you straight back to the ship."
Kolev looked a little panicked.
"I'm not leaving my old buddy behind," Yang Ming said without hesitation.
Kolev broke into a grin.
Yang Ming thought briefly, and his expression grew a little more ruthless.
"Damn it. I was planning to be friendly with them, but they're the ones who started playing dirty.
"Hack them! Lü, I'm giving you permission to use every method of stealing information. Just like they said, do it cleanly. Strip them of everything they've got!
"I'm not going to leave empty-handed. At the very least, I'm going to make a profit."
"Understood, Boss!"
Lü saluted, and her youthful outfit changed into a military-green strapless dress. Black stockings covered her legs, and a beret appeared on her head.
"Combat mode activated!"
Before you continue