Chapter 41: The Beast That Follows Its Heart's Desire (Part 2) (Pleading for Monthly Tickets)
A question.
If a powerful being could, in an instant, create countless billions upon billions of beings with intelligence, independent personalities, completely identical to naturally born creatures... no, even more perfect, more beautiful, and without any side effects than those born naturally.
Then, would such a powerful being still need a burden like civilization?
In other words, since they already possess such divine power, capable of splitting into billions of thoughts to contemplate, then whether it's cognitive obstacles or anything else, they could certainly break through them with ease, without needing help from others, right? Creating intelligent life to assist oneself is simply redundant.
For a certain warrior currently fighting against an evil god, he doesn't care about the answer to this question. He looks forward to the future of civilization just as he looks forward to unknown powerful enemies.
But without civilization, he could still walk alone. He minds and dislikes this, but essentially it has no effect on him... In a sense, he might be even more indifferent than the Great Emperor.
Because for Emperor Amos, the answer to this question is 'of course it's needed.'
"I really like you all."
The golden giant eye did not speak, but its words contained no trace of falsehood: "I've raised you for so many years, how could I not have feelings? Even if a tool I use casually breaks, I would at most put it away, not throw it away or destroy it. You don't need to worry that I would sit by and watch the Amos people be exterminated by the Extreme Virus. Before that, I will collect some valuable Amos people and preserve them."
"Probably up to the Commander level will do, haha, just like back then. But perhaps after removing most of the inferior population, you'll develop faster."
"Speaking of which, it's really troubling. Those Takur bastards are not weak. For so many years, I've never been able to break through their 'Infinite Divine Energy Variable Source' blockade. This time, the Extreme Virus finally caused internal strife among them, but you've also been infected."
Watching Elma, who could barely speak, the golden giant eye prompted: "Tell this to that Mycroft person. If you can't, I can leave a message."
He was clearly treating Elma and Crele as tools to pass a message to Joshua.
"Great Emperor..."
At this moment, Elma's mind was a tangled mess. She had clearly guessed this long ago, but hearing Emperor Amos personally admit it still made her unable to accept it. Whether Amos people or humans, before facing too shocking an impact, they think they can handle it, but when the impact truly arrives, they realize how fragile their mental defenses are.
"Pull yourself together, Elma!"
Fortunately, at this moment, Crele was inside Elma's body. He noticed that she was about to collapse under the unconscious pressure and self-torture emanating from the Great Emperor, so he quickly gathered his power to stimulate her to wake up.
"...Thank you."
Although Crele's strength was not great, with the support of the crisis management system, that strange transcendent power could revive Elma from her daze. She gratefully glanced at the sighing human captain beside her, then looked up and saw the playful gaze of Emperor Amos's divided consciousness.
"So this is the power of that Mycroft person? An interesting structure, truly interesting. Although the power is weak, the 'priority' is very high. With this purity of transcendent power, he has also found that path leading to the end? No wonder he's from the ancestral race that descended from the Lost Star River. This gives me some inspiration."
He evaluated Joshua fairly, praising the sophistication of his technique. The pleasure this brought him lifted his spirits, and Emperor Amos even rotated his giant eye to express his delight.
At this moment, Elma, watching this absolute powerhouse who towered above the Royal Court, could only think one simple thought.
"What kind of past did he have to become what he is now..."
"Even the Great Emperor must have had a time when he was weak, right..."
The answer was no.
The golden giant eye magnanimously forgave his subject's wild thoughts and, in a good mood, answered the question.
I was born powerful.
When I was born, the magic power and ether I possessed far exceeded my father's.
He wanted to kill me when I was still an infant, but failed, and was killed by the rebound of my innate ether field.
On the third day after my birth, I had already mastered the language of the Amos people, understood the current political situation, and began to take over power, preparing to conquer the weaker ones around me.
"I have never had a time of weakness, Elma. Only the weak are weak; the strong are always strong."
Below the golden giant eye, a tentacle formed from an ether stream extended. This tentacle was slender yet massive. Relative to the giant eye, it couldn't be thinner, but for Elma, it was a full eighteen kilometers thick, collapsing toward her head like a wall.
But this tentacle 'gently' touched Elma's warship body, just as a human, when in a good mood, might gently touch an insect, curiously and happily touching its carapace with as much care as possible not to crush it.
The giant eye's gaze was soft: "I can see that you are angry, very resentful, because you think my attitude is one of neglect, of contempt. But this is normal. If I treated you with an equal attitude, that would be a great strangeness, something truly worth wondering about."
"I can be angry, calm, attentive, serious, and do anything with gravity—but that is all directed at powerful beings who can match me. It is because of their existence that I feel my life has meaning... And you all are the lives I created to please the eye and pass the time while I search for the strong."
People need inheritance, need to gather together, need collective wisdom and collective effort. They bear and raise children because people die.
Because they die, they need successors. Because they die, they need to gather together to avoid dying by accident. Because they die, they need to communicate, exchange ideas, cooperate, divide labor, and build a larger, more stable collective that is less likely to die.
That is civilization.
