Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Three days ago.

In a room with tightly closed windows, Yiye sat at the table, dressed in a long shirt and trousers, with one leg crossed over the other. His sharply defined face was fragmented by the cold light reflected from the screen.

He clicked on the video, and the scene showed four white walls with no decorations, only a white swivel chair placed in the center. Soon, a voice came from off-screen, and then he saw Dr. Anderson in work clothes.

Wearing goggles, he sat on the chair, his gaze sharp, as if piercing through the limitations of time and space, locking eyes with Yiye.

"Yiye Langley, hello, I am Ake Anderson."

Yiye's pupils contracted slightly.

The elders spoke in a calm tone, lacking the usual sarcasm and ferocity he displayed during their meetings, instead sounding like an ordinary old man: "The time I am in now is 4:02 PM on June 12, New Star Calendar 369. According to my calculations, when you see this video, it will be about 20 days later, which is also the day of my trial for treason."

"You must have heard about it these past few days, I am accused of treason."

"How foolish. I once had my limbs severed for the Empire, but now the Round Table has labeled me as a traitor colluding with the Federation. They are such shameless beings; if someone desires it, they can easily destroy anyone."

He shook his head: "But never mind, this topic is not important for now. Let's talk about me and the Round Table. You should know that I come from the most ordinary family, a commoner. Do you want to know why I was able to enter the Round Table?"

"Not just because I created top-tier mechs for the Empire, but also because they needed a useful commoner. These nobles love to put on a show, selecting a commoner to join the Round Table to declare to the entire Empire that 'commoners also have the power to make decisions.' And after my death, they can take the seat back with a reasonable excuse."

"By then, there will be no room for commoners to speak in the Round Table. This will be a very sad and helpless thing. I have tried to resist, but I am old, and I am not an excellent politician. I don’t have the energy to continue in this position, but I also don’t want a group of thieves to steal what belongs to me."

"So, Yiye Langley, young students of the Imperial Honor Military Academy, let’s make a deal."

Yiye sat up straight, listening carefully to the elder's instructions from the video.

"I want to entrust you to participate in the trial on my behalf, to clear my name, and as a reward, I will give you the ring symbolizing the Twelve Seats." Dr. Anderson shook the ring on his hand, "Don’t worry, this trial won’t be difficult. All the evidence that can exonerate me is in a compressed file. Your trial will be exceptionally easy."

"You could say that no trial in the world will be easier than this one. You might even treat it as a joke."

"However, please remember, once you agree, your future will be filled with hardships. As I wrote in my letter to General Lin Pei, your end might not be better than mine, and you might die even faster than I did."

"The Empire loves outstanding ambitious individuals, but it never loves those who are outstanding yet lack a background. When you become one of the Twelve Seats, you will face the greatest malice from the Empire. They will want to possess you, plunder you, and also kill you, oppress you."

"You will have a very hard time, perhaps every night you will have to wonder if you will see the next day’s sun."

"So, think carefully, child."

As the words fell, the screen turned dark.

Yiye frowned slightly, lost in thought over the elder's words, but before he could ponder for long, the screen suddenly lit up again.

The elder leaned closer to the camera, slightly bent over, and with a change in tone, he dipped his finger in saliva and pulled out a piece of paper hidden in his chest. He muttered something, his eyes following his fingertip as if confirming the words on the paper, then tapped the paper, "Oh, there are a few more sentences I forgot to say. It’s been decades since I last drafted something, so I can’t remember clearly."

Yiye: ...?

After such a serious atmosphere, what is this now?

"You probably only have 8 pieces of the puzzle in your hands now, so it seems our puzzle game is nearing its end. But if you are afraid of death, you can give up now, take the 8 pieces and trade them with the Round Table. I think those people who are not short of money would be willing to give you a large sum as hush money."

"Will you take the money and run away, living a carefree life for the rest of your days, or will you continue our puzzle game and go to the Imperial Court on my behalf?"

