Chapter 74
Aix First Research Institute, Building A-12 Biochemical Laboratory.
Yael took off his protective jacket swiftly, folded it up and stuffed it into his carry-on bag, but he did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he sat on a chair and turned on his laptop.
"Not leaving?"
Adelaide walked past him to check whether the equipment was closed properly, and asked casually.
"No hurry, the bugs in my house will come later."
Yael turned on his computer and saw the last message was from half an hour ago, when the female insect sent a message saying she was coming to pick him up.
He looked at it twice more and frowned unconsciously.
cold war.
Recently he and the female insect seem to be in a cold war.
As for why I say "seemingly", it's because in reality we still kiss and hug each other, and we talk directly about any progress or news. It's actually no different from usual.
But he knew clearly that the female insect was worried, and Caesar also knew that he knew something was hidden, but he refused to say it.
The two parties kept on making jokes about the matter, and even went to bed with each other more than ten times, but they still couldn't come to a conclusion.
It's so weird.
Yermo rubbed his chin for a long time but still couldn't guess it. But he wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he felt that this feeling was... very fresh.
It seemed that he had never been in a cold war with anyone. This kind of elementary school-like way of getting along seemed very novel, whether in the first twenty years of his life or in his current life.
Moreover, the female insect was very funny in this state. Every time she couldn't bear it anymore, she would use actions to block his mouth, which ended up being a good thing for him.
Before Yer could continue to ponder the reasons for the Cold War, a few news pushes made his eyes freeze—
"The Kaya Galaxy seized a huge amount of stolen money, and found a lot of evidence of suspected collision between the military and bandits?!"
"Admiral Anto is embroidered in scandal, is the First Army about to be investigated?"
"The details of His Majesty's assassination are announced..."
He read through several news articles at a glance. Big news broke one after another, which had confused most of the Star Network netizens. There were hundreds of thousands of comments under each piece of news.
Some big Vs even made similar inferences based on this information, and were about to turn the current situation of the First Legion upside down.
Everything is going as expected.
As Yael watched, he suddenly felt vaguely uneasy, as if he felt that there was a silent shark hiding in the surging waves.
——If you are not careful, a piece of your flesh will be torn off, or you may even lose something extremely important.
After making sure everything was in order, Adelaide closed the door. He caught a glimpse of Yael browsing the news and said casually, "It seems that things are not peaceful recently."
"My father has been very busy lately. Every time I ask him about it, his expression is very serious. Maybe things are really going to change."
But he only cared about one thing——"Your Majesty, will you be affected by this matter?"
Facing the female insect's expressionless face, Yer instantly understood the implicit meaning behind her words.
"I will not be personally involved in any of this, so the research should not be affected."
Adelaide nodded immediately with satisfaction and began to pack up to go home.
"By the way, have you heard that the Imperial Research Institute is going to recruit new blood from major universities recently?"
Imperial Research Institute?
A face with a scowl on its face flashed through Yael's mind, and he coughed awkwardly, "I know, what's wrong?"
"You can apply. Generally, they recruit fourth-year students who are about to graduate. But if you want to continue your studies, you can wait and see."
Adelaide directly told him about her recent application.
"Although you don't have a formal student status, this shouldn't be a problem. If you have the ability to go, you can give it a try."
Yael hummed in an ambiguous tone and suddenly brought up something unrelated, "I heard that... the director of the institute has a weird temper."
"There are rumors, but they have nothing to do with research. Everyone knows his scientific research ability and level of responsibility. There is no need to worry about black academic oppression or anything like that."
There is indeed no pressure, maybe just being so angry that I am smoking.
After he was rescued a year ago, his mental state was very bad, and he felt ashamed to face his tutor. After writing a thousand-word apology and a letter of application for leave of absence, he packed up and ran to Etar.
The email is still unread but Yael can already sense the hidden anger from the blank reply box.
...In short, if he shows up in front of the mentor now, he will just be hit on the head and scolded, and then sent to run errands for various projects.
Yael coughed softly but still did not respond to him directly.
"I'll think about it again. I wish you success in your application. The research atmosphere there is really good."
Thinking back to that brief but extremely focused and happy time, he found that he was mostly nostalgic and yearning.
