Chapter 71: The Luxury of Selfishness
If one wants clear and reliable answers, the questions must also be equally clear and well-defined. And now, Joshua's question was simply too broad, to the point where even the Knowledge Seizer didn't know how to respond.
To this, Joshua paid no heed to the gazes of the other Legendary experts nearby. After thinking for a moment, he continued, "To be more specific, let's take you Knowledge Seizers as an example. In your civilization, were there no dissenters?"
To this, no answer came through the communication channel. The Knowledge Seizer seemed not to understand Joshua's meaning. The warrior smiled, then continued, "I know the greatness of your civilization. You and your ancestors wandered through this dark multiverse for tens of millions, for millions of years. And for the sake of inheritance, you have patrolled this Multiverse Star River for seven hundred and seventy thousand years. I know that you must have long since made up your minds: if the day ever came when sacrifice was needed, you would sacrifice yourselves without hesitation. Just as when you learned of our arrival, suspecting that Evil Gods might be chasing us, your entire race came forth, preparing to build fortifications at the boundary star river, to shield the Multiverse Star River from the invasion of darkness, to become the solid shield standing before all civilizations."
This last sentence could be considered Joshua's flattery of the other party, which immediately made the other Legendary experts exchange glances, feeling an inexplicable sense of dread. But the Knowledge Seizers on the other end of the communication channel knew nothing of this, and they naturally would not deny these words, for this was indeed their original intention.
"But."
The tone shifted, and Joshua's voice instantly turned cold, tinged with doubt. The warrior raised his right hand and casually drew a line in the air before him. He said in a low voice, "But, is it truly possible for *everyone* in a civilization to be a hero? For *everyone* to be a warrior unafraid of sacrifice? Are they all unafraid of death, selfless, noble in sentiment, willing to sacrifice themselves for the inheritance of knowledge and civilization, willing to bleed and fight for the future of the multiverse? *All* the people of a civilization, every single one of them?"
"I don't believe that."
This was Joshua's doubt.
The Knowledge Seizers, as a civilization, were indeed great.
For the sake of inheriting knowledge, for the sake of inheriting the messages of the Sage of Demons from ages past, for the sake of inheriting the history of countless races from the past, they had silently drifted through the Multiverse Star River for hundreds of thousands of years. They could unhesitatingly go to the front lines of the war against the World Devourers, to fight against those evil beings capable of destroying worlds and erasing civilizations. They did not fear sacrifice, they were full of courage, and could proudly declare that their race had chosen a 'doomed future.' They could even, like the 'Teaching First Sage,' leave all their inheritance to other civilizations when they themselves could no longer advance, buying future possibilities and time for their successors.
This was too great.
So great that it was strange.
"Impossible. The instinctive factor of inheritance in intelligent life will cause people to deny such overly noble sentiments."
The warrior spoke thus, his tone calm: "Fear of death, selfishness, denial of greatness, the belief that behind those great decisions there must be stains, private reasons we don't know about. They are unwilling to sacrifice themselves for things too vast, unwilling to bleed and fight for things like civilization, the future, and inheritance."
"'The world will be destroyed in a hundred years, but what does that have to do with me? I'll be dead before the world is destroyed anyway. So why should I sacrifice for the future? After I die, let the floods rage.'"
"'A powerful enemy will invade in the future, but what does that have to do with me? I'll just run far away. What's the point of managing race and civilization? As long as I can scrape by in this life, it doesn't matter.'"
"'I want to enjoy myself. Others sacrificing and giving is none of my business. As long as I live well, everything else is irrelevant. No one can affect my desire to live the life I want. Whoever affects my life is my enemy.'"
Joshua's words were not sharp; he was just speaking plainly, using very simple language: "Take the selection process for our Mycroft Expeditionary Force, for example. It was very hard. Out of two billion people in the world, there weren't many willing to take risks. The vast majority simply couldn't understand 'the importance of finding the truth behind the multiverse.' They could only see that sailing through the void was very dangerous, that fighting other civilizations was very hard, and that the privileges of Transcendents would disappear within the fleet. So, many quite powerful Transcendents didn't plan to join the fleet. They preferred to stay in the peaceful and safe rear, unwilling to take risks, able to enjoy privileges and live happily and comfortably."
Truth? Is it important? Can you eat it? Can you enjoy it? Can it make me live happier? Since it can't do any of that, why should I pursue it? What? It concerns the future of the multiverse and the survival of countless civilizations? Forget it. I'll probably be dead by then anyway. What does it have to do with me?
"Knowledge Seizers, our Mycroft civilization indeed has this problem. In our entire civilization, there are inevitably those willing to take risks and those who prefer enjoyment... Rationally speaking, the former cannot be called great; they just haven't thought it through clearly, are a bit foolish, and easily swayed by slogans. The latter cannot be called selfish; they are just more refined egoists. This voyage across the void has already created a great distinction between the two, which is unavoidable for our Mycroft civilization. But I haven't seen this in you."
Joshua's words had already made several Legendary experts look uncomfortable. This time, the warrior had brought all his students along—the First Squad, the Elite Squad, Lisa, and the others, basically everyone. But people like Barbarossa, some of his disciples had found excuses not to join this fleet. The Legendary Mage could certainly see the reasons behind this, but as a teacher, he had no right to demand his students risk their lives for an illusory slogan.
As Legendary experts, they had the awareness, but their worldview was not the worldview of ordinary people, and their perspective was not the perspective of ordinary people. This was not to advocate for a vast difference between the strong and the common people, but a statement of fact. Legendary experts were the top rulers and the strongest of the entire civilization; their standpoint simply could not represent the entire civilization.
And what Joshua said was indeed the truth. The Knowledge Seizer's fleet was so vast that it could warp the trajectory of worlds. The number of individuals in their race was probably in the hundreds of billions. In such an unimaginably vast race, was *everyone* willing to give their lives for the mission of the Knowledge Seizers?
Joshua's question indeed made the other Legendary experts feel puzzled. They also felt that such a thing was unlikely to happen.
However, the Knowledge Seizer's answer was very simple.
"That is because you are still under an illusion."
There was no panic due to Joshua's inquiry, nor any superfluous emotion. The Knowledge Seizer replied seriously: "A beast that only lives during the day cannot understand the thoughts of a nocturnal creature. A creature that only roams during the warm season cannot understand the chill of winter. The Starfall Mycroft civilization was born in light and grew up in light. You grew up on the ruins of the Era of Radiance, watched over by the Seven Gods and many powerful beings. This illusion has given too many of your people the luxury of superfluous thoughts."
"But for this multiverse, 'light' is an illusion. 'Peace' is an illusion. 'Equality,' 'stability,' and even the thought 'I can escape and save myself alone' are all profoundly mistaken illusions."
The Knowledge Seizer's tone, as it said this, seemed to hold a hint of suppressed laughter: "How dangerous and dark this multiverse is! Only those living in an illusion would think, 'I can detach from the whole of civilization and save myself alone.' Not to mention the wandering Void Behemoths and World Devourers, even other civilizations, or other lone wanderers with similar thoughts, are extremely dangerous. And if one merely wants to hide in a remote world, living a dull and empty life, that kind of life is itself a punishment. So why bother whether they are escaping or not?"
"Mycroft people, things you have every day are not considered precious... Your race, your civilization, was born in an era of light. People born into and accustomed to daylight will not look forward to the 'sunrise.'"
"Only those born into the night, who have experienced the most desperate, darkest moments, will look forward to the faint light on the horizon, the morning that ends the night. Like us. We experienced the end of the last great cycle, chased like stray dogs by the swarms of World Devourers. We fled endlessly through the dark void, watching our own star river be devoured by darkness, disappearing into the endless sea of stars."
"We have fallen into the abyss, and we have not yet climbed out of it to this day."
"We, in fact, do not understand the concept of 'saving oneself alone.' We also do not understand the difference between 'selflessness' and 'selfishness.' As for death, that is liberation. To be liberated from this gloomy and despairing multiverse, isn't that a joyful thing? Moreover, we and you are fundamentally different races, different beings from the logical root. Your bodies are built upon 'Life Energy,' while we are a race dwelling within 'Arcane Power.' If there is a commonality, it is that we both wish to expel the night from the multiverse. This is the fundamental reason we can communicate."
The Knowledge Seizer spoke calmly. Their words were entirely composed of chaotic waves of magical fluctuations. Without specially made machinery, the Mycroft people could not perceive them at all. Similarly, the Mycroft people's sonic language was also chaotic waves to them. If not for the physical encounter of their fleets, the Knowledge Seizers and the Mycroft people, even if they lived in the same world, would probably find it very difficult to detect each other.
"To allow the individuals of a civilization to have the luxury of being 'selfish,' 'fearing death,' 'unwilling to sacrifice,' and being 'refined egoists'—this is something many civilizations living in darkness desperately desire. It is precisely because life is too comfortable, giving people the luxury to contemplate the contradiction between the 'individual' and the 'collective,' that they have such thoughts. Mycroft people, you have done *too well*, and that is why you have this kind of trouble. We, who have been drifting in the sea of stars for seven hundred thousand years, have even forgotten the ways of 'joyful enjoyment.'"
"You remember drinking alcohol, procreation, enjoying fine food, appreciating the art of words and pictures. You know these are joyful things, so some people will abandon their beliefs for these joyful things. This is unavoidable. But we, in the process of inheriting knowledge, have forgotten *all* methods of enjoyment. We have forgotten how our race once enjoyed happiness in the past. Not a single bit of this information remains."
"Therefore, among us, no one will deviate from the main body or lose their faith because of 'enjoyment.' We are united in heart and mind. Of course, perhaps one day, we will recover the methods of enjoyment from the past. When that happens, our civilization will also lose its current centripetal force of unity. But whether that is a bad thing or a good thing is unknown."
Joshua listened silently to the other's words. The warrior remained quiet, and all the Legendary experts, including the Old Pope, were filled with profound respect.
Although only a few words were spoken, the Knowledge Seizers had given up too much for their mission of inheritance.
They recorded countless pieces of knowledge and the cultures of other races, but uniquely forgot the means of enjoyment within their own civilization. They actively abandoned all 'pleasure,' abandoned all superfluous thoughts, in order to maintain rational thinking for hundreds of thousands of years as if it were a single day, preserving the absolute cohesion of their civilization as a whole.
Purely in terms of civilization, the Knowledge Seizer's civilizational form could not be more distorted. Their logic and thinking were clearly twisted.
Thus, one could not help but admire, revere, and respect them.
"But even for us, if our descendants were to truly set foot in a world of light, they would certainly no longer look forward to the sunrise."
The Knowledge Seizer was still answering. This commander of the First Fleet was likely a high-ranking member of the Knowledge Seizer fleet. His method of communication was already similar to that of an ordinary Mycroft person, showing that he had worked hard for this exchange. And now, he was using a rather helpless tone to express his true thoughts.
"But what can I say... All we can do is this. Although it is ironic, what we are striving for now is to ensure that future people can have the right to not worry about survival and the future, to be freely selfish, to fear death, and to be afraid of sacrifice. After all, heroes are respectable, but a civilization that *must* have heroes, or even *only* has heroes, is a pitiful one."
...
The exchange was over.
The Old Pope silently took out a book beside him, tracing notes with Holy Light. The already taciturn Elf Empress sat to the side, gazing out the window at the empty cosmic vacuum. It seemed that apart from Joshua, no one else had such personal questions.
But was this truly Joshua's personal thought? Everyone present doubted it. Such a question would be more normal if asked by Israel, the Elf Empress, or Pope Eagle. Joshua did not seem like the kind of person who would care about such issues. He wouldn't even consider how many ships were behind his fleet; he would just go himself when encountering an enemy.
Would he contemplate the discordant notes within a civilization? He wouldn't care at all! Those willing to charge with him are good; if there are none, it doesn't matter. He wouldn't even try to understand those unwilling to fight. He only does what he does. Joshua is that kind of person. This was the impression left on all the Legendary experts.
But now, it seemed he was not as simple as everyone thought.
However, no one asked any questions.
The entire envoy ship remained silent.
In the Anason World, two moderately sized warships departed in opposite directions. The bright white light of the A-type star shone, tinged with a pale blue luster.
And Joshua stood on the bridge, at the very front of the warship, with his hands behind his back.
"The Knowledge Seizers, to ensure the stability of their inheritance and civilization for seven hundred and seventy thousand years, made their entire race abandon personal desires, abandon enjoyment. Only then could they, as a whole, make decisions and determinations without hesitation. Their faith came from the persistence born of discarding all distractions."
The warrior stood with his back to the star. The power of the flames of the Anason World gradually receded. The envoy ship was preparing to break into the void. And in his heart, he was still pondering various questions.
"Then, what about the masterminds hidden in the darkness, from the birth of the Evil Gods one hundred and sixty million years ago until now? Or perhaps the masterminds? How much have *they* given up? How many distractions have *they* discarded, to be able to persist in doing such a thing over such a long span of time? To carry out such a large-scale destruction, extinction, and cyclical cleansing?"
"Similarly, what about those powerful beings who resolved to fight against all this, like the Sage of Demons? What kind of faith did *they* have, to be able to persist in fighting against the powerful beings on the other side, unhesitatingly heading to the axis of the multiverse?"
One must know, if the powerful wanted to give up and enjoy themselves, it was much easier for them than for ordinary people... Countless pseudo-Transcendent civilizations that restricted the development of their own civilizations just to secure their own rule were mostly due to the powerful being unable to restrain their own desires. If the powerful wanted to abandon their responsibilities, they truly didn't need to care whether this multiverse was dark or not; they could comfortably enjoy themselves for countless years.
And because the Evil Gods only acted against civilizations above Gadamer Level 2, as long as their world's civilization was primitive enough, they could even enjoy themselves until the end of the star river.
Time was simply too long... Could the awareness of humans, the faith of Legendary experts, truly remain eternally steadfast on this long, long road?
Joshua did not believe in humanity. He did not believe in too ethereal a faith. He did not believe that time could leave no trace on any existence.
So, he muttered to himself, "For now, I can only be certain that my own faith will not change for the next few million years."
It seemed he could only strive to resolve all of this within a few million years, as much as possible.
Even for him, he could not guarantee that he wouldn't change in the future. As a powerful being, he acknowledged this shortcoming in himself. Thinking thus, Joshua shook his head helplessly.
"Time is running out."