People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

If you promise her "you're free" while simultaneously assigning her tasks, isn't that freedom just empty talk? Isn't Kal'tsit still trapped in her duties?

Kelsey paused for a moment, then replied:

"No, after you told me to protect Terra, you took back those orders and then said to me: 'Never mind, Kal'tsit, you're free. Go find yourself.'"

The doctor breathed a sigh of relief:

"I'll just say it."

"What did you say?"

Ernst gave the doctor a strange look.

"What? You don't think this counts as an order?"

Sometimes he was genuinely curious about how the Doctor viewed Kal'tsit.

You might say he sees Kal'tsit as a rigid machine, but he also constantly emphasizes that Kal'tsit is a living, breathing machine!

You might say he treats Kal'tsit like a human being, but then he feels that after expressing his expectations at length in a serious manner, his simple "never mind" is equivalent to the black-clad man's flash of amnesia, directly causing Kal'tsit to "delete the command."

Did Kal'tsit of that era heed the prophet's commands?

That's definitely from what she heard. You can tell how "loyal" she is to the prophet by seriously using his instructions as a reason to oppose Precyth!

"Then let me ask you, you, as a father, solemnly told your child so many things about 'hoping your son becomes a dragon and your daughter a phoenix,' instilled in her so many things you wanted her to do, and in the end, when you're about to lie down, you just say: 'Forget it, live your life however you want,' as if you never said anything at all?"

Ernst countered.

He didn't even finish his sentence, leaving the last half-sentence: "Don't you believe in that 'cleansing memories reveals true nature' stuff? Since you want her to live according to her own ideas, why don't you clean up Kal'tsit's memories too, so you can know what she really wants to do!"

But he still didn't say it. Firstly, the doctor had amnesia, and saying that would be absurd. Secondly, Ernst himself didn't believe such a thing at all.

His consistent foundation is based on his ingrained "earthly personality and memory." If this were washed away, he would become a psychological giant baby, still as solid as an egg.

As for the mess that is Terra, even if you tell him that his underlying logic is "I have been studying and compiling history for a long time", he will probably end up "going back to the mountains of Khartoum" after more than 20 years in Khartoum!

Going to Manjushri Academy to become a monk would be enough.

He doesn't even know the concepts of a regular civil servant and the political system, so what's he talking about in terms of reform?

The five doctors were rendered speechless by Ernst's counter-question.

Precys smiled.

As expected, "Treasure" is still the best at debating.

But she didn't laugh for long.

Because, on the other hand—

"Prisus, you tampered with my sarcophagus?"

Perhaps to divert attention from the awkwardness, or perhaps simply to come to his senses, the doctor suddenly asked.

Priscilla's smile suddenly froze, her hands moving with a Parkinson's-like awkwardness, twirling her hair, placing them near her mouth, and finally putting them behind her back, cosplaying as the armless Venus.

Ernst was speechless.

You two crazy people, you keep saying "I love you" to each other, how can your relationship be so fake?!

On one hand, there is unwavering devotion until death; even when the stars fade, I will wait for you, secretly altering the nails on your sarcophagus.

On one hand, there's the unwavering commitment to sleep together until the end of the world, followed by a quiet wake-up call to release the cat.

The one who puts nails in the coffin will be right, the one who puts cats in the coffin will wake up, and the stone coffin will be nailed shut!

The cat was released with the crickets' selfish intentions, and the crickets were placed on the nails, which incited the old cat to hiss wildly!

You two are unbeatable! Seriously!

Lock it down, okay? Lock it down!

Kal'tsit, you're so lucky to have such parents.

Fortunately, they are not my parents, otherwise I would have been in a terrible situation.

Kal'tsit: "

Kal'tsit: Feed me peanuts!

Chapter 1064 Now it's your turn, Friston.

As the saying goes, some people watch for entertainment, some look in the mirror, and some secretly shed tears while looking in the mirror.

