Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

"Is this the end of the punishment?"

Coco was still somewhat incredulous, after all, she only learned the reason why Luo Tianming was so angry after she came out.

Luo Tianming gave a wry smile: "What else can we do? Actually, if it weren't for the fact that you kept it from everyone, you should have been rewarded just for resolving the outbreak of the Europa civil war."

Coco: "But..."

He shook his head and said:

"I don't blame anyone. Major Soloviev must have been prepared to sacrifice himself long ago, which is why he decided to defend Novomoskov Station to the death."

"He knew better than anyone that if the tens of tons of munitions there had been lost, Europa would now be a place where heroes rise up everywhere and pirates plunder everywhere."

"The major could not tolerate his beloved homeland becoming like that. He had invested more than his own life in this alliance, so he was willing to sacrifice himself and had no one to blame but himself."

"As for the 50,000 casualties... perhaps they had no way out from the moment the Alliance chose the shelter plan."

In reality, the 50,000 casualties had little to do with them. The number of deaths on the front lines of the fiercest fighting in the capital was only around 4000, according to statistics. What was truly terrifying were the places outside, where hundreds or thousands of people died silently every day.

They weren't even recorded in the league's casualty list.

As for the civil war that nearly caused the Europa alliance to break up, Luo Tianming felt no hatred... After calming down and rethinking, he realized that his purpose had not changed:

Head to the 'Eye of Europa' to resolve the radiation problem currently facing Europa. The remaining issues of survival, morality, and society can be left to humanity to solve.

He doesn't want to be a savior. If humanity messes up and is wiped out, it has nothing to do with him.

After he reiterated his purpose, most of the Nautilus crew members agreed with his view.

If we're talking about the female members present, their sense of belonging to the Europa Alliance is probably not as strong as their sense of belonging to Captain Luo Tianming. The fact that they are currently united is inseparable from Captain Luo Tianming's presence.

So... how many people died?

What's it to them?

No matter how many people there are, they are not as important as the smile on Luo Tianming's face. As long as Luo Tianming doesn't foolishly declare that he wants to save the current Europa alliance, everyone will stick to the rules and let him do whatever he wants.

However, this matter was irrelevant to the people on the Nautilus.

But for Europa as a whole... the trauma caused by this civil war far exceeded their imagination.

Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, the stations at 'Cold Cavern' and 'Europa Ridge' were almost all destroyed, and the radiation continued to relentlessly penetrate deeper day by day. Public radios across the four factions were filled with news calls for a ceasefire.

At that very moment, Luo Tianming encountered someone he never expected.

Chapter 403 The Courage to Commit Suicide

The opportunity arose when Luo Tianming went out to return Rose to her father, and Lieutenant General Lycam suddenly grabbed him and said:

"There's someone from the Painted Skin Cult, would you like to meet them?"

Luo Tianming replied, "If it's a criminal who hasn't been imprisoned, then arrest him first, throw him in jail, give him a beating, and interrogate him until he tells us his purpose. Don't underestimate how stubborn these guys are."

Lieutenant General Laycam chuckled awkwardly: "He's been in prison the whole time. I was just swayed by the terms they offered, but they didn't think I, as a lieutenant general, was qualified..."

"..."

What kind of talk is this? A lieutenant general is not qualified... The Europa Alliance does not have a position like 'five-star admiral'.

Luo Tianming: "What conditions did he offer you?"

"Doctors... a large number of well-trained doctors and nurses can solve the current medical shortage in the capital and other places. Our wounded soldiers must be treated as soon as possible."

"Furthermore, he is willing to reach a reconciliation with the Europa alliance to resolve the civil war as soon as possible."

Lieutenant General Lycam sighed. If he had only been moved before, now that his daughter was back by his side, he was completely convinced.

He was already incredibly lucky to have survived such a brutal war, and he dared not gamble with his remaining time. He just wanted to calm things down as soon as possible.

In addition to silencing the wailing people, the doctors also needed to win them over and appease them in order to quell the chaos in the capital. The lieutenant general's original idea was to execute all the people associated with the Painted Skin Cult. The incinerator was already built and all that was needed was to add fuel to the fire.

But in the end, he discovered that he couldn't do it.

There are so many people associated with the Painted Skin Cult that even with the use of the still-unfinished lower-level prison, it is currently overcrowded.

Burn them all to death... The 'soap' made inside will last for several years.

The key lies in four words: only punish the ringleaders.

But the most important archbishop, Yakov, escaped, which greatly angered the lieutenant general.

