Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1209
"However, feats are feats, and faults are faults. You cannot offset your wrongdoings by your achievements. The federation does not tolerate the classification of 'true human being' and 'hominoid', or the personal bondage and even slavery system.
"Starting from today, you will receive new education on Boneyard, in the Water Crystal Sector, and in the Forest Ocean Sector to embrace a completely different life. Even if the true path of immortality in your head is not so easy to be erased, you will have to at least memorize the 'Constitution of Cultivators'. From this moment on, the 'Constitution of Cultivators' will be the new military law of the Black Wind Fleet. Even the war heroes of the past will not be pardoned should they break any rules!
"One has to leave something behind after their death. In a hundred years, whether the Black Wind Fleet and you will be a bunch of infamous, dead-end soldiers who are despised and laughed at by everyone or creators of miracles who have risen again in a completely different form, it depends on your action right now!"
The Immortal Cultivators were all deep in thought, each considering their own thoughts.
A long time later, 'Bloody Spear' Zhou Tailong suddenly shouted, "Commander, I don't care about anything but one thing. If we obey you completely and follow all the principles in the 'Constitution of Cultivators', can we really take back the Black Wind Sector, the Wild Wolf Sector, the Hard Rock Sector, the Purple Fire Sector, and the Fiery Spider Sector someday?"
"You will have to find the answer yourself."
Looking at the big eyes of 'Bloody Spear' Zhou Tailong that were almost like bells, Li Yao said, one word after another, "The federation will show you a new strength. It is entirely different from the strength you've mastered and believed in before, but it is much more powerful, vigorous, and better represents the civilization of mankind. I believe that you will know the answer after you really perceive the mysteries of such a strength."
…
A month later…
Beep… Beep, beep… Beep, beep, beep…
The noises that were slow at first and hasty later woke the woman up from the dream that almost felt like a black hole, making her gradually sense the existence of her limbs, muscles, bones, veins, and nerves.
Her eyelids were still frozen. She was unable to see anything except for the darkness and hear anything but the buzz. She only sensed stinging from all over her body, as if a hundred tubes were piercing through and breaking away from her body, injecting sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, and all other flavors into her. From her heels to her fingers, from her fingers to her tongue, and from her tongue to her temples, all her nerve endings were slowly opened, making her body completely wake up from a hibernation of a hundred years.
The burning pain in her body was not reduced, yet magma seemed to be injecting into her temples, too. Her brain was further activated to wake up the mottled memories and abilities that were sealed in her head.
It felt that a long-closed warehouse was opened again. The first things she saw were the pictures of her operating all kinds of large agricultural machines and work data that was pouring like a waterfall, which finally reminded her of who she was.
Chapter 1876: Xu Yulan's Confusion |
Her name was Xu Yulan, and she was a level-three pioneer in the No. 2 production base in the Green Valley Fortress of the South District on the Green Dragon Planet.
The so-called 'pioneer' was a profession that required the workers to build bridges and roads, reshape mountains and rivers, and modify harsh terrain into places suitable for the survival of human beings.
As a 'hominoid' whose spiritual root had not awakened, it was certainly not an easy process for her to learn how to use seventy-seven kinds of large civil magical equipment and gain the courage to deal with ferocious animals after putting on a half-armed crystal suit, thereby acquiring the rank of 'level-three pioneer'.
Back when she was in her hometown, Xu Yulan had been a minor celebrity. There was not a single corner on the Green Dragon Planet that she had not set foot on. Even the pits and ravines on the three satellites had witnessed her sweat.
It was a pity…
Xu Yulan felt a headache. Pictures of fire and blood popped up inside her brain.
It was the last scene she had seen at the Green Valley Fortress before she left on an evacuation airship of the military.
The entire Green Valley Fortress was enshrouded in an ocean of fire. The beautiful scenery that they had built over dozens of years of hard work was burnt to the ground. Countless hominoids were raising their hands, screaming at the sky in desperation, including her old, white-haired father.
Meanwhile, more puppets of the Covenant Alliance were reducing the beautiful scenery emotionlessly as if they were wearing false masks and destroying everything in their way.
With the strength that she had accumulated, Xu Yulan shook her head hard to suppress the useless pictures.
It was not the time for sentimentality.
She remembered that the captain had told them sternly before they entered hibernation that a protracted hibernation might deal a certain degree of damage to the brain, such as edema and cerebral anoxia. The hibernation cabins for the hominoids such as them were naturally not as delicate and safe as the mighty Immortal Cultivators'. So, everything depended on themselves, and a tiny bit of luck.
She was asked to try recalling as many things as possible the moment she woke up from the hibernation because if she could not remember them now, it was very likely that she would never remember them again.
Xu Yulan tried her best to recall the operations of the seventy-seven kinds of large exploration magical equipment.
It had been the leverage for her survival since her childhood.
For the civilians of the Imperium, life was always as difficult as the cold wind in the winter. However, if one grasped one or two special skills, it would be like wearing a thick cotton coat, and it might be enough to shield their entire family.
