Six days later, the Emperor’s fleet quietly entered the Capital’s Port.
At this time, the nobles of the Capital still believed their Emperor was at Mirror Spring Palace, mingling with Mimir and Eva and a group of Omegas. They thought this fleet was sent by Heidrich to curry favor with the Emperor.
After emptying the mechas from the mothership, and settling all personnel in the Capital’s hospital, Nero discreetly returned to the palace through a hidden passage at night with the Wolf Knights.
The Empire’s Science Bureau had already received Asaga two days earlier. Due to Asaga’s special status, the bureau announced that some gladiators were carrying an alien virus, requiring them to be isolated for study.
After handling a mountain of provincial affairs, Nero reluctantly allowed himself to be taken to the medical academy to treat the wounds on his tailbone, following the persistent requests of the White Wolf Knight.
Nero didn’t even return to his sleeping quarters; he summoned a shuttle at the medical academy entrance and flew directly to the Empire’s Science Bureau.
The Minister of National Defense and Technology who initially developed the anti-system program, ran up to greet the Emperor.
During Rupert’s reign, this minister, due to his dedication to research and lack of social skills, often inadvertently offended Rupert’s faction. As a result, despite holding the title of Minister of National Defense and Technology, he remained a low-ranking viscount, unqualified to serve before the Emperor.
Wiping his increasingly shiny bald spot, he chased after the White Wolf Knights:
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty! We’ve begun testing the biological samples submitted by the ship’s medical officers, but it will take time to get the results. It’s only been two days since you sent him to the Science Bureau, and we’re understaffed. It’s impossible to get results in two days…”
“It’s fine,” Nero said, unconcerned by the minister’s complaints. “I’m just here to check the situation.”
The Empire’s Science Bureau is a towering white structure in the heart of the Capital, with 300 floors above and below ground. Asaga was secretly placed deep underground by Nero, known to fewer than ten non-noble researchers, including the Minister of National Defense and Technology. While being carried by the White Wolf Knights into the elevator, Nero listened to the ship’s medical officer report on Asaga’s condition.
Asaga reportedly began waking from the potent anesthetic soon after the fleet set sail—the anesthetic dart used on him was meant for capturing giant star beasts. Due to his history of attempting to assassinate the Emperor, Asaga was heavily guarded by the northern fleet, confined in an observation chamber with triple layers of hard diamond glass and electromagnetic shields.
But according to the ship’s medical officer, Asaga behaved unusually docile and quiet after waking up. No one dared to enter his chamber to collect samples, so medical robots were sent in to draw blood and perform cell biopsies.
Despite not having a gun to his head, Asaga cooperated silently with the robots, providing 300cc of fresh blood and biopsy samples daily.
“One time, the robot malfunctioned and fell as soon as it entered. He picked up the syringe himself, drew a tube of blood, placed it at the door, and waited for the soldiers to tranquilize him before taking it out,” the medical officer said.
As Nero listened, he glanced outside the elevator.
The research area where Asaga was kept spanned about three floors and covered 100 square meters.
From the elevator’s glass walls, Nero could see a few researchers busy at work.
In the center of the research area, a small circular space was cordoned off with electromagnetic shields. A man, naked and chained, sat in the middle, with armed soldiers patrolling around.
The elevator doors silently opened behind Asaga.
“Hmm?”
A researcher monitoring Asaga’s heart rate made a puzzled sound and looked at the screen showing Asaga’s face.
Originally, the man had his head lowered, eyes closed in repose, his curly hair obscuring his handsome yet fierce features.
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.
But just now, his nostrils twitched slightly, and his thick, ink-like eyelashes began to tremble.
C ofk rfmbcvr ijafg, tf jygeqais klvfcfv tlr fsfr.
C qjlg bo gjgf qegf ubiv lglrfr gfnfjifv j mbwqifz wlz bo qjclm, jczlfas, jcv vlryfilfo.