The Doctor and Precyth were there discussing "social maneuvering," "dark psychology," and "people-reading skills," while Ernst was speechless after being hit with a flashbang. Kal'tsit was enduring the aftermath of the two Supremes' "pre-civilization showdown" and was frequently the center of attention, being subjected to brutal torture. And then there was Trevor Friston.

He was the most silent of them all, his gaze calmly sweeping over everyone, from Precys to Kaiyuefeiqun:8qi—Liulousan·Siershi, from the Doctor to Ernst, and then to those who had already fallen silent in the Stasis Institute.

If he could make expressions, he would be smiling right now.

"It feels like a long time ago."

The cemetery, the place of stillness, hadn't been this noisy for far too long. In a daze, it was as if everything from the past was still before his eyes.

Ernst, who couldn't join their conversation at all and didn't want to, did notice Friston's gaze.

He glanced at the increasingly flushed red of the accounts, and then at the Doctor and Priscilla, who were starting to stir up some minor squabbles between the two, resembling a young couple arguing. He then looked at Kal'tsit, who was standing to the side with wide eyes, her body still moving, but her soul seemingly turned to snow-white ash. Finally, he clicked his tongue and looked at Friston.

You can even envy something like this? Friston, you bastard!

Taking advantage of Precys and the Doctor's inattention, Ernst quietly slipped out of their detection range, ignoring the gossip from the former civilization, and went to Friston's side. "Is that so? Kal'tsit, is this true?"

Friston noticed Ernst's actions, and his massive, hovering body descended slightly, landing behind Ernst. He said softly:

"Aren't you going to help that servant?"

"I helped."

Ernst shrugged, looking completely innocent.

“Prysus even dragged her back to redo the repairs, so how can you say I didn’t help?”

He leaned against the alloy wall of the stasis chamber, its material unknown, hands in his pockets, wanting to light a cigarette for aftercare, then realized he hadn't brought any. He let out a slightly disappointed sigh and shook his head.

"Besides, this is their family matter now. There's an old saying in my country: 'Even an official can't settle family disputes.' It would be superfluous for me to interfere."

Trevor Friston stared at Ernst:

"Feel sorry."

"What's there to apologize for?"

"I just wanted to say that. If you don't want to hear it, you can say thank you instead."

Trevor Friston spoke earnestly,

"Our affairs are far too complicated, and they are always entangled with the concept of 'civilization,' which is too grand a narrative for Terra. Strictly speaking, this is not something that the current Terran civilization should be bearing."

Prolonged immersion in grand narratives inevitably leads to fatigue. This is why many people now say things like, "What does my monthly salary of 3,000 have to do with this?"

Admittedly, grand narratives inevitably involve the vital well-being of billions of lives, just as the Terran civilization, unprepared for the arrival of the Observer, would perish. But for Terra, discussing all this is still a bit too early.

If you talk to a newborn baby about dating, marriage, having children, buying a house, buying a car, going to school, medical care, etc., he won't understand and he'll only feel a headache.

Moreover, Terra is less important to prehistoric civilizations than an infant.

The only one who could understand all of this was Ernst.

However, it's difficult for the "treasure" to dissipate this pressure.

He could speak at a world summit, but how many people would believe him? His prestige might gather a group of followers, and a few national leaders or those in power might take his warnings seriously, but what good would that do?

The arrival time of the [Observer] is uncertain, and a prophet who makes a doomsday prophecy may very well be considered a "madman" by the world within a few years or even a decade or two because he cannot see any signs.

Even if some people will believe him from beginning to end, what about the rest?

Life goes on, the Terrans might believe, but they'll never truly understand.

Even if they don't understand, even if they completely ignore the prophecies of the three apocalypses and indulge in pleasure, doing whatever they want, that's still reasonable.

Because—it is the years that are given civilization, not the civilization that is given years.

The consequences and costs of "foreseeing the end times" are something only Ernst can bear.

