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 collusion between the military and bandits?!"
"Admiral Anto is embroiled 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."
謝昭上前一步，終于擡起眼來看向面前的雄蟲，努力壓抑着神色中的不自然。
“是啊是啊，沒想到您還記得我……”
卻沒想耶爾拉了拉旁邊的雌蟲，讓他将注意力轉移過來，“西澤？”
對上那雙熟悉的金眸時，謝昭非常明顯地倒吸了一口涼氣，差點沒厥過去，“元、元帥！好好好久不見！”
西澤微微眯起了眼，在對面的雌蟲即将拔腿逃跑之前移開了視線，聲音低沉。
“我也記得你，而且印象深刻。”
印、象、深、刻。
這四個字不外乎一道驚雷，猛地劈在謝昭的天靈蓋上，讓他瞬間瞪大了眼睛。
被眼前的蟲“精神折磨”的慘痛回憶劃過眼前，仿佛死前的走馬燈。
氣氛凝滞到極點的時刻，忙裏偷閑部署一下工作的謝斯德上前一步，拉開碎了一地的謝昭頂了上去。
“敘舊也敘完了！冕下進去包廂休息一下吧，我剛才已經讓工作蟲将拍賣品準備好了，您随時可以查看！”
耶爾看到謝昭的表情，已經猜到什麽，一時間有些忍俊不禁，但還是很給面子的沒有笑出來，依言進入了包廂。
“回見。”
關門之前，他随意向謝昭揮了下手，緊抿的笑意還是忍不住洩露了出來。
出現了！小仙蟲の笑容！
謝昭有些呆愣住了，被那個笑容燙得屍體好像都回溫了一瞬，等門都關上了也沒回過神來，揮了揮手低聲道。
“……回、回見。”
包廂裏布置得低調奢華，地上都鋪上了一層軟厚的毛毯，幾乎像是一個豪華酒店套房。
這會已經八點半，窗外的夜色逐漸深濃。
耶爾陷入過于軟乎的沙發裏，也懶得費勁坐直了，有一搭沒一搭地和謝家家主各種寒暄，短短十幾分鐘已經把拍賣會的各種情況都摸了個底。
說起來，他對拍賣場的印象其實還不錯，在艾塔爾的時候就是借着拍賣拿到了鑰匙，還有那塊機甲之心。
機甲之心……還不知道工期怎麽樣了，希望能快一些。
謝斯德蟲精似的，看起來遲鈍，實際非常敏銳地察覺到了耶爾的走神，神色歉意地笑了笑，貼心地給出了選項。
“冕下有些累了吧？怪我，一直在這裏叨叨，您現在是休息一會，還是想先看看拍賣品？”
耶爾長長地嗯了一聲，有些困倦地放空了一下眼神，終于下定了決心，“那就先看看吧。”
雖然不知道為什麽要堅持讓自己看一眼……難道是用S級雄蟲的視線開光嗎？
而一進來就自覺走到落地窗旁的西澤，此時也剛好結束對另一邊的部署，摁滅對講機後走回耶爾身後。
謝斯德不動聲色地觀察了一下眼前的景象，伸手敲了三下戒指上的微型對講機，“好好好，您先稍等，立刻為您呈上來。”
謝家幾乎富可敵國，召開的拍賣會更是大手筆，拍賣的藏品幾乎都是稀世罕見的珍寶，個個拿出來都能做另外拍賣會的壓軸。
但此刻，它們依次擺放在房間正中的桌子上，被小心地盛放在精美的珠寶盒中，等待着雄蟲的挑選和垂青。
耶爾瞥了一眼。
嗯，特別閃耀，眼睛都快閃瞎了。
“請您挑一個喜歡的吧。”身穿黑白西裝，站立在旁邊的主辦蟲緊張地道。
有些意外又不太意外。
耶爾從沙發上起身靠近了幾步，垂眸看着那些各色的漂亮藏品，神色沒什麽波瀾。
可惜，他對這些實在不怎麽感興趣。
在他挑選期間，那主辦蟲忍不住探出一點頭，很是緊張地跟随着他的動作和視線，雖然在努力克制，但眼神顯然已經灼熱到要噴出火來。
耶爾一開始還以為他是怕自己挑走了最值錢的。
但從頭到尾走了一圈仍然沒拿起任何一個東西後，那個主辦蟲一臉驚愕，繼而變成絕望，幾乎顫顫巍巍地道，“沒有一個您喜歡的嗎？”
“我負責組織舉辦的拍賣會，精心挑選的主題和展品真的這麽差勁嗎？”
他幾乎泫然欲泣，明明身材好像熊一樣壯碩，此刻卻好像要縮到角落中嘤嘤哭泣了，看起來有點……難以招架。
耶爾便又低頭端詳那些藏品，終于從眼花缭亂的幾排裏，挑出了一枚形似液體小貓形狀的可愛胸針。
看起來普普通通，但實際一定價格不菲。