Xu Yulan had been born in a common family of peasants. The life of her ancestors had been a changeless loop for hundreds of years. They had to till and plow the lands that the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance fought over at the risk of their lives. It was not necessarily crops that they planted. Sometimes, it was fast-growing wood that was necessary for some wars or vines and thorns that could generate all kinds of venomous gas and prevent the enemy's ground troops from marching forward.
Leaving the savaging fire of war aside, the weird plants that could grow from seeds to almost ten meters tall in only a couple of days were the most dangerous beings.
More than one ancestor in Xu Yulan's family had been snatched by the vines and drained into dry bones or pierced by the thorns and died of high fever after several days struggling.
That would have been her fate, too, if she had not accidentally shown her talent with machines at the age of five.
The Imperium was cruel, but it was also fair. Regardless of their bloodline, as long as they showed talents in a certain field, they would be given an opportunity of education and trial regardless of whether they were the children of lords or peasants.
The five-year-old Xu Yulan was taken away from her family and sent to a corresponding school in 'Angry Dragon City', the capital of the Green Dragon Planet, to study. She spent fifteen years on the lone island that felt like an iron cage. Although her spiritual root was not awakened, the certificate of 'level-three pioneer' was enough for her and her family to migrate from the living hell to the Green Valley Fortress, which had just been developed and had a slightly better environment.
Even at the end, when the Green Valley Fortress was drowned by the army of the Covenant Alliance and countless hominoids were either killed in fire or captured by the Covenant Alliance for modification, her certification of 'level-three pioneer' gave her tremendous help.
There was limited space on the evacuation starship, and the military could only take away useful people. When order was disrupted and everything fell into chaos, countless residents of the Green Valley Fortress were kicked away and even shot by the Immortal Cultivators mercilessly, but she was able to escape from the dangerous land with her husband and her daughter, although her father did not make it…
Xu Yulan wiped away the moistness in her eyes and tried to concentrate on the structure and operations of the fifty-seventh exploration magical equipment.
Years of vicissitudes and sufferings had already honed the nerves of the woman from the Imperium to the most tensile point. She had long perceived such a truth—suffering was the essence of life, but one could always grit their teeth through it.
Compared with their old neighbors, they could almost be counted as lucky. Although her parents had passed away, her children were still alive. Also, her brains did not seem to be damaged despite the long-term hibernation. The knowledge on which she made a living was as clear as before, which was the most important thing for her right now.
Have we arrived at a new world?
No, I shouldn't be too excited yet. Let me just review the structure and operations of all the expedition magical equipment again!
Even if this is a new world, we may still be faced with shortage of assets and food, a harsh environment, and all kinds of other problems. Chances are that countless hominoids will be abandoned.
I cannot be abandoned. My daughter cannot be abandoned. Then, I must try to become a useful person. Only those who are useful can survive!
Growing up in the middle of cold machines from the age of five, Xu Yulan had always been good at making her own decisions.
Although the noisy atmosphere around her did not exactly befit the unfreezing procedure that her captain had described to her, she still did not open her eyes to check but focused on dismantling and assembling virtual components in her head and reciting the key points of the operations of all the magical equipment.
"Mom! Mom!"
Perhaps it was her imagination, but Xu Yulan heard the merry sound of her daughter, Yan Jinzhi, who sang like a lard.
Xu Yulan was slightly dazed and thought that her ears deceived her because of the side effect of the long hibernation.
There was no reason for her daughter to appear on this starship.
Before they entered the hibernation state, the civilians from the five worlds were classified into different 'colonization teams' according to their identity, age, and profession, before being led by the Immortal Cultivators and managed in a half-military way.
For the convenience of administration, the names of the hominoids were abolished in the colonization teams. Each of them was given a number. Hers was 28347764545. The first two digits were where she came from, the middle parts were her biophysical information such as blood type, and the last five digits, which were the most important ones, stood for her profession and proficiency.
According to the captain, they would be unfrozen after the Black Wind Fleet found a new world, but half-military management would continue for the first one to three years. They had to work arduously for survival and would only restore the social structure with the family as the fundamental unit after the environment was stable.
"Mom! Mom! Xu Yulan! Xu Yulan!"
The calling became closer and closer and did not feel like an illusion at all. Xu Yulan's eyeballs shivered, and she raised her bloated eyelids, only to be slightly surprised.
While the hibernation area that she was in was still under military management to unfreeze, wake up, and perform fully physical examinations on the immigrants, the lounge outside of the hibernation area was already wild with joy. Countless people, old and young, were hugging each other, crying, shouting, laughing and playing, releasing their feelings that had been suppressed for a hundred years.
It was a scene that Xu Yulan had hardly seen before and was very unused to. She had never thought that such enormous energy could be contained inside hominoids or that they could be so excited and… insubordinate.
Where are the Immortal Cultivators?
Subconsciously, Xu Yulan shrank her neck and looked for the grim 'lords'.
