by <unknown>
Song Guanghe's eyes were not dirty and lackluster like the eyes of the brainwashed and the deranged, but they were as clear as an enlightened Cultivator.
After a long time, Li Yao continued, "I'm very curious. How do you view your wife and your children? If they come here, would you help them… find eternal peace?"
"They're upset, in pain, and confused because of what happened to me."
Song Guanghe said, "My wife has been sleeping with the powerful men, hoping that they could restore her reputation. My children unleashed their fury on the people weaker than them. In my eyes, they have all been possessed by extraterritorial devils, and I certainly have to cleanse them if I cannot drive the devils away."
"Cleanse?"
Li Yao asked, "Let me confirm it again. You're saying that you will kill your wife and your children without feeling anything? They're pure strangers to you, like the nurse and the researcher were?"
"No, not strangers, but like siblings."
Song Guanghe said, "We're all the creatures, the slaves, the tools, and the lambs of the gods. My children were born through me and my wife by the gods' decree. So, they're the gods' children, not mine.
"We're siblings to each other. All humans are equal siblings. My wife, my children, and you… In my eyes, you're all the same. We're as intimate and equal to each other as we are to other people. If there's a chance, I will wake you up and save you without caring about the cost."
Taking a long breath, Li Yao said, "Colonel Song, I don't know if you still keep any logical thinking with you, but I still hope that you can consider calmly and rationally if your thoughts are based on your own will. Do you still have your own will?"
"Of course I do."
Song Guanghe said casually, "The gods' will is my will. There's nothing but the gods in the universe. My soul is never more serene and satisfied than when it's filled by the will of the gods."
"In other words, you're just a cell and a thought of the gods?"
Li Yao asked, "Have you ever considered the significance of such a life?"
"What about you, honorable guest, and millions of other Immortal Cultivators?"
Song Guanghe said, "You've been thrown into the furnace of desires since you were born. Not knowing that the extraterritorial devils live in your head, you struggle with desires for your whole life. You may die young of internal conflicts, but even if you live up to hundreds of years old, you cannot understand the real truth and will spend astronomical resources on the extension of your longevity. Yet, you will still end up in a tomb. What's the point of your life?
"Life is easier for you. What about the ordinary people oppressed by you? They struggle to survive below the ground like beasts, and they might never see any sunlight for their whole lives. They're not ants but more like moving mushrooms. For nothing more than keeping themselves from decaying, they have to weather through every second, every minute, and every day, but they will still end up in the darkness without leaving any mark. What's the point of their life?
"Maybe, for you, for us, and for them, life is just meaningless. Both the happiness of extravagance and the excruciating pain will perish in the passage of time, like water melting into a river that would eventually go dry. What's the point of anything? I don't know. Only the gods do."
"So, your purpose is to wake up the so-called 'gods', or the Pangu Clan?"
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao calmed himself down and asked the critical question.
"Yes. Our responsibility was to defend this universe while the gods were asleep so that everything would be maintained exactly as it had been."
Song Guanghe said without lying, "However, most human beings were corrupted by extraterritorial devils when the gods were asleep. They forgot about their sacred destiny and consumed the precious resources wickedly.
"Now that we're awakened, we're going to clean up the mess, end wars for good, restore peace and order, and wait for the gods to wake up.
"Trust me. I can feel it, so do all the Ultimate Benevolence Masters, that the gate of gods is about to be opened. The gods are returning from the hibernation of hundreds of thousands of years. Soon, they will reestablish their splendid civilization and bring us higher wisdom and instructions."
"You can feel it?"
Li Yao snorted. "You're placing the future of mankind on your feeling and the pity of the gods? How can you guarantee that the gods will bring guidance instead of slaughter, hope instead of destruction? You… We have gone out of control as 'tools'. It's a reasonable deduction that they will destroy the uncontrollable tools and develop new tools that are more reliable, right?"
"Don't predict what the gods will think with your evil mind that's corrupted by extraterritorial devils!"