After finishing these words in one breath, Dr. Anderson let out a long sigh and looked at Yiye outside the camera.

After a moment of thought, he suddenly stuffed the paper back into his pocket and revealed a sinister, ugly smile: "If you choose the former, I will haunt you even as a ghost—"

Snap.

The screen went completely black.

Later, Yi Ye found the ring of the Twelve Seats according to the information left by Dr. Anderson. Inside the box, there was also a power of attorney for litigation, already stamped and signed.

As long as he signed his name, it would take effect immediately.

"I do want to take the money and leave..."

Yi Ye held the box, looking bitterly into the hole where he had dug it out.

The hole was right next to the fence between the two houses,

right beneath the board Anderson had broken earlier.

From the very beginning, this old man had been targeting him.

Quit?

It seems that's not an option. Maybe this old man really will come after him.

Then let's give it a try. After all, he has already died once and isn't as afraid of death anymore.

...

Back to the present.

Inside the court.

The young cadet's words caused everyone present to widen their eyes in shock, and many even stood up directly. The ring of the Twelve Seats was actually in the hands of a guy barely in his twenties? Who could believe that! Even in their wildest dreams, they wouldn't dare to dream so big, but he actually said it outright?!

"No way, is this for real?"

"The new Twelve Seats? He's way too young, right? Could the ring be fake?"

"OMG, this guy is so hot!!"

"He's begging for trouble! Holding the ring and claiming to be one of the Twelve Seats, does he really think the other members of the Senate will let him off?"

...

"Preposterous!" The loud crash of a cane hitting the ground echoed through the sky as Duke Jedd shouted sternly, "Do you think you can just impersonate one of the Twelve Seats by holding the ring? Do you think the Senate is a place anyone can just walk into?"

"But I recall this is a rule established by the Senate itself," Yi Ye stood straight, his expression serious, "The seats of the Twelve Seats are hereditary, and the previous Twelve Seats can choose their own successors. The rightful owner of the ring becomes the new Twelve Seats."

"How can you be sure you're the rightful owner!"

Jedd's face turned livid. The young cadet's retort was like a slap in the face. This was not just a challenge to his authority, but a challenge to the authority of the entire empire and the Senate! Every member of the Round Table had supreme power and wealth to be there. Even Anderson, he thought, was a blemish on the Round Table. If this cadet were to join, what would be the point of the Senate!

"Guards, take this cadet away and execute him immediately!"

"Who dares to act!" Ling Pei cocked the trigger in threat.

At that critical moment, it felt like a raging fire was in the air, the atmosphere boiling, with sparks flying everywhere. The tension was palpable, and no one dared to move, cautiously observing the expressions of those around them. Everyone was on edge, fearing for their safety, except for a few members of the Round Table who remained somewhat calm.

The Duchess of Wenz glanced at the heads of the other families, all of whom showed disdain in unison. She shook her head slightly, then turned to look at Moxi. Moses Audria had remained silent from the start, but his deeply furrowed brow was enough to show his contempt and disgust for the cadet before him.

She knew that Moxi was an extreme believer in talent supremacy. Yi Ye was just an unknown Beta, and he would never allow a Beta to stand at the same height as himself.

If this continues, Yi Ye won’t be able to get out of here.

"Judge Alynya," she stood up leisurely, "let’s take a vote, show of hands?"

"Wentz, you witch, what nonsense are you spouting now!" Duke Jedd snarled.

Wentz smiled, "Old Duke, don’t lose your cool, just hear me out."

"Let’s put aside whether Yi Ye legally got his seat for now. Isn’t Dr. Anderson’s treason trial the main event today? There are 8 members of the Round Table present, the Chief and Principal Howard are absent, and the third seat has long since passed away. Let’s vote by show of hands. If we get 4 or more votes, then Yi Ye can replace Dr. Anderson in the trial. If less than half, then he’ll be detained, and the trial process will proceed as before."