Generally speaking, 'true human beings' were not fond of hominoids making a fuss, not to mention at a time when 'iron order' was direly required. Was this not rebellion?
She did not find the Immortal Cultivators, but she did see her daughter.
Yan Jinzhi crawled on a temporary fence and waved at her hard. Her red face seemed to be on fire. She did not seem to have hibernated for decades but more like just had a comfortable hot bath.
Xu Yulan felt that her heart was grabbed. She could almost see the electric whip coming from nowhere and lashing her daughter hard to teach the wild, disobedient girl a lesson.
But before she was able to move forward to stop her daughter's blatancy, she was already asked to go to a different side by two female doctors in white robes who looked quite friendly.
When warm, white light beamed out of the two doctors' palms, Xu Yulan's heart was trembling hard—they were two Immortal Cultivators!
She rubbed her crude fingers hard, not knowing how she should explain her daughter's recklessness to the two true human beings. But the two 'true human beings' seemed to be blind to Yan Jinzhi and simply began to examine Xu Yulan carefully.
Flustered, Xu Yulan was unable to move at all as if she had suffered an electric shock.
The movements of the two 'true human beings' were particularly gentle. They were smiling and speaking softly and patiently, too. After hearing that she was a 'level-three pioneer', they even expressed their genuine admiration for her shocking resolution. They also helped her to maintain her hands and asked her to take a few days of rest before getting back to work.
What was that all about? Xu Yulan was utterly confused.
She was just an insignificant hominoid, and they were high and mighty true human beings. When did true human beings become so patient and respectful to hominoids?
Xu Yulan recalled the physical examination before she went into hibernation. At that time, she had simply been brushed violently as if she were a pig before she was thrown into the hibernation cabin. She remembered the angry face and the cold hands of the doctor very well.
Xu Yulan looked at the chests of the two 'true human beings' in fear and noticed something.
The badge they wore on their chests was neither the lighting trident emblem of the Imperium nor the sigils of the Black Wind Sector, the Hard Rock Sector, or any of the five worlds. It was a mark that Xu Yulan had never seen before.
A raging dragon was hovering around a glittering round ball. Inside the round ball, nine stars were floating.
Right below the badge, a few small words had been embroidered—Star Glory Federation!
Chapter 1877: New Life on Ultimacy |
"Mom!"
Before Xu Yulan was able to distinguish the difference between 'Star Glory Federation' and Imperium of True Human Beings, she had already been pushed out of the examination area in confusion. The next second, her daughter jumped on her, crying and laughing while holding her arms.
Her head was still not quite clear after just being unfrozen, but she did check her daughter from head to toe carefully and pinched her daughter's round cheeks to make sure that her daughter was safe and sound. Finally, she took a long breath in relief.
Somehow, seeing that her daughter was laughing so carefreely, Xu Yulan felt that her nose was stuffed as if two sprouts were growing inside. She felt that she was somehow wronged.
"Yan Zi, how did you wake up earlier than me? How long were we asleep?"
Xu Yulan grabbed her daughter without letting go of her and looked around warily, as if the ecstatic crowd in front of her eyes were just a ridiculous mistake and the rigorous Immortal Cultivators would show up anytime to regroup them into a solemn army with iron sticks and electric whips again, snatching her daughter away from her and freezing her daughter again in the hibernation cabin.
Xu Yulan had every reason to be suspicious because there was a gap of multiple levels between her and her daughter. Her daughter should not have been unfrozen before her.
In the fleet of immigrants from the Imperium of True Human Beings, everybody was classified into different levels according to their value.
The Immortal Cultivators were naturally on the highest level. They were entitled to the fastest starships, the safest hibernation cabins, and the most abundant resources.
The hominoids had different 'prices'. A 'level-three pioneer' like her counted as a very useful talent that was close to the sequence of specialists. Her rank was slightly higher, and she would be kept at the central part of the fleet. Should they encounter any danger, she would be one of the 'important strategic resources' that were only secondary to the Immortal Cultivators and still worth protecting.
Her daughter, Yan Jinzhi, did not have any special skills. It was only because she qualified as a level-three pioneer and her husband served in the warship as a servant to a Building Foundation Stage Immortal Cultivator that her daughter was given the right to escape from that hell.
Other than her parents, the only leverage that her daughter was her age. She was young and healthy and had a higher possibility of giving birth to strong offspring. Nothing more.
In the fleet of immigrants, her daughter belonged to one of the lowest ranks and had boarded a different starship from hers.
Should they be faced with insufficiency of resources or an incoming catastrophe, the starships at the periphery where her daughter was would be the first to be abandoned.
Even if new worlds that were worth being colonized were found, according to the standard procedure, the first to be unfrozen and released were the battle legions made of the Immortal Cultivators and their servants, the second were the construction teams that she was part of, and the young men and women who were 'temporarily useless' would not be set free until years later when the environment in the new world had been completely stabilized according to the total number of resources.
