by <unknown>
"Have you ever considered that, Father?"
"Of course I have. But does it matter?" Jin Tuyi coughed softly. "Names and banners are both made up. 'Human being' and 'demon' are two notions that are not natural but defined. Therefore, they can be changed and twisted, too.
"Our race will abandon the name and banner of the past, but we will reap the entire sea of stars. What's bad about that?"
Jin Xinyue narrowed her eyes and asked, "You don't care even if the name of 'demon' will completely perish in the passage of time, Father? It doesn't seem to be your goal, Father."
"No, it won't perish." Brilliance of excitement emanated from Jin Tuyi's face again. He stared at the rolling clouds in the moonlight and said slowly, "All history is contemporary history. Truth of history? There isn't such a thing at all!
"The Star Glory Federation has fought the demon race for five hundred years and hates our guts. That's why their textbooks expound on the 'evil' history of the demon race and call our thirty-thousand-year reign the 'Great Dark Age'.
"But are the thirty thousand years really nothing but darkness, without the slightest brightness?
"As the successors of the civilization of ancient human beings, did we never create a more splendid civilization?
"I believe that the textbooks of the Flying Star Sector will not say much about the so-called 'Great Dark Age'. If you ever encounter new worlds where human beings have never seen any demons in the past ten thousand years, they will not care about the 'Great Dark Age' at all!
"Do you understand now, my daughter? The future of the demon race depends on you, and so does our past!
"If you turn out to be a great leader who leads the Star Glory Federation to defeat the Imperium of True Human Beings, march into the Empyrean Terminus Sector as counterattack, and integrate all the human beings and demons in the three thousand Sectors, creating an unprecedently formidable country, then, one day, our posterity will look at the demon race in a different light. They will study the thirty-thousand-year Great Dark Age without bias and define it as a key period of transition between the 'ancient civilization' and 'modern civilization'. They will publish papers on the shining points in the 'Great Dark Age' sparing no effort. They will consider mankind, the demon race, the Demon Beast Empire, and the Star Ocean Imperium like more of a transition.
"Demons shall be acknowledged as human beings in a different form. The thirty thousand years of history shall be admitted as part of the history of mankind. The unforgettable grudge in the past shall become the dust of history sooner or later!"
Jin Tuyi's words blew away the last bit of confusion inside Jin Xinyue's head. She opened her hands, somewhat at a loss, apparently not prepared to control the future and the past of the demon race with such a pair of tiny hands.
But her hesitation was gone the next moment. Jin Xinyue smiled softly, and the air around her was utterly different from one second earlier.
"I promise you, Father."
Jin Xinyue pressed her chest with both of her hands, as if she was pushing the future and the past of the demon race into her heart.
Staring at her father in the eyes, she declared, one word after another, "I will complete the Red Tide Plan with my life and realize everything that you have predicated just now. I become the Speaker of Parliament in the Star Glory Federation!"
Chapter 1047: The Real Trial! |
As Jin Xinyue grew more and more daunting, Jin Tuyi gradually lost all his vigor.
He seemed to have finally put down the heavy burden on his shoulder, a burden that he had gritted his teeth to walk with for a long time. He was finally given a chance to take a rest, perhaps a permanent one.
"I know that you will live up to your ambitions. That's more like Jin Tuyi's daughter!"
Holding the handrail, Jin Tuyi coughed but smiled in great comfort. "Now, let's get started with you becoming the Dark Lady of Nine Heavens!
"Elder Nether Spring has already started spreading the Demon God Virus on a large scale in the Nether Spring Kingdom. The situation will get out of control very soon, and the disease will soon affect the rest of the kingdoms. We must take action immediately!
"Since your blood is the key to the Demon God Virus, we must highlight the point in our announcements. We will build you up into the most kindhearted, the most lenient, and the greatest saintess ever to win the support of the middle-level and bottom-level demons!
"I will help you make decisions in the Pantheon of Demons, and you will become the most trusted saintess for the middle-level and bottom-level demons through propaganda. Therefore, you will certainly become the most powerful Dark Lady of Nine Heavens in the history of the Blood Demon Sector. You will not be a front but a real decision-maker!
"After you become the Dark Lady of Nine Heavens, you will participate in the peace negotiations as the representative of the Blood Demon Sector and facilitate the final peace. Eventually, you will leave a deep impression on the people of the Blood Demon Sector, the Heaven's Origin Sector, and the Flying Star Sector as an envoy of peace, which will lay a solid foundation for your future path!
"Think about it. How will your story be told in the Star Glory Federation?
"You were a descendent of a noble family in the Blood Demon Sector. The environment and the brainwashing education made you cruel and coldhearted. Thus, you became an accomplice of the Pantheon of Demons and an evil soldier.
"However, you were born merciful, and it was your nature to pursue justice and brightness. During the countless murders, your humanity was awakened. You began to question yourself, your family, and the social class that you were in!
"Because of that, you were abandoned by the evil family and your social class. You were even hunted by them!
