Chapter 372 - 341: The Choice of a New Question

Chapter 372: Chapter 341: The Choice of a New Question

"Will you seek revenge?"

Guan Tong’s reply came quickly.

"Many people want me to seek revenge, because the one who died was Rijeka."

After she sent the message, there was a pause before Guan Tong replied this time.

"To me, an enemy is an enemy. Their status makes no difference. Yelena, if you want revenge, I can understand. We each have our own positions. But if you don’t want revenge, and you’re only doing this because of outside pressure, then I must advise you to think twice... It’s very dangerous to be my enemy."

Judging solely by their respective statuses revealed in the messages, for a former academy teacher to dare say such a thing to a nation’s Governor seemed like arrogance bordering on ignorance.

But Yelena, who had spent time with Guan Tong, knew he was simply stating a fact.

It was, indeed, very dangerous to be his enemy.

And to become his enemy because of external pressure would be an act of utter foolishness.

Yelena was silent for a moment, then she smiled, almost imperceptibly.

She sent a message.

"Actually, I’ve wanted him dead for a long time. Thank you, Teacher."

In his room in the small town, Guan Tong fell silent for a moment when he saw Yelena’s message.

He recalled Yelena’s perpetually cold expression back at the academy and wondered if she truly meant it.

"Teacher, where are you? I’d like to meet and talk in person."

Guan Tong looked at the message from Yelena and had to consider whether it was a trap.

But trap or not, since he was the one who initiated contact to ask for a favor, he had to go.

...

The Human Federation meeting convened once again.

Not even halfway through the month, the meeting had already been held several times—a stark contrast to the previous frequency of once every half-month or even once a month.

They had no choice. Too many major events had occurred recently, and ignoring them would affect every surviving nation in the world. No one could stay out of it, so they had to meet frequently to discuss solutions.

"Who the hell leaked the intel on the Alien Intelligence?!"

The moment the meeting began, Mary, the representative commissioner from the Soloma Empire, swept her sharp gaze across the other commissioners, her tone aggressive.

"It’s clear the Parasites got the intel that they’re ’food,’ which is why they’re so brazenly confronting the allied forces! The idiot who leaked this information must be severely punished!"

Mary’s words were harsh, but the commissioners didn’t think she was going too far.

The Parasites, upon learning they were to be used as substitute food for humanity in exchange for answers from the Alien Intelligence, were furious. But they also realized a key point: humans would be more inclined to capture them alive than to exterminate them.

At least, that would be the case during this Rule Stage.

With this understanding, the Parasites’ offensive became bolder. They believed the allied forces wanted to capture them for food and therefore wouldn’t dare use weapons of mass destruction, which somewhat leveled the playing field between the two sides.

This was undoubtedly very disadvantageous for humanity.

"Given that the Parasites may have secretly formed a partnership with the Fire Worship Cult, every one of our member nations must be vigilant against the infiltration or Mind Control of important figures."

"If high-level figures are really being controlled, screening them would be very difficult, wouldn’t it?" a commissioner from a smaller nation said, looking troubled.

The other commissioners understood what he meant. There was a small minority of people who were indeed beyond inspection and oversight.

Even Mary, who had come out swinging, couldn’t argue with this point.

Like the Empire’s King and certain highly respected and powerful elders in the Senate, these figures were undoubtedly above reproach within the Empire.

"Whether we can or not, whether we want to or not, we must do it—for humanity and for ourselves."

Gao Liangwei, however, did not shy away from the topic.

"If our nations fall and humanity perishes, no amount of power will be anything more than a castle built on sand, ready to collapse at the slightest push."

Everyone who heard this deeply agreed.

At that moment, a commissioner asked Mary, "Your country... how is the attack over in Fahe going?"

Mary said with a cold expression, "These Cultists are overestimating themselves and courting their own destruction. The great war machine of the Empire will soon crush them!"

"So you’re saying you, Soloma, can handle this on your own and don’t need the Human Federation’s help?" Gao Liangwei asked.

"We do not."

"Very well. Everyone, aside from all this bad news, we do have some good news."

Gao Liangwei said, "The two manned rockets, ’Dream Ship One’ and ’Imperial Pioneers,’ have both successfully landed on Terra Star as planned. Both teams of astronauts have already established basic survival points."

The commissioners’ faces lit up with joy upon hearing this; it was indeed uplifting news.

Although Terra Star is only a satellite of Celestial Water Star and lacks a breathable atmosphere suitable for human life, as long as they can establish long-term survival points and eventually become self-sufficient, there is hope.

This hope was like a game of leapfrog: take the first jump, then use that position to take a second, then a third from the second, jumping farther and farther.

If humanity could build a survival base on Terra Star and develop its mineral resources to build more ships and rockets, they could then use Terra as a launching point to travel to other planets.

Although clumsy, this planet-by-planet advance would allow humanity to travel ever farther while establishing enough survival bases on different worlds.

If they later discovered a base that was free from the constraints of the Apocalypse Rules, it might herald the dawn of a new age for humanity—an early victory in this terrifying game brought by the Fire Thief.

"Next, we will launch more resource-efficient, reusable rockets as soon as possible to transport construction materials and other resources, so the survival base on Terra Star can take shape quickly."

"And after that, we will begin the first large-scale space migration."

Gao Liangwei’s words filled everyone with a great deal of optimism.

"I think we should move on to discussing the next question for the Alien Intelligence," Commissioner Toravt of Sisiya said. "It’s better to ask as many questions as possible during the Rule Stage."

"Correct."

"What should we ask this time?"

"Based on proposals and consolidated information from the strategy departments of various nations, there are five questions, in no particular order."

"These five questions are as follows:

One: Please provide a complete and verifiable unified field theory, in a way that humans can understand, that can explain all fundamental forces and material phenomena.

Two: Please tell humanity how to better develop and apply Psychic Power. Besides the methods currently known to humans, are there other modes of application for Psychic Power?

Three: Based on humanity’s current situation, please tell us how to more efficiently and easily cope with the challenges brought by the Fire Thief and the Apocalypse Rules.

Four: Please explain your spacecraft warp theory to us in a way that humans can understand, and guide us in obtaining interstellar warp capabilities.

Five: Please provide a method for humans to obtain a safe, cheap, and nearly infinite source of clean energy."

As soon as the five questions were read, the commissioners began to voice their different opinions.

"I think only the second question is even remotely possible! The other four are too difficult!"

"Exactly. A unified field theory, the Fire Thief and Apocalypse Rules, interstellar warp travel, cheap and nearly infinite clean energy... Even if the Alien Intelligence can answer these questions, how much food would we have to prepare for it?"

"Just for the question of how to identify Parasites, it ate nearly three thousand. For these questions, I’d say even thirty thousand wouldn’t be enough."

"Thirty thousand? Try three hundred thousand!"

"I strongly object!" Toravt shouted. "Unless we can capture every last Parasite and transport them to the Landing Site, asking a question of this difficulty is tantamount to gambling with the lives of all our Sisiya people!"

Gao Liangwei also spoke up: "Although these questions with the most votes are very important to humanity, most of them come at a cost we cannot afford. I also believe the second question is comparatively more valuable to ask."

Mary, however, had a different opinion. "We in Soloma place more importance on the fourth and fifth questions. At humanity’s current speed of space travel, we won’t even be able to leave the solar system by the time all forty-nine rules are over...

We need warp technology. And a massive amount of energy is likely the foundation for that technology, so these two questions are complementary."

"In that case, let’s decide by vote, as per the Human Federation’s regulations."

"Wait," Toravt said grimly. "If it’s a question with an enormous cost, we in Sisiya should have veto power, because our citizens are the ones closest to the Alien Intelligence."

"Veto power?" Mary raised an eyebrow. "Does Sisiya have the power to back that up?"

Toravt insisted, "If the Human Federation does not agree, then I invite you to move the Alien Intelligence from the Sennantata Icefield to your own national territory."