[A Cause for Great Rejoicing! Port Goldgall Trials Conclude! Multiple War Criminals Sentenced to Death, Including Ryan, Eastern Front Commander of the Southern Legion's Brahma Province Theater, and Chief of Staff Pfeffritt! Execution by Firing Squad Carried Out Immediately!
John, captain of the Clarion, claimed the bombing of Lion City was ordered by Ryan; nevertheless, causing tens of thousands of civilian casualties remains an indisputable fact. The court rejected the appeal, upholding the death sentence with execution scheduled for the following day!
Additionally, secondary war criminals such as Myriarch Woolf of the 36th Myriad have been sentenced to prison terms exceeding ten years.
—Survivor Daily, Port Goldgall Edition]
...
Mammoth City.
A thick stench of blood hung in the solemn courtroom; even the floor bore sticky, indelible footprints and palm prints.
Standing in the dock, Gurion did not know why a Brahma courtroom smelled like a slaughterhouse, nor was he particularly curious.
When he learned he had been transferred here for trial from the relatively civilized Port Goldgall, he had abandoned virtually all hope of surviving.
At this very moment, he was unaware that Ryan and the other senior officers who had remained in Port Goldgall had already been put into boxes.
The judge in the tribunal seat watched the Wilante man whose hands were steeped in blood, his lips trembling slightly.
After a long pause, he finally resolved to hand down his verdict.
"War criminal Gurion."
"This court has no desire to recount your crimes again..."
Gurion closed his eyes, having no desire to listen either. He hadn't even hired a defense attorney, wishing only for all this to end quickly.
He had many questions he wanted to ask Tyr.
If he went down early, maybe he could catch the guy before he reincarnated—
"This court rules as follows:"
"The defendant, Gurion, is found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment!"
The crisp thwack of the solemn gavel sounded like an utter joke.
Gurion froze in the dock, snapping his eyes open in disbelief. Staring at the judge on the bench, he couldn't help taking half a step forward.
The two soldiers beside him pressed down firmly on his shoulders with grave expressions, but Gurion glared fixedly at the judge as if oblivious to them.
"Why?"
The judge did not answer the question. He merely announced the conclusion in perfunctory fashion before hurrying away from the bench, as if terrified of lingering a single second longer.
The rest of the court personnel did the same.
Gurion stood frozen in a daze, staring blankly, at a loss.
Why?
Yet another question he could not understand.
From the jury box, a stern-faced officer stood up and walked over beside the deserted bench.
Gurion noticed the man, turning a gaze thirsty for answers toward his back.
Yet the man paid no heed to his question, merely gazing up at the scales symbolizing justice and fairness as he spoke to himself.
"General Grove of the State of Brahma has deployed eight hundred thousand troops along the south bank of the Tasang River. Counting the former loyalists of Absaik and Shahrukh, it comes to roughly a million."
"I don't have many men to spare, but I'll give you four hundred thousand. Hold them back for me."
Gurion froze, blurting almost instinctively, "That's impossible! They have full equipment provided by the Eastern Empire! Especially their elite unit, the Gray Wolf Army—it was built practically in the mold of the Eastern Empire's armored myriads and mechanized infantry myriads."
This was what he had seen with his own eyes in West Sail Port.
Shawa smiled faintly.
"The Gray Wolf Army won't move. Gopal won't hand his real foundation over for Grove to expend. Your opponents will be cannon fodder from the Northern Field Army."
"Even so, it's impossible," Gurion said, shaking his head. "You know nothing of their strength... You have no chance of winning."
Shawa merely snapped his fingers, gesturing for a soldier nearby to bring over a map and hand it to Gurion.
"Look at the map first."
Gurion paused, then took the map from the soldier with skepticism and spread it out across the railing of the dock.
It was a map of the Three Northern Provinces and the southern part of Mammoth Province.
A long, narrow mountain range thrust from the Zhobar mountain system into northern Brahma Province like a crescent dagger, slicing off a fertile plain from that bountiful territory.
Not only that.
To counter the Southern Legion's invasion, Rasi had built extensive fortifications, tunnels, and hidden bunkers among the mountains.
Gurion had previously been well aware of how easily defended and difficult to attack the Three Northern Provinces were, but now, holding a complete strategic layout provided by his former opponent, he couldn't help feeling overwhelmed.
It really had been a mistake born of carelessness and underestimating the enemy.
Had he known the Mammoth people had turned these Three Northern Provinces into an iron fortress, he never would have ordered Olette to advance on Dog Province.
It would have been far better to concentrate his forces to take Tiandu.
"How many mountain troops do you have?"
