From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

Nuclear weapons silence program.

A plan that will usher in a new era of human civilization.

The abyss invades, advanced civilizations emerge, and humanity stands at a crossroads.

From a civilizational perspective, all of humanity should unite to face the crises and opportunities of the future together.

However, the idea of ​​uniting all of humanity sounds more like a joke.

The world is just a giant makeshift operation.

An actor portrays himself as president, waging a proxy war for the suzerain state.

Someone becomes president, issues virtual currency, and manipulates the stock market to make money.

The world's superpowers are descendants of bandits, and the Axis powers of evil only want to farm and build infrastructure.

The abyss only makes those who want to make money even more frantic and those who commit genocide even more unscrupulous.

Those who possess nuclear weapons dare to speak loudly, while those who refuse to submit face excruciating taxation.

The military weapons of the world's superpowers are all overstated.

However, some people are foolish enough to take a PowerPoint presentation that their opponent has casually created and use it to recreate the real thing, only to realize later that they have been tricked.

……

The abyss has descended, and times have indeed changed, but not thoroughly enough.

Lu Heng had long been fed up with the wars waged by the regime of bandits, so when he heard about the nuclear weapons silencing plan, he agreed without the slightest hesitation.

The extent to which Earth has been contaminated by the abyss has exceeded 50%.

At times like these, humanity should indeed "unite".

Human civilization needs only one voice, and only one voice possessing nuclear weapons is the foundation of unity.

The first step in the nuclear weapons silencing program is to put all nuclear weapons into a silent state and disable all nuclear weapon launch codes.

The second step then involves gradually "uniting" all of humanity, ensuring that nuclear weapons can only be used to deal with invasions from the Abyss, rather than targeting other human nations.

The plan is finalized; let's get started immediately.

The first step of the plan needs to be carried out in secrecy, and the content and purpose of the plan cannot be disclosed to avoid anyone using nuclear deterrence.

We encountered difficulties when we took the first step.

The Swordholder had to remove more than thirty heads, rendering all of Earth's nuclear weapons silent.

……

Subsequently, Lu Heng, in the name of the swordsman of human civilization, announced the establishment of the United Parliament of Human Civilization.

The United Human Civilization Council is responsible for formulating strategic plans for all of humanity in the face of the Abyss and otherworldly civilizations.

After the United Human Civilizations Council was established, Great Xia was the first to announce its support and became one of its member states.

Subsequently, the families in the ASE Alliance that had not yet been wiped out successively announced their support for the United Human Civilization Council.

Some factions have expressed opposition and proposed a system of multiple factions, hoping that humanity could be like the Sykes civilization, with multiple factions governing together.

The Sykes civilization's multi-factional system was indeed quite remarkable. When invaded by the Abyss, it had no ability to resist. In order to stop the spread of mechanical demons, it blasted a prosperous planet into the ground.

Humans only have one planet, unlike the Sykes civilization which had many opportunities to experiment.

Therefore, Lu Heng decisively dispatched the Swordholders to slap the forces that proposed the multi-factional system in the face, and they immediately submitted and became the vanguard in supporting unification.

As it turns out, reasoning is indeed more effective than explaining physics.

……

Three months.

The Joint Council of Human Civilizations has gotten on track and announced that it will be fully responsible for the overall planning and supervision of nuclear weapons worldwide, which will be used to combat the Abyss in the future.

This news caused a huge uproar.

The public could hardly believe it, and what they found even more unbelievable was that all nuclear-armed nations, including the White Eagle Federation, publicly expressed their support for the decision of the United Human Civilization Council.

At this moment, human civilization is united in an unprecedented way.

There has not been a single dissenting voice regarding the coordination and oversight of nuclear weapons.

However, this uproar only occurred at the public level.

For the leaders of those nuclear-armed states, they already knew about this three months ago.

Because once the first step of the nuclear weapons silence program was completed, the Swordholders had already effectively gained control over all nuclear weapons oversight.

This is just an announcement; what was going to happen has already happened.

Of course, there were many instances of resistance during the course of these events.

Many countries and individuals have called for freedom and believe that the actions of the Swordholders and the Joint Parliament of Human Civilization are crimes against humanity.

