To some extent, the Azure Alliance did not actually want Major The Qing to become the central pillar in building the public's faith for doomsday.
After all, he had already left Azure. If they truly needed to trot him out to hold down the fort later, first, it wouldn't be convenient; second, they wouldn't know how to explain his status to the public; and third, they worried he might pull some new stunt.
Take that earlier movie, for instance. If they hadn't run completely out of time to re-edit it, and if his depiction in it hadn't been so vague, the Council would likely have hesitated even further.
Yet as things stood, the sensation, discussion, and rallying effect created by his mere two frames in the film had far exceeded all expectations.
And the photos just forwarded by the Rejecters seemed impossible to pass up as well.
"The people should see battles like this, just as they should see the hardship and the cruelty," Mayne said in the Council chamber. "Whether for conscription or for the decisive battle... we need it."
"Besides, his image is simply too good," a female councilor agreed excitedly.
The male councilors knitted their brows.
"Having a specific individual's image stand out too much isn't necessarily a good thing. After all, the core of our propaganda should be the collective whole. I feel it would be better if his image were slightly blurred, while still delivering an impactful shock," one councilor said.
"Then let's add Second Lieutenant Shen Yixiu in her iron armor as well. Her image, her story, and her status as a woman will all generate a tremendous response," the female councilor said quickly.
***
"The next step: if the current stalemate can hold for a period, Azure will openly begin conscription, and soon after, whether willingly or reluctantly, launch a decisive battle."
Beneath the Antarctic glaciers, inside the small blue church, Ne and Liu Shiheng continued their conversation on the fate of humanity.
At that moment, Ne was explaining his deductions about how future events would unfold.
Conscription? Liu Shiheng was puzzled for a moment. Everyone knew why Azure had never conducted open conscription before: first, because they couldn't be certain when the Great Spikes' full-scale invasion would arrive, or whether it would come at all; second, because they were simply too poor.
Now, the first problem clearly no longer existed. But regarding the second problem, even if dead iron gradually became sufficient through salvage and recycling, what about source energy...?
"Isn't this grueling struggle right now also a process of harvesting resources? If the current stalemate holds for a while, Azure's stockpiles will soon reach unprecedented proportions, enough to sustain a decisive battle." Ne smiled faintly and said, "What's more, Azure has squirrelled away a few things over the past several decades. Just like how they suddenly produced so many spacecraft hulls—even I was surprised."
"Will... will you stop them?" Liu Shiheng asked worriedly.
"No! I look forward to them managing it," Ne said.
"Then... will you support them? You have so many metal blocks..."
Ne had a vast quantity of metal blocks. Liu Shiheng didn't know how enormous this colossal dreadnought that crashed hundreds of years ago truly was, but he had seen mounds of metal blocks piled like mountains.
On one hand, these metal blocks likely came from the giant ship's own remnants—Ne had once mentioned that the Great Spike back then held a very high status. On the other hand, over the vast expanse of time, Ne had actually been using the dreadnought's guidance systems to continuously lure and destroy Great Spike craft.
"Of course not." Ne denied that he would support that decisive battle, chuckling. "You are far too naive, Young Master Shiheng. I'm honored to finally see your naive side, the first time you've ever worried about this world like this."
"Not really," Liu Shiheng muttered. Even he didn't quite understand himself today. Perhaps he had been infected by those former friends of his.
"Well, in any case, humanity will definitely lose this battle, but through it, a great crop of promising seeds for high-end combat power will emerge," Ne said.
Liu Shiheng asked, "And then?"
"Then the war will enter its second phase: the Great Spikes will finalize their conquest plan and land en masse." Ne continued his deduction: "During this process, their resources will begin to run short. Colossal resource ships will arrive one after another. It's even possible they will spare no expense to open a transit corridor linking to the nearest small source-energy planet... I imagine they must have found something in the surrounding star sectors; otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many stray ships prowling around here since long ago."
"So that's it!" At this point, Liu Shiheng finally grasped a glimmer of understanding. All of this was presumably what Ne was anticipating and coveting.
For he had said earlier: Great Spikes can actually be viewed as nutrients.
"So you'll only stand on humanity's side once it reaches this stage?" he asked.
"No, that's still much too early." Ne offered a ruthless and resolute denial. "As the war of conquest grinds on and their victory becomes certain, the third phase will follow. The Great Spikes will finally begin to search in peace for what they desire most..."
"Yanxiu and the skeletal remains?"
"Yes. All the Yanxiu wills—those already inherited and those yet to be claimed—they will find them all for us. Those wills that unfortunately landed on the weak will return to a form of pure consciousness amid the slaughter, and then attach to those truly qualified to possess them. Amid the coming catastrophe, humanity will welcome a wave of genuine powerhouses, and then the Great Spikes will lead us to recover those remains."
"..." Liu Shiheng bowed his head to sort through the logic, then looked up. "This is the phase you've been waiting for?!"
"Yes. At that moment, the fourth phase will begin. Humanity's counterattack will truly commence, and I will sacrifice everything, including my life." Ne paused, then said, "Let me tell you a secret... Humans, in fact, can also devour and strip away the super-wills from Great Spikes."
This was tantamount to telling Liu Shiheng where his own Yanxiu had come from—and that his Yanxiu might very well possess complete remains.
Yet Liu Shiheng had no time to ponder that right now; in this moment, he was thoroughly shaken to the core by Ne's insane plan.
"But can we win?" Young Master Shiheng murmured, his eyes unfocused. "At that point, can humanity really win?"
"There is a chance. As for the second secret today, I'll tell you: humanity has already naturally produced its own Beyond-the-Sky level combat power. I call it the Beyond-the-Sky level because it has, in fact, surpassed the limits of humanity and the sky... Someone achieved this without relying on Yanxiu. I believe that in the future, he will no longer be an isolated case."
Ne did not speak the name, but Liu Shiheng could vaguely guess.
"So, are you certain we can win?" he asked earnestly.
"No, I am not," Ne confessed. "Maybe a ten percent or five percent chance? But it's worth the gamble, isn't it? For a glorious era."
"If we lose, it's merely extinction, after all," he said at last.
***
The night was about to pass. Across the skies of Huaxia, dawn was breaking faintly.
Shenghai. Yuzhou.
The fighting, the searching, and the hunting were still ongoing.
Many had died this night.
Wucheng.
No scattered Great Spike craft had descended for quite some time now.
Setting aside the grief, this in itself might have been a happy day. Han Qingyu weighed the heavy metal blocks in his bag, continuing to wait in anticipation.
Linzhou.
As promised, Wen Jifei had slaughtered heaps of Great Spike corpses across the front and flanks of the Blue Spear-class craft, the bodies stacked together like a small mountain.
The harvest of metal blocks was naturally immense as well. Having finished their sweep, the pulled-back Stream Vanguard warriors sat scattered around, eating breakfast.
The steam rising from the bowls of rice merged with the misty haze all around.
In the dining hall, Yao Yue held a bowl of rice and ran out the door over to Rusty Sister.
"Second Lieutenant... Shen." Knowing Shen Yixiu was younger than herself, she had originally wanted to call her Rusty Sister like Plague Chicken and the others did, but after a moment's hesitation, she settled on addressing her by rank. Holding her rice bowl, Yao Yue said, "Aren't... aren't you going to eat?"
"*Clang, clang!*" Rusty Sister turned around and cheerfully rapped her iron armor twice, laughing. "I don't need to eat! I'm an iron person, haha."
"Ah? You... even if you're an iron person, you still have to eat." Yao Yue thought she was joking.
"But I can't get out. I've been inside here since I was about ten. Uh, didn't Plague Chicken tell you?"
"...No." With that single word, Yao Yue's eyes welled with tears.
*Damn Plague Chicken, why didn't you tell me!*
Inside the dining hall, First Lieutenant Wu Xu carried his blood-stained black spear on his back, quietly eating with his head lowered. Countless people stole glances at him, especially the girls, but no one dared speak to him.
Wen Jifei pointed to the television set mounted up high and asked, "Can that thing still turn on? Let's try and find a way to get it working. Azure will definitely be trying to say something."
Chapter 611