Efrfjgmt bc Crjuj’r biojmabgs mfiir gfnfjifv tlr rfcrf bo rwfii kjr bnfg 4000 alwfr atja bo j cbgwji tewjc. Vlwlijgis, tlr nbwfgbcjrji bgujc, erfv ab vfafma qtfgbwbcfr, kjr vbhfcr bo alwfr wbgf rfcrlalnf atjc j tewjc’r.
The researcher, scratching his head at the suddenly accelerated heart rate graph, looked up and saw the silver-haired Emperor being carried out of the elevator by the knight.
Startled, he immediately bowed: “Your Majesty!”
“No need for formalities,” Nero said, raising a finger. “I’ve brought Dr. Cecil to review the Science Bureau’s research and discuss methods to remove the Asimov Collar.”
“The Asimov Collar?” The Minister of National Defense and Technology was shocked. “Your Majesty, that was one of Emperor Hiram’s most advanced inventions, designed without any backdoor for removal. Removing the collar might result in brain damage!”
Nero replied, “Even if we can’t remove the collar physically, is it impossible to clear its internal commands?”
“It might be possible, but I’m not sure if that’s the ‘freedom of personality’ you’re seeking…” The Minister of National Defense and Technology frowned. “Once a command is given through the collar, it leaves a trace on the replacement neurons. Even if the command is revoked verbally, the behavior patterns influenced by the collar will always remain, ready to execute the command again.”
As they discussed, a deep growl emanated from the research area’s center.
The researchers and ship’s medical officer, who had never heard Asaga speak or groan during cell biopsies, were startled.
After the suppressed growl, the chains clinked loudly. Asaga’s golden eyes locked onto Nero, focusing solely on the silver-haired, red-robed figure.
Dragging the heavy chains, he lunged towards Nero’s direction.
“Stand down!”
Security soldiers quickly cocked their rifles and shouted, “Or we’ll shoot you on the spot!”
“Don’t shoot,” Nero said, glancing at the length of the chain before turning to the terrified researchers. “Turn off the shield.”
The high-voltage shield, capable of charring human flesh, was immediately deactivated.
Asaga, like a berserk beast, leaped over the shield’s previous position, reaching the Wolf Knights’ gunpoint in an instant.
But the chains held him back at the last moment.
“Clang!”
The chains tightened, stopping him right before Nero. Despite his body straining forward, his arms were pulled back, and his legs tripped, forcing him to his knees.
The Wolf Knights pressed his shoulders, almost embedding his knees into the floor.
Despite this, Asaga continued to stare up at Nero, his expression fierce and his breathing harsh, but his golden eyes trembled slightly.
“Sir, his collar contains a command to kill me,” Nero said. “I’m not sure how much of his self-will remains. But so far, the collar has significantly hindered my further use of him—Sir?”
Nero turned to find the Minister of National Defense and Technology and the researchers huddled against the wall, trembling.
The Emperor, displeased but resigned, raised his hand to lift the muzzle cage from Asaga’s face. Even the Wolf Knights whispered a warning, “Your Majesty, be careful.”
“I said to treat him as a human,” Nero looked at the ship’s medical officer with mild reproach. “Humans don’t wear these.”
No one noticed Asaga’s eyes widening slightly.
The medical officer stammered in agreement, eager to escape the presence of the dangerous man.
Only the Emperor would dare to remove the muzzle from someone known for biting previous owners to death.
With a light snap, the rusty muzzle was removed from Asaga’s head. The elastic band struck Nero’s fingers, reddening them. He tossed the muzzle aside, not noticing Asaga staring at him in a daze.
Nero asked the Minister of National Defense and Technology, “Continue.”
“Removing the Asimov Collar is indeed the most thorough way to eliminate commands,” the minister replied respectfully, “but it requires top-tier medical technology for neural repair and regeneration, which the Empire has yet to achieve.”
“The process of removing the collar would be slow and prolonged, as the synthetic neurons in the collar have replaced part of the brain’s neural tissue. Continuous repair and neural regrowth would be needed throughout the process…and as you know, our technology for neural repair isn’t advanced enough for severe damage.”
