Nero was in the reception room reading a report when he heard the sound of chains dragging.
The door opened.
Both he and the System were taken aback.
In the original story provided by the System, Hermann Heidrich was a strategic and ambitious Imperial Marshal.
He was always impeccably dressed in his military uniform, wearing pristine white command gloves, with his inner shirt buttoned to the top.
However, the man standing before Nero looked nothing like the half-body portrait the System had shown.
Heidrich, dragging heavy shackles, walked slowly into the reception room.
The man was tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His long, muscular legs were tightly encased in prison trousers, and his arm muscles were well-defined.
It was evident that even during his exile, he had never abandoned his daily military training.
Once brought into the room, he stood silently in front of Nero.
He did not speak or raise his head.
His raven-black hair was slightly long, falling messily over his pale blue eyes; his chiseled jawline had a few faint scars and stubble.
Nero looked at the fortress adjutant who had brought him in, “Is this Hermann Heidrich?”
The adjutant quickly responded, “Yes, Your Majesty. You can check his personal information on his collar.”
Nero asked, “In the twelve years at Delta Fortress, he was the one commanding every battle against the Star Pirates?”
The adjutant hesitated for a second.
But only for a second; he quickly aligned himself with the correct stance:
“Your Majesty, yes. My commanding officer merely wrote the flattering post-battle reports and submitted promotion applications to the Capital.”
Nero’s gaze swept over Heidrich’s handcuffs and leg irons.
Nero asked, “Did you let him keep these shackles on while he commanded?”
The adjutant awkwardly replied, “Yes, Your Majesty… Uh, Hermann Heidrich is considered a major criminal here, given his family’s history of treason…”
As they spoke, Heidrich slowly turned his blue eyes.
His gaze started from Nero’s boots, traveling up along his slender legs, and finally stopping at his face.
When the adjutant said the first “Your Majesty,” the man visibly flinched.
Then, an inexplicably harsh buzzing sound filled Nero’s mind.
Nero: [I told you, don’t interrupt me while I’m working.]
System: [No, Your Majesty! It’s Heidrich’s Hatred Points suddenly—]
Nero glanced at the Hatred Points panel, and at that moment, the bar under Heidrich’s portrait shot up, finally stopping at a bright red “90.”
[Hatred Points: 90/90]
The System cried out in joy, [Oh my God! The Marshal’s initial Hatred Points toward the original host are this high! Reaching the task goal at first sight!]
The System sighed contentedly, [No more worries, we can just coast to the end now…]
System: [Oh, and the task reward: [100 points], has been sent to your mailbox!]
Receiving the task reward in an unexpected situation, Nero’s eyebrows raised slightly in surprise.
The adjutant also noticed Heidrich’s unyielding stare.
He immediately kicked the man’s knee harshly, scolding him:
“Kneel, you criminal! Before you is the legitimate Emperor of the Kaises Royal Family, the Lord of the Galaxy, the Sovereign of the Empire! Properly explain your military actions to His Majesty; he is magnanimous and merciful and might reduce your sentence!”
The adjutant then explained nervously to Nero: “Your Majesty, this criminal is always this arrogant, regardless of who he is dealing with. Not even breaking his spine with a whip would change him, so it’s not just targeted at you…”
The kick did not move Heidrich.
The man’s form swayed slightly before he slowly knelt on one knee.
His icy blue eyes did not fall; instead, they gazed straight into the fiery red eyes of Nero without any concealment.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Of course, I know who he is.”
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But he was a step too late.
A series of cold, clanking gun locks sounded.
All the Wolf Knights behind Nero almost simultaneously entered combat mode!
Their heavy armor opened up, and numerous high-power rifles and cannons emerged, all aiming at the kneeling Heidrich.
They looked like a pack of frenzied, bristling wolves.
The White Wolf Knight was no exception.
Already standing near the young Emperor, he took two big steps forward, pressing the cold muzzle of his gun against Heidrich’s forehead.
“Say one more word,” the White Wolf Knight said icily, “and your head will explode today.”
Heidrich remained indifferent to their reactions.
With his head pushed back by the gun barrel, his blue eyes fell and calmly locked onto Nero’s.
“Has anyone ever told you, your eyes resemble these of Emperor Karagu’s?” he said softly, still using that hoarse, indifferent tone.