The progress of the collective is a path toward the goal of 'immortality.' Although as civilization develops, 'not dying by accident' becomes easier and easier, so the goal of individuals within civilization becomes 'living better,' 'making life more meaningful,' and even reaches the point of 'pursuing the meaning of personal existence' and 'pursuing the unknown and truth.'
But that is like a pyramid built on a foundation—the lowest, largest step is 'immortality.'
"People need inheritance because people die. Because people are not immortal, they need descendants, need inheritance."
The golden giant eye patiently explained to the insect-ant the thoughts of being 'human.' It did not expect beings who couldn't even achieve immortality to understand, but who doesn't talk to themselves? Besides, that little insect was quite interesting—she actually doubted, resisted, and wanted to betray him. My god, this was so novel, as surprising as finding a shining diamond in a pile of pebbles.
Truly, in tens of thousands of years, there hadn't been such an interesting little creature.
"But I don't need it. For me, so-called civilization is just the placenta that ensures I can be smoothly conceived, born, and grow. Since I have matured and reached completion, the placenta is to be discarded."
"But as I said before, I like you all, and I am very nostalgic."
An ultimate being—immortal, imperishable, ageless, possessing divine power, with thoughts that can divide infinitely, a single entity that is complete, completeness gathered into one, capable of feeding on star rivers, and destroying worlds with a single thought—naturally does not need a burden like a collective.
Selfish, self-centered, but also selfless and giving. It can destroy billions of worlds for its own sake, sweeping away other civilizations and intelligent life like trash. It can also, because it's in a good mood or finds something pleasing, protect a race for tens of thousands of years, even allowing them to live within its own body, just like allowing cats and dogs to crawl all over it.
It can have whatever it wants, do whatever it wants, with no one to balance good and evil, right and wrong. All concepts that describe humans cannot be forcibly applied to such a life. They are completely unrestrained.
Hence its name: 'The Immortal Beast That Follows Its Heart's Desire.'
Elma was speechless. Precisely because she had been awakened by Crele, she could clearly understand Emperor Amos, understanding his thoughts more and more. She suddenly felt that she was ridiculous, that all her previous accusations against Emperor Amos were laughable enough to make one retch.
Even more laughable were the Amos people. They had lived with such an ultimate being for tens of thousands of years and even developed such a prosperous civilization. Hahaha, the Amos people should truly and sincerely thank the Great Emperor, say they are sorry, because he generously took out his own shell and gave it to them, a group of little insects, to use as a capital for so long.
The Great Emperor is truly a good person.
He deserves to be revered, worshipped.
"Yes, the help we Amos people bring to the Great Emperor, and the help the Great Emperor brings to us Amos people, is simply not proportional... Too laughable, too laughable..."
Elma laughed bitterly, while the golden giant eye had already left, disappearing into the star-cloud sky above the tower. Watching this scene, she weakly raised her tentacle and waved it: "What exactly am I resentful about, dissatisfied with... Why do I want to rebel..."
So that's it. All my resentment, all my anger, all my regret and confusion, are because I am too weak... I am too weak, unable to understand even a fraction of the Great Emperor.
And at this moment, an invisible wave began to spread throughout the star-cloud sky, and even the entire dome of the Royal Court.
Emperor Amos had fulfilled Elma's wish—he began to spread his power, expelling the Extreme Virus fluctuations throughout the entire Amos Royal Court.
A trivial effort, nothing difficult, just a big cleanup. He could also take the opportunity to clean up the accumulated 'dust' within the Royal Court, sweeping out some useless broken world wreckage at the same time.
Of course, the former was easy because he had many avatars, while the latter would take a longer time, possibly a very long time to finish. But that wasn't important; time was the one thing he never lacked.
Elma and Crele were sent out of the inner circle. In the blink of an eye, without even understanding what had happened, they found themselves in the dome of the Royal Court.
"At least it's a good thing."
Having no other choice, Crele could only comfort her: "Think about it, not only did we not die, but Emperor Amos also stepped in to eliminate the Extreme Virus. No matter how you look at it, our goal has been completely achieved."
"...Yes."
Elma responded, forcing herself to cheer up. Her tone was confused: "Our goal has been achieved... At least the Amos Royal Court is safe... But that's not quite right either. After all, with the Great Emperor here, when has it ever been unsafe?"
Just a few deaths, what's the big deal.
She mocked herself like this.
And watching Elma like this, Crele felt terrible in his heart.
When he was first revived by Elma, the human captain saw a strong-willed, independent Amos person with her own goals, who was actually a good person, willing to think for others. She would, for the sake of others and the future of the Amos people, try to break free from Emperor Amos's influence, attempt to rebel and leave, to survive independently in the multiverse.
She had a meticulous plan, thorough preparations. If not for the Extreme Plague, she would probably have started acting long ago. But because of the Extreme Plague, because it would kill hundreds of billions or trillions of Amos people, she abandoned her ideals and instead tried to gather information to solve this problem.
Even though she was an Amos person, not a Mycroft person, this was worthy of respect, because she did not attempt to 'harm others' to gain greater benefits for herself. Even reviving herself was only for mutually beneficial cooperation.
She was a very charismatic alien woman.
Not like now, where even though her goal was accomplished, she was dejected and lost.
Sighing, Crele smiled bitterly and realized that his problem was the same as Elma's—she was too weak to accomplish anything, and he was too weak to help her.
But at least the problem was solved.
But was the problem really solved?
After a while, Elma, who had dragged her void warship body to a certain void port to dock and was brooding alone, and Crele, who was mentally connected to her and trying to cheer her up, suddenly received a message.
"Elma, the area around that frontier void settlement you used to live in has been invaded by the Extreme Plague again. We are organizing the evacuation of the populace. Originally, we should have moved the supplies and movable houses as well, but the magical array seal on your residence is too strong. We can't unlock it for the time being, so we have to leave it there."
"Just letting you know, so you won't be completely unprepared when you go back later. Even if Commander-level beings won't be eroded by the Extreme Virus, you still need to be careful of possible Extreme Beasts. I know you killed one, but the fewer times you encounter that kind of monster, the better, right?"
"Kuros, leave a message."
Kuros was a Royal Court Guard who, along with Elma, had previously transferred a void settlement infected by the Extreme Plague at the frontier of the Royal Court to the gathering area. He was also an old acquaintance of Elma's. It seemed he was still responsible for plague-related matters in that area. After learning of this, he took the opportunity to inform this old friend, who in his view had just had an audience with the Great Emperor and was now in high favor.
"...What's going on?"
Elma's originally dazed expression gradually became animated. Her tone slowly changed from toneless to incredulous, and finally to bewildered: "Extreme Plague?"
"Hasn't the fluctuation of the Extreme Virus been completely swept away by Emperor Amos?!"
Completely unable to believe what she had heard, Elma, under Crele's shocked gaze, shed her previous lifeless demeanor. She immediately spread her communication wings and frantically connected to hundreds of bands, contacting many different areas—some to ask acquaintances, some to directly check with her authority, and some just to see if there was any reply.
Soon, shocking results appeared.
"Indeed, there is no longer any spread of the Extreme Plague within the Royal Court... But there is no change at the frontier. No, they say it did ease for a short time, but the plague quickly recurred..."
Elma raised her head in shock. She did her utmost, pushing her limits, to gaze at the distant starry dome and the center of the distant starry dome, where Emperor Amos's avatar was. She finally understood what 'expelling the Extreme Virus within the Royal Court' really meant.
The Great Emperor had indeed expelled the Extreme Virus within the Royal Court.
But he did not continue to protect the Royal Court, nor did he continue to expel it.
Yes, how normal. Emperor Amos had originally wanted to use the Extreme Virus to test the potential of the Amos people—he had said so himself!
Elma made a wish, so he expelled it. But if the plague spread back from the frontier, that wasn't his doing... Besides, Elma's wish didn't include that clause.
Don't be too greedy, little one.
In Elma's ears, the Great Emperor's voice faintly appeared. She understood that the Great Emperor would absolutely not act again... In fact, he was happy, because he could watch his favorite virus erosion plot all over again, like watching a zombie movie. How novel.
After all, Extreme-ized Amos people were novel, cute, and truly interesting, weren't they?
"Everything... everything is in vain."
"Everything is futile."
In the Starry World, at the center of the Dark Star River, at the location of the Contradictory Spiral.
Wielding a black hole fist, Joshua indifferently pulled an evil god, whose name he didn't even know, fixed in place by the Triple Veil, into the center of his black hole engine. It wouldn't be destroyed immediately but would be torn apart by the immense gravitational potential between the two black holes, leaving no trace.
But just as he was about to start again, preparing to cooperate with the Triple Veil to continue hunting down those evil gods, he suddenly heard a voice. This voice made his hair stand on end, and he turned his head sharply.
Then, he saw a cocoon thread that had already extended extremely long, appearing at the center of the Contradictory Spiral, leisurely swaying in the vacuum, distorting the surrounding world.
Light was chaotic, space was twisted. As this thread, whose thickness was impossible to discern, swayed, space, like blocks of stacked building blocks, disintegrated and collapsed, then healed again. But in this process, within this area, the essence of the world became fragile. The strength of the world barrier began to drop sharply, like someone stirring solidified cream with chopsticks—difficult at first, but becoming easier and easier.
"In vain."
The beast that follows its heart's desire, immortal and imperishable, self-centered, sighed and repeated: "Meaningless resistance."
But what greeted it was 'Virtual World' plus 'Splitting the Mountain with Force.'
"Whether a battle has meaning."
The black hole roared. The violent force tore apart atoms, neutrons, and protons, scattering quarks into chaos, twisting all the light in spacetime into a fragmented, shattered mess. Gravity warped spacetime, making the 'struck' target feel as if time had been accelerated in an instant, witnessing the birth and death of the universe, the decay of all things—not an exaggeration, but the truth.
Without a moment's thought, he struck this blow decisively, because Joshua didn't even need the question to know the answer.
Meaning? That kind of thing—
"You only know after you fight."