Chapter 89

The emperor waved his hand and said, "You must be tired. Go find a restaurant for breakfast, and come back to see Me in the evening."

"Yes!"

The three responded in unison.

They left the palace.

Zhao Zhibing greeted the two and said she had to go to the parallel world's palace to make many preparations, then hurried off.

Only Zhao Junyu and Wu Xiaode remained.

"Let's go for breakfast?" Zhao Junyu asked.

"Wait, how is Xia Huilan? If she's still sleeping, I won't call her," Wu Xiaode said.

"She was taken to the royal hospital last night, and the check-up was fine. It's only been one night, so she might need more rest—what's wrong?" Zhao Junyu asked.

Wu Xiaode also came to his senses.

That's right.

It's only been one night.

"…She hasn't woken up?"

"She woke up this morning, ate a little, and went back to sleep."

"Sounds good."

Wu Xiaode's phone suddenly rang.

"Hello, Old Qian?" Wu Xiaode said.

"Brother Wu, I got a martial arts manual in the other world. Come back for breakfast and help me check this manual, okay?" Qian Mingkui's voice came from the phone.

"I'm hungry. I'll eat in the city and then come to you." Wu Xiaode said.

As he spoke, a loud noise came from the phone.

Qian Mingkui's voice suddenly cut off.

Wu Xiaode's face changed.

He suddenly remembered something.

The escaped prisoner had said that once someone awakens their power, the world would activate a mechanism to try to eliminate the awakened person.

Could it be that Qian Mingkui…

"An important friend?" Zhao Junyu asked.

"Yes, we need to go check on him right away," Wu Xiaode said anxiously.

"Where? Let's go now."

Zhao Junyu took out his phone and said softly, "Adjust the satellite image and start transmitting the video."

"Snow Plum Martial Arts Hall, in the suburbs of the capital," Wu Xiaode said.

"Lock the location and immediately display the status of living beings," Zhao Junyu said.

A holographic image appeared before the two of them.

From a high altitude, the view gradually zoomed in, showing a large fat man and a little girl raising chickens on the outdoor training ground.

There seemed to have been an explosion inside the house.

The fat man and the little girl were startled, and the fat man's phone fell to the ground.

"It's fine, the phone just broke," Zhao Junyu said.

"What about the explosion?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Judging by the condition of the house, it was likely a gas explosion," Zhao Junyu said.

Wu Xiaode let out a sigh of relief.

"Damn! I knew this fat guy had ancestral protection—"

He was about to continue when he suddenly remembered something.

Ancestral protection…

And awakened soul power…

Old Qian, you must have a family history of being exiled to the penal colony!

Speaking of which, what did your ancestors do?

Rumble.

Wu Xiaode's stomach began to protest.

"Let's go, don't worry about them. Let's eat first, and then we'll go to the martial arts hall."

"Okay."

A few minutes later.

The two stood in front of a street corner food stall, joining the queue.

"This place has really good noodles. The beef, offal, braised eggs, yellow wine, and rice wine are all very flavorful," Zhao Junyu praised.

"You're making me hungrier," Wu Xiaode said, rubbing his stomach.

Ding ding ding—

Both of their phones rang simultaneously.

They took them out and saw that Zhao Zhibing had shared a news article.

Today's front-page headline.

A royal spokesperson in a dark red robe with gold embroidery stood in the center of the image.

Below was a large line of text:

"The royal family has invested in the 'Wude Fengfu' film company, adding funding for a large-scale sci-fi movie."

"The filming will continue, with an expected production period of one year."

Wu Xiaode understood immediately.

He had done two live streams, and if he had to face various new problems, he would need to take action.

—The remaining three members of the S-level club would all need to act.

The best way to cover it up was to "make a movie."

This would allow the central AI to categorize abnormal events as "movie special effects," preventing activation and excessive analysis.

This would make the emperor's brain more comfortable.

—Perfect.

The two, with empty stomachs, queued up, occasionally checking their phones.

A few minutes later.

It was finally their turn.

Zhao Junyu ordered a bowl of sauce noodles with braised eggs and rice wine.

Wu Xiaode ordered a bowl of beef noodles with double beef, two braised eggs, yellow wine, and an iced cola.

They carried their noodles and didn't go inside the stall, but instead moved a small stool outside, placing the noodles on a large stool to eat.

The morning breeze was still cool.

People came and went in the noodle shop. A woman with a child, an old man on a bicycle, laughing middle school students, a middle-aged man with a fishing rod, and a woman in a practice suit all buried their heads in their noodles, greeting familiar faces and chatting about daily life.

Wu Xiaode, while eating the braised eggs and drinking the iced cola, watched the steady stream of people and listened to the mundane conversations, feeling a sudden sense of satisfaction.

