"""

A female nurse immediately came over holding a sterilized syringe.

The syringe was clearly something specially made; nowadays, collecting blood painlessly involved just sticking a small paper strip on the skin to get the required blood.

In practice, since all kinds of radiation detectors had become sufficiently advanced, blood tests were rarely used.

A few seconds passed, and the female nurse's expression became a bit tense.

Yang Ming's skin felt very soft, but the needle couldn't pierce through at all.

"I'll do it," an older physician nearby came over, grabbing Yang Ming's arm. He pursed his lips, gathered his strength, and made a fierce jab forward.

Yang Ming instinctively turned his head away.

The shadows of his childhood were almost summoned!

Crack.

The syringe snapped right off.

The group of nurses exchanged glances. The needles they used were...

"Burn it with a laser," Yang Ming suggested, "that's the only way now."

The physicians and nurses quickly nodded, and the elders around the conference table curiously gathered closer.

After a good half a Galaxy Time of fussing, a laser beam finally burned through Yang Ming's skin... In the end, Yang Ming himself squeezed out a dozen or so drops of fresh blood, which the other party quickly collected into a specially made container.

"Amazing really."

"Hanton, are you still human? Sorry, maybe that was a bit presumptuous."

"Of course I am human," Yang Ming replied with a laugh, dressing himself in his military uniform jacket.

The wound on the back of his hand healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, with cells dividing and proliferating rapidly yet appropriately, leaving only a black membrane on the back of his hand that Yang Ming flicked away with a wave of his hand.

"Gentlemen, my mission is over. May I leave?"

The Great Elder, with a rosy complexion, said warmly, "The Elder Court has a celebration ceremony coming up. We've invited the nobles who accompanied the military campaign, and a few princesses will even make appearances. Hanton, do you have any..."

"The Military Department has a meeting later," the head of the Military Department interjected, "Hanton needs to discuss the subsequent handling of the fortress, after all, he captured it single-handedly."

Yang Ming said, "Gentlemen, please decide on my next mission and give me the orders directly. I will take my leave now—His Majesty's guards are already urging me to leave."

The elders nodded with smiles.

Yang Ming saluted on both sides and then left the meeting room with his head held high.

In quieter quarters, Yang Ming's mouth twitched involuntarily.

Did he make a loss or a gain today?

He lost a dozen or so drops of blood and received a seemingly formidable insignia from the Old Emperor. He hadn't even figured out the name of this insignia yet.

Had he really managed to bluff the Old Emperor?

Was the Emperor's Power really restrained?

Yang Ming felt inexplicably uneasy in his heart and only wanted to return quickly to Catherine's warm and intoxicating embrace; he felt utterly unsafe here.

Just as Yang Ming left the Emperor Star Ship.

"Director, Director, come quickly! The experimental sample has a problem!"

"Damn it, what did you do!? This was a direct order from His Majesty!"

"The cells are quickly losing activity and dying... We detected Biological Energy dissipating, and the vast Biological Energy contained inside has vanished into thin air!"

"We're doomed!"

Meanwhile, Yang Ming felt a warmth on the back of his hand, as if an extremely faint energy was merging into his earlier wound.

He paid it little mind, considering that the level of Biological Energy was far too low to concern himself with.

...

Several Galaxy Times later.

A transport ship slowly departed from the Poisoned Stinger Ship, Yang Ming sat in the rising elevator, playing with the insignia in his hand.

"Wow," Lyu's voice suddenly rang out, "The Imperial Guard Knight insignia! Boss, you've truly become a confidant of the Sherman Empire's Emperor!"

Yang Ming asked, "Is this thing really famous?"

"Not exactly famous, but all the old nobles recognize it! I spent a whole 0.0001 milliseconds searching for this information!"

Little Lyu eagerly explained,

"The Empire has only twelve of these insignias in total!

"They are a tradition dating back to the founding emperor, Levi Sherman!

"Although nowadays, its wearer no longer holds the Empire's officials' right to kill first and report later, it's still an extremely rare and precious honor! With this, you can freely enter and exit the major noble clubs in the Emperor Star Circle!"

Yang Ming sighed, "Impressive?"

"Absolutely impressive!"

"I traded it with blood."

Yang Ming sighed wistfully, "I wouldn't be surprised if the Empire cloned me one day."

"In truth, you had no choice," Lyu said with a chuckle, "If you wish to establish yourself in the Empire, you must deepen mutual trust with the Empire. Sometimes, many things are more about form than actual significance, but this form is an indispensable step."

"This..."

Gurgle, gurgle—

The deep space whale song.

Yang Ming furrowed his brows, turned his head, closed his eyes, and immediately reopened them within a second.

"Lyu, move the Valkyrie! Hurry!"

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