People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

"Maritus, is anyone still alive in Agor?"

Maritus seemed surprised that Ernst's first question to them was this one. He, and the large group behind him, remained silent for a moment before replying with a hint of disappointment:

“There are still a few units inside the command beacon tower of Miriam.”

"The rest of the Agorians are already here."

Ernst's gaze passed through it, looking at the sea creatures floating in this building called "Battleground of Wits".

They were all assimilated Agorians.

There is no justice here, only the road ahead—this statement is easy to make. But if we set aside the concept of grand narratives, these are the costs.

And this is far from "all the costs".

If Hai Si were to set foot on land, such scenes would unfold all around us, unless Ernst makes a decision now.

“Maritus, if I were to ask you now to lift the blockade on Miriarum and all of Agor and to allow the Haisi to withdraw their troops from Agor, would you accept it?”

The nucleus within Maritus's cranial cavity vibrated, which seemed to be a manifestation of some kind of tangible emotion of "shock".

"Father, why is this?"

“I don’t trust you,” Ernst replied calmly.

Maritus shook his head in bewilderment, the crystal core shrinking tightly into a ball, as if being clenched tightly, feeling a heart-wrenching pain:

"Of course you can trust us!"

“Maritus, you have an obvious misunderstanding about me.”

Ernst shook his head.

"You are Haisi, but I am human."

"If you want to convince me, the first step you should take is to look like a human being."

"Secondly, I am the kind of person who responds better to gentle persuasion than force. The more you try to force me to make a certain choice, the less likely I am to agree."

Precys did this very well. She almost never pressured Ernst to do anything, not even with the meticulously planned "Panku Project." She merely presented the possibility, demonstrated the possibility, and painted a sufficiently grand picture, but never forced Ernst to choose her.

Therefore, when Ernst was considering the Ark Project, he would not really abandon the Panku Project, because he was also very clear that if the Ark sank in the end, restarting it on his own would indeed be the last and best option.

Ernst didn't know what kind of personality Lo was, but at least this Haisi Maritus could call him father, which pleased Ernst. However, Ernst didn't like the tone of his voice.

Moreover, Ernst also had to remind him of a very simple truth:

"What I'm hearing now is only your side of the story."

“And Maritus, you are a Haisi transformed from an Agorian. You are not the first person in charge of the Deep Blue Tree, you are not any of the Newborn who can truly represent the will of the Great Group, and you are not Lo himself.”

"You now call me 'Father,' claim that you are carrying out the will of 'Lo,' and are explaining the 'Blue Tree' project to me in your own way, and then you expect me to accept a series of viewpoints you are presenting."

"What difference do you see between yourself and these arrogant Agorians that you now despise and want to destroy?"

"Lord Ernst is right! What's the difference?"

Kal'tsit repeated it as if to chime in.

Ernst coughed involuntarily, and Maritus's gaze fell upon her.

Kal'tsit instinctively shrank back, but then immediately realized she had someone backing her up! So she straightened up again, speaking with righteous indignation:

“I have witnessed Agor’s arrogance, but this is the first time I have heard of Haisi’s arrogance.”

“Maritus, is there something wrong with what Lord Ernst said?”

"You called him 'Father' without my permission. Did you gain his or Luo's approval?"

"As an Agorian, you rashly explored the mantle laboratory, came into contact with the [Deep Blue Tree], and swallowed its flesh and blood to transform into a Sea Child. You then considered yourself to be the [Deep Blue Tree]'s agent and the heir to [Hope]. Whose opinion did you consult?"

"Now you've brought so many Sea Heirs, surrounding Lord Ernst and me in this 'Battle Arena' you created, and are making your so-called suggestions to us in a coercive manner. What are you so afraid of?"

"If you are truly so confident, why did you wait until Ernst stepped into the sea before daring to approach? If the large group you led truly respected Lord Ernst so much, how could you, the leader of the Deep Sea Church, have allowed your bishop to lead the Sea Heirs to attack your [Father] in Iberia?"

Kal'tsit coldly delivered her verdict:

"I firmly support Lord Ernst's decision and agree with his views. We will never listen to your one-sided account of the facts regarding the [Deep Blue Tree]."

"In fact, according to the intelligence I have, the [Deep Blue Tree] has been in a state of stagnation for the past ten thousand years. It has only recently become active again. And the culprit behind all of this is you."

"You led Haisi down this path, abusing the creations of the ancient civilization, and guiding the creations of the survival plan born of hope toward depravity. If you still have even the slightest sense of responsibility towards the Father, the ancient civilization, or the Great Horde you belong to, you should return the nutrients you have embezzled to the Great Horde right now!"

“Your depraved species is not unfamiliar to us, but your recent blasphemous acts far surpass our darkest fears.”

"You should kill yourself!"

Ernst looked at Kelsey with some shock.

Holy crap, they're going all out!

What a great cat, so easy to scold!

That's right, breathe on others, not your own people, you finally got it, Kal'tsit!

Ernst turned to look at Maritus.

The nucleus in the other person's skull stopped functioning, and the person's entire body seemed to dim, losing the iridescent bioluminescence it had just displayed.

Ernst was a little unsure of his situation, but he looked around at the densely packed, countless sea creatures.

On the other hand, Kal'tsit, you're cursing so harshly, it may feel good, but what if the other side kills you?

Ernst swallowed hard, took a small step back to shield Kal'tsit in front of him, and then reached into his inner bag to pull out [Ananna].

If the situation changes, he needs to have a chance to retaliate!

