"Also —"
The mental devil went on. "Lei Chenghu also incorporated tremendous hominoids and true human beings into his troops as pure cannon fodder. That was how he earned himself the precious time to catch his breath. He was able to gather the disorganized soldiers, reorganize the defense line, and acquire enough mobile forces.
"On the other hand, he also demanded that both the soldiers and the civilians should 'sacrifice themselves for the country'. He distributed 'banzai bombs' and all kinds of special excitants to all the people in the battle area. He also brainwashed the people and inculcated them with the idea that they should 'die together with the country'."
"What the hell is a banzai bomb?" Li Yao asked.
"It's a crude crystal bomb," the mental devil said. "In the battle area under his control, almost every citizen had one.
"Lei Chenghu demanded that, once the army of the Holy League did land, they would inject excitants into their carotid arteries. After receiving a moment of strengthening stimulation, they would yell 'banzai' and die together with the enemy with the crystal bombs. At the very least, they had to kill themselves with the crystal bombs to preserve the 'dignity of the citizens of the Imperium'.
"Of course, it was not entirely unreasonable. After all, once a planet was occupied by the Holy League and the people were captured by the Holy League, they would be sent to the so-called 'temples' for brainwashing. Their feelings and self-awareness would be deprived, and they would be transformed into machines of flesh and blood that only knew how to carry out orders dutifully. The Holy League would be strengthened.
"However, from the perspective of the Cultivators, it is only natural that they would feel that Lei Chenghu's approach was too cruel.
"All in all, Lei Chenghu was the first to implement the 'scorched earth strategy', and he carried it out the most thoroughly. Whenever he evacuated a planet, he would never leave a single granary or crystal mine to the Holy League. As for the industrial facilities, they would be blown up to the last detail, too.
"As for the people, he would organize the people to evacuate with the fleet with the iron and blood methods at the highest efficiency in order to preserve the lives of the people as much as possible. However, he did not care about the lives of the people who could not be evacuated at all. He even openly encouraged them to die to reduce the burden of the Imperium, in case they became the enemy's cannon fodder.
"Lei Chenghu's many ruthless and even deranged tactics were criticized even within the Empire. In particular, those nobles who had all of their properties forcibly confiscated by him and were even forced by him to be sent to the frontlines as cannon fodder, as well as the various interest groups involved in this matter. Later on, they all launched a frenzied attack against him.
"However, after a series of impeccable victories, those infuriated guys had to admit that Lei Chenghu's approach was entirely in line with the beliefs of the Immortal Cultivators. Also, at that time, if he hadn't done so, the army of the Holy League would've marched into the heartland of the Imperium. Everything would've been screwed!
"All in all … Lei Chenghu is definitely a 'textbook Immortal Cultivator'. He seems to regard everybody, including himself, as a chess piece and a sword to defend the Imperium.
"I do appreciate such a man with a personality. However, as a Cultivator, are you really sure that you want to rescue such a stubborn Immortal Cultivator?"
Li Yao thought carefully for a long time.
In fact, he could vaguely imagine it even without the mental devil's reminder. How could a guy who was appointed as the general of the Imperium's army, Marquess Liaohai, and the commander of the most elite Deep Sky Fleet and an entire battle zone be a good guy?
However …
"I think that what we should consider right now is not even whether or not the reformists can seize the highest power of the Imperium."
While considering, Li Yao said solemnly, "The subtle situation within the Imperium is only one part of it, and the Holy League is another part of it. Those guys in the Holy League are just puppets, not dead people. Are they really going to do nothing when dozens of Sectors are lost and watch the Imperium digest the fruits of victory and complete the internal integration like idiots?
"When we were still in the Federation, we discussed the issue with Di Feiwen, the deputy commander of the Black Wind Fleet. From the perspective of an outsider, Di Feiwen also felt that the glorious victory of the Imperium's counterattack came too easily and uncannily.
"After dozens of Sectors are swallowed, the phenomenon of 'indigestion' is bound to happen. That will be an opportunity that the Holy League can take advantage of!
"Therefore, although I don't know why the Holy League is making such a shocking gamble with dozens of Sectors as the stakes, I believe that the Holy League must be up to something!
"Let's look back at the Imperium right now. According to Li Linghai, it is truly the last years of the dynasty. All kinds of problems are rampant, and all kinds of contradictions are more acute than ever.
"The smaller nobles have conflicts with the four Kurfürst families. The new warlords at the peripheral space zones have conflicts with the traditional nobles at the central space zone. The true human beings have conflicts with the hominoids. The low-level Immortal Cultivators have conflicts with the high-level Immortal Cultivators. The expedition army has even more conflicts with the Council of Elders.
"Even if Li Linghai himself wants to eliminate all the contradictions with the bodies of the four Kurfürst families, does he still have hidden ambitions that will raise even greater contradictions? Who knows?
"What if the Holy League takes the opportunity to launch a counterattack when all the contradictions in the Imperium break out at the same time?"
