Chapter 1845: Chapter 1249: The Ze (Someone’s Coming Up the Mountain Again—So Annoying)
"Your betrayal is unforgivable! Dooku! This is the punishment you deserve!!"
Glaring fiercely at Count Dooku, Palpatine once again unleashed a powerful dark force, determined to pin this blame on Count Dooku, giving him no chance to speak. As a former Jedi Master, Count Dooku was certainly no weakling, and was desperately holding on with his lightsaber. Meanwhile, Palpatine showed no signs of easing up; on the contrary, he intensified his force, aiming to completely kill Count Dooku!
However, at this moment, a large hand suddenly extended from behind, and with one swift move—grabbed Palpatine’s head!
"Wait, wait, what do you mean by this!"
Surprised, Palpatine turned his head to look at Duanmu Huai standing beside him.
"He’s a traitor, I must eliminate him..."
"Alright, actually I don’t care about any of this."
Duanmu Huai interrupted Palpatine’s explanation indifferently.
"You know, I don’t care much about these trivial troubles. Just like I told you before, the Tribunal only cares about the survival of humans. Even if you want to kill me, it doesn’t matter; after all, with your abilities, it’s impossible. But you... you just had to use spiritual energy in front of me without permission?"
What does that mean?
Hearing Duanmu Huai speak, Palpatine was stunned. But before he could react, Duanmu Huai’s right hand suddenly clenched forcefully, and in the next moment, Palpatine’s head exploded instantly, his headless body collapsing to the ground silently.
Seeing this scene, An and Mary both froze for a moment before finally relaxing.
Luckily, they hadn’t eaten anything just now.
"Hoo... hoo..."
At this moment, Count Dooku was also gasping for breath, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. He silently celebrated, relieved that he had wisely pledged allegiance to Duanmu Huai early on. Otherwise, he might have really been killed by Palpatine! After all, as his apprentice, Count Dooku knew full well that Palpatine was ruthless and a dangerous figure!
Thankfully, he had given his pledge to Duanmu Huai; otherwise, he would have been the one dead!!
Thinking of this, Count Dooku looked gratefully at Duanmu Huai. But what he didn’t know was that Duanmu Huai saved him not because of his pledge.
Just like he told Palpatine before, "You can try to kill me, but it doesn’t matter, because you can’t succeed anyway. It’s like a mite biting someone; it won’t kill you, who cares?
However, you really shouldn’t have used spiritual energy in front of me!
Strictly speaking, honestly, Duanmu Huai looked down on the so-called Jedi and Sith force users of this world. Because from the Tribunal’s perspective, almost 99% of these people don’t qualify as psychics.
Because... they are too weak!
Honestly, even if they burned wood for the Golden Throne, they wouldn’t be qualified!
It’s like An, a mage, watching a magician perform tricks. It might be interesting, but you’d never think a magician could pose any threat to you. To Duanmu Huai, the force users of this star territory aren’t even qualified psychics. True spiritual energy users would sneer at them, not taking them seriously at all.
But just now, the spiritual energy Palpatine used exceeded this threshold.
It’s like drunk driving; it’s not that drinking automatically makes you a drunk driver; it mainly depends on the value. If you reach the warning level, you go straight to jail, but if not, there’s no need to bother you.
Those Jedi Knights before were breathing below the warning level in front of Duanmu Huai, so Duanmu Huai wouldn’t treat them as illegal psychics.
However, when Palpatine cast thunder and shouted "Unlimited power," the spiritual energy he used already exceeded the warning level, so— as a Judge, Duanmu Huai naturally had only one thing to do.
And that was to execute the illegal psychic.
It’s like drug abuse; if you do it secretly, I might not notice, and it might be fine. But if you do it blatantly in front of me, what do you think? Look down on the Tribunal? Duanmu Huai had told Palpatine about the dangers of psychics and the Tribunal’s duties, and yet you act like you didn’t hear, right?
So, Duanmu Huai decisively made the decision to send Palpatine on his way.
"Th... thank you for your help."
At this moment, Count Dooku got up from the ground, still in shock, and expressed his gratitude to Duanmu Huai.
"You’re welcome, he brought this on himself."
Duanmu Huai waved his hand.
"So, what do you plan to do next?"
"This..."
Hearing Duanmu Huai’s inquiry, Count Dooku was momentarily stunned, then realized.
Tomorrow is the celebration! And according to the original plan, Chancellor Palpatine would announce the transformation of the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire and his ascension as Galactic Emperor!