His mental state before was not enough to support him to continue his research, and it is not much better now. It would be fine if he ran away once, but if he ran away a second time, he would really be "banned" by his supervisor.
"You don't want to apply, but there will be a multi-school academic exchange meeting in half a month. You will definitely not want to go. This event only happens once every five years, so it's quite rare."
Adelaide quickly packed himself up, but was in no hurry to leave. He leaned against the wall to ask Yael's opinion so that he could go with him. "You should have received the invitation."
"Is there any? Let me look for it."
Yael was stunned for a moment, then he unlocked his pocket and pulled out a stack of extremely grand invitations, about a dozen or twenty in total.
These invitations were designed in imitation of ancient styles, plus the email invitations that almost filled up my mailbox, there were almost hundreds of them in total.
He had been dazzled by the invitations he had seen over the past few days, and found that they were all invitations to dances or tea parties, a miscellany of sorts, so he put them aside.
"Invitation? What invitation?!"
A student who came into the lounge later looked curious, packed his things hurriedly and spoke loudly.
"The Xie family is holding an auction tonight. I want to go but I can't get an invitation. It's no use asking my father. It's so frustrating."
He yelled, looking at Yael beside him with a somewhat envious tone.
"But Your Majesty should have been invited. I heard that the Xie family is very rich, but they have always been in the arms business. They have only recently established contact with the Viscount. It turns out that rich people will only get richer..."
Xie family and auction seem a little familiar to me.
Yael pondered for a while, then he remembered that Xi Ze seemed to have mentioned this to him a few days ago, saying that he would take him to participate today, "!"
“Beep beep.”
The optical computer lit up with a faint red light. He could sense that the female insect was coming even without turning it on. He said goodbye to Adelaide and walked out quickly.
A suspended car was parked quietly at the bottom of the teaching building. Before Yael could get close, the door on one side was opened.
Xi Ze was still wearing a neat military uniform and a military cap, as if he had just come here in the middle of his work, and he hadn't even taken off the micro-walkie-talkie pinned to his ear.
"Hero Lord."
He adjusted the radio, and was unusually reserved, as if he didn't know how to get along with the male insect.
"Still working?"
Yael was not affected at all. He hugged the female insect's thin waist affectionately. He was hurt by the cold belt buckle and lowered his voice.
"It's nothing serious. I'll take you to dinner first, and then we'll go to the Xie family's auction."
Caesar reached out and touched Yael's head, and his expression relaxed a little.
After getting into the car together, the female insect changed the location of the suspended car to the jewelry building.
*
Xize took the time in the car to fill him in on some knowledge - Xie Side, the head of the Xie family, was a big boss who single-handedly divided up half of the arms supply line.
Yael once asked where his other half was, and Cize said that he had just regained 20% in the past few months, and maybe in a few months, he would be able to regain the original 68%.
But there is no rush. According to the female insect, the head of the family had already noticed the change in the situation before he started his rebellion and returned to his own camp without any hindrance.
At the door of the building, a fat insect came up with its arms wide open, its face flushed and smiling brightly.
"Your Majesty, Marshal, good night! I have waited so long to see you... Let's talk as we walk!"
While leading them into the building through a special passage, Xie Side skillfully approached them.
"I was once a battlefield orphan that the Marshal helped. How could I not remember the Marshal's kindness? Isn't that right?"
He completely forgot that he had been severely beaten, and while shedding tears of reluctance, he closed down all the illegal industries overnight.
The female insect ignored him and was still listening to the news over there. Yael was originally watching the show, but he didn't expect that the artillery fire was aimed at him in an instant.
"In fact, this auction was mainly held for His Majesty."
Xie Side looked at him kindly, as if he were an elder who was considerate of his beloved female.
"I didn't go to the last ball because of some things. I didn't get to meet His Majesty and send him a small token of my gratitude. I have always felt very sorry!"
Yael coughed awkwardly and could only respond with a few words, but was overwhelmed by the overwhelming enthusiasm.
"Oh, right! A young man in the family said he knows you and has a connection with you. Look at this..."
Xie Side led them into the private room while talking. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he slapped his forehead and called out to the side, "Xiao Zhao! Come here!"
When he heard the nickname, Yael's ears twitched and he suddenly had a strange premonition. Sure enough, when he looked up, he saw Xie Zhao appearing from some corner.
The young female insect stood there at a loss, lowered her head to avoid the opposite side's gaze, and laughed dryly a few times in some embarrassment.
"Long time no see, Your Majesty, hahaha..."
"We meet again."
Yael was stunned for a moment, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of his lips. "Thank you, Doctor."
Xie Zhao took a step forward and finally raised his eyes to look at the male insect in front of him, trying hard to suppress the unnaturalness in his expression.
"Yes, yes, I didn't expect you still remembered me..."
But Yael pulled the female insect next to him to divert his attention, "Xize?"
When meeting those familiar golden eyes, Xie Zhao visibly took a breath of cold air and almost fainted, "Marshal Yuan! Hello, long time no see!"
Xi Ze narrowed his eyes slightly, looked away before the female insect opposite him was about to run away, and spoke in a low voice.
"I remember you, too, and I was impressed."
Imprint, image, deep, engraved.
These four words were like a bolt of thunder that struck Xie Zhao's head, causing his eyes to widen instantly.
The painful memories of being "mentally tortured" by the insects in front of me flashed before my eyes, like a revolving lantern before death.
When the atmosphere was tense to the extreme, Xie Side, who had taken a break from his busy schedule to arrange some work, stepped forward, pulled aside the shattered Xie Zhao and climbed up.
"The narration is over! Your Majesty, please go into the box and take a rest. I have just asked the workers to prepare the auction items. You can check them out anytime!"
When Yael saw Xie Zhao's expression, he guessed something and couldn't help laughing for a moment, but he still gave face and didn't laugh out loud. He went into the box as he was told.
"See you later."
Before closing the door, he waved his hand casually at Xie Zhao, but his tightly suppressed smile couldn't help but show through.
Appeared! The little fairy bug's smile!
Xie Zhao was a little stunned, and the smile seemed to warm his body for a moment. He didn't come back to his senses until the door was closed. He waved his hand and whispered.
"...see you later."
The room was decorated in a low-key and luxurious style, with a layer of soft and thick carpet on the floor, almost like a luxury hotel suite.
It was already half past eight, and the night outside the window was gradually getting darker.
Yael sank into the overly soft sofa and was too lazy to sit up straight. He exchanged various pleasantries with the head of the Xie family. In just ten minutes, he had already understood all the situations of the auction.
Actually, he had a good impression of the auction house. When he was in Etal, he got the key and the mecha heart through the auction.
Heart of the Robot... I don't know the construction schedule yet, I hope it will be faster.
Although he seemed slow, Chester was actually very sensitive and noticed that Yael was distracted. He smiled apologetically and gave the options considerately.
"Your Majesty, are you a little tired? It's my fault for being so nagging here all the time. Do you want to take a break now, or do you want to take a look at the auction items first?"
Yael hummed long and drowsy, looking around for a moment, and finally made up his mind, "Let's take a look first."
Although I don't know why he insisted on letting me take a look... Could it be that he used the vision of an S-rank male insect to consecrate it?
As soon as he came in, Cesar walked to the French window. At this time, he just finished the deployment on the other side. After turning off the intercom, he walked back behind Yael.
Xie Side observed the scene in front of him calmly, then reached out and tapped the micro intercom on the ring three times. "Okay, okay, please wait a moment, I'll bring it to you right away."
The Xie family is almost as wealthy as a country, and the auctions they hold are even more lavish. The collections sold are almost all rare treasures, and each one can be the highlight of another auction.
But at this moment, they were placed one by one on the table in the middle of the room, carefully placed in exquisite jewelry boxes, waiting for the male insect to choose and favor them.
Yael glanced.
Well, it’s so dazzling that it almost blinds my eyes.
"Please pick one you like." The host Chong, who was wearing a black and white suit and standing nearby, said nervously.
Somewhat unexpected and yet not too unexpected.
Yael stood up from the sofa and took a few steps closer, looking down at the various beautiful collections with a calm expression.
Unfortunately, he wasn't really interested in any of this.
While he was selecting, the organizer couldn't help but stick his head out and nodded, nervously following his movements and gaze. Although he was trying hard to restrain himself, his eyes were obviously burning so hot that they seemed to be spitting fire.
At first, Yael thought he was afraid that he would pick the most valuable one.
But after walking around the whole place and still not picking up anything, the organizer looked surprised, then desperate, and almost tremblingly said, "Is there nothing you like?"
“Is it really that bad that I carefully selected the theme and exhibits for the auction I organized?”
He was almost in tears. Although he was as strong as a bear, he seemed to be shrinking into a corner and crying. He looked a little... overwhelmed.
Yael lowered his head and examined the collections again, and finally picked out a cute brooch in the shape of a liquid kitten from the dazzling rows.
It looks ordinary, but it must be very expensive.
Then he raised his eyes and saw a face that was even more tearful, with eyes red from guilt. The impact was very strong.
"It turns out that Your Majesty... prefers cute things. Oh, I didn't think it through and only considered luxury and glitter."
Yael coughed softly, couldn't help but chuckle, and comforted him, "Actually, they are all very beautiful. Thank you for your hard work."
The female insect's eyes suddenly widened, looking a little funny, but soon she burst into great joy, making her whole face almost glow.
"Thank you, Your Majesty! You really are a super gentle and super kind insect! Wuwuwuwuwuwu..."
Yael's eyes wandered for a moment, and he handed the things to the servant under the bright gaze, and packed them in a more luxurious box.
"Your Majesty has already made your selection?"
Xie Side interrupted at the right time and asked eagerly, "Can the auction start now?"
The auction could not start without his approval. No wonder the audience was already full of nobles, but they were still waiting patiently.
Yael nodded crisply, "Let's get started."
The organizer received the correct signal and instantly woke up from its whimpering state. It began to work in an orderly manner despite the chaos and soon sorted out the auction items and sent them out one by one.
Soon, a beam of light came on at the auction site below, and the first item was brought to the round table in the middle by the servants.
Sheside observed the male insect's expression and suddenly began to explain in detail.
"On the surface, this auction is about selling items, but in reality it is about buying an opportunity for someone to surrender to you. After you win the bid, you must hand over the family crest, and the money from the auction will be transferred to your name."
Family emblems are generally not given out easily or handed over, because they have strong symbolic meaning. Once given away solemnly, it represents becoming an ally of this insect family.
Yael slowly raised one eyebrow, obviously a little surprised, "Really?"
Xize had never told him this, but it was understandable if he thought about it. The female insect might be afraid that not many of her collections would be sold at the auction, which would make him unhappy, so it would be better to wait until there was a good result before revealing it.
These unspoken rules were pointed out by the seemingly careless Chong in front of him. He didn't believe that Xie Side couldn't see why he knew nothing about this.
"How come Your Majesty has no idea of your own influence?"
The head of the Xie family was a little disappointed, and emphasized, "Just wait and see, I bet this auction item will be in short supply!"
Yael glanced at him and saw the well-hidden temptation in the female insect's eyes. He then lowered his eyes to gaze at the auction scene below and suddenly smiled.
"Then I'll just wait and see?"
The auction venue below is vast and has a mysterious spiral design. The boxes and compartments are located layer by layer, and the auction table is in the center.
So far, the auction atmosphere has been so intense that it has even broken the reserved manner of the nobility, creating a lively scene of thousands of cards competing for the prize.
"Seventy million star coins for the first time!"
"Seventy million star coins for the second time!"
"…Lot B-05 was successfully sold!"
The items are ranked in order of value from low to high. The items at the front are not that expensive and are suitable for middle-class nobles or people of other identities.
The difference can be clearly seen from the seating arrangement and the concentration of the insects that were just auctioned.
Bang--!
"Lot B-15 sold successfully!"
Xie Side actually didn't expect the atmosphere to be so good. It really felt like a swarm of swarms had come here, and if you were late you wouldn't be able to get a seat.
The influence of S-rank male insects really cannot be underestimated.
"Lot A-07 was successfully sold!"
"A-11..."
From B to A, every lot was snapped up, the price was raised continuously, and finally it was sold at an extremely outrageous high price.