After a long silence, the mental devil said, "If the Holy League is really planning to seize the precious opportunity when all the contradictions break out at the same time, they must know the situation inside the Imperium like the back of their hands."
"It's not entirely impossible. Do you remember 'Tang Qianhe', the puppet of the Holy League that we encountered on Kunlun more than a hundred years ago?"
Li Yao said, "Tang Qianhe was obviously a spy of the Holy League, but she could simulate the feelings of a normal person vividly. She even infiltrated Su Changfa's inspection team without anybody noticing anything.
"Su Changfa also told us later that the Holy League's exploration in the technology of 'simulated feelings' was far more advanced than the 'Ring-Tu Test' that the Imperium adopted to defend against the infiltration of the Holy League. There was no telling how many spies had been planted in the Imperium. Many of the spies were so-called 'silencers' who would never expose their identities unless they were caught in an emergency.
"Let's take Tang Qianhe, the spy of the Holy League, for example. It was only when she discovered a living Pangu that she tore apart her disguise and revealed her real purpose.
"Think about it. If we hadn't discovered a living Pangu at that time, would it have been possible for Tang Qianhe to infiltrate the Federation together with Su Changfa and Kou Ruhuo?
"The Imperium and the Holy League have been at war for a thousand years. Countless spies of the Holy League are lurking inside the Imperium and sending intelligence back to the Holy League incessantly. It's perfectly normal!
"But on the other hand, it would not have been so easy for the spies of the Imperium to sneak into the Holy League. It's too difficult to simulate a person whose feelings and free will have been completely erased!"
The mental devil said, "Now that you mention it, I'm reminded of 'Tang Qianhe', too. That woman was crazy enough to turn herself into pure energy to awaken the Pangu. How dreadful.
"If spies of the Holy League can be hidden in a minor exploration team, there must be even more spies hiding in the critical departments of the Imperium. It is indeed possible for them to grasp and even manipulate the intensification and outbreak of certain conflicts in the Imperium in secret."
"Therefore —"
Li Yao said, "The balance of power that has lasted for a thousand years is not so easy to be broken. The so-called 'glorious victory of the Imperium's counterattack' will be greatly discounted. Even if the army of the Imperium is truly unstoppable in the frontline, their rear will be even more dangerous and vulnerable.
"One moment of carelessness, and the Holy League will counterattack, it is possible that the Imperium, which is in the middle of internal strife, will collapse completely!
"Once the Imperium completely collapses, there will be two consequences.
"Firstly, all the people living in the hundreds of Sectors within the Imperium, be they Immortal Cultivators or ordinary people, will be involved in the boundless flames of war and end up a hundred times more miserable than right now. They will either be brainwashed into puppets of flesh and blood or be obliterated together with their homeland.
"Although I hate to admit it, no matter how evil the Imperium of True Human Beings is, it has managed to maintain the unity and general peace of the populated worlds at the center of the cosmos in the past thousand years.
"It's better to be a bridge of peace than to cause chaos. I can't imagine what kind of terrifying sea of blood will be set off once the thousand-year-old Empire collapses.
"Secondly, once the Imperium collapses and the Holy League takes over most of its forces, it will truly expand into a behemoth that swallows the universe. The Xing Yao Federation will have to face the pressure of the behemoth on its own.
"The Black Wind Fleet is still in touch with the homeland of the Imperium at the minimum level. The existence of the Federation cannot be kept a secret for long. In one or two hundred years at most, the Holy League will certainly extend its claws to the Federation after it finishes the absorption and integration of the Imperium.
"What can the Federation do in one or two hundred years? Can it build a ship and run away like the Star Ocean Republic in the past?
"Once the Imperium and the Federation both collapse, and the Holy League raises and awakens a large batch of Pangu, will there be any hope for the civilization of mankind? Will it be completely abandoned by the Pangu like a tool that has fulfilled its destiny?
"Therefore, from the perspective of the billions of ordinary people at the center of the cosmos, from the perspective of the national interests of the Xing Yao Federation, and even from the perspective of the civilization of mankind as a whole, it is best to maintain a stable Imperium as a 'firewall' between the Federation and the Holy League so that the two tigers can continue their competition.
"In the entire Imperium, if there is anybody who is certain to resist the fatal attack of the Holy League, it will be 'God of War' Lei Chenghu.
"Besides, now that the four Kurfürst families have imprisoned Lei Chenghu, it is not certain that they will kill him. It is more likely that the two parties will reach a deal, and Lei Chenghu may get out of the siege in other ways. All in all, there is nothing we can do to stop him at all.
"If we cooperate with Li Linghai to rescue Lei Chenghu and place him on the side of the 'reformists', we will be able to observe and interfere with him from a close distance. In the most extreme circumstances, we will even have a chance to kill him. I'm told that he is a seasoned expert in the Divinity Transformation Stage, but he is a commander of a fleet and a commander of a war zone after all. He is best at the art of commanding. There is no reason that he can fight better than us in a real battle, right?"
"Fair enough. Your head is getting clearer and clearer."
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