Chapter 94: Nature (Part 2) (7200)
—Mom, I want to go home!
Although he wanted to remain calm and act indifferent, in the end, Ke Lei Le was still just an ordinary twenty-year-old young man.
Rebelling against Emperor Amos—that super-strong being who could fight Marshal Radcliffe for days on end without stopping? Ai Er Ma wanted to die, but he certainly didn't! If it were a death with some value, like sacrificing himself for the Mycroft World, then maybe he could grit his teeth and do it. But dying because of an internal rebellion among aliens... that would be utterly meaningless!
Ke Lei Le still remembered, back in the fleet, vaguely glimpsing the battle scene from afar—under the combat of the Marshal, the Earth Mother, and the High Patriarch, star domains shattered one after another, planets turned to dust like motes, even stars were merely larger energy sources, and the world crumbled like biscuits... Rebelling against a powerhouse like that?
Wuwu... Ke Lei Le really did miss his mother's pork noodles back home.
In short, upon realizing that things were sliding into an abyss he could never control, Ke Lei Le could no longer maintain his facade of calm. He could only cover his face with his hands and, in a tearful voice, tremblingly said to Ai Er Ma: "Um, can I not participate in this? Can you send me back? If you really want to, uh, rebel, then it would definitely be more convenient to join us Mycroft... I mean, can we discuss this at length?"
"Sure, sending you home is naturally no problem."
But unexpectedly, Ai Er Ma nodded decisively. This alien lifeform, mimicking the appearance of a human female, agreed readily, causing Ke Lei Le's breath to catch for a moment, hope kindling. But then, that hope quickly vanished, as a calm mental fluctuation sounded: "But not now. Recently, an anomaly occurred within the Royal Court, and the entire territory is under martial law. If it were just me alone, it would be fine, but if I have to take you with me, it becomes exceptionally troublesome. Those hunters can easily sniff out the scent of any soul fluctuation that isn't Amos."
Saying this, Ai Er Ma looked Ke Lei Le up and down, humanoidly 'squinting its eyes': "—Of course, this isn't absolute for me. However, you must do one thing for me before I am willing to pay the price to send you away."
As expected?
Ke Lei Le, who had been looking dejected, immediately perked up and recovered his composure. He knew that the most important part had arrived. The other party had specifically saved him, conversed amiably, and even directly told him about rebelling against Emperor Amos—there was absolutely no way they would let him go so easily. Setting aside whether the other party would actually keep their promise after finishing the task, for now, he had no choice but to cooperate.
Thinking this, Ke Lei Le couldn't help but press further: "What exactly is the matter?"
Ai Er Ma couldn't help but take a serious look at the Ke Lei Le before it. It noticed that this human individual had surprisingly good psychological resilience. Not everyone could wake up from a long period of soul slumber, immediately accept the current situation, and try to seize opportunities to control their own destiny. Although Ke Lei Le did show some signs of discouragement, essentially, this was an emotional fluctuation that no living being could avoid.
After all, that was Emperor Amos—it would be strange not to be afraid; rather, Ke Lei Le's reaction was the normal one.
And being able to quickly recover from negative emotions, being thick-skinned and carefree, was also a very important advantage. It meant that his inner nature was very strong; at most, his outer shell was a bit fragile.
"This matter is really simple."
After a mental scan confirmed that Ke Lei Le truly had no other thoughts, Ai Er Ma raised its hand. It could be seen that the semi-transparent tentacles composing its body began to emit a faint blue light. Accompanied by a small-scale teleportation fluctuation, a not-so-large box appeared in its hand.
Placing the box on the slowly protruding bone plate in front of it, Ai Er Ma's demeanor became serious. It slowly opened the box, revealing the true nature of the object stored within.
Ke Lei Le curiously looked up, and then he saw a silver light.
It was a mass of transparent substance that looked like a pillar of light but was actually solid 'matter'. It was placed in a rectangular bone box about fifteen centimeters long and seven centimeters wide, filling every bit of empty space within the box.
Gazing at this small pillar of light in the box, an incredibly familiar aura rushed towards him. Ke Lei Le blinked, staring at the light in shock. He looked up, his face full of surprise as he gazed at the Ai Er Ma before him. He subconsciously whispered: "Do you know what this is?!"
"Yes, it's a part of the Exchange System terminal that you Mycroft people spread across the multiverse."
