by <unknown>
"Ultimate Benevolence?"
Recalling the Path of Ultimate Benevolence, Li Yao said, deep in thought, "Are they the ruling class in the Covenant Alliance?"
"You can say that, but it's not accurate."
Zhuge Jinglun said, "Equality is appreciated in the Covenant Alliance. Theoretically speaking, everybody is a slave and a lamb of the gods. Nobody has the power to rule over the Covenant Alliance in the gods' place.
"However, to fight a war against the Imperium as an entity, administrators, commanders, order maintainers, and brainwashers are needed. Together, those people make up the group of Ultimate Benevolence.
"The group of Ultimate Benevolence is not exactly an independent group, but more like an approved and honorary title. When the people of Water, Wood, Metal, Fire, and Soil are filled with piety for the gods and realize their destinies, they can join the group of Ultimate Benevolence.
"Right, one of the important tasks for the group of Ultimate Benevolence is to maintain the Covenant Alliance's network. To some extent, the Covenant Alliance is like a beehive, and a powerful network is required to pass on the orders of the group of Ultimate Benevolence to the worker bees.
"The Cultivators, the Immortal Cultivators, and the common soldiers can fight on their own without the Spiritual Nexus or the orders from their superiors, but the Covenant Alliance people can't. If the connection between soldiers and commanders is cut off, it will be what you're seeing right now. The soldiers will not know what to do at all.
"So, the network is of paramount importance for the Covenant Alliance. Only the purest and most innocent candidates can become the network engineers of the Covenant Alliance.
"If it's like a beehive, there must be some sort of a 'queen' in it. They're on the top of the hierarchy in the Covenant Alliance!"
Interested, Li Yao asked again, "Is it possible for us to dissolve the Covenant Alliance by killing the guy on the top?"
"It's definitely possible, but we don't know who that person is exactly."
Zhuge Jinglun explained, "We only know of five 'Ultimate Benevolence Masters', from the groups Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Soil respectively. However, it's not easy to track them down. Even the most powerful fleets of the Imperium can barely lock onto the space fortresses they live in.
"Besides, judging from the social structure of the Covenant Alliance, if the five groups have an Ultimate Benevolence Master each, the ruling class should have an 'Ultimate Benevolence Master' too, and he should be the center of the Covenant Alliance.
"We don't know if the Covenant Alliance will collapse if we kill the sixth Ultimate Benevolence Master, because we've killed none of them in the past thousand years.
"However, the good news is that if the Covenant Alliance is really going to invade the Imperium, it will be our best opportunity to find the Ultimate Benevolence Masters and kill them."
"Huh?"
Li Yao was intrigued. "Why?"
"Because the Covenant Alliance's attack is highly dependent on the network."
Zhuge Jinglun said matter-of-factly, "If the Ultimate Benevolence Masters stay back in their bases, their orders have to pass dozens of Sectors before being delivered to the frontline. How can they win the war like that?
"So, in this final battle, all the Ultimate Benevolence Masters will definitely go to the frontline as the centers of the network with their invincible fortresses."
Li Yao nodded his head. Looking at the Covenant Alliance people who were almost identical, he asked, "If the Covenant Alliance people have naturally-endowed talents, do they need training? How can they be promoted into the group of Ultimate Benevolence?"
"Of course they have to train themselves. Only by training and meditating can they unlock more of their genes and receive the gifts of their ancestors!"
Zhuge Jinglun smiled and said, "But it's a mystery how one can be promoted into the group of Ultimate Benevolence. All that we know after hundreds of years of studies is that it's more likely for you to join the group of Ultimate Benevolence if you're Connate Bodies and that most of the Postnatal Bodies will be worker bees for their entire life. But it's not absolute. The Postnatal Bodies are the majority in the Covenant Alliance, and it's still hopeful for them to be promoted considering the absolute number."
"Connate Bodies? Postnatal Bodies?"
Li Yao asked, "Director Zhuge, are you talking about the different sources of the Covenant Alliance?"
"Yes, the Connate Bodies are the Covenant Alliance people that are 'manufactured' through artificial wombs."
Zhuge Jinglun explained, "In some sort of… man-manufacturing factories, the zygotes of mankind are screened and modified to make sure that the most excellent genes are gathered and the inferior genes are abandoned. As a result, the babies that are born in the end will be pure and powerful. Those are Connate Bodies."
Li Yao nodded his head. "I'm aware of that."
A hundred years ago, when Li Yao explored Kunlun, he had once encountered such a man-manufacturing factory, where he met the Three Fundamental Laws for the first time.
When the Three Fundamental Laws were imprinted on the cells and genes of the babies, it went without saying that those babies would be pure and pious.
To this day, Li Yao still remembered how the Immortal Cultivators who explored the land with him loathed the man-manufacturing factory and the Path of Ultimate Benevolence.
Nothing tarnished the sacredness of "human beings" more badly than a man-manufacturing factory did.
"The Connate Bodies created by the man-manufacturing factories are definitely the most perfect servants of gods. However, all the man-manufacturing factories under the Covenant Alliance's control are from the primeval age and have been worn out."
Zhuge Jinglun said, "Also, it seems that certain critical ingredients and technologies are required to manufacture human beings. All in all, the Covenant Alliance hasn't repaired all their man-manufacturing factories yet, and the Connate Bodies are being produced at a low efficiency with a high rejection rate.
"So, the Covenant Alliance has to acquire a new population through two new ways, namely natural reproduction and capturing slaves from the Imperium!
"The offspring of two Connate Bodies are purer and will be born with indestructible seals. However, the Connate Bodies are few in number in the first place, and they cannot give birth to a lot of babies even if they try their best. Besides, their children won't have any combat ability until they're mature, which will take a lot of time and resources.
"Capturing adult soldiers, workers, and farmers from the Imperium and brainwashing them will increase the Covenant Alliance's combat ability and weaken the Imperium's, which will mean double losses for the Imperium. So, although the Postnatal Bodies, who are created through brainwashing, are not as devoted and stable as the Connate Bodies, the Covenant Alliance has to count on them under the pressure of the war.
"The children born by the Postnatal Bodies are Postnatal Bodies too, and their reliability is also questionable. They have to be brainwashed by the group of Ultimate Benevolence again and again to ensure their loyalty to the gods.
"Right, Black Wind King, do you want to take a look at an instance of the group of Ultimate Benevolence?"
Li Yao raised an eyebrow. "You have a captive from the group of Ultimate Benevolence?"
"I do, and he's of quite a high level. However, he is not one of the Connate Bodies but only a Postnatal Bodies who betrayed the Imperium."
Zhuge Jinglun said proudly, "However, we may find more interesting information from the traitors than we can from the Connate Bodies, right?"
Li Yao was naturally eager to know more about the group of Ultimate Benevolence, who are the mysterious administrators, commanders, and priests.
This particular captive, however, was locked in a secret chamber even deeper in the island to make sure that not the slightest wave could be transmitted from his cell to the Covenant Alliance people's town up above, or a riot of the worker bees might be raised
.
As they took the elevator to the bottom level of the island, Li Yao read the file on the captive via his mini crystal processor.
The captive was named Song Guanghe. He used to be a noble of the Song family, one of the four Kurfürst families in the Imperium. But he had never been at the core circle, or he would have needed to fight the battle in person.
When the Imperium's counterattack began, he was a colonel in the expedition army, and he went missing when his troop encountered the main forces of the Covenant Alliance in a skirmish.
Everybody thought that he had died. The Song family even applied for a medal and an honorary title for him.
However, a dozen years later, when the expedition army reclaimed the lost lands, they found him in a garrison of the Covenant Alliance. At that time, he had become the highest commander of all the ground troops of the Covenant Alliance on a resource planet!