"At the critical, life-and-death moment, you happened to run into Vulture Li Yao, the greatest warrior of the Star Glory Federation and an Ultra-Level Federal Hero!
"Under the warrior's tutelage, and touched by his real actions, you finally realized what was right and what was wrong.
"You decided to abandon the darkness for the light. You betrayed your family and class and embraced the brightness without any hesitation by becoming Li Yao's disciple!
"Later, you told your master the evil scheme known as the Red Tide Plan. Together with your master, you took action at great risk and reversed the situation. You sabotaged the Eye of Blood Demon and stopped your ambitious father's evil invasion plan!
"Had you not revealed the Red Tide Plan, your father's evil scheme certainly would've worked out. The ferocious troops of the coalition army of demons would've marched into the Heaven's Origin Sector through the Eye of Blood Moon. Also, an even more dreadful Spore Stratagem was hidden behind them!
"The capital city of the Star Glory Federation would've been destroyed and turned into a paradise for the walking dead. Billions of federation citizens would've been killed miserably!
"You stopped the Red Tide Plan and the Spore Stratagem and saved billions of lives in the Star Glory Federation. After your father was sent to the tribunal, the war between the two Sectors was finally ended, and everlasting peace began!
"My daughter, this is the start that I've planned for you. For the citizens of the federation, when they hear such a twisting story and see your current appearance, how can they ever be against your past identity?
"This is as far as your father can help you now. You will have to finish the rest of the journey yourself."
Although Jin Xinyue's heart and nerves were already strong enough because of the shocks recently, she still could not help but took a few steps back when she heard her father's last sentence. She exclaimed, "What are you talking about, Dad?
"You are going to be sent to the tribunal? Why?"
Jin Tuyi smiled. He touched Jin Xinyue's head, but this time, he was not pouring in any strength. It was just an affectionate gesture of a father to his daughter.
"Little dummy, this long war between the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector is like the
mauling of two deadly beasts. How can you stop them without offering meat?
"No matter what the specific terms of the 'conditional surrender' are, the one about the punishment of war criminals will not be reduced. It is even more important about the reparations!
"This is the foundation on which the federation was established. There's certainly no room for negotiation.
"Then here comes the question. Who is the biggest war criminal? Who should be responsible for the war? Is there a second candidate other than me, the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons?
"Putting everything else aside, to carry out the Red Tide Plan, we launched a fake attack on the Grand Desolate Plateau and killed a lot of soldiers and civilians of the Star Glory Federation.
"In the capital city of the federation, some of the troops, and perhaps even one or two demon emperors, must've been teleported over. They certainly would have caused serious damages before they were annihilated. It was like a slap in the face for the Star Glory Federation!
"How will the federation accept our surrender if the no one answers for the crimes?
"Even if the federal government is willing to, the family of the victims who must still be furious will not agree!
"Teeth for teeth, blood for blood. This is the most natural logic. I was the one who put forward the Red Tide Plan, I was the one who led the construction and modification of the Eye of Blood Demon, and I was the top commander of the war. If I am not counted as a war criminal, nobody else will be qualified to be one. It's not like we can pick a few random black-blood soldiers as scapegoats, right?"
Amid complicated feelings, Jin Xinyue was lost for words for a long time.
Jin Tuyi sighed deeply and continued. "In my original plan, I was only the third most influential person in the coalition army of demons. Elder Blood Robe and Elder Nether Spring would have taken the blame for me and played the roles of 'war criminals'. I would have played the role of 'envoy of peace' and taken charge of everything that followed.
"But I didn't expect that Elder Nether Spring would push me up to be the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons as a cover for his Spore Stratagem.
"As a result, although it was more convenient for me to control the Blood Demon Sector, I now have to take the blame as the 'war criminal' personally!
"Maybe, if I negotiate with the Star Glory Federation with all possible methods, I can achieve better conditions and will not be executed.
"However, if I am exempted, the people of the federation will not be convinced even if the federation's government agrees to the conditions. They will be angry for a long time and feel that the victims haven't been avenged. Then, the so-called 'peace' will only be a pot of half-cooked rice. It will be a bad start for the hundred years of integration.
"Only if I—the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons, the ambitious warlord, and the source of all disasters—am trialed by law in the tribunal of the Star Glory Federation and executed in public will the federation have a complete victory. The hundreds of years of war will be ended cleanly, and all the citizens of the federation will be able to vent their anger so that they can slowly forgive and embrace their enemy in the past in the hundred years to come. Only in such a way can you, the daughter of the coalition army of demons, get rid of your dark past and run toward a much brighter future!"
Jin Xinyue was having trouble breathing. She felt that her nose was sour and bitter, and her eyes were more or less swollen. She shook her head hard and said, "That's too unfair. Too unfair! If the new federation is established one day, you will be its original architect! If we are cruising at the center of the sea of stars one day, you will be the greatest contributor! It is safe to say that the lives of countless human beings and demons will be saved by you. So many ordinary people will live in peace and stability because of your planning! How can I sit by and watch you be sent to a tribunal and be punished for the crimes that aren't your fault?"
