Psychics don't die from gunfire

Chapter 705: Holy Ascension
Song Shi no longer wanted to continue shopping.

He chose a new route.

The starting point is the Fidas Cathedral and the end point is the imperial capital.

Go straight ahead.

It won't be that serious. We will split the mountains when we encounter them, and burn the sea when we encounter it.

Ecology is something that is easy to destroy but much more difficult to rebuild. Unless it is necessary, when psychics break through the fourth ring, most of them will consciously choose a battlefield at high altitude or far away from densely populated areas.

The only problem is that “non-essential situations” occur significantly less frequently than “necessary situations”.

"How are you going to solve the trauma of the sky?"

Song Shi was walking, and it didn't seem fast or slow, but in terms of physical distance, he was far beyond the normal walking speed range.

"--You also know this?" Renata asked, her tone not quite surprising: "This is simple. The plan is to wait until the Empire unifies Terra. As long as the sound of Terra's existence becomes one, then the 'Heaven's Wound' will no longer exist."

"Maybe it can't be solved in a short time, but it doesn't matter, just wait." While talking, the two did not stop and kept moving forward. Renata said: "With Terra's self-healing ability, as long as she doesn't cause the sky to collapse and the earth to split, it will only take time for her to recover."

"It is indeed a feasible plan." This time Song Shi gave his approval: "If you really succeed, I can't say anything else, but at least the 'Heavenly Trauma' can be solved."

"The time scale at the planetary level is incredibly long even for us." Renata sighed softly, with real emotion in her eyes: "The 'short time' in Terra's eyes is enough for a family to go from prosperity to decline and back three times."

"But such Terra, because of us who were fleeting, gave birth to the 'Heavenly Wound'."

Renata looked up at the sky. There were no clouds, only the endless blue mirror lake.

"I don't know if I will ever see the day when the 'Heaven's Wound' is repaired in my lifetime."

"I can't see it." Song Shi said.

Renata smiled.

Gradually, a vague outline emerged from the horizon, first it was lead-gray, then it became clearer. The first city Song Shi came to in the empire, "Xiachi", also had a grayish-white hue.

But the city in front of me is different.

Its gray color is a rich gray filled with thick smoke and dust, just like a factory that has been running non-stop for a hundred thousand days and nights. Even if the pipelines are full of grease and the gears make noises under the heavy load, there are still people who throw themselves into the machines to make them ring again.

"Why is there no reaction at all?" Renata tilted her head slightly: "Don't you think it's spectacular?"

"It feels inferior to Southern Region Heavy Industry."

Song Shi looked at the city for a while and gave his evaluation.

"Your industrial city is a city whose main function is industrial production. It is the industrial city of the Southern Region Heavy Industry."

"Yours are like machines." The young man thought for a few seconds and said, "Southern Region Heavy Industry's are machines."

"Is that so?"

Renata seemed to be thinking about something, then she frowned: "If the entire city is reduced to a machine, then the only value of human existence is consumables."

"It's pretty much the same." Song Shi said, "Fubo Energy has monopolized the sun in Zhuguang City to demonstrate its authority. There are nine giant companies, and they all have projects with the same positioning. The industrial city of Nanyu Heavy Industry is just one of them."

"The suffering of the Corporate Alliance people will not last long." Renata said slowly: "The Empire will bring them salvation."

"Redemption? Do you guys have to rely on it?" Song Shi said noncommittally: "If you ask ten people from the Enterprise Alliance whether they want to come to the Empire, at least eight of them will say no. Of the remaining two, one will say they will go back and wait for notification, and the other will say they will think about it."

"In the Corporate Alliance they can surf the Internet and have fun, but in the Empire what can they do, watch the Voice of Grace radio station over and over again?"

"It is the excessive desire that has polluted their minds." Renata said calmly: "The company uses desire to tempt people to fall, and we will bring them salvation with faith."

"If turning everyone into the same person is considered salvation, then maybe it's better to let them continue to be polluted."

"Yes, I admit that some people recognize and need faith." Song Shi said calmly, "But it shouldn't be your missionaries who put a knife to your neck and tell you to die if you don't believe."

