The City of Chalk.
Yangming Palace.
After entering the palace, Islar resided in this luxurious and grand palace, which was nonetheless exquisite.
To showcase his affection for Islar, Taihao had the decorations inside Yangming Palace altered, re-arranged according to the style of the Amon Empire. It was intended to soothe Islar’s homesickness. He also allowed Islar to wear traditional Amon clothing.
Although this was ultimately useless.
Islar’s homeland had been destroyed under the iron hooves of the Empire. Her parents and relatives had indirectly died at Taihao’s hand.
Islar only felt hatred toward the Empire and Taihao.
However, due to the demon incident, and to help the demonized subjects find redemption, Islar had offered herself to Taihao, becoming his Empress in a twist of fate.
After entering the palace, Islar became listless, uninterested in anything, resembling a delicate puppet without a soul.
This state made Taihao unhappy. He was afraid that his first wife would become self-pitying and fall ill with melancholy.
Such an exquisite and perfect beauty, full of exotic charm, would be a shame if she withered away in his presence.
Taihao knew that Islar hated him, but he didn’t care.
The power of time would change everything. Memories from a decade ago were insignificant, and so-called national and family grudges couldn’t withstand the erosion of time.
One hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years.
Taihao had plenty of time to wait.
To prevent Islar from falling ill with melancholy and dying, Taihao shamelessly used the Amon people as leverage to threaten her.
“My beauty, wouldn’t you want your Amon people to survive? If anything happens to you, I’ll let all the Amon people return to the embrace of the Sun God.”
Taihao’s sinister smile was something Islar still remembered vividly.
“Despicable, shameless, you inhuman tyrant, executioner, the Sun God will surely punish you!”
Islar cursed Taihao with a voice as sweet as wind chimes, her fierce eyes filled with hatred, as if she wanted to cut him into a thousand pieces.
So despicable! Using innocent people to threaten her.
In the end, Islar still caved.
The Amon people were her Achilles’ heel. But Taihao firmly believed that Islar would have many more weaknesses in the future.
“Hmm… Tai… Taihao, wait… wait… I told you to wait! Stop… Stop… Are you a beast!?”
Inside Yangming Palace, within a pool concealed by layers of silk drapes, Taihao and Islar were engaged in a fierce battle. A weapon, a fierce 20cm long implement, pierced Islar’s body, inflicting a severe wound.
However, Islar was incredibly resilient and didn’t surrender, instead resisting with all her might.
But ultimately, Islar yielded and surrendered amidst a series of mournful screams.
The intense battle left the Amon maidservants in the hall flushed, their hearts pounding, afraid that their Empress would die.
These maidservants, clad in cool and transparent attire, all breathed heavily, their legs trembling, twisting like giant white serpents.
‘The Emperor’s combat ability is too strong! Will the Empress be killed?’
An hour later, the tempestuous storm ceased, and these maidservants finally relaxed.
In the pool, the smooth and gleaming Islar resembled a mermaid out of water. Her eyes were vacant, she trembled slightly as she lay in Taihao’s arms. Her moist and plump red lips moved slightly, gasping for air.
Extreme pleasure surged through her like waves, one after another. The confused Islar felt her sanity on the verge of evaporation.
In the square pool built from stones, Taihao held Islar tightly, immersed in blissful delight, his hands playing with her porcelain-white, soft and fragrant body. The sensation of her superior touch brought Taihao the utmost satisfaction.
This was true emperor-level enjoyment!
“Islar, I’m taking you somewhere later.”
Taihao stroked Islar’s smooth and silky spine with his hand, trailing from her slender swan neck downward, finally stopping at her sacred nest.
“Wh… what place?”
Islar’s eyes were hazy, her voice husky and alluring as she panted.
“A good place. A place that allows one to transcend time and reach the future.”
“······”
This dog man was talking nonsense again.
Exhausted, Islar just wanted to sleep. Dazed, she nodded slightly in response to Taihao.
Taihao didn’t mind. This wasn’t a discussion, but a notification.
He instructed the blushing maidservants to come in and attend to her, dressing her. Then, Taihao carried the slumbering Islar like a child into the fourth layer of the Chalk Base, placing her into the fourth Cryogenic Sleep Chamber.
Two out of four Cryogenic Sleep Chambers were already operational.
The sleeping figures inside were Tantai Mingyue, and the Empire’s Princess, Dihongshi Xihe.
Taihao had given his precious daughter a name laden with mythological significance, hoping she would shine like the Sun God for generations to come.
A day earlier, Taihao had placed his wife and daughter in the sleep chambers, anticipating a reunion in the distant future.
Now, he was sending his concubine into the future.
As the sleep chamber whirred, Islar, sleeping without a care, drifted into hibernation, becoming a Sleeping Beauty.
Taihao opened the sleep chamber’s display screen, setting the time for a hundred years, the same as the other two sleep chambers.
After careful consideration, Taihao decided to let them awaken in a hundred years.
He firmly believed that in a hundred years, the Empire’s technology would be advanced enough to prolong life and delay aging.
“We’ll meet again in a hundred years!”
Taihao glanced at the three sleep chambers, then resolutely walked towards the only remaining empty chamber, lying down inside.
“Child of Thought, wake me when Child of Thought 2 arrives in the Three-Body System.” This name was a small bit of Taihao’s mischievousness.
“Yes, Your Majesty, have a pleasant dream.”
As the sleep chamber activated, Taihao’s consciousness gradually faded, eventually entering a deep unconscious state. His bodily functions also gradually weakened, metabolism reduced to the lowest state.
Outside,
After Taihao entered hibernation, the six regents who had become Steel-Stamp Clan members immediately took action.
They issued an announcement to the entire Empire: the great Chalk Emperor would embark on a two-year scientific research expedition.
Whether the Empire’s citizens believed it didn’t matter too much.
As long as the bureaucratic group, the military aristocratic group, and the scientific aristocratic group believed it, that’s all that mattered.
Before entering hibernation, Taihao not only made the six core ministers Steel-Stamp Clan members, he also took a series of measures to ensure the Empire wouldn’t experience any turmoil during his sleep.
If there were any reckless individuals daring to cause trouble during this time.
Natural Selection, in geosynchronous orbit, would use its main gun to teach them a lesson. Punishment from the heavens would turn them to ashes.
Time flowed slowly and silently.
Two years passed in the blink of an eye. Following orders, Child of Thought awakened Taihao from his sleep.
After three years, Child of Thought 2 finally crossed the 3.7-light-year distance and arrived at the star system Taihao had playfully named Three-Body.
Child of Thought 2 made an astonishing discovery in the Three-Body System.
On the third planet of the Three-Body System, Child of Thought 2 discovered a Shenhe Civilization.
Moreover, this civilization had reached the level of a pre-nuclear civilization.