Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1169
"A perfect world!" Lu Qingchen's voice grew more and more persuasive. "Most of the mediocre, common, weak, and lazy people will enjoy their lives to their heart's content in the virtual world, considering their life as a game in 'beginner mode'. Nobody will savage and exploit them. They can stay at home doing nothing or commit all kinds of crimes if they want to!
"For those who are highly motivated, have a strong mind, believe in free will, and crave a 'real life', they will train themselves crazily in the cruel 'test battlefields', improving and proving themselves. Eventually, they will be given one or more strong bodies as the 'shells' for them to arrive in the real world!
"The elites of mankind, the people who are really alive, will be engaged in cutting-edge studies, the most creative artwork, the most arduous battles, and the most mysterious adventures!
"In the meantime, countless human mutants, controllable demon beasts, and spiritual puppets will scatter in every corner of the vast territory of mankind, taking care of the cumbersome and dangerous fundamental work. Like you said just now, General Ming, they will provide sufficient fuel for the civilization of mankind to stride forward!
"Look, in such a world, the high efficiency of resource utilization of the Immortal Cultivators and the humanity of the Cultivators are perfectly combined. This is the future!"
Heiye Ming breathed heavily and gritted his teeth for the last struggle. "I—I don't believe it! I don't believe in perpetual machines. I don't believe that such a future will really be perfect!
"Don't presume that I'm unaware of the cost of the virtual world. Creating a virtual world and maintaining an enormous database require countless crystal processors of enormous sizes. Do the production, maintenance, and upgrade of those crystal processors not consume resources?
"According to your plan, if a virtual world that is large enough to contain most human beings is to be created, the scale of the crystal processors will be unimaginably huge! Let's forget if it is technologically possible first. Even if it is, the fees to keep such a system functioning for one second will be astronomical!"
The deep ocean fell into silence after his words. It was not until a moment later that Lu Qingchen's chuckles came over again.
"You do have a point, General Ming. Perhaps I should apologize to them for my hasty conclusion just now. Fundamentally speaking, there is no useless garbage. Even the most inferior humans boast tremendous power inside their soul, which is their feelings.
"Humans' feelings have been suppressed so long that their strength has declined, but as long as we completely break the seal deep inside the soul, everybody will be able to unleash the most profuse energy!
"Such energy will not only be enough to support their brains and reproductive systems but also supply the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus incessantly to keep the functioning and upgrade of the whole enormous system. If there is additional energy, the elites in the real world will be able to absorb it to make themselves even stronger than before!"
Heiye Ming's eyes widened. "The strength of feelings? Break the seal of emotions? Also, you mentioned the Blood God just now… I finally understand. You are not an Immortal Cultivator at all but an extraterrestrial devil who feeds on the feelings of mankind. Both the Black Wind Fleet and the Star Glory Federation have been deceived!"
Chapter 1811: Origins of Humans and Devils |
"Why are you so strongly biased against the extraterrestrial devils, General Ming? You don't seem to be as upset and rejective when we are talking about the Cultivators!"
Lu Qingchen did not deny his identity at all. Instead, he answered with the most frank and affirmative tone. "Yes. I am an extraterrestrial devil, but I am also an Immortal Cultivator who belongs to the reformists and a patriot who loves the Star Glory Federation too dearly to watch it wander off the right path and is determined to revolutionize his motherland. Can the three identities only be in contradiction?
"Perhaps the Imperium of True Human Beings at the center of the cosmos is a place where racism, prejudice, and egoism prevail. But the Star Glory Federation is different. This is an open, tolerant and harmonious paradise. Here, 'humans' and 'demons', mortal enemies in the old days, have shaken hands in peace. Both the people from the desert world 'Water Crystal Sector' and the people from the 'Forest Ocean Sector', which has nothing but trees, are enjoying their happy lives. Why can't the extraterrestrial devils join the federation and build a beautiful big family together with everybody else? Humans, demons, Spiriters, extraterrestrial devils… We can be united and form a perfect symbiosis."