"As early as a thousand years ago, the church scriptures clearly stated that preaching relies on faith rather than weapons." Renata was unmoved: "The missionaries of the empire have always followed this as a code of conduct. What you mentioned is only the last resort when facing stubborn elements."

"A stubborn person, huh?" Song Shi sneered, "I've told you the pros and cons."

"The cornerstone of the empire is sacrifice." Renata brushed aside her hair and said, "Song Shi, if you expect to find a perfect and complete force, then I'm sorry to tell you that Terra doesn't have what you want. Since two thousand years ago, the empire has been moving towards this goal unremittingly."

"We were on the way to it, and we are on the way to it." She tapped her heart with her index finger: "Yes, I admit that there is blood, slaughter and darkness in the history of the empire. We remember these sacrifices, but we will never stop for this."

"——This time, you chose the Enlightened One."

Renata's eyes were sparkling, like a diamond that had been polished millions of times, emitting a heart-pounding divine light.

"I can tell you clearly that we admire and approve of the actions of the Enlightened One. If it chooses to join the Empire, the Empire is willing to reserve a high enough position for it—"

"If, refuse." Song Shi grinned.

"--What was showered upon the Enlightened One was only destruction." Renata spoke word by word.

"It sounds ordinary." Song Shi suddenly laughed: "No one is not prepared to defeat the whole world."

"Renata, you are right about one thing at least." Song Shi said, "Terra does have too many voices now."

"I'm looking forward to that day," said Renata.

The dark straight lines cut the earth into pieces, and it was impossible to tell whether the rails ran from the suburbs into the city, or extended from the city to the wider world.

The train loaded with goods roared past with a heavy momentum as if it was going to crush all obstacles.

Song Shi narrowed his eyes.

Most of these trains were covered with thick tarpaulin, so it was hard to see what was transported inside. However, on the side of the armored carriage, there was a clear logo printed on a mottled stone that had been weathered for many years. It was the logo of the [Square Stone] Knights, one of the six pillars of the Imperial Knights.

The answer is clear.

These are all weapons. Song Shi moved his eyes away from the train and looked forward again. This industrial city was like a furnace standing on the earth, devouring ore all night long and continuously producing weapons for the empire. There was more than one such industrial city in the empire.

These industrial cities one after another, the empire was not built today.

Holy War of Purification.
The Empire has been preparing for this day for so long, to spread the divine glory and bring salvation to all of Terra.

"No one wants to fight." Renata paused and added, "At least most people don't want to fight."

"But only war can open up a future where war is no longer necessary."

She looked at the train whizzing past. It was moving forward fearlessly. The guard knights stationed on it were covered in exoskeleton power armor and were much more muscular than normal people.

A knight slowly turned his head, and his artificial eye flashing dark red noticed the two people two kilometers away, who had been staring at the train for too long.

"How dare a lowly knight show off to the Grand Inquisitor?" Song Shi locked eyes with the knight and did not move away. "Next, are you going to issue an arrest warrant for him?"

"Please, can you please stop thinking about this?" Renata didn't even look away. Instead, she nodded slightly and said casually, "I exercise my power out of duty, not to satisfy my own selfish desires, okay?"

"But to be honest, these major knightly orders do not get along well with our Inquisition." Renata sighed.

"Please find a group or department that the Empire and the Inquisition are fighting against."

Song Shi took another step forward and headed towards the imperial capital.

"When we were fighting in the duel arena, you imperial people couldn't talk among yourselves. You suppressed your words too much, and those contestants couldn't help but come to me, an outsider, to talk every few days. The descendants of the psychic nobles, the rising stars of the Knights, and the genius priests of the state religion, all of them have complaints about you."

"Really?"

"You want me to say it's fake?"

"No, I hope what you said is true." Renata raised her eyes, revealing genuine joy: "This shows that our work is effective and has not let the empire down."

The roar of industrial machinery engines is resounding, like thunder shaking among the mountains of steel. Even for workers who have already been fitted with cochlear implants, staying in such a place at close range is a torture.

Song Shi walked straight across the city, his perception spreading out.

Modern cities, especially those in the Empire, greatly reduce the perception of psychics. Concrete jungles, neon lights of material desire, population density far exceeding that of ancient times, and thousands of mixed emotions.

The cities under the rule of the Empire are indeed much cleaner than the corporate alliance in terms of rampant materialism, but their faith signs and the power of faith make up for this lack. Churches are everywhere, and being in them and radiating your perception is like trying to swim in sticky mud.

But for Song Shi today, these obstacles are no longer a problem.

In an instant, everything is in sight——

The boiling molten iron poured down, turning into a boiling lake in the smelting area. After the workers wearing special work clothes prayed in unison, they resolutely broke into the furious workshop, just like every day in the past.

In the intelligent control lines of the finishing plant, something is flying around at a high speed. It is not a data stream, and one cannot clearly feel that thing. What one "sees" is spiritual power.

——Electronic ghost.

Song Shi soon had the answer.

I can't explain the nature of these things very clearly, but I can only say that they are a masterpiece of the Empire, and they have the properties of AI, psychic entities, and demons, and are extremely useful. It is precisely because of the existence of these massive electronic ghosts that the Empire will not be too disadvantaged in electronic warfare.

"For a system that relies so heavily on electronic ghosts, aren't you afraid that problems will arise one day?" Song Shi said.

"Blind self-confidence will only lead to unbearable consequences." Renata waved at a camera, which seemed to have not expected to be discovered. It was stunned for a moment, and after several seconds, it shook up and down twice to respond: "The answer is, of course we are worried - so we will not let such a problem occur."

"Whether it's electronic ghosts, intelligent machines, or even humans, our main ethnic group also has multiple species."

Renata's hand touched the piles of containers, and the cold, choking smell of metal hit her in the face, but her voice pierced through it like a sharp blade.

"—but faith reshapes us into the same being, and we make a promise to all living and non-living things that we are all part of the Empire."

"Belief."

Song Shi was about to speak when he suddenly frowned.

"Let me ask you, do you imperial people have the habit of worshipping underground?"

Almost at the same time, Renata grabbed a handful of air and sniffed it.

The smile that greeted the electronic ghost not long ago was suddenly gone.

The two disappeared at the same time.

······
"——My fellow countrymen, I have no intention of hiding anything, and I cannot hide anything."

"The land beneath our feet, our 'Tuvis', has fertile land, vast fields, and blue skies. It once had all of these!"

"But it was only in the past. The Empire chose this place and made our 'Tuvis' into a perpetual motion machine that never stops day and night. Smoke and acid rain replaced everything. Even we, the pious people, were deceived by the Empire and sent to the scales of sacrifice!"

The darkness was broken, and a beam of light slowly stretched out, and the word "Empire" was illuminated on the wall not far away. Then new beams of light emerged one after another, and in just a few breaths, this room in the sewer was completely illuminated.

It also illuminates a group of people who have different appearances but all exude the smell of motor oil and metal.

"Alor, your brother is in prison and suffers all day long."

They huddled together in silence, looking at the figure in front of them with flashlights. It was a middle-aged man in a robe. The man raised his alloy index finger and pointed at one of the silent figures.

"What did he do wrong? Just because he refused a mission that was too overwhelming and far beyond the actual quota? Just because he accidentally touched the knight who came to suppress him - how could the knight not know the difference between attacking and touching? He was just taking advantage of the situation!"

"And little Harlan, my poor child, he is only sixteen years old, what did he do wrong? He has a low immunity since birth, even a fever could kill him. The priest told him that this is because of original sin, but the truth is clearly that it is genetic pollution caused by industrial emissions!"

"Tom, Hannah. I remember what they looked like. I remember what every one of my compatriots looked like." The middle-aged man's voice gradually became louder. He opened his arms as hard as he could, as if he was hugging something: "It doesn't matter. Don't be afraid. You don't have to suffer anymore—"

"After today, we will leave here, leave this world of suffering, and go to the non-existent heaven, but please remember that this is not the end, but the beginning of a new life."

"——I am with you, and together we will achieve 'holy ascension'!"

(End of this chapter)