But now, the Emperor is dead!
What to do tomorrow?
Count Dooku was stunned for a moment, dumbfounded as he looked at Palpatine’s headless body, feeling a headache coming on.
"Actually, there is a way."
Fortunately, Duanmu Huai didn’t plan to keep him guessing.
"You have a way?"
"Of course, it’s quite simple. You just need to impersonate Palpatine, right? After all, only we know that Palpatine is dead, don’t we?"
"This......"
Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s suggestion, Count Dooku was momentarily stunned. Indeed, this method was simple and crude, but it seemed like it might actually work?
Except, he himself couldn’t disguise!
"Can it really be done?"
"Of course, Ann, make the switch for them."
"Okay, no problem, Mr. Knight."
Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s order, Ann nodded and then snapped her fingers as she stared at Count Dooku. Soon, two magic circles appeared under Count Dooku and Palpatine’s corpse, and moments later, their appearances suddenly swapped. Palpatine’s corpse transformed into Dooku’s, and Count Dooku became Palpatine!
"This......"
Staring at his own body in surprise, Count Dooku was quite astonished. Although he knew the Tribunal had many strange means, this time truly astounded him.
The Tribunal could even do this?
"Illusions can only maintain the appearance unchanged, but if someone were to undo them, they would still be dispelled... though it seems no one in this Star Territory knows how to undo magic."
After casting magic, Ann explained briefly. Of course, as Ann said, nobody in this Star Territory understood magic, so it was even less likely the magic could be dispelled.
"I understand, thank you for your explanation."
Count Dooku gratefully looked at Ann, bowed in thanks, then straightened up and lightly coughed.
"Guards!!"
Quickly, upon hearing Count Dooku’s command, the guards who had just left returned, and seeing the corpse lying on the ground, they were greatly shocked. Count Dooku then snorted coldly, pointing at Palpatine’s (illusionary) corpse on the ground, he spoke up.
"He betrayed the Galactic Republic, colluded with rebels, and tried to harm our esteemed guest! He has been executed on the spot. Take him away! This matter must not be spread! Seal off all news so it won’t disrupt tomorrow’s celebration!"
As Palpatine’s apprentice, Count Dooku imitated his master well; the guards didn’t suspect anything and quickly followed Count Dooku’s orders to carry away the corpse. Once the guards left again, Count Dooku breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the trio once more.
"Sorry, Your Honor, the Judge."
"I’m indifferent, but are you sure this won’t be a problem? You understand that from now on, you can never appear as Count Dooku before others."
"It’s okay."
Count Dooku shook his head.
"I understand your point. Although I hate to admit it, for now, my master has indeed single-handedly created this Galactic Empire. Once the news of his death is spread, the entire Galactic Empire will inevitably fall apart. I wish to change this outcome, so even if I must continue to live under an identity that is not mine, it won’t be an issue."
"Alright, it’s up to your determination."
Seeing Count Dooku’s resolution, Duanmu Huai refrained from saying anything further, for after all, the path was his own choice, but........
"Oh, by the way, I have something to inform you."
"What is it? Your Honor, the Judge?"
"Regarding the Jedi Temple."
Duanmu Huai spoke while staring at Count Dooku.
"I originally intended to discuss this with Palpatine, but I guess he wouldn’t agree either. Now that Palpatine is dead, telling you is the same as......"
In fact, once most Alien Species were eradicated and his Catastrophe progress reached the final stage, Duanmu Huai’s task in this Star Territory was effectively completed. But as for hidden dangers, it’s not that there weren’t any, namely the Jedi and the Sith.
Duanmu Huai knew how the Jedi Knights trained, but to his view——this is simply foolish!
Whether Jedi or Sith, they favored extremism, and once taken to extremes, they would become targets of the Evil God. Ordinary people were like this, naturally, Spiritual Energy users were no exception. Whether it was the Sith’s indulgence in emotional desire or the Jedi’s repression of all human common sense, in Duanmu Huai’s view, the essence was equally foolish.
So......rather than misleading you, it’s better to send all these so-called Force-sensitive individuals to the Tribunal, let them fight for the Guardian of humans!
What? What if they refuse to guard humans? Joking, just look at the make-up of this Star Territory, as if they still have a choice. The Independent Federation and Alien Species have been completely destroyed by the Tribunal; they wouldn’t guard humans, then guard stones?
Upon saying this, Duanmu Huai looked at Count Dooku and chuckled.
"You surely wouldn’t refuse my request."