However, after a while, Maritus still did not respond.

Kal'tsit blinked, stepped forward, and as if confirming something, turned back and said:

"Lord Ernst, he's dead?"

Ernst: "You really told him he was dead?"

Kal'tsit: "Sorry? Uh, thank you for the compliment?"

For a moment, she really didn't know what to say.

I told you to commit suicide to put some pressure on you, but you really just said you'd die?

This makes me so embarrassed.

“It’s okay, he just felt it was necessary to take responsibility for your distrust of the group.”

Suddenly, another voice from Hai Si rang out.

Ernst turned around, and this time it was a blooming flower-shaped Haisi.

What was once a flower bud is now covered with mouthparts densely packed with tiny, sharp thorns, looking somewhat droopy, but the sound it makes is, how should I put it, a kind of Victorian, rigid gentlemanly feel.

"you are?"

"Hai Si, if you wish, you may also call me Maritus."

"Ma"

Seemingly noticing Ernst's confusion, he explained:

“Maritus has already shared all his knowledge with the great multitude, and within the great multitude we are all brothers, all one, without distinction.”

"So I can also borrow this name."

He bowed slightly to Ernst, his sucker-covered stem bending as if he were bowing or paying his respects, but this strange imitation of a human only made people feel more fearful and eerie.

"The group has been informed of your request."

"We will retreat for now, and the doors of Deep Blue Labs will be open to you."

"If you wish—please believe this is not coercion, but merely a suggestion—you may bring Ilhar-mla, and we will awaken her for you. She has the human form you desire and can represent the will of a [newborn]. We hope she can represent the Legion and speak with you."

"I hope this will not offend you again, Father. Please have more trust in us."

Ernst did not answer; he knew who the second [Maritus] was referring to.

Skadi.

It was definitely the right decision not to bring Skadi with me this time when we went to sea.

If it were the same [Maritus] from before, he probably wouldn't have asked Ernst for his opinion, but would have directly awakened the so-called lshar-mla.

As for whether or not to bring her along in the future.

You made a suggestion, but I don't necessarily have to listen to it!

Do you even understand human nature? This is called "all's fair in war"!

Hai Si is still too young; you simply don't understand the extent of human treachery!

Ernst nodded without batting an eye. Then, [Maritus] again used his flower-like body to perform a strange human greeting towards Ernst.

Then, a gap appeared in Hai Si's encirclement, and countless [Piercers], which were also flower-shaped but had spears and spikes growing from their mouths, swam upwards, twisting their bodies into arrowheads, pointing Ernst in a direction.

0 That's the direction of the command beacon tower.

Chapter 1089 Clementine: Coast Guard, come out and greet our guests!

Agor, Milyarum, Beacon Command Tower.

“Governor Clementsa, you are here.”

When Sikunda hurriedly found Clementa, she was in Command Tower C.

The city units contained in Sector 1C are key to the structural reorganization of the entire city. Once Sector 1C is recaptured, Clemensa can order the beacon tower to be separated from the city units, restart the city skeleton linkage device in the remaining part of the city, reorganize Miriam, and open the position that was not opened in the first wave of the Hitz's attack—if it is still intact—in order to break out of the Hitz's encirclement.

As for where to go after breaking out of the encirclement, Clementa hadn't decided yet.

San might be the local area, or it might be land, or it might be some uninhabited area in the ocean that has not yet been polluted by the sea.

She had previously ordered Sikunda to go to the arena where the Sea Si waves gathered to check the situation, and now that Sikunda has returned, she must have already drawn some conclusions.

Clementa turned her head nervously to look at Sikunda, hoping she could bring good news, or at least not something too bad.

Faced with such gazes, Sikunda couldn't help but feel a bit of pressure.

She paused for a moment before answering:

"Governor Clementsa, an extremely unusual biosignal has been detected in the arena of wits."

Clementine pursed her lips and pressed on, "Special?"

Sikunda nodded:

"We have discovered life signals from land-dwelling humans."

He paused and added:

"Three."

The life signals of land people are different from those of Agor people, and even more different from those of sea people. Land people's bodies will have some traces of Originium, but the Originium content in Agor people's bodies is basically 0.

The arena was teeming with too many Sea Heirs, making it difficult for the last patrol team led by Sikunda to conduct a thorough investigation. The fact that they were able to discover those three special signals from the densely packed Sea Heirs was thanks to their unique "formation".

If they were all huddled together, even with Xikunda's excellent eyesight, she wouldn't be able to distinguish them. But unfortunately, those sea creatures...

They seemed to be deliberately keeping their distance from the three lives at the center.

They seemed to be feeling fear.

"Land people"

Clementine murmured, for some reason, the image of that person would unconsciously appear in her mind whenever the word was mentioned.

"Is this Mr. Ernst?"

She tried to ask, even though she knew Sikunda would have no chance of answering. It was more like talking to herself.

But to her surprise, Sikunda actually answered.

The coast guard captain looked troubled, gritted her teeth, and seemed to have something difficult to say. After hesitating for a while, she finally shook her head:

"Consul Clementsa, you'd better hope that it's not Mr. Ernst."

Clementa frowned, about to say something, but seeing Sikunda's expression, she suddenly understood what she meant.

Yes, if that were Mr. Ernst, his situation would probably be far more dangerous than mine.

Clementa's daring journey into the ocean to Miriarum, followed by her being surrounded by the sea creatures, still sends chills down her spine and leaves her speechless when she recalls the magnificent sight of those ferocious dinosaurs forming a biological black hole.