Seeing the fighting spirit rekindle in Gurion's eyes, Shawa's face curved into a faint smile.
"Mammoth is made up almost entirely of mountain divisions and guerrilla divisions. We have exoskeletons, anti-armor weapons... including plasma warheads capable of breaching Conqueror armor, as well as some Fire Crossbows and Conquerors captured from your forces and repaired."
"And of course, most importantly, we have complete ammunition production lines, a massive pool of overseas labor, and ample foreign exchange reserves."
Gurion licked his dry lips.
"In that case, it might be worth a try."
Shawa nodded.
"Go give it a shot. Meritorious service can reduce your sentence. When our war is over, maybe you'll still have hope of returning home. In addition, Grove has some of your former subordinates under his command; I hope you won't pull your punches."
Gurion shook his head.
"There's no question of pulling punches. Going all out is true respect for an opponent, and I believe my men feel the same."
A war without the bastards from the logistics department holding him back...
Thinking about it was actually rather interesting.
Gurion had never imagined that a beaten dog like himself would one day have the chance to return to the battlefield and burn his remaining light.
And to fight for his former enemies, no less.
"Can I ask a question?"
"Ask," Shawa said impassively.
Watching the soldier unlock his handcuffs, Gurion turned his eyes back to Shawa and continued:
"You are all Brahma people—at least in our eyes... Have you never considered sitting down to talk?"
"Talk?"
As if he had heard something hilarious, Shawa suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter.
"The people who wanted to sit down and talk are either dead or gone. Someday when I'm old and it's time to go down and keep my father company, maybe I'll play the good man then!"
His expression turned cold as he looked at Gurion.
"As for now, I don't want to talk about anything."
"I only want to ensure the Tasang River never sees another flood."
...
[Respected Eastern Empire friends: Your loyal, friendly, and hospitable southern friends have run into a small problem. Due to climatic factors, red soil is showing a tendency to spread across various regions of Brahma Province.
The current situation is dire; we urgently need a professional biologist to clean up the mess left behind by General Rowell. Of course, it would be even better if you could send a team over.
—Tiandu, by Cable]
[The Alliance isn't even bothering with the red soil, so what are you fussing over it for? If you don't like it, dig it up and dump it in the ocean. Do you lack shovels, or do you lack hands? We've given you more than enough assistance already—stop bothering us with such trivial nonsense in the future!
—Eastern Empire, by Cable]
[Understood! Understood! We will submit this to our think tank for study immediately!
—Tiandu, by Cable]
[...?
—Eastern Empire, by Cable]
...
[Academy Expert Delegation Arrives in Daybreak City!!!
—Survivor Daily, Dawn City Edition]
...
As it turned out, the Academy hadn't been making empty promises.
Just the second week after Qi Liu, Chief of the Investigation Department, made his pledge to Chu Guang, an expert team led by a B-rank researcher arrived at Camp 101 in Daybreak City.
At the Academy, B-rank was already quite a high level.
Yang Kai, stationed permanently with the Alliance, and Li Ke, who had participated in the Falcon City ceasefire negotiations, were both B-rank, while Qi Liu himself was merely an A-rank.
A high rank meant high access privileges.
Secrets that a C-rank researcher couldn't touch even after a lifetime of uncomplaining toil could be looked up by a B-rank with the twitch of a finger.
While the Academy had dispatched experts to the Alliance before, what they had shared were never sensitive technologies—mostly supplementary enhancements, and particularly nothing touching on "graviton-related technologies," which were considered cutting-edge even before the war!
This time, however, was different. The ban on graviton-related technologies had actually been lifted!
The significance of the graviton went without saying.
At least in this universe, it could be regarded as a prerequisite technology for entering the interstellar era.
It was practically the only particle known to human civilization in this universe capable of crossing the dimension it inhabited and utilizing the laws of other dimensions to interfere with the laws of the three-dimensional world.
Slow nuclear fusion at room temperature, faster-than-light travel between star systems, and so forth—
Things considered impossible in the Old Era, miracles whose macro-level probability approached zero, became possible under the intervention of gravitons!
It was precisely for this reason that while the industrial sector and mainstream public opinion during the Human Alliance era regarded controlled nuclear fusion as the dividing line between the Era of Prosperity and the Old Era, the prevailing view in academia and the aerospace industry treated the graviton as the true watershed between the old era and the new!
Its significance was like sails and the compass to the Age of Discovery, truly opening the doors to a new world!
A civilization that could not comprehend the mysteries of gravity could never become a true interstellar civilization.
And the difference between a starship equipped with a warp drive and one without was like the difference between a dugout canoe and a cog!
