"What!"
Meng Lichuan was dazed.
It was not the first time that she had seen someone from the Imperium.
Decades ago, 'Su Changfa', an Immortal Cultivator from the Imperium, had been active in the territory of the Federation. He even gave public lectures and taught the true path of immortality.
After the Black Wind Fleet surrendered, more captives and immigrants from the Imperium entered the Federation, mostly on Boneyard, which was now Ultimacy. But some of them wandered to the heartland of the Federation and were widely known.
However, the Union Army had just fought a brutal battle against the Black Wind Fleet after all. The people of the Federation were not so sympathetic that they would pity anyone from the Imperium.
'Underground hominoids', on the other hand, were a completely different concept.
Human beings were creatures that lived on the ground and in the light after all. Even if they lived in a starship for their entire life, the decorations inside the starship had to mimic the blue sky and white clouds as much as possible so that they could be illuminated by sunlight.
Meng Lichuan found it hard to imagine what a miserable experience it was for a human being to live for ten thousand years in the extremely harsh environment tens of thousands of meters below the ground and close to the mantle through the crust.
Other than anything else, the high temperature and pressure brought by billions of tons of rocks were enough to crush the fleshly body and free will of human beings into powder and from powder into nothingness.
'Darkness Scourge' DLC alone was enough to make many people of the Federation collapse mentally after only a few days of gaming experience. It was needless to say that they had to live in darkness for the rest of their lives!
"Is — Is it true?"
Meng Lichuan mumbled to herself.
But first impressions were the strongest. Looking at Bingbing's slightly frightened face, she already believed some of it.
What she saw on the girl's face was not only confusion in an unfamiliar environment, but also infinite greed and longing for light, as well as the extreme fear of returning to darkness. Human beings had been able to tolerate darkness until they saw light one day.
In the video, encouraged by Jin Xinyue, Bing Bing finally summoned her courage and spoke to the billions of people of the Federation.
She stammered and sometimes forgot what she was going to say. In the long silence, she could only sob. It was obvious that she had not received good training.
But it was exactly such a sincere and simple speech that hit the heart of every citizen of the Federation like burning cannonballs.
"I-I'm Bing Bing. I'm from the underground of the capital planet in the Empyreal Terminus Sector.
"I can prove that most of the environmental parameters and initial data of the main plot of the game 'Darkness Invasion', including many virtual creatures and underground emergencies, are based on our lives and are 100% real.
"You may think that this is just a weird, evil, or even perverted game, but unfortunately, it is not. It is our history, and it may become … your future!
"Ten thousand years ago, in order to avoid the flames of war, my ancestors had no choice but to flee to a shelter deep underground. In the ten thousand years that followed, they sank, sank, sank, sank into the darkness where even cockroaches and lizards could not survive.
"In our world, there is never any sunlight. The only thing that can be released now and then is magma and fire. The snakes of fire that are driven away by high pressure are the most terrible beasts that can take away the lives of all the creatures in a geological fault at any moment.
"In our world, the temperature can reach hundreds of degrees at any moment. Without cooling magical equipment, we cannot move at all. Every crevice is stuffed with dry bodies.
"In our world, the thin and stinky air has become a priceless commodity. For a container of compressed air the size of a palm, people in two shelters can fight each other until everybody in one shelter is burnt and suffocated. The rulers on the ground do not need to suppress and annihilate us at all. As long as they control the tubes of fresh air, they will choke us. If we do not want to attack each other, we have to obey them obediently.
"In our world, no matter how hard people struggle, the large towns that were built with the painstaking efforts and lives of generations may be completely obliterated by a minor earthquake. Everything about the deceased will be buried by billions of tons of rocks forever, forever, until the day the planet explodes. Nobody will know their names.
"This is our world. This is the 'invasion of darkness' that is happening around us every moment.
"And we are not the most miserable group of people in the dark world. At the very least, we still retain the consciousness, memories, wisdom, and appearance of human beings. Although our eyesight gradually deteriorates in the dim years, and we cannot distinguish the brilliance of the bright world anymore, at least we still retain the ability to see the beauty of the world, unlike them —"
Bing Bing's voice trembled as she spoke.
She suddenly turned around and walked to the two cubes that were covered by curtains behind her. Then, she lifted the curtains hard.
"Ahhh!"
All the audience in the press conference immediately exclaimed in disbelief.
The two cubes turned out to be two medical cabins made of transparent plastic materials.
Two monsters that were neither human nor ghost were squatting in the medical cabins. Their bodies were covered in shells, and their eyes had degenerated. Their eye sockets had melted into their skulls, making them look like yakshas.
Many audience members noticed that such monsters appeared in the main plot of the 'invasion of darkness' too. They were the most common enemy in the game and caused a lot of trouble for the players. The players all called them 'swamp monsters'.
