Starting to Play Unethically

The uncle and nephew before getting into the rented luxury car:

Exaggerated in their mannerisms, loud in their voices, with vacant eyes, they spoke in a Galactic dialect tinged with the chill of ice shards, discussing businesses that brought in millions daily.

After getting into the luxury car, which had its network access disabled...

The smile on Yang Ming's lips quickly vanished, his gaze instantly sharpening as he aimed his watch face at the car's console and quickly pressed a button.

Kolev operated his monocle for a few seconds, scanning for any potential listening devices within the luxury car.

Just as the hovercar left the rental company, the central control panel's interface changed.

A virtual beautiful girl in a blue and white striped mini-skirt jumped out from the edge of the fixed screen, greeting them with full of energy:

"Boss, long time no see!"

Lü had successfully taken over the luxury car.

"It's only been two days, why does it feel like a long time?" Yang Ming said, "Report the Feinan's location."

"In synchronous orbit on the far side of the planet."

Lü clasped her hands behind her back, and a top-down view of the planet's surface appeared beside her. A faint purple dot was visible behind the planet, naturally indicating the Feinan's position.

Lü reminded him, "Boss, Planet Yilando has an expensive defense system, so the Feinan cannot directly approach the surface."

The projection on the car's central console changed rapidly, and a retro castle built on a mountaintop caught Yang Ming and Kolev's attention.

This magnificent castle was currently part of the scenery to their left.

Lü's voice was light and cheerful:

"This is the Luofeng Royal Palace on the outskirts of Yilando City. Boss, you should be able to see it directly now. "The mountain beneath the palace has been hollowed out, containing a large military base where that defense system is located. In addition, it houses numerous anti-ship surface defense cannons and a sensitive detection system."

Lü paused, then added:

"If the Feinan approaches the Royal Palace, the probability of detection is ninety percent. Approaching Yilando City has a fifty percent chance of detection."

Kolev asked puzzledly, "How were these probabilities calculated?"

Yang Ming laughed, "It's a risk assessment. The Feinan cannot provide us with direct firepower support for now."

"But I can provide comprehensive intelligence support," Lü said with a smile, "Boss, just as you said, it's very chaotic here."

"Switch to autopilot," Yang Ming said, "Transmit the information to me directly in text, and try to help me find this person's whereabouts."

A photo of a sexy woman appeared on his watch's projection.

Lü pouted, "Boss, your secretary has only been gone for two days, and you've already locked onto a new target? Are you a low-level primitive being controlled by your lower half?"

"Get to work! Stop with the nonsense."

Yang Ming cursed irritably, while Kolev narrowed his eyes and chuckled.

He rarely saw Yang Ming speechless and unable to retort.

A few seconds later, Yang Ming's watch vibrated gently, and messages popped up one after another.

Yang Ming focused on compiling the intelligence, while Kolev began to enjoy the driving pleasure on the edge of the bustling city.

"Tsk."

Yang Ming scratched his head with some annoyance and said in a low voice, "Lü, have you found any trace of that woman?"

"I've just found some clues, Boss," Lü explained, "Because you haven't authorized me, I can't hack into the military network here. I can only try to track her through the two police patrol ships that took the target."

Yang Ming said, "Block all outgoing signals from here. Don't let my words be overheard."

"Understood, Boss."

"Is the situation bad?" Kolev asked.

"We might be in trouble," Yang Ming said, "That woman's identity is crucial, and we need to figure it out as soon as possible... However, from another perspective, we've come to the right place."

"What do you mean?"

Yang Ming turned his head to look at the bustling streets flashing by the window.

"It looks peaceful here, right? In reality, it's like a powder keg, just waiting for a spark."

Kolev's eyes lit up, "Are we going to be the fuse?"

"We're here to profit, why would we want to ignite it?" Yang Ming squinted and smiled, "Perfect timing, I'll walk you through my plan."

Kolev yawned, "Alright, while my old bones still have some energy left before the long journey completely drains me."

"According to the intelligence Lü has gathered, the current Luofeng Empire, or rather, this Planet Yilando, has five major powers."

"Five?" Kolev was surprised and immediately became interested, "What's holding this country together? Who are they?"

"Since it's an Empire, the most powerful faction is naturally the Royal Family."

Yang Ming briefly introduced:

"You might not imagine it, but this prosperous, crowded modern city we're seeing actually has a political system of absolute monarchy. "Note, this isn't a monarchy where the parliament and cabinet hold power."

"Rather, it's substantive imperial power. Everything is deliberated by the Emperor of the Luofeng Empire and his ministers."

"Oh?"

Kolev murmured, "This is truly rare. How could various interest groups tolerate the existence of a powerful emperor for so long? Look at the Sherman Empire. After the last reform—the one that enacted the New Calendar—a balance was formed between the military and politics. The Royal Family was almost completely sidelined. Although the Emperor retained the right to declare war and cease hostilities, he had to respect the opinions of the various ministers and the Senate."

"The reason is very simple."

Yang Ming smiled, "The Royal Family of the Luofeng Empire is essentially a puppet of the Sherman Empire's Royal Family.

"The tribute they pay annually goes directly into the private accounts of the Sherman Royal Family.

"The Sherman Empire does not allow the Luofeng Empire to reform, so the Luofeng Empire naturally cannot. The emperor here is an emperor with real power, and also a puppet emperor. This has led to the division of the Royal Family into two factions."

"Which two factions?"

"You'd best take notes."

Yang Ming said slowly, "The Royal Conservative Faction, which resolutely supports the Emperor and advocates for maintaining the status quo.

"The Royal Reformist Faction, which has the support of ministers and external capital, aims to complete reforms in the Luofeng Empire, thereby reducing the exploitation and rule of the Sherman Empire here.

"Outside the Royal Family, two anti-royal forces have formed. One is the Free Revolution Party, which has been suppressed by the Royal Family many times. Their goal is to launch a revolution to subvert imperial power, with the backing of major capital from the New Federation.

"The other is the New Industrial Federation, a complex capital force that is currently easier for us to approach. It's our target for integration in the next phase."

Kolev counted on his fingers, "Conservative Faction, Reformist Faction, Revolutionary Party, Federation, that's only four... Oh, these four are enough to give me a headache! What's the fifth one?"

"The Military."

Yang Ming clicked his tongue, "According to current intelligence, the Royal Family has to consider their stance as well.

"They are led by a few old men in the army, only looking out for their own interests, and don't care who rules the country. As long as they are given enough military funding and their businesses are left untouched, that's enough."

"The military has businesses?"

Kolev pondered for a moment, "Don't blame me for dampening your enthusiasm, Yang Ming, but in this situation, how are you going to take over a planet? It's almost impossible. Even the most barren planet is a piece of fat meat in the eyes of these vampires."

Yang Ming smiled, "Do you know why I chose to develop here?"

Kolev cooperated by asking, "Why?"

"Developed, developing, and undeveloped habitable planets are all controlled by major powers. I can't spend the short five years I have on interstellar exploration and searching for new habitable planets."

Yang Ming's fingers rapidly tapped on his watch face:

"Here, officials are corrupt, transferring assets. The capable citizens have long since left, and the remaining citizens are trapped on their planets, full of despair.

"As long as we find an opportunity, through commerce or other means, or even by obtaining a noble title and fiefdom here, and occupying a barren Administrative Planet, it will be easy to win people's hearts. Given the current average civilization level of 2.35 in the galaxy, as long as I can control this planet, I can successfully complete the first stage of my goal.

"Everything is for the sake of passing the assessment smoothly."

Kolev was silent for a long while, analyzing the information Yang Ming provided with his seventy-three-year-old brain.

Soon, Kolev agreed with Yang Ming's viewpoint, "You're right. For you at this stage, coming here is the best stage."

"Of course," Yang Ming smiled mysteriously, "I have a backup plan."

"What plan?"

"Those three Ruins Administrators, the tomb-guarding patrol gave me a little convenience for the assessment, or more accurately, a small BUG."

Yang Ming narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Who says a Level 1 civilization can only be a carbon-based life form's civilization?"

"This!"

"You're going to cause an Intelligent Machine crisis!"

Kolev quickly covered his mouth, looking at Yang Ming in shock, and whispered, "If something like this is exposed, you'll have a dozen Dreadnoughts appearing over your head! They'll unleash full firepower on your planet!"

Yang Ming shrugged, "Don't worry, Uncle Hatton. I have a comprehensive plan, so our priority is to secure a normal Administrative Planet. If that doesn't work, we'll go for a Resource Planet."

"Let's go with the first plan! Trust me! We'll definitely handle the social dynamics here!"

Kolev said firmly.

Yang Ming smiled, "Don't worry, Uncle. There are many parameters to consider to pass the assessment smoothly."

He opened his watch, screenshotted an interface, and pushed the screenshot to Kolev.

Oh, what is this?

A silver-white square box appeared before Kolev. In the upper left corner were two browsing tabs, labeled "[Personal Attributes]" and "[Affiliated Civilization]". The screenshot content was under the "[Affiliated Civilization]" tab.

Next to 'Civilization Affiliation' was the word 'None'.

Next to 'Owned Administrative Planets' and 'Comprehensive Development Index' were both '0'.

The comprehensive index was divided into four sections:

Technology, Humanities, Education, and Military.

The Technology section included innovative applications, fundamental theories, military technology, and civilian patents; the Humanities section included culture, entertainment, the well-being index of the populace, and resident sense of belonging... and so on.

Without exception, all options were followed by zeros.

"How is it? Isn't it clear at a glance?" Yang Ming chuckled, "Lü and I worked on it together, it can visually reflect all the data."

Kolev asked in a low voice, "What about personal attributes? Can it satisfy the curiosity of the next old man?"

"No," Yang Ming said seriously, "I don't want to affect the uncle-nephew relationship between us."

"Oh, come on," Kolev slammed the steering wheel, "I don't want to know!"

Ding ding!

Lü's virtual avatar popped up on the hovercar's central control.

"Boss, we're in trouble."

"Speak," Yang Ming quickly adjusted his expression.

Lü immediately said, "I've found that the last known location of that woman was with a military fleet, in the airspace near this planet. She was knocked unconscious and carried inside. It doesn't look like the situation is optimistic."

"Has her identity been confirmed?"

"Not yet. She's suspected of being related to the Royal Family... May I have permission to infiltrate their military network? Their firewall is very outdated, filled with little toys from all sorts of spies."

Yang Ming pondered, "This will increase the risk of exposure."

Lü was displeased, "Boss, you need to trust me more!"

"Don't I trust you?"

"Your abilities, I mean your capabilities," Lü changed the subject, "And, the trouble I'm talking about isn't that."

A stereoscopic navigation map appeared on the projection screen. First, seven or eight red dots appeared, and then the dots were quickly enlarged, switching to live camera feeds.

Each red dot represented a black-painted hovercar. Judging by the 'Military' on their license plates, this convoy clearly had a significant background.

The intercepted conversation also caused Yang Ming and Kolev's expressions to shift slightly.

It was a work communication between two middle-aged men:

"...Yes, sir. We've locked onto the target. They rented a car and are heading to the city center."

"Don't let them get close to the city center. Try not to cause any disturbance."

"I understand. Once we catch up, we'll intercept them immediately."

"You must search them thoroughly. If you suspect they're problematic, make them talk by any means necessary... Or rather, do you understand what I mean? I can't mess up what the General tasked me with, at least not without any results."

"Rest assured, sir. I know what to do. Even if the chip isn't on them, they must be spies from an enemy country."

"Good. It's in your hands. Keep it clean."

Hiss.

The call ended.

Yang Ming and Kolev exchanged glances.

Kolev frowned and muttered, "They really had foresight. We're far more terrifying than spies."

Yang Ming raised his hand and rubbed his forehead.

His brilliant plan, about to be aborted before it even began?

A chip? What chip? What happened to that woman?

Yang Ming's thoughts became somewhat jumbled.

"Boss, the other party will intercept you in about twelve minutes," Lü reminded him, "I suggest abandoning the action here. The transmission device can send you back to the spaceship immediately."

Kolev's expression was a little panicked.

"I can't leave my old buddy behind," Yang Ming chose without hesitation.

This made Kolev grin.

Yang Ming thought briefly, his expression hardening with a hint of ruthlessness:

"Damn it, I originally wanted to get along with them peacefully, but they're being unreasonable first.

"Infiltrate! Lü, I'm granting you permission to use all your espionage methods. Just like they said, keep it clean, and strip them down to their underwear!

"I don't want to have come all this way for nothing. At the very least, I want to gain some benefits."

"Yes, Boss!"

Lü saluted. Her youthful outfit was replaced with a military-green bandeau dress, her legs were wrapped in black stockings, and a beret was added to her head.

"Switched to combat mode!"