69novels Page 459
Page 459
"Xiao Lun, you're too naive. The essence of war is plunder. Taotie plunders lives and resources, demons plunder faith and souls, and we... or rather General Dukao, he's plundering the future of Earth, gambling on the hope of Deno. Everyone is fighting for something, just for different things."
"you shut up!"
Qi Lin glared angrily at Lena, "Don't use your robber's logic to tarnish our sacrifice!"
"This isn't my logic; it's a law of the universe. Even America on Earth isn't like that. Their high welfare and high incomes are all obtained by robbing weaker countries."
Lena shrugged dismissively.
"You may not accept it, but the facts are there."
"Fuck your laws of the universe!"
Liu Chuang completely erupted, pointing at Reina and then at Dukao.
"I don't care about any universal laws, nor do I care about any bullshit god-making project! All I know is that this is Earth, our home! Anyone who wants to run wild here, anyone who wants to use our home as a testing ground, I'll kill them! I don't care if they're a glutton or a demon, I don't care if they're some bullshit god!"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally settling on Dukao's face, and said, word by word:
"This also includes those who, under the guise of doing what's best for us, push us into a pit of fire!"
These words struck Dukao's heart like a heavy hammer.
He abruptly raised his head, looking at the young people he had personally selected and on whom he had placed high hopes. Their faces showed anger, confusion, and disappointment, but above all, the pain of betrayal.
He suddenly realized that he might have made a fatal mistake.
He brought advanced genetic technology and experience in combating space warfare from Denos, believing he was bringing a spark of hope. But he overlooked the most important point—he did not, and could not, bring humanity's own "justification for war."
He has been using Deno's logic to drive a war on Earth.
He told them who the enemy was and how to fight, but forgot to ask them what kind of war they themselves wanted to fight.
"General,"
Ge Xiaolun, who had been silent all along, finally spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears.
I have a question.
He looked at Dukao, his eyes no longer filled with the naivety and hesitation of the past, but instead with an unprecedented clarity and seriousness.
"If... I mean if, there were no Taotie, no demons, and no angels. Just our Super God Academy on Earth. Would you... still activate us? Would you still make us gods?"
This question left everyone stunned.
It transcends the framework of "raising a treacherous insect" and directly addresses the motivation behind the deification project itself.
Dukao looked at Ge Xiaolun, the most important piece in his eyes, the "Galactic Force" that carried the hope of the revival of the Deno civilization.
He recalled the era in the Deno system, before it was ravaged by war. Back then, the project to create gods was already underway in secret. Their goal then was to surpass the Sun and become the ruler of the known universe.
Therefore, the answer to Ge Xiaolun's question is yes.
Even without external enemies, the project of creating gods will continue. Because "god" itself is a kind of power, a kind of deterrence, a kind of... ambition.
Dukao opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
He couldn't bring himself to tell this naive young man the cruel truth.
Looking at his expression, Ge Xiaolun suddenly smiled. The smile was tinged with bitterness, yet also with a sense of relief.
"I understand."
He turned around and walked out of the command room.
"Xiao Lun! Where are you going?!"
Zhao Xin hurriedly shouted.
Ge Xiaolun didn't turn around; he simply waved his hand, his voice calm as he spoke:
"Go outside for some fresh air and think about something."
"I'll go as well."
Liu Chuang glanced at Dukao, whose face was ashen, snorted coldly, and followed him.
Zhao Xin, Qi Lin, Cheng Yaowen… one by one, the soldiers of the Super Soldier Company silently walked out of the command room. They didn't say another word, but their actions had already shown their attitude.
Finally, only Rose and Lena remained in the command room.
Rose walked up to Dukao and gently placed her officer's ID on the command platform.
“Dad, I think we need to reconsider whose war this is really.”
After saying that, she turned and left.
The huge command room suddenly became empty. Only Dukao, Lianfeng, and a few bewildered staff officers remained.
Lena walked over to Dukao and, seeing his dejected appearance, surprisingly refrained from making any sarcastic remarks.
“Hey, Dukao,”
She nudged him with her elbow.
"You've gone too far, haven't you? I told you long ago, Earthlings are different from us. Deep down, they have a kind of drive that you Deno people can't understand... You can use them (damn), but don't try to control them. Especially after they figure out what they're fighting for."
Dukao slowly raised his head, looking at the still-shining question on the screen, his eyes filled with despair.
He lost.
They didn't lose to that mysterious "teacher," but to the young warriors he had personally trained.
His meticulously constructed war machine, centered on the will of Denor, completely crumbled at this moment because of a question that struck at the very core.
Inside the seaside villa, Feng Shayan watched this scene with mixed feelings.
"Sir, are they... going their separate ways?"
"Do not."
Zhou Ye shook his head, a smile of appreciation on his face.
"This is not a breakup, it's a new beginning."
