"Finally finished another star line," an imperial soldier lifted his glass and took a sip, looking very relaxed.

"This time, there's quite a haul—a gas giant filled with methane, perfect for a interstellar relay station, and a desert planet that, although uninhabitable, is suitable for an alien base."

"We've passed through the atmosphere, so let's not talk business anymore. Once every ten years for interstellar exploration, who knows how the family is doing," a bearded imperial soldier sighed.

"You're afraid your wife might cheat on you, oh, sorry, you don't have a wife."

"Who says I don't have a wife," the bearded man flared his nostrils and eyes: "I've got a whole cupboard full of wives."

"Have you heard? The empire has already developed bionic men that can carry personality chips, so your wives are long obsolete."

"Isn't that better—rise in rank, get rich, and lose a wife; his life is suddenly one-third complete."

The group of imperial soldiers were mocking each other when suddenly the alarm sounded.

Almost without pause, these soldiers immediately turned into well-trained war machines, and on the exploration ship, one energy cannon platform after another came online.

The voice of the artificial intelligence suddenly spoke up.

'Cancel alert, command level—Level 4, command target, Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs.'

"Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

"Why would they come knocking?"

"Those mechanical lunatics!"

With the sound of air pumps, the mechanical gate opened, and three mechanical men in black trench coats walked in, scanning the room with crimson electronic eyes, landing on the highest-ranking officer, Colonel Richard.

"Colonel Richard, according to imperial orders, I need to temporarily requisition this ship."

"Please allow me to refuse, we are an outer space exploration ship and follow only the orders of the space command center, I need to notify the superior."

Colonel Richard had just grabbed the communicator when a mechanical man seized his arm.

"I'm afraid not, this is a secret order."

"Then forgive me even more for not complying," Colonel Richard's expression turned cold, and the other imperial soldiers seeing this, unsheathed their gun weapons.

"You don't trust us?" the mechanical man said calmly.

"It's not a matter of trust; imperial spies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are the most meticulously engineered and cannot betray."

"But without orders from General Xiao Yuanjun, I refuse to execute tasks from other departments."

The 'Imperial Spy' did not speak, and amidst the shrill alarm, the inside of the cabin suddenly blazed with red light.

"Boss, they're hacking into this ship's intelligent system!"

Richard closed his eyes, and the next moment, a port opened at the back of his skull, revealing an electronic tube connecting to the ship body.

Similarly, each imperial soldier exposed electronic tubes at the back of their skulls.

"First generation brain-machine, with some biological computer functions, interesting."

Gao Gong observed quietly, speaking to himself.

Both sides seemed to be engaging in a hacking battle; the lights on the ship flashed red and green several times, and more than once, Gao Gong saw the energy cannon platform turning, the muzzle pointing directly at the command room.

True to imperial style, ruthlessly against their own.

After quite a while, the hacker confrontation seemed to conclude with the lights turning green and the mechanical gate sharply closing.

Though expressionless, 'Imperial Spy' was clearly flustered.

"Looks like we'll have a good talk at the military court," Richard said with a victorious smile.

"No, we can't go to military court, you'll regret it!"

"If it's truly an affair of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, invoking the Imperial Main Brain can shut down the whole ship anytime, but you hacked into the space management system to illegally requisition a warship, the audacity! Who's backing you!?"

"It's me."

From the 'Emperor Disc,' an elder voice suddenly arose.

"General, this is impossible!?"

But with the screen on the spaceship lighting up, an aged yet commanding military face appeared, leaving the imperial soldiers looking at each other in bewilderment.

"General, why—" Richard said in a face of shock.

"Let me explain," next to the general, a young man with a pale demeanor smiled.

This young man's presence was suffused with an indescribable nobility; his gaze seemed to pierce the heart. In Gao Gong's eyes, it's the embodiment of top-tier mechanical intuition.

"Crown Prince!?"

"Colonel, I cannot tell you much, only that this is an experiment crucial to the empire's future. You can take the ship, but I need the ship's intelligent core."

Richard paused for a moment and said: "This, this—"

"Richard, follow the Crown Prince's instructions!" the old general said in a stern voice.

"May I know what the experiment is about?" Richard asked hesitantly.

"If the experiment succeeds, you'll naturally understand what it is," said the Black Prince enigmatically: "It's our only way to escape this disaster."

The next moment, the world spun, and when Gao Gong regained his senses, he found dawn breaking. Director Du was somehow standing behind him, gently massaging his shoulder.

"Disaster, that advanced mechanical civilization?"

"The only way to escape disaster?"

Gao Gong spoke to himself.

"Ascension?"

Gao Gong, though he dared not claim to know all the secrets of this game's universe, such as how players were dragged through web lines—he had no idea.

But at least, his comprehension far surpassed that of the native Crown Prince.

The method for a low-level civilization to escape an advanced civilization's grip was, from start to finish, only one: Civilization Ascension.

Yet Civilization Ascension is something a Level 3 Civilization can barely touch, while the empire is only a still-developing Level 2 Civilization. Where would it find ascension?

Was it hoodwinked by aliens?

Or perhaps at this time, the Black Prince had already been impersonated?

But since it's called 'Civilization Secrets,' this 'experiment' is certainly tied to the empire's destruction and even the Second Mechanical War.

Moreover, he gained a clue—General Xiao Yuanjun.

The old man surely knows about the experiment.

And his surname is Xiao.

"What are you thinking about?" Director Du gently asked.

Gao Gong did not respond, skillfully flicking his fingers so the veil dropped down behind him.

"Thinking too much is useless; at the crack of dawn, better to have some exercise."

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