Chapter 959: Chapter 959: Hero
[Poluo people, calm down. I’m giving you things to balance the Union, to be ’our South Sea Union’, not for you to kill yourselves! Ugh, I can’t stand it anymore!
—— Eastern Empire, Electricity]
[Understood! Understood! We’ll pass the word, try to kill less!
—— Snake State, Electricity]
[······
—— Eastern Empire, Electricity]
...
City of Dawn, outside the airport, soldiers clad in exoskeletons stand ready, while not far away, players and River Valley survivors look on with expressions of curiosity.
"Here we go again."
"Tsk tsk..."
"Where’s the train? Who’s going to bring a train over here."
"Don’t be like that... They’re pitiful people too."
"Pitiful? I don’t see it. They eat the Family Meeting’s grapes, then want to spit out the grape skins? Always dreaming of good times."
"Ridiculous... wasn’t it these people who praised the Holy Hero when he first appeared?"
"I didn’t see it myself, but looking at the compilations of Survivor’s Daily from Jin Galun Port, they clearly didn’t like Laxi and Absek much."
"Then isn’t this perfect? Both sinners are out of office, why are they unhappy again?"
"So hard to please."
The whispers of criticism spread, even Duke Garava in the distance shook his head and sighed,
Among the crowd, a group of well-dressed people are prostrating themselves, with their foreheads pressed into the mud.
Their identities should be of high status, but their attitude is humbled to the dust.
They hold placards listing the various crimes of the Family Meeting.
Including snake grass, deceit, evangelism, and a whole bunch of random things, some true some not.
What amused Chu Guang was that these people seemed desperate, even attributing a cultural person named Niyan’s death to the Family Meeting, alongside accusations of collusion with Enlightenment Society, Torch Church, and Gaia, all written on the placards.
It’s remarkable how these scholars managed to scrape together so many charges.
And not far away are another group of "Mammoths" protesting Shava, listing crimes including the recent 1500 tragedy and more.
They even blame Shava for Laxi’s death, trying to persuade him to act militarily against Shava with imagined legality.
Looks like the version has changed.
Chu Guang vaguely recalls they opposed Laxi and Absek last time, supporting the Family Meeting and Moon Clan Resistance Army.
These intellectuals practically turned Zayed into a Holy Hero, elevating some Moon Clan Resistance Army elders into saviors in the newspaper.
These Moon Clan Resistance Army elders didn’t reach power probably because they miscalculated, after all, Laxi didn’t conduct the thorough purge they wanted, didn’t perform version updates for the Moon Clan Resistance Army.
But Zayed was certainly someone they praised, yet now they refuse to acknowledge him.
Of course, there is another possible reason; the people who praised Zayed may have run to Tiandu to welcome the holy lord.
Then those who didn’t go to Tiandu, or even fled in the opposite direction to here, aren’t they just his haters?
Two things done by two groups of people.
Despite being able to accomplish something big together, they choose to combine forces to do a foolish thing resulting in mutual loss.
Chu Guang looks at them, with both pity and a hint of regret, yet he has no remorse.
They aren’t all acting for profit, in fact, the vast majority aren’t, that is undeniable.
Just like Lowell making Red Soil, could that be driven by profit?
That is sacrifice!
That is martyrdom!
If he didn’t make that Red Soil, surviving the Wasteland Era wouldn’t be difficult, he might even live longer than the founder of Giant Stone City.
But wisdom doesn’t necessarily correlate with the things he did.
Chu Guang intended to leave quietly, but he realized these people wouldn’t have their wishes fulfilled, might end up chasing after him to block a train again.
Considering it’s property of the Union citizens, he paused his steps.
"You know what I think?"
Faces full of anticipation finally looked up, eyes filled with hope.
The great master has finally noticed!
However, Chu Guang’s next statement led all kneeling there to despair.
"You’re the Zayeds who haven’t taken the stage, the Family in the wilderness."
The man kneeling in the front gasped, with a betrayed expression, incredulously staring at him.
"How... How can you say this about us?"