Greatly embarrassed, the Song family had to claim that this Song Guanghe had mental derangement due to the enemy's torture and brainwashing, and he was sent to Zhuge Jinglun for studies and treatment.
Chapter 2708: The Brainwashed Colonel |
"Song Guanghe is definitely not deranged. Besides, it was impossible for the Covenant Alliance to let a psychopath command the troops on a resource planet. His head is very clear, his logic is impeccable, and he remembers everything from his past."
Zhuge Jinglun explained to Li Yao, "He remembers his childhood and his youth as a noble in the Imperium, he remembers his wife and his three children, and he even remembers how he was modified in the Covenant Alliance, but he has converted himself to the Path of Ultimate Benevolence and completely cut himself from his past.
"Have a talk with him. It will be fun. I'm sure that you'll have a better understanding of the Covenant Alliance."
Li Yao met this Colonel Song Guanghe in a secret prison in the deepest part of the Third Research Institute.
The colonel left quite a good first impression on Li Yao. He was a tiny, graceful, and handsome man, wearing the hospital gown as if it were a military uniform.
He did not look as indifferent and heartless as the Covenant Alliance people up above. Instead, there was a warm and sunny smile on his face.
However, it was just an illusion.
According to Zhuge Jinglun, one nurse and one researcher had been deceived by the warm smile and killed by Colonel Song Guanghe.
Nobody saw that coming. The nurse and the researcher were unimportant. He couldn't escape even if he killed them. Besides, they did not torture him at all. In fact, they had been taking care of him. Nobody knew why he killed them.
After killing two innocent people in a row, Colonel Song Guanghe's cell was completely locked. Even the air would be filtered before it was transmitted into the room. The wall of the room was transparent on the outside so that everybody could see what Colonel Song Guanghe was doing but he could not see what was going on outside.
When Li Yao saw Song Guanghe, he was watching a soap opera with his hands on his knees like an obedient child. It was one of the programs designed for housewives and full of family dramas and struggles.
He didn't have a choice. As part of the study, Zhuge Jinglun played emotionally-stimulating stuff for him every day, hoping to detect abnormalities in his brainwaves.
But Song Guanghe's brainwaves were utterly unchanged although he was watching it wholeheartedly, as if he were staring at an empty wall.
On the nightstand nearby were a few novels and poem collections. Zhuge Jinglun did not want to give him access to crystal processors, so the novels and poem collections were rarely-seen in paper books. The smell of ink made the small prison cell smell fragrant.
It was another test.
But pitifully, though Song Guanghe read the novels and poems with great interest, his mind was absolutely tranquil.
"Colonel Song, I've brought a guest to you, a real big shot."
Through the broadcasting rune array, Zhuge Jinglun spoke to the prison cell.
"He would like to ask you a few questions, and if you answer them well, I may consider improving your living conditions and giving you a bigger room."
Song Guanghe watched for another half minute. It was not until the two women on the screen finished their fight that he finally moved his eyes back and slowly rose.
Although he could not see what was going on outside, his eyes were fixated on Li Yao through the wall.
"Director Zhuge, just call me Song Guanghe. It has been a long time since I was a colonel."
Song Guanghe smiled. "I would like to answer any questions from the honorable guest, but a different cell is unnecessary. You won't change a room for me. You just want to see me burst into rage.
"Besides, this is a nice place. Human beings are just grains of dust in the vast universe, and this room is spacious enough for a grain of dust."
Zhuge Jinglun looked at Li Yao and whispered, "Do you see how weird the group of Ultimate Benevolence is?"
Thinking for a moment, Li Yao said straightforwardly, "Colonel Song Guanghe, greetings. I'm very interested in the Covenant Alliance and the Path of Ultimate Benevolence. I'm even seeking another way apart from war to settle the conflicts between the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance.
"Just now, I saw you watching a TV series that involves love and affairs. What do you think of it?"
"Not bad at all, my honorable guest."
Song Guanghe kept smiling. "It's very interesting."
"Very interesting?"
Li Yao asked in surprise, "How interesting? Can it touch your mind?"
"For example, we know that ants can construct a social system by communicating with each other through their antenna."
Song Guanghe said, "Assuming that we're ants, we'll be able to sense a lot of information through our antenna. We can feel the valiance and the fury of the ants. The battle of two groups of ants will be like a war between two countries. Too many epic heroes and unscrupulous villains will emerge. The legend might even be sung over for generations.
"Alas, we're not ants but humans. So, when we see the battle of two groups of ants under a tree, we'll find it interesting, but it's impossible for us to understand the heroes, the villains, and the legends of ants, right?
"It's the same for me. When I watch the TV series where two females are fighting over a male, it's like you watching two groups of ants battle. It's interesting, but nothing more."
If Song Guanghe could hear him, Li Yao would love to blow a whistle for him.
The group of Ultimate Benevolence was indeed different from the bottom-level Covenant Alliance people. They had their own logic that would not be rectified easily.
"Then…"
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao asked, "If the TV series cannot touch you, what about you in the past? Director Zhuge says that you remember your wife and your children very well. You can't feel anything special about them? How do you view yourself from the past?"
"Ah, myself from the past."
The smile on Song Guanghe's face was unchanged, as if it had been branded on him. He slowly shook his head and said, "It was truly a period of darkness that I would rather not look back at. Affected by the extraterritorial devils, my animal instincts, and the crazy people around me, I was mired in the swamp of sins.
"At that time, I was greedy about power. I craved for the appreciation of the experts, plotted against my partners, and exploited the weaklings.
"I killed my best friend for the leadership of a legion in my family. I married a woman I did not know in order to be promoted. I trained my children in the most extreme ways and asked them to take part in the most dangerous trials for my vanity, and my youngest child died because of that.
"Addicted to power and enslaved by the extraterritorial devils, I even slaughtered five hundred innocent villagers and pretended that they were the soldiers of the Covenant Alliance. I had to do that because it was what almost all the noble officers did.
"Sins. The boundless sins make me shudder
in fear. I really don't know why I felt so comfortable when I was in a black swamp!
"Thankfully, all the sins are gone. The Ultimate Benevolence Masters have taught me the real truth and given me a chance to atone for my sins. Finally, I have found inner peace.
"Honorable guest, you must be an Immortal Cultivator too, aren't you? If so, you must be mired in the swamp of sins like I was in the past. I hope that you can realize your sins, get rid of the swamp, and find the ultimate peace that belongs to you one day."
Li Yao's eyes twitched. "Ultimate peace? Is it the reason why you killed the nurse and the researcher?"
"Yes, I sensed sins from them."
Song Guanghe said casually, "But more importantly, I saw that they still had a conscience and they were struggling in the black swamp not knowing how to get away, so I gave them a hand and led them to eternal peace."
"Don't you think it's against their wish?"
Li Yao asked, "You were brainwashed against your wish when you were captured, weren't you? What do you think of that? Do you not think that a man has the right to decide which path they should walk on?"
"If a man wants to cut his wrist, would you not kick the dagger in his hand away 'against his wish'?"
Song Guanghe asked back. "If a man is hanging himself, would you not take him down 'against his wish'? If someone is struggling in a fire pit, would you not save him until you ask him politely for his permission?
"Freedom? What freedom? Do human beings really should have the freedom to harm their bodies, to take drugs, to squander resources, or to brutalize one another?
"In the past, I was like a drug addict who waved a sharp blade in an abyss full of fire and venom, hurting myself, other people, and the whole universe. The Ultimate Benevolence Masters saved me and pulled me out of the abyss 'against my wish'. I was definitely forced, but isn't such force helpful and necessary?"
Chapter 2709: A Real Zealot! |
Maybe it was Li Yao's illusion, but when Song Guanghe talked, he really saw a holy and pure fire burning around the man.