The guy in the prison who wanted to see Major Luo was the biggest fish left, but it wasn't caught by his soldiers. The guy himself walked to the prison gate and said he wanted to see Captain Luo.

Laikam interrogated the man, but the man said that the rank of 'Lieutenant General' was not high enough.

At first, Lieutenant General Lycam was quite dismissive... but then he realized that his status was indeed insufficient.

After hearing the other party's plan, he realized how superficial his role in this civil war was... and that someone of sufficient stature was indeed needed to stand up and shout for an end to the war and to weather the storm together!

His alliance's members who say such things will only be drowned out by endless debates.

But... if this person is Major Luo Tianming, then the situation is different.

Due to his special status, the Alliance cannot simply regard him as a major. He is also well-connected with various factions on Europa, is a recognized good guy, and has titles such as Alliance Hero and Beast Slayer.

Major Luo Tianming is undoubtedly the best candidate.

……

Everyone saw it that way, including the ship's doctor who was sitting in the prison.

His prison was lenient: one person, one table, and a crooked, parasitic dagger lying across the table.

He seemed to have been prepared, and the soldiers seemed to have sensed his will to die, so the ship's doctor was not wearing any shackles.

After Luo Tianming walked in, he saw that the ship's doctor was wearing a clean black robe and had taken off his hood, as if he wanted everyone to see his face clearly.

"Sigh, you shouldn't have gotten involved in this kind of thing," Luo Tianming said, looking at him with some disappointment.

"Wouldn't it be better to just be a ship's doctor?"

"..."

The ship's doctor said calmly, "If I had a choice, I would also like to be a ship's doctor who does nothing, but I don't really have a choice."

"The Archbishop's vision is too grand and too beautiful... The magnificent imperial prospect has made us all lose ourselves, and the Alliance has just the right time to push each of us to the brink of despair."

Luo Tianming sneered disdainfully: "You're not trying to say you're actually innocent, are you?"

"No, that's not true. I don't have the same thick skin as Lord Bach and the Archbishop. No one is an innocent lamb."

"That's what the ship's doctor said."

"But I hope that when Captain Luo ends this civil war, he will not forget that the soldiers of the Europa Alliance who rebelled were not instigated by us, but that they had already lost their way to survive, and we were just giving them another option."

"It was because some people couldn't stand this situation that war was ultimately triggered. Everyone made the most extreme choices due to misjudgment; it was human folly that caused the war."

Luo Tianming didn't want to summarize these grand principles; he only came here to ask one question:

"why me?"

The ship's doctor said firmly, "Because only you have the ability to end humanity's civil war, and you and the four major factions all possess..."

He waved his hand to interrupt, saying, "That's not what I meant. I'm asking why you think I'm bound to take the lead?"

"Wouldn't it be better to let everyone fight it out now? Why bother waking them up? Do I really have to step in and make everyone hate me?"

"..."

The ship's doctor hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "It's too horrific... You have no idea how many people have died outside."

Luo Tianming: "No less than 50,000 people. It's not time for the extinction of the human race, is it?"

"...We're very close. These 50,000 people are none other than young and middle-aged men. They are the backbone of the human race. If this generation were to die out completely, it would take humanity 40 years to return to its current size."

"If any accident had occurred in these forty years, humanity would have been doomed... So we must stop. Not only does the Europa Alliance need to put aside our hatred, but all of us need to put aside our hatred in order to have any chance of protecting ourselves in the crisis to come."

"The alliance should restart the 'Age of Exploration' era of shipping. We need a huge amount of work to forget the current wounds."

Seeing how righteous and indignant this guy was, Luo Tianming couldn't bring himself to refute him anymore.

But as the ship's doctor grabbed the dagger, he still softened and said:

"There's no need for you to 'die,' you haven't done anything wrong. With such insight, wouldn't it be better to live and continue contributing to humanity?"

"..."

The ship's doctor smiled, a smile of relief, but also a bitter smile born of a shattered faith:

"With no one to take the blame, the Europa Alliance is in trouble, the Archbishop is gone... and I'm the only one left with any value here."

"I'll admit that I instigated everything under the archbishop's name, so that the 'Painted Skin Cult' will be willing to reconcile with the alliance. But then, I'm afraid no one will be able to advise the archbishop himself anymore."

“Back then…the archbishop should have listened to you.”

With that, the dagger flashed coldly, the blade piercing through the gap between his ribs, leaving a three-centimeter-deep wound on his heart.

