127: Chapter 127 Agor

The moment the door opened, Thompson caught a faint scent, like grass after the rain.

He stood at the doorway, watching a woman from Guga Planet standing by the window.

The woman turned her head upon hearing the sound. Around her eyes was a black, high-tech visor-like device. She wore a black, form-fitting uniform, similar in style to the Interstellar Police Department uniform but simpler. Pinned to her left chest was a silver-gray badge engraved with a symbol he could not decipher.

"Hello." She spoke, her voice in standard English. "I come from the Guga Empire, Planet 3962, 7th Moon. You may call me Argor."

Thompson was momentarily stunned. It was the first time he had seen a designation based on planet numbers, which meant that the Guga Civilization possessed so many planets that they could not be bothered to name them.

"Vincent Thompson." He quickly pulled himself together, reached out, and tried his best to make his voice sound normal. "I am from Blue Star, New York. It is a pleasure to be your partner."

Argor looked down at his hand, a stream of data flashing beneath her visor, before she reached out and took his hand.

"Handshake. A common social ritual of Blue Star humans, originating from the intention of peace by demonstrating that one's hands are free of weapons. Recorded."

Before Thompson could think of an opening line, a sharp cry suddenly exploded by his feet.

"Gugu Gaga!"

A black and white ball of fluff shot out from under the conference table, landing with a crisp "splat" sound before sliding half a meter across the smooth floor due to momentum.

After steadying itself, the thing lifted its head, two large, round eyes staring straight at Thompson.

Thompson's back slammed against the doorframe, his right hand reflexively pressing against the empty holster at his waist.

Only then did he see what that thing was.

A penguin, which he had seen countless times.

"Guga Ninth Princess?!"

Thompson shouted in surprise.

A scene flashed rapidly through his mind: on the giant screen in Times Square, Chen Mu held up a flag depicting the Ninth Princess, announcing to the whole world that she was the apple of the Guga Planet Emperor's eye.

The little penguin tilted its head to look at him, its round eyes blinking once.

Then it spread its short, fin-like forelimbs and took two wobbly steps toward him, like a human toddler who had just learned to walk.

"Gugu Gaga."

Argor bent down, easily scooping the little penguin up into her arms with one arm.

The little penguin immediately quieted down, rubbing its head against her chin and emitting a satisfied purr.

"She is my daughter, Gugu Gaga." Argor said, gently scratching a tuft of fluff sticking up on the little penguin's head. "She is not the Ninth Princess of our Guga Planet. The Ninth Princess is of the Emperor's bloodline and would not appear in a place like this."

Thompson realized after a moment of stunned silence that it was not the Ninth Princess, but an ordinary Guga Planet infant.

After all, he could not tell the difference between these Guga Planet people at all, unless they had very distinct features.

"Gugu Gaga!"

The little penguin suddenly poked its head out from its mother's arms and began waving its short fin-like forelimb vigorously at Thompson, as if saying hello.

Thompson could not help but be amused by it.

Seeing him smile, the little penguin waved even more enthusiastically. Its beak opened, emitting a series of syllables he could not understand at all but felt strangely pleasant: "Gaga gu, gaga ga!"

"She says your beard is interesting," Argor said, gently patting the little penguin's head to make it settle down. "Like a Blue Star creature she saw on TV earlier called a 'hedgehog'."

Argor placed the little penguin on the ground. After landing, the little penguin spun around twice in place, then began to explore the conference room with that classic wobbly gait.

It even walked to the window, trying to chase the moving spot of light on the floor; every time it pounced, the spot of light would jump onto its head.

Finally, it discovered its own reflection in the mirror on the wall, so it excitedly challenged its reflection, waving its two fin-like limbs in the air in a series of tactical maneuvers that no one could understand.

Thompson withdrew his gaze and found that Argor had been watching him the whole time.

"It really was not easy to snag this security job on your Blue Star," Argor said, a hint of emotion in her tone. "I spent ten Guga Coins just to register. There were a total of 2,300 applicants for this position, with an acceptance rate of less than 0.5 percent. It was even more competitive than when I applied to the Imperial Military Academy back in the day."

"Security job?" Thompson frowned. "Do you Guga Planet people still need to work?"

Argor looked at him, puzzled. "Don't you people on Blue Star need to work?"

A wave of sound suddenly exploded from outside the window.

The sound of the marching protest, like distant thunder rolling across the horizon.

"Down with capitalism!"

"Proletarians of the entire universe, unite!"

Thompson glanced out the window, then withdrew his gaze and waved his hands repeatedly. "I mean, your technology is so much more advanced than ours; is your social system also more advanced than ours?"

Argor puffed out her chest and said proudly, "Of course. Under the Emperor's rule, we are invincible. Over countless millennia, under the Emperor's leadership, we have defeated one strong enemy after another and crushed one conspiracy after another."

"From the Zerg invasion on Planet 1 to the Void Rifts on Planet 2800, from the Dark Matter Storms of the Orion Arm to the dimensional collapse on the edge of Andromeda, the Emperor's will is the law of our survival, and the Emperor's wisdom is the beacon of our civilization."

At this moment, the little penguin, which had been chasing its own tail on the floor, suddenly stopped.

She stood upright, balancing her round body on her two feet pressed together, her fin-like forelimbs pressed tightly against her sides, and with all her might, she solemnly performed a comical Guga salute of loyalty.

"No, no, no!" Thompson shook his head, forcibly dragging his gaze away from the little penguin, and pressed on. "I mean, who checks and balances the Emperor, and how do you handle the issue of class exploitation?"

Argor was stunned, puzzled. "Checks and balances? The Emperor is absolutely correct; why would anyone need to check and balance him?"

Thompson's heart skipped a beat. Argor's tone was like asking a fish why it needed to check and balance water, or asking a bird why it needed to check and balance the air.

The Emperor was correctness itself; to check correctness would directly constitute a logical paradox.

"Absolutely correct?" Thompson's voice turned hoarse, his lips dry. "Isn't that just a dictatorship?!"

He regretted saying the word the moment it left his lips. Insulting someone's supreme leader to their face was simply asking for death!