At the banquet, Lord Li Feng was enjoying delicacies, surrounded by a group of nobles.
Actually, Li Feng didn't dislike this feeling of being 'the center of attention,' but he preferred to be surrounded by young, handsome men and beautiful women rather than a group of old men emitting an 'old person's smell.'
Li Feng noticed out of the corner of his eye that Kastin had already escaped the Governor's excessive attention and was also moving around the room, exuding a practiced air as if she had been accustomed to high society since she learned to walk.
However, any man who had met Kastin could probably understand this phenomenon; she was indeed very attractive, especially to those who preferred red-haired beauties, and her status as a female colonel made her even more popular.
The confidence radiating from her had long since dispelled her earlier nervousness, for she truly possessed the leader's essential ability to remain calm and in control in any situation.
It seemed she was enjoying herself; when Li Feng and Kastin's gazes met, Li Feng raised an eyebrow in appreciation, and she responded with a smile that held a certain sparkle, then slipped away to the ballroom, followed by a train of second-generation scions of the nobility.
Li Feng was currently eating a Tau spotted fish, a Tau aquatic product, when a noble asked, "Lord Li Feng, what are your thoughts on our relationship with the Tau?"
Chewing the food in his mouth, Li Feng pondered for a moment before replying, "That depends on whether the Tau are delicious..."
At this, the expressions on the faces of several nobles immediately turned to horror, and they slowly looked in the direction of the Tau.
Because at this moment, they also didn't know whether this lord before them was joking or... The Tau also noticed the nobles' gazes; they walked over, and it was the first time Li Feng had seen these blue-skinned Tau up close.
The leading Tau wore a white robe full of Water Caste style.
The plain white robes of the Tau overshadowed all the excessively well-dressed Imperial dignitaries present.
The room seemed filled with the charisma emanating from them; as they walked across the polished wooden floor to pay their respects to Li Feng, their attendants, dressed in similarly styled robes, drifted behind them like seabirds chasing a fishing boat.
(Author: Regarding the Tau's English accent, I know what the official CG is like, but to allow my novel readers to empathize, I've decided the Tau's accent will be the 'Tau Lord' accent. the greater good? Very, very good!)
"Lord Li Feng, I am Shasui, a diplomat of the Tau Empire's Water Caste.
It is an honor to meet you."
Saying this, the diplomat named Shasui bowed and extended his hand.
Li Feng, adhering to the principle of "not hitting a smiling face," shook his hand.
It must be said that the Tau's skin was very smooth and full of collagenous elasticity.
Li Feng instantly thought, 'Would this be good for stew?'
"Ah, my Tau friend, hello, hello.
It's my first time meeting a Tau, so I might be a bit impolite; please bear with me, as I'm not very familiar with your Tau customs and way of life."
This Tau diplomat, Shasui, never in a million years expected Li Feng to say such words.
Perhaps to an outsider, Li Feng's words seemed very friendly towards the Tau... But what is diplomacy?
The art of language and negotiation.
For someone of Li Feng's high status and power to go against the usual demeanor of Imperial officials and become friendly—what did this signify?
It meant that Li Feng was definitely up to no good.
Li Feng suddenly gestured with his hand towards the area of his face near his nose: "I have a very curious question: is that thing in the middle of your face... a nose? Or something else..."
Hearing Li Feng's question, Shasui replied, "It is a nose.
We breathe through it."
Li Feng showed an expression of sudden realization, and Shasui continued, "We rarely see such friendly Imperials as Lord Li Feng... I know your visit this time is due to a slight 'misunderstanding'."
"You've stationed your armies in our territory.
I think this is no longer a 'misunderstanding,' is it?"
At this, Shasui smiled, flicked his robe, and began his turn:
"Lord Li Feng, humans have an ancient saying, 'He who understands the times is a hero.'
The current situation is merely the Tau Empire kindly helping you defend your border regions, as there are countless dangers in this The Galaxy / Milky Way.