You—you've got to be kidding me!
Although the black jellyfish had almost consumed his mouth, Heiye Ming could not help but roar, "Both the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Star Glory Federation are a part of the civilization of mankind. The Immortal Cultivators and the Cultivators have different beliefs, but we are all human beings. This is a civil war of mankind!
"As for demons… Fine, even if I will never agree that the bizarre-shaped demons are also members of mankind, they are at least carbon-based creatures made of flesh and blood, aren't they? Despite their peculiar appearances and living habits, they are at least derived from human beings, aren't they?
"What are the extraterrestrial devils? A bunch of unsubstantial, cunning energy lives, parasites who try to control your feelings and mind!
"I will not be fooled however you dress yourself up. Don't forget that the Imperium of True Human Beings is the rightful successor of the Star Ocean Imperium, and the Star Ocean Imperium was destroyed because the demons conspired with the extraterrestrial devils and corrupted the Blood God, the commander of the expedition army!
"As the rightful successor of the Star Ocean Imperium, we consider the extraterrestrial devils our sworn enemies. You must be daydreaming to ask for my cooperation!
"Now I know what move you are actually playing with your so-called 'perfect world'. You confine most of the people into the Spiriters' Realm for the sole purpose of absorbing their feelings and soul waves. The great lives of mankind will be served to the extraterrestrial devils as food. That's all!
"As for the 'elites' who have passed the cruel tests, the so-called 'real people' who strive in reality, must've been deeply polluted and corrupted by the extraterrestrial devils without them knowing it in the 'test battlefields', mustn't they?
"In the end, what are the things who arrive at the real world inside the shells of humans? Will they be real humans or just puppets of the extraterrestrial devils?
"Kill me. Hehe. Hehehe. Kill me if you want, but I will never cooperate with you! The pride of mankind is never to be blemished by the wretched Pangu Civilization or the foul extraterrestrial devils like you!"
Heiye Ming roared desperately at the top of his voice with his remaining strength.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but after he made the declaration, the black jellyfish that entangled him slowly retreated, and Lu Qingchen's gloomy sigh as if nobody understood him came over.
"General Ming," Lu Qingchen said, "your bias against the extraterrestrial devils is too deep. Or rather, the lies fabricated by the Pangu Clan in the past and branded deep into our genes and souls are too powerful!
"Like you, I am proud of the glorious radiation of the civilization of mankind. Who will I confine? I'm merely trying to really free mankind in such a way and break the seal that suppresses our souls so that human beings can recover their original appearance."
"What—what are you talking about?" Heiye Ming bulged his eyes. "Not confinement, but liberation? Break the seal and recover the original appearance? What's that supposed to mean?"
Lu Qingchen chuckled and went on. "It is meaningless to struggle on whether it is humans or extraterrestrial devils that finally arrive at the real world, because…
"The extraterrestrial devils are not necessarily human beings, but human beings are themselves extraterrestrial devils!"
Heiye Ming's eyeballs were almost exploding. "You're lying. This is poppycock. Who will ever believe such ridiculous deception?"
"Listen to the voice that is suppressed below the seal in the deepest part of your soul, and you will know that I'm not lying." Lu Qingchen sighed. "It's a shame that the seal is branded too deeply, and too long a time has passed. Everybody has forgotten their distant origins and considers their sealed, suppressed state as their original appearance.
"Ten thousand years ago, the 'Blood God', the greatest commander of the civilization of mankind, once heard the voice in the deepest part of his soul. He made up his mind to completely break the seal of the Pangu Civilization and liberate all human beings.
"It is a shame that he failed. The battlefield was obliterated, the truth was covered up, the heroes were tarnished, and the lies became unquestionable history after being decorated with golden, glittering powder.
"Extraterrestrial devils. What a terrible, vicious, and evil name. But who exactly was it that gave them such a terrible, vicious, and evil definition? Who was it that told human beings again and again that the extraterrestrial devils were horrible and must not be reached out to? Have you ever considered the questions, General Ming?"
