Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 169 The Essence of Struggle

The meeting lasted until the early hours of the morning, during which the participants exchanged opinions extensively.

The biggest disagreement arose over the reform of the military system. Everyone present was a top-tier fourth-order expert, yet some opposed allowing a large number of extraordinary individuals to occupy a more important position in the military.

This is understandable. Only half a year has passed, and the superhumans as a whole have not yet formed any kind of 'class consensus'. The powerful inertia left over from the civilized era is still influencing the behavior logic of these people.

The main opponents were a young man named Zhao Feng with a buzz cut from the Sichuan-Chongqing region, and Xue Hui from the Jianghuai region. Xue Hui had served as the captain of the assault team during the Haizhou campaign, leading his team deep into the danger zone to contact survivors. He was now a fourth-level superhuman.

Xue Hui said in a deep voice, "If in the future, the military is composed entirely of superhumans, how can we ensure that this force will continue to fight for ordinary people as it does now?"

He mentioned the military, but anyone with a discerning eye knew that the issue involved much more than that.

Even Han Zhong pondered this question. He had the most contact with extraordinary people from the common folk and had the deepest understanding of their character.

Zhao Feng glanced at Su Xun and said in a Sichuan-Chongqing accent, "We can certainly guarantee that we ourselves will not change, and we can also guarantee that we will guide the direction of the superhumans in the army while we are alive, but we cannot guarantee that we will live forever."

“Countless battles await us. For us, dying in war is nothing out of the ordinary. If our generation dies, who will guarantee the loyalty of this unit?”

There are opponents, and naturally there are supporters. Xu Zhao frowned and said, "The military is a violent unit. All our efforts should be aimed at making them stronger in order to cope with the various challenges that will arise in the future."

"If we cannot even guarantee the most basic fighting capacity, we cannot even protect the people's survival in this era."

Lin Hai also chimed in, saying, "It is an established fact that superhumans have a much stronger competitive advantage than ordinary people in the military and even in society as a whole. If we forcibly suppress and disregard this fact, then we will be standing on the opposite side of the wheels of history. In the future, superhumans who demand benefits will gather together and crush us. This is not an exaggeration."

"Even if these people are not capable of defeating us, the potential turmoil could destroy our hard-won achievements, and we will be in a dangerous situation under a catastrophe."

Xiao Zhenru did not speak, but simply looked at Su Xun.

Su Xun stroked the teacup in front of him, lost in thought for a long time.

As I said before, the problems they are facing now are unprecedented in their previous lives, and there is no experience to draw upon. Otherwise, Su Xun would not have put these problems into discussion and would have already come up with a perfect solution.

However, his understanding of the extraordinary individuals and the post-apocalyptic environment itself can still help him to offer more in-depth perspectives.

After a long pause, he said, "I still agree with the views of Comrade Xu Zhao and Comrade Lin Hai."

"What will be our primary challenge after the cataclysm?"

"The environment is extremely harsh, and the general public needs to survive."

In most parts of the country, zombies can no longer pose a major threat to the base cities. However, the apocalypse has never been a battle between humans and zombies. It can be said that this is just the most direct link in the many crises that humanity faces.

These numerous crises are, in fact, only the surface.

Su Xun slowly explained his thoughts to everyone.

"The performance of the Zombie King in Haizhou shows that these powerful high-level zombies can even suppress their cannibalistic instincts in order to achieve certain goals." "If zombies are like this, then the conflicts between other groups and humans are even more obvious—mutant beasts can hurt people, but they can also choose not to. The high-level mutant beasts that have now joined the army are proof of this."

"It may sound cruel, but for civilization as a whole, the deaths of a few people, ten, a hundred, or even a thousand or ten thousand by mutated beasts cannot be considered an irreconcilable conflict."

The attendees frowned slightly, and then Su Xun asked, "So where does the truly irreconcilable conflict lie?"

They fell into deep thought, and even Jiang Yi, who was taking notes behind them, stopped.

“Haye?”

Xue Hui tried to speak. The original Hailing Command Center in Haizhou had been established as a fortress to deal with the sea monster problem, as had the original Haiqu Safe Zone. In the past six months, Xue Hui had dealt with several small-scale sea monster landings in the Haizhou Bay area and had a deep impression of them.

Su Xun nodded: "The conflict between us and the sea monsters is difficult to resolve, but why is that?"

"Because of living space," someone immediately replied, something Su Xun had analyzed earlier.

Su Xun nodded, and then elaborated on this further.

"Living space is the fundamental reason why we have to fight against sea monsters or other supernatural creatures."

"All the dangers brought about by the Great Cataclysm lie in the fact that animals, plants, microorganisms, and even some inanimate objects from the past have gained a more direct and powerful ability to transform the world through spiritual power."

"Therefore, the essence of all the struggles in this apocalypse is actually the conflict caused by the process of many extraordinary individuals with spiritual power changing the environment."

Su Xun listed: "Just as sea monsters need to expand their living space, they will inevitably turn the land into a swamp, thus creating an irreconcilable conflict with humans. The same applies to other creatures, including when a large zombie horde is formed, the area where the zombie horde is located will also be unsuitable for living people."

"Therefore, in the present moment, we need to distinguish between enemies and friends, and in essence, we need to determine whether the living environments required by the two are compatible, and find the common denominator of their living space."

"Humans are basically incompatible with anaerobic bacteria. If a powerful and extraordinary individual like this were to appear, it would most likely become an enemy of humans."

"Mutant beasts like bears and deer are the opposite of these. I once said during my first meeting with mutant beasts that the Earth is large enough to accommodate mutant humans and beasts because the living environment required by humans and many mutant beasts is roughly the same. As long as there are more powerful enemies, they can protect this living environment with us."

From this perspective, the reason why the tenth-tier beings in the previous life were called natural disasters was precisely because they had completed a complete and almost irreversible transformation of the geographical units in which they lived. Ordinary creatures would die as a whole from the environment if they simply entered their territory.

This transformation even exceeds the natural disaster's own ability to adapt, which is why it is said that each time they awaken, they themselves are damaged.

Of course, it is too early to start considering the issue of natural disasters now. Su Xun then said to everyone: "The most suitable living environment for superhumans and ordinary people is the same. At this most basic level, there is no contradiction between the two. As long as future superhumans are willing to protect their own interests, they will also protect the interests of ordinary people."

"Moreover, what are the three essential elements for an extraordinary person to advance? Spiritual power, knowledge, and willpower. These things are very difficult to pass on to the next generation through heredity. In other words, the offspring of extraordinary people are most likely to be ordinary people."

"Therefore, from this perspective, in the current historical stage where we are surrounded by formidable enemies, it is beneficial to have extraordinary individuals shoulder more historical responsibility."

(End of this chapter)