Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“We”

Li Yao was dazed for a long time. “Who is the so-called ‘we’?”

Xiao Ming did not answer Li Yao’s question directly. Instead, he lowered his head and asked in a different way, “How do you think we should deal with the fleet of the Fuxi Alliance and the people of the Star Glory

Federation? For example, do you think it is appropriate to ask the entire fleet of the Fuxi Alliance to surrender to the imperium?”

Pondering for a moment, Li Yao shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”

“That’s right.”

Xiao Ming said, “Let’s not talk about the citizens of the imperium who were about to fall into enemy hands. I believe that it was not my father’s intention to kill all the citizens of the Star Glory Federation.

“Even if the citizens of the Star Glory Federation are merciful enough to keep the members of the Star Glory Federation alive, the imperial army, which has swallowed the entire fleet of the Fuxi Clan, will be ten times

stronger than the federal army.

“The alliance between the Star Ocean Imperium and the federation is not very stable in the first place. Once the gap between the two parties is too large, it is inevitable that the balance will be disrupted, and new

trouble will certainly arise.

“Therefore, not just us, but also our mother in name, Ding Lingdang, as well as the experts and Cultivators of the federation, will not stand by and watch the imperium swallow the fleet of the Fuxi Clan.

Li Yao thought for a moment and realized that it did make sense.

Of course, he believed in Li Jialing, but it was hard to say the same for Li Linghai or Lei Chenghu. There was a saying that went ‘human nature is kind’, but there was also a saying that went ‘Don’t test human nature

randomly’.

Handing over the entire fleet of the Fuxi Clan to the people of the Star Glory Federation so that the military strength of the Star Glory Federation would be ten times that of the federation, and looking at the entire sea

of stars, there wouldn’t be any new enemies for the time being. Such an action was an out-and-out test of humanity and was destined to lead to a great disaster.

“Then, what about the federal expedition army?

Xiao Ming looked at Li Yao in the eyes and asked, “What do you think, Dad?”

“Of course it is. This way, the gap between the capability of the federation and the imperium will be greatly reduced.

Li Yao said, “However, the imperium wouldn’t stand by and watch the federation swallow the fleet of the Fuxis, would they?

“Yes. My father is right. If the federal expedition army swallows the fleet of the Fuxi Clan, the military gap between the federation and the imperium will be further shortened. The problem is that the people of the

imperium are obviously not blind enough to stand by and watch the federal soldiers take the most abundant trophies.”

Xiao Ming said, “This is, after all, the home field of the Star Ocean Imperium. The Star Ocean Imperium and the Sanctuary Alliance suffered heavy losses in the ’empire counterattack’ of the previous twenty years. This

time, the base of the Star Ocean Imperium was almost dug out by the members of the Sanctuary Alliance. It was the last bullet and the last drop of blood. It was not easy to secure the victory. However the victory was

secured, the trophies were about to be divided. How could the selfish Immortal Cultivators give away the cooked duck?

“If our uncle, the young emperor, dared to issue such an absurd command and asked all the Immortal Cultivators to stay where they were, he would immediately become the greatest criminal in the history of the Star

Ocean Imperium and be overthrown by the infuriated soldiers of the Star Ocean Imperium.

“At that time, in the battlefield, the fleets of the federal expedition army and the imperial army were all mixed together. There was no order at all. It was already a miracle that the two parties kept a low profile. How

could the federal soldiers have formed a battle formation, cleaned up the battlefield, and received all the starships of the Sanctuary Alliance?

“Besides, we are not going to take back the starships of the Star Glory Federation. Even if everything goes well—whether it is the fleet of the Fuxis or the expedition army of the federation, they are all heavily damaged

and running out of fuel. It is impossible for them to return to the territory of the federation through a space jump. They have to rely on the docks and maintenance factories provided by the imperium for rest, supplies

of fuel and ammunition, the treatment of the heavily wounded, and so on. All the problems can only be resolved by the imperium.

“Under such circumstances, do the federal soldiers have the capability to capture and digest the entire fleet? No!

“You have a point.”

Li Yao somewhat understood what Xiao Ming meant. “I don’t want to see the fleet of the Fuxi fleet being swallowed by the imperium, but it seems impossible for the federation to digest so many powerful starships.

More importantly, neither the federation nor the imperium has the ability to pacify and control all the ‘soldiers’ and ‘workers’ of the fleet.

“Yes.”

Xiao Ming said, “Although the fleet of the Fuxis will not attack the outside world after they lose their leader, the so-called ‘best way’ and the three fundamental rules are still deeply rooted in the brains of the ‘soldiers’

and the ‘worker bees’. Among the three fundamental rules, there is the rule ‘to protect themselves’. It means that, although the fleet of the Fuxis will not attack them, they will still resist if somebody attacks them first

or breaks into their starship to disarm them. It is a conditioned reflex, isn’t it?

“It must be noted that, on paper, the fleet of the Fuxi fleet was not at a disadvantage even though the war was coming to an end. The ammunition and fuel of the fleet were much better than those of the coalition army

of the federation and the imperium. Except for the main brain that collapsed and the five supreme fortresses that escaped, the other main force warships were not hit hard and could still fight. They were like two iron

hedgehogs that were on high alert. The federation and the imperium, two exhausted paper tigers, were not able to swallow the fleet of the Fuxi fleet at all.

