Chapter Eight: I Need an Assistant!

8. I Need Help!

"We, Corellian, merchants. We, looking for, furs, rare metals. Please, let, us, go home." A cylindrical droid translated word by word.

Beside the droid, the three previously captured militants lay slumped over the table, groaning weakly, occasionally blurting out a single word.

Tang Xiao sat across from them in the interrogation room, legs crossed, watching the performance. The T-850 stood expressionless behind him, maintaining a standard military posture with feet shoulder-width apart and hands behind its back.

One Earth standard day had passed. Over these 24 hours, at the Mainframe’s request and under the duress of the marines’ beatings, the three militants had been forced to speak countless words for analysis. They had likely spoken more in this one day than they had in their entire lives, including their infancy.

The linguistic analysis of what was known as Galactic Basic was now over 40% complete, allowing for a certain degree of conversation. However, the deciphering of the alphabet, script, and grammar would still take time.

The three militants, unaware that a bleak future awaited them, were still desperately playing the victim, hoping that Tang Xiao—who appeared relatively young and approachable—might show mercy and let them go.

Ignoring their act, Tang Xiao turned to the translation droid and asked, "Where is the capital of the Galactic Empire?"

The three looked confused at the translation. One of them corrected him, "The Galactic Republic, not the Empire. Coruscant, the capital."

"Then who is the leader of the Jedi Order?" Tang Xiao asked again.

The three remained baffled, shaking their heads to indicate they didn't know.

That made sense. During the Republic era, although the Jedi held a transcendent status, they acted with discretion, silently guarding the Galactic Republic. To the average citizen of the galaxy, the existence of the Jedi was mostly just a legend.

Tang Xiao thought for a moment and changed his question, "Who is the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate?"

They pondered for a moment before one of them replied, "Finis Valorum."

Tang Xiao’s expression changed. He asked one final question, "Has there been a war on the planet Naboo?"

The three shook their heads.

Tang Xiao stood up without a word and walked straight out of the interrogation room toward the bridge.

[The Administrator has left. Let us continue. Now, please describe the appearance of this cat using the most accurate phrasing possible.] The Mainframe’s voice rang out as several burly marines walked in and sneered at the militants.

Soon, miserable wails echoed from the interrogation room.

Back on the bridge, Tang Xiao sat in the command chair, leaning back and staring blankly at the ceiling of the command center. He had narrowed down the era of his current location in the "Star Wars" timeline to within 30 years, but he could not find any joy in this realization.

Within these 30 years, the galaxy would face an unprecedented, terrifying war and upheaval, with nearly every corner of the galaxy drawn into the flames. In this conflict, the Galactic Republic, with over 25,000 years of history, would meet its final destruction.

Tang Xiao began to organize his memories of the "Star Wars" plot. The current Chancellor of the Republic Senate was Finis Valorum, and the war on Naboo had not yet broken out. This was a critical juncture.

The Battle of Naboo eventually led to the downfall of Chancellor Finis Valorum and the rise of Sheev Palpatine as the new Chancellor. And then... under his manipulative schemes, ten years after the Battle of Naboo, the Galactic Republic would completely descend into division and war.

The exploited Outer Rim planets declared the formation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems to oppose the Galactic Republic. The two sides engaged in a three-year total war, known as the "Clone Wars" due to the Republic's heavy use of clone troopers.

As perhaps the greatest conspirator in the "Star Wars" universe, Sheev Palpatine orchestrated it all. He used the war to eventually overthrow the Galactic Republic, eradicate the Jedi Order, and sweep away the resistance forces in the Outer Rim.

Then, he ascended the throne on the ruins of the Galactic Republic, renaming it the Galactic Empire.

Thinking of this, Tang Xiao let out a long sigh, his head throbbing. He groaned, "Why must it be this darkest of eras? I cannot possibly be Palpatine's match... Whether in politics or schemes, personal strength or influence, I am far inferior... How am I supposed to survive?"

"Submit to him? Join the Galactic Empire and become a pawn of His Majesty the Emperor?" Tang Xiao began to seriously consider this option, but immediately sighed again. "Impossible. By then, the mothership would certainly be confiscated, and the countless data in the database would fall into his hands..."

"Absolutely impossible." Tang Xiao’s gaze turned cold. "At worst, I'll go down fighting."

Daphne Clement and Qi Jian hurried over to ask what was wrong. Tang Xiao shook his head, telling them to return to their duties. Watching their backs, he muttered to himself, "I need help... Someone who can stand against Palpatine... A politician, yes! A politician!"

He understood that in the "Star Wars" universe, at least for now, the Galactic Senate called the shots. What did that mean? You didn't need a powerhouse capable of destroying thousands with one hand; no matter how strong your personal power was, you couldn't defeat a Death Star or a Star Destroyer! But a politician could move their lips and command countless Star Destroyers to fight for them!

Tang Xiao looked at the backs of Clement and Qi Jian and shook his head slightly.

They wouldn't do.

Clement’s expertise was not in this field; there was no point in expecting her to dabble in politics. Qi Jian, having come from a staff officer background, was himself only a figure from the ordinary class, and his current abilities were still quite limited.

He also discovered that most people in the ordinary class were relatively young, the elite class was slightly older, and the master class contained many old men in their 50s and 60s.

This indicated that the level classification was merely based on an individual's current achievements. Given enough time and experience, someone from the ordinary class could fully become a master-level figure!

But talent cultivation was one thing. To contend with Palpatine—no, that wasn't even the right way to put it; he didn't even have the qualifications to step onto the stage yet. He first had to reach the grand stage of the galaxy before talking about contending with anyone. In this regard, he truly needed a politician of at least master level!

Tang Xiao took a deep breath and began scrolling through the list of personnel who could be awakened. Suddenly, he noticed the list had changed! It used to show the three tiers of Ordinary, Elite, and Master, followed by three question marks.

And now, one of the question marks had been revealed: Legendary!

A Legendary-level character!

"Mainframe! When was the Legendary-level character unlocked?" Tang Xiao asked in surprise.

[After you awakened, Administrator. If you do not possess powerful capabilities, Legendary-level or higher characters will not pledge their loyalty to you. Forcibly awakening them might instead lead to chaos; individuals of this caliber each possess the capacity for such, or worse.]