"When a group of soldiers begins to independently consider why they are fighting, they truly transform from weapons into human beings. When a civilization begins to question what is imposed upon them..."
Only when destiny intervenes do they truly possess their own future.
"Dukao's answer sheet has failed. Now, it's the children's turn to hand in their own answers."
He looked at the screen at the young figures standing on the college lawn, the sea breeze blowing, some silent, some arguing, some confused.
"Let me see what kind of path you mortals can take after losing the guidance of God."
Chapter 434 The Mortals' Counterattack
On the lawn of the Super God Academy, the wind blew against my face, carrying a slightly icy sting.
The soldiers of the Super Soldier Company were scattered in twos and threes, like a group of puppets whose spines had been removed. No one spoke; only the sound of the wind and the distant waves crashing against the ship's hull intertwined to create a desolate symphony.
Liu Chuang leaned against the railing, pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and shook it for a while before finally managing to get one out. He cupped his hand around the flame, tried several times to light it, and took a deep drag. The acrid smoke choked him, causing him to cough violently and tears to stream down his face.
"Damn it!" he muttered under his breath, it was unclear whether he was cursing the cigarette or something else.
Zhao Xin squatted down beside him, tossing aside the spear he had once cherished as his life, burying his face in his knees with his hands. He dared not think of his comrades from the Battle of Tianhe, those who had smiled and said, "Brother Xin, cover me," and then never returned. If all of this was a "breeding of poisonous insects," then what did their deaths mean?
Qi Lin and Rui Mengmeng sat together. The policewoman's eyes were red, but she stubbornly refused to let the tears fall. She just kept wiping her sniper rifle; the cold, metallic touch was the only reality she could grasp at that moment.
Rose stood alone at the bow of the ship, letting the sea breeze whip her red hair wildly. Her back was straight and solitary, like a sword drawn from its sheath, but only she knew the storm raging within her heart. Her father's hesitation was like a dull knife, repeatedly cutting into her heart. She had always thought she was fighting for this country, for this planet, but in the end, it seemed that she and her father had been on opposing sides from the very beginning.
Ge Xiaolun, the so-called "Power of the Galaxy," was now the most bewildered person. He sat on a container, looking up at the sky that had returned to its azure color, as if those heart-wrenching words were still imprinted on it.
"Experimental subject... price... chess piece..."
These words swirled in his mind like a swarm of flies that wouldn't go away. He wanted to refute, to roar, to tell everyone that it wasn't true. But Dukao's silence and Lena's bluntness were like two mountains, pressing down on him, making it hard for him to breathe.
He suddenly remembered that before joining the 520th Army, he was just an ordinary college student. His biggest worries every day were what to eat the next day and whether his rank in the game had dropped. He would toss and turn at night for a girl he had a crush on, and he would sigh and lament over failing exams. Those days were ordinary and mundane, but they were real and lovely.
When did everything change?
Did it begin when he was told he possessed superhuman genes? Or did it begin when he donned this black armor?
He became a hero, a god, the "Force of the Galaxy" in other people's eyes. He thought he was carrying the future of the Earth on his shoulders, but now someone is telling him that he may only be carrying the ambitions of another civilization.
"Xiao Lun."
A voice interrupted his thoughts. It was Rose.
She walked over to him and sat down in the same way, her legs dangling in the air and swinging gently.
"What are you thinking about?" Her voice was very soft.
“I’m thinking… if I didn’t have this gene, would things be better?” Ge Xiaolun’s voice was a little hoarse. “Then, I would just be an ordinary person. During the Tianhe Battle, I might die, or I might be so scared that I wet my pants. But at least, I would die knowing why. I would die to protect the family behind me, not to become some Gu King in some plan.”
. "
Rose remained silent for a moment.
"maybe."
She said,
"But there are no ifs. From the moment we were chosen, we had no choice."
No, we do.
Ge Xiaolun suddenly turned his head, his eyes no longer filled with confusion, but with a calm that came after a do-or-die attitude. "Before, we had no choice because we didn't know the truth. We thought that following General Ducao was the only way. But now, that teacher, His Excellency Zhou Ye, has presented us with a choice."
His gaze swept over each of his dejected comrades on the deck.
"Should we continue to be pawns of Denor, or... fight a war of our own for ourselves, for the Earth?"
This sentence, like a pebble thrown into stagnant water, stirred up ripples.
Liu Chuang stubbed out his cigarette and stood up straight.
"Xiao Lun is right! Damn it, my life is my own! Why should I be used as a pawn by others?!"
Zhao Xin also raised his head, and his eyes regained their light.
"Yes! We are the Super Soldier Company, the army of Earth! Not some legacy of Deno!"
"But……"
Qi Lin hesitated,
"Without General Dukao, without the Super God Academy, what... what are we supposed to do? The Taotie are still here, and the demons are still here. We can't even get intelligence on the enemy, let alone formulate a battle plan."