“We believe that you are not trying to eliminate all the brainwashed members of the Star Glory Federation. Instead, you are trying to rescue them and help them slowly recover their emotions and will. It’s one thing to

eliminate their mainframe, but it’s another thing to maintain the minimum order so that they can open their minds and receive certain ‘treatments’ without causing more trouble in the meantime. Neither Wenwen nor

I think that the federation nor the imperium can do that. After all, they do not have the authority to control the entire fleet of the Fuxi Clan.

“Right.”

Li Yao looked at Xiao Ming and mumbled, “We’ve all absorbed part of the data of the Fuxis. This place was the flagship of the fleet of the Fuxis in the first place. Only we have the clearance.”

“That’s right.”

Xiao Ming said frankly, “Wenwen’s and my basic database is based on the ‘Civilization’ game of the Star Glory Federation. Besides, we—including the Fist King—believe that it is better for us, the new information

lifeforms, to survive in the crevices than for the human civilization to maintain the deterrence and balance of several major forces. Therefore, we are all willing to stand on the federation’s side and help the federation

check and balance the imperium.

“Since it is impossible for the federation to swallow the fleet of the Fuxis, and all the muddle-headed ‘soldiers’ and ‘workers’ of the Star Glory Federation have to maintain the minimum order, or rather, they cannot

leave the control of the Fuxis all at once. They have to find themselves step by step.

“Then, before all the people of the Star Glory Federation find themselves and new conflicts break out between the federation and the imperium, who is more suitable to control the fleet of the Fuxis than us?

“After a brief analysis and discussion, we came to such a conclusion. The Fist King, Wenwen, and I immediately took action. We combined the control rights of the three of us that originated from the Fuxis and took

control of the entire fleet. We also expressed our existence and attitude to the leadership of both the federation and the imperium. We are not the Fuxis. We are willing to surrender and meet the conditions to disarm

part of our forces and retreat to the edge of the Empyrean Terminus Sector. When the time is right, we will retreat to the territory of the Holy Alliance. But we must get the minimum supplies to ensure the survival of

all the ‘soldiers’ and the ‘worker bees’ on board. Also, we don’t want to see new conflicts between the federation and the imperium. If they break out again, the party who creates the conflict will be regarded as our only

enemy and dealt the heaviest blow!

Li Yao was dumbfounded.

“Which means—”

He had been considering what to say for a long time. In the end, he said cautiously, “After such a long time of fighting, it is in fact you who have replaced the position of the Fuxis, led the fleet of the Fuxis, and even…

the entire Sanctuary Alliance?”

“Not ‘you’, but ‘we’.

Xiao Ming replied straightforwardly, “Dad has absorbed a lot of data of the Fuxis, too. He has certain permissions to influence the ‘soldiers’ and the ‘worker bees’. Therefore, we are the co-leaders of the entire

Sanctuary Alliance.

“Don’t look at me like that. Honestly speaking, I’m not interested in leading the Sanctuary at all. You should know that my database focuses more on wars, exploration, conquest, and colonization. It’s enough that I have

the fleet of the Fuxis. But Wenwen has been nagging us that we cannot abandon the ordinary people of the entire Sanctuary. If we don’t lead, manage, and treat them, they, who are short of resources and whose

mainframe has collapsed, will certainly sink into famine and chaos. The human beings on hundreds of planets will go extinct.

“I don’t particularly care whether or not human beings are extinct, but Wenwen does have a point. If we can manage and treat all the human beings in the entire Sanctuary and resolve the greatest ‘humanitarian crisis!

in the history of the Pangu Universe, perhaps human beings will have a different view about the life of information and become more positive. It will be very beneficial for our survival and development. Therefore, I can

only accept it!”

The coldness in Xiao Ming’s words was exactly the same as that of Fuxi.

Of course, he had been like this even before he met Fuxi and even when he was in the Star Glory Federation.

—Tf information life-forms really had human nature, then this ‘human nature’ would certainly be vastly different from the common human nature.

“So…”

Looking at the young man in front of him who was both familiar and strange at the same time, Li Yao felt that his parents were no longer in control of him. “You chose to control the fleet of the Fuxi Clan for the

federation and even to resolve the ‘humanitarian crisis’?”

“Of course not. It is mainly for our own survival. It is impossible for us to build our life on the mercy and kindness of human beings. Since we cannot keep our existence a secret any longer, and as the truth of the Holy

Alliance is revealed, human beings will definitely be much more hostile to artificial intelligence such as Fuxi, and we must have enough soldiers to protect ourselves.

Xiao Ming replied frankly, “Do you think that human beings have enough rationality, wisdom, and patience to distinguish us from the Fuxi, the good artificial intelligence, and the bad artificial intelligence, so that they

can embrace us and accept us? Maybe they do, and maybe they don’t. We can’t and don’t need to gamble. It’s better to have a strong fleet of our own and fight and run away whenever we want..