而後他擡起眼，看到了一張更加泫然欲泣的臉，已經眼眶都自責到紅了，沖擊力十分強大。
“原來冕下……更喜歡可愛的東西，嘤嘤嘤，是我沒有考慮周到，盡往奢華閃亮的方向考慮了。”
耶爾低咳一聲，忍不住輕笑起來，安慰他道，“其實都挺好看的，辛苦你了。”
那個雌蟲驟然瞪大了眼睛，看起來有些滑稽，但很快就迸發出極大的喜悅來，讓他整張臉都幾乎發起了光。
“謝謝您！冕下！您真的是一個超級溫柔超級好的蟲！嗚嗚嗚嗚嗚……”
耶爾眼神游離了一瞬，頂着那布靈布靈的視線将東西遞給侍從，放進一個更加奢華的盒子中打包。
“冕下已經挑選好了？”
謝斯德适時插進來，殷切地詢問道，“那拍賣會是否可以開始了呢？”
他不拍板這場拍賣會居然就不能開始，難怪剛才場下明明已經坐滿了貴族，卻仍然在耐心等待。
耶爾幹脆利落地點了頭，“開始吧。”
那主辦蟲接收到正确信號，瞬間從嘤嘤嘤的狀态支棱了起來，開始亂中有序地忙活起來，很快就将拍賣品整理好依次送了出去。
很快，下方的拍賣現場亮起一束燈光，第一件拍賣品被侍從端上了正中的圓臺。
謝斯德觀察了一下雄蟲的表情，突然開始詳細講解道。
“這場拍賣會表面上看是拍賣物品，實際上是買一個向您投誠的機會，在拍下後就必須遞出家族徽章，而拍下藏品的錢也都會轉入您的名下。”
家族徽章一般是不輕易拿出也不會交出去的，因為具有極強的象征意義，一旦很鄭重地贈送出去，便代表着成為這個蟲家族的盟友。
耶爾慢慢挑起一邊眉梢，顯然有些訝異，“是嗎。”
西澤沒有跟他說過這個，但想想也能理解，雌蟲可能怕拍賣出去的藏品不多，會讓他覺得不開心，倒不如有了好結果再揭曉。
這些潛規則卻被眼前看似大大咧咧的蟲一語點破，他不信謝斯德看不出他對此一無所知的原因。
“冕下對自己的影響力怎麽沒有一點概念呢！”
謝家家主有些恨鐵不成鋼，加重了語氣強調道，“您就看好了，我打賭這拍賣品一定供不應求！”
耶爾掃了他一眼，見到雌蟲眼底隐藏得很好的試探，又垂眸凝視着下方的拍賣現場，忽地笑了笑。
“那我就，拭目以待了？”
下方的拍賣場地遼闊，呈現設計玄妙的漩渦形，包廂和隔間的位置一層層往下，最中心處就是拍賣臺。
目前為止，拍賣氛圍十足濃烈，甚至打破了貴族時刻謹記的矜持，出現了千牌競拍的熱鬧場景。
“七千萬星幣第一次！”
“七千萬星幣第二次！”
“……B-05號拍賣品交易成功！”
而拍賣品的珍貴程度是從低到高的依次排序的，前面的拍品還沒有那麽昂貴，适合一些中等貴族或其他身份的蟲拍賣。
從座位分布，還有剛才競拍的蟲的集中地也能清晰看出差別來。
砰——！
“B-15號拍賣品交易成功！”
謝斯德其實沒想過氣氛會這麽好，真的有種一窩蜂全湧過來，晚一點就搶不到份的感覺。
S級雄蟲的影響力果然不容小觑。
“A-07號拍賣品交易成功！”
“A-11號……”
從B級到A級，每個拍賣品幾乎都遭到了哄搶，價格不斷被擡高，最終以一個非常離譜的高價被拍下。
而一直到S級拍賣品，各種競拍的聲音才逐漸低下來，卻是真正到了頂級貴族圈子間的競拍。
“S-1號拍賣品交易成功！”
稍有凝滞的氛圍被打破，開了一個好頭，耶爾掃了對面的包廂一眼，有些意外地看到了大皇子殿下。
奧格斯格也看見了雄蟲，向着這邊點頭微笑，而不少貴族順着他的視線往上看，果然看到了耶爾的側臉，神色頓時一凜。
而在奧格斯格拍下第一件S後，後面的拍品也開始陸陸續續地拍出，報出的價格遠比剛才熱鬧的競拍高得多，甚至到了讓蟲很是驚駭的地步。
“滿意了？”
耶爾倏地出聲道，擡眼看向神色有些僵硬的謝斯德，眸底意味晦暗深長。
“你今天準備的拍賣品不太夠吧？”
一片昏暗的光暈中，雄蟲神色淺淡，眸底卻亮着一線鋒銳的光，并不為下方的繁榮所擾，輕易就能刺穿那些花花的陰謀陽謀。
“下面的蟲都是為我而來的，卻沒拍到心儀的藏品，家主不該做點什麽嗎？”
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."
The author has something to say:
Fresh xql in the Cold War