235: Who was the emperor lecturing?

The three S-rank High-Grade Male Beasts left the flagship.

Tu Nan felt quite restless.

Perhaps it was because of Kong Jiamu's vague explanation, or perhaps because she was well aware that her protective umbrella was now The Emperor himself.

Fortunately, a week later, they returned safely.

It happened to be evening; Tu Nan had finished her day's work and was playing with the Children.

The Emperor pushed open the door and entered alone.

“You're back.” Tu Nan was delighted to see that although The Emperor looked unwell, he didn't appear to be injured.

However, as she noticed no one else behind him, her expression turned cautious.

“They...”

The Emperor gave her a strange look.

“Who?”

But he immediately paused and answered.

“Kong Jiamu is a Major General; he still needs to regroup his unit.” After a brief pause, he added,

“He sustained a few injuries.”

“The Sir Knight? Is he badly hurt?” Tu Nan asked.

Since that man had no name, Tu Nan had no choice but to call him the Knight.

The Emperor threw himself onto the sofa.

“James will help him with the treatment; it's not a big problem,” he said, looking at Shou.

“Go lend a hand over there.” He casually dismissed the other Silver Armored Knight, Shou, who was standing in the corner of the room.

Tu Nan didn't feel anything was amiss; after all, they were originally The Emperor's subordinates.

She did find it strange that James was the one providing the treatment.

However, she immediately thought that the Silver Armored Knight might need to maintain his mystery—perhaps his face couldn't be seen by an ordinary Military Doctor?

Noticing that The Emperor himself also looked very exhausted, it seemed his spirit hadn't fully recovered after undergoing a great battle.

“I'll go order some food for you. Would you like to wash up first?”

Tu Nan called for a meal using the internal line.

After rinsing off, The Emperor changed into a long black robe for the first time in a while and finished his dinner unhurriedly.

During this time, he occasionally watched the interaction between Tu Nan and the Children.

Since that ability had already been seen through by The Emperor anyway, she used it without restraint.

“The little guys are growing well; this nest seems quite useful.”

The Emperor chimed in.

Tu Nan found it funny remembering that half of Gaia's luggage consisted of this grass.

“In the future, I'll have the company sell this as well.” She casually added a new salable product to her company's list. “Maybe they'll even be available at Mobile Living Points later on.”

Speaking of which, she couldn't help but mention the issue of safety.

Since Your Majesty was here, she asked the question she had been suppressing for a long time.

“Your Majesty, since Star Worms clearly eat anything, why does the situation of them surrounding our Beastman Planets occur?”

“They even surround starships...”

“You know, if the Mobile Living Points I proposed were surrounded by Star Worms, it would be too dangerous. Thinking about this over the past two days, I feel my proposal was too hasty.”

The Emperor was drinking tea.

Hearing this, he glanced at Tu Nan in surprise.

“You only just thought of that?”

“I don't hold a military position, Your Majesty. Given my previous environment, it's normal not to know these things.”

“You were quite arrogant that day. I thought you knew everything.”

The Emperor gave her a sharp jab.

Tu Nan was speechless and turned back to play with the Children, feeling a little bit of shame for her grand talk that day.

“Don't overthink it. It's not a big problem.”

The Emperor didn't let her continue to be embarrassed and told her the key point directly.

“Compared to other food, Star Worms prefer beastmen—or rather, they like eating high-ranking beastmen. So they aren't staring at beastman planets; they are just staring at high-ranking beastmen.”

“Therefore, the nodes formed by High-Grade Male Beasts, which are a type of defense and deterrent formed in combination with the Anti-aircraft Star Link Network, are also fixed bait.”

“Now that the army is out and there are many High-Grade Male Beasts, they naturally attract Star Worms. But because of this, the planets on the ground are even safer.”

So that was it; Tu Nan had a moment of realization.

“So the Border Star cannot be left ignored, because it would be breached if it encountered passing Star Worms, but if High-Grade Male Beasts are present, they will attract even more Star Worms.”

“Yes. That is why High-Grade Male Beasts usually do not stay on the Border Star for long.”

There was still something she couldn't quite figure out.

Tu Nan spoke up hesitantly.

“It sounds like Star Worms are looking for specific nutrients in beastmen, and it's more concentrated in high-ranking beastmen. Just like how cats need to eat mice to supplement their night vision.”

The Emperor smiled at her somewhat inappropriate but very understandable analogy.

Tu Nan was still pondering; she was truly curious and tried to discuss it with The Emperor.

“Kong Jiamu once told me that S-rank Male Beasts can form a deterrent against Star Worms.”

“He said high-grade Star Worms also use this method to control low-grade Star Worms.”

“I told him then that it sounds like we and the Star Worms are very similar; I even feel like we are different branches of the same species, competing on the same evolutionary chain.”

“Oh? What did Kong Jiamu say?” The Emperor asked.

“He said it was disgusting.”

The Emperor shook his head and laughed.

He put down his teacup and walked over to the cradle.

Tu Nan hurriedly stood up and gave her chair to him.

The Emperor accepted it without ceremony and pointed to another chair in the room, instructing Tu Nan.

“Drag it over.”

“What for?”

“I'm going to give the Children a lesson; you sit beside me to relay it,” he told Tu Nan calmly.

“I'll tell them about some conjectures regarding Star Worm research, though they haven't been fully confirmed.”

He glanced at Tu Nan.

“A fresh mind might be more useful; it can always find directions that the old ministers can't think of.”

Listen to yourself, does that even sound right? What kind of family gives an infant this kind of early education?

While complaining internally, Tu Nan went to move the chair and sat obediently by his side, coaxing the Children.

“Uncle Emperor is telling you stories to put you to sleep, be good...”

The Two Children looked at them blankly.

The Emperor had already begun to lecture regardless, sentence after sentence, leaving her no time to relay anything at all.

Moreover, his topics weren't just about Star Worm research; they were also mixed with a large amount of Imperial Historical View and Strategic Decision-making.

“What do you think the Empire needs in the future? Speak boldly.”

He would even ask questions from time to time.

How was this teaching the Children? This was purely forcing her to learn!

Tu Nan had to use her brain frantically to keep up with The Emperor's teaching and answer the questions he kept popping out.

She finally understood that The Emperor was teaching her as if she were his student.

He was very fond of playing the teacher.

By the time he stopped talking, over two hours had passed.

Tu Nan was like a shell whose Soul had been hollowed out; the massive mental exertion left her face pale.

But The Emperor seemed very pleased.

“Teaching... Children is still quite interesting. Well, we'll continue another day.”

Tu Nan swallowed hard and decided to organize her notes as soon as The Emperor left. She would relay them to the Children when they were older.

But first, she had to learn it herself.

“Alright, after hearing all this, do you have any new thoughts on the question you asked earlier?”

Tu Nan stared at him with wide eyes.

It wasn't over yet?

The Emperor coughed for a while; his face had become even worse than when he first entered, turning increasingly deathly pale.

“Didn't you mention the relationship between us and the Star Worms?”

He asked Tu Nan.

“I've said so much just now. Now, what new thoughts do you have?”

So there was even a pop quiz.

Tu Nan crumbled slightly.