An iron bird flapped its wings and took off.

It is not very large, and it can even be called exquisite. It has two pairs of wings instead of the usual one. Although there are many wings, the structure is not as complex as that of insects. Moreover, when it flies, its wings are almost immobile.

The monitor hidden in the steel-made beak shimmered with a faint blue light, taking in everything. The person hiding behind the monitor via the electronic signal lowered his hand after a few seconds, and no longer used his nerve connection to manipulate it.

It was not self-aware, but the program that Roger Dorn had built for it was enough to allow it to cruise above the palace without any fears.

The Praetorian Army will not bother the bird, yes, they will not.

The reason?

Was it out of some petty indulgence of the name Roger Dorn, or because they also knew that this was the last bird on Terra?

Dorn didn't have an answer to that, and he didn't want to think about it for a while. He turned, striding past metal and rock. The sun is dazzling, hanging on the seemingly endless horizon, exuding its temperature and problems.

The air was filled with the smell of incense, and the devout followers who had arrived in Terra from far away were prostrating themselves at the foot of the roof of the world. Instead of being driven out, they gathered with the workers who had been drafted up.

It's not a nest city, but it's better than a nest city. Hundreds of millions of ordinary people gather here, just to see the Lord of Mankind.

Not only did they see him as a hero, a hero, and the greatest ruler that mankind has ever seen, in fact, they also saw him as a god.

The emperor hated religion. Dorn thought. But he indulged Loja, and even allowed the religion he founded to spread on Terra—cancer, hope for a new life, or a poison that was about to plague for thousands of years?

Once again, Dorn threw the question aside.

He tensed his rock-hard face and stepped out of the towering walls into the palace.

A lot has changed here over the past few months.

The Emperor's return to Terra should have been a much-anticipated event, but most people didn't actually know that he had been gone for a while. And he doesn't seem to have any idea of holding a grand ceremony now, and he is only coming back because someone is coming to visit.

It was for this that Dorne had rushed back from the other side of the solar system, and he thought he would be annoyed by the fact that he had to take away from his duties, but he was even slightly happy after hearing the whole thing.

Thoughts were surging like an undercurrent in the sea, and Dorne walked through dozens of corridors that had been painstakingly built by stonemasons.

After passing through thousands of probes, Dorne finally met his father and an old acquaintance in an unfinished hall filled with the smell of paint.

"I don't think that's wise, Your Majesty." The hunched mortal coughed. "This should be an ordinary hall, not a hall for hospitality. It's too small. ”

Is it, Eldolke? Dorn said in his heart. This hall is big enough for three Thunderhawks, and it's anything but cramped.

"Don't do that, stonemason." Another man in the hall spoke gently. "You should pay more attention to your body."

"What? No, Your Majesty—" The matriarch of the stonemasons coughed and blushed. "—are you going to send me away?"

"I never said that."

"I'm one hundred and ten years old, Your Majesty, I've been in the Himalayas all my life, where else can I go?" The old man spoke as if he was miserable. "Have mercy on me, Your Majesty, you really should choose a larger parlor."

"However, the rest of the halls have been largely carved, and the few that have been reserved are too big to meet my requirements." The human emperor lowered his head and looked at his head stonemason with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

"If I do that, I'll be wasting years of hard work by hundreds of people under your hands."

"They'll be honored for it." The old man, who had looked like he was about to cry, immediately changed his face, and he waved his arms resolutely. "Actually, we can do it all over again if you want to."

The Emperor slowly tilted his head and said no more. Erdolke, who was well acquainted with him, immediately smiled, knowing that it was his Majesty's consent.

The old man saluted respectfully, and walked away slowly on crutches, not forgetting to greet him as he passed Dorne. Roger Dorn responded, but most of his attention was on his father.

He was not mistaken, and his father sighed as he looked up. The leader of the stonemasons, who had spent sixty of his 110 years in contact with the Emperor, was unaware, but Dorne had found out.

He approached his father, who was one step ahead and beckoned to him in an unpredictable and prophetic manner: "Look here, Rogge, look at these ingenious ideas."

Dorne walked up to his father and looked up at the ceiling with him. He saw a wonderful cluster of art, where hundreds—or thousands—of people had left their mark on the huge stone.

He saw rolling mountains, winding rivers and birds that almost obscured the sky. Some of the animals that Dorne had only seen in ancient books roosted leisurely in the meadows, and every detail of their bodies came to life so that they almost came to life.

Dorne analyzed their muscles with his eyes, silently paying the highest respect to the genius of the stonemasons.

"Those animals are deer." The emperor said.

"A beautiful and elegant animal. In the past, if a Terra wanted to compliment the other person's eyes, he would usually give a metaphor. 'Innocent as a deer'. There are many species of deer, Rogge, but, either way, it's actually four-legged. ”

Dorne slowly took his eyes off the six-legged deer.

"A little mistake doesn't get in the way, I actually have to praise Erdolke for it."

"He worked for me all his life, and in order to perfect the engraving, he used almost all of his allowance to buy historical books sold by cunning merchants. Sometimes, he buys the real thing. But, most of the time, he was deceived. ”

"He can report them for that." Dorn replied solemnly. "The guards will be more than happy to deal with those who dare to cheat on Terra."

"He never did." The Emperor said with his head still tilted. "Erdolk has a rare kindness, and he knows that those who are dusty and covered in mud are just trying to survive. That's why I like him so much. ”

"I thought it was because of his talent."