Treating the box in its hand like a treasure, Ai Er Ma placed it securely on the bone table and looked up at Ke Lei Le. It said calmly: "According to the propaganda of your Mycroft civilization and the feedback from all the races that have used this thing, this exchange terminal contains most of the knowledge and technology of your Mycroft civilization, its advanced level even surpassing ours... I went through immense hardships and paid a great price to obtain this small part of the Restorative Pillar terminal from a small civilization."
"You want to obtain the knowledge and technology within to resist Emperor Amos?"
Ke Lei Le couldn't help but raise his voice: "Are you sure?"
—This big sister... or maybe big brother, it's hard to guess the gender of alien lifeforms, maybe it doesn't even have one... Anyway, this guy named Ai Er Ma must have a problem with its head?!
Not to mention its inexplicable desire to rebel against Emperor Amos, just the Restorative Pillar, the Exchange System... In Ke Lei Le's memory, this was a legendary creation personally made by Grand Marshal Radcliffe! The power and technology contained within were simply not something an ordinary Legendary could crack!
Ai Er Ma's strength seemed mysterious, but it definitely hadn't reached the Legendary realm; at most, it was a relatively strong Ultimate-rank. What could it use to crack it, and what confidence did it have?
"Yes."
Ai Er Ma didn't hide its purpose at all. It said straightforwardly: "Although now, there is an insurmountable distance between me and the Earth Mother, I believe that if I can obtain the knowledge within the Restorative Pillar, the possibility of successful resistance will at least change from one in a trillion to two in a trillion. And as long as there is a possibility of improvement, I will strive to do it."
"However, you Mycroft people have set extremely strict permission settings for the Exchange Pillar. The Restorative Pillars given to various races can only be used by Mycroft people and the respective races themselves. The part of the Exchange Pillar I obtained at great cost, after transmitting a small amount of basic information about 'Mycroft Common Language' and 'Mycroft Civilization' to me, no longer responds to my call. Coincidentally, I happened to pick you up, and you are a pure-blooded Mycroft person."
Saying this, Ai Er Ma nodded slightly, quite proudly: "Using the bloodline information recorded in the sphere that preserved your soul, I successfully replicated your body, resurrected you, and even optimized it... And in the future, I will send you out of the Royal Court's territory and give you a path back to the sphere of influence of the Mycroft civilization. But before that, you must assist me in extracting the relevant knowledge from the Exchange Pillar. This is the transaction and the contract."
Hearing this, Ke Lei Le finally understood.
The other party intended to use him as a relay station for extracting data. He would be responsible for the exchange, and then hand it over to them.
This kind of thing, the Mycroft side had actually thought of long ago. The Exchange System and Restorative Pillar strictly correspond to specific races. Moreover, before exchanging, the user is checked for mental manipulation or modified cognitive organs. It can even directly detect soul fluctuations and analyze whether it is voluntary.
If it's not voluntary, then sorry, the Exchange System will not serve you. If you want to use force, try it and see if your fist breaks first, or this seemingly fragile Restorative Pillar breaks first?
By the way, in the current combat records, the Restorative Pillar has a perfect winning streak.
"...I can cooperate."
After thinking for a long time, Ke Lei Le said thoughtfully: "Even if you are deceiving me, I have no other choice... But, can I know why you want to rebel against 'Emperor Amos'? Without knowing this reason, I cannot wholeheartedly trust you, or believe in your lies."
—He is the supreme powerhouse of your race.
Thinking this in his heart, Ke Lei Le looked up. This black-haired young man, born in the southern part of the empire, had an extremely serious expression.
He was a Mycroft person, born after Emperor Israel achieved Legendary status. His childhood was spent amidst repeated Black Tide invasions. He was raised under the protection of countless imperial soldiers—the church's clergy opened schools, teaching him to read; the emperor in the capital reduced taxes; new policies allowed him to join the army to support himself. He got the chance to become a Transcendent Being thanks to the 'Otherworld Exploration Plan' set by Master Nostradamus. He underwent training under Count Radcliffe's banner.
Ke Lei Le had seen many powerhouses sacrifice for the protection of the Mycroft civilization—the Seven Gods, Pope Eagle, Master Baniel, Lady Faina. Some guarded their homeland, others crossed endless voids with countless soldiers to distant lands... He truly couldn't imagine why an individual of a civilization would want to rebel against a powerhouse of that civilization. In his cognition, in his common sense, every powerhouse was a hero, an incredibly great person. They advanced and retreated with their civilization. Ke Lei Le couldn't think of a reason to oppose them, even if it was an enemy race wanting to rebel against an enemy powerhouse.
So, the young human youth gazed at the alien lifeform. Ke Lei Le seriously watched Ai Er Ma, waiting for its reply.
Noticing Ke Lei Le's expression, Ai Er Ma blinked—its mimicry appearance was becoming more and more human-like. This Amos person was silent for a moment, then abruptly asked: "Little one of Mycroft, what is your name?"
"Ke Lei Le." Ke Lei Le immediately replied. Since there were only two of them in the room, communicating mentally, 'you' and 'I' were sufficient, but since the other party wanted to know his name, he wouldn't refuse.
"Very good, Ke Lei Le."
Sitting in the chair, Ai Er Ma crossed its legs and said calmly: "Do you know, the war between the Amos Royal Court and the Takur Annihilation Order has lasted for fourteen thousand years."
Noticing the shock in Ke Lei Le's eyes, Ai Er Ma shook its head slightly and continued calmly: "It seems you understand the concept. Fourteen thousand years of time, hundreds of generations. The sole purpose of our civilization is to overwhelm and destroy another powerful civilization.
"We scrimp and save, we tighten our belts. We invest bone and blood, we sharpen hands and feet. We burn worlds and stars, pouring the finite time of countless lives into this bottomless pit—this has been going on for fourteen thousand years."
Saying this, Ai Er Ma smiled indifferently: "But there's actually nothing wrong with this. The Great Emperor is very correct in saying that if a civilization doesn't have a powerful opponent, it will quickly degenerate into a weakling—but the problem is, our civilization hasn't become stronger for a long time."
"The Royal Court's technology has stagnated for many years—the last revolutionary technological advancement, 'Fluctuationless Hyperspace Instantaneous Jump', was twelve hundred and seventy years ago."
Ai Er Ma's tone was still calm, but Ke Lei Le could sense a faint anxiety and sorrow in its mental fluctuations. The Amos person continued: "Even the victories in war... whether victory or defeat, we haven't achieved any for a long time. We've been deadlocked with the Order for nine hundred years. Our struggle has even shifted from hot war to cold war. We expand our armaments, build fortresses, set up hyper-temporal suppressors at the borders. We confront each other across the border, but we haven't had a full-scale war for a long time."
Saying this, there was silence.
After a long while, Ai Er Ma slowly spoke again: "We have stopped progressing. And the process of a civilization and race surviving in the multiverse is like sailing against the current. If we don't advance, we regress."
Ke Lei Le frowned, staring at the alien lifeform before him. Ai Er Ma also looked up, 'gazing' at the Mycroft person. It said softly: "I cannot accept our civilization gradually becoming weak. We must be strong, always strong. Otherwise, we would be unworthy of the bones we have buried, whether they belong to our kin or our enemies."
—So, I want to reverse all this.
"After I set my resolve, I chose to become a 'Research Individual', vowing to serve the Royal Court with my intellect, to open a new era with new technology, to initiate a technological revolution. But with the war dormant, the drive for research and development gradually waned. My funds were always diverted. And I am not a once-in-a-millennium or once-in-ten-thousand-years peerless genius. I could only waste a hundred years, achieving nothing except some minor developments in biotechnology. I felt utterly useless, like a complete waste."
"After that, I reflected deeply and understood that only strength could give me a voice. So I chose to switch to becoming a 'Combat Individual', vowing to use my own martial power to expel the aliens, break the deadlock, and crush the Takur Annihilation Order, thereby stabilizing the nation and revitalizing the civilization's spirit. But without becoming a 'Great General' (the Royal Court's term for Legendary-rank), one is ultimately an ant. I touched that boundary, but my heart could never stabilize. I could only linger on the edge, waiting bitterly... I could never rely on my own strength to reverse the overall situation of the civilization. It all felt like fate."
"Finally, I am still struggling. I became a 'General-Purpose Individual', roaming the entire territory of the Royal Court, solving all the problems I could. I saw the suffering within our civilization—increasingly stringent newborn policies, civilian facilities that hadn't been repaired for a thousand years, and dilapidated spiritual construction. So I resolved to help every Amos person I met, wanting to alleviate their suffering bit by bit. But human strength is limited. How vast is the Royal Court? How can I help one place and help all?"