“So, will you also inherit his madness and bite off a maid’s ear alive?”
The White Wolf Knight did not waste any more words.
With a click, he loaded the gun.
Nero barked, “White Wolf!!”
The White Wolf Knight’s finger on the trigger stopped just a millimeter before the beam would fire.
The knight paused for a few seconds.
His left fist clenched and unclenched before he finally gritted his teeth, silently withdrew the gun, and returned to Nero’s side.
Seeing the chief knight back down, the other Wolf Knights behind Nero also retracted their weapons and closed their armor.
Only then did Nero slowly relax his spine, leaning back in his chair again.
“Hermann Heidrich, it seems today, I won’t get anything from you.”
Heidrich lowered his eyes and slightly curled his lips, “I’m glad we can reach an understanding, Your Majesty.”
Nero rested his chin on his hand, his gloved fingertips slowly brushing his lower lip, suddenly seeming to remember something:
“I recall your only sister is also serving time here?”
Heidrich’s body didn’t move, but his raven-black eyelashes trembled violently.
He remained silent, swallowing hard.
Nero asked, “Is her name Eva Heidrich?”
As soon as he spoke, there was a girl’s scream from outside the reception room.
“Put me down! Put me down, you damned, hell-bound tyrant’s hound!”
…
Eva Heidrich, like always, was avoiding the fortress garrison and mingling with the crowd to get a meal.
When she and her brother were exiled to this remote fortress, she was 7 years old, and Heidrich was only 16.
Their family was completely destroyed; besides each other, they had no other blood relatives.
She never knew what her brother had done for her. Only she could avoid the highly dangerous fuel maintenance work.
Only she received daily nutritional supplements comparable to the garrison’s standards.
Until one day, she saw her once smart and proud brother kneel before a group of fortress officers, then drag his whip-scarred body and heavy shackles to the command platform—
She knew then, she would never have the right to end her life as her father did.
But as she grew older and her body developed, her features started to become as outstanding as her brother’s.
The number of times she lost her intimate clothing increased. The lock on her solitary cell door was often broken, and there was always someone lurking outside when she showered.
Then one morning, she almost despaired when she discovered that she had transformed into an Omega in her cell.
She stole a razor from the men’s cells and forcefully removed the gland at the back of her neck.
Thinking of how her father had also used a razor to commit suicide, Eva wrapped bandages around her neck, unable to bear it any longer, tears streaming down her face.
She often thought about death.
But her brother’s figure, dragging himself on his knees in shackles, was etched so vividly in her mind, drenched in blood.
This made her pick up the knife multiple times, only to set it aside and silently cry, clutching her head.
Eva mechanically finished her breakfast and returned to her workstation.
Just a few minutes into her inspection, a garrison soldier in uniform strolled up to her.
“Why do you smell so sweet today? Did you spray perfume?”
The soldier grinned, rubbing against her body.
“Didn’t you spray perfume just to see me? If you wanted to see me, why didn’t you tell me?”
Eva remained silent, grabbed a wrench, and walked away.
But she hadn’t gone far before she was cornered by three garrison soldiers.
“Please leave,” she said as calmly as she could, even though her voice was trembling, “I still have work to finish.”
“Work? What work could be more important than having fun with us?”
They got closer and closer.
She glanced hopelessly at the prisoners behind the soldiers, only to see their blank faces.
Many of them had been conscripted into battle by the Fortress Commander and had returned alive under Heydrich’s superior command.
But the heavy labor and bleak future could easily swallow up a person’s conscience.
“Eva Heydrich?”
A tall Imperial Wolf Knight, holding a photograph, stood behind the three garrison soldiers.
He was even taller than the tallest soldier by half a head.
Confirming that the facial features matched, the Wolf Knight put away the photo and effortlessly pushed the garrison soldiers aside, as if shooing away a few chicks.
The heavy metal boots thudded on the ground as he walked towards Eva step by step.
…Imperial Wolf Knight?
How could an Imperial Wolf Knight be here?
In Eva’s confused mind, she suddenly remembered a proverb she had heard in her childhood—”Where the Emperor’s iron hooves tread, there must be the footprints of wolves accompanying.”
The Wolf Knight was here, which meant…
Before she could think clearly, the Wolf Knight reached out and lifted her by the collar.
Eva: “?”
After a moment of dizziness, she found herself being carried on the Wolf Knight’s shoulder.
