After a few seconds without a word from Heidrich, Nero sneered, “Speak, General. Continue with your urgent military report.”
Heidrich: “…Your Majesty, the K980x fortress in the Western Front, which we recently captured, is currently under attack by remnant Star Pirate forces. Both sides are fiercely battling for control of the fortress.”
Nero quickly judged the situation:
This was frontline military business that Heidrich could handle perfectly on his own. Under normal circumstances, discussing the potential of the military through current battlefield conditions with Heidrich would be fine; but the problem was, he had a full day of Temple tours tomorrow.
Feeling impatient, Nero was about to question him when the knight behind him suddenly stood up.
The White Wolf Knight reached over Nero’s shoulder towards the screen, speaking coldly and firmly, “General, His Majesty needs rest urgently. Unless it’s an emergency, please report tomorrow morning.”
With that, he wrapped one arm around Nero’s waist and turned off the screen.
Not caring if the man on the other side saw, he then pulled Nero into bed.
The White Wolf Knight whispered, “Your Majesty, you must rest. It will benefit your… your mental state.”
The System, playing a game in the isolation zone, exclaimed: [Whoa, that startled me! The Hexagon’s hostility level just spiked! It had recently dropped back to 70 or 80.]
Without Nero needing to remind it, it added: [Leg health +200, current health: -19100/100.]
Nero: [Where did the 200 come from?]
The System replied nervously: [Well, you remember that episode you had? The Hexagon’s hostility spiked back then too… I forgot to give the points to Teacher then, and it slipped my mind later. I guess the hexagon remembered the Mad Emperor Karagu…]
System: [But let’s not talk about that. Teacher, let me show you something.]
Nero didn’t open his eyes, and the System displayed a brainwave chart on his retina.
In the dark, the transparent panel showed the brainwave amplitude curve, which was unusually stable. The System compared it with the White Wolf Knight’s brainwave chart, and Nero noticed that his originally chaotic brainwave pattern now closely resembled that of the mentally stable knight.
Except for occasional spikes due to his genetic madness.
System: [I just discovered this. You’ve been in an unstable pheromone period recently, so your brainwaves have been chaotic. But guess what? Since the night of the altar ceremony, your brainwaves have remained stable.]
Nero suddenly opened his eyes.
System: [Amazing, right? Haven’t you noticed that you’ve been dreaming less these nights? In the Heka Star System, you had frequent episodes! I haven’t figured out the exact cause yet, but when I do…]
The System continued to chatter, but Nero was deep in thought.
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.
Ktf jiajg mfgfwbcs, j olzfv glaeji ktfgf atf Lbis Vbc tfjir rbivlfgr klat vfqifafv wfcaji qbkfg.
Vlcmf atf frajyilrtwfca bo atf Swqlgf ys atf Bjlrfr Mjwlis, Swqfgbgr tjnf qfglbvlmjiis agjnfifv ab Gfiqtl ab tbiv Kfwqif mfgfwbclfr jcv qgfrlvf bnfg jiajg glaejir.
Geglcu kjgalwf, ktfc wfcaji qbkfg kjr tfjnlis ajzfv, rbwf Bjlrfr Swqfgbgr jirb jmmfqafv atf Lbis Vbc’r wfcaji tfjilcu.
But there has never been a case where an emperor was cured of genetic madness through this. If there had been, the madness problem plaguing the Kaises Family for nine hundred years wouldn’t still be unsolvable.
Perhaps it was something the Holy Son did during the altar ceremony, something he did only for him…
Nero’s expression turned strange as he recalled.
The Holy Son’s peculiar ability to transform pain into desire was something Nero definitely did not welcome. Standing and walking for long periods caused constant foot pain. It was unimaginable how a constantly aroused emperor would appear to the public during Temple tours.
But during the last kiss on the forehead, Nero was preoccupied with handling the unfamiliar sensations of arousal and didn’t pay attention to the brainwave patterns.
Unlike the Asimov Collar experiments, this wasn’t something that could be tested anytime, anywhere. Nero rubbed his lips thoughtfully, lost in contemplation.
“Your Majesty, what is troubling you?”
The White Wolf Knight had finished removing his armor early and was sitting by the bed, just waiting for Nero to give the signal to join him. But Nero hadn’t given the order to share the bed yet, making the knight anxious as he kept inching his chair closer.
“If it’s about the Heka Star System’s military affairs, the Wolf Knights and I will always keep a close watch on the battle. And in the Capital, Grand Duke Harrison has been clashing fiercely with a group of marquises, so I’m sure—”
Nero interrupted, “I’m thinking about the Holy Son.”
A faint creak sounded.
The chair leg, which had been moving closer to the bed, abruptly stopped.
“…What?”
Whether it was due to having removed his armor, the White Wolf Knight’s voice sounded different than usual, somewhat lower and more resonant.
He paused, as if believing he had misheard, and then softly asked again:
“What did you say, Your Majesty?”
“What do you think the origin of the Holy Son is, Alexei?”
Nero turned over in the dark. “Humanity has had mental powers for two thousand years, yet in the vast galaxy, only the Holy Son possesses healing abilities. The imperial archives have no records of his origin, and the true core members of the Temple—those red-clad divine attendants—operate on a set of autonomous protocols, completely independent of human governance. Why is that? And why has no one ever questioned it?”
“Because… people are accustomed to it?”
The White Wolf Knight racked his brains. “Just like how the Empire’s Science Bureau still explores why humanity emerged on Earth, why Earth is the third planet in the solar system, but has yet to find an answer. For most people, existence is its own result, something to accept and adapt to. And the Holy Son is a continuation from the Old Federation to the Empire, the embodiment of the only religious faith. I’ve heard that in ancient Earth times, devout believers never questioned the existence of their gods.”
“Hm, you make some sense.”
Nero, leaning on his elbow and lying on his pillow, thought, “It’s a pity I never had the chance to attend the family’s theology classes. I might have learned more about the Holy Son.”
“…Your Majesty,” the White Wolf Knight sat in the darkness, silent for a while, then spoke in that low tone, “why are you… suddenly concerned about the Holy Son?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m too concerned,” Nero said. “It’s just that this person—or rather, this ‘existence’—has too many secrets.”
“But no matter how many secrets the Holy Son has, they belong to the realm of theology, right? I thought Your Majesty only cared about worldly matters… like the war in the Western Front, the great nobles within the Empire, everything concerning the Galactic Empire?”
The White Wolf Knight spoke softly in the dark, his tone probing, with a hint of nervousness.
“Because a long time ago, Your Majesty said that you could only live for the Empire… I thought nothing and no one else would ever arouse your curiosity.”
Nero’s eyes darkened. “Yes, the Empire is, of course, the most important.”
After answering, he didn’t close his eyes but continued frowning and staring at the ceiling.
He was recalling his brief childhood in the Capital.
His life had been dominated by escape, making it difficult to reach back through such long and harsh years to grasp possibly overlooked fragments of memory.
But somehow, the White Wolf Knight, who was usually silent when Nero handled state affairs, now interrupted his thoughts like an awkward secretary:
“Your Majesty, are you still thinking about the Holy Son?”
“Hmm.” Nero felt as though he had lost the thread of a thought, irritably running his hand through his silver hair. “Did I forget something? Alexei, did we ever have direct contact with the Holy Son during previous Temple Festivals?”
The White Wolf Knight lowered his head, carefully recalling for a long time before answering: “No, I’m sure we never had any direct contact with the Holy Son. In the past, when Your Majesty attended the Temple Festivals, you mostly indulged in food and fun around the Festival grounds… and were forcibly brought back to the Capital by the others after a week of festivities.
“Except when Your Majesty was six years old, we left Delphi early. You had a fever during the Festival and were very unwell. The Second Prince ordered the Wolf Knights to escort you out of Delphi as quickly as possible and return you to the Royal Medical Academy for treatment.”
A fever.
Nero thought for a moment. Yes, that had happened.
But at that age, being playful and occasionally catching a cold wasn’t unusual.
Beyond that, he couldn’t remember any more details.
“Your Majesty,” after a long silence, the White Wolf Knight spoke again from the bedside, “it’s rare to see you dwell on someone unrelated to the Empire for so long… Is there something about the Holy Son that particularly concerns you?”
Nero frowned. “I’m somewhat concerned about his kiss on the forehead.”
“The kiss on the forehead?” The White Wolf Knight thought for a moment. Although he couldn’t enter the sanctuary, he could see the live broadcast from inside the sanctuary, “Yes, it is indeed strange. The Holy Son has never given a kiss on the forehead to any previous Kaises Emperor, perhaps indicating that Your Majesty’s dedication to the Empire and purity of spirit were sensed by the Holy Son?”
“Do you remember the last Temple Festival when I asked you to help me with a physical issue?” Nero turned to look at him. “It was because the Holy Son’s kiss aroused me. But I don’t quite understand why that happened.”
The original setting where the Holy Son’s kiss could trigger desire indeed puzzled him.
But Nero couldn’t mention the existence of the original setting. Just as he was about to continue explaining the Holy Son’s various strange behaviors, the tall shadow by the bed suddenly stood up.
“What’s wrong?” Nero sat up, looking up at him in confusion.
At the same time, the system exclaimed: [Huh?!]
It had been peacefully watching its drama, but at that moment, it heard the alert for maxed-out Hatred Points.
The System initially thought it was Heidrich brooding late at night, ruminating over old family grudges, so it automatically added the reward points to health, making Nero’s leg health -19000/100, before checking Heidrich’s Hatred Points.
But that didn’t seem right.
Before Nero fell asleep, Heidrich’s Hatred Points had indeed spiked to 100. The hatred curve showed he was indeed brooding, as his Hatred Points had been fluctuating wildly between 99 and 100 ever since, without stopping.
If the Main System hadn’t set 100 as the limit, the system would suspect his hatred points could directly break through the program’s capacity.
The System: I can understand that.
But according to the Main System’s settings, it could only receive 100 reward points when the Hatred Points fell below the threshold and then reached it again.
Although Heidrich’s Hatred Points were very high, the current provider of the reward points was clearly not him.
The System then checked Asaga’s panel.
Asaga’s Hatred Points had been a big zero since the Asimov Collar was removed, and the System was genuinely worried, not knowing how to accumulate the necessary 80 Hatred Points from him.
Finally, it pulled up the least likely candidate, the White Wolf Knight’s panel, from the database.
And there, on the Hatred Points panel, it clearly showed: 50/25.
The misunderstandings…
Bahahha wording Nero, wording 😂🤭
Lmao, Alexei finally feel threatened.