Capítulo 1253: Chapter 1253: Perhaps a New Beginning
The “stranger” who appeared out of nowhere and vanished just as mysteriously has yet to be found. However, Avalon has entered a state of semi-lockdown. The normal order within Avalon hasn’t been affected, but all teleportation gates leading to that space now have two additional monitoring points. Whether entering or leaving Avalon, identity re-verification is now required. At the sa ti, a large-scale inspection of Avalon’s space barrier is underway. Although there’s no evidence, so suspect that Avalon’s rapid expansion has resulted in weak points in its spatial barrier, and that the “invader” might bypass the teleportation coordinates and directly open a breach in the barrier. This speculation seems quite severe, as such vulnerabilities shouldn’t appear in critical regions of the Imperial Capital. Nonetheless, Sandora’s stance is that it’s better to anticipate the worst than to be complacent. We are currently assuming that Avalon’s defense and security system has gaps. Moreover, it’s been several years since Avalon’s space was created, employing a new model combining world fragnts and shadow space that the Old Empire hadn’t attempted. Many of its paraters need checking sooner or later, so we might as well conduct it all now.
The only thing that reassures us is that there’s no movent from Miss Lin’s side. The Prophet maintains a good habit of keeping her passive radar on 24/7, with proactive detection for half an hour after every al. She states she hasn’t seen anything threatening the Empire’s stability, including preserving Avalon’s order, which comforts us considerably.
Speaking of Lin Xue’s monitoring, she’s now a strategic treasure by my side. Her “passive radar” monitors the entire Imperial District, even encompassing parts of the Macro World within her view. Any world that encounters a major disaster will receive warnings before events unfold. She also uses proactive predictions to cover the Capital World, providing shadow space with higher precision forecasts and advanced warnings. The intensity of her predictions for various empire regions matches their vigilance levels, to the extent that I can consider the Empire having two sets of national defense information networks: one controlled by the military departnt and another upheld by Lin Xue herself. How can this not be seen as a strategic treasure?
Though this strategic treasure most tis resembles a lively treasure…
Just as Avalon entered a state of semi-lockdown, another matter reached its conclusion: the trial and sentencing of all the lowa people had ended. Both Radicals and Conservatives would now accept execution.
Everything matched my previous judgnts without much deviation, especially regarding that Radical group. According to the court mainfra’s judgnt, most Radical officers exceeded the cri limit under the Imperial Code. They fall under the Fourth District’s penalty, with imprisonnt durations ranging from hundreds to thousands of years. Barrian received his deserved punishnt: sentenced to repent in the core furnace of the Fourth District, he would be bound in the furnace heart for 6,400 years, endlessly cycling between death and resurrection. This sentence duration was determined by the number of races extinct in those thirteen worlds. A universe is imnsely vast, with an unthinkable number of potentially existing intelligent life forms among countless stars. The extinction of 6,400 intelligent races isn’t unimaginable in numbers. During colonization, lowa followed a policy of random extinction based on mood, dice rolls, or construction planning, treating local intelligent species as ant colonies encountered in their path, crushing them at will. Ultimately, Barrian paid for the extinction policies he personally signed.
This verdict resulted from precise calculations by the court mainfra, ensuring full compliance with Imperial law, despite so arguing it was still too light—like Lilina did. Known for her poor temperant, the Archbishop rarely shows hatred for evil because she admits she’s an even bigger madman. But confronted with the lowa’s atrocities, this mad inquisitive Loli was indignant: primarily due to their wanton cris against life, which stirred a soul-deep rage in Lilina, as the Life Goddess’s spokeswoman. Now she keeps harping about binding Barrian to the furnace for ten thousand years, deeming 6,400 years insufficient to wash away his sins. However, the verdict was made by the Imperial Court, and Lilina has no jurisdiction over it, so the result was undisputed. Besides, from my perspective, spending thousands of years in the Fourth District… this verdict is in no way light, don’t you agree?
There are also very few so-called “minor offenders” within the Radicals because reality is always complex. Few factions are thoroughly filled with villains deserving death, and equally few top-to-bottom are saints. The Radicals included war criminals with relatively lighter offenses. They might share Barrian’s ideology or support the belief that lowa are paramount and all other races are inconsequential, yet still have a modicum of restraint. They opposed extre tyranny and did so humane acts in their positions. Now, they’re rewarded for these brief monts of goodness: a swift execution without further suffering.
No one filed an appeal.
The Conservative lowa also faced trial, likewise at the Imperial Court. They underwent the sa efficient, emotionally exempt factual sentencing. The results broadly t my expectations—their offenses were indeed lighter.
