A Colossus rushes in at the start

Chapter 186 These darknesses are too insignificant

Virtual space, Star Alliance meeting.

This meeting was different from the previous ones. Not only were the participants from each satellite civilization the true rulers of their respective civilizations, but even the Babel Tower swarm that hosted the meeting was attended by the true rulers.

This situation sparked much discussion among the representatives from various civilizations present. Although they couldn't guess what had happened, they could all vaguely sense that something big was about to happen.

"I am the host of this meeting, Lu Shang, the mastermind of the Babel Tower swarm. You should all be familiar with me."

Seeing that all the leaders of the civilization who were supposed to be there had arrived, Lu Shang said, "I won't bother with pleasantries. Talking about such nonsense is just a waste of time. Everyone's time is precious, so I'll get straight to the point."

Scanning the leaders of the various civilizations, Lu Shang said, "I recently heard that in the Fusotsis system, there is a group of civilizations that, behind the back of the swarm, are claiming that the Babel swarm has shared part of their war expenses. These civilizations internally call this a war expense tax."

"I'm really curious to know, what exactly were the mindsets of the rulers of these civilizations when they came up with this war expenditure tax out of thin air?"

Upon hearing this, the entire venue fell silent. All the leaders of the civilization present chose to remain silent, and even the previous discussions ceased.

Seeing this, Lu Shang continued, "Why are you all silent? Are you so afraid the swarm of bees will wipe you out?"

"Actually, wiping out your satellite civilizations isn't out of the question. After all, the Vorsotis system can still function normally without you satellite civilizations, can't it?"

These words made the leaders of these satellite civilizations completely uneasy.

This is not because they love their civilization so much, but because the Babel swarm can completely destroy everything they care about.

"Please forgive the Prologis Chamber of Commerce, we only recently learned of these matters and haven't had time to deal with them yet..."

"Yes, I only found out recently."

"We implore the great sovereign civilization to grant us a chance to forgive our sins. All of this, all of this is the fault of the various families..."

"Yes, yes, all of this is due to some people in our civilization..."

The rulers of each civilization, the powerful figures in their own civilizations, are now like children who have made mistakes, trying every possible excuse to get the swarm to forgive them.

If apologies are effective, then what's the point of laws?

Not to mention, in the Star Alliance, the Babel swarm is the law!

Lu Shang coldly said, "It's not your place to explain. The swarm has already investigated everything. They know exactly what everyone said and did through the photons emitted from outside the galaxy."

"What the hive wants to know now is not who did this or who is guilty, but what gave you the audacity to do such a thing in the name of the hive."

"If you don't give the bees a clear answer today, the bees will wipe out your civilization."

Upon hearing this, those in power who had been arguing incessantly about who was right and who was wrong fell silent once again.

In this situation, none of them dare to speak up, for saying too much could lead to mistakes, and their own civilization might be destroyed.

But Lu Shang wouldn't allow them to remain silent. He casually pointed to a ruler of a civilization and asked him to answer.

The ruler of that civilization felt a chill run down his spine, but having been called out, he couldn't remain silent: "All of this is for development. Without taxes, where would the government get the money for development? Right? Everything requires money, and this is unavoidable. I admit that our Reta Empire lied to the people, collecting taxes in the name of our respected overlord civilization, and committing extremely heinous acts, but..."

Lu Shang said coldly, "Lying, Emperor of the Reita Empire? Your body has a very high concentration of depaminases. Do you really think the bee swarm can't tell if you're lying?"

The ruler of the Reta Empire was taken aback, then panicked and protested, "No, please let me explain..."

Lu Shang didn't give the other party a chance to explain, "Deceiving the main civilization is enough to confirm that this satellite civilization is not loyal enough, and it can be destroyed."

No sooner had the words been spoken than the ruler of the Reta Empire vanished from the virtual space, causing a great commotion among the rulers of various civilizations.

Lu Shang stated bluntly, "There is no doubt that the Reta Empire and the Reta people have become part of the history of the Fusotis Star System from this day forward. If you don't believe me, you can have someone confirm it."

"Next, I hope you will answer the bee colony's questions honestly and not lie."

At this moment, those in power in the civilization felt a chill run down their spines; a vast interstellar civilization could be wiped out so easily.

Lu Shang's gaze swept over the leaders of the civilization, but to them, it was as if he were the gaze of death. They all silently prayed that they would not be called upon.

Lu Shang's gaze finally settled on the president of the Lyonnais Confederation.

"Starting with you, President of the Lyonnas Confederation, what reason did your Lyonnas Confederation have to blatantly use the name of the Tower of Babel Swarm to collect war expenditure taxes?"

The president of the Confederation of Lyonnais felt a pang of unease and stammered, "I, I, we collect this tax for the sake of civilization's development."

"What I want to hear are the reasons. What you're saying is just wearing down the bee swarm's patience," Lu Shang said.

"But we really are doing this for development!" the president of the Confederate States of Lyonnais said urgently.

Lu Shang chuckled. "I'll give you one last chance. If you keep beating around the bush like this, your Lyonnas Confederation will become the next Rata Empire."

The pressure of impending doom caused the president immense anxiety, and coupled with the affairs of various families before the meeting, the president finally lost his composure.

The president of the Lyonnas Confederation, in a state of emotional collapse, questioned Lu Shang: "Why are you treating us like this? Don't you Babel Bees care about your reputation? So you're using your Babel Bees' name to collect more taxes to accelerate the development of your civilization? If our satellite civilizations advance in technology, won't you Babel Bees ultimately benefit?"

"Why do you Babel bee colonies insist on holding onto this issue? Besides, we have effectively prevented insults against the name of the Babel bee colonies. It's just that the common people suffer a little more and work a little harder."

President Lyonnais's remarks drew the attention of these civilized rulers, as the president had voiced some of their thoughts.

Lu Shang asked expressionlessly, "Is this your reason for levying a war expenditure tax? Because the swarm doesn't care about its reputation, you can use the swarm's name to do all sorts of things at will?"

The president of the Confederation of Lyonnas, in a fit of despair, retorted, "Exactly! Why should you