by <unknown>
The apocalypse that the Blood Stripe Virus had caused five thousand years ago focused on 'legacy' and 'destruction'. It could not perform a space jump.
The minor apocalypse that the Imperium of True Human Beings launched recently apparently focused more on velocity. It was not strange that the apocalypse could perform a space jump.
"Chances are that the minor apocalypse is an upgraded version of the star child. Although the Imperium of True Human Beings could not teleport a whole fleet over, it should be more than easy for them to send another star child to us."
"An upgraded version of the star child?"
Li Yao shivered but did not speak.
"The Imperium of True Human Beings does not know our precise coordinates. Therefore, the 'minor apocalypse' was only sent to somewhere near the Flying Star Sector.
"However, it sensed the dazzling fire resulting from the collision of the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector the moment it arrived.
"Think about it. You have parachuted into an absolutely dark battlefield, and your task is to search for an enemy who is lurking in the darkness.
"You don't know where exactly your enemy is hiding, but a bright torch suddenly appears in front of you. What will you do?"
Li Yao took a deep breath and mumbled, "I'm afraid that I would go over and check it first."
Si Koulie smiled bitterly and said, "It must've been what the apocalypse thought, too. That is why it brushed past the Flying Star Sector and lunged at the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector.
"By our analysis, it is very possible that the apocalypse calculated that the two Sectors had abundant spiritual energy by the signs of the collision. The spiritual energy could be used to build a brand-new space gate, and the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector would be a perfect platform to attack the Flying Star Sector."
Li Yao was dazed. "A platform?"
Si Koulie nodded. "Exactly. Maybe the apocalypse is carrying certain navigation magical equipment like a space gate that will automatically unfold when it absorbs enough spiritual energy. If so, the expedition army of the Imperium of True Human Beings can jump to the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector directly.
"If we look from the perspective of the whole universe, the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector are only one step away from each other. Attacking the Flying Star Sector with the Heaven's Origin Sector as the platform is much more convenient than crawling slowly for more than a hundred years."
The hypothesis made Li Yao shudder.
With a bitter smile, Professor Mo Xuan said, "Maybe, the minor apocalypse was merely attracted by the collision of the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector in the beginning. But after it discovers that tremendous creatures live in both of the Sectors, the expedition army will certainly change their target and conquer the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector first."
Si Koulie sighed and said in a low voice, "Fellow Cultivator Mo, the Heaven's Origin Sector has been burdened by the Flying Star Sector. The disaster should've had nothing to do with you."
Professor Mo Xuan waved his hands and said solemnly, "The Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector are right next to each other. If the Flying Star Sector falls, there is no way that the Heaven's Origin Sector can get away. We are in the same boat. The disaster is coming sooner or later."
Watching the glittering stars on the dome, Li Yao asked gravely, with redness shining in the bottom of his eyes, "Then, how soon will the minor apocalypse arrive in the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector?"
"The apocalypse reached somewhere near the Flying Star Sector with a super long-distance space jump," Si Koulie said. "Then, it rectified its direction after three short-distance space jumps and flew toward the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector.
"Right now, it has come to the end of its course, and it has been cruising normally. There is no sign of space jumps. Perhaps the previous four jumps have drained its fuel.
"Judging from the current speed, it will reach the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector in five years!"
"Five years?"
Li Yao bit his teeth so hard that sparks were almost bursting out, but he simply swallowed all the sparks into his stomach.
…
One month later, in the hall of the Meeting of the Next Millennium in Heavenly Saints City, the leaders of all the Cultivation sects of the Flying Star Sector and the representatives of ordinary people in all the space zones, altogether 12,993 people, had been gathered. They were about to vote on a motion that could determine the future of the Flying Star Sector.
The motion was 'Should the Flying Star Sector rescue the Heaven's Origin Sector with its best?'
It was a tough choice.
The Heaven's Origin Sector was at war with the Blood Demon Sector right now. The two parties were on par with one another. The Heaven's Origin Sector even had a slim advantage.
When the two Sectors fully merged, a final battle was destined to break out. Perhaps it had already broken out.
The Heaven's Origin Sector would certainly suffer heavy losses even if it won the war in the end.
If so, it was unlikely that the Heaven's Origin Sector could resist the minor apocalypse that was heading toward it.
The result would be tragical unless the Flying Star Sector sent reinforcements to the Heaven's Origin Sector unitedly, not sparing any efforts.
Defeat the demon race first, and resist the apocalypse together!
There was no doubt that a war across Sectors would consume a lot of resources of the Flying Star Sector, not to mention that the citizens of the Flying Star Sector would shed their blood or even got killed in a foreign land.
The Flying Star Sector today had barely recovered from the chaos of the Immortal Cultivators, which had lasted eight years. The choice naturally not an easy one.
In an ivory long robe that had an emblem of the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars on the chest, a symbol of the Star Glory Federation and the Heaven's Origin Sector, Li Yao stood on a round podium.