Nero remained silent. He knew this well, having heard it many times regarding his own paralyzed legs.
“What is the current bottleneck, Dr. Cecil?” he asked his chief medical officer.
The doctor hesitated before saying, “Your Majesty, I don’t know how to explain it. There is no bottleneck; we simply have no leads.”
“We’ve completed research on external nerve implants and large-scale neural repair in animal subjects, but human neural tissue is much more complex. Without 100% certainty, we can’t apply it to humans. Unlike muscle or bone repair, neural repair experiments must be conducted on living subjects, with a high risk of death or paralysis… Your father considered using death row inmates as subjects.”
“But the high mortality rate of neural repair research is the main reason for its lack of progress.”
Nero fell silent again. The gladiators he had captured from the Star Pirates, controlled by the Asimov Collars, were ideal subjects for neural repair research from a pragmatic standpoint. However, this thought vanished as quickly as it appeared.
He tapped his finger on the White Wolf Knight’s arm, recalling the blank look of the old Wolf Knight. “Alright, I understand.”
He was about to head to the archives when the chains clinked again.
For some reason, Asaga began struggling under the Wolf Knights’ grasp, the chains rattling loudly.
Ignoring the cold muzzle pressed to his forehead, Asaga stared at Nero with his golden eyes, forcing out muffled words:
“…Re…remove…”
The internal command within the collar was evidently brutally suppressing his will.
Asaga forcefully shut his eyes, cutting off his line of sight to the target of the command. Amidst the raging tsunami of murderous intent in his mind, he struggled to find his linguistic function.
“…I… I’m willing…”
Nero didn’t quite catch what he was saying, furrowing his brows as he listened to Asaga’s incoherent muttering.
Seeing Nero’s furrowed brow, Asaga’s frustration and helplessness reached a peak. He suddenly began thrashing his head wildly, as if trying to forcefully remove the collar from his neck.
“I… I’m willing… to… be… experimented on.”
As he looked up at Nero again, tears were streaming down from those brilliantly shining golden eyes.
“…Release…!!”
The man almost roared like a wounded beast.
The confusion in Nero’s eyes dissipated.
He gazed at Asaga’s face.
After a long while, he said, “I understand. As you wish.”
He didn’t linger any longer, instructing the White Wolf Knights to head towards the data room.
Before leaving, he thought for a moment, then turned to the researchers and instructed, “Give him some clothes. If there aren’t any, give him a pair of pants.”
There was no other intention.
It’s just that during Asaga’s struggle, a certain part did indeed stand out conspicuously, as the System had mentioned.
The young Emperor only realized when he saw it that, since meeting Asaga, the other party had been naked like a wild animal.
Of course, this did not conform to the standard of ‘treating him as a human.’
The knight carried the silver-haired Emperor away, leaving behind the suddenly stiffened dark-skinned man.
As the faint scent of roses disappeared completely, the iron chain that Asaga had pulled suddenly slackened.
The researchers approached cautiously, bringing a set of military pants and a vest, which they tossed beside Asaga before quickly retreating.
Asaga slowly picked up the clothes from the ground.
First covering the lower part of his body, he then turned and walked slowly towards the center of the research room.
The protective shield behind him reactivated, temporarily loosening the iron chains binding his hands and feet.
Through a layer of shimmering blue electric light shield, no one noticed that the beastly and fierce man was silently putting on pants, while shame flushed from his neck to his ears.
…
Poor guy, he just wants to be a free man, and not be treated like a monster for once ToTTT I’m glad Nero can see that 🙂 and a sneaking suspicion the removal will be a success with his regenerative abilities!
I thank thee for thy sustenance~ 😚
Thank you for the chapters! 💛
He’s so cute!!
Go go! Freedom!
Aww Asaga is so cute bro
Asaga is my pickkkkk❤❤❤ he’s so cute
So glad Nero treats like a human being unlike in the og