"It doesn't matter," Jin Tuyi said casually. "You know my condition very well now. Even if my body can linger on for another few decades, the fire of my wisdom will die soon. By then, I will become a moron with incontinence of bowel and bladder, and my life will be less dignified than a stray dog whose legs are broken. Dying in humiliation after being mocked for decades? That's not the ending that I look forward to.
"The new human beings that are the combinations of the old demons and the old human beings are about to ignite the torch of their civilization. So, let me be the kindling."
Jin Xinyue's tears finally flooded out of her eyes. Her voice was trembling as she said, "What I care about is not how much longer you can live, Father, but your honor! If you are sent to the tribunal as the 'commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons', you will be the greatest war criminal. The Star Glory Federation's five-hundred-year hatred toward demons will be vented on you alone! You will certainly be disgraced forever!"
"Don't be silly, my child." Jin Tuyi laughed again.
At first, he was smiling in amusement, but then he grinned. He was coughing and laughing so hard that he was out of breath, and his tears and snot were all running crazily.
Amid the loud laughter, he stared at the endless stars in the sky and said, "Do you really think that the trial of the Star Glory Federation will give the final verdict for me?"
Jin Xinyue was confused. "What—what do you mean, Father? I don't understand."
"It's true that I am willing to go to the tribunal of the Star Glory Federation and be sentenced according to their laws. But it is definitely not going to be the real trial; it is just a folly!
"Here and now, nobody in the entire federation is qualified to judge me. They can trial and criticize me however they want. I don't care if I am crucified to the pillar of shame forever. I don't care at all."
Jin Tuyi's dominating aura spread out of his body again and soared into the clouds, raising roars of thunder among the clouds.
He looked at his daughter and said, one word after another, "Only the history that you will have created ten thousand years later will be qualified to judge me!
"I look forward to the day very much!"
Chapter 1048: It's Decided! |
After having a sincere conversation with her father, Jin Xinyue went to Li Yao to dutifully report the situation.
Li Yao was in an awkward position right now. Although most of the soldiers of the coalition army of demons understood that he had saved everyone's life, fourteen demon emperors had died because of him, and countless elite troops and devilish warships had been obliterated during the destruction of Eye of Blood Demon.
Before Jin Tuyi completely took control of the situation, it was best for him to stay in the warehouse of crystals on Blood Demon in case somebody lost their mind and attacked him.
On her way there, Jin Xinyue had summoned all her brain cells to consider how she should communicate with her master.
However, the moment she saw Li Yao, the speech that she had prepared was shattered, and she was so shocked that her jaw nearly hit the ground.
"Ma—master, how did you end up like this?"
The upper half of Li Yao that extended out of the door gap could not have been more miserable.
His clothes were ragged, as if he had just climbed on a thorny mountain. His face was full of bruises, and his head was as big as that of a pig. His left eye was so swollen that his eye was narrowed into a gap, and he could barely see anything.
It appeared that he had been savaged brutally for a long time!
Jin Xinyue was shocked!
Who was her master? A super expert in the top tier of the Blood Demon Sector, the Heaven's Origin Sector, and the Flying Star Sector! How was he so terribly beaten?
Who did it?
Did some demon emperor come to look for her master's trouble in discontent? That was not very likely. If it were a battle between her master and another demon emperor, the entire Blood Demon might have been torn to the ground.
Jin Xinyue tho
ught quickly and realized something. "Master, somebody sent by Elder Nether Spring ambushed you?"
Li Yao's lips were as swollen as two sausages. Air was escaping through his teeth while he spoke. "No. I was beaten by myself."
"Huh?" Jin Xinyue was confused. "Master… Why did you beat yourself out of shape and make yourself… look like a pig?"
Li Yao dragged her into the warehouse and shut the door heavily, before he staggered back and smeared the balm in front of the mirror while grimacing in pain. "Leave the minor issues alone. Let's talk about your father's Red Tide Plan!"
"Okay."
Looking at the mess in the warehouse that seemed to indicate that hundreds of demon beasts had just stampeded through here, Jin Xinyue took a long time to hold back her curiosity. She calmed herself down and forwarded everything her father said just now to Li Yao.
In the end, she concluded, "My father said that, although this is the Red Tide Plan in his head, it is a huge project that will last a hundred years. There will be too many variables and difficulties. Many things are just his wishes or even fantasies that have no realistic support.
"All in all, he has planted the seed of the dream into the ground. But whether or not the seed can grow up, blossom, and yield fruit will not be controlled by him but depend on us, especially you, Master!
"Only with your support can the Red Tide Plan possibly proceed. If you refuse it now, it will only be a tantalizing dream.
"Master, would you like to support me, support the Red Tide Plan, and support my father's dream?"
Jin Xinyue looked at Li Yao somewhat nervously.
However, her attention was distracted by Li Yao's left eye, which was like a rotten peach, and his sausage-like lips.
Li Yao was holding a cluster of round, translucent gel the size of an egg in his hands. After rubbing it softly in his palm, something deep inside the gel seemed to break apart, allowing the gel to emit coldness.