Eva: “??? Wait, you… put me down!!”
She began to struggle fiercely, even knocking one of the wolf ears on his helmet askew with a “smack.”
The Wolf Knight silently freed up one hand and adjusted the ear.
After desperately kicking and hitting this lump of iron, and receiving no response, Eva’s heart, suppressed by fear, finally collapsed completely.
Eva sobbed loudly, “Let me down! Let me down, you damned, accursed lapdogs of the tyrant!”
…
Heydrich’s spine, as straight as a blade, seemed to be completely drained by the cries.
Very slowly, almost silently, he bowed his head.
His prominent nose was almost touching the carpet in the reception room.
In terms of Imperial etiquette, this was the most demeaning gesture that only illegally trafficked slaves were allowed to perform.
“Your Majesty,” he said hoarsely, “I apologize for everything I’ve said. My family and I are the true devils. We are steeped in evil, unworthy of life.”
The young tyrant above him remained silent.
So he crawled forward two more steps until his forehead nearly touched Nero’s military boot.
“Your Majesty. If you have ever experienced the depths of despair, I implore you to show mercy and understand the significance of Eva to me. She is my only remaining family, the last straw that keeps me alive. Your Majesty. Eva has done nothing wrong, I beg you to spare her.”
Another agonizing silence ensued.
“Look up.”
Heydrich heard Nero’s voice descending from above.
He didn’t lift his head. But his chin was lifted by the spotless boot tip of the silver-haired Emperor, and from the depths of his almost shattered eyes, he saw the intense emotion flickering in the young boy’s red pupils.
“Unfortunately, I have not had such an experience,” Nero said.
As he spoke these words, the young boy’s eyes were very deep, almost turning into a dark red color.
“So now, Eva Heydrich will be taken back to the Capital by me.”
Heydrich’s pupils shrank for a moment. “Your Majesty—”
“As for you,” Nero interrupted him, “today you will climb out of the abyss, step by step, back to the Capital, to reclaim the dignity you have forsaken. This is the sacred and inviolable decree of the Emperor. Do you understand?”
With that, Nero noticed a red mark on the side of Heydrich’s right ear.
He tilted Heydrich’s face with his boot tip and stared for a while before asking, “Who did this?”
The aide hurriedly responded, “Your Majesty, it was Lord Commander! He often slaps prisoners when he’s unhappy!”
“Nn.”
Nero put down his boot, put on his royal robe, and stood up. “Let’s go, Alexei.”
Nero walked out of the reception room and saw the Fortress Commander shrinking in the corridor.
Without looking at him, Nero said to the aide, “Record my decree. As of today, the highest Commander of Fortress Delta is relieved of all duties and powers due to the urgent military and political affairs of the fortress. The position of Commander shall be temporarily assumed by Hermann Heydrich, to whom the Emperor grants all powers, including the summoning, mobilization, training of troops, and command of fortress battles.”
The aide said, “Yes, Your Majesty. And… what about me?”
Nero glanced at him. “The Fortress Aide will retain his original position and assist the highest Commander in handling military and political affairs.”
The aide responded quickly, “Yes, Your Majesty!”
The Commander plucked up his courage and whispered to Nero as he passed by, “Your Majesty, the Northern Border Fortress belongs to the domain of the Duke of Barlick. Matters like the transfer of military fortress personnel… perhaps should be under the jurisdiction of the Duke of Barlick…”
Nero had already walked past him without a glance.
At his words, Nero didn’t stop, but he turned around directly.
“Smack!”
A loud slap hit the Commander’s right cheek.
The slap echoed, even startling the eyes of the White Wolf Knights.
“Your… Your Majesty—!”
The Commander didn’t expect the Emperor to personally take action, and was caught off guard, stumbling toward the corner of the wall.
The young tyrant stood in front of him, his pair of red pupils gleaming with anger in the darkness.
“Say it again. Whose territory is this, and who governs it?”
Even in his fury, Nero’s voice remained calm, with the elegance typical of the Royal Family.
“Colonel, I have always had a high tolerance for mediocre individuals. As citizens of the Empire, they are entitled to the rights of education and enjoyment.
“But I will not tolerate worthless individuals occupying important positions in the Empire.”
…
thanks for the chapter!!!!
Yayyy
Go Nero!!!
nero ur so cool 🤧