Judging by his attire, he probably is a cultured person, but now he couldn’t care about manners.
Not just him, the people prostrating on the ground rose up in indignant uproar.
But Chu Guang looked at him and those behind him with a stoic expression.
"Because he did the same things as you, only he wasn’t as lucky, he walked away without even meeting me."
That man paused, clearly unaware of this past, and the crowd also quieted down.
Chu Guang continued speaking slowly.
"Money, technology, ideas, culture, talent, factories, railways, schools, tanks, planes, artillery, even the ’Administrator’s Log’ that Lowell and others didn’t write or forgot to write, we tried to supply them too, what more do you want?"
"Our volunteers even stopped the Southern Legion for you, and you still want us to do what? Do you want to become our colony so badly?"
"You haven’t even asked the opinion of Poluo Province survivors; you assumed you’re smart, treated yourselves as their father, and them as your subjects, blamed them for listening to others instead of you, no wonder they reject you."
"You’re even worse than Zayed, whether he genuinely cared for Family or pretended, at least he entertained every household, drew his big dream. And you? Kneeling in City of Dawn, pleading with the Alliance to love you again?"
Poluo Province is probably considered an unnumbered refuge, and the largest in this wasteland.
His players tried to awaken some dormant comrades from there and indeed succeeded in awakening some.
But unfortunately—
"No one is innocent, whether it’s you, those you’ve abandoned, or those who abandoned you."
"Under Union’s law, this is called conspiracy."
"However, we aren’t obliged to judge you, your legal standing doesn’t come from anyone’s recognition, only from yourselves, and your punishment will come from yourselves."
"Starting with the children as high as the wheel, their lives will be spent atoning for past sins, until a whole generation dies in cycles of celebration and fear."
"We aren’t interested in what’s left."
"Since it’s the way you’ve chosen, complete it yourselves."
...
If the residents of Giant Stone City had abandoned Alyssa back then, Melvin would definitely not have returned with a train of food to save people, and the players certainly wouldn’t have extended a helping hand, instead, they would have watched them freeze into statues.
If so, most residents of Giant Stone City would have died in that desperate winter, maybe a few culprits could’ve survived by chance, but their fate wouldn’t be favorable.
Moreover, most would say "served them right" after hearing their story.
Now, not only have the residents of Giant Stone City survived that winter, but they live in abundance, have spare time to join players in fun, share surplus resources with those in need, and accomplish self-realization.
Once they suddenly realize, they are no longer those wasteland wanderers struggling desperately for survival.
Good people don’t necessarily live long, but they are rewarded.
Conversely, it’s the same.
The residents of Tiandu were waiting quietly on both sides of the road at the moment, welcoming their new king, unaware of the hardships they would endure for the rest of their lives.
Gopal and Shaluk arrived first.
The former was the commander-in-chief of the Grey Wolf Army with a hundred thousand elite troops in hand, while the latter was the sidelined commander of the Snake State War Zone. Accompanying them was the hero of the Tiandu defense war, "Butcher" General Pickley.
Absek had already been dismissed by the committee.
From the moment he lost control of the Northern Field Army, he was automatically excluded from Tiandu’s core power circle. Even the governor wouldn’t take his calls anymore.
The winner and loser had been decided.
To everyone, Absek, who had issued two orders to the Snake State, ended up shooting himself in the foot, while Shaluk, with the capability to swallow an elephant, was the man of wisdom who had a way with people.
Watching the swaggering Shaluk, Gopal was contemplating how to humble this guy to display his military strength and show loyalty to Zayed, while aiming for the prince’s position against the more pliable Sava. However, a confidential message laden with embellishments had already been sent through Tiandu’s underground organization to the Snake State, making Zayed’s face darken.
Seeing the leader’s intent to kill, the harmless Sava finally breathed a sigh of relief, temporarily putting the just-written confession letter back into the drawer.
He knew that regardless of whether Gopal or Shaluk went ahead, he was bound to squeeze into the finals...
Moreover, lately, in his internal affairs work, he heard about a technology that could affect fetal brain development, activating previously unexpressed prehistoric genetic diseases in the DNA code.
