bookbashuk Page 458
Page 458
Rose's voice was as cold as ice.
"We, and all those who sacrificed themselves on Earth, were merely experimental subjects. We were the price we had to pay to cultivate you, Xiao Lun, and Lena into so-called supreme gods."
Her words caused the surrounding air to drop to freezing point instantly.
Ge Xiaolun's mind went blank with a "buzz".
Experimental subject? Price?
He thought of his comrades who sacrificed their lives in the Battle of Tianhe, the civilians who were slaughtered by Taotie in the city, and his own struggles on the edge of life and death time and time again... All of this was just to help him "grow up".
"Fuck your mother's fart!"
A loud shout shattered the oppressive silence.
Liu Chuang slammed his hat to the ground, veins bulging on his neck, his eyes wide like copper bells.
"I'm the God of War of Noxing, right?!"
He pointed to his own nose and roared at the words in the sky.
"I risked my life to fight the Taotie and the demons to protect the unarmed civilians behind me! Not to become some damn Gu!"
"Me too, Lord Xin!"
Zhao Xin gripped his spear tightly, his face flushed. "I wear this armor to protect my country and my people! Anyone who dares to say we're being paid with lives will be the first to fight me!"
Their roars represented the sentiments of most soldiers. They were soldiers, their beliefs simple yet unwavering—to defend their country. They could not accept that their and their comrades' bloody battles were defined as a cruel "poisonous insect" experiment.
However, Lena's reaction was completely different from theirs.
The chief god of the blazing sun star crossed his arms and looked up at the problem in the sky. Instead of anger, his face showed a look of complete indifference.
"Raising Gu? Although the term sounds unpleasant, in a sense, Lord Zhou Ye is not wrong."
She spoke calmly.
Her words were like a boulder thrown into an already turbulent lake.
"Lena! What did you say?!"
Qi Lin looked at her in disbelief.
"Did I said wrong thing?"
Lena turned her head, her eyes sweeping over the crowd.
"Which path to godhood isn't paved with corpses? My grandfather, Di Hongkun, imprisoned in the [Human Emperor Banner], expended countless amounts of energy and destroyed countless unstable celestial bodies in order to condense the Blazing Sun Star. Do you think gods are like guests at a dinner party, falling from the sky?"
Her tone carried a coldness that was absent from her usual cheerful demeanor.
"We in Lieyang call this the Way of Heaven. Survival of the fittest. Weak civilizations, in the face of powerful forces, either submit, are destroyed, or... become stepping stones for the stronger."
"Didn't you all look over here? Whether you're an angel, a demon, or even Death God Karl, it's all the same. Whether it's a cosmic civilization or a planetary civilization, they're all this cruel. This is normal."
"normal?!"
Liu Chuang's temper flared up instantly. He pointed at Lena and roared,
"Lena, are you saying that Earthlings deserve to be unlucky and become stepping stones for you gods?!"
"I didn't say that."
Lena raised an eyebrow.
"I'm just stating a fact. And don't forget, I'm also one of the Gu. The three of us, from the moment our genes were chosen, have been players in this game, and also pawns."
"It's just that my 537th chess piece has gone from Lieyang, from Super God Academy, to Lord Zhou Ye's chess piece."
"Fuck me!"
Liu Chuang was so angry he almost jumped up.
"I'm not going to be this damn pawn! Dukao! You come out here! You need to explain this to everyone! What exactly is going on?!"
With a roar, he turned and charged toward the command room.
Ge Xiaolun stood there, completely dumbfounded. On one side were his comrades' simple yet angry questions; on the other side was Lena's cold and realistic logic.
Ge Xiaolun felt his worldview being torn apart at that moment.
He is the Galactic Force, the future Galactic God.
Are they truly the guardians of Earth?
Or... the strongest "Gu" that was "raised" over the corpses of countless compatriots?
This problem terrified and bewildered him more than any enemy attack.
In the seaside villa, Feng Shayan looked at the chaotic scene on the screen and couldn't help but swallow.
"Sir...isn't your question...a bit too harsh?"
She whispered,
"This is tantamount to directly negating all the meaning of their fight."
Is it ruthless?
Zhou Ye picked up his Coke and took a leisurely sip. "I'm just putting on the table the issues that they've been deliberately avoiding, or rather, afraid to think about."
