"Sister Long —"
Li Jialing, who had been listening quietly, suddenly interjected, "The damage you mentioned just now is too abstract. Can you tell me more specifically what kind of influence the Gold Crystal Pyramid will have on the capital planet and the Empyreal Terminus Sector once it is activated?"
"Well …"
Long Yangjun thought for a moment and said, "The Gold Crystal Pyramid has different levels of disturbance to the star. Depending on the output power, the consequences will naturally be different."
"Then, let's assume that it's the highest output power."
Li Jialing opened his arms and made a gesture of encirclement. "Let's say that Wuying Qi loots all the crystals on the capital planet and squeezes them into the purest energy to drive the Gold Crystal Pyramid and launch it at the sun!"
"If the Gold Crystal Pyramid is of a high level and has not been damaged in the past hundreds of thousands of years, and Wuying Qi grasps all the manipulations of it and can calculate the active cycle and the general energy model of the main star of the Empyreal Terminus Sector precisely … All in all, if all the conditions are met …"
Long Yangjun swallowed and said, one word after another, "It's possible that he will increase the energy, radiation, and high-energy particles output from the sun by 1% to 5% in only a couple of days, raising an overwhelming solar storm that sweeps across the entire space zone.
"Nothing, including the spiritual shield of the starships, the alloy shells, and the atmosphere of the capital planet, can completely resist the scourge of the solar storm. For a moment, those who are exposed to the super sunlight will suffer radiation thousands of times higher than the limits of the human body. Their blood will boil, and their internal organs will wither. They will die without a trace. Even their souls will not survive the solar storm.
"But that's almost the most merciful way to die.
"If the dose of radiation is slightly lower and only tears apart the gene strands deep inside the cells, the person will not die immediately. Instead, in the following dozens of days, their cells will wither, and they will lose the functions of self-recovery and regeneration. Their flesh and blood will rot bit by bit. It's like the body is already dead, but the soul is still trapped in the rotten cage of flesh and blood, unable to save the body at all. Trust me, it is the worst way to die in the entire universe."
After a brief silence, Li Jialing asked, "How many people will suffer such misfortune?"
"All of them. Did you not hear what I said just now? The shell of the starship, the atmosphere, and even the back of the planet cannot completely block the solar storm. Some of them will be killed by the solar storm on the spot, and some of them will be tortured by the radiation disease in the next few weeks to months, rotting to death because of the loss of the cell regeneration function. The 'lucky ones' who are left will also suffer excruciating pain for the rest of their lives, triggering all kinds of anomalies beyond our imagination."
"Among them, the Immortal Cultivators whose bodies are tough, whose cells are more active, and who can repair themselves and renew themselves quickly have a higher chance of survival. But for the ordinary people who make up more than ninety-five percent of the population, there is nowhere to run. Absolutely nowhere to run!
"Besides, the civilization of mankind today is highly dependent on the social system. A solar storm can destroy everything that a modern civilization depends on. How do you expect the hundred billion people on the capital planet to survive in an apocalypse where there is no order, no energy, no assets, and no earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and even the sun can't be looked at directly?
"Even in the heyday of the Imperium of True Human Beings, it was impossible to safely transfer hundreds of billions of people from a Sector to another Sector in only a couple of weeks, not to mention that the Imperium is now in the middle of a civil war. Who cares about the lives of hundreds of billions of people except for the two idiots?
"Right, I'm only talking about the influence in a year and a half, but nobody knows what the stimulation of the Gold Crystal Pyramid will do to the star in the future. Maybe the active cycle of the star will be extended to decades, and the Empyreal Terminus Sector, which is known as the 'heart of the Imperium', will be completely obliterated!"
Li Yao and Li Jialing were silent again.
No words could describe their shock and fury at this moment.
"Then, what's the minimum?"
Li Jialing asked hoarsely, "Sister Long, you said the maximum damage just now. I want to know what the minimum damage looks like."
"I highly doubt that Wuying Qi can control the damage of the Gold Crystal Pyramid precisely to the minimum with his half-baked manipulation abilities. He's like a three-year-old child who is waving a chainsword that he doesn't understand at all. God knows what he will cut into pieces."
Long Yangjun said, "According to the general military theory, a regular army will collapse after losing 10% of its soldiers, and the number can be increased to 30% for the battle-hardened elites. Assuming that Wuying Qi's purpose is to raise a solar storm with the Gold Crystal Pyramid and make the four families' ace fleets lose 30% of their combat ability, the 'collateral damage' that the solar storm will cause to the capital planet won't be lower than that. 30% of the hundred billion people will die.
"That's not taking into account the decline of population caused by natural disasters, social chaos, famine, and plagues after the battle."
"So, at the very least, thirty billion people will die?"
Li Jialing asked gloomily, "And many of the remaining seventy billion people will be tortured by the radiation disease for the rest of their lives?"
"Yes, that's the minimum damage. Otherwise, Wuying Qi's efforts to activate the Gold Crystal Pyramid would've been meaningless!"
Pondering for a moment, Long Yangjun suddenly changed her expression and said, "Right, there's also the 'collateral damage', but I don't know if it will happen. It's for the person who controls the Gold Crystal Pyramid."
Li Jialing was slightly stunned. "What do you mean?"
"The Gold Crystal Pyramid is a piece of stellar-level magical equipment. It's almost as powerful as the Pangu's alliance. Naturally, a heavy price has to be paid to activate such a magical equipment."
Long Yangjun said, "Also, such a super weapon was controlled by the Houyi Clan in person in the beginning. Of the thirteen carbon-based lives in the Pangu's alliance, the Houyi Clan is one of the species that is most different from human beings.
"Although a lot of gene fragments of the Houyi Clan are embedded in the gene strands of human beings, they are too different after all.
"If a human being wants to activate the super magical equipment built by the Houyi Clan, do you think that he won't have to pay a certain … heavy price?"
Li Jialing and Li Yao looked at each other and nodded at the same time.
Li Jialing said, "There's no technique in the universe that can be activated without paying a price. To infuriate the sun, it's perfectly normal that the caster's life is sacrificed. So?"
"Do you think that Wuying Qi would've asked somebody else to control such a piece of critical magical equipment? He would've done it in person!"
Long Yangjun said coldly, "But don't forget that he is occupying the body of Li Linghai, your mother and the queen of the Imperium. If there are any serious consequences such as excessive radiation, body withering, and cell death, it will be Li Linghai who will bear them, won't it?
"Well, I seem to understand why Wuying Qi raised such a 'perfect carrier' like you. He foresaw that the old shell would've been broken or even decayed during the activation of the Gold Crystal Pyramid. So, he carefully selected and cultivated a life seed decades ago to serve as a brand-new body.
"Of course, Li Linghai's compassion for you, Li Lingfeng's ambition, and Li Yao's appearance may've been out of Wuying Qi's expectations, so he hasn't caught you yet. But it doesn't matter. As long as his plan works out, Li Linghai's body won't necessarily decay in a couple of days. He will have plenty of time to catch you or change to a less perfect carrier."
"B * stard …"
The little lion's eyes were completely bloodshot and brighter than the infuriated sun. He clenched his fists so hard that his broken bones almost pierced through the back of his hand. "I'll definitely stop you. I'll definitely crush your soul one by one, Wuying Qi!"
"I still don't think it's as simple as you described."
Thinking for a long time in silence, Li Yao said solemnly, "Your speculation only took care of the ace fleets of the four families that attacked the capital at the cost of the destruction of Wuying Qi's nest. How is he going to deal with the remaining forces of the four families?
"Therefore, Wuying Qi must have a deeper plan. We have to get closer to the secrets of the Gold Crystal Pyramid … Huh, wait, look. A sealed armored vehicle is approaching the Gold Crystal Pyramid. It seems to be unloading something. It's not high-purity crystals but people!
"Who are those people? They seem to have been half-hypnotized and half-forced to this place. They're all shackled with the heaviest crystal shackles and headbands that suppress brainwaves. Are they prisoners?
"Their faces are so familiar. I must have their files in my memory bank. They should be famous people in the Imperium. Who are they exactly?"
"They're Meditation Healers!"
Long Yangjun retrieved the files of those people from her memory bank. "The one at the front is' Phantom Eye 'Wu Tian. He's almost as famous as Wuying Qinxin in the circle of Meditation Healers."
"That's right. Now that you mention it, I remember it too. Many people here have a tattoo of a viper on the back of their hands. It's the symbol of the 'Super Brain Society', a renowned organization of Meditation Healers. Those people are all members of the Super Brain Society and the best experts of mental warfare!
"So many Meditation Healers, brain specialists, and mental warfare experts have been captured by Wuying Qi and secretly transported to the Gold Crystal Pyramid. Why? Do the Meditation Healers have to be sacrificed to activate the Gold Crystal Pyramid?"
"I don't think so."
Long Yangjun said suspiciously, "The Gold Crystal Pyramid is to disrupt the star with a powerful wave. It has nothing to do with the Meditation Healers!"
"But it seems that they must be connected in a certain way."
Li Yao held his breath and narrowed his eyes, connecting the glittering pieces that were scattered in his brain.
The most advanced brainwashing technology and the amplification of brainwaves. Wuying Qi detonated Wuying Qinxin's brain when so many Meditation Healers were gathered together. The Gold Crystal Pyramid, which released waves to disturb the stars, was Wuying Qi's trump card and a super weapon that could win the battle once and for all.
"I suddenly have a very bad premonition."
Li Yao shuddered hard and said coldly, "Long Yangjun, you said just now that the Gold Crystal Pyramid is based on the principle of launching a powerful wave to disrupt the sun. It's like using the sun as a certain magnifier and energy source to amplify the waves a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times, and then spread them out, right?"
"Yes."
Long Yangjun asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
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