The Emperor chuckled, and Dorne couldn't help but look at his father's side face to remember the moment.

"Rogge, Erdolk is actually not outstanding in the skills of stonemasons. He was good at carving human figures, but there were at least a thousand stonemasons who did it better than him. ”

"Then why did you still make him the masons chief?"

"Because he doesn't fight." The emperor said. "And he's happy."

Is Erdolk happy?

Dorn couldn't help but open his mouth to retort - Eldolk never looked like a happy person in his memory.

He would lash out at anyone at work, always angry, always wielding his heavy steel cane to tap on the stones, and then telling his workers what was wrong.

No one dared to refute, and those who dared to refute were temporarily mute by his loud voice and thousands of words that popped out of his stomach in one go. In addition to this, he is also very withdrawn.

Roger Dorn had never seen Eldolk get close to anyone, and the old man was reading except for work. Nothing else.

He, happy?

"Yes, Rogge." The emperor turned his head and looked at his son. "He knows what he wants, and he's been working hard for it. This is where his happiness comes from, and this happiness is very simple, similar to that of a baby. ”

Rog Dorn pondered, nodded, and heard the Emperor's next words.

"Babies just have to think about eating and sleeping, and they can be satisfied. Not so for an adult, and happiness becomes an extremely difficult luxury as you get older. ”

"Even for you?" Dorne couldn't help but ask.

The Emperor smiled and did not answer the question.

He turned and walked out of the paint-smelling hall with his son. They walked all the way through and began to walk underground. Dorne hadn't been here before, but he wasn't surprised by the cable-strewn rooms.

The Emperor had told him at the beginning of the construction of the palace that he wanted it to be a palace worthy of ruling over a million planets. It would be strange if there were no such quiet rooms in the depths of a palace.

Thirteen minutes later, they arrived at a closed gate. The heavy gate was made of stone, but the surface shimmered with a metallic hue of steel.

A breeze blew from underground, and the emperor raised his right hand and did nothing, and the door slid open automatically. However, what appeared behind the door was not what Dorne longed to see. He didn't get his wish and saw his father's rumored workshop.

In fact, there are only two chairs, a table, and countless books in the room.

Dorn looked at the Emperor suspiciously, but the Emperor didn't explain, just stepped into it, stamped his foot, and coughed. In the next second, with a sudden blue light, a person in a dark green robe suddenly appeared.

He was still on his scepter, but the expression under the hood was not very friendly.

"Your Majesty." Machado, the Palm Sealer, glanced at Dorne, and the look made him look strange. "You shouldn't have brought your son here."

"I'll apologize for that later." The emperor said. "But I have no other way for you to show up, and it was not my intention to expose your privacy rashly, but it was a last resort. If you hadn't avoided me, I'd be happy to meet you in a normal way. ”

Machado didn't speak, and Dorn caught a hint of frustration in the palm printer's raised chin.

"Okay." Machado sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to explain the definition of happiness to Rogge."

"What?"

"We discussed this forty-three years ago, have you forgotten, Machado?" The emperor asked. "I want you to retell this conversation to Rogge, it will help him."

Makado's expression looked like he was being slammed in the abdomen with a power hammer.

After a while, he spoke slowly, "That's why you dragged me out of my job?" ”

"It's a big deal." The Emperor insisted. "A father is supposed to be a solution to his son's doubts, but I don't know how to speak. For this reason, I came to my friend for help, and wouldn't that be okay? ”

Dorne was deeply moved by his father's words, but instead of remaining silent, he turned his mouth into rejection: "I'll figure this out myself, father." You don't have to worry about it, he's always busy. ”

"Thank you for your words, Rogge." Machado gripped the scepter. "It's very important to me"

"Well, then, it's time for me to leave." Dorne bowed slightly. "I need to continue to tune the Falcon, in addition, father. When will Instructor Carlil and Conrad arrive? ”

"Tomorrow." The emperor said. "Are you looking forward to it?"

"Nope." Dorn grimaced, and after a moment of silence, he added. "Just a little bit."

The words fell, and he left, without a trace of nostalgia.

The Emperor smiled unremarkably, and Makado waved his arm so that the door to his room was closed. The old and tired Palm Printer sat down in one of the chairs angrily and helplessly, and began to pour out bitterness on his friend.

"I can't believe you let someone else into my room!"

"Don't you like Rogge?" The Emperor replied unbelievably as he asked. "I remember you saying that he's the only genogen you think is pretty good."

"That doesn't mean he should enter my room!" Makado said. "And I'm not avoiding you, I'm just too busy at work!"

"You don't have an endless amount of official documents, Machado." Neos smiled. "You have more than 100,000 people working hard, and the days when you needed to go into battle in person are gone."

"You're right."

Still smiling, Neos turned around and pulled a book from the shelf. It has a brown coat derived from a long-extinct ancient terra creature. He ran his fingers over its surface with a wistful look and sighed softly.

"Am I happy?" He asked, still a human being. "Makado, am I happy?"

"You want me to warn you, but I'm not going to do it." The Palm Seal replied. "The person who really wants to hear that conversation isn't Roger Donn, it's yourself. But I won't answer. ”

"Won't you, or are you like me, forgetting?"

The emperor asked, putting down the book and holding his hands behind his back. And there was no one in the room to answer his words.

After a long silence, another sigh rang out.

"I'm happy." The bloodless and tearless emperor said.

There are three more chapters.

(End of chapter)