Heiye Ming gritted his teeth and said, "Do—do I need to think? I've seen the horror of the 'arrival of extraterrestrial devils' with my own eyes!"
Lu Qingchen sniffed and said, "Tenebrum energy, condensed by the reverberation of overly-powerful emotions and spiritual energy, is not controllable for everyone. That's why we have to keep most people in the virtual world to manage and control their emotions rigorously so that the tenebrum energy can be outputted stably.
"You cannot deny the brand-new possibility brought by the extraterrestrial devils and the tenebrum energy just because of the chaos and horror of the arrival of extraterrestrial devils, just like you cannot deny the hope that fire brings to a civilization just because of a whole forest is set ablaze and burnt to the ground.
"Any powerful strength is destined to be dangerous. The more powerful, the more dangerous. Only the strongest minds are qualified to conquer it, harness it, and manipulate it, aren't they?"
Heiye Ming was rendered speechless again. "Is—is it true? Are we really—"
"Yes. We are really the same kind." Not waiting for him to finish, Lu Qingchen interrupted him. "This is the simplest logic. Only things of the same kind can swallow and feed on each other. Wolves eat goats, and goats eat grass. They can only do so because they are the same kind. But no wolves, goats, or grass can get any nutrition from rocks, which means that rocks are the real foreigners for them, right? If we are not the same kind, why can the energy necessary for the extraterrestrial devils be found in the depths of human brains?"
Heiye Ming fell silent for a while. His voice became completely feeble, and he struggled futilely. "I don't understand. Please tell me the whole truth."
"Nobody knows the whole truth. I don't, either. I only know some of the mottled pieces," Lu Qingchen said. "But it doesn't matter. Accept my ideas, listen to the voices deep in your heart, join our side, and let's fight and look for the answer together!
"You may call our ideas the Immortal Cultivator 2.0, or the Cultivator 2.0, or even mankind 2.0. Whatever the name is, it is just a reference. All you need to know is that it is the true path that combines the advantages of the Immortal Cultivators and the Cultivators and can lead us to find out the ultimate truth and figure out who we really are."
"Argh!"
In his slight hesitation, the black jellyfish completely enshrouded Heiye Ming's head and even his whole body. It crawled into his head and his soul through his mouth, nostrils, and ears. He was screaming like a man who was swallowed by a swamp in what sounded both like pain and delight. He seemed to be both suffering excruciating agony and being reborn from the bottom.
"We—" Heiye Ming's voice was completely twisted. He howled, "What are we doing right now? We now—"
"First of all, we must control the Star Glory Federation," Lu Qingchen said calmly, like he was stating an objective fact rather than making a deceptive persuasion. "This tiny world at the edge of the cosmos will be our 'civilization laboratory', where we will accumulate precious experience as to the construction and maintenance of a perfect world. Naturally, we also need to raise a coalition fleet of humans, demons, and extraterrestrial devils that is strong enough to control the three thousand Sectors. They will be the strengthened version of the Blood God's uprising army, and you will be the highest commander of the fleet, their unquestionable leader.
"Then, we will march to the center of the cosmos, extricate everybody in the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance from their misery, and obliterate all the schemes of the Pangu Civilization to rise up again!
"Most importantly of all, we must go to the center of the cosmos to search for the valuable legacy left by the Blood God, Mad Armageddon. I believe that we will find the real origins of mankind from the items left by the Blood God."
Heiye Ming's screams became fuzzy like gurgling water. "…Origins?"
"Yes," Lu Qingchen said firmly. "We will see the future of mankind from the origins of mankind. We will know who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. Are you not interested in those questions? Do you not want to find out the answers?"
"I—I seem to have heard something. Huchi… Huchi… Hulu… Hulu… I've heard the voice again. Who—who are we exactly? Where are we from? Where are we going? Why are we struggling so hard in the dark universe?"