Song Guanghe said, "How do you know that the gods will not bring guidance or hope? How do you know that human beings, who are evil, chaotic, and conceited, can live on in this dark and cold universe and weather through the greater tests? Chances are that we will be destroyed by ourselves before we step out of this tiny universe.
"You don't know that, and I don't either. We only believe what we're willing to believe. That's faith.
"If the gods really decide to annihilate mankind and replace us with more reliable tools, it will be our destiny that we can't and shouldn't avoid. Just face the judgment of the gods with no fear. Faith, instead of survival, should be the highest pursuit of intelligent creatures. Do our humble and sinful lives really matter compared to the decree of the gods?"
Song Guanghe couldn't have seen Li Yao, but when he talked, he was looking right at Li Yao's location perhaps by accident.
His tone had always been calm, without the devotion of a zealot, the condescension of a believer, or the slightest mockery. He simply talked about everything solemnly.
The calmness made Li Yao feel ignored. He was completely enraged.
"Do you know?"
Gnashing his teeth, Li Yao said coldly, "I once killed a member of the Pangu Clan, a living god. Believe it or not, I chopped off his head, and many people scanned and studied his body, as well as the bodies of other gods that you worship.
"To be honest, those gods are just regular carbon-based lives. They're just cockroaches, lizards, and gorillas that are larger in size but not fundamentally different from us!
"Do you believe me? Do you think I'm lying? Do you really think that gods are invincible? Do you know that many archaeological studies have shown that the primeval civilizations are not the oldest civilizations in our universe, and there are civilizations even older than them?
"It's true that the Pangu alliance was our creator, but they had their creator, and their creator had another creator that was even older. There are no gods. There have never been any gods. All of us are just a regular step in the long river of evolution!"
"Don't be excited, honorable guest. I believe you. You beheaded a member of the Pangu Clan and killed him."
Song Guanghe was still unmoved. He smiled even more peacefully. "It's exactly the will of the gods. The power of the gods was attached to you. The gods sacrificed an individual to enlighten you, or perhaps it was for a greater purpose. Who knows? You won't know it until the right moment comes.
"As for the civilizations prior to the Pangu civilization, of course I know them. They're exactly the ancient miracles left by the gods!"
"Gods are eternal, infinite, and everywhere. The Pangu civilization has a history of only several million years. Do you think that there were no gods several million years earlier?
"No, the Pangu civilization and the civilizations prior to it are just incarnations of the gods. The power of the gods is too enormous for the tiny germs in the three-dimensional universe like us to perceive, so they enlighten us and direct us through the Pangu Clan as a medium.
"By killing a member of the Pangu Clan, you only raised a leaf that blocked one of the billions of rays from the sun. You wouldn't be so naive as to think that it's enough to destroy the sun and slay the gods, would you?"
&
nbsp; Li Yao took a deep breath and clenched his fists.
"How annoying!"
Long Yangjun grimaced on his back. "What about it? Do not feel like beating him up? I was also infuriated when I talked to him for the first time. Why don't we go in and beat him up? He can't be reasoned with."
"… Forget it. Even killing him won't help. He's just a member of the group of Ultimate Benevolence."
Naturally, Li Yao could tell that Long Yangjun was only joking. He took a long breath and said, "Thank you for your cooperation, Colonel Song. That will be all for today. Maybe I'll check up on you someday."
"Okay, goodbye, honorable guest—no, my brother."
Song Guanghe raised his right hand and curled his middle finger and his third finger. Then, he touched his forehead, his lips, and his chest with the three remaining fingers, before he bowed deeply at Li Yao.
In the etiquette of the Covenant Alliance, it was the most sacred ritual.
"May you find peace in your heart and in the world."
Song Guanghe said piously, "I hope that you can be pardoned and pitied by the gods sooner, my poor brother."
Then, he stopped looking at Li Yao and sat back on his back, before he started reading one of the poem collections.