Lu Heng obeyed their wishes and sent these liberals who resisted unification to the Abyss Pollution Zone, giving them the ultimate freedom.

……

Dramatic changes have occurred within human civilization.

No one knows where humanity will go after this transformation.

Even Lu Heng didn't know, because these things didn't happen in his reborn memories.

In the previous life, there were no Swordholders, no United Human Civilization Council, and no nuclear weapons silencing program.

Moreover, human civilization was not as "united" as it is now.

In a sense, human civilization has indeed achieved the great vision of a "community with a shared future for mankind".

This is thanks to the sacrifices made by those who voiced opposition.

In fact, Lu Heng had reflected on whether the methods he used in the process of uniting all mankind were too drastic.
But on second thought, this was much gentler than what a certain group did when they landed on White Eagle Continent.

Moreover, time is too tight; humanity doesn't have time to spend several generations gradually achieving this goal.

Because the speed of the abyss invasion is accelerating, humanity doesn't have much time left.

……

In the process of uniting all mankind, Lu Heng also arranged for the Dragon Might Mercenary Group to do one thing: capture Black Crow 013.

Currently, in the laboratory of Longwei Base No. 2, there are seven 013 Black Crows kept in captivity.

These abyssal creatures are very special; they are highly intelligent, will carry out their keeper's orders, and will not reveal their keeper's secrets.

When subjected to mental torture, this black crow will also commit suicide.

The true creators behind the Creator Organization, the "Astral Merchant Civilization," remain a peculiar and ever-present threat.

Lu Heng wanted to find out about this civilization, so he used the [Soul Imprint] on one of the black crows.

Because black crows tend to commit suicide when subjected to mental torture, almost all mental techniques are ineffective at extracting useful information from them. Lu Heng's use of the [Soul Seal] was merely an experiment.

After using it, the black crow did not commit suicide. After observing it for half a day, Lu Heng had someone release the black crow that carried the [Soul Imprint].

Two days later.

The satellite positioning device carried by the black crow landed in a no-man's-land in the White Eagle Federation's Michel State.

Lu Heng arrived in this no-man's-land and finally saw "Crow's Nest".

In an abandoned three-story building in a deserted area, hundreds of black crows gathered.

Most of them haven't grown yet.

The crow's nest was filled with black crow eggs, unlike any other creature on Earth.

The Abyss Black Raven hatches from shell-less, leathery eggs and grows by feeding on the flesh and blood of organic organisms.

The entire crow's nest was filled with a nauseating stench.

Lu Heng waited outside the crow's nest for half an hour, wanting to see if the astral merchants behind it would appear.

Half an hour later, having not seen any advanced civilization appear, he drew the Aurora Blade, preparing to destroy the crow's nest.

Only then did a bolt of lightning appear in the sky.

Immediately afterwards, a blinding light shone from the crow's nest.

Lu Heng activated the [Divine Source Armor], preparing for battle.

A humanoid creature appeared in the crow's nest, and its body could be seen to glow in the flickering lightning.

The moment Lu Heng saw the creature, he knew it was a species he had never seen before.

It appears to be humanoid, but its true nature remains uncertain.

After a three-minute standoff, the other party's voice came from the crow's nest: "So you really found my incubation room."

Lu Heng asked the question that had been on his mind: "Who are you?"

The fluorescent creature in the crow's nest replied, "Number 3 should have given you the answer. In your language, we are the Astral Merchant Civilization."

Lu Heng then asked, "What's your number?"

The fluorescent organism replied casually, "It doesn't matter. You can treat me as number 1 or number 2."

When the other party represents a civilization, whether it is number 1 or number 2, it doesn't make much difference.

This might be the only opportunity to communicate with the Astral Merchant Civilization. Lu Heng thought quickly and asked:
What are you doing here on Earth?

The fluorescent creature began to mimic the tone of a human: "Didn't you understand anything from the name of our civilization? Astral Merchant. My civilization values ​​fair trade; any goal that can be achieved through trade will be accomplished through trade."

Both "merchant" and "transaction" are terms within the human cultural system.

There may not be a corresponding term in advanced civilization systems.

Therefore, when communicating, we use words with similar meanings to describe things.

