"There's no need to stimulate me with grandpa. I'm very clear-headed right now. I know exactly what I'm doing. I will not repeat grandpa's mistake!"
Lu Qingchen waved his hands and regained his calmness. He analyzed, one word after another. "Grandpa's reputation was ruined mainly because he made two mistakes.
"Firstly, he shouldn't have extended the butcher's knife to the neck of his own people. He shouldn't have betrayed the oath he made when he joined the Secret Sword Bureau, which was to protect every citizen of the Federation with all his might, only to kill almost ten thousand innocent people in the square of the Federation.
"Secondly, and more importantly, even if his plan worked out and the Tian Yuan Realm did manage to swallow the Blood Demon Sector, it would be impossible for them to resist the Black Wind Fleet that would follow. His plan was destined to fail from the very beginning because the problem was not the demons but the Immortal Cultivators!
"Therefore, since the very beginning, his plan was the struggle of a fish swimming in a pot, which was utterly useless.
"However, my plan was different.
"My plan did not involve any civilians of the Federation. I didn't kill any innocent citizen of the Federation, did I? Of course, the expedition army of the Federation might suffer heavy losses during the attack on the capital, but they were all soldiers who had risked their lives and dignity to conquer the center of the cosmos and fight for the survival of the Federation. They were ready to sacrifice themselves, and I would make their sacrifice the greatest value!
"Secondly, unlike grandpa's reckless impulsiveness, the Imperium of True Human Beings is our last enemy. As long as we take it down, there will be no more enemies in the Pangu universe, and there will be no more 'Black Wind Fleet' to threaten us. Therefore, it doesn't matter even if we pay a higher price in the battle. We can take a rest for a hundred years before we carry out our beliefs, realize our beliefs, and plan the cause that will last billions of years to break out of the Pangu universe. What's wrong with that?"
"Not good. Very not good."
Li Yao shook his head. "If we really do that, countless civilians will still be killed or wounded, including those in the capital, the worlds around the capital, and those in the peripheral worlds who are still in chaos and looking forward to the restoration of order."
"Those are the civilians of the enemy country. You are not so kind as to care about the civilians of the enemy country that you do not have the heart to trample on the flowers of the enemy country, are you? If we have to consider the lives of the civilians of the enemy country in a war, what is the point of the war? We might as well surrender! "
"Don't forget that it was the Black Wind Fleet, which belonged to the Imperium of True Human Beings, who attacked the federation in the first place and declared war on us! From that moment on, the federation and the Imperium entered a state of war. Until this moment, perhaps there were some secret agreements, but on the surface, we still did not sign a truce agreement. Neither side surrendered, right?
"Since we are still in the state of war, any mercy is petty. Of course, I am willing to abide by the principles of humanitarianism and will not torture or intentionally slaughter the civilians of the enemy country. But can we really care about the 'collateral losses' in the war?
... "" Hehe. You may be softhearted and consider the interests of the Imperium first, but they may not think the same way. You must've heard the story of the farmer and the snake. Be careful of the snake of the Imperium. It's poisonous! "
As Lu Qingchen sneered, the light and data behind him changed nonstop, revealing the picture where the expedition army of the Federation was engaged with several fleets of the Imperium.
"How can you allow someone else to snore next to your bed? The people of the Imperium certainly understand the simple logic. Right now, the expedition army of the federation is standing at the heart of the Imperium, and you, a Cultivator, are controlling the stellar-level magical equipment and the battle network in the capital. This is not just 'next to your bed' but a thorn in the eyes of the people of the Imperium."
Lu Qingchen said, "Even if the Federation and the Imperium are in the 'honeymoon period' right now, and we can work together for the common interests, the foundation of our cooperation is collapsing quickly after the collapse of the Holy League. Do you think the Immortal Cultivators can tolerate the Cultivators staying in their heart and you and your children controlling the Gold Crystal Pyramid and the battle network in the capital? Lastly, do you think the Imperium can tolerate a rising Federation that fills the gap of the Holy League and becomes their greatest competitor?
"It's impossible. No matter what the Immortal Cultivators say and make all kinds of fancy promises, it's impossible for them to change their nature. They can't tolerate the Cultivators and the Federation.
"Getting to the bottom of it, the Pangu universe is too small for two tigers to live on the same mountain!
"Even if a man does not intend to hurt a tiger, a tiger can eat a man's heart. Li Yao, I'll say it again. Do not let your 'virtues of the ordinary people' interfere with the ruthless deduction of the general trend and push the federation into the abyss of doom! This is the only chance for the Federation to control its own fate. If you hesitate, all the people of the Federation will be killed because of you! "
"It's not like that, Lu Qingchen. Calm down and listen to me. Of course, I've considered the problem that two tigers cannot live on the same mountain, and I don't have too many naïve illusions about the Immortal Cultivators. But right now, there is indeed a slim path of peace between the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators."
Li Yao said earnestly, "I believe that the Immortal Cultivators of the reformists are different from the Immortal Cultivators of the past. Firstly, they have experienced the corruption of the old Imperium in person and know how greedy, stupid, and weak the Immortal Cultivators of the past were. The true path of immortality in the past was a dead end. For their own survival, they will not repeat the mistakes.
"Secondly, in order to seize the supreme power of the Imperium, the reformists have to mobilize the forces of the middle, lower, and even the ordinary people. After the purge of 'Honor the Majesty and Settle the Rebellions', the middle, lower, and ordinary people of the entire Imperium have been awakened. Once people see the light, they cannot tolerate the darkness anymore.
"Thirdly, Li Jialing, the current emperor of the Imperium, is a man who tends to combine the paths of the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators. I even feel that his path is very similar to yours. I don't know what he will become in the future, but at the very least, he can't be like Wuying Qi.
"Fourthly, as you said, we control the Gold Crystal Pyramid, the battle network in the capital, and even most of the Fuxi fleet. Those forces can be used to deter the Imperium, supervise and help the Imperium to embark on the correct path of reform, and assimilate the Immortal Cultivators into the Cultivators. The risks of loss of control, chaos, and destruction will be minimized. Don't you think that's the safest way?"
"Hehe …"
Lu Qingchen was unmoved. He sneered, "The bottom line is that you are still going to hand over the safety of the Federation and the fate of mankind to the people of the Imperium and the Immortal Cultivators, and let the little emperor decide our future?"
"I don't want to do that either, but we don't have a choice."
Li Yao was so sincere that he almost vomited blood. "It's easy to break the old order, but it's even more difficult to reestablish a new one. It's impossible for us to do that with our current capabilities.
"Yes. If everything goes according to your plan, it is indeed possible to conquer the capital and strangle all the hopes of the reformists while they are still in the cradle. The entire universe will be mired in a vacuum where there will be neither the new Imperium nor the old Imperium.
"The question is, what then?
"The center of the cosmos has already suffered an apocalyptic catastrophe. All the worlds are in panic and chaos. Many worlds lack trade with the outside world and have been reduced to lone islands in the darkness. They are short of resources, and their order is gone. They may be caught in a state of famine and civil war at any moment.
"At this moment, if the Federation turns hostile and the new Imperium is destroyed, trust me, the whole universe will be reduced to a purgatory immediately.
"By then, how can the tiny Federation suppress the crazy rebels and the ambitious schemers in all the worlds? How can we restore the local order and deliver the most basic food and water to the billions of hungry victims? How can we connect to the paralyzed space business network? How can we claim confidently that we are here to help them on behalf of justice? No, we are the culprits who created the purgatory. The tiny bit of trust for the Cultivators that we have built up through all kinds of difficulties will be gone. No Immortal Cultivator or ordinary person at the center of the cosmos will trust us, the beliefs of the Cultivators, and the Federation anymore!
"When the city gate is on fire, the fish in the moat will suffer. If the whole universe turns into a purgatory, do you think the Federation can stay out of it? Have you thought about everything?
"Let me repeat myself. Young people are often too superstitious about violence and believe that the outcome of a war is enough to decide everything. But as your uncle, a senior who once solved a lot of problems with violence only to discover even more problems, I really have to give you a piece of advice. It's not so simple! Right now, the center of the cosmos is like a dying patient who is too sick to be cured. Even if your intentions are good and you have an unparalleled scalpel in your hands, he will still die after you cut him!
"For such a critically ill patient, we absolutely cannot perform major surgery right now. We can only use decoctions to carefully nurse him back to health, or at least make his body stronger. Then, we can slowly perform a series of minor surgeries. Of course, doing this is very complicated, tangled, and easy to repeat. Furthermore, we cannot guarantee a 100% success rate, but this is the only way. Do you understand?"
"I understand it now. You are worried about the postwar reconstruction."
Pondering for a moment, Lu Qingchen said, "You are worried that we cannot purge the bureaucratic system and the civil servants of the entire Imperium even if we conquer the capital. Even if we can purge the veins and nerve endings of the entire Imperium, there will not be enough managers who are qualified for the bottom-level posts. Then, as long as the nerve endings are still occupied by the Immortal Cultivators of the old system, they will still be filled with greed, corruption, and depravity. It is impossible for them to obey our orders and will only harm the country and the people even more, claiming benefits under our guise, right?"
"Well …"
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.
