Breakfast was over in ten minutes. The children put on the anti-epidemic suits that were said to be able to resist germs, viruses, and extraterrestrial devils. They gathered in their classes, ready to enter the devastated town that was haunted by extraterrestrial devils again.
It was also the first time that Li Yao saw the 'purge troop' that was stationed next to the camp through Thangka's eyes. He saw teams of fully-armed soldiers in Crystal Suits, supersonic shuttles that roared past his head now and then, and a floating fortress that looked like a black mountain floating above the camp, monitoring and suppressing the entire city ruins with its black cannons and spluttering magnetic rails.
In the meantime, Li Yao also sensed the rapid breathing and uneven heartbeats of many of the children.
"I'm more and more convinced that something is wrong with this' ultimate test '."
Li Yao said casually, "Last night, you told me that the 'student soldiers' were asked to participate in the real battle and take the graduation exam because of the shortage of soldiers after we occupied Black Castle. It matches the intelligence that I received earlier. According to my intelligence, you are indeed short of soldiers.
"However, you have stationed such a large purge troop next to you when you are so short of soldiers, and they have been watching you doing nothing for seven days. Isn't it a bit … a waste of precious soldiers?
"It must be noted that the Imperium's army has occupied the Thick Soil Sector for years. This place is a transportation hub in the frontline. The Imperium spent tremendous manpower and resources to build Black Castle. There are interconnected fortresses, secret tunnels, and arsenals below the ground. Even if you have occupied all the spaceports and important facilities on the ground, who can guarantee that there are no resisters of the Imperium hiding below the ground? At this critical juncture, every soldier wished they could be split into two halves. There was no reason for such a powerful cleansing squad to not be involved in the search and extermination, instead of playing a boring game with you little guys in the Safety Sector.
"Even if the commander of the purge troop wants to recruit new people, there's no need to station the whole troop here. It's enough to send some commanders and platoon commanders.
"Therefore, if the purge troop is not simply 'watching', they must be on guard against something, right?"
Thangka looked at the murderous forest where the purge troop was stationed and asked in confusion, "The entire Thick Soil Sector has returned to the embrace of the gods. It's impossible for the Imperium to break in anytime soon. Even if they do, there's nothing particularly valuable here that is worth protecting!"
"That's right. No matter how I think about it, I don't think this purifying troop is guarding against the imperial army. There seems to be only one answer."
Li Yao said calmly, "What they are on guard against is you."
"We, we?"
Thangka couldn't believe it. She even felt wronged. "Why? We are the future Purifiers! I want to be one of them even in my dreams! "
"I'm afraid that's the problem."
Li Yao sighed and said, "Because as far as I know, few people of the Holy League dream, and the requirements of the Purifiers will only be higher than those of the regular Holy League people. How can they allow the unstable factors to infiltrate them?"
"That … That's the professional requirement of the Purifiers!"
Thangka's feelings were like surging tides on the ocean again. "We have to have certain feelings and thoughts, or the ability to dream, in order to identify the dangerous items!"
"No, you're wrong. As long as there is a detailed list of dangerous items and a description of them, 99% of the dangerous items can be identified by the cold program."
Li Yao said coldly, "The Purifiers don't need to know what 'works of art' is at all. As long as they see 'colorful pictures', they can destroy them. Isn't it convenient and reliable? Even if we do need the Purifiers who have 'delicate feelings and keen thoughts', we don't need too many of them. Such a high-level troop class only needs to be responsible for 1% of the dangerous items that are hard to be identified.
"You have a thousand people here. I believe that they are not the only batch of graduates of the Holy Light Academy to take the ultimate test. There must be similar tests in other places, right? There are too many of them. It's unnecessary."
Although she had been practicing the control of her feelings for a whole night last night, Thangka's breath was still heavy without her knowing it. Two dimming flames seemed to be popping up in front of her eyes.
"What are you trying to say?"
Thangka mumbled, "What do you mean exactly? This is not our graduation test, and if it is not the selection of new recruits by the purifying troop, what is it?"
"I don't know. I need more information before I can proceed to the next step of the analysis."
Li Yao said, "I only know that most of the thousand children here have feelings that are as intense as fire and thoughts that are as sharp as lightning, just like you. Even though they are lurking inside your body, I can still tell that they are different from the regular people of the Holy League. If the regular people of the Holy League are like frozen lakes, the ice in your heads is cracking.
"It's not just you, but all the children. The 'ice layer' in your brains has cracked, and something is surging out uncontrollably. It's like a bud that breaks through the spring flowers. Your … humanity is awakening at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"It is not strange if you think about it. In the previous ten years, you have been living on the boring starships, facing the silver walls, and receiving the harshest training. All your desires and thoughts have been compressed to the minimum, like springs that have been compressed to the limits.
"However, one day, you were projected to a habitable planet and faced with … a town of the Imperium that was rather abundant in assets. Although the town was scourged by war, there were not many of you after all. The remaining assets were enough for you to unleash your nature to your heart's content and have fun without any worries for seven days and seven nights.
"In the next seven days and seven nights, you are the masters of this city. You can do whatever you want. All the adults, the mentors, and the soldiers will stay far away from you and observe in silence. What's the big deal? It's like throwing a man who has been hungry for three days into a steaming buffet restaurant and letting him do whatever he wants!
"If this is the way to test the Purgers, I have to say that such a test is too wasteful and complicated."
Thangka was silent for a long time.
"I …"
He sobbed silently. "I want to be a Purger. I want it even in my dreams!"
"Don't be excited. The more excited you are, the further away you will be from your dream of being a Purger."
Li Yao released a warm stream and comforted the young man's trembling nerves. "The only good news is that you are not the most excited and 'abnormal' one of the thousand children. In fact, after you practiced the tricks that I taught you, you were rather calm. Other people were even worse than you!
"I thought that you were the only 'anomaly' who had such rich thoughts and delicate feelings, but I happened to run into you. Now, it seems that everybody is the same. It is very likely that the thousand of you were selected according to a certain standard, or perhaps …"
"Or what?"
Thangka asked.
"Nothing. Let's go. Let's wait and see."
Li Yao was going to say that the thousand children, who were too imaginative and emotional to be the people of the Holy League, were perhaps' produced 'according to a certain standard.
But after thinking for a moment, he decided not to say such things until he had solid evidence, in case he disturbed the young man's mind and made him even more lost.
Led by their monitor, the children of Thangka's class came to the edge of the town on the crystal tanks driven by their mentors and entered their purging area on foot.
There was no telling if it was because of Li Yao's psychological suggestion, but Thangka did feel that everybody was somewhat weird today and different from yesterday.
When they entered the city yesterday, they were mostly like cold machines who were carrying out the purging mission according to the procedures.
But today, their eyes, their breathing, the shivering of their facial muscles, and their rather unnatural gait …
Thangka thought for a long time and finally found a way to describe the weirdness of her classmates.
Just like them, everybody was looking forward to the town in front of them, but they were also scared of the town in front of them and themselves in their hearts.
Stepping over the dancing statue that had been shattered into pieces yesterday, they set a new gathering point. It was a colorful three-story building with a small and exquisite courtyard. There was a merry-go-round and a slide in the courtyard.
"This is …"
Thangka's eyes stuck to everything that she saw like glue. "A kindergarten, a place where the people of the Imperium raise their offspring, like our nursery?"
"Yes."
Li Yao said, "This is a 'palm tree'. All the children cover their hands with colorful paint and press them to the white wall, like the leaves of a big tree.
"That is a carousel. After the children sit on it, the teacher will slowly push it. Ah, this carousel seems to be able to sing.
"This cloth bag can hold the children's feet. Then, the children will jump with the cloth bag and compete who can jump farther and faster."
"… I don't understand."
Thangka said, "What kind of ability can be trained with such a clumsy training?"
"It's not training any ability."
Li Yao said, "It's just fun."
"They seem to be really happy."
Thangka's eyes passed through the empty kindergarten and were projected to the wall on the opposite side. Hundreds of children's pictures were posted on the wall, capturing the happiest moments and the most childish hopes with the most brilliant colors and the most clumsy techniques.
"Yes, I think they have a reason to be happy."
Li Yao explained, "The first batch of colonists who traveled thousands of kilometers to the frontline to participate in the reconstruction of the planet were mostly bankrupt people or even slaves who had nowhere to go in their hometown. They were at the bottom of the original society. Naturally, their children were not capable or qualified to go to kindergarten.
"Only by taking the risk to come here, in a brand-new paradise full of hope, could their children have the opportunity to live a life that they had never dreamed of and be as happy as what you see. I think that's why the colonists named this city 'New Joy City', isn't it?
"It's a pity that those colonists did not consider the risks, or maybe they had no choice. This is the only place of hope.
"Now, where are the children in this kindergarten?"
"I-I don't know."
Thangka suddenly did not dare to look at everything around her, especially the colorful Tree of Hope that the children were randomly patting. She said, "There wasn't a large-scale firefight in the city. The children should be fine. They were just sent to the rear —"
"To be purified?"
Li Yao asked.
For some reason, Thangka did not even have the courage to answer yes. The word "purify" was flowing with magma and venom, burning her soul.
Thangka was silent. Li Yao was silent. In the silence, they heard the teenagers around them, or rather, the older children's rapid breathing and heavy heartbeats.
"Level-One Danger Zone!"
The class monitor shouted at the top of her lungs. "This is the nest of the extraterrestrial devils. Purify this place immediately!"
No one moved. All the Children of the Holy Light stood in silence. They looked at everything around them in a trance, in deep thought, or in confusion. They were looking at another way of life for human beings.
"What are you waiting for? Did you hear me?"
The class monitor raised her voice, and it became more and more ear-piercing. "Purify, purify, purify everything here!"
"Ah!"
Liao Meng, the vice squad leader, roared. With pale sweat rolling down his dark face, he couldn't have looked more hideous. He raised his flamethrower and shot at the children's palm paintings, toys, and merry-go-round.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
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