Luo Tianming watched helplessly as all of this unfolded. It wasn't that he was powerless to stop the ship's doctor, but for someone who was already 'dead' in spirit, saving him once was pointless.

His suicide was to exonerate the archbishop and to shield one person from all blame, so as to give the civil war a reason to end.

Luo Tianming had met people like this before... He felt respect for them, but also a bit disdain.

Only cowards would think of ending all their suffering with death, yet these guys insist on making suicide seem heroic, each one putting on the airs of a nobleman committing seppuku.

Chapter 404 Reconciliation

The ship's doctor's death became the catalyst for reconciliation between the Painted Skin Cult and the Europa alliance. The next day, a submarine arrived at the capital's port, and on board disembarked a group of well-trained doctors.

They expressed deep regret over the devastation in the capital... but remained silent about the dead high priest.

It seems that the "Painted Skin Cult" had already reached a consensus to sacrifice him and then take this opportunity to reconcile with the alliance.

Unfortunately... what's past is past, and what's gone is gone forever. The Alliance knows perfectly well that it can't trust the "Painted Skin Cult." The cult only hopes to achieve a temporary reconciliation with the Alliance, at least to avoid being driven into the dark, bottomless icy ocean again.

Luo Tianming reassessed the casualties caused by the war: the majority of the 50,000 dead and wounded were indeed young and middle-aged men. Considering Europa's population composition, this loss was roughly equivalent to France's losses in World War I.

That was a war that emptied an entire generation and turned northern France into the surface of the moon.

The human losses were far greater than imagined, forcing Luo Tianming to abandon his original plan. Others also realized this, so everyone became more cautious.

The radio broadcasts were no longer just pointless whining from each faction, but rather everyone was genuinely discussing how to achieve a ceasefire.

At this point, hatred is no longer an issue. No matter how much fun those people have had, once they are labeled as 'pirates,' a single nuclear bomb will silence them all.

Even if Luo Tianming didn't want to take on the role of 'peace envoy' now, it's estimated that the people in the four major factions would do everything they could to elevate him to that position.

It's said that the high-ranking officers of the Europa Alliance are preparing to promote him three ranks, and a long row of medals lies inside a red velvet cloth. Luo Tianming looked at them and realized that if he didn't have the ability to expand his chest cavity, he probably wouldn't be able to wear so many medals.

The reason these people are trying to curry favor with him is simply because they are afraid that Luo Tianming will really quit. There is currently no one more suitable than him, and no one is willing to lower themselves to do so, let alone have any influence in other camps.

If the standard negotiation and ceasefire process were followed, everyone would first hold their own meetings, then present conditions that no one would agree to, leading to a period of wrangling and bickering. This would take anywhere from a week to a month before everyone went back to reorganize their armies and resume fighting.

The war will last for three months, until one of the four factions can no longer hold out. The remaining three will then swarm in and divide the enemy into pieces, and a ceasefire agreement will be reached.

But if things continue this way, Europa will probably be wiped out before the shelter is built, due to internal strife.

In general, everyone is terrified of this civil war, but they are currently in a state of pride and unable to back down.

Luo Tianming is currently recognized by everyone as the 'stepping stone' that can be used to back down, as he has the status to speak with all four major factions.

Actually, nothing else is needed. As long as he can reach a reconciliation with the "Jupiter separatists," the remaining two camps won't be able to cause any major trouble.

However, there is only one reason why Luo Tianming has been reluctant to accept the role of 'arbitrator' this time:

He suspected that Coco was involved in this matter, and that she certainly hadn't told him the whole plan at the time.

For example... no one ever said what role Lucy played in this plan.

Because of Coco's denial, there is no evidence what she did behind the scenes.

Although Luo Tianming knew that he would find out everything if he asked, he felt it was better not to.

There's no need to investigate everything to the end...

Luo Tianming, who was at the center of the event, declined the invitation to give a speech on public radio and, taking advantage of the opportunity to transport a group of researchers to the dive site, the Nautilus docked at Tomsdale Station.

Having found Catherine, who was in a state of utter distress, he offered her a suggestion at the request of the Europa Alliance leadership:

"If someone told you that they planned to hand over power over a portion of the alliance's controlled territories to you, allowing you to establish your own democratically elected government, how would you feel?"

"Clam--?!"

Catherine's red hair instantly flew back behind her head, and her large and small eyes looked at Luo Tianming with a puzzled expression:

"Whoever came up with this idea must be crazy!"

Luo Tianming shrugged, indicating that the idea wasn't his, and explained: