# Chapter 18: Evil Ghosts in the Human World 5500
"Speak. Why."
Joshua spoke in a tone filled with barely restrained disgust, furrowing his brow as he questioned the only conscious woman among the Siberia squad: "Why kill those ordinary people?"
To deplete the enemy's effective strength, of course.
Without waiting for her answer, the warrior could already guess her response... This was hardly a difficult matter to understand, especially for someone like him who had experienced countless battlefields. In modern warfare, small-scale local conflicts might still consider morality and human rights, refraining from massacring civilians. But when it came to a world war, nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and indiscriminate bombardment would all be deployed in turn, striving to turn the entire enemy nation into scorched earth.
At such times, who still cared whether civilians were human, whether they were innocent? Beneath nuclear flames, even thousand-year-old historical sites would turn to ash, and the numbers of lives lost became as meaningless as dust. If even Earth, with its highly developed civilization and human rights, was like this, then how much more so this clearly abnormal otherworld?
Joshua hadn't initially planned to intervene in this matter.
The conflict between the Soul Puppets and the Siberians appeared intense, but in his eyes, it was merely a minor skirmish. Joshua knew from the start that this battle would at most result in the loss of some ordinary Soul Puppets. Neither side's main combat forces possessed powerful lethal methods. Those light arrows, though unavoidable as light itself, had energy levels that could only kill ordinary people. At most, they could pierce the outer armor of some low-level puppets, never destroying their cores. The white shield could also block most attacks from the superpowered puppets. Combined with that powerful old man, the Siberia squad could leave whenever they wished.
Since there wouldn't be any serious consequences, Joshua naturally had no interest in acting. He wanted to actually observe how Soul Puppets loaded their superpower units, and how those ordinary people wielding the authority of Steel fought... The battle's outcome indeed didn't surprise him. The Siberia squad couldn't break through the Soul Puppets' defenses, so they planned to retreat, and the superpowered puppets couldn't prevent their retreat either.
But just as Joshua planned to follow them later and ask those retreating Siberians about the situation, he saw countless light arrows shoot out from the white shield, falling like rain.
Light cannot be stopped, so in an instant, thousands of Siberians died. They fell one after another, as if an invisible scythe had lightly swept across a field of crops.
Joshua's speed was no faster than light. By the time he observed the light, the people were already dead. He couldn't stop it.
Was he angry?
Of course.
Joshua had never struck out against the unarmed and weak, let alone committed massacre. Yes, of course he understood their actions. The moment they acted, he understood their reasoning. But precisely because he understood, he disliked it. Because he understood, he felt disgust.
"To... to deplete this plantation's strength..."
The woman spoke, her voice still trembling, as if she hadn't yet recovered from the shock of the Terror Domain: "This... this sortie, we cannot... return empty-handed. We must accomplish something before going back, otherwise it's a waste of military resources... Killing them, these puppets will be in chaos for a while, and it will also reduce the plantation's supplies..."
Her words came out haltingly at first, but grew smoother later. After answering Joshua's question, the woman immediately shut her mouth, lowering her head, not daring to look at those eyes flickering with silver light.
Having received the answer he had already anticipated, Joshua didn't grow angrier, nor did he show any other reaction. He simply stated flatly: "So to prevent the enemy from resupplying, you massacre the local civilians... That's your explanation?"
He had heard this kind of reasoning many times before.
Joshua didn't use the local world language contained in the Steel Serpent Siberia's Steel Shards. He still spoke Mycroft Common Tongue, but through spiritual resonance, the other party could clearly understand his meaning. Just as Joshua finished speaking, the woman kneeling on the ground shook her head vigorously. She seemed to want to stand up and argue, but finally whispered in rebuttal: "No, they aren't civilians. They're just production tools for those puppets! If we don't kill them, they'll keep producing resources endlessly for those puppets to use!"
To weaken this plantation, killing these zombie-like 'things' was the simplest and most effective method. More convenient and effective than destroying those puppets. The woman originally wanted to say this, but in the end, she didn't voice it.
"The Soul Puppets treat them as livestock, as crops to be farmed. And you treat them as spare parts, as the enemy's resource reserves."
Joshua glanced at the kneeling woman, then at the six still unconscious people around her. He turned his head and said indifferently: "In a certain sense, the difference between you isn't that great."
"That's different... And they don't even count as human."
The only conscious woman had hair mixed with green and white, appearing to be in her twenties. The green was her original hair color, while the white was truly white hair grown from overwork. Faced with Joshua's words, this tired but mentally resilient woman couldn't help but retort: "They have no intelligence, let alone souls or abilities! They and we aren't even the same species!"
Hearing this matter-of-fact response, Joshua couldn't help but turn back. The eyes of his youthful body widened slightly, as if he was now seriously examining and scrutinizing this group of Siberians.
"...You could have argued from the perspective of war. You could have argued from the perspective of interests and value. You could have argued from the inequality of power between enemy and ally... I thought of many responses. Strength, faction, necessary missions, or even simple contempt, thinking they're inferior people. Each answer could have addressed my question, since this is just my personal preference. I simply can't stand you killing civilians who can't resist."
The massive puppet body slowly took a step forward. It picked up the carbon-based youthful body and placed it back on its shoulder. From above came a voice tinged with surprise, entering the woman's ears: "But you didn't. You chose to argue from the perspective of species, and so matter-of-factly."
The imposing Soul Puppet, with silver light flickering in its eyes. Under the enhancement of Steel Force, Joshua could clearly analyze the essence of any life form. He had checked the Nameless Technician before, checked those garden children, and naturally checked those ordinary farmers in the farming zone.
And now, he checked the essence of this woman before him. The result was not at all surprising.
They were all the same species, exactly the same, one hundred percent belonging to the same species.
"You are the last ones who should say that... You are the last ones who should kill like this."
Anyone could do it. The Soul Puppets, the six-legged hippos, even plants corrupted by high-purity magic power could do it, even warriors from another world could do it. But you Siberians cannot say this, cannot do this. You were all once people enslaved by Soul Puppets, all oppressed people on the same side of the battle line... But you don't regard them as your own kind.
From the farming zone to the garden zone, I waited twenty years, and what I got was people like you.
Thinking of the Nameless Technician, Joshua let out a soft sigh. He no longer paid attention to this woman. Having already eliminated all the surrounding defensive puppets, the warrior simply stood quietly in place, waiting.
"Ah..."
"My head hurts..."
"What happened..."
And so, in silent waiting, gradually, those Siberia squad members who had been knocked unconscious by Joshua's Terror Domain shockwave began to awaken. They were somewhat confused at first, but quickly recalled their last memories. The only conscious woman took care of them, and they turned their gazes to Joshua. Initially, some squad members' eyes still held a trace of resentment, but then they saw the surrounding Soul Puppet remains, most crushed into fragments, and recalling that terrifying presence, they immediately shuddered and became much more docile.
"What's going on... How is that little... that compatriot together with Soul Puppets?!"
"Looking at the design, it's somewhat like an SNOVA-type superpowered puppet, but specially modified... Very imposing, very strong."
"So powerful! Although I didn't sense any superpower, that soul is so vast, completely unfathomable... Was it him who knocked us all unconscious with just one sentence? Such a powerful soul is rare even among Command-rank puppets, right?"
"Could that puppet be controlled by him... The military has records of superpowered individuals who can control puppets. The last Central Holy War was initiated by such superpowered individuals..."
Joshua sensed waves of soul fluctuations, faint but very clear. He looked at the squad who appeared calm, as if they had just awakened, and immediately understood: Soul Communication. The relay and coordinator was that conscious woman. No wonder she could remain awake under the Terror Domain and even rebut Joshua's words. Her soul quality was dozens of times that of ordinary people, enough to serve as the entire squad's coordinator.
"Could he have awakened on his own? There are very few self-awakened compatriots now. The ideological imprinting of those Soul Puppets gets tighter with each generation. It's been over a decade since we last heard of anyone self-awakening."
"Probably. He attacked both us and the Soul Puppets together, and even got angry for those things... If he weren't self-awakened, how could he not know about these matters?"
"Alright, don't talk too much. Let's see his reaction... Such a young self-awakened individual, possibly able to control puppets. If he could join us, it would definitely greatly strengthen the military."
After a soul fluctuation that was clearly from that woman, a final steady fluctuation arose: "Let's see the situation. Let us know what this young compatriot's purpose is."
The soul fluctuations ended. In reality, the white-haired old man who had previously single-handedly suppressed all melee puppets and blocked the Storm superpowered puppet stepped forward. He looked cautiously at the youth sitting on the puppet's shoulder, then his gaze was involuntarily drawn to that massive steel body. After realizing this, he cleared his throat and prepared to speak: "Excuse me..."
"Your identities."
Joshua's voice interrupted his words. The warrior seemed unwilling to discuss other matters, asking directly: "Your purpose. The general situation of this world. The relationship between the farming zone, garden zone, and plantation. Who created the Soul Puppets. What exactly is happening now. Do you have historical documents?"
A series of questions, spoken fluently and clearly. Under spiritual resonance, even though everyone present couldn't understand Mycroft Common Tongue, they could all grasp his meaning. The white-haired leader responded excellently. He was momentarily stunned, then without hesitation, without any wasted words, began answering Joshua's questions.
"We are from the Fifth Brigade of the Resistance Army. Our purpose is to go to the garden zone and rescue all our compatriots."
His tone was neither fast nor slow, with clear and forceful enunciation. The old man continued: "I don't know the situation of this world. Isn't it just like this? The farming zone and garden zone are both parts of this plantation... Though there are also 'mining zones' that don't farm but excavate minerals, and various other types of zones with different functions."
"As for now... What is history?"
The old man's answers were appropriate, but he stumbled at the end. He genuinely seemed not to understand what the word 'history' meant, appearing somewhat embarrassed. However, Joshua could see that there was more in the old man's heart. He seemed to be relieved that the warrior wasn't interested in their superpowers, otherwise he would have had to fabricate answers, which would have been very troublesome.
But for Joshua, why bother asking further? At the same moment he pulled the seven-person squad down from the air, the warrior had already roughly figured out everyone's superpowers, and even knew their mutual nicknames through soul communication.
This leading old man possessed a self-enhancement type superpower, capable of storing energy normally and releasing it when needed, making himself indestructible. His nickname was 'War Chariot'.
And that timid girl hiding behind the old man was the maintainer of the white shield. She possessed a rare energy barrier type superpower that could block any type of impact below a certain energy level. Her nickname was 'Iron Wall'.
The thin boy and long-haired woman standing together respectively possessed the abilities of 'Float' and 'Condense Light Arrow'. One was responsible for the team's transportation, the other for large-scale clearing and long-range attacks. Their nicknames were 'Pegasus' and 'Magic Arrow'. It was Magic Arrow who killed those Siberians. She currently showed no particular reaction, seemingly just suffering from some headaches due to Joshua's impact.
The other two men, one appeared very weak, seemingly from ability overload, while the other supported him, with a very low presence. The Steel Authority these two held was extremely simple but exceptionally pure. One could cause violent explosions through contact, called 'Explosion'. The other could perform optical manipulation to become invisible, called 'Invisible'. Joshua guessed that it was the cooperation of these two that allowed them to blast open the outer black walls of the farming zone without being stopped by Soul Puppets.
The final member was the tired woman who seemed to have no ability, but whose ability itself was 'Amplify Soul'. Her role had been clearly shown in the soul communication: serving as the team's core, responsible for soul communication, and for removing the ideological imprinting from 'compatriots'... Her nickname was 'Unlocker'.
This Siberia squad addressed each other entirely by their ability names, seemingly having no actual names. But thinking carefully, this made sense. Names were just code names. As superpowered individuals with different abilities, ability names themselves were distinctive enough to serve as code names.
"Explain what the Resistance Army is."
Joshua continued questioning. The old man and other Resistance members looked somewhat at a loss, but due to the overwhelming disparity in strength and Joshua's unapproachable attitude, they decided to answer honestly: "The Resistance Army... is the army that resists the Soul Puppets..."
Through the white-haired old man's narration, supplemented by others, Joshua quickly understood what kind of organization the Resistance Army was.
It was an organization that had existed for about a hundred years. Initially, it was just a small group formed by a few lucky superpowered individuals who had gained self-awareness and escaped from the garden zone, used to resist the Soul Puppet squads that came to capture them. But later, as more and more superpowered individuals gathered, ordinary single 'zones' (Soul Puppet gathering places) no longer had enough strength to eliminate them. These superpowered individuals even counterattacked against the zones, rescuing the children from the garden zones, removing their ideological imprinting, and letting them join.
To date, the Resistance Army had grown considerably. According to the white-haired old man, there were over a hundred squads like theirs, with scattered superpowered individuals numbering in the thousands. Decades ago, they had even launched a Holy War against the central tower of the world. But not all superpowered individuals had sufficient combat power. Additionally, slightly larger Soul Puppet zones could gather nearly ten thousand combat puppets. They often united, sending large armies to purge the Resistance Army. So currently, they didn't stay in one place but constantly moved, avoiding the puppet armies' purges, and along the way attacking smaller plantation zones to obtain resources and population supplies.
As for the process... Why say more? Just look at those numb Siberians whose lives were cut down like grass. These Resistance members only recognized superpowered children as their compatriots. They didn't have enough strength to remove the ideological imprinting from ordinary people, nor enough food to provide for these worthless individuals. Every time they broke through a Soul Puppet zone, their first task was to eliminate the Soul Puppets, the second was to rescue superpowered individuals, and the last was to plunder all resources, kill all livestock and Siberians they couldn't take away, and then burn the zone to ashes.
It was just like ancient primitive nomadic tribes.
"This..." Not knowing how to address Joshua, the white-haired old man could only judge by appearance: "This 'Puppeteer', may I ask what your purpose is now?"
"Your strength is very great. You could even single-handedly defeat all the Soul Puppets of this entire plantation. So why didn't you leave before?"
The entire Siberia squad seemed to rarely interact with others. They spoke bluntly without knowing how to conceal things. If not for coordinating through soul communication, they might have discussed the warrior right in front of him. Faced with the old man's simple, direct, and somewhat curious question, Joshua didn't answer immediately. He turned back and looked at the surrounding mess of farmland, countless puppet remains, and Siberian corpses. The warrior said softly: "Originally, I planned to see what problems this world had."
"But now it seems, the world's problems might not be that great... Instead, the entire civilization's spirit, even civilization itself, has completely rotted away, no longer existing."
Joshua's youthful body sat on the puppet's shoulder. Looking down from above, he glanced at the nearby Soul Puppet remains: "You are not human."
He turned his head again, looking at the Siberians who had fallen in the mud, killed by light arrows: "You are not human."
Finally, Joshua turned back. With a complex expression that was hard to tell whether it was coldness or sympathy, he gazed at the seven-person Siberia squad, who had begun to feel inexplicably afraid.
"None of you are human."