Chapter 38: King of War

37. King of War

That was simply the kind of man he was.

Unlike the previous name, Tang Xiao was not afraid of him; in fact, he was quite looking forward to seeing what this man would bring to the Fourth Civilization.

However, the appearance of this name left Tang Xiao with nothing but a bitter smile.

Because if he were to follow his former worldview and values, he would never have identified with such a person. Yet now, standing from the perspective of the Administrator of the Fourth Civilization, he found himself forced to rely on such a man's power.

Indeed, even he himself was drifting further and further down a dark path.

Perhaps, this was merely the beginning.

Returning to the mothership, Tang Xiao sat down in his office and instructed the Mainframe to bring him a pot of steaming hot coffee and two cups. He placed them on the desk and waited in silence for the man's arrival.

A moment later, a polite knock sounded. After Tang Xiao gave permission to enter, the door opened, and a man in his thirties walked in.

He was dressed meticulously in a black suit and a dark red tie. His hairline was somewhat high, revealing a broad forehead, but his hair was combed perfectly neat. His eyes, filled with melancholy within deep sockets, fixed upon Tang Xiao the moment he entered the room.

Tang Xiao looked at the man with a smile: Yuri Orlov—the "King of War" [Note 1].

"Greetings, Administrator." Yuri flashed a humble smile. He approached with great deference, grasping Tang Xiao's hand with both of his, while simultaneously slipping him a business card. "My name is Yuri Orlov, a simple merchant."

Tang Xiao glanced at the business card in his hand. It bore the name Yuri Orlov and a phone number that perhaps could not even be reached at this moment.

"I've looked over what you want: weapons, markets, and demand. Three words, simple and clear, aren't they?" Tang Xiao said.

"Simple, yet difficult. But I like this place, you know. A massive market, urgent demand... if one day every person in this galaxy has a Kalashnikov in hand, oh, that would be simply marvelous," Yuri said with a laugh, sitting directly down on the sofa in front of Tang Xiao.

"Why did you choose the arms trade instead of... well, you know, like tobacco or automobiles?" Tang Xiao asked.

"Well, there is demand, therefore there is business. People always need to eat, so some people do the food business. However, do you know? People are always fighting. Looking back through our entire history, there hasn't been a single day of complete peace. Even our Fourth Civilization went through three wars of cataclysm before arriving here, did it not? Therefore, the human demand for war is even greater than the demand for food," Yuri said, spreading his hands wide.

"In that case..." Tang Xiao beckoned. The T-850 standing to the side brought over a brand-new Type 21 assault rifle, placed it on the table, and tossed over a manual.

Tang Xiao pointed at the items and said, "Can you sell this gun to me?"

Yuri said nothing; he simply took the gun in his hands and began to manipulate it skillfully. "Good gun. 5.56mm caliber, gas-operated automatic structure, rotating bolt, aperture sight. Although there is no magazine here, given this length, a standard 30-round magazine would be the most suitable choice."

With a *click*, he pulled the charging handle, then assumed a shooting stance, aiming toward the T-850. Suddenly, he burst into laughter. He tossed the assault rifle back to the T-850 and tore the manual in half, throwing it into the trash can.

"However, we don't need these things," Yuri said with a smile. "You don't care how good this gun is, how accurate it is, or how durable it is. What you care about is how many people are using this gun, and... how many people die under its bullets. And most importantly..."

"Go on."

"If you can buy this gun, I will help you arm an army," Yuri said, shifting his tone to be blunt and direct.

"What does that have to do with this gun?"

"Because..." Yuri let out a chuckle. He leaned closer to Tang Xiao and said while laughing, "Hehehe... because you really... really need an army, hahahaha!"

Having said that, he sat back on the sofa and couldn't help but laugh loudly. It was unclear whether he was laughing at Tang Xiao or at himself.

"War... war never changes," Tang Xiao said suddenly, a flash of intuition striking him.

"War, war never changes..." Yuri repeated, shaking his head with a smile. "I like that phrase. You will be a good Administrator—at least, the kind I like. So, what do you wish for me to bring you?"

The smile on Tang Xiao's face suddenly turned somewhat sinister. "I want every single thing in this galaxy capable of killing, and then, I will use those things to establish a living space for our Fourth Civilization."

"Oh~~~ then you will also need more and more matching ammunition," Yuri understood perfectly.

"I hope we have a pleasant cooperation." This time, Tang Xiao took the initiative to extend his hand.

Yuri once again grasped Tang Xiao's hand with both of his and said, "A pleasure to cooperate, Administrator. Oh, by the way, I have a brother, Vitaly Orlov; I always work with him. I hope you can awaken him as well; he won't refuse. How does the saying go? *Brothers in arms*."

"I'll make sure to sign both of you up for a Galactic Standard language crash course together," Tang Xiao's smile grew increasingly wicked.

"Well, damn the learning, but who would turn down money? So, a training class, ah, very good, hahahaha. Then, I shall take my leave, Administrator." Yuri spread his arms and smiled at Tang Xiao for a moment before turning to exit the office.

Watching his retreating figure, Tang Xiao gave a bitter laugh. "It seems I've brought another dangerous person to this galaxy." He picked up the coffee pot, poured himself a cup of lukewarm coffee, and drank it in one gulp.

Then, he opened the list of characters to be awakened. Sure enough, the name Vitaly Orlov had been added to the Legendary tier. Seeing this name, he seemed to reach an epiphany. Since Vitaly Orlov's abilities clearly weren't enough to reach the "Legendary" level, yet he still appeared here, it could only mean one thing—

The "Legendary" tier consisted entirely of characters from films, television, and games. Some of them might have abilities inferior to Master or even Elite levels, but as long as they were characters from media, they were classified as Legendary.

If that was the case, what were the next two tiers? Looking at the two question marks following the tier, countless speculations filled Tang Xiao's mind.

***

[Note 1]: Finally, the movie Xiao Jing loves most, bar none.

[Easter Egg Chapter Attachment 1 & 2: The protagonist of "Lord of War," Yuri Orlov. Played by Nicolas Cage.]

(End of Chapter)