This was a byproduct of the clone cannon fodder research.
The Weilante people once wanted to use this technology to mass-produce Awakeners, replacing the unstable and fertility-affecting Awakener drug, only to find that what was born were preterm deformities even inferior to ordinary clone cannon fodder, completely ineffective in actual combat.
So, this redundant research was abandoned.
However, upon hearing this, the "adopted son" Sava had some ideas.
Just recently, His Majesty of the Eastern Empire was dissatisfied with Zayed, perhaps he could ask his brothers over there for help to find a win-win solution...
...
Haiya Province, No.1 Settlement.
Little Ruby, playing with building blocks at home, accidentally knocked over the castle she had just finished building. Thinking of her morning’s effort, she couldn’t help but cry sadly.
Hearing the child’s cries, Margaret, who had just placed breakfast on the table, hurried over, and affectionately picked up Little Ruby from the floor, patting her back to comfort her.
"Don’t cry, don’t cry... Mommy will help you build an even bigger castle later."
Kids are just kids.
Especially at Ruby’s forgetful age.
Although the West Sail Port incident scared her, thanks to Mr. Yishel, the whole matter was later satisfactorily resolved.
Over time, that lovely little angel returned to them.
Hearing the commotion in the living room, Yarman returned from the entrance with the newspaper.
Seeing the mother and daughter, a gentle smile appeared on his face, saying.
"Let me accompany Ruby instead; it’s inconvenient for you to squat down with your pregnancy."
Due to his wife’s pregnancy, he recently slowed his career expansion, assigning most tasks to his subordinates, no longer charging ahead himself.
The war might end soon, as recently many excellent and capable Weilante young men arrived at No.1 Settlement.
He felt it was time to give those younger lads opportunities, freeing himself from a busy life to spend time with his long-neglected family.
Evidently unwilling to let go of her "powerful and reliable help" mother, Little Ruby lying in her mother’s arms rolled her eyes and suddenly had a bright idea, saying.
"We can... we can elevate the castle! Build it on the table! This way, mommy won’t squash my brother! As for Ruby... she can stand on a chair!"
"Haha! As expected of mommy’s adorable Little Ruby, already learning to care for mommy!"
Margaret laughed heartily, lovingly kissed Little Ruby, proudly raised her eyebrows at her husband, and then gently said to Ruby, "But mommy has just conceived, it might not be a brother, and if it’s a sister, Little Ruby must treat her well too."
"It’s definitely a brother!"
Little Ruby suddenly looked seriously at her mother, becoming solemn as if it were true.
"I saw him in my dream yesterday! I even promised my brother I would comfort him not to cry, and I’ll build a big, big castle for him!"
Seeing her daughter speaking seriously in her innocence, Margaret chuckled dotingly, gently pinching her daughter’s small nose.
"No wonder you got Uncle Hank’s building blocks so early in the morning to build him a new home."
Putting the newspaper on the dining table, Yarman also smiled, touching his daughter’s hair.
"I could tell all along, our Little Ruby will definitely become an outstanding architect!"
Ruby blinked, curiously looking at her dad.
"Architect?"
Yarman smiled and nodded.
"Yes! The kind that builds taller and bigger buildings, just like... your Uncle Hank."
Strictly speaking, Hank shouldn’t count as such, but he’s the only one among all the elders his daughter knows who is remotely connected to the construction industry.
It’s worth mentioning that Weilante Street where they now live was designed by the Hank Group.
Although initially, the entire project was strongly opposed by the Poluo people of No.1 Settlement, after seeing the beautiful model houses erected, they couldn’t resist buying them and subsequently became supporters of the Weilante Street project.
The conflict between the Poluo and the Weilante people thus became an internal conflict among the Poluo people.
For the radical and conservative representatives of the local council, it’s a win-win outcome.
For the former, the "vulnerable group’s" feelings are not hurt again and again, and for the latter, the economy of No.1 Settlement will grow rapidly.
And what Hank paid was merely a discount on interest.
In fact, this cost wasn’t borne by his Hank Group, but by Phil’s Bank, which had its entire fortune tied to Hank Group’s real estate projects.
The jeweler who escaped from Evernight Harbor is now nearly Hank’s little follower, whereas their previous positions were completely reversed.
Yarman isn’t sure whether to call Hank smart or cunning; the man seems naturally restless and recently had an idea that the baby boom across the Wasteland is coming, wanting to expand into toys and use Hank Group’s real estate quality to vouch for toy quality... however, this idea seemed to be immediately shut down by investors.
But Yarman thought it might indeed be a good business opportunity.
Thanks to the residents of the refuge, children of the new era don’t need to scavenge the Wasteland like their fathers did.
Besides textbooks, they can own something more beautiful to expend their exuberant energy, enhance their intelligence and dexterity, and leave beautiful memories of their childhood.
Perhaps he could sponsor him some money to do it.
Shipping profits aren’t as high as before...
While Yarman was lost in thought, he suddenly met two pairs of teasing eyes.
"Dear, are you thinking about work again?"
"Dad must have fallen into a vat of money again!"
Seeing the mother and daughter staring at him with bright eyes, Yarman quickly denied it with a smile.
"No, how would I dare... Let’s eat, or the breakfast will get cold."
His position in the house could only be third, and in a few months, it might be fourth.
By then, yet another little angel would arrive in his life.
Under the Silver Moon Goddess, he pledged to love that little angel dearly and to provide him with the most beautiful things in the world.
Finishing, Yarman hurriedly sat down at the dining table and picked up a newspaper he had just brought in from outside.
Upon seeing the headline, his index finger trembled, momentarily disbelieving his eyes.
Yishel...
Is dead?
The Survivor’s Daily of No.1 Settlement did not place this news on the front page but did put it on a secondary page, accompanied by a photo of the young officer.
His face bore a bright smile, arm around another person’s shoulders, probably the commander of the Death Legion... it should be an old photo from the great victory at Akale County.
It was a brutal battle, with the third ten thousand troops almost wiped out, with some Centurions promoted to Thousands of leaders within two days.
Now, this photo has turned black and white, seemingly signaling the end of an era.
The spoon adding sugar to the cup fell to the ground, and Margaret suddenly covered her mouth, her eyes turning red and filled with tears.
"...Mom?" Ruby, sitting on the chair swinging her little legs, tilted her head, not knowing why her mom suddenly messed up, but she still jumped down to pick up the spoon on the ground with a hey-ho.
Not wanting the child to see her out of control, Margaret pushed the chair away, got up, and hurriedly ran into the kitchen.
Watching his wife run into the kitchen, Yarman silently put away the newspaper on the table and then softly said to Little Ruby.
"Mom forgot to get the milk... Dad will go help her find it, can Ruby wait here obediently?"
Little Ruby nodded blankly, but seemed to remember something unpleasant, and fear appeared on her face again.
"Okay... but you must come back."
Realizing he might have scared the child, Yarman quickly squatted down, touched her head, and said softly.
"Dad and Mom are just at home... not going anywhere today, just staying with our lovely Little Ruby."
Seeing Ruby muster the courage to nod, Yarman quickly walked into the kitchen.
Seeing his wife covering her face and crying by the sink, he placed his arm on her shoulder, said nothing but gently patted her shoulder as if comforting a child.
After about five or six minutes, this strong mother finally raised her tear-stained eyes.
"Why... did it happen like this? Wasn’t their war over?"
Not knowing how to comfort his wife, Yarman remained silent for a while, then sighed softly.
"I’m just as confused as you are... But I think if it were him, he could escape even a desperate situation like West Sail Port, bringing everyone with him, so why couldn’t he escape the situation now."
Thinking this way, perhaps such an ending was also his own choice.
But in the end, he still couldn’t understand why the Poluo people had to kill him.
After all, he was their hero!
Perhaps this is something he, as a Vellante, will never understand.
Julius failed, won, was brave, and was also vile, wasn’t even a Vellante, and very likely even involved in the War Construction Committee’s Defense Department’s crimes... but that didn’t stop them from remembering him, along with his glory and mistakes, building a grand temple to commemorate this great liberator.
But that said, maybe Marshal Julius wasn’t worthy of the Poluo people, perhaps even not worthy of the administrators of the Alliance.
Maybe they found a god more worthy of worship.
"...Whatever it is, it was their collective choice... We should respect them."
He planned to go to Jinjaron and find Yishel’s former superior, Anvo.
That person also received Yishel’s help, he should also be deeply mourning the loss of a friend now.
Besides silent mourning, there are things that they, the living, can still do for that gentleman.
At least to preserve his remains.
Many people who are the compatriots of that gentleman live in No.1 Settlement, they and the displaced Vellantes are all victims of that war.
Hank couldn’t understand their hatred for the Vellantes, but he, saved by Yishel, could understand.
He wants to build a tomb for the hero who saved everyone and erect a statue for him, just as the predecessors had done.
The War Construction Committee didn’t want him—
Then let the Vellantes commemorate him!
Yarman firmed his thoughts, and he wasn’t the only one firming his thoughts.
"... Dear, I have an idea... I think... maybe we can do something..."
Looking at Margaret’s red and swollen eyes, Yarman held that warm shoulder, gently caressing her smooth hair.
"I understand what you mean, maybe it’s not just our idea along with Little Ruby’s, it’s also the will of the Silver Moon Goddess."
That is a name full of courage, kindness, resilience, and wisdom.
It once belonged to a great hero, or rather, a warrior.
He hopes his child can be like that person, have a fiery heart, not waiting for anyone’s redemption, but becoming the torch illuminating himself and others.
"If it’s a boy, let’s call him Yishel."
...
Jinjaron Harbor.
The study of a house on Tulip Street.
Gazing at those glaring words, Ah Xin only felt dizzy, almost collapsing into the chair.
"This is... too much!"
Just like a long time ago, he threw the newspaper onto the table, yet the feelings that weighed on his heart weren’t anger but desolation.
Kunal, standing by his side, said in a deep voice.
"Boss, the assassin who killed Laxi is named Udi, he is a mid-level officer in the Commando Intelligence Office, highly valued by Laxi... According to our investigation, he used his position to pass a lot of information to the Family Meeting."
After Laxi died, Shava asked them to help, so Kunal led the core members of Assassins Group, who had previously withdrawn from West Sail Port, to help with matters the authorities couldn’t handle conveniently.
Such as liquidation.
Things like this can’t be done by insiders, only outsiders could do this, and coincidentally Assassins Group had ties with Laxi.
That Udi is an orphan, but the people who contacted him were not, one even moved his entire family in advance to Jinjaron Harbor.
But the Assassins Group didn’t let him land; said a word and the boatman took the whole family to Banana Head Bay.
That is the territory of the Assassins Group.
Kunal didn’t even torture, just said a sentence to make that man confess everything—
’Confess and debts are wiped, don’t confess and start paying your debt, the old and young go into the dog cage, wife and daughters stay on the boat accompanying guests for ten gallons each time till death.’
Hearing this, the man fell to his knees immediately.
To be honest, Kunal had never done anything so harsh, the boss always warned them to conduct themselves with dignity, not to go to extremes. But thinking about what this group of traitors did makes his blood boil, perhaps he might really break through his limits.
Luckily, those people’s faith isn’t that firm, truly firm ones wouldn’t have just set fire and ran but gone for martyrdom.
A ruthless glint flashed in Kunal’s eyes, and he lowered his voice to continue.
"Boss... should we take care of that Udi."
Ah Xin raised his head to look at the ceiling, closed his eyes, thought for a while, then shook his head.
"No need, if there were still value, Shava wouldn’t let him go... since Laxi said to leave a way out, let him return to Tiandu, let him see with his own eyes the good deeds he did."
Zayed won’t possibly admit it was his ordered assassin, after all, the Moon Clan Resistance Army’s fools are jumping out for credit, eager to divide Laxi’s flesh, each vying to be the hero who stifled the ’Great Moon King’ in the cradle.
Thinking it through, that guy will not end well even when he returns to Tiandu, so why grant Zayed this favor?
To die in self-deluded satisfaction as a traitor, that ending suits that guy more.
He really is a traitor, isn’t he?
As for the Moon Clan Resistance Army, Shava will naturally deal with them.
That guy just lost his father, stopping only after killing 1500 people won’t be possible.
But doing so is right.
Poluo Country is not Giant Stone City; without executing people thoroughly even the Poluo people will feel dissatisfied, believing the purge incomplete equals no purge, and indeed it has been incomplete.
Moreover, Shava still has to deal with Zayed advancing north.
That Grov holds an army of eight hundred thousand in Lion State, watching like a tiger, ready to mobilize another eight hundred thousand any time!
While the fighting force of Mammoth Nation is already below six hundred thousand, supporting no further blows.
Only this "true Great Moon King" chosen by Mammoth could hold against a "true Lowell" selected by the Poluo people.
Thinking about the fate of Poluo people ahead, Ah Xin closed his eyes, unwilling to open them again to see.
"Close the door, I want to be alone in tranquility."
Kunal nodded silently, turned, exited the study, and gently closed the door.
"...If I had known you’d end up like this today, I would have at least insisted you stay for one last drink before you left."
Left alone in the study, Ah Xin could no longer hold back and burst into tears, covering his face with his palm.
It was the regret of his life.
He had ordered a table full of dishes for someone, but that person looked down on him, barely touched the food, and left.
At that moment, he was actually glad in his heart.
It was best that the Great Moon King looked down on vermin like himself who lurked in the shadows doing dirty deeds.
It would have been disastrous if such a noble emperor had mingled with vermin like himself, using scoundrels to manage the virtuous, watching scoundrels like "Vikram" teach his people a lesson without uttering a word.
Forget Rashi looking down on him, he looked down on himself too, if it weren’t absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t want to do those shady businesses at all.
But he had no choice.
That day, dark clouds covered the city; pairs of beady eyes were fixed on his back, pushing him, the weakest of them all, to the front, hoping he’d be shot by "Iron Men" and see some blood.
And when they saw the "Iron Men" didn’t kill him but handed him a gun, those greedy eyes hoped he’d show a flaw or go smash himself against a wall, so they could pounce and skin him alive.
He had no other option but to go all out, and that’s how he reached his current position.
The governor’s mansion of Nihak was just around the corner from his doorstep, yet the duke living there never so much as glanced his way.
While Rashi, hiding in the sewers, was the only moonlight he could see without looking up.
That guy certainly wasn’t a saint, but he had his own bright spots, which was why he always supported his endeavors without expecting anything in return.
So much so that he repeatedly reminded his subordinates to pay attention to decorum and dignity... hoping one day he could decently sit in front of that Moon King, jovially drink under the moon, and not be seen as a blemish of the general’s life.
Rashi indeed lived up to him, cutting a path in Mammoth State amidst all the doubtful glares and whispers behind his back, forging a future none of the little rodents had ever seen!
They were so close to success!
The emperor was driven away, the Weilante people had left too!
Yet, just as their utopian dream was about to be realized, it all collapsed at the last moment!
Ah Xin could no longer restrain his emotions, frantically wanting to tear down the entire study.
"...I damned shouldn’t have let you head north! Why rescue those who deserve a thousand cuts! Let them die! Let them kill each other until bodies fill the reed marshes of the Everflow River!"
"It’s my fault for bringing you distress! Aaaah!"
Kunal had been keeping vigil by the study door, standing silently with his eyes closed, seemingly meditating.
He had no intention to listen to what the boss was doing inside, nor did he want to, standing there from daylight till dawn.
When the door opened, he saw Ah Xin’s eyes rimmed with darkness, feeling a twinge of heartache.
He didn’t feel it was a pity at all, only that it wasn’t worth it for his boss.
"Boss..."
Ah Xin patted his shoulder, whispered a few words in his ear.