Looking over the long list of technology transfers provided by the Academy, Chu Guang sat behind his desk, unable to help recalling the hard days when he had gone to immense trouble just to secure a single plasma engine. For a moment, he couldn't help marveling.
"The sun must have risen in the west. Even the iron rooster is shedding feathers."
It seemed those people weren't entirely fixated on fleeing after all; they had also considered fostering a reliable ally back home.
Naturally, these technologies transferred to the Alliance did not come without conditions attached.
For instance, the most crucial term was that before the Academy departed this star system, these technologies could only be used by the Alliance itself and could not be transferred to any other wasteland survivor faction not recognized by the Academy.
That included the Enterprise and the Great Rift, as well as the Wilante Alliance, the Southern Sea Alliance, and others.
They had no interest in managing matters after they were gone, but as long as they remained on this planet, they had an obligation to restrict technology proliferation... or at least, so they believed.
Chu Guang naturally respected their decision.
After all, the Alliance had tasted the power of the "technological barbarians'" fists; they weren't about to bring trouble upon themselves and harm everyone in the process.
Sitting on the office sofa sipping coffee, Yin Fang also wore a complex expression, clearly not having expected the Academy's sudden openness either.
"Forget about you—even I didn't see this coming."
Sitting on another sofa, Heya cast an inquiring glance at Chu Guang.
"Should we share Xiao Yu's research data with them?"
The Alliance Biological Research Institute was one of the few Alliance research institutions capable of standing on equal footing with the Academy's researchers.
Particularly in research concerning mutant slime mold and the broodmother, the Academy had nothing to teach the Alliance; if anything, they had to learn from the Alliance.
Chu Guang closed his eyes in thought for a moment before speaking.
"Courtesy demands reciprocity. Since they want to see it so badly, let them take a look. Besides, they even shared the secret of the 'Seed of Gaia' with us. It would hardly be appropriate to keep holding out on them."
A trace of a smile touched the corners of Heya's lips.
"That's great. Finally, we don't have to talk in riddles anymore."
From the standpoint of an academic, she naturally hoped to exchange knowledge freely with the Academy; keeping things hidden made communication terribly cumbersome.
However, she also understood that Chu Guang had to consider things from the Alliance's perspective, given that research related to the mutant slime mold was one of the Alliance's few trump cards.
Therefore, she had always cooperated fully with Chu Guang's policies, engaging only in limited technical exchanges with the Academy's research institutions within the framework of the Slime Mold Consortium.
Now, mutual trust had reached a new height, making the previous wariness unnecessary.
"I've put you all through a lot before. From now on, you can communicate directly with the Academy regarding mutant slime mold research; there's no need to ask my opinion on every little detail," Chu Guang gave Heya a look of gratitude, then set the list down on the corner of his desk. "Though truthfully, while I thought we might reach some common ground with the Academy eventually, I never expected it to happen so soon."
Yin Fang nodded in deep agreement.
"It seems the Celestials really scared them."
Everyone had their limitations, and the head of the Alliance's Scientific Expedition was no exception.
To this day, he still harbored resentment over his superiors dumping the blame on him back then and the relentless pursuit that followed without giving him a chance to explain.
Even though all of that was in the past.
Watching the paranoid Yin Fang, Heya smiled faintly, then looked toward Chu Guang behind the desk and teased:
"Actually, I think you're the one who gave them hope."
Chu Guang laughed out loud at that.
"Haha, I'm not that thick-skinned. Better credit that to the united vault dwellers and survivors!"
Those words came from the heart.
Although his awakened talents had indeed granted him capabilities beyond ordinary men, he didn't believe his personal charm alone was enough to make the iron rooster in the Wandering Marsh pluck its own feathers.
The Academy had observed the Alliance for a long time.
Even longer than the Enterprise had known of the Alliance's existence.
Being scared by the Celestials was merely a joke.
Chu Guang was fundamentally more inclined to believe that they had made this decision because there was a reason they deemed worth doing so.
While Yin Fang was still marveling at the Academy's generosity, the expert delegation from the Academy had already arrived at Daybreak City's nuclear power plant.
When the Alliance engineers proudly showcased the Alliance's most advanced reactor technology and the heart of their entire industrial system to the delegation's researchers, a researcher whose face was even sourer than Jiang Xuezhou's merely curled his lips in a meaningful smirk.
It was worth mentioning that although the Academy had ten thousand scheming thoughts, the vast majority of grassroots researchers actually possessed very low emotional intelligence.
Especially the honest folks who still toiled away like beasts of burden in the laboratories.
"Laser ignition... Heh, to think I'd still see an antique like this."
"To defeat the Legion with this junk—you folks really had it rough."
Chapter 973