Such monsters were indeed as sticky and annoying as swamps.
"Brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, grandpas, and grandmas of the Xing Yao Federation, please take a closer look at these … 'things'!"
Bing Bing's voice sounded like she was about to cry. She said in a trembling voice, "Maybe you think that they are simple monsters, deformed beasts, and the embodiment of darkness and evil. But you are wrong. They may be brutal, but they are not evil. They are human beings with flesh and blood. They are our compatriots, too. It's just that they were even more unlucky than us and fell deeper into the indescribable darkness below the ground.
"Without the help of 'Vulture Li Yao', a Cultivator from the Xing Yao Federation, perhaps the town that I live in will slowly mutate and deform into their appearance in the next ten thousand years, too.
"If you hesitate about the future and watch the center of the cosmos being swallowed by evil, you will repeat what we did. In the next ten thousand years, you will slowly taste the horror game turned into reality and sink into the darkness, unable to extricate yourself. Eventually, you will become us, or even them.
"Therefore, I beg you. On behalf of all the 'underground hominoids' at the center of the cosmos who have been oppressed and savaged and suffocated in darkness, I beg my compatriots at the edge of the cosmos. Please save us. Please help us escape from the darkness, get rid of our sufferings, and be freed from slavery. Please use all your strength to save your own offspring and your own future. Don't. Don't end up like us!"
Bing Bing bowed deeply to the audience.
The speech that lasted only several minutes seemed to have drained all her strength. Her face was pale, and her body was shivering. When she bowed to the end, she suddenly fell to the side and passed out.
The two, or rather, the two 'swamp freaks' locked in the medical cabins were also jumping up and down, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws and shrieking, etching the most miserable image of mankind into the heart of every audience.
The game conference ended hastily amidst the chaos.
A stone raised a thousand ripples, but the aftermath of the event was far from over. In only twelve hours, it turned into surging tides that swept across the entire Federation.
"Little Bing Bing's speech shocked countless people of the Federation. Our generation has been educated to 'save the suffering compatriots at the center of the cosmos and liberate the entire universe' since childhood. It is an inviolable, unquestionable, and unquestionable belief. But this seems to be the first time that the suffering compatriots at the center of the cosmos have shown up before our eyes," Jiang Baobai said.
Jiang Baitao said, "Although the Black Wind Fleet has brought a lot of civilians, those civilians are here for colonization in the first place. Technically speaking, they are the reserves of the invaders. Naturally, they do not raise people's pity and desire to save them.
"However, the 'underground hominoids' such as Bing Bing, who have been oppressed and hated for a long time, are almost the most typical 'to be saved'. She can't be more politically correct. Also, the little girl looks both pitiful and cute. She immediately captured the hearts of countless people of the Federation.
"Besides, the 'swamp freaks' look too scary. Who would want their offspring to end up like that?
"Therefore, the result of the poll is like this right now. Ah. After only half an hour, the number of people who support the immediate deployment of troops has risen by another 1%. The public opinion is truly overwhelming and unstoppable!"
Meng Lichuan was silent. She pondered the whole thing for a long time.
Nobody who had become a frontline member of the Moon Devil Team at such a young age was stupid. Just now, her head was not completely clear yet, which was why she followed Jiang Baobai's train of thought in a daze. Right now, question marks were popping up in her head that was clearer and clearer.
The summit confrontation with the enemy, the harsh comments from the Dim Moon Fund, the perfect press conference of 'darkness scourge', the girl from the Imperium who had come from afar, and Jin Xinyue, the mysterious big boss of the Moon Devil Team who was standing behind the girl … Everything was connected into a zigzagging line, like the traces left by a mysterious viper that was slithering through the grass.
"Ah …"
Meng Lichuan cried, deep in thought.
"What's wrong with you? Is the result not good?"
Jiang Baobai asked.
"It's not bad. I just —"
Looking at Jiang Baobai's casual face, Meng Lichuan frowned and said, "I just … don't like it."
"Don't like it?"
Jiang Baobai smiled. "Trust me. Soldiers don't like wars, either. They don't like the feeling of pulling out their own or the enemy's intestines, tying them around the enemy's neck, and strangling them to death. They don't like the sound of flesh and bones being crushed by the tracks. They don't like being crushed into powder in space together with their starships without leaving any last words.
"But … but, but …"
The veteran member of the Moon Devil Team, who had worked in the intelligence analysis department of the Dim Moon Fund for many years, stood up and walked to the window, looking at the artificial blue sky, white clouds, and tranquility outside.
She was silent for a long time. Her eyes flashed with the same confusion as Meng Lichuan's, but she quickly covered it up with the calmness of a professional. She said faintly, "But someone has to do these things that people don't like, right?"
Boom! Crack!
Huala!
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
