Alien creatures destroy homes? Start by killing upright apes!

Chapter 75 To Those Who Follow

Moser sat on the threshold, holding a carving knife in his hand, with a bowl of water in front of him. Next to the bowl was the famous photograph: his hand and the hand of the upright ape were placed on the same table across the bowl of water.

"The first empty circle is to tell you not to deceive yourselves. The second empty circle is to tell you not to be deceived by them. The third empty circle is to tell you that blood is different. The fourth is to tell you that if blood is different, you cannot share a table. The fifth is to tell you that if you cannot share a table, you cannot share a house. The sixth is to tell you that if you cannot share a house, you cannot share land. The seventh is to tell you that if you cannot share land, you cannot share the future. The eighth is to tell you not to forget these things because you pity them. The ninth is to tell you not to forget these things because you are afraid of them. The tenth is to tell you not to doubt yourself because others are protesting. The eleventh is to tell you that when others are shouting for coexistence, you should have the courage to say—I will not coexist. The twelfth—"

Moser looked up at the three upright apes squatting in the yard.

They didn't draw circles today; they just quietly squatted in the corner, clutching small twigs in their hands, looking at Mosel with their clear black and white eyes.

"The twelfth empty circle is for you. You may squat in my yard, but you cannot enter my kitchen. You may drink the water from my bowl, but you must use your own bowl. This circle is your bowl. The circle is empty, so you can put things in it. But the circle is yours, not mine. My circle is on the door frame, and your circle is on the ground. If the circles do not overlap, we will not fight."

The oldest upright ape lowered its head and drew a circle on the ground with its front paw.

It's a very small circle, just big enough to fit its own foot.

It put its feet into the circle and then looked up at Mosel.

Mossé nodded. "Yes, your feet are in your circle, and my feet are in mine. Circles next to circles, feet don't touch feet, that's coexistence."

Captain Zhao's hand trembled slightly as he took the photo.

He's been in Bertswana for so long and has seen upright apes draw circles countless times.

A circle for welcoming, a circle for bidding farewell, a circle with eyes closed, a circle with eyes open.

But this was the first time he had ever seen a hominid draw a circle and put itself inside it.

It's not about trapping others, it's about trapping yourself.

Mosel stood up, went into the kitchen, and brought out a bowl of bone broth.

He placed the soup bowl at his feet and then took out another bowl.

This is made from the bones of a water dragon beast and exported from the Kingdom of Winner Monkey.

He placed the bowl next to the hominid enclosure.

Two bowls, one inside the circle and one outside, separated by an invisible arc.

"Let's each have our own soup."

He had Captain Zhao take pictures of the photos, the empty circle, and the placement of the two bowls. Then he told Captain Zhao, "Send these to Governor Lu and tell him the circle is drawn. My circle is on the door frame, and theirs is on the ground. The circles don't overlap, and their feet don't touch. This is the last thing I can do before the war starts. If we still have to fight, it's not my fault, it's not their fault, it's the circle's fault. The circle is too small to hold two species."

Then Mosse sat on the threshold, placed the carving knife on his knees, looked at the upright apes in the yard, and then at the growing number of villagers gathering outside the yard.

He drew a large circle in the air with his finger, encompassing the entire yard, the entire mango tree, all the people, and all the apes.

"This circle was drawn by God, and God has placed us all on Blue Planet. Blue Planet is very large, but even in its largest size, it's still a circle. There are too many species in the circle, and when there's no room left, they start fighting. It's not that we want to fight, it's that the circle forces us to fight."

Captain Zhao didn't understand.

But he wrote down these words verbatim and sent them to Lu Cheng.

He had a gut feeling that this passage was very important, so important that Lu Cheng might post it on the wall of the Executive Government's conference room as a last mirror before the war.

Ivan Bear Kingdom, a major mining region.

Fura stood in the deepest tunnel of the mine, facing a rock wall cut open by the teeth of the Grimoire.

The tunnels were dug by upright apes with the help of glossopteryxes, and their digging speed and precision far surpassed those of human miners.

But yesterday afternoon, the hominids suddenly stopped digging and all withdrew from the tunnel.

Fula went down with a miner's lamp and three engineers.

After the rock wall was cut open by the Grimoire, a cavity was revealed.

The cavity is not large, about two meters high and three meters wide, and its four walls have been manually polished.

In the very center of the cavity was a stone slab with words carved on it.

It's not a symbol for upright apes; it's an ancient Blue Star language.

Fula crouched down, and the light from his miner's lamp illuminated the writing on the stone slab.

The engravings are extremely deep, each stroke appearing as if carved with all one's might.

"We pressed the switch. Not because we hated them, but because it was too late. Their leader walked into our command post dressed in our general's uniform and ordered a ceasefire across the entire front in our language. Our soldiers complied, and then they used the lull in our ceasefire to seize our water sources, cut off our supply lines, and besiege our capital. It took us three years to retake the capital, three more years to reach a stalemate, and finally three more years to go down together."

"Later generations, when you read this inscription, you may face a similar situation. If your hominids also learn to wear your clothes, speak your language, use your laws, and participate in your gatherings, then the war between you and them will not be a question of whether it will break out, but who will strike first. Last time, they struck first, using disguise to deceive our defenses. This time, they will not repeat the same tactics; they will use a different method. We do not know what method they will use, but we know one method will never change. They will make you feel safe, and when all humans feel safe, that will be when they strike."

"We have nothing to leave you. There are no weapons, no technology, no treasures in this cavity, only these words. We carved these words with our last moments. We don't know if you will be able to read them, or if it will be too late when you do. If it is, do not trust any of the upright apes wearing your clothes. Different blood, different hearts. Different hearts, peace is an illusion. The longer the illusion lasts, the more devastating the collapse will be."

"Our civilization has been destroyed, but yours still exists, so don't let it follow our path."

A hand is carved at the very bottom of the stone slab.

Five fingers.

It wasn't the seven-fingered illusion of an upright ape, nor the gray handprint of God; it was the hand of a human with only five fingers.

There was a hollow circle carved in the center of the palm, exactly the same as the hollow circle that Moser carved on the door frame.

Fula copied down the text on the stone tablet word for word, and had the intelligence chief encrypt it before sending it to Lu Cheng of the Winner Monkey Kingdom and Kerry of the Great Dragon Kingdom.

Then he walked out of the tunnel, stood in the cold wind of the mining area, lit a pipe, and smoked for a long time.

"Last time they disguised themselves as generals and infiltrated the command post to order a ceasefire. What have they infiltrated this time?"

The intelligence chief stood behind him, his voice extremely low.

"Comrade Chairman, this morning in the march in Irkutsk, someone saw at least four upright apes dressed in human clothes, holding anti-war signs, walking at the front of the procession, and shouting slogans louder than humans."

Fraser's pipe went out.