"Who says this is a penal colony? I think it's just fine," he said to himself.

"Brother, these are the small joys of ordinary people. Maybe you and the other awakened ones were once gods!" Zhao Junyu leaned over and said.

Gods…

Wu Xiaode thought of the boy who had been killed.

He was once the emperor of an interstellar empire.

He failed, was imprisoned here, and became a clueless boy, then was killed by his enemies without any resistance.

The empire he protected became a puppet of others.

"Yes," Wu Xiaode sighed, "who knows."

"Hey, look at the third table across, the girl in red." Zhao Junyu whispered.

Wu Xiaode glanced over casually.

The girl was sweet-looking but weak, clearly an ordinary person, posing no threat.

He relaxed and continued slurping his noodles, asking indistinctly:

"See her, what's up?"

"She's looking at us," Zhao Junyu said.

Wu Xiaode rolled his eyes and said, "Looking at you once won't take a piece of your flesh."

"No, I think she might be interested in us, maybe she likes one of us," Zhao Junyu said in a low voice.

As he spoke, the girl indeed got up and walked over to the two of them.

She politely greeted them and asked for their contact information.

Wu Xiaode refused, citing inconvenience.

Zhao Junyu, with gentlemanly manners, added her as a friend.

The girl politely said goodbye and left with a smile.

"Hey, in public, you need to give girls some face, got it?" Zhao Junyu said earnestly.

Wu Xiaode shrugged and said, "You might not be like us, who spend our days on the streets. Some things, once you see them often, you can smell them a mile away."

"You mean she has ulterior motives?"

"Not necessarily."

"Exactly, I think she might have a crush on us."

"Having a crush on two people at once, what do you think that means? Hmm?"

"Um…"

Zhao Junyu was stumped.

Just then, his phone vibrated.

He took it out and saw it was the girl.

She had sent a message:

"Handsome, our city's eastern gym has a swimming pool and boxing classes. Interested?"

Zhao Junyu silently put down his phone.

"Don't see a girl and think she likes you, okay? Be honest, don't always think you're cool and awesome," Wu Xiaode said earnestly.

Zhao Junyu lowered his head and quietly ate his noodles.

The two slowly finished their breakfast.

Zhao Junyu patted Wu Xiaode's shoulder and said:

"You're paying."

"Why?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"You signed a contract, so you don't have to pay for meals," Zhao Junyu said.

"Really?"

Wu Xiaode took out his phone and scanned to pay.

Ding!

A small line of text appeared on his phone:

"His Majesty pays for this meal, so be it."

Wu Xiaode was taken aback and muttered, "The current emperor is benevolent and close to the people, truly admirable!"

In the palace.

The emperor grinned, crossed his legs, and slowly sipped his tea.

Across from him, Zhao Zhibing had returned to the hall.

She was holding her phone, sending the supply consumption list to the emperor.

"You didn't use many talismans this time… I'll pay to replenish them," the emperor said, looking at the list.

"Thank you, Father," Zhao Zhibing said coolly.

"Huh? Why did you use a 'One-time Skin Isolation Talisman'?" the emperor suddenly asked.

"The situation was urgent. Wu Xiaode held my hand to pull me away from an attack," Zhao Zhibing said expressionlessly.

"This kid, he probably didn't know you had twelve substitute talismans… Ha, given how he protected you, I won't hold it against him," the emperor said.

Halfway through, he seemed to remember something and asked, "That talisman only lasts a minute. How many times did you hold hands?"

"Just once—when he saved me," Zhao Zhibing said, looking straight ahead.

"Oh, that's good. If you go tonight, how many talismans will you take?" the emperor asked, relieved.

"Usually there's no danger, so I only take three hundred. But the situation is getting more complex and dangerous, so I'll take five thousand tonight, which should be enough to save my life," Zhao Zhibing said.

The emperor's face fell, and he said softly, "Ice, do you want to die in that world? It will be even more dangerous tonight. Five thousand is the minimum to save your life."

"Alright, I'll prepare them for you. Go about your business," the emperor said helplessly.

"Thank you, Father. You're the best," Zhao Zhibing smiled slightly and bowed out.

In the hall.

Only the emperor remained.

Several ministers slowly entered the hall and stood respectfully to one side.

"The princess has grown up," one minister remarked.

The emperor sighed, "My daughter values her life, which is a good thing, yes, a good thing."

He waved his hand.

A holographic image of an underground tunnel structure slowly rotated in the air.

"Alright, we're going to start digging underground. This is the tunnel map we just obtained. Everyone, share your opinions."

The ministers looked at the structure diagram together, their expressions serious.