"The Empire's territory has many corners that are hollow, allowing these rats to scurry about.

"And for certain reasons, we cannot use the Imperial Defense System with high intensity, which has led to the Empire teetering on the brink of a steep decline.

"By your own strength, you resolved this crisis and allowed the Empire to continue its struggling existence. Isn't that enough?"

Yang Ming said with a wry smile, "Previously, the Empire made no indication of recognition, and I believed that the only reward for my deed was the title of a hero."

"That's because they don't understand your value," Director Eno said with a smile. "Did you kill Nois?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you answer that it was the Emperor's order?"

"There's no point," Yang Ming shrugged.

"Having a few less black sheep in the family is a good thing for the family," Director Eno said warmly. "Do you know why the Emperor suddenly became so aggressive?"

Yang Ming immediately shook his head.

"He was too bored."

"Bored?"

"Yes, he was too bored. The position of the Emperor is the most likely to wear away at one's humanity."

Director Eno sighed lightly:

"So I respect him, and I respect each Emperor. Their lives were destined to lose other possibilities from the moment they ascended the throne because they could only become the Emperor of the Empire.

"You should have heard that every Emperor of the Empire is an inconspicuous existence among the offspring of his predecessor.

"Do you know why? Because the truly outstanding talents of the Sherman family need to control the operation of the Empire from positions out of the Emperor's sight.

"The Military Department is the most important, followed by the legions directly controlled by the Emperor. The latter possesses a third of the Empire's military force but maintains absolute loyalty to the royal family. Why is that? Because every aspect is tightly controlled by our family.

"Then there are these secret research institutes, each with a family member supervising behind the scenes.

"My dear Emperor nephew, after being stimulated by the Imperial Defense System, started his unpredictable journey due to wounded pride... Let him be, with us watching, he won't be able to cause too much chaos."

Yang Ming murmured to himself, "The powerful family behind the Emperor's power."

"Alright, you can learn about these things later. You'll soon be able to become an associated member of our family, if you wish."

Director Eno changed the subject:

"How much do you know about the Faya Civilization?"

"Not much," replied Yang Ming, "I've had a few encounters with them. I know that a Faya individual envelops the Milky Way, and I've interacted with one of its fragments. I heard about their many experimental projects, with probably hundreds in the Milky Way... that sort of thing."

Director Eno turned to look at Yang Ming, his eyes filled with a hint of confusion.

"Direct contact?"

"Uh-huh," Yang Ming said innocently, "it was like cognitive communication, perhaps because my life is based on Ancient God Life Forms."

"Oh! That's incredible!"

Director Eno leaned to the side, eyes wide with inquiry:

"What did you discuss? How did the communication take place?"

Yang Ming smiled, omitting his entanglement with the Valkyrie and how he managed to bring out the fragment of the Faya Civilization Thought Body. He simply described his chat with the Faya people.

Experimental project teams do not interfere with each other, Thought Body fragments, the immense Thought Bodies spanning the Milky Way...

Director Eno listened intently, nodding occasionally or uttering exclamations of wonder.

"This is a miracle. How did you manage to make a fragment of a Faya person's Thought Body willing to break the rules just to communicate with you?"

Yang Ming smiled bashfully, "I just happened to put that older brother in a desperate situation."

"How fortunate we are to have decided to nurture you instead of destroying you; otherwise, how much precious information we would have lost."

Director Eno's face showed relief.

Yang Ming: ...

So, the possibility of destroying him was quite high before?

They found a common topic this time, even engaging in a bit of academic discussion about the Faya Civilization.

When Director Eno looked at Yang Ming, apart from admiration, there was also a sense of melancholy.

"Hanton, do you know what the meaning of existence here is?"

Yang Ming looked back and saw busy figures all around and machinery that he couldn't comprehend.

Yang Ming asked, "Exploring the path to ascension?"

Director Eno let out a laugh, "You could say that's right, and you could also say it's wrong. To be precise, it's about exploring the potential for the original human species to ascend. You just mentioned that the Faya people ascend through cognition. What's your understanding of cognitive ascension?"

"It means that the Thought Body exists independently of the body," Yang Ming pondered carefully, "Since cognitive ascension and mechanical ascension are opposing concepts, their forms should be distinctly different."

Director Eno nodded slightly, saying warmly:

"The ascension of the Faya Civilization is collective.

"You should be aware of the communication mechanism of the Space Worm Clan, high-dimensional microorganisms that cross space and use quantum effects for direct communication.

"When the Faya Civilization reached the threshold of a level four civilization, they too faced a difficult choice.

"At that time, they had already lost human bodies and evolved into forms you can't imagine. What we know is that they could freely change their body shapes and achieve interstellar information synchronization.

Yang Ming listened, completely engrossed, picturing various forms of mimic life in his mind.

Director Eno continued softly:

"Are they human? It can be said so because they evolved from a human civilization that developed on a tiny planet.

"They had a more splendid human civilization before them, they are not the origin of human civilization, but it's certain that they represent one possibility of human civilization."

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