Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

Chapter 94 The Lord Doesn't Care

The self-proclaimed "Boros Space Foundation," the hegemon of the spiral arm, displays an unusual humility in the face of human civilization, which has just entered the interstellar age. They claim that they can impart all their technology and fully open their markets to give human civilization the most favorable treatment.

What lies behind this generosity is far more alarming to Howard than the overt hostility. Faced with the unknown cosmos, he is not afraid to speculate with the greatest malice, rather than believing that each hegemon is a nice guy who is extremely pro-foreign and pursues peace and win-win cooperation.

In the corporate wars, those giant corporations used cheap synthetic foods and seemingly generous benefits to lock countless people on assembly lines and battlefields, turning them into cannon fodder in their conflicts, leaving no trace of their bodies.

Both being systems ruled by businessmen, it's impossible for them not to pursue profits. Howard could easily direct his hostility toward the company toward this so-called "foundation."

"Judging from your expression, the arrival of that alien envoy hasn't put your mind at ease."

Terence looked at Howard as he walked in and asked, seeing Terence's nonchalant attitude, "Terrence, what is 'Dragon's' stance on this matter?"

This was Howard's biggest concern at the moment. He was now high above the moon; did He know about this alien civilization? What was His view on human contact with other interstellar civilizations? Was He tacitly approving, opposing, or did He have other plans?

Upon hearing this, Terence nodded and said, "I have already consulted the Lord about His will."

"The Lord's response is simple," Terence's voice was as resonant as a stone chime, "He will not interfere with humanity's contact with interstellar society. Humanity's choice of whom to establish relations with, whom to be an enemy of, whether to embrace peace or face war, is entirely up to humanity itself."

Howard breathed a long sigh of relief. He had anticipated the will of the "Dragon." That being had originally quelled the calamities on earth for humanity, and then allowed humanity to survive in the harsh winter. He ignited the spark of psionic energy for humanity and left behind a trail across the stars. From beginning to end, his attitude was to guide humanity, not to rule.

"The Lord doesn't care," Terence said, looking up at the sky as if his gaze pierced through the ceiling and landed on the moon. "Civilizations rise and fall in the universe, which is just an ordinary scene in countless cycles of reincarnation."

"We are given a mission, this is the manifest destiny of mankind, and in principle we must overcome everything, no matter how many suns are in the sky."

Howard nodded. They had survived the harsh winter, and even when facing one of the so-called galactic overlords, the fledgling humans must not be afraid. Just like when he raised the banner of "Death Cavalry" to challenge those behemoth corporations, nothing is invincible.

Terence opened the star map gifted by the Foundation on the screen. Loading this massive star map required a huge amount of computing power, and the quantum bandwidth of the uplink transmission between databases ensured complete synchronization of information.

"Look here," Terence pointed to a black area on the star map that looked empty and stood out starkly against the backdrop of the glittering stars.

"In the star maps we found in the databases left by the companies on the Ark Space Station, this region was originally a normal galaxy. However, in the new star maps, it's marked as the territory of a civilization called the 'Homborian Consortium,' a galaxy cluster overlord even more powerful than the Boros Space Foundation."

"Was this huge void caused by a dragon?"

"Praise be to the Lord's power," Terence prayed. "Only then can we understand why the Boros Space Foundation has been so humble toward us. They are not trying to please our civilization, which has just entered the interstellar age. They are trying to please the Lord, expressing their reverence and obedience to Him by showing goodwill toward us."

Howard stared blankly at the huge black void on the star map. The simple astronomical observation brought him a great shock. This power to destroy the starry sea had far exceeded his understanding of individual strength.

No wonder the messenger named Karen was so humble. Any arrogance will only bring disaster. Their offering of gifts to humans is nothing more than a disguised pledge of allegiance to the Lord.

"I see," Howard muttered to himself, a new concern arising. He looked at Terence, his tone grave: "Even if they are befriending us out of reverence for dragons, we cannot accept everything they offer without any precautions, especially those scientific theories, particularly those related to fundamental physics."

His eyes were full of a soldier's caution. "With our current level of technology, compared to them we are like primitive people still trying to make fire by rubbing sticks together. If they intended to create a wrong knowledge system for us from the beginning, leading us further and further down the wrong path, we would have no way to distinguish between truth and falsehood."

This is what Howard is worried about. He doesn't understand technology, but he understands people's hearts. If the basic theory is wrong from the beginning, then all subsequent developments will only go in the opposite direction, and the tall buildings built will collapse in an instant in the future.

Terence nodded slowly upon hearing this, clearly having already considered this point. He raised his hand and lightly swiped on the star map, switching the view to reveal a color palette marking the territories of civilizations.

"I immediately compared this star map with the old star map left by the company in the Ark Space Station, and the relative coordinates of stars in other areas are basically consistent."

"According to them, our galaxy is in chaos, with wars happening everywhere, and the Boros Global Foundation is not the only dominant force in this galaxy; they themselves are in rebellion."

"They have competitors and hostile civilizations. Our communication channels with the outside world must not be a one-way connection with this foundation. The development of other civilizations can help us verify the truth or falsehood of these theories."

"But that's a story for later. We have more pressing matters to attend to: the problems within humanity itself."

Howard frowned again. Of course he knew what Terence was talking about. The ideological conflict between divine mages and magicians had intensified, especially after encountering alien civilizations and making direct contact. For the first time, humanity stepped out of the dark caves and saw the vast world.

"The appearance of extraterrestrial civilizations is like stepping on the gas pedal." Terence is tired of humanity's endless struggles. No matter how advanced the times are, it seems that humans are always happy to fight, unless they have the ability to define the situation and turn ethics and morality into clay in their hands to be molded at will.

"They are eager to determine the future direction of human civilization, but you and I both know that human civilization is like a small boat that has just left the harbor and is about to enter the turbulent sea. At this time, the worst thing is for the people on the boat to quarrel and row in different directions."

"Once we split internally, we'll collapse on our own before our interstellar enemies even have a chance to act," Terence said, his eyes filled with a chilling aura so intense it resonated with psionic energy, almost tangible.

"Go for it," Howard said, looking at the fire in Terence's eyes. "No one will question us if we take the helm of human civilization into our own hands."

The lukewarm sunlight streamed through the window and fell on the two of them, casting two long shadows on the ground. Humanity was about to face the storms on the crossroads, as well as the growing pains of leaving infancy and having the umbilical cord cut.

Only the sun in the sky and the dragon on the moon are watching over everything in the world.