No one in the group took a car, but the journey from the gate whose location could not be confirmed to the emperor's palace did not take long. Judging from the similar scenery on both sides of the street, Gary even found it difficult to determine whether the palace was located outside the cooling system.
Such a noble leader often lives very close to dirty and noisy factories!
——This is really strange!
The palace the emperor was referring to looked somewhat like a tube-shaped building on Earth. It was shaped like a cylinder, roughly divided into four functional areas: east, south, west, and north. The highest section, located in the south, had five floors, and the hollow center had been converted into a garden. The surrounding buildings served as government processing centers, resembling fortresses. They served as satellites, guarding the palace—much like the servants who had followed them along the way.
"How do you feel?" The emperor opened the door to the study and asked the two.
"Well, it's smaller than I thought. I thought it would have big bookshelves surrounding the entire room and rows of tables and chairs, not this one with nowhere to stand except for the desk and sofa," Gary replied.
"Well, you are aspiring to study."
"Power is tempting, but also troublesome," Qin Zhongquan replied.
"Well, you yearn for political intrigue." The emperor paused, then stepped aside to invite the two men in. He then dismissed his attendants, closed the door, and continued, "Guess what my sister said? She said (they) were simply in awe of the unknown power. It's interesting, isn't it? Different people always interpret the same things differently."
The two took off their helmets and breathed in the fresh air filled with the smell of ink.
"What would you like to drink?" asked the emperor.
"No, we're in a hurry to get back," Gary replied politely.
The emperor poured himself a glass of water and drank. "Khan Robert the Third was a brave and resourceful imperial general. His main achievement was probably securing half of the empire for my grandfather. Afterwards, he retired from the army, hid his identity, and disappeared from the history of the empire."
"No offspring?"
"No, to be precise, each of them has no descendants or past. It's as if they appeared and disappeared out of thin air." The emperor placed the water cup on the desk, picked up a stack of papers from the floor beside the table, and handed it to Gary, who was closest to him. "If they are all so-called returnees, then returnees are just like us, all from Earth's clone factory."
Gary flipped through a few pages and asked uncertainly, "Have you considered the possibility that they are the same person? I remember that the Community possesses hibernation technology. It's entirely possible that one person could appear in different eras and complete the same task."
"Then this Khan Robert is incredible. He ages normally for a period of time, and then becomes very young at the beginning of the next stage. He can play different roles vividly, and even lie detectors are ineffective when he tells lies. He knows everything about astronomy and geography, ancient and modern times, and always maintains a keen curiosity. He is ridiculously lucky, always finding himself in situations like the front lines of a battlefield, but avoiding all accidents and dangers." The emperor blinked. "You know, we have never found evidence that he is awakened or psychically sensitive. I don't believe an ordinary person can be so perfect. Even genetically modified people like us will always have problems of one kind or another, right?"
"So that's how it is." Qin Zhongquan understood.
"Yes, we believe that this Khan Lauber must be a fabrication. Perhaps it is an organization, a group of like-minded people, who attribute all their own actions, or the actions of others, to that name - and this practice is not uncommon in history."
"Are they trying to hide something? No, they have already succeeded in hiding something." Gary asked himself and answered himself.
"Why do the returnees return? Why do the returnees return? Where do the returnees want to return to?" Qin Zhongquan said.
"You see, we have the same doubts." The emperor said with a smile.
"How did you answer?" Qin Zhongquan asked.
"I don't know, so I try to remain unchanged in the face of change." The emperor shook his head and said, "You must know how difficult it is to keep something unchanged. After I took over this empire - a behemoth - I tried every possible way to keep it balanced in all aspects. Factories had to be repaired when they broke down, so I taught myself the community's factory maintenance guide. Cities rebelled and had to be suppressed, so I sent troops to eliminate abnormal objects... Everything was struggling with the disintegration of the empire. There is no such thing as eternal and unchanging. Even if there is, it cannot withstand the power of time." The emperor pointed to his hair.
Gary put the documents back in their place. "So, Her Royal Highness has made the same choice and is also contributing to the future of the country. Why are you so ruthlessly opposing her?"
"The empire needs an heir."
“But wasn’t the original plan for her to inherit it?” Gary asked.
"Yes, I should have done the same as my father, going to that clone factory to select suitable children, training them properly, and then completing the upgrades like replacing parts on a machine."
"But that factory exploded." Qin Zhongquan said guiltily.
The emperor smiled bitterly and nodded.
"To be honest, if we continue like this for a long time, we will be courting our own destruction," Gary commented.
"I know, everyone knows." The emperor, feeling a little tired, leaned back in a corner of his desk. "But we can't find any solution. Our predecessors couldn't do it, and those who come after us will be even less able to do it. The Empire, and even all of humanity, the Eight Worlds, are all in a state of irreversible decay, a disease beyond repair. We're actually regressing. We're not going downhill, but digging our own graves, and even the tombstones are almost finished!" He took a sip of water and slowed down. "You have no idea how desperate I was. The Empire's finest scholars regarded the Community's writing as garbage. Instead of learning from it, they created their own, even more backward, and euphemistically called it Imperial characteristics. The Empire's army quickly degenerated, the generals became obese, and the lower-level soldiers were skinny, worse than they were before they joined the army. The people of the Empire feared no death, and even less life. They were fanatically eager to start a war, and they almost succeeded."
"I see." Gary understood.
"I have a proposal. Your Majesty, would you like to listen to it?" Qin Zhongquan asked.
"Is this your answer? Then tell me." The emperor expressed his willingness to listen attentively.
"I want to learn about community and reunite humanity."
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