"So you're saying you have absolutely no intention of helping me?"

Ernst glanced at Trevor Friston and muttered something under his breath.

Friston's words made it sound like he had to shoulder everything himself.

What, with me around, you bunch of old-timers from a bygone civilization can just lie down and do nothing?

Am I supposed to be stirring up the cesspool of Terra while also carving decorations on the coffins of the pre-civilization? And all this time, I'm all alone, and you're still making demands on me, expecting me to do both things well?

"Nonsense, I'm really not doing this anymore. I'll find a rope on the street in Tukarim and hang myself one of these days. That will be my way of apologizing to the whole world for my failure to start a business halfway through and for getting involved with feudal remnants and capitalist trash."

Ernst slapped Friston's metal plate, and miraculously, it didn't make a sound.

Friston's big eyes are actually solid!

Friston swayed for a moment, then realized what was happening, his voice tinged with amusement and apology:

"You're right, we should help you."

“I will have Mark Max give your full support in all your actions.”

Ernst waved his hand:

"I'm very grateful, but to be honest, it's not very useful."

“He can control the whole country, but that doesn’t mean he can control all the people in the country. I acknowledge Mark Max’s control over Colombia, but he can’t just sell out the whole country, can he? If he really went that far, the Colombians would react.”

Trevor Forreston paused for a moment, then replied thoughtfully: 35

It's not impossible.

Ernst: "?"

What do you mean? Are you really Yuri?

"There are many ways to achieve this. Originium and Heaven's Fulcrum can both do it to some extent. Heaven's Fulcrum is simpler because it was designed from the beginning to have the function of [governing will]."

Friston began to explain earnestly, but Ernst interrupted him:

"Stop, stop. Let's save this tactic for last."

Both Originium and Heaven's Pivot are too risky.

Needless to say, Originium is essentially a world of flesh and blood, according to Prissis. She has been cleaning it for tens of thousands of years, and it is still not clean. The extent of the accumulated content is unimaginable, and the number of iterations is outrageous.

Ernst found it hard to imagine what the consequences would be of using that thing to mind control the Terrans.

Have they all gone mad?

Besides, he didn't completely trust Precys. Who knew if Precys would secretly do something to advance her "Panku Project" if Ernst made this request?

Don't say things like, "You really don't trust the moral standards of a previous civilization at all! If you ask her for a promise, would she really break it?"

That’s not necessarily the case!

Don't believe me? Look at the living example right in front of you! Look at the Doctor and Priscilla. Guess how many schemes they secretly plotted behind each other's backs after promising to sleep soundly until dawn?

As for the Heavenly Pivot, that's even less believable!

Even if that thing were to be used as the black box for calculating the growth and evolution of the Deep Blue Tree according to the doctor's plan, Ernst wouldn't dare to use it carelessly, no matter where it was.

That thing has terrible judgment; it can pick just anyone! There are probably some bugs in its internal programming.

Ernst reasonably suspects that either Heaven's Pivot has encountered some internal problems over the years, or it has been affected by external forces, including but not limited to the Observer, Precyth, Ed, or something else Ernst doesn't know about. Sooner or later, something will happen.

Considering that it is also connected to the real "body" outside the sky, and could launch a planetary explosion at Terra at any time, Ernst's attitude is to leave it as long as the Shit Mountain code can still run!

He's always been wary of that thing!

Moreover, it also involves Lateran, an ally of Sherag. Ivangelista XI is one of the few people Ernst can talk to on this land, who shares his views and values. Ernst doesn't want to give him a big one!

He can maintain this military presence, but he must use it cautiously.

A wise man keeps his talents hidden until the right time to act.

As for when that time was

Ernst hoped that day would never come.

Compared to the overly destructive products of the survival plan, such as [Originium] and [Heaven's Pivot], Ernst cares more about the one in front of him.

"And what about you, Friston?"