"Old Duke, only General Lin Pei and I would back Yi Ye, so you’re safe, right?"

"It has to be a majority!"

"Alright then. Judge Alynya, what do you think?" Wentz’s eyes flickered with frustration.

"...Agreed."

After a pause, Alynya raised his hand to the clerk.

The clerk wiped his brow, trembling.

After decades as a desk jockey, it was the first time he’d seen such an outrageous and terrifying scene, and he couldn’t believe he was about to witness history. At the same time, he felt a sense of melancholy—the immense fatigue from the mental and physical stress. Could this count as a workplace injury?

He sighed inwardly, then said seriously, "All in favor of Yi Ye replacing the Twelve Seats, raise your hands."

Lin Pei and Wentz raised their hands.

Duke Jedd scoffed, his face twisted in sarcasm.

But then a third hand was raised, interrupting his scorn.

It was the new head of the Green family, Antz Green. His face was hollow and gaunt, raising his left hand high, his gloomy cheeks showing no expression, like a numb body, staring at the tall figure in the center of the courtroom.

"You—" Before Duke Jedd could explode, someone else raised their hand.

This one shocked Duke Jedd even more, and he immediately jumped up in anger, glaring at Alynya on the high bench: "Alynya, do you realize what you’re doing!"

"Duke Jedd, my call doesn’t need your input."

But even so, it was still not enough.

Including Alynya, only four agreed.

Yi Ye scrambled to find a way out.

But at the moment, it was absolutely impossible to convince a member of the Round Table to agree with him within a few minutes. Not to mention that he’d never had contact with the other members, but General Mo Xi alone would probably want to skin him alive. Unless a meteor hit, the earth split, the Zerg invaded, or General Mo Xi got knocked out by a tennis ball, he’d never raise his hand to agree to his participation...

Wait.

He’s raising his hand.

Yi Ye: "?!"

Duke Jedd: "?!"

What’s going on!!

Yi Ye was even more shocked than Duke Jedd.

Has General Moxi really lost his mind?!

Moxi stood up, his gleaming golden eyes still filled with complete criticism and distrust of Yiye.

Yet he still chose to speak, "Are you confident in proving Dr. Anderson's innocence?"

"I am." Yiye hesitated, then nodded.

"Good."

Moxi sat back down, silent.

"General Moxi, have you had a change of heart?" Wentz asked him with confusion.

Moxi looked at her expressionlessly, his face clearly conveying, "I won't dignify that with a response."

Wentz laughed nervously, then suddenly remembered something.

She recalled that Moxi's favorite thing in life was mechs, but it was extremely difficult for a general to obtain private ownership of a mech, not as easy as others might think. Besides passing the approval process, it also required the consent of the mech designer himself... Two of the four mechs in Moxi's residence were reportedly gifts from Dr. Anderson...

Jedd was nearly overcome with rage at the scene, and his subordinates hurriedly stepped forward to support him, keeping him from collapsing.

Alynya had Jedd escorted back to his seat, ignoring his curses and accusations, and struck the gavel, "This case permits military cadet Yiye Langley to represent Ake Anderson. Next, the trial officially begins."

The resounding gavel instantly echoed through the vast courtroom. On the nearly ten-meter-high walls, symmetrical patterns repeated, and in the center, a giant clock in the spacious courtroom emitted the rhythmic ticking of the clock.

The room fell silent, watching the two people at the center of the entire courtroom.

They stood under the giant clock, one was the imperial judge on the bench, and the other was the young cadet standing tall in the defendant's box.

"Cadet, do you admit that Ake Anderson traded mech blueprints with the Federal Military?"

"I do not admit it."

"Do you have evidence to prove Ake Anderson's innocence?"

"Your Honor, I certainly do."

As soon as the words fell, they saw the young man take out a hard drive.

However, when Alynya took the hard drive, the young man smirked inexplicably.

Alynya, "What are you laughing at?"

"I just remembered, Dr. Anderson told me that this trial is a farce."

