“…… I sincerely apologize to you for my previous neglect, Your Excellency Fujimaru. Planetary Governor Jessamine Deville lowered his eyes and smiled as respectfully as he could, "Sorry for delaying your precious time in some unnecessary details. ”

Fujimaru Rika had expected such a scene, after all, the Aquila Scepter given by the emperor himself had this symbolic meaning in the current empire.

After figuring out that the staff was not just a long-distance channel stabilizer that could connect to the emperor's psionic energy, but also included personal identification, data encoding authentication, imperial contemplative access probes, and maximum override rights for logic loops, she was seriously thinking about locking this thing in a cabinet and never taking it out. It wasn't until Somny bluntly reminded her that it wasn't possible if she wanted to walk around the empire and do a little bit in the meantime.

But in fact, the scepter given by the emperor himself was indeed still locked in the static force field on the Storm Boundary, and the one that Fujimaru Rika held in her hand now was a temporary replica of the aether she had compiled through conceptual projection - it was originally something made of psionic energy, and it was normal for it to be parsed into spiritual data.

In the personal identification code of the scepter, Rika Fujimaru is defined as the "Emperor's chosen envoy to the throne", and is endorsed by the electronic seals of the Throne Room, the Star Torch Room, and the High Lords' Council. Theoretically, she has the power to mobilize even all the armed forces of the Empire, including the Forbidden Army, to clear the way for her own ends—only theoretically, of course. Ritsuka knew her own level, subjectively she had no intention of wanting to do so, and objectively when she really faced the commander of the Imperial Army, she probably couldn't adjust anything really important.

Of course, the words "the emperor's choice" seem very ridiculous in the current empire. Even the uneducated and uncivilized on the most remote planets know that the Lord of Humanity has been sitting on the Golden Throne for 10,000 years and has never spoken. Since the emperor can't speak, where does the pro-election come from?

This caused some minor confusion in her dealings with the local law enforcement team and the government, and the local justice commissioner even tried to arrest her and throw her in prison. Eventually, it was the Starwhisperer from the Imperial Tax Collector who happened to pass by, and as a blind man, he naturally probed his surroundings with psionic tentacles, accidentally glanced in the direction of Tachika, and then screamed and fainted.

Ten seconds later, he woke up trembling and claimed to have seen a corner of the Emperor: Rika Fujimaru's soul shone with an incomparably dazzling golden light, a light that he would never forget—the light that had left him with the mark of the Chaos Protector when he officially became the Star Whisperer, the one that guarded his soul but also burned his flesh, the light that belonged to the Lord of Humanity.

The riot ended in a hurry, lasting about an hour and twenty minutes. Perhaps there are still people who have varying degrees of doubts and vigilance about Rika Fujimaru's identity, or perhaps there are other positive or negative ...... about her because of what the Star Whisperer has seen More fanatical thoughts, but after the Planetary Governor stepped forward to laugh and apologize at the right time, these people at least knew that it was best for them to keep their opinions for the time being, so as not to spoil the current calm atmosphere.

Governor de Ville put his posture very low, not even so low that it did not look like the ruler of a planet. Fujimaru Rika thought she would feel somewhat embarrassed or uncomfortable by this, but when she actually saw the Governor do this, the first thing she felt was a slight sadness and sadness.

Jasmine Deville was so adept at making this low-voiced gesture because she had done it countless times before.

Judging from her face alone, Governor de Ville was a serious, square, gray-haired middle-aged woman when her face was expressionless. According to the archives of the Empire, she had just crossed the age of two hundred, and was still in the prime of life by the standards of the Empire, but her countenance already showed a kind of emaciation that had lingered from the accumulation and stacking of the empire. Her brown eyes had shown a deep pool of calm, and the mirror reflected everything in front of her quietly, but when she decided to laugh flatteringly, all of the above dissolved into a ridiculous and contemptible look.

Staying where he was was a poor man who, in the eyes of Fujimaru Ritsuka, was stiff and contrived in his compliments, but who didn't really want to do it but had to do it.

Undoubtedly, she is very skillful in her movements, words, and demeanor in doing so, but she gives a reluctant sense of disobedience in the ethereal feeling due to the slightest deviation that is difficult to explain. If the Governor de Ville is undoubtedly a well-honed master, but if it goes up further...... It's missing some talent.

Rika Fujimaru did get a glimpse of something, but she didn't think she was qualified to judge it. She just endured the embarrassment and tried her best to maintain a calm attitude, and simply responded to the other party:

"Yes, this is also necessary vigilance, especially on the frontiers of the empire." She really didn't want to waste time on meaningless verbal exchanges or red tape, so she began to talk nonsense with her eyes open, "But as you said, every second counts: there is solid evidence that the Spirit Clan forces have infiltrated this world and are approaching the First City. I am sure that the department that went to inspect the damage of the battle will soon be able to confirm this, Madam Governor. ”

"What do you mean ......"

"Although it looks like you're having some celebrations going on, I'm sorry I have to spoil your excitement."

Fujimaru Rika looked directly at Governor de Ville, her light amber eyes for a moment: "The whole city is under martial law, stop all celebrations, and let everyone stay in the building as much as possible and not walk around." I need to keep the aliens from fishing in the crowd, and you should protect your own people. Then, while hunting for the aliens, I also need to know what drew them to this planet. ”

+ It's you, Master of Lies. + Coates replied happily in the newsletter.

Fujimaru Rika ignored him, just stared at the Governor in front of her: "More specifically, I need you to order a halt to the recent demonstrations in the city now, and then we need to talk alone, Lady Deville." ”

To her surprise, the Governor of the planet did not show any dissatisfaction or hesitation in the face of these sentences, and even showed a faint look of relief when he heard more specific orders:

"Okay, Lord Fujimaru, everything will be done according to your wishes."

-----------------

Savita was somewhat embarrassed and took Aelita back to the cargo station.

Anyway, he used to be the commander of the Midnight Lord's first company. Even if he didn't have anything now, it would have been easy for him to use some of the tricks of the past to leave the crowd unobtrusively with a little girl, and march back to a certain spot.

Without alerting anyone, he managed to infiltrate the building, sending the groggy Alita back to her current dorm room, where she staggered back to her room. Then, back in the hangar, trying to at least put the weapons he had barely pieced together with what he could get his hands on in a more accessible place—

- He smelled blood in the darkness, which caused Sevita to freeze in place.

It wasn't the sheer flesh that made him so nervous, nor the things behind them that Sevita had long been accustomed to. He was so accustomed to the smell of blood that he could distinguish even blood that wasn't human, and he could smell the echoes of the spirits' fearful wails that remained in the blood. What prevented him from even moving his steps was something more direct but more subtle, more incisive and more indescribable...... Instinctive intuition.

He realizes that it's because Conrad Coetze has emerged from the darkness. His genetic father wanted him to notice him, and he couldn't refuse.

"I didn't expect you to be quite a little girl." Kotz's tone was pleasant. But Sevita, who was amazed, realized from what she knew about him that the pleasure was feigned, and that there was a cruelty and self-defeating despair hidden underneath.

It made him feel as if a lump of ice had fallen into his stomach and at the same time he felt an eerie relief: when Coz behaved "abnormally" like this, it usually meant that something very bad was going to happen; But when Koz behaves "abnormally", it is even more "normal" for Sevita.

He couldn't help but sneer at himself in his heart, which probably meant that they had never encountered a situation that was not bad.

"I just did what I was supposed to do." Sevita carefully chose the words she used, "Aelita is a good person, and she deserves a longer life." ”

He was ready to start a debate with Coates on the issue. In an instant, he had already conceived of some ideas that the other might make, and he had thought about how he could fight back, but Koz seemed uninterested in it.

"She doesn't have a 'longer life' left." The giant in the darkness, Enostramo, said this, hissing like a serpent's curse.

Sevita instinctively became angry because of this, but in an instant, his reason told him that Conrad Coz would never do anything like this.

Anger was suppressed as a result, and Sevita advised herself to be calm. He looked up and asked his genetic father, "Why do you say that?" ”

Coetze was silent for a moment, as if measuring something. After weighing, he decided to speak:

“…… Rika Fujimaru. "She has some different views on the 'prophecy,' and I'm trying to test them." Although I still think she takes a lot of things for granted......"

He glided silently like a ghost toward Sevita, his pure black eyes surveying his former company commander in the barely dull hangar.

"But I have to admit that she may be right in some places." He whispered ghostly.

Sevita resisted the slight psychological discomfort caused by these actions and tried to bring the discussion back on track: "...... I don't see how this relates to our topic. ”

"It's relevant that your future is different, Sai." Coetzes withdrew his gaze and allowed himself to return to a distance that felt more comfortable for both parties, "You know that when I first meet someone, I often get to see the last moment of their lives...... Your last moment was different from the first time we met. ”

"If you came here to tell me how I'm going to die, I'm sorry, I'm not interested."

Coetzes turned a deaf ear to this, and continued to say to himself:

"This change happens when you decide to get off the boat. Or maybe not, but I saw it all of a sudden. The interior of that ship was 'different', so either assumption made sense. ”

"I'm not very interested in my future—"

"—I didn't say I saw your future, I saw my own then."

Sevita stared at Coz suspiciously. His original body seems to be a little crazy when he speaks, but he seems to be very calm in his demeanor. He believed that Midnight Ghost wouldn't lie about these things, but he couldn't tell if what he was saying was true or false.

"I see my own future, Yago Sevitalyon." Coetze's tone was like a dream, "When you decide to disembark, the endless future collapses into a clear path. I see that I killed you one day very closely, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow. ”

There was a clear killing intent in this sentence, and even Saivita couldn't help but stand on end because of it. But this basic physiological reaction could not overwhelm Astarte's sanity, and after a brief moment of surprise, he decided to accept this reality:

“…… So you decided that you wanted the future to develop according to this prophecy, so you came to kill me? ”

"I don't know." Kotz said, but there was no confusion in his tone, "I said, I'm validating some ideas, at least this time, I'll watch things play out naturally." ”

"Now that you've made your decision, why have this conversation?" Sevita admits that he is holding back some of his anger as if he has been tricked. After a brief moment of thought, he decided to let them flow into his tone, making the already unfriendly sentence sound even more unkind: "Did you sneak here just to tell me that Aelita was going to die young?!" ”

"More than that." Coetze's face showed a prank-up look, "I'm going to tell you how she died." ”

"—what the hell is the point of this?!" Sevita's roar echoed through the hangar, but Koz turned a deaf ear:

"You killed her, Sai." The judge, who was able to peek into the future, made a brutal sentence.

"In that omen, you killed her first, and then I came and killed you."

There was some vicious smile hidden underneath this sentence.