Chapter 795: 795
Big Sister told about the events happening on Mobra, because everyone had been busy with the construction of the Mist God Star Base in the past two days and preparing to allocate more troops from Shadow City. I wasn’t very clear about what was going on there. It was only yesterday afternoon that Milia communicated with , ntioning that Uncle Zaku had burned the gulu eggs again for dinner—the naive girl wasn’t nervous at all.
After Big Sister’s recount, I got an understanding of the current situation on Mobra and couldn’t help feeling a little startled by the naivety of the natives down there; frankly, it was regrettable.
When the Twelve Knights and the Holy Pope of Canglan Church appeared before the public and jointly announced the existence of the “Divine Rebel Army,” and that this terrifying military force’s next target would be the Mobra Star System, the population of over nine billion across three colonization stars and their rulers plunged into sheer panic. Despite the Church imdiately implenting their plans for reassurance, irrational chaos unfolded everywhere, ordinary folks were scared witless, resorting to extre thods to pray to the “Holy Sages,” including carving words into their faces, drinking scalding pepper water, streaking over flyovers, and taking strolls outside when the prairie storm hit, hoping such “sacrifice for religion” would get them chosen by the saints to be sent to the safe heaven during the doomsday battle or that the saints would send down a couple of bodyguards to protect them. Such thoughts were extre fears and an irrational avoidance of bearing their own pressures, a lingering effect of the three hundred years of Canglan Church’s rule over them, brainwashing the populace into sheep completely reliant on the sages. In addition to these abnormal escape behaviors, the performance of the Mobra United Governnt was terrible; signs of desertion appeared imdiately among the planetary chiefs of the three colonies after the war was declared. When the battle scenes from Mist God Star reached them, these puppet rulers had already beco unsettled, and now it seed to have reached a breaking point. Thus, the politicians who should’ve been at the forefront during this ti were all preoccupied with seeking refuge; even the command of the military began to lose control, soldiers deserted in droves to return to their hotowns, and security maintainers, similar to police, were too busy looting food supplies. In the chaos, they panicked like civilians, showing none of the deanor expected from trained personnel. In the end, only the Church Army urgently retook control over the United Governnt’s powers and suppressed the disorder.
That was what had happened in the past thirty-six hours, incredibly dissatisfying. This was a civilization that had beco sheep through and through, fortunate not to have encountered wolves in their evolution.
One can’t bla them entirely, as the prolonged oppression by the Canglan Church had virtually erased the free politics of the world, with a significant part of the United Governnt composed of puppets, and the military even weaker. In the sickly “world peace” environnt, the soldiers were rely for show, and ninety percent of them never had the chance to fire a gun in their lifeti. Even the thods to resolve street fights had beco theoretical data only found in historical docunts. With the exception of the military sectors directly involved in relics exploration, many officers had never undergone systematic battlefield environnt training. Even within the Church Army, many were in a similar state, sotis even less competent than ordinary adventurers: at least adventurers had to deal with malfunctioning turrets when exploring relics, and that was the only chance to gain combat experience in Mobra society.
It was just as Uncle Zaku said, in the entirety of the Mobra Civilization, everyone except the Pope and the Twelve Knights were sheep.
I couldn’t help but compare them to the other Servant Armies of the Empire, and the more I did, the more disheartened I felt. Also facing the doomsday of the world, the All Tribes from the Azeroth united, forming the Salvation Army to combat the Variant Demons with their frail flesh and blood. The Vedis Empire fought against the Abyssal Demons for a hundred years with the fervent belief in the Goddess and courage unafraid of death. The Kepulu Star Zone sacrificed a hundred billion lives and is now rebuilding their hos; the Galaxy Community was an ironclad heroic civilization. Even the least noticeable Monks from the Magic Prohibition World of the Cross Sect para-military, faced with teor showers, had walked the streets to aid Refugees. Sandora and I took pride in them. And now Mobra—their ancestors were warriors favored by Sandora, yet their current descendants, aside from a handful who could almost be counted on the fingers, were only capable of praying, wailing, and scrambling for food and refuge spots!
“Civilizations raised in a greenhouse,” Big Sister remarked with a sigh, ending the rather troubling topic. I nodded in agreent, “Indeed. But perhaps this might also be an opportunity for them to shed the glass covers. Hopefully the forr Pope and Uncle Zaku who’s the current Pope can handle it well. By the way, Big Sister, has Uncle Zaku taken office yet?”
“Taken office? I really don’t know if that guy is reliable. Maybe this civilization is truly incurable; the new leader turns out to be soone even lazier than you,” Big Sister pinched my head with force as she made a comnt that piqued my interest, “Ah Jun, are you sure that uncle ets the requirents?”
“I and Sandora weren’t just randomly picked,” I struggled to escape from under my big sister’s masterful claws and hurried to explain, “Zaku may not seem very motivated, but he does have so ability when he gets serious. Moreover, the governance of Mobra will gradually transition to the United Governnt, with another part diverted to Imperial Command. The Canglan Church will exist as a group with spiritual rule, possessing a very high status and right to speak, but almost never getting involved in the practical affairs. The true role of the Pope is that of a symbolic figure, anyone could sit in that position. To be honest, if it weren’t for fear that the Holy Pope might stir up trouble, letting him continue would have been fine. And frankly, what Mobra needs now is not a particularly capable leader, but the leader himself.”