"..." He frowned, "Cadet, contempt of court is a punishable offense."

"Is it contempt?" Yiye closed his eyes, "Judge Alynya, perhaps after reviewing the evidence, you'll reconsider whether I was wrong."

Alynya fell silent.

Just as he began to verify the authenticity of the evidence, a live broadcast was buzzing with activity.

"I don't quite understand... why does the Senate believe Anderson betrayed the empire? Was any evidence uncovered?"

"Didn't they claim to have evidence of his dealings with the Federation?"

"I heard it was because they captured photos of the last seat meeting with a Federal general. If so, suspicion is unavoidable, isn't it?"

"But this isn't conclusive evidence either, at most, it indicates they were acquainted... Don't forget why the last member's leg was broken, how could he possibly cooperate with the Federation?"

...

The photo of Anderson meeting with a Federation general. Yes, this is the origin of the entire case.

The photo is genuine, not doctored. The meeting took place on another planet, and military personnel later investigated and confirmed sightings of them together. But the problem lies here: the Empire cannot obtain statements from the Federation military, so it's impossible to determine whether they were just meeting casually or conducting a transaction, which is why this trial has been repeatedly delayed.

Until recently, when the military tracked Anderson's personal mech database, they found traces of an anonymous login. After investigation, they confirmed the identity of this person—a high-ranking officer in the Federation military.

Thus, Anderson's treason charge was confirmed, and he was arrested and taken to the Empire's prison that very night.

The next morning, he took his own life, presumably out of guilt.

"If you ask me, that last member is undoubtedly a traitor, otherwise why meet with a Federation general?"

"I think he was framed... it feels like a massive conspiracy."

"What benefit would the last member have from betraying the Empire? For thrills?"

"Maybe he hates the Empire, these scientists can be quite eccentric, can't they?"

...

Various speculations continued endlessly, crowding the comment section.

After reviewing all the evidence, Alynya's face was a mask of indescribable complexity.

He looked at Yi Ye, then back at the documents in his hand, the underlying motives behind those actions were baffling.

"As you said, this is nothing short of an absurd joke."

Alynya wearily rubbed his temples and handed the materials over: "Clerk, project the evidence on the screen."

As the light screen lit up, evidence in stark black and white appeared before everyone's eyes, screenshots, proofs, countless glaring words seemed to leap off the screen, searing into people's hearts. Everyone watched in silence, their eyes gradually revealing unspeakable shock and regret.

This is nothing but a farce... the entire trial process is a colossal joke!

Anderson did meet with a Federation general and gave them access to his personal mech database, but this is not the whole story.

The story began half a year ago.

Half a year ago, Dr. Anderson's mech designs were accidentally leaked and nearly obtained by the Federation. The Empire's military suspected an internal spy and spent two months thoroughly investigating, but found nothing. After careful thought, Dr. Anderson proposed a plan to the Emperor to uncover the mole.

The Emperor agreed and classified the plan, ordering that Dr. Anderson must not reveal it to anyone unless the mole was caught.

Anderson took on the task, deciding to play the role himself, deliberately reaching out to the Federation.

He successfully met with a high-ranking Federation general, arranged in a remote star system—the one captured in the photo.

But he remained silent, fully committed to his plan.

He thought the Emperor would resolve everything for him, but what Anderson didn't know was that the Emperor, lost in wine and revelry, had long forgotten the orders he had issued.

Later, Anderson rebuilt a fake mech database, where every mech design contained a fatal flaw, detectable only after manufacturing. Using this fake mech database, he earned the trust of that high-ranking officer, and was on the verge of uncovering the mole.

But that very night, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Empire.

The next day, he met a sudden death.

When the truth came out, it felt so flimsy it was almost unbelievable.

The courtroom fell silent, everyone exchanging glances, their faces reflecting a shared sense of absurd stupidity.

"No..."

Duke Jedd shot to his feet, "How is this possible! If it was part of the spy lure, why didn’t he speak up!"