Kunal was initially taken aback, but then his eyes brightened, the brutish face slowly breaking into a ferocious gleam.
The little mouse who once controlled thousands of people with just one bullet, now someone thinks he’s not capable of wielding a knife.
Everything was just like that day in the rain—
His boss was back.
"As you command."
Kunal clasped his hands together in a salute, strode out the door, loosening the tie strangling his neck with his forefinger.
Ah Xin watched his back, his face expressionless.
He realized that as long as he didn’t regard those people as human and treated them like donkeys with nose rings, everything became much easier.
All it took was a carrot to lead them forward, then a whip to lash their butts, watching them cry one moment, laugh the next, cheer one moment, riot the next.
And once he treated them as humans and tried to be kind—
It spelled disaster.
They wanted to "invert Tiangang."
They wanted to cut open and examine people’s insides.
This night, he only understood one thing.
They went around in circles, proving by their actions that they deserved this suffering.
Including himself.
It’s not the students, nor the teachers, or even the multitude entangled within it all that were at fault.
They merely evolved a fundamental logic serving the law of the jungle around a core of a thousand pillars.
This fundamental logic was that the worse a person was, the better their life; the more unscrupulous, the higher they climbed.
Based on this core logic, they evolved a series of theoretical tools more complex than animal behavior.
The former was the immutable Dao, while the latter was the ever-changing techniques; together, they built an invisible cage, and the Family Meeting’s stuff was merely a technique.
Without breaking this cage, let alone the Alliance’s ideology would be useless, even if aliens from tens of thousands of light-years away came for charity, the most advanced ideologies would still be transformed into "techniques to control people," based on that core "Dao."
As for being "eaten" by aliens, that’s another story.
After all, when their very existence vanished, even if the mental cage existed, it would lose its meaning.
But obviously, the Alliance wasn’t qualified to be that alien.
For one, they didn’t eat people, and if it really came to indistinguishable boundaries, who assimilates whom depends.
Clearly, the Alliance had realized the problem, even some conservative forces within it had become wary, much like the immune system rejecting indigestible nourishment.
Precisely because of this, even if gods descended to wipe out the Family Meeting from top to bottom, it would be of no avail.
Either the Federation turned into another version of the Family Meeting, or Absek got forced into becoming the next Zayed, or his successor would be more sinister and ruthless than Zayed and Yanush combined...
This wasn’t some abstract thing like fate, but a more naked and real civilization.
Perhaps someone knew how to solve this problem, but he was already tired of it, and wasn’t the one to do this kind of work.
He was nothing but a rat standing by luck a bit higher, peeing a bit further.
Shava lost a "father."
He lost a "mentor" and "hope" at the same time.
He no longer wanted to fund those despicable things; even if they won, they would be just another Family Meeting; he didn’t want to think about things so far, a conclusion he couldn’t witness in his lifetime.
Let’s just go back to the sewers together.
He just wanted some peace of mind for the time being.
This was also his instruction to Kunal.
If I cannot guard a province!
Then I will guard a city—
"...The West Sail Port massacre cannot happen again, Mammoth City is a lesson, if you don’t kill one, you’ll have to kill ten thousand, if you don’t kill ten thousand, hundreds of thousands will die, and if you don’t kill hundreds of thousands, millions will suffer!"
"Inform all branches and halls of the Assassins Guild, kill the Family Meeting members as needed, I don’t care what the reason is, if anyone is bribed by or works for it, I’ll kill their entire family!"
"When dealing with ruffians, don’t hesitate on methods, if someone wants Zayed to hold a memorial for them, or wants to become Zayed’s hero, I’ll fulfill them."
He would send his own family to the City of Dawn, then have a grand showdown here, fighting until the day he can no longer wield a knife! Fight till he buries himself in a coffin!
He would become the brick on the tombstone himself!
"No matter whether Mammoth State can be defended or not, Jin Galun must be held, our real family, friends, neighbors are all here, here we have family who truly exist."
"As for the business in Banana Head Bay—"
"I don’t want it anymore!"