However, in reality, when communicating, people from different civilizations may not be able to fully understand each other's meaning.

Wanting to hear more useful information from the other party, Lu Heng pressed on, "Did your civilization become a wandering civilization because of the invasion of the Abyss?"

The fluorescent creature remained silent for a moment before answering, "Have you ever considered that perhaps we prefer to travel through astral rifts?"

Lu Heng smiled and retorted, "Perhaps you like it now, but I don't think life can be born in the astral rifts, nor can civilizations develop. Your civilization must have originated in the initial world."

The fluorescent organism did not object further.

Lu Heng continued to provoke them with information: "Can I ask you a question? Are you familiar with the Zero Civilization? Since you like trading, have you ever traded with the Zero Civilization?"

Fluorescent organism: "That was an extremely closed civilization. What are you trying to say?"

Lu Heng asked directly, "The Zero Civilization lost something. I guess you have the ability to enter the Zero World. Have you ever considered that the Zero Civilization might already suspect you?"

Fluorescent creature: "We are astral merchants. Trading is our way of doing things. What you mean by losing something, in your language system, would be theft or robbery."

Lu Heng smiled and added, "In our language system, there is another term, which is 'forced buying and selling'."

The fluorescent organism paused for a moment, refusing to discuss the topic, and said, "If you have nothing else to say, this meeting is over."

Lu Heng frowned and asked, "I'm planning to destroy this crow's nest. Aren't you going to stop me?"

Fluorescent organism: "Do as you please, we don't need this culture room."

Lu Heng frowned and pressed further, "So, you don't have a way to purify the abyss either, right?"

Fluorescent organism: "Perhaps you could consider another direction for development, like us, wandering in the universe. Maybe you'll even fall in love with this nomadic life."

After saying this, the fluorescent organism began to retreat.

Lu Heng tightened his grip on the sword, eager to get closer and see what it was.

If the other party is truly an advanced civilization, they should be able to cause enormous damage to humanity. However, their behavior logic is indeed very strange. Is it possible that the only way for astral merchants to conduct business is through trading?

Lu Heng stepped forward and asked, "Can we discuss a deal?"

Fluorescent creature: "Your civilization level is too low. You don't have what we need, nor do you have an equivalent value. We cannot reach a trade."

Lu Heng pressed further, "What about information trading?"

Fluorescent organism: "What you know, we all know, a deal is still impossible."

Lu Heng thought quickly and pressed on, "What about information about the Reincarnation Source Essence? Does it have any trading value?"

This time, the fluorescent organism remained silent for three seconds.

Those three seconds of silence confirmed one thing for Lu Heng: the Star Realm Merchant was interested in the Reincarnation Source Essence.

If the astral merchants want to obtain Reincarnation Essence, then the possibility exists that they might steal it.

After remaining silent, the fluorescent organism refused again: "You are working for the Zero Civilization; you have not found the Reincarnation Source."

Lu Heng's lips curled into a smile as he said, "If I said I've seen the Reincarnation Source Essence, would you believe me?"

The fluorescent creature fell silent again, then asked after a moment, "When have you ever seen the Reincarnation Essence?"

Lu Heng raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "You didn't question what I said. Does that mean you're sure I'm telling the truth, or does your language system not have a definition of lying?"

This time, the fluorescent creature actually spoke in a voice that mimicked a human: "You underestimate civilizations above your level. Even if our civilization doesn't lie, we can understand the meaning behind your lies. I don't question it because I'm sure you're telling the truth."

He paused, then added, "Of course, I'm sure you're telling the truth, but that doesn't mean what you're saying is the whole truth."

After listening to his explanation, Lu Heng was certain that the other party's logical thinking was very meticulous.

The truth and the facts are indeed not the same concept.

The truth that a person tells represents the truth as that person believes it to be; it is the truth in their subjective opinion, but not the truth in their objective opinion.

Lu Heng nodded and said, "Then let's make a deal, an information deal. If you're sure I've seen the Reincarnation Source Essence."

This time, the fluorescent organism didn't refuse: "Okay, but the information content of your target is not high. I can agree to ask each other questions, with each answer not exceeding three hundred bytes in total." (End of Chapter)