"If anyone could, it would only be the 'Great Emperor'."
The long mental fluctuation ended. Ai Er Ma looked up, its tone complex as it murmured: "Three hundred years have passed. I began to ponder, to summarize our civilization."
"What was the result of the summary?"
Ke Lei Le couldn't help but ask for the result. At this moment, he was mentally connected to Ai Er Ma, and he could directly feel its confusion and sorrow. This was a real, truthful feeling, without any falsehood.
"We are not wrong."
"Not wrong?!" The young Mycroft captain's eyes widened, finding it unbelievable: "You call this not wrong?!"
In his view, the social structure of the Amos Royal Court was simply bizarre—a civilization that divided all its people into 'Research Individuals', 'Combat Individuals', and 'General-Purpose Individuals', with all policies solely for war, for the personal desires of the Great Emperor. And this was called not wrong?
"Not wrong." Ai Er Ma lowered its head, glancing faintly at Ke Lei Le: "The fault lies with us, and with the Great Emperor himself."
"Our 'Amos Royal Court Civilization' is built upon the body of the Great Emperor. We are carried on the Great Emperor's back. He drags us forward, so we advance. And if he stops his steps, we stop ours. We, the weak ones being carried, cannot change the strong one who has stopped."
Hearing this, Ke Lei Le had already roughly guessed Ai Er Ma's true thoughts. He swallowed his saliva and said in a low voice: "So, you decided..."
"Yes, so I decided to rebel."
Ai Er Ma interlaced its fingers and placed them on its lower abdomen. At this moment, it looked completely like a female Mycroft person with translucent skin. This Amos person said in a low voice: "I want to find an opportunity to break away from the Amos Royal Court. We Amos people must leave, become an independent civilization, not be carried on the Great Emperor's back forever, forever the weak ones dragged forward by him."
"The Great Emperor has shielded us from all disasters, and all we have to do is pay with our lives—this transaction is far too unfair. We Amos people, even if we die, must die with our own awareness, our own conviction, as a 'sacrifice'! I can accept giving my life for the civilization, but I cannot accept dying as the Great Emperor's tool, the Great Emperor's soldier, the Great Emperor's pawn in his 'civilization game', dying as if it were taken for granted!"
Saying this, Ai Er Ma's tone gradually became agitated. It could be seen that its human-like knuckles were turning white, and its whole body was surrounded by substantial magical fluctuations. The Amos person said word by word: "We can fight, we can sacrifice, but this is to fight and sacrifice for the advancement of the civilization, not for a command from the Great Emperor!"
"We are all Amos people—although we are not as strong as the Great Emperor now, who knows about the future? We can honor the Great Emperor as our sovereign, but that doesn't mean he can treat us as pawns or servants!"
At this moment, Ke Lei Le, mentally linked with Ai Er Ma, seemed to hear a voice.
—We are all strong! We are not playthings, not 'the pitied'! We are not the low Amos of the past, who would rather choose death than the future!
The strong are not willing to be led by others. They have extreme confidence and self-respect. They might respect another, stronger powerhouse, always chasing their footsteps, but they will never willingly prostrate themselves beneath them.
"I alone am not enough... I might not be stupid, I might even be a genius, but I am definitely not that much of a genius. So I need external force. I need your Mycroft Exchange System, I need your technology."
Ai Er Ma slowly stood up and walked in front of Ke Lei Le. This Amos person stood calmly directly in front of him: "Ke Lei Le, I need your help."
This was not a plea, nor a command, but an absolute equality, an absolute mutual respect.
This was a transaction, a contract.
One room, two people, communicating souls, sincerity without lies: This was a place where there was absolutely no need for lies, and a place where no one lied.
—I help you, resurrect you, send you back to your homeland, and can even help you become stronger. And you help me, help me obtain information and knowledge, help me go further on the path of 'rebellion'.
To this, Ke Lei Le took a deep breath. He lowered his head.
In that instant, the young captain thought of many things... He thought of Marshal Radcliffe, thought of many other Legendary powerhouses.
He recalled a long time ago, a great fire that happened in his hometown, the Black Forest. He remembered how he had looked at Joshua, who was overturning heaven and earth in the distance, with 'worshipful eyes'. He remembered his thoughts at that time—an extreme worship and awe for the Legendary powerhouse Joshua van Radcliffe.
But this was wrong.