Big sister nodded in understanding, “What’s important is not the person himself, but the chair beneath him, huh?”
“I don’t know how the Holy Pope and Zaku managed their transition,” I wondered if they had used the Lulu Xiu films Bubbles provided for them.
“…You two really make a pair, can’t you talk about sothing serious?” Big sister pinched lightly, her face a picture of helplessness, “The power transition wasn’t conducted in front of the general public. In this current chaotic situation, if such a sensitive event were to happen, public security might well collapse completely. Zaku needs ti to get used to his new job, and so does Biluna. Therefore, everything was done in secrecy, and since the Pope never shows his true face, no one would notice the handover.”
I nodded, looking at the storm outside the shield, suddenly feeling quite emotional.
“To tell the truth, I don’t hold that big a grudge against the Holy Pope anymore. Whether his thods were right or wrong, it’s no small feat to adhere to an ideal for three hundred years and transform the world into sothing entirely different.”
“If soone could have co to this world earlier and told him certain things, maybe he wouldn’t have beco so obsessed,” Big sister said, with her arms crossed in front of her chest and gazing at the distant rolling clouds with a very grave expression. With the right background music, she would look just like a revolutionary leader, “I have a thought now, after so ti, to test Rudav again. If he passes, we could let him continue being the Pope, after all the Pope’s power has been returned to the ‘Holy Sage’. He won’t make too many mistakes, and he is also the person most familiar with Mobra’s theocratic system.”
“What about Zaku? A temp worker?”
“Maybe we can have him join the Mobra United Governnt. We could support him to beco the executive head of this civilization. The current Mobra Commander is too disappointing; we should support a more suitable, bolder leader. At that ti, Rudav and Zaku would rule over Mobra’s theocracy and governnt respectively, controlling this civilization from both aspects, just like what we have done in the Magic Prohibition World.”
I listened intently to Big Sister’s grand plan, then cautiously looked at the lady beside , who had been wearing a warm smile all along, “Sis, to be honest, you… just used so ability, didn’t you?”
Big sister gave a curious glance, “How did you know? I just went to test the energy amplification device made by the research institute. Though it still doesn’t seem very useful.”
Pssh, how else would I know? Big sis, your thought process has been so dark it’s turned purple since the mont you started! How could anyone craft such a sche within thirty seconds if not for having a sinister heart that sches against all of humanity at its very core?
At this point, if Pandora were to join in, she’d probably find common ground with Big Sister imdiately.
Of course, seeing Big Sister’s slight, warm smile as her eyes narrowed, there were so things I just couldn’t bring myself to say out loud. Although it’s unlikely that my scheming older sister would go too hard on her favorite little brother, I’m seriously worried about spending the next few days getting wind stuffed into my teeth. Besides, the northwestern winds on Mist God Star never seem to stop.
In dealing with the Mobra Civilization, both Big Sister and I adopted a rare cautious approach because nobody wants to see the descendants of the Empire’s vassals turn out to be such disappointnts. There’s a certain obsessive ntality that can’t help but want to turn sheep into lions. The two of us devised a rough plan to reignite the ambition in this sheepish civilization over the next few five-year plans. Amidst the raging storms of Mist God Star, Big Sister and I were strategizing grandly, and with a laugh, the sheltered lives of nine billion people ca to an end. I felt like a great man, standing before a world process waiting to be shaped by my hands.
Just as I was feeling full of grand ambitions that I could not contain, Qianqian appeared in front of holding a few chive pockets, rcilessly crushing the leadership aura I had managed to evoke. Of course, that little bit of leadership aura might have been just an illusion.
“Ah Jun, want a bite? Monina just cooked these.” The lively girl held up the shiny traditional snack to my face, her mouth still stained with chives. At that mont, she was adorable… just very adorable. I grabbed a chive pocket and stuffed it into my mouth, feeling much more at peace: Being a hero or a leader is all nonsense. They only look good on cara. Doesn’t the Dark Goddess spend her days cooking chive pockets too? I refuse to believe that Wu Zetian never had her period… What on earth am I talking about.
It’s been three days since Mist God Star was attacked for the first ti, and we still haven’t spotted any signs of the Revenge Army gathering in the Main Material Plane. In fact, the Imperial Army’s probes have now nearly scanned as far as hundreds of billions of light-years into the Sky Zone, not missing a single grain of sand, yet we still can’t find where the Revenge Army might erge from. This is increasingly unsettling. Though I would very much like to believe that the force we faced in the last surprise attack on Mist God Star was all their strength, or that the leader of the Revenge Army is such a simpleton that they forgot about us after the first battle, obviously that’s just wishful thinking. Sandora told that the longer this quiet period lasts, the larger the force the enemy could be mustering. If they attack within three days, our current military strength should be able to hold them off. If they co after three months, I might still have ti to write a will. If they wait three years to return… then they probably really did forget.
“Speaking of which, this universe really is desolate, huh,” Qianqian always had that carefree, heartless deanor no matter what. Right now, she sat on the observation deck next to , munching on a chive pocket while we watched the violent storms beneath the gas giant’s atmosphere—innocent and adorably cute with chives still on her mouth. “We’ve only discovered about a dozen planets with life, and most have stopped evolving. The most advanced one is still using stone tools.”
“And they’ve probably been at it for tens of thousands of years,” I said, wiping the corner of Qianqian’s mouth with my hand. She imdiately rubbed her mouth against my sleeve, grinning, completely unconcerned that she would have to wash this shirt later alongside Big Sister. As for the life-bearing planets that Qianqian ntioned, I knew about them too, but I hadn’t paid much attention.
Universes with no evolutionary life are quite rare. The main reason is the broad definition of “life” by high-level civilizations: anything that has self-regulatory recombination, can self-replicate under certain conditions, might have evolutionary traits, or can transmit information during evolution can be called life. This definition essentially covers any carbon-based, nitrogen-based, or silicon-based life, as well as any physical, non-physical, or energy forms of existence. Thus, under such a broad definition of life, universes with living beings are like flowers blooming everywhere in the Void, with life phenona appearing in any cosmos that evolves to a certain extent and typically flourishing—except for this universe.
According to Bingdisi’s “diagnosis,” this universe was suited for various lifeforms to evolve. It was supposed to be filled with mild planets conducive to the birth of life. “Supposed to be everywhere” is a delicate concept—as far as we’re concerned, anywhere within a light-year’s distance is considered “everywhere.”
Our deep space probes had expanded out to ten billion light years, and they sketched out star maps that included hundreds of millions of constant stars. Even when zood out, it was more dizzying than the Sahara, but among so many star systems, there were only a dozen or so planets that gave birth to life. Without exception, all were in the early stages of evolution. We could now be pretty certain that the Mobra Star System was the only place in this universe with a high-level civilization, which was truly unexpected.
Think about it—you spend a morning wandering under Erli Bridge and your head spins just from spotting a couple of old traditional Chinese dicine ads on a utility pole; that’s how we were feeling now.
It’s possible that the Imperial Relics scattered everywhere suppressed normal life evolution. This speculation seed quite plausible, as the Old Empire had a habit of nesting all over; every planet of any value in this universe was piled with nonflammable garbage from the Old Empire Era, all of which leaked. Even if the ghost energy radiation they were leaking was weak, it was not sothing that primitive life could withstand. So far, no one has discovered life that could evolve normally under ghost energy radiation. The theoretical speculation is that the probability of evolving high-intelligence life in a ghost energy environnt is second only to the birth of life in the Void, where the probability is self-evident; in the history of the Void, there probably were, including myself, only three Void Creatures, and the other two are antiques from who knows how many eons ago.
The reason why high-level life exists in Mobra is probably that they ca from the Ancient Era. The life forms of Mobra during the Ancient Era had gradually adapted to ghost energy radiation. Moreover, the high-intelligence species on this planet were even modified by the Old Empire. Therefore, although the Imperial Relics in the Mobra Star System also leaked like those elsewhere, the creatures here, after various mutations, still managed to survive stubbornly.
“It appears that the Revenge Army did a cleanse of the entire universe before they left,” I murmured, clicking my tongue, “All the original high-level creatures were wiped out, and the energy leaks they left behind suppressed the ergence of new life. As a result, to this day, there are only so few planets in the universe with life.”
“But why did they stop when they got to Mobra?” Qianqian, while eating a Swiss roll wrapped in chive pocket, asked with a perplexed face, “Could it be that this place was the last stop on their tiline, and when it was Mobra’s turn for the death penalty, they ran out of ti and didn’t finish?”
I was stunned for a mont, then suddenly pulled Qianqian into my embrace and gave her a hard kiss, “Girl, you’re a genius! Why didn’t I think of that!”
Imdiately, I contacted Sivis, asking her to start compiling a tiline of the destruction of all the Imperial Relics we’ve discovered in this universe so far. It needed to be as accurate as possible, down to the day—considering the terrifying expansion speed of the Imperial Army, it would be best to have it down to the hour. This sounded difficult, given that those relics had been destroyed for many tens of thousands of years, but Sivis said the task could be completed in a few days at most. It was because basically every piece of Imperial equipnt had a tir, and all we had to do was take a look at where it stopped…
Qianqian’s remark gave a massive hint: Tiline!
The only clue we could find about the Revenge Army was their sequence of actions when they annihilated life in this universe. Based on the final cessation tis of the Imperial Relics on each planet, we could delineate a rough march route map of the Revenge Army. The information we could deduce from this map was astonishing—for example, where they started going crazy, where they concluded their operation, and, importantly, how long they spent in Mobra. We could find out how long the natives of this star system had resisted. If possible, I even thought I could find the jump point where the Revenge Army left the Main Material Plane: it was likely they would return through there.
With that thought, another wave of excitent hit . I hugged Qianqian and kissed her hard, this girl really had a taste of chives and egg…
(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to go to Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
Reviews
All reviews (0)