Yi Ye nearly laughed in frustration, "How could he disclose a classified plan?"

"...No, this is bogus, it’s got to be a lie cooked up by Anderson!"

Yi Ye spun around to face him, "Why would you rather believe this is a lie than trust the loyalty of an Imperial?"

Duke Jedd’s face contorted briefly before he tightened his grip on his cane and barked, "What loyalty could he have? A commoner-born wretch, isn’t it in his nature to be self-serving?!"

Commoners. Over and over, commoners.

Ever since he arrived on the main planet, he couldn’t escape the constant chatter about them. Homeless folks burned alive for touching a statue, youths left to suffer and die from illness, the Holy Church preaching purity while treating lives like trash...

Yi Ye had put up with this countless times.

He tried to steady himself with deep breaths, but Duke Jedd’s cutting remarks wore his patience thin.

This world was rotten, packed with people and things that made his skin crawl.

"You’re just a cadet from the Imperial Honor Military Academy. Being allowed to speak here is a privilege, and you’re still complaining? What gives you the right—ugh!! What the hell are you doing?!"

The black-haired youth suddenly charged at Duke Jedd, grabbing his collar, his handsome face dark with menace, "If you hate commoners so much, why not just wipe out all the Imperials?"

"Release me!" Duke Jedd bellowed.

"What, you think a Beta like me isn’t even fit to touch you?" He let out a bitter laugh, "This is rich. How many taxpayers are commoners? If you hate them this much, how can you still live high on their money?"

"You’re yelling at me, the Fourth Seat, over a dead man?!" Duke Jedd’s face flushed crimson, "If he was on a secret mission, why didn’t he just tell the Senate?"

"Who could he trust? What if you were the mole?"

"He’d already gone this far with the plan. Who the hell gets to call it off?"

"You—you—" Duke Jedd stammered, his voice shaking.

Yi Ye smirked, "He was never wrong. The ones in the wrong are you—and that fake Emperor—"

"Yi Ye!!!" Ling Pei’s voice boomed, impossible to ignore.

Yi Ye froze, his hands mid-motion, and looked up to meet Ling Pei’s warning stare.

Ling Pei muttered, "Don’t do something stupid."

Yi Ye hesitated.

The next second, he slammed his fist into Duke Jedd’s nose! Crack! The sickening sound of breaking bone echoed, and a swarm of people rushed to restrain him, hauling him away.

The room erupted into utter chaos.

"Yi Ye!" Alynya snapped, "This is a courtroom. Get a grip!"

"Of course I am calm, Your Honor," Yi Ye shrugged. "You should now declare Dr. Anderson not guilty, right? Your empire's so-called just and strict laws have just killed a person. You must be thrilled, huh?"

Alynya: "...I'm really sorry."

"Does an apology bring someone back to life?"

"Yi Ye, no matter what you say, the empire's laws never singled out Dr. Anderson," Alynya cast a subtle glance at the blinking red light of the surveillance camera, her tone calm. "His death was a suicide."

Yi Ye's eyes narrowed slightly: "What are you saying..."

But Alynya did not respond to his question.

"Talk! What do you mean it was suicide?"

He struggled fiercely, surrounded by several bailiffs who handcuffed his hands. His knee was suddenly kicked! Pain shot through him, and he let out a grunt as he dropped to his knees. Then, the bailiffs piled on, pressing down hard on his back, pinning his cheek to the ground, leaving him unable to move.

"Alynya! Answer me, why was it suicide!"

"The verdict in this case is now announced."

"Alynya!!"

"Regarding the case of Ake Anderson's treason, after the trial, it has been confirmed that Ake Anderson was loyal to the empire and is therefore acquitted."

"Bastard! Speak!"

"Due to the questionable legality of how cadet Yi Ye Langley obtained the ring of the Twelve Seats, and for disrupting court proceedings, he is to be held in custody."

"The trial is hereby concluded."

With a sharp crack, the gavel came down.