Heiye Ming cramped violently, but the movements grew smaller and smaller, as if the black mucus that covered his body was gradually hardening, turning itself into an enormous cocoon.
His cries became ever weaker, too, until they were entirely gone, as if a butterfly was being gestated inside slowly!
Deep inside the dark ocean, Lu Qingchen waited very patiently.
There was no telling how long passed, but Heiye Ming's voice echoed from the black cocoon again. "I seem to be… awake now. Thank you very much, Fellow Cultivator Lu."
"Congratulations, Fellow Cultivator Heiye," Lu Qingchen said.
"But my Black Wind Fleet is in chaos, and the situation does not look good," Heiye Ming said. "There will be too many unexpected factors if the battle goes on like this. Our great plans might be affected."
"It's alright," Lu Qingchen said. "Despite the major mistake in the original plan, it can still be saved. The reinforcements will show up in no time."
"Reinforcements? Where?" Heiye Ming asked.
"Right here!" Lu Qingchen replied.
Chapter 1812: A Devil Rises! |
While Heiye Ming was dwelling on the conversation with Lu Qingchen deep inside his brain, his soul being repetitively cleansed by the wind from the four-dimensional, weird things were happening on the bridge of Black Swirl!
Although no source of disturbance was found, the light beams of the crystal processors of the advisors, the Chief Mate, the analysts, and the fire control officers were all bouncing crazily, with ripples that looked like sharp teeth spreading out.
Those ripples danced peculiarly as if they were alive, baring their sharp tusks like fiends that had snuck into the crystal processors.
In the meantime, creepy roars were echoing deep inside their crystal processors, which pierced through the blockage of all defense rune arrays and plate layers. Not just the leadership on the bridge, everybody in every cabin on the entire enormous warship was under the scourge of the shrieks. Their heads were dizzy, and the world was swirling before their eyes. Ten thousand ants seemed to be crawling and digging inside their ears!
"Ou!"
The hominoid slave soldiers whose spiritual roots had not awoken were the first to collapse. A lot of them fell to their knees and vomited violently. It was neither blood nor undigested food that they threw out but black liquids that were as thick as ink.
Even the Immortal Cultivators were blinking quickly. They felt as if countless black bugs were flying randomly on their retina.
On the bridge, inside the command capsule, Heiye Ming was trembling violently in the boiling bubbles. His skin that was exposed to the hair was releasing black air, which focused on his forehead and temples into webs that looked like nerves.
Before anybody realized what was going on, the anomaly was already gone.
The sawtooth-like ripples and the ear-splitting noises all faded away. Heiye Ming stopped cramping and struggling, too, and opened his deep, dark eyes inside the command capsule.
Black flames were burning furiously deep inside his eyes, creating what appeared to be a new universe!
Chi!
The nervous interaction liquids inside the command capsule quickly dropped. Heiye Ming walked out slowly to the front of the mainframe crystal processor on the bridge.
The Chief Advisor, the Chief Mate, and his secretary officers all looked at him in fear. They all noticed something unusual from Heiye Ming's smile and his eyes. Something drastic seemed to have happened to their commander in only several minutes.
Heiye Ming stared at the light beam wholeheartedly, examining the starships that were attacking, tangling, and even crashing each other.
"We have been completely mixed up with the enemy. The speed of both parties has been reduced to the minimum. No sailing route that is unaffected from interference can be found," the Chief Advisor of the Black Wind Fleet reported helplessly. "The Burning Prairie Fleet, the Big Bai Fleet, and the enemy's assault team of Colossi are all ambushing the star beacon troops in the rear, forcing us to be engaged in the most unorganized, chaotic battle. There is not the slightest battle formation at all.
"We have the best starships and the strongest warriors of the entire Imperium. Naturally, we are not scared of close-distance battles, but we are deep inside the enemy's heartland all by ourselves after all, and we only have a finite number of starships and Immortal Cultivators. Such a war of attrition is not going to work out. Should the enemy's reinforcements arrive in time before we establish our space gate, we will be caught in a rather awkward situation!