Chapter 2710: Conquer the Gods! |
The elevator slowly ascended, pulling them up from the dark and suffocating abyss.
When they breathed in the fresh air and embraced the warm sunlight back on the top of the island, Li Yao finally felt less cold.
"Aren't you always a great talker? Why did you quit today?"
Long Yangjun smiled at Li Yao. "Why didn't you debate with Colonel Song Guanghe and try to persuade him with your blood-boiling thoughts of a middle school student?"
"Do I have nothing better to do?"
Looking at the psychopaths caged not far away, Li Yao said, "You can only reason with people who are reasonable. For example, although the Immortal Cultivators are evil, they have their reasons to be evil. So, even Wuying Qi was still a person that I could talk to.
"This Song Guanghe, or rather, everybody in the Covenant Alliance, does not intend to reason at all. Anything is simply the gods' arrangement. Even a god being killed by me is still the gods' arrangement. What can you say to them when they keep telling themselves that?
"It's like those psychopaths who cannot free themselves from their own world. Can you reason with them?
"Speaking of which, this Song Guanghe is a poor guy too. I've figured out why he is so devoted to the Path of Ultimate Benevolence. If I were him, I probably would've done the same."
"Huh?"
Long Yangjun was briefly stunned. "How so?"
"Just read his file!"
Li Yao showed his wrist crystal processor. "Although he is from one of the four Kurfürst families, this Colonel Song was not in the core circle of his family. It couldn't have been easy for him to squeeze into the core circle without being kicked out or discriminated against.
"He struggled to survive in such a difficult environment. There's no telling how many bad things he did and how many friends he sold out. He even indirectly got one of his kids killed. Finally, he was promoted as a colonel, but hardly had he gone to the battlefield when he was captured by the Covenant Alliance.
"After spending a dozen years in the Covenant Alliance, he was captured by the Imperium, only to discover that his wife became an escort and his children turned into crazy bloody butchers. Also, his wife and his children all declared that they would disengage from him. He had to choose between a traitor and a psychopath.
"Tell me, if you were him, would you rather wake up from being brainwashed and confront the brutal reality?
"Do you see where I'm getting at? It's not true that Colonel can't be reasoned with; he just doesn't want to be reasoned with. His identity as a member of the Covenant Alliance is his last shield and port. He only has the courage to live on when he hides behind the glory of the gods. If he really wakes up and faces everything, he probably will kill himself immediately!"
Long Yangjun stared at Li Yao. "Huh. I'm surprised that you've improved your IQ to the average level with your precious computation ability!"
"Is there a better time to use my IQ?"
Li Yao sighed and said, "Actually, all the religions are the same. It's not that the lies of those religions are convincing, but that the reality is cruel and unsatisfying for everyone. When people have nowhere to turn to under the oppression of reality, they can only join the embrace of the gods. It's more like self-narcotization and self-protection. Otherwise, they will be in too much pain for the rest of their entire lives.
"So, I agree with your theory that the Covenant Alliance and the Imperium are the two sides of the same coin.
"Although the Supreme Emperor banished the demons and united the universe, the aftermath of the Great Dark Age has never been gotten rid of. The universe in the past ten thousand years has still been a world of darkness that is no different from the tyranny of demons. The Imperium of True Human Beings, on the other hand, is the pinnacle of this oppression. Faced with the pressure, not only do the hominoids live in hell, but even the oppressors like Colonel Song are also doomed. To quote him, 'in the abyss of fire and venom', neither the oppressed nor the oppressors can find a way out, and religions naturally come into being in the infinite pain and desperation!"
Long Yangjun waved her hand before Li Yao. "Dear god, is it really you? You really can be surprisingly smart!"
Li Yao grinned. "Of course! I am the dominator of nine Sectors anyway. I'm more sophisticated than I seem!
"All in all, after witnessing the status of the Covenant Alliance people and communicating with them, I've got a basic understanding of the nature of the Covenant Alliance.
"Actually, it's not very difficult to settle the Cultivator. Who would want to have synthesized food when you have fresh lobsters? Who would want to play with dolls when you have a real girlfriend? Who would want to hide in the illusions of religions when they have a happy life? As long as we modify the Imperium with the thoughts of the Cultivators so that everybody will be happier than before, the Covenant Alliance's propaganda will lose all its appeal."
"Fair enough."
Long Yangjun nodded and extended her hand to Li Yao. "Then, where are your fresh lobsters, girlfriend in the flesh, and the resources that can deepen the reform and make everyone's life happy?"
"That's exactly the problem."
Scratching his messy hair, Li Yao said, "The Imperium is terribly ill, and it cannot be healed overnight. According to the queen—no, the empress dowager's speculation, as well as Colonel Song's prophecy about the arrival of the gods—something unprecedented will definitely happen soon.
"It's really challenging to resolve the problem of the Covenant Alliance so quickly!"
"It seems that you will have to resort to the Sunspot Plan."
Long Yangjun smiled and said, "For most people of the Covenant Alliance, I'm a minor god, and for the sunspots, you are a minor god too. I wonder, can the two minor gods really resist the real gods who have slept for hundreds of thousands of years?"
"I don't believe in gods."
Li Yao shook his head and said determinedly, "So, I will not deceive those sunspots in the name of a god. We're human beings, and nothing more. 'Human being' is itself an honorable and powerful identity. Why do I need to play a groundless god?"
"I don't believe in specific gods either."
Long Yangjun's eyes became thoughtful. "However, what Colonel Song Guanghe said in the end is not entirely wrong. The members of the Pangu Clan are not the real gods. They are only part of the gods' billions of rays or even the reflection of the gods in the three-dimensional world.
"If we do not call them gods but the initial creator and first-awakened intelligent life, and if there is a reason that caused the intelligent life to wake up and an ultimate law that shaped the universe, would you believe it?"
Li Yao turned solemn. "Wait a moment, I'm confused.
Which side are you on?"
"I've always been in the middle."
Long Yangjun smiled. "Don't forget that I'm a half-Pangu and half-Nuwa monster. I certainly do not believe that I or the Pangu Clan are real gods. But if the Pangu Clan understood part of the ultimate truths and willingly melted into the billions of rays of the ultimate law, it would be an acceptable theory!
"Tell me, Li Yao, if the law does exist, would you obey it or go against it?"
Li Yao was silent for a long time.
Under the raging sea wind, his eyes were brighter and brighter.
"Humans will conquer nature."
Li Yao said, "If the law does exist, I will try my best to study it, explore it, and eventually conquer it!"
Against the sea wind, the two of them returned to their shuttle.
Zhuge Jinglun came to bid them farewell. They also settled on their next meeting, when Li Yao would donate a batch of high-performance crystal processors to the Third Research Institute, mostly for the convenience of his studies with the Sunspot Plan.
"Black Wind King, you're too generous."
Zhuge Jinglun could barely stop grinning when he read the list of donations that Li Yao made to the institute. He then winked at Li Yao. "You're welcomed here anytime, Black Wind King. This place may look shabby, but when the whole world looks weird and upside-down, perhaps an asylum is the only normal and real place where you can find the answer you want.
"Mark my word. I think you're destined for an asylum someday…"
Zhuge Jinglun personally closed the shuttle door for them. Accompanied by the sea wind, he waved his hand at them with a brilliant smile.
Chapter 2711: Training for the Divinity Branching Stage! |
After departing with Long Yangjun, Li Yao wasted no time returning to the Gold Crystal Pyramid.
He might've been suspicious about the Sunspot Plan and worried over its side effects before the coronation ceremony yesterday, but after the Covenant Alliance invaded the Imperium again and he got a better understanding of Ultimate Benevolence in the Third Research Institute, he was determined to wake up the sunspots that had hibernated for a thousand years!