We can respect, we can pursue, we can want to become strong.
But we cannot worship.
Because worship is the farthest distance from understanding. If one wants to become an independent powerhouse, an independent individual in the future, one must never 'worship' them. Instead, believe in them, follow them, become them.
"Yes."
Ke Lei Le murmured to himself: "I can also become a Legendary, just as you want to rebel—perhaps the possibility is extremely low, only one in a trillion, but we must take action, change from zero to one in a trillion. This is infinite progress... This is also a kind of rebellion."
A rebellion against self-pity, against impossibility, against being clever, against denying one's own future!
Ke Lei Le looked up. He also stood up—because of the mismatch between soul and body, intense pain struck again, but Ke Lei Le no longer cared. He met Ai Er Ma's gaze and said seriously: "Before you lies a bottomless abyss."
"What can be done about it."
The Amos person extended its hand, saying matter-of-factly: "Even facing a bottomless abyss, I refuse to yield."
"Emperor Amos has shaped our civilization, our race into what it is. Each of us individuals is a strong one selected from the bones of countless kin. So, this is our nature."
"This is the nature of our civilization, our race. We pursue strength, pursue victory, and we can only be strong, can only win—this is our nature. The more difficult, the more challenging, the stronger, the more we anticipate."
—Even if I am crushed by the Great Emperor and thrown into his nebula reactor, even if I am merely the fish on the chopping block, it is better than giving up, than begging and kneeling to 'impossibility'—We Amos people are a stone that beats with a pulse, cold and ruthless, fierce and cruel, even with a blade at our throat, we will never give up!
"Would the nature of us Mycroft people be cowardly?"
Ke Lei Le sneered. Even though his personality was not particularly strong, and he often felt discouraged, recalling his hometown's old mother's cooking—but out of pride for his own civilization, for his own race, he would never bow his head at this moment: "Then, I will help you. A possibility of one in a trillion—that's plenty. As long as we double it a few dozen times, a few hundred times, one day, it will become one!"
"Then, the contract is established!"
Following the link of their souls, the two reached an absolute soul contract.
Since they had decided to cooperate, there was naturally no time to waste on hesitation. Ai Er Ma immediately took out a large amount of Life Energy Crystals prepared long ago. Ke Lei Le, after throwing the crystals into the Restorative Pillar, reached his hand towards the silver flash placed in the box.
"Confirmed. Available Exchange Points: 30134... Switching to Technology·Item Zone... Switch successful. Starting list generation."
Although the Restorative Pillar was small, it had all the necessary functions. If it were to exchange for things like warships, it might be difficult. But if it were just simple technical data, it was no different from a complete one. Ke Lei Le, according to Ai Er Ma's requirements, began to exchange for the data it needed one by one.
These technologies, the Amos people might not necessarily lack, but with Ai Er Ma's authority, it had no way to access them, let alone use, modify, or try to improve them. The knowledge openly available to all civilizations in the multiverse through the Exchange System could effectively help it bypass the obstacles of seniority and authority, and also enrich Ai Er Ma's technical accumulation.
The technologies Ai Er Ma needed were mostly not very secret, with the vast majority related to 'teleportation' and 'basic civilian construction'. It seemed that it was genuinely sincere in wanting to lead a group of Amos people to break away from the protection of Emperor Amos, leave the Royal Court, and survive independently.
Time flew by. Exchange points flowed out like water. Ai Er Ma had already carried Life Energy Crystals back and forth several times. Later on, it was clear that it was quite pained—but opportunities were rare. If it could finish everything in one go, it shouldn't leave it for next time. So, even though its face was emitting a cold light, it resolutely handed over piece after piece of Life Energy Crystal to Ke Lei Le for exchange.
But suddenly, Ke Lei Le stopped his exchange work, frozen in place.
"What's wrong, Ke Lei Le? Can't find it in the Exchange Pillar? Or is there a problem with your body?"
Ai Er Ma was startled, instinctively extending a dozen or so tentacles to feel all over Ke Lei Le, checking if there was some sudden emergency—but soon, it too froze in place.
"Uh..."
Pale-faced, sweating profusely, the young captain sensed a familiar aura from the Restorative Pillar, along with a rather playful command. Ke Lei Le swallowed his saliva and then let out a soft, bitter laugh: "I'm afraid... I won't be going back for a while..."
"Sorry, Ai Er Ma, I'm afraid you won't be either."