Chapter 1 The Danger of Losing Control

Hearing this, Vice-Dean Chimon, Vice-Island Owner Fanxi, and Warden Bai Yu all changed their expressions slightly.

"He really has lost control," Warden Bai Yu sighed.

"Chimon, Wu Ming is from your Primordial Research Institute," Vice-Island Owner Fanxi said softly. "You should handle this."

Vice-Dean Chimon nodded slightly and looked at Xu Jingming, "Junior Brother, haven't you realized that you have lost control?"

"May I ask the three of you, where have I lost control?" Xu Jingming looked at the three.

"In the past six years, you have done so many things, you should be very clear," Vice-Dean Chimon said. "Let me just mention a few. First, the Ning Lu case. Was I wrong in the Ning Lu case?" Xu Jingming retorted.

"The Seventh Prince of the Nitrogen Star, Prince Yu Xi, lost a bet and, to fulfill the punishment, ordered the complete slaughter of the indigenous civilization of a private planet."

Vice-Dean Chimon said that the slaughter of the indigenous civilization of the private planet was carried out by Prince Yu Xi's personal guards disguised as space pirates. "Haha." Xu Jingming laughed. "The destruction of an indigenous civilization was actually because of losing a bet! The punishment! The three of you, don't you find it ridiculous? What's most ridiculous is that he's the Seventh Prince of a middle-level cosmic civilization's royal family. Since he decided to slaughter an indigenous civilization, he didn't think to eliminate them completely. For many years, this private planet of his had given birth to a group of star-level lifeforms."

"These star-level lifeforms left the planet and served the Seventh Prince. But what about him? He casually slaughtered the private planet because he lost a bet, but he didn't think that many of the star-level lifeforms' relatives and friends lived on that private planet. So, these people became rebels." Xu Jingming sighed. "This prince probably didn't think much of these small characters, so before slaughtering the indigenous civilization, he didn't think to deal with those star-level lifeforms first. He only realized it later and suffered before belatedly capturing those star-level lifeforms."

"He still didn't want to kill them, but instead made these star-level lifeforms slaves." Xu Jingming said, "Ning Lu was one of those star-level lifeforms whose entire family was killed, civilization destroyed, and was captured to be a slave. His entire life afterward was for revenge." Xu Jingming said, "Was I wrong to help him get revenge?" Vice-Dean Chimon said, "Prince Yu Xi himself, the big businessman who bet with him, and all the star-level lifeforms in this operation's personal guard, you killed them all without leaving a single one." "Yes," Xu Jingming nodded, "739 people, not a single one left."

"Prince Yu Xi deserved to die," Vice-Dean Chimon said, "But the big businessman who made the bet only had him kill a certain number of people, and didn't necessarily have to slaughter an innocent civilization. According to the law, the big businessman didn't deserve to be executed." "If a businessman who would have someone kill a billion people because of losing a bet isn't killed, what's the point of keeping him?" Xu Jingming sneered. "Yu Xi was violent, and the personal guard had strict military regulations. With one order from him, the personal guard had to carry out the order. Those who disobeyed would be executed by the law enforcement team," Vice-Dean Chimon said. "So, the personal guard was carrying out military orders. They didn't dare disobey. They carried out military orders, so they shouldn't be executed." "Knowing Yu Xi's violent nature, why didn't they leave the personal guard earlier? They willingly acted as his pawns, so their death is not a pity," Xu Jingming said coldly. Vice-Dean Chimon nodded slightly, "Let me ask you again. The second case, the Cang Fu case." Xu Jingming also recalled one of the people he had possessed and felt the pain of over the past six years – Cang Fu.

"Cang Fu was betrayed by his friend Ze Fang, resulting in the death of his entire clan of over a thousand people. Cang Fu's hair turned white overnight, and he vowed revenge," Xu Jingming said softly. "Cang Fu made a comeback and eventually took control of the Qing Kingdom, while Ze Fang fled to the opposing Xun Kingdom. After more than ten years of war, Cang Fu finally defeated the Xun Kingdom and was about to capture his enemy Ze Fang. But at this time, an adventurous cosmic spaceship discovered this planet, and this indigenous planet entered the cosmic era. This planet was bought by a large family, and Ze Fang, being suave and resourceful, quickly became a sycophant and soared to great heights." Xu Jingming shook his head, "Cang Fu was tortured by Ze Fang. Ze Fang disdained killing him, instead torturing him day and night. He was in hell, but could never see the end. It just so happened that I passed by this life planet, observed the emotions of all the lives on the planet, and discovered the intense pain emotions on his body." Xu Jingming smiled, "I fulfilled his wish." "In the Cang Fu case, you killed 1,132 people," Vice-Dean Chimon said. "Some of them deserved to die, but most of them didn't. After all, before the cosmic spaceship discovered that planet, the struggles and grudges between countries on the planet were difficult to distinguish between right and wrong. After integrating into cosmic civilization, they were supposed to be written off. You shouldn't have killed because of the grudges of the indigenous period." "Integrated into cosmic civilization, written off?" Xu Jingming shook his head, "Cang Fu, the deaths of his entire clan of over a thousand people, were they just supposed to die in vain? The innocent people harmed by Ze Fang, exceeding 100,000, were they just supposed to die in vain?"…. "The indigenous period and the cosmic civilization period are different stages," Vice-Dean Chimon said, "The disputes and grudges of the indigenous countries are intertwined and difficult to explain. The Cosmic Human Alliance's laws do not retroactively pursue the grudges of the indigenous period." "The law doesn't retroactively pursue, but Cang Fu will not forget, will not forget the blood feud," Xu Jingming said, "So, I helped him avenge this blood feud." "Junior Brother, have you realized?" Vice-Dean Chimon looked at Xu Jingming, "You no longer have any regard for the law. You completely act according to your own understanding, killing whomever you want. In these six years, you have committed a total of 701 cases. No matter how noble the identity, you are ruthless. According to the law, you only need to be imprisoned for a hundred years, but you directly kill…."

"According to the law, some pawns are forced to obey orders, and generally only need to be punished slightly, but you still kill. According to the law, grudges from the indigenous period are not pursued, but you directly kill…"

"What is the law in your heart? Repeatedly violating the law, you are breaking the law, you are committing crimes." Vice-Dean Chimon looked at Xu Jingming, "I understand." Xu Jingming nodded. "You say you are very sober," Vice-Dean Chimon said, "You are sober, yet you still break the law. Isn't this just committing murder?" Xu Jingming said softly, "What is the law for? The law is for the entire cosmos. The Human Alliance has a better order, allowing…"

"…people's behavior to be more in line with the cognition of goodness," Xu Jingming said, "Repaying kindness for kindness and vengeance for vengeance, this is in line with people's basic cognition, rather than rigidly following the law. The law is dead, but people are alive. If you don't understand how to be flexible, people are like machines." "The law is dead, but people are alive."

Vice-Dean Chimon nodded. "So, the law has many supplementary clauses, and the law can be slowly improved, but this is not a reason for you to violate the law." "Senior Brother, then you should punish me according to the law," Xu Jingming said, "According to the law, I have high enough authority, and these things I have committed only require deducting merit, right? Deducting over 100 million merits for the cases is enough." Vice-Dean Chimon nodded. "But the cases of those people you killed are not important. The reason the three of us came here is because of something more important – you have lost control." "I have lost control?" Xu Jingming looked at them, "Where have I lost control?" Warden Bai Yu said from the side, "Wu Ming, you repeatedly violate the law, yet you still think you are sober, that you are right, and that violating the law is not wrong. If this isn't losing control, then what is it?"

"Before the high-risk contamination, would you have violated the law like this?" Vice-Island Owner Fanxi also said. Xu Jingming was shocked. "Before the high-risk contamination, I never thought of violating the law. When did I start ignoring the law? Have you noticed? You have long ignored the law, doing whatever you want, and still think you are sober, think you are right," Vice-Dean Chimon said.

"Your explanations have some merit. The law has certain flaws, but to govern 34 cosmos and a vast number of cosmic human civilizations, our laws have already been perfected time and time again. These laws were discussed and confirmed by the three Supreme Realms and generations of outstanding figures. Everyone agreed that these are the laws for governing this entire humanity. You think you are right, and the law is wrong? Who do you think you are? Are you smarter than the three Supreme Realms, than all the human predecessors in history?" Vice-Dean Chimon said, "Today, you, Xu Jingming, think the law is wrong. Tomorrow, others will think the law is wrong. If everyone doesn't follow the law, how can the entire Cosmic Human Alliance be managed? This is a balance, and the laws are already relatively perfect in all aspects." Vice-Dean Chimon said, "Don't say that you, Xu Jingming, are just a Source lifeform. Even the three Supreme Realms, who could clearly forcibly enact laws, don't think that what they enact is necessarily perfect. So, they also discuss and confirm the laws together with many people in the Cosmic Human Alliance, and also monitor and improve them generation after generation through the virtual world network." Xu Jingming was silent. "After you were contaminated by the high-risk, you even killed Lu Na Duo. But at that time, you still revered the law and still knew to submit evidence, convicting him to the death penalty. But now? You no longer care about evidence, and only act directly based on some so-called truths discovered by observing memories," Vice-Dean Chimon said, "Is the truth in people's memories necessarily the truth? When did your killing become so arbitrary?" Vice-Dean Chimon looked at Xu Jingming. Xu Jingming was silent. The three looked at him and said no more. "For a long time," Xu Jingming said in a low voice, "This is high-risk contamination." "Unknowingly, I even think I am very sober, but my perception of the world, my perception of the law, my perception of everything is constantly being distorted and contaminated. Before, my actions would naturally be within the framework of the law. After being contaminated, I would occasionally exploit loopholes in the law. Others couldn't do anything to me. But now, I completely ignore the law. I have elevated myself above the law."

"And I think I am right." Xu Jingming looked back at the past, "My behavior has been constantly changing. If I continue like this, I don't know what I will become." Hearing this, Chimon and the other two breathed a sigh of relief. "There's still hope," Vice-Island Owner Fanxi smiled. Warden Bai Yu said, "Indeed" Vice-Dean Chimon also nodded, "Junior Brother, now we will give you two choices. We will use your one hundred million merits as punishment. 1. You must recognize your mistakes and not make them again in the future. 2. If you cannot control yourself and continue as before, we can only imprison you. Choose one," Vice-Dean Chimon said.

Xu Jingming lowered his head and said softly, "I am in a sea of suffering, tortured day and night. If I am not allowed to stir up trouble, I will definitely go crazy. I choose the first one – let me control myself, I already cannot control myself." Xu Jingming looked up at the three and said, "I choose to be imprisoned."