The guards of the Perseverance had arrived by this point, including Sigmund, Shalosh, and Torry. Raas shouted in indignation the moment they arrived, “General Sigmund, he wants to kill me!”
Sigmund looked helplessly at Lu Yin, “Why did you try to kill him?”
Lu Yin glared coldly at Raas, “I didn’t.”
“You want to deny it with so many people looking?!” Raas hollered.
“Oh? Do you have any evidence?” Lu Yin scorned. It was only then that everyone turned to look at the monitoring camera, only to find that it had been destroyed long ago. Raas himself took out his gadget, having started recording the moment he learned Lu Yin was coming, but his face paled as he realized that it had been smashed as well. Lu Yin was no fool, and knew not to go overboard even when just probing someone. He still needed a reason to ward off public ire; one needed great power to break the rules.
“Trash,” Shalosh muttered gloomily under his breath, but Raas continued to point at Lu Yin angrily, “You just injured me. Munoor saw it as well, right?”
“I saw everything,” Munoor stepped forward, “If I hadn’t intervened, Lord Raas would have been killed.”
Lu Yin sneered, “Only an idiot would believe two people that were decimated.”
“You!” Munoor was furious.
Secretly relieved, Sigmund leveled a cold glare at Raas, “Do you have any other evidence?”
Raas’s expression warped, but then he retorted, “This is my room! He attacked me in my room! That’s the evidence.”
Everyone turned back to Lu Yin, who took out a gadget from his pocket. The screen lit up, revealing Veron’s confession, “This man bribed Veron to deal with me; I was simply looking for him to return the favor. That isn’t too much, is it?”
Everyone fell silent, and even Raas couldn’t refute. He’d ended up taking a beating for free, and those on the Capital Star would only praise Lu Yin for expertly handling the situation. Lu Yin’s arguments were sound, while his were the exact opposite.
“We have the facts of this matter, I’ll deal with this. Now, disperse,” Sigmund waved everyone off.
“Wait!” Lu Yin interrupted.
“Do you have any other requests, Your Majesty?”
Lu Yin’s gaze swept across everyone, finally settling on Shalosh, “I just wanted to say that I might come from a primitive planet, but I’m no pushover. Some dogs better pull back their paws, or I’ll chop them off one day.”
Shalosh stared at Lu Yin with cold eyes, and he returned the glare. He was only an idle prince who couldn’t handle an Explorer yet; even with higher status, it would be difficult to affect someone from the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons. However, a warning was still necessary, and this would allow him to probe the Empire’s reaction. The type and extent of reprisal would determine how he could act in the future.
The crowd quickly dispersed, and Raas was brought away for treatment. Shalosh remained silent from start to end, while Sigmund didn’t say much either. The matter thus came to a conclusion, and the Perseverance continued to sail through the darkness of space. A few hours later, a punishment notice was sent to everyone, “Student Raas of Yu Academy showcased sheer indiscipline and defiance of his superiors. He will be demoted to a soldier upon return; let this be a warning to others.”
Everyone was shocked by this news, and Lu Yin’s silhouette appeared in their minds. The King Zishan wasn’t simple at all. Even Lu Yin himself was shocked; his value in the Empire far exceeded his own imagination. The Vice Treasurer’s son had been demoted publicly, which was a huge victory. It seemed like he had to adjust his own conduct in the future.
That scoundrel! A downcast Shalosh clenched his fist tightly; he was the one driving Raas all this while, and the blame for this would certainly fall back on him.
This incident suddenly left the Perseverance much quieter than before, with no one daring to create any more disturbances. One day later, Lu Yin was interrupted from his star chart reading by a middle-aged man in military garb.
“The Deputy General pays his respects, Your Majesty,” the man saluted solemnly. There wasn’t any custom of kowtowing in the Great Yu Empire, and military personnel saluted while courtiers only bowed to pay their respects.
Lu Yin smiled, “Good day, how should I address you?”
The middle-aged man replied, “You can call me Deputy, everyone on the Perseverance calls me so.”
Lu Yin nodded, “You don’t have to call me Your Majesty, it’s awkward. Call me Lu Yin, Student Lu is fine too.”
“Alright. The General sent me here to explain the Empire’s situation to you. We’ll be reaching the Capital Star in two weeks,” the man explained, opening up a star chart when Lu Yin gestured for him to continue, “The Great Yu Empire spans thirteen filaments and is in the center of the Frostwave Weave, connecting north and south. Our domain is a straight line that roughly splits the weave into two equal halves, connecting to the Grandtop Weave and the Boundless Chaos Weave…”
Lu Yin had grown to understand the Great Yu Empire better over the past few days, so he knew this bit already. He was curious about the Capital Star itself; knowledge of the entire Empire was too broad a scope to understand in the time he had. However, all he knew was that the Capital Star was known as the Zenyu Star, and was ten thousand times larger in surface area than Earth. Three rings of land revolved around it, but what they were, he didn’t understand.
The deputy pointed at a position on the star chart, “This is where the Zenyu Star is, and the three rings revolve around it. Different sections of the imperial forces are stationed there, and those armies are simply numbered according to the rings from the inside out…”
Lu Yin formed a mental map of a giant planet as the deputy introduced it, the capital of the Empire that was surrounded by the Ironblood Army and oversaw the thirteen filaments. After a long while of explanation, the man stowed his charts away, “Do you have any questions?”
“I would like to know more about the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons and the royal palace.”
“My apologies; I do not have the authority to reveal that. You can ask General Sigmund for more details.”
Lu Yin felt it was a pity, “How long did you say it was before we reach the Capital Star?”
“About half a month.”
“So slow…” Lu Yin grumbled.
“It is average speed, and only because of the wormholes populating all thirteen filaments to speed up travel. Every warp crosses a vast distance that we couldn’t cover in even a thousandfold the time.”
Lu Yin thought of his time initially in the universe, when his family had discussed a sort of spaceship called the aurora spaceship that could disassemble materials to upgrade performance. That sort of spacecraft could theoretically be upgraded infinitely, and it was rumored that the best ones could tear apart black holes and protect themselves from top powerhouses. Those things were thousands of times faster than normal spaceships and were a man’s dream. Unfortunately, that kind of spacecraft was far too expensive for him to afford.
“Alright thank you, Deputy,” Lu Yin said, and the man saluted once more before leaving. He looked back at his own star charts and his gaze suddenly froze; from a bird’s eye view, the Great Yu Empire’s territory was like a sharp sword with the tip pointed directly at the Innerverse.
……
Beams of light streaked across the dark skies; they could be meteors, or they could be star energy attacks by powerhouses. A lone spaceship was rapidly sailing through the emptiness, the man on its highest deck gazing at the stars. Qingyu swirled the wine in his glass, “I have a feeling that I’m forgetting something. Right, Starsibyl’s invitation letter. Pity I forgot about it.”
“Master,” Liu Shaoge came to Qingyu’s side and respectfully muttered.
Qingyu glanced at him, “Remember, you must not raise your hand when we are back in the clan. Don’t look around randomly, or you can be killed in an instant by anyone.”
“Yes, Master.” Liu Shaoge’s attitude was extremely deferential.
“Of course, don’t let anyone bully you either. You’re still my subordinate, the subordinate of a Nightking,” Qingyu continued proudly.
Liu Shaoge immediately nodded earnestly, leaving Qingyu pleased with his attitude. It was only this attitude that had convinced him to bring this native along; the family name was a little troublesome because of some ancient connotations, but that native planet had been under the Great Yu Empire’s control for so long that he had a legal identity, “In fact, I should be thanking you. If not for you, I wouldn’t have managed to rise from my deep slumber.”
Liu Shaoge’s gaze flashed, “It’s Master’s own innate luck to awaken as a Nightking, the future will definitely belong to you.”
Qingyu’s lips curved, “Well said, haha. When I formally inherit the Nightking title, I will return to that native planet and slaughter that garbage. You will return in glory.”
“Many thanks, Master,” Liu Shaoge bent his head lower, but his eyes were brighter than the stars.