Behind him, pictures were flashing. Tremendous information about the Heaven's Origin Sector was being displayed, including the major sects of the Heaven's Origin Sector, the best magical equipment, the metropolises, and the people who live in cities, towns, and villages. There were also pictures of when the iron army lunged at the beast tide under the guidance of the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars flag.
"This is the Heaven's Origin Sector, a small, barren world at the edge of the sea of stars.
"This is the Star Glory Federation, a nation established doggedly against the plundering and slaughtering of the demon race!
"After five hundred years, we built the Star Glory Federation from a small tribe where the survivors huddled to warm each other into a powerful nation that has expanded to every corner of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
"Every ordinary person and every Cultivator is fighting bloody battles and guarding the glory of the civilization of mankind under the flag of the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars.
"Eight years ago, I arrived in the Flying Star Sector by accident and discovered, to my surprise, that human beings exactly like us live in this world that is entirely different from the Heaven's Origin Sector.
"We have the same hot blood flowing in our veins, we believe in the same creeds, we persist in the same path of Cultivation, and we defend the same honor and glory!
"Now, as a common Cultivator from the Heaven's Origin Sector, I beg my Fellow Cultivators of the Flying Star Sector to save the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Star Glory Federation, and the billions of people living there—Billions of compatriots!"
Chapter 819: Fight for the Future! |
Finishing his speech, Li Yao closed his lips, bowed deeply, and left the hall.
Assisting the Heaven's Origin Sector with all the resources concerned the future of the Flying Star Sector. The decision could certainly not be made by a few wo
rds of his. After that, there was nothing he could do except wait for the results together with the five spectral Cultivators from the Heaven's Origin Sector.
After Li Yao left, Luo Xingzi, the host of the meeting, slowly ascended to the center of the hall. He glanced over the thousands of small meeting rooms that looked like crystal vesicles.
Xiao Xuance used to be the leader of the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood, and the Immortal Cultivators had infiltrated the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood most deeply, too. His rebellion had been a major blow for the prestige of the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood.
Luo Xingzi had been Xiao Xuance's junior brother and an elder of the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood. The moment when the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood was questioned, he had shouldered the responsibility resolutely and purged the Immortal Cultivators inside the Feathered Snakes Brother without any mercy. Later, in the battles against the space pirates and the remnants of the Immortal Cultivators, the members of the Feathered Snakes Brother had always led the charge in the vanguard, trying to wash away the dishonor with their blood.
Luo Xingzi and the Feathered Snakes Brother won the respect of the other Cultivators again in such a way.
Luo Xingzi bowed courteously, before he opened his mouth and said, "This is all the intelligence we've collected so far. We are about to vote on the motion that will decide the fate of the Flying Star Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector.
"However, before we begin to vote, I would like to express my opinion on behalf of nobody but myself as a Cultivator of the Flying Star Sector.
"Firstly, from the perspective of the universe as a whole, the Flying Star Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector are right next to each other. We are neighbors.
"If the minor apocalypse of the Imperium of True Human Beings attacks the Heaven's Origin Sector or even occupies it, it is very likely that super star beacons will be established in the Heaven's Origin Sector to guide the army of the Imperium of True Human Beings.
"If so, it will take less than ten years, instead of hundreds of years, for the army of the Imperium of True Human Beings to fall upon us, with the Heaven's Origin Sector as a 'platform'.
"That's why they say 'teeth cannot live without lips.'
"Therefore, rescuing the Heaven's Origin Sector is rescuing ourselves. Only if we resist the minor apocalypse can we earn ourselves one to two hundred years' time of development!
"Secondly, I know that a lot of fellow Cultivators here are worried that interfering with the war in another Sector will greatly diminish our own capability, considering that we have not recovered from the eight-year insurrection and that we will be faced with the invasion of the Imperium of True Human Beings a hundred years from now.
"To such an opinion, I would say that rescuing the Heaven's Origin Sector will bring us greater benefits than our costs, because the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector are highly complementary.
"The two Sectors have their own specialties in techniques, Cultivation arts, and magical equipment. We can learn from each other and take what we need.
"In the aspect of social structure, the Heaven's Origin Sector has a lot of shining points that we can study.
"It is well known that the Flying Star Sector has been too loose since the apocalypse five thousand years ago. The dozens of space zones and thousands of Cultivation sects have always been minding their own business. Even Heavenly Saints City, which is the largest in scale, is just a super city.
"Although we have many experts, advanced magical equipment, and popularized crystal suits, we are in lack of a powerful central government to integrate all the resources.
"It was exactly because our strength was too divided that we couldn't do anything about a tiny Spider Den. The Immortal Cultivators implemented the insurrections for the same reason, too!
"If we keep the lifestyle that we have now, how are we going to handle the well-trained, disciplined army of the Imperium of True Human Beings when the space pirates and the Immortal Cultivators, which were few in number, already gave us such a headache?