If Lord Li Feng is willing to cooperate well with us, the Tau Lord will not treat you unfairly!"
Hiss... Li Feng's expression instantly froze.
This taste was too strong!
This, this, this... You truly live up to being Tau Lords!
Li Feng patted the shoulder of the Tau diplomat, Shasui, in front of him, then placed his plate aside and put an arm around him, leading him to the window.
The already weak Tau was thus led to the window by Li Feng, who pointed to the fleet in the sky outside the window and said:
"I'm very curious, what benefits can you offer that would be enough for me to give up the opportunity to have my name written in history?"
The Water Caste Tau relied on their brains and eloquence, naturally not being as "strong" as the Fire Caste and Earth Caste, so Li Feng embracing him was like embracing a child.
He asked curiously, "What does it mean... to have one's name written in history?"
Li Feng then countered with a question, "Do you know why I am called a friend of the emperor?"
"Because you are a friend of Emperor of Mankind?"
Li Feng asked, "And this also means...?"
"You and Emperor of Mankind are from the same era..."
The Tau Empire is a relatively young race; since humans first discovered the Tau, they only had about 6,000 Earth years of history.
"That's right, I'll tell you a secret: I was born around Terra year 2000, and humanity, counting up to now, has a history of roughly 3 to 4 million years.
Do you know what, for you, in 'humanity's long history,' has never changed?"
"What?"
"War, war never changes (Fallout meme).
Humans are a warlike race.
In my era, there was also a time, like you, when equality and camaraderie were advocated, and our ideals were even better than your greater good, but... look at it now."
Shasui listened and nodded.
Although Li Feng's words contained elements of lecturing and threat, for the Tau, this was invaluable information, even things that present-day humans might not know.
"So, my dear Tau friend, our human dominion once reached the entire The Galaxy / Milky Way and even beyond.
Our technology once could shake the entire The Galaxy / Milky Way.
We annihilated countless races, and some who narrowly escaped fled to your planets."
(Within the Tau Empire, there are many alien races that were eradicated by humanity, barely surviving within Tau territory.)
"You know, this approach of ours was once entirely used on ourselves.
Romans sowed salt on Carthaginians, obliterated cultures and races of enemy nations, carried out genocides... We have too many methods.
Do you know why we were so ruthless?"
"Because... fear?
Fear of others taking everything you have... fear of leaving them, and them retaliating later..."
Li Feng now showed a gratified expression, as if seeing a very intelligent student: "Bingo! Correct, two points for you."
However, Li Feng's tone changed: "Can you see fear in my eyes?"
Shasui's large, black, eyeliner-like Tau eyes widened... "No..."
"Yes, because we do not fear you.
You must have heard that when we face Orks, when we face Tyranids, when we face the specters of the Warp, we often fight 'apocalyptic-level' wars.
But with you Tau, we almost always have small-scale border conflicts.
Do you know why?"
Shasui's blue face trembled slightly at this: "Because we pose no threat to you."
Li Feng held out a finger: "No, it's that you pose no threat *yet*.
The only lesson humanity has learned from history is that humanity learns no lessons from history.
We always, due to arrogance, blindness, and a host of other reasons, let 'small illnesses' become 'big illnesses'.
And I am here this time to 'cure the illness'."
Shasui's expression became solemn upon hearing this, and then he used all his strength to break free from Li Feng's "gentle embrace."
Then he declared loudly:
"Lord Li Feng, if you intend to wage war against our Tau Empire, you will pay the price!
Our Tau Soldiers will not let you have your way!"
Shasui's words immediately cast a silence over the entire banquet, and everyone looked towards Shasui and Li Feng.
At this moment, Shasui looked at the surrounding humans, and a chill ran down his spine... because these words had not scared Li Feng or the other humans.
Instead, Li Feng and the Soldiers in military uniforms wore an eerie smile, as if they had been waiting for precisely those words.
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