"The future of a civilization cannot be built on a few chosen superheroes. The faith of an army cannot rely solely on simple slogans like defending the homeland."
He put down the Coke can, his gaze deep.
"They must figure out what they are fighting for. Is it for a god, a plan, or for the land beneath their feet and for every living life on it?"
"If they can't even figure this out themselves, then what's the essential difference between their so-called protection and Hua Ye's Heavenly Palace Order, Keisha's righteous order, and Morgana's fallen freedom?"
"It's all just a matter of the superstructure imposing its own self-righteous correctness on the lower levels."
Zhou Ye looked at the screen, at Liu Chuang who rushed into the command room and roared at Dukao, and at Ge Xiaolun who stood there with a blank look in his eyes. A meaningful smile appeared on his lips.
"Now, let me see what your answers will be."
Chapter 433 Whose War!
The alloy door to the command room of the Super God Academy was kicked open by Liu Chuang.
"Dukao!"
He stormed in like an enraged bull, his eyes red, his loud voice making the entire command room buzz.
"You fucking explain yourself! Is what that thing in the sky saying true?! Are we the Gu you're raising?!"
Behind him followed Zhao Xin and Qi Lin, both with ashen faces, and Qiangwei, whose eyes were filled with complex emotions and who remained silent. Ge Xiaolun, on the other hand, trailed behind like a lost puppet, his steps unsteady.
The officers and staff in the command room stared in astonishment at this group of insubordinate super soldiers, and for a moment no one dared to step forward to stop them.
Dukao stood before the control platform, facing Liu Chuang's face, which seemed to be spitting fire. He neither retaliated nor offered any explanation. He simply remained silent, his weathered face etched with weariness and sorrow.
In Liu Chuang's view, his silence was tacit agreement.
"Fuck me!"
Liu Chuang slammed his fist hard on the control panel next to him, sparks flying.
"Really?! What the hell do you take us for? What do you take Earth for?!"
"Liu Chuang! Calm down!"
Lianfeng hurriedly stepped forward, trying to stop him.
"Things aren't what you think! The general..."
"What is it?!"
Liu Chuang flung her hand away and pointed at Dukao's nose.
"Let him speak! Let him tell us himself whether the blood we shed and the brothers who died were for protecting our homeland, or for paving the way for your Deno's bullshit plan?!"
"That's enough, Liu Chuang."
A cold voice sounded.
Rose stepped forward and stood between Liu Chuang and Du Kao. She looked at her father, the man she had always both respected and feared, her eyes filled with disappointment.
"dad,"
She rarely addressed him that way, and the moment she uttered it, Dukao's body trembled almost imperceptibly.
"We don't need explanations. We just want to know, in your plan, is Earth, and the seven billion people on it, something to be protected, or... something to be sacrificed?"
This problem is more fatal than Liu Chuang's roar.
It's like a scalpel, precisely dissecting the core of Ducati's long-held philosophy of "big picture" and "future."
Dukao's lips moved; he wanted to say, "Of course, it's something that needs to be protected," but the words "the price that can be sacrificed" echoed in his mind like a curse.
For the smooth progress of the three major god-making projects, and for the sake of resisting future space-level wars, sacrifice is inevitable. This is an ironclad rule he has firmly believed in since the destruction of the Denor system. He can sacrifice himself, sacrifice the exiles of Denor, so... if necessary, can he sacrifice a part of Earth?
His hesitation has already provided the answer.
Rose's gaze gradually turned cold. She said nothing more, but silently retreated to the side.
The soldiers of the Super Soldier Company felt their hearts sink little by little.
Their most respected general, their leader, hesitated on the most crucial issue.
"Haha...hahahaha..."
Liu Chuang suddenly laughed, a laugh filled with sorrow and self-mockery.
"I get it, I fucking get it all."
He turned around and looked at Ge Xiaolun and Zhao Xin, who were equally distraught.
"After all this time, we're just a bunch of thugs, a bunch of guinea pigs. When the gods fight, we mortals suffer. No, wait, we're practically half-gods now, but we're still pawns! Still the ones who get hurt!"
"No...that's not the case..."
Ge Xiaolun muttered to himself, unable to accept this conclusion.
"We are protecting everyone..."
"Protect?"
Lena had entered the command room at some point. She leaned against the door, arms crossed, a hint of mockery on her face.