According to the court mainfra’s judgnt, Conservative lowa’s charges fell under non-subjective factual treason. Seventy thousand years ago, they lacked intent to commit treason but failed to stop their Radical brethren and fled with them, constituting non-subjective factual treason warranting the death penalty. Yet, this was their sole cri: beyond this, they committed no further breaches of Imperial law. With the Imperial Court considering their actions post-Imperial Expeditionary Army arrival and their seven-millennia-long resistance against Radicals, coupled with the placatory stance of the betrayed party, naly Big Sister, they received exact sentencing reductions. Here, it’s crucial to explain that within the Xyrin Apostle legal perspective, only rits can mitigate a death sentence, aside from an Emperor’s command. Only rits, recognized Empire-wide, are acknowledged by Xyrin Apostles as redeemable actions. The Conservative lowa should be thankful for this: their support after the Expeditionary Army’s arrival and opposition to the Radicals are deed military rits (the latter effectively restricted traitors’ actions, preserving nurous slave resistances for us later. To the court mainfra, this was a militarily beneficial reserve action for the Empire). After precise calculations, the court mainfra rescinded the Conservative lowa’s death penalty, changing it to first-level banishnt.
First-level banishnt is a relatively special punishnt within Imperial penal codes, applied to groups rather than individuals. Accepting first-level banishnt implies the Empire believes you have value for rehabilitation, albeit acknowledgnt might take hundreds or even thousands of years.
The conservatives also did not protest; in fact, such a verdict had delighted them.
And the day before the conservatives embarked on their path of exile, Leader Bee Ola personally brought a special “guest” to the house:
The leader of the lowa conservatives, Tulazo.
Elder Sister had ntioned before that she wanted to et this very special “traitor.” As the forr Emperor of the Fifteenth Day Zone, Elder Sister now could not rember those days, so her animosity towards the lowa people was limited to their cris against the Slave Races and the destruction they caused to the Fifteenth Day Zone Capital. As for being betrayed—an issue of utmost concern to the Imperial Court—she herself didn’t feel much about it. Therefore, she held little hatred towards the conservative lowa people, and after hearing about Tulazo, she was quite interested, so after the court proceedings ended, she had Tulazo brought over: truly an extraordinarily unique invitation, the once-betrayed Imperial Emperor inviting one of the leaders of the Rebel Army into her ho as a guest.
The Emperor even personally cooked two dishes… well, let’s not dwell on that last bit.
When the ti ca to noon, the whole family was quite serious. I didn’t feel much, but judging by Sandora and Pandora’s expressions, it seed they placed significant attention on Tulazo’s this remarkable “visit,” even the Tiaozi Five sat solemnly on one side. They were the third-party witnesses to this event, and at critical monts, these Divine Race mbers were quite self-aware. Even the younger ones at ho weren’t foolish; though they didn’t understand much, they knew it wasn’t the ti to fool around, so they sat quietly at a distance, watching the adults with curiosity, occasionally whispering to one another. Tulazo was “escorted” by Ola through the Space Gate, and what he saw was a scene where all the current leaders of the Empire were sitting in a circle before him, an image that clearly montarily bewildered the old man, leaving him standing there in a daze until Ola pushed him gently from behind, prompting him to react and suddenly stand at attention, offering a military salute to Elder Sister with reflexive action: “Your Majesty! The Second Army of lowa… Second Army…”
His words got stuck halfway through, and he couldn’t continue, then dejectedly put his hand down. Elder Sister let out a gentle sigh: “You no longer need to salute us, do you?”
“Ah, yes…” Tulazo’s lips trembled as he finally exhaled a sigh. I found the atmosphere a bit awkward, so I temporarily shifted my gaze, focusing on Ola instead: this Queen of the Leader Bee rarely ca to the house, despite being an old friend of Sandora. Due to her personality, she seldom appeared in front of us outside of tasks. As I looked at her silver-white helt, I casually asked, “Have you eaten?”
Ola bowed respectfully, and when her gaze t mine, I heard a burst of electronic noise, “Not yet.”
“Then have so here?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
You could say she’s remarkably unfazed in conducting these dialogues; if it were others, they’d probably have gone into “Now Loading” at this point, right?
Bingdisi silently glanced at from not far away and said through the spiritual connection, “Chen, could you not speak at this mont?”
I: “…”
Tulazo only recognized a few of us at the scene, naly my sister and the others, but he should have known the identities of the other people present, including the Tiaozi Five of the Divine Race. I noticed him looking quite awkward, so I decided to break the silence, but my sister was quicker. She nodded and motioned for Tulazo to sit down: “Relax, have a seat. Let’s forget about those matters for today, just treat it like an ordinary visit.”
“Your Majesty, you…” Tulazo hesitated, seemingly finding it difficult to comprehend the situation in front of him—indeed, by the “customs” of the Old Empire, the current situation was indeed quite hard for him to grasp. He only uttered half of his sentence, but I knew he wanted to ask my sister why she called him here: his impression remained stuck on that iron-blooded Emperor of the past, making it hard for him to reconcile with the gentle deanor of the “Emperor” in front of him, who seed more like a regular housewife.
“Nothing much, as I ntioned before, I just invited you over out of curiosity,” my sister calmly stated as she looked at Tulazo. “I told you, have a seat.”
“Oh, oh.” The old man instinctively straightened his body as if receiving a command, then finally sat down in front of us. I looked at him curiously: “By the way, what did Ola tell you before you ca? Oh, Ola is the one beside you.”
“The Emperor summons,” Tulazo sat upright as if making a military report, and added at last, “Yes, those were the six words.”
I silently glanced at Ola, whose expression was a perfect reflective mirror…
“Ahem,” Sandora suddenly spoke, gazing at Tulazo, “I also know the verdict for you all. The death penalty has been revoked, and replaced with Level One exile.”
“Yes,” Tulazo’s expression bore so relief, “it was unexpected; we didn’t think we could escape the death penalty under charges of treason. If it were the Old Empire…”
“The Old Empire would have rendered the sa result. After all, you used military rits to atone for past cris, even in the case of treason, you can only be considered accessories,” Sandora said lightly, “And honestly speaking, Level One exile is not a lenient outco; you should know what Level One exile entails.”
Tulazo nodded slowly upon hearing this.
“According to the provisions of Level One exile, you will be banished to a primitive world far removed from developed districts, stripped of all technology and industrial foundations, devoid of any survival tools. You must atone on a primitive planet, starting from the Stone Age, rebuilding your civilization from scratch. The Exile Universe has undergone rigorous testing to ensure that your existing knowledge and scientific understanding cannot function in the New World. During the years of exile, you and your people will be forced to relearn everything from the beginning, including how to obtain food and slting tals. You will have to reacquaint yourselves with everything in the world to craft primitive tools. The only assurance in the exile world is the suitability for life to survive.”
“It will be a harsh period of exile,” Sandora added finally, “Exile will persist until the day you can step out of your universe again; only then will the Empire lift the criminal mark on your race. Throughout this process, many will age and die on the path of exile; your lifespans are long, but your generation may not even survive to leave the planet—a civilization evolving from enlightennt to leaving its Mother Star is a path of Nine Lives, with ninety percent of Wisdom Races falling before that point. Even though you embark on this journey with enlightened minds, the worlds chosen for Level One exile won’t offer you any shortcuts. Historically, Level One exile is nearly synonymous with another form of slow death. You should be aware of this.”
“As you’ve stated, at least we are allowed to retain our enlightened minds,” Tulazo replied with a calm expression, “This is already a great kindness, one which will enable us to survive. We lowa people have already wasted a pass as an Enlightened Race once; starting over might not be so bad now.”
“It’s good that you think so,” Sandora nodded, “I hope you can truly start anew—in a personal sense, I wish to see your descendants stand before again years from now.”
I watched the scene unfolding in front of , feeling it extraordinarily strange: on one side sits the ruler of the Empire, and on the other, a prisoner about to begin the path of exile, dood to spend their life on a primitive, wild planet. Yet they sat face-to-face, discussing the impending long punishnt with calm and composure. Tulazo’s face showed no trace of disappointnt or worry about the hard exile life awaiting him, as if he were simply departing on a journey, while on Sandora’s face was a serene detachnt lacking any expression.
Bingdisi and Monina, along with other Divine Race mbers, sat quietly to the side, offering no opinion on these events, simply witnessing how matters began and ended. Qianqian seed unaffected by the current surroundings, busy grooming the fur of that silly fox beside her, who was another entity seemingly indifferent to the environnt. Occasionally, Qianqian would steal a glance at Tulazo, sighing softly, indicating that this girl wasn’t entirely devoid of emotion.
I glanced at Tulazo once more, realizing I’d never comprehend the thoughts of soone with a history as dark as his. My sister seed to share a similar simplicity: her mindset scarcely more complex, she lightly coughed twice to capture everyone’s attention: “Let’s not dwell on this matter. Tulazo, wasn’t it? Let’s have a al before your journey.”
Opposite, the old man was montarily stunned.
“Your Majesty… weren’t you going to ask about past events…?”
“I can’t recall the events of those years, and I know others have taken thorough care of the past matters,” my sister stated calmly, “So there’s no need to bring that up again. Today, I called you simply out of curiosity to see what kind of person you are, and perhaps, to say a farewell, since tens of thousands of years ago, I was also your Monarch.”
Tulazo didn’t expect to hear such words upon reuniting with his Emperor, but, as tens of thousands of years ago, he had no qualms or inquiries towards the Emperor’s words, silently nodding and accepting everything.
The following day, the Conservatives embarked on their path of exile.
On that sa day, Barrian and his followers stepped into the Fourth Zone. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian) to cast your recomndation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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