Dante swept his eyes around the various officials, and he could only feel awkward deep down as he could tell that they all had higher SDIs than he did. He couldn't do anything like suppress them with his aura or the like, because any of these fellows could one-punch him to death.
Yet look at them, with their backs bent and their faces showing obsequious smiles. After thousands of years of being beaten down by pure humans and relegated to the second class, they had carved this subservience into their bones.
Unlike the majority of aliens living in the deeper parts of the universe near the core worlds as well as those from truly powerful factions among the aliens, the rest didn't have much defiance.
It was just like on Earth. Modern Americans knew in their hearts, regardless of their political affiliations or religious beliefs, that they were being toyed with by a small percentage of freaks who controlled everything.
And yet despite that, the average person was not necessarily inclined to do anything about it. As long as their lives were good and no overt oppression was effected on them, they would not go out of their way to fight and become a martyr.
It was even stronger here in the Eternal Universe where the Pure Humans didn't actually oppress the aliens and mixed humans much, just acted closed off and snobbish. Yes, there was corruption and abuse of power, but you would likely find that most of it was done by aliens and mixed breeds to each other.
Pure Humans were less than 1% of the entire universe population and only occupied absolutely high spots on the hierarchy. Their circles and interest hardly touched anything to do with the average man.
If there were things like killing out of greed, suppressing businesses to steal ideas, and kidnapping women off streets to rape, it was more likely that these lower official aliens and mixed breeds did it compared to the pure human fellow sitting before Dante, and this was an objective fact.
Hm, maybe it was precisely because of such atrocities and corruption that they were showing such respect to Dante so that he wouldn't purge them? That seemed more likely than the fact that they were the type to bend their back for anybody stronger.
"Greetings, Governor and fellow officials. My name is Dante, Vice-Admiral of the 34th Fleet of the Prime Human Civilization." Dante greeted and introduced himself with an amiable smile.
Seeing that his attitude was good, the Governor smiled widely and stood up. He stretched a hand out and shook Dante's in a firm grip. Honestly, Date was surprised that this tradition had persisted in human culture.
"It is our honor to receive you, Vice-Admiral. My name is Hector White, and I am the ruling Governor of Planet Etonia." Hector greeted with a nod.
He then introduced the other officials in the room to Dante. Dante noted that the vice governors were mixed breeds while the aliens often occupied meaningless positions. It seemed like the pure humans of this universe naturally trusted mixed-blood humans more than aliens of different racial characteristics altogether.
After all, no matter what, mixed bloods were still part humans. In fact, Beatrice even hinted that the treatment of mixed bloods would be much better if the pure humans didn't have to worry about them being influenced by the other side of their genealogy.
Well, it was either that or the pure humans were creating a fist between mixed breeds and aliens. By putting mixed breeds above aliens and making it clear that they valued their humanity more, those mixed breeds would grow to develop a reverence for their human side and ostracize the aliens rather than band together with them.
Hector offered Dante a seat and had an android maid bring in some refreshments. Dante took a sip and found out that it was kinda of like cola, but filled with more energy as his blood began to boil with happiness.
"So, what brings the Vice-Admiral here?" Hector asked with a curious smile.
"I am here to investigate some rumors of a rebel alliance here by the council." Dante stated calmly.
His words caused Hector to pause, and the smiles on the faces of the aliens and mixed breeds changed greatly. Hector regained his stride and then looked Dante up and down covertly.
"Does this have anything to do with the events of last week?" Hector asked smartly, seeming to hint at something.
Dante put his glass down and smiled. "Why Hector, don't you know? I am the very victim of that case."
It was as if thunder struck the minds of all the officials here as they trembled greatly. Hector also sucked in a deep breath as he fully understood.
Revenge! This was a personal vendetta!
Immediately, the mixed breed and aliens looked toward Hector with pleading glances. After all, right now, he was the only one who could protect them. Hector saw their looks and sneered, thinking that they must be on drugs.
He naturally made the right choice in this situation, which was that he wasn't going to get involved! Dante could do whatever he wanted as long as it didn't involve him, he cared little.
"Haha, the matter of last week truly is something that needs to be investigated deeply. Vice-Admiral Dante has my word that everyone on Etonia will cooperate with your investigation fully." Hector replied with a kind smile.
The other officials' hearts sank to their asses and despair set in. They could easily tell that Hector was not willing to offend a high-ranking military from his own race for them, and really, why should he? It wasn't like he was a sympathizer of the alien races, and he was only appointed here recently so he had no deep feelings for Etonia.
"Also, here is a list of special factions and entities that I can vouch for. They absolutely have no ties to any rebel factions whatsoever." Hector added as he sent over a list to Dante's AI chip.
When Dante unfurled the list, he was speechless to see that most of the factions were families and businesses owned by the Governor himself or affiliated with him. He was basically saying: "Leave these guys out of the investigations and you can do whatever you want".
The other officials could also tell that the governor had made such a despicable move and couldn't help but be filled with hatred. It was not enough that he abandoned them, but he also wanted to isolate all his own benefits from being damaged, while theirs was up in the air.
"I will make sure to leave these factions out, they seem honest and trustworthy, just like Governor Hector himself," Dante said with a smile.
Hector laughed and then pressed a button. Immediately, a few burly cyborg warriors with cold faces and thick plasma weapons entered the room and slightly shoved aside the non-human officials, causing their expressions to become ugly.
They stood respectfully behind Dante and the governor, especially Dante as his rank was higher.
"These are the Elite Protector Guards every official is assigned by the Pure Human Council. They will handle your security detail as many factions and people would likely want to harm you given your objective here." Hector explained with a wry smile seeing that his own cyborgs were deferring to someone else.
Dante sized them up and had to admit that if he was flanked by these fellows, he would not fear anything on this planet. They looked like they could catch nukes in mid-air and then swallow them for breakfast.
"I thank the Governor then. I would like to retire to rest and then begin to prepare for the investigation." Dante revealed his true purpose in coming here, which essentially was getting a nice crib to crash in.
Hector nodded. "Of course. There is a protected estate for elite governmental officers who visit us on official duties in the city center. You can have your guards escort you there."
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm Dante smiled and stood up, shaking Hector's hands once more. After sharing some flowery words, he left the room with the cyborgs flanking in on either side, their alertness and maliciousness towards anyone who could harm Dante very palpable.
Meanwhile, the mixed breeds and aliens had dark faces as they hurriedly began sending messages out and contacting various forces, both in the light and in the dark. After what they had heard and seen today, their hearts were in turmoil.
It was clear that a very bloody and troubling storm was about to sweep the entirety of Planet Etonia, and Dante was going to be at the center of it all.
However, the man himself was pondering the reactions of the people in the room. He just took advantage of their obvious expression and reactions to push things forward, but he didn't understand the intricacies of what was going on.
Anyway, that wasn't a problem. Once he settled down in his new area, he would have plenty of time to fill himself in.
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