People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

Why can't it be faster?

The Deep Blue Tree needs to evolve at a faster speed!

If Priscilla hadn't told him that white lie, he would have eventually recovered anyway.

But by that time, he must have already lost all memory of them.

She didn't want to wait any longer, she didn't want to wait for ten, forty, or four hundred millennia!

She wanted to see him again, the complete him! As soon as possible!

As her thoughts gradually cleared, she came up with a most revolutionary plan.

She turned her head to look at the enormous beast. The beast sensed her emotions and hadn't spoken since she turned away.

He was her and his friend, and also her and his child. From her, she gained power and shouldered responsibilities; from him, he learned to think and strengthen his resolve.

Now, he has not returned for a long time, and she has become so haggard and silent. The laughter and joy of the past are completely gone from the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory. Even if He is completely devoid of human emotions, He can at least sense that He should do something.

One of His ideas was to carry her to find him.

Now, facing her gaze, He earnestly asked a question.

Is there anything I can do to help?

"Continued existence".

The woman slowly uttered the term.

The behemoth nodded silently.

This word has been repeatedly mentioned by humankind, and He knows that it must have a special meaning for them.

How to continue operating?

He asked.

"Turn passivity into initiative."

"I will help you with the largest renovation ever."

"This transformation will completely overturn your past form of existence, but in return, you will gain stronger power, more complete authority, and a faster rate of evolution."

“Our caregiver model will expand outwards until it covers everything.”

Based on the ability of giant beasts to independently nurture ecosystems within their bodies, the technology of the Bio-Ark has been thoroughly validated in Talos and is now extremely mature.

With the energy pumped from the Earth's core, the Deep Blue Tree can evolve and grow fully over countless years.

But that would be too slow.

The frail life trapped inside the behemoth's body iterates and evolves too slowly.

The offspring need to be liberated, to leave the giant beast's body, to adapt to more environments, to seize more nutrients, and in turn, to feed the giant beast and accelerate its evolution!

Ultimately, He and His offspring will devour all living beings and disintegrate the stars and the moon. The living and the dead will become His nourishment.

"This is also a form of life's continuation."

"Just as the continuation of civilization is accompanied by the demise of more civilizations, the continuation of life is always accompanied by the demise of more lives."

"During the long years that the young animals accumulated nutrients for the giants, many species went extinct because of their activities. I once recorded that number, but I forgot about it."

"Because this process is necessary, when Ishar-mla awoke, that tiny number had already lost its meaning."

“Father, He is your successor.”

The Sea Child, who calls himself Maritus, tells a terrifying story.

"When a life devours all information."

"His existence is equivalent to the continuation of life and the continuation of civilization."

"When even the final disaster can no longer harm Him in the slightest."

“Father, in this world today, only you can realize what He is, only you can realize His value, only you can realize what hope He is.”

At this point, Malitus had already prostrated himself on the ground, and in a deeply moving tone, he made a sincere plea:

"Therefore, Father, become one with Him."

Ernst fell silent.

He suddenly realized that perhaps no one in the prehistoric civilization was a "normal person" as he understood them.

Perhaps the pressure of the apocalypse distorted everyone's thinking, or perhaps the development of civilization made Ernst gradually fall behind the times, or perhaps he simply couldn't accept this terrifying way of playing the game.

If he hasn't misunderstood.

Does Maritus mean that the Sea Child was arranged by Loben himself?

In response to the inhumane destruction and assimilation of civilization, the Deep Blue Tree has undergone a disruptive transformation of the behemoth's introverted characteristics, a departure from its usual practices.

In reality, she never truly deviated from the goal she set for her survival plan at the very end.

Her ultimate goal was to have the Deep Blue Tree devour everything, including herself, so that it could immediately return and exist forever.

Ernst suddenly got goosebumps all over his body. Maritus's words, his title, and his description of the Deep Blue Tree reminded him of a comic book he had read in his previous life.

He translated what Maritus was saying by referring to the comic book:

Alas, [Deep Blue Tree], listen to me, you know how much pain I've been in since "Treasure" left.

I always thought I had lost him forever, but I recently discovered that's not the case.

I've noticed that you, [Deep Blue Tree], are quite similar to "Treasure." I didn't think so at first, but lately the resemblance is becoming more and more apparent.

You can't replace "Treasure," but if you evolve even faster and devour everything, then when "Treasure" revives, will his soul be left forever in your body?

It must be absolutely true! I feel that the soul of "Treasure" Six has been resurrected! His soul can definitely revive in your body! When that time comes, you who devour him will be able to replace [Amber]! In this way, you will be forever rid of that damned [Observer]! "Treasure" can then be with me forever!

You think so too, right? You're willing to accept this kind of transformation, aren't you? "Treasure" must have had this idea when he raised you with me! This must have been his wish too!

What a display of filial piety and righteousness!

Chapter 1088 Kal'tsit, Full Power Unleashed!

"This is the hope we have found beneath the ocean. Children of the sea, offspring of the deep blue tree, the continuation of your will."

Imagine if one day, a guy who isn't exactly handsome or dashing, but at least looks inhuman, stood in front of you, solemnly called you "Dad," and launched into a long-winded explanation of concepts that sounded bizarre and dangerous. How would you react?

At least Ernst now understands Trevor Friston a little better.

No wonder it took Mark Max so long to finally make up his mind to accept Mark Max as his "child" after he had been awake for so long.

Moreover, even with this form of acceptance, he still had to change his appearance to reduce his inner resistance and sense of strangeness.

Humans are still humans. No matter how loving their character or how high their moral standards, some things will never change, such as their almost innate sense of belonging to their fellow human beings.