"Therefore, it is common sense now that the Flying Star Sector must be united again.
"However, it is not easy to govern the dozens of space zones under the same unified government!
"We've been divided for too long. In five thousand years, we have never established a large country or an enormous army.
"Even the leaders and elders of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City only manage millions of people at best.
"As for our army, the fleets and Exo Societies affiliated to the Cultivation sects often have a headcount of less than a hundred thousand.
"If we really establish a central government that governs billions of people and an enormous army made of tens of millions of soldiers, how exactly are we going to run the central government in order to make use of the resources of the Flying Star Sector in the most reasonable and efficient way? How are we going to command the army with so many soldiers to have a head-on clash with the expedition army of the Imperium of True Human Beings?
"Nobody knows the answers.
"We have no experience. Everything is only theoretical, but the Imperium of True Human Beings won't give us a second chance to try!
"However, let's take a look at the Heaven's Origin Sector.
"Although the Heaven's Origin Sector is only a small world in one space zone, all the spiritual energy and resources have been concentrated and given birth to a relatively prosperous and stable planet, Heaven's Origin.
"The Star Glory Federation, which governs Heaven's Origin, has a population of tens of billions. It has been fighting the demon race for the past five hundred years, too.
"The Star Glory Federation has essentially been at war for five hundred years. It has profound experience and knowledge on the economic system during a war, the efficient utilization of resources, the establishment and management of large-scale armies, the cooperation of the Cultivators and the ordinary people, and so on.
"According to Fellow Cultivators Li Yao and Mo Xuan, in the most extreme circumstances, the Star Glory Federation can gather an enormous army with more than two billion soldiers and equip all of them with weapons such as chainswords and storm bolters after a 'general mobilization'.
"If we cooperate with the Heaven's Origin Sector, not only will we be able to exchange our magical equipment and techniques, we can also learn about the management of super large governments and armies from the Star Glory Federation. In the meantime, the demon race will be the best targets to train our army, too.
"An army that has never seen blood is an army without hope. The claws and teeth of the demon race are the best whetstones to sharpen the army of the Flying Star Sector!
"Above are the advantages if we assist the Heaven's Origin Sector and the disadvantages if we don't, in my opinion.
"However, apart from the gains and losses, I would like to discuss something deeper with you.
"In the battle against the star child, he depicted a horrible scene for us where all the human worlds had been conquered by the Imperium of True Human Beings, and every Sector was ruled by the Immortal Cultivators. Such worlds were the cruelest ones where the strong feasted upon the weak. Only the strong could dominate the world and enjoy a happy life, while the weak were simply tools, toys, and garbage that were not worth mentioning!
"Although the star child was exaggerating, and the Imperium of True Human Beings has not expanded to such an extent yet, who is certain that such a picture will not become reality if we keep waiting for our doom and hiding our heads in the sand like ostriches?
"When the Imperium of True Human Beings really conquers the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, and all the other Sectors that belonged to the Star Ocean Imperium, we will really become the 'last Cultivators'. By then, who will hear our cries for help and come to fight side by side with us?
"Therefore, although I know that it will be costly to assist the Heaven's Origin Sector, although many people will die, although many sta
rships will be destroyed, and although many sects may never recover, I still hope that we can make the right choice!
"At the very least, I, Luo Xingzi, from the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood, hereby make a Blood Oath in front of all the fellow Cultivators here that I will be in the first echelon to go to the Heaven's Origin Sector if the motion is approved and won't come back until the demon race and the minor apocalypse of the Imperium of True Human Beings are defeated!
"Not just the Heaven's Origin Sector. If we find other Sectors in the future and people there are in need of the help of Cultivators, I will go there without any hesitation, too!
"Moreover, I'm even hoping that, in the future, not too far away from today, our posterity will form an unstoppable army and attack the territory of the Imperium of True Human Beings to free all the ordinary people that are enslaved by the Immortal Cultivators!
"Think about it carefully, everybody! Think about why we are gathered here today and what we are voting for!
"No. We are here today not to decide whether or not to rescue the Heaven's Origin Sector, not to decide whether or not to rescue ourselves, but to decide whether or not to rescue the future of the civilization of mankind!
"Whether the civilization of mankind is guarded by the Cultivators or blemished by the Immortal Cultivators in a thousand years might depend on the sacred vote in your hands today!"
Luo Xingzi concluded his speech, and the voting officially began.
In the closed meeting rooms, the leaders and elders of every Cultivation sect were whispering to each other, deep in thought.
Many people were reading the information about the Heaven's Origin Sector again and again, calculating losses and gains.
More people were viewing the intelligence about the Imperium of True Human Beings that had been retrieved in the past half year, thinking carefully.
Three minutes later, the virtual voting light beams were triggered one after another. All the representatives had made a choice, either with a heavy heart or with a determined one.