It was not until the S-level auction that the noise of various competitions gradually died down, and the competition really reached the top aristocratic circles.
"The S-1 auction item was successfully traded!"
The slightly stagnant atmosphere was broken, which was a good start. Yael glanced at the box opposite and saw the Crown Prince with some surprise.
Ogsger also saw the male insect and nodded and smiled in this direction. Many nobles looked up along his line of sight and saw Yael's profile. Their expressions suddenly froze.
After Ogsig won the first lot, S, the subsequent lots began to be sold one after another, and the prices offered were much higher than the heated competition just now, even to the point that Chong was very shocked.
"Satisfied?"
Yer spoke suddenly, looking up at Xie Side, whose expression was a little stiff, with a dark and profound meaning in his eyes.
"You don't have enough items for auction today, do you?"
In the dim light, the male insect looked indifferent, but there was a sharp light in his eyes. He was not disturbed by the prosperity below and could easily pierce through the conspiracy and conspiracy of those girls.
"All the bugs below came for me, but I didn't get to take pictures of the collection I wanted. Shouldn't the owner do something?"
Xie Side adjusted his expression in an instant, smiled and nodded repeatedly, "That's right, I didn't think it through! Please forgive me, please forgive me!"
This is a knock on him.
Was it because of the temptation just now, or because...
No matter what the reason is, the male insect in front of him is obviously not a soft persimmon, and his sharp edge is hidden in the dark. He will suddenly stretch out and stab the intruder when he is offended.
But this kind of seemingly peaceful thing is the most terrifying, so it is better not to provoke it easily.
Xie Side recalled the news photos he saw at the time. The male insect in the photos looked like it was covered in blood, but it did not diminish its breathtaking beauty. It also made the insect see its sharp edge that could be seen from afar.
His head began to ache.
Only after Xie Sid apologized repeatedly and promised to make compensation that would satisfy him, did he put the Buddha down.
During their confrontation, there was a wave of whispers in the auction house below.
“The auction house that was set up to welcome Mr. Cano only sold a small half of the collection!”
"The quality of the items for sale this time is much better than before. The B-grade items are equivalent to the previous A-grade items, and the A-grade items are better than the S-grade items last time. The Marshal is indeed very wealthy..."
"Not just the Marshal, but also the Crown Prince, the arms dealer, the one who runs casinos and auction houses, and the leader of this group of emerging nobles, Mr. Vito... Each of them is extremely wealthy!"
"That's not all! Let me count. Besides these, there are also families that have produced scientific research masters who have sent insects. Speaking of scientific research, did you see Director Moder also bid for it just now?"
Just a quick count is enough to make me gasp. If I continue to delve deeper, I might get a very scary number.
During their conversation, they would occasionally look up carefully at the figure not far away, with a bit of awe and amazement, and they hardly dared to look directly at the face of His Majesty the S-rank Crown.
This sudden appearance of an S-rank male insect actually stunned many insects. They had no sense of reality at all and even suspected that it was a fabricated party struggle.
But as Yael existed longer and longer, the pervasive pressure and sense of holiness gradually permeated the flesh and blood and even the souls of all insects.
Even when facing Yael, I couldn't help but bend down, for fear of being abrupt or offensive.
And it was not just this auction that was causing a stir. In another city not far away, a groundbreaking event that would shake the entire planet was brewing.
11pm.
The auction was officially declared over. After watching for so long, Yael was already a little sleepy. After sending Sheside away, he planned to take the female insect back home.
"Hero Lord."
Hearing the voice calling him, Yael turned his head subconsciously and looked at the female insect standing in front of another window. He happened to meet Caesar's eyes and was startled.
There was a gleam of fire in those golden eyes, which looked like joy and anger, extremely clear.
"I have good news for you."
"The current Admiral of the First Legion, Anto Edeka, openly betrayed the Empire and fled to another star system at 10:57 tonight."
Yael's eyes widened a little.
"And three minutes after the defection, the Imperial Family officially issued a wanted order and arrest warrant."
Caesar looked at him and finally couldn't help laughing. His eyes were sharp and cold, but his voice couldn't help but continue to rise.
"He's finished."
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Fresh xql in the Cold War
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