Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

Chapter 143 Missionaries

Sera envied the great favor and blessings bestowed upon humanity by God.

She used the eyes of her offspring Anna to see the myriad aspects of human civilization. When her gaze passed over the dock array outside the Ark space station and was cast into the vast void outside the Heng star system, she saw the most magnificent creation since human civilization entered the interstellar age: the "Sky Ring" particle accelerator.

Sera volunteered to visit the colossal structure. She brought a bio-ship with a pearly white luster, which drove out of the Ark Space Station and headed towards the control station of the "Sky Ring" accelerator.

This ship stands out so prominently among the routes of human civilizations coming and going, its beautiful shape resembling a giant manta ray swimming in space.

The ship's surface appears smooth and delicate, like an artwork inlaid with mother-of-pearl and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and its biological shell reflects a soft iridescence under the starlight.

This is the vehicle of the Nest Mother, Sierra. It was the first ship allowed to enter the orbit of the human home planet after the Swarm Civilization established diplomatic relations with the human civilization. Before this, the ship that Karen from the Foundation was traveling on was parked on the outer edge of the star system, and humans sent a ship to transfer him.

"Lord Terence, without a doubt, this is a masterpiece of human civilization," Sera's voice came from Anna's mouth, as if countless voices overlapped together, "For a civilization that has only recently entered the interstellar age, such a project is simply a miracle."

Terence accompanied the Nest Mother. The construction of "Sky Ring" mobilized almost all of humanity's industrial capacity and brought together our top scientists and engineers.

"Its original design purpose was to analyze the path left by the Lord. For mankind, this is not a miracle, but an inevitable path. We have taken a small step under the guidance of the Lord."

"However, recently there has been a trend of this place developing into a new scientific research center. Many scientists from our Academy of Sciences have moved here voluntarily, after all, the area around the main orbit provides unique conditions for the study of particle physics and force field manipulation."

Sera's antennae trembled slightly, and her dark purple eyes watched the researchers coming and going. She could clearly sense that every human here had psionic energy flowing within them, even the ordinary cleaning staff.

This is the human civilization after the Great Awakening of Psionic Power. God himself bestowed blessings, allowing every human being to break free from the shackles of the mortal world and leap over the process that Sera painstakingly researched in creating and disseminating psionic glands within the hive.

Sera's hearts, or rather the hearts within this offspring's body, tightened uncontrollably as an indescribable feeling of envy surged within them, surprising even the rational Nest Mother.

The Lord's favor upon human civilization has reached such an extent.

These past few days, Sera has been visiting cities of human civilization through Anna's eyes, learning about their history, and discovering that God not only saved this near-extinction civilization during the apocalypse but also left behind this galactic trail when He left. That's why she took the initiative to come here to witness this miracle.

This is not favoritism, but rather unreserved preferential treatment, like the father of human civilization. And how should the swarm of bees position themselves and define their place?

Sera stood before the panoramic porthole, gazing wistfully at the quietly flowing, shimmering contrail outside, a look of melancholy in her eyes.

Colors overflowed.

"Lord Terence, human civilization is truly fortunate," she said softly. "To receive such favor and love from our benefactor, human civilization will surely rise to prominence in this sea of ​​stars."

She turned her head and looked at Terence beside her. "From the moment I gained my freedom, I longed to be close to my benefactor. Sometimes I really envy you, envying that you can bask in the glory of your benefactor."

Terence stopped in his tracks and followed Sera's gaze to the flight path outside the porthole. His eyes, burning with fire, seemed to never stop thinking. He turned and walked toward the nearby rest area, gesturing for Sera to sit down with him.

The priest standing nearby immediately brought over two drinks. One was black tea prepared for Terence, which had become his favorite drink after the priest stopped his love of mixing drinks. The other was a nutrient solution with a sweet floral aroma, specially prepared for Sera.

Terence picked up his teacup and took a small sip. He spoke to Sera as if preaching in a temple, with a power that reached straight to the heart.

"Sera, you envy humans for being favored by the Lord, but have you truly distinguished your feelings for the Lord, and how these feelings differ from humans' faith in the Lord?"

Sera paused slightly, "Lord Terence, you mean—?"

"Your feelings for the Lord are gratitude and repaying His grace," Terence said, putting down his teacup and looking directly into those deep purple eyes.

"The Lord gave you freedom and new life, and you are filled with gratitude, wanting to repay Him with everything you have, to give back to Him."

"A favor, a one-way, emotional connection, is your desire to give to the Lord, which is certainly not wrong, and is a precious virtue, but it cannot be called faith."

Sera awaited Terence's continuation. She knew she had a long way to go in terms of faith in her benefactor, and the one leading the way on that path was undoubtedly the apostle appointed by her benefactor.

"Faith is never just simple gratitude," Terence rarely talks about faith within his church, yet now he is preaching the fundamentalist doctrines of the Death Sect in front of an extraterrestrial being.

"In my view, the essence of faith is affirmation. Regardless of the type of faith, in the development of the death religion, we first affirmed the greatness of the Lord, affirmed that the Lord controls death, and that He is the truth."

"We believe that the Lord can guide us further on this path of seeking and can bring true peace to our souls at the end of our days."

He leaned forward slightly, his tone gentle and persuasive, "Sera, at least here, God doesn't need believers. The Lord's greatness is neither increased by our faith nor diminished by the doubts of the unbelievers. Whether or not we believers exist makes no difference to Him."

"Those who truly need God are always the believers themselves."

Sera lowered her eyes in thought. She had always thought that gratitude to the Lord was her way of expressing her faith, giving everything to repay His blessings, and offering her loyalty and piety without reservation. But the Lord's apostle told her that this was not faith.

"From a rational perspective, the most basic relationship between believers and gods is a one-way contract," Terence continued, at this moment he seemed more like a sociological scholar than a high-ranking religious leader or faith leader.

"We offer our faith and devotion to the Lord not initially to gain anything from Him, but to find a home for our souls, a direction for our future, and a way of life that can be clearly explained."

The significance of the Doctrine of the Mean, in classical times, was that this belief gave us hope.

"We believe in the Lord's guidance and the Lord's truth. This belief allows us to face the harsh winter without despair. This is the meaning of the one-way contract. We are saved through faith, and the Lord does not need us to accomplish anything."

Sera stared blankly at Terence, pondering whether her gratitude and efforts to repay her benefactor constituted a transaction rather than faith.

"Then—what is the relationship between human civilization and our benefactor?" Sera was eager to know the answer, or rather, for a highly integrated swarm civilization, sociological experience was rare.

"Human civilization has seen all sorts of beliefs, which are essentially beliefs in abstract symbols, whether the symbol represents a human form or some kind of primal force of nature."

"Unlike those fictitious beliefs, the founders of the Death Sect have always been very clear about the origin of our faith: the Lord we worship is real."

"When God is willing to bow down and respond to the believer's faith, to guide the believer's path, and to shower the believer with His glory and grace, this one-way covenant becomes a two-way journey."

"This is the most fortunate thing about human civilization: the Lord we believe in is not a cold symbol, but a real, living Father who is with us."

Sera remained silent for a long time. She realized that she had been standing outside the door, looking at the scenery inside and envying the warmth inside, but had never truly pushed open the door called faith.

"Lord Terence, thank you," Sera finally spoke after a long silence. "I am still far from being able to serve my lord."

“Don’t belittle yourself, Sera,” Terence shook his head. “Gratitude is one of the starting points of faith, even if faith often originates from despair.”

"You are grateful to the Lord and are already on the right path, more correct than those self-proclaimed devout fanatics. You don't need to envy humans; our path of faith is full of hardships."

Sera was puzzled. "Lord Terence, the Lord's grace towards human civilization is so great, why is your path of faith so difficult?"

"Before the Lord awakened, whether in the classical era or in the information age, countless people mocked our faith, believing that we were merely fabricating a fictitious god for ourselves in despair. The doctrines of the death sect were regarded as heresy for a long time, and our priests were expelled and even killed."

"That massive earthquake destroyed the achievements of human civilization and shattered society back into atoms. In such a desperate situation, it was easy to claim faith in the Lord. Seeking hope in despair is often the birthplace of faith."

"Today, you see that human civilization has awakened spiritual energy and seen the Lord's blessings, and you think that faith is just a matter of course. But the fact is that there are still a considerable number of people in human civilization who do not have faith."

"It is normal that they objectively acknowledge the existence and power of the Lord, but are unwilling to believe in Him. Everyone has the right to choose their own path. The Lord has never forced anyone to believe in Him. Our doctrines of the Death Sect have never been extreme."

As one of the extreme manifestations of authoritarian thinking, in Sera's mind, a civilized religion must be intolerant of heresy, especially after the gods actually exist and have demonstrated unparalleled power.

Anyone who does not believe in God should be considered a blasphemer, a heretic, and should be cleansed and purified, but Terence denied this.

"Why should we regard them as heretics?" Terence smiled faintly and asked in return, "Those who do not believe in the Lord are still working hard for the development of human civilization. They are still our compatriots. As far as the fundamentalists of the Death Sect are concerned, we preach that death is not terrible and the end of life is not the end."

"Even our own human doctrines are so lenient and inclusive, Sera, why should you be anxious because you haven't yet received the Lord's favor?" Terence's gaze fell gently on Sera.

"Do you remember when human civilization forgot about God? At that time, I was the only one who remembered God's existence. The whole world regarded me as a madman, a religious fanatic who fabricated a god out of thin air in order to seize power."

Memorizing scriptures and traveling alone from city to city to spread the doctrine—how lonely and arduous that must have been.

"So you see, Sera, the path of faith is never easy," Terence said, turning his gaze away. "As long as you and your hive are devout and willing to follow in the Lord's footsteps, the Lord will surely see your heart."

"Until then, neither you nor I should presume to know the Lord's will."

Sera stood up and bowed deeply to Terence. "Lord Terence, thank you for your guidance."

Just as she finished speaking, the coral-like antennae on her forehead trembled. Terence keenly noticed the change and asked, "What's wrong? Sera, what happened?"

"Lord Terence, the fleet of the Ironhearted Exterminators and Purifiers," Sera saw a world beyond the distant stars, each of her children being her eyes. "The fleet is heading towards the borders of human civilization."

She straightened her body, and her aura instantly transformed from that of a gentle diplomat to that of a hive matriarch who ruled over the entire bee colony, exuding a ruthless and authoritative presence.

"Lord Terence, perhaps this is my civilization's chance to contribute. I will immediately mobilize my children to the battlefield."

"May the Lord's gaze be upon me."

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