We might say dogs are man's best friend, but we would never say dogs are human too. Even if dogs are sometimes more trustworthy than humans, in reality, most of the time, humans still use "dog" as an offensive term when swearing!

Now, facing Heiss, who was extremely humble and eloquent in his presence, Ernst had only one thought.

He turned his head slightly, glancing at the panting Kal'tsit out of the corner of his eye.

Lao Bo, Lao Pu, surely it's not just your kids who are the most rebellious?

"Phew—I think you're thinking something very rude."

As Kal'tsit adjusted her breathing, she glanced sideways at Ernst's intensely suspicious gaze.

Ernst quickly shook his head.

How could that be? How could I secretly slander you? Kal'tsit, how could you think of me like that? You bad cat!

Kal'tsit frowned suspiciously, but didn't dwell on the matter.

Her gaze fell upon Maritus.

The prehistoric civilization left behind far too many messes on Terra. More than half of the unsolvable problems Terra faces today are related to the prehistoric civilization.

The Originium problem is one issue, and the Hyster problem is another.

Either of these problems, if allowed to develop, would constitute a cosmic crisis far exceeding the level of demons. Although for Terra, there isn't much difference between a cosmic-level and a planetary-level crisis.

Judging from the current situation, the issue of the Sealings is more complex than the issue of Originium. At least, on the issue of Originium, Precys has always kept her promise, and she has never intentionally wanted to harm Ernst.

But Hai Si and his group did indeed come with the determination to harm everything.

“Ama-10, you don’t need to look at me with that dangerous gaze.”

Maritus seemed to sense Kal'tsit's undisguised hostility. His prostrate body slowly straightened, and the nucleus-like crystals in his brain coalesced and dispersed, as if completing a round of thinking.

"The Legion knows what you care about. Terra's civilization is weak; they are powerless to stop the final calamity. But the Legion hopes you can understand."

“We have been waiting for you for a long time. Your knowledge can help the swarm evolve, and the swarm can also help you answer your questions. We are a match made in heaven.”

“Kal'tsit, you should know the motto of this arena of wits beneath our feet—a motto I left here, and only now do I truly understand it—”

There is no justice here, only the road ahead.

All great works require sacrifice. The other creatures of Terra may not understand, but they will obey.

Every life form in this universe has only one chance to face the Observer, whether it is human or Terra.

If the Terran civilization can't capture him, then they should send a large horde.

But Ernst didn't want to argue with him about these things at that moment.

In his view, the ancient civilizations had become somewhat obsessed as they approached their final moments.

Admittedly, they proposed one plan after another that might solve the problem of the Observer, but regardless of their plans, whether it be Originium or the Blue Tree, they are only theoretically possible. Even if they did succeed, as the Doctor and Ernst repeatedly asked in the Preservator's Stasis Chamber:

Where is he/she?

[Originium] and [Azure Tree] are the keys to success. Where are you going to find information about people, and where are you going to protect them and bring them into the Ark of Life?

The answer, of course, is no one.

This shows that the "prophet" truly deserves to be called the most clear-headed person among all of them.

Realizing that no plan could save humanity from extinction, he decisively handed the opportunity to future civilizations.

His vision was one of passing the torch from generation to generation, ensuring its eternal existence. Perhaps such an abstract concept is difficult for some to empathize with or understand, but Ernst can offer some simpler and more relatable analogies:

It's like someone choosing to donate their organs after they die, and these organs have antibodies that fight against certain diseases that humanity has not yet conquered.

In traditional thinking, keeping one's body intact is indeed a matter of dignity, but you can't say that someone who makes such a choice is immoral. On the contrary, it is generally considered a particularly noble act in society.

While the Azure Tree and Originium were trying every means to trample on the bottom line of morality, attempting to "transform into other life forms to continue" and "seal everyone in amber to ensure their immortality," only the Prophet was still adhering to the original, universal moral bottom line of the human civilization they inhabited.

He probably saw it very clearly: even if, with the help of Originium and the Blue Tree, a few survivors of human civilization were to be allowed to live, they would no longer have much to do with the humans they remembered.

When a person's long-held morals, order, self-worth, and sense of belonging to civilization are all trampled on, leaving them only with a chance to eke out a living, can that person still be considered a human being?

If the Insect Lord from FGO encountered his younger self, wouldn't he be the one who, as a righteous hero in his youth, would choose to eliminate him immediately?

Faced with the choice between "living without being human" and "dying while retaining human identity but leaving behind hope," the "prophet" chose the latter, adhering to the last trace of human civilization that could be called "civilization" left in this world.

The other two, regardless of their motives or ultimate thoughts, both chose the former.

Luo chose the most extreme path.

"Maritus."

Ernst spoke for the first time, stopping the repeated debate and tug-of-war between Maritus and Kelsey.

Kal'tsit was actually losing a bit of a debate with Maritus. It wasn't that she was at a loss for words; when it came to reasoning, Kal'tsit had never been afraid of anyone. Even though she was often rendered speechless by Ernst, Precys, and the Doctor, it wasn't that she couldn't argue back; she just didn't dare to continue.

The same is true now.

Since Ernst remained silent, Kelsey dared not resort to overly aggressive debate.

She lacked confidence and composure.

She can't rely on anyone's power.

She feared that Ernst might actually accept Maritus's claim—though, knowing Ernst as she did, it was highly unlikely he would agree.

But now, Ernst has spoken.

Kal'tsit immediately shut her mouth and turned her head away. Ernst could feel the expectation in her eyes.

He nodded slightly at her.

Kal'tsit finally breathed a sigh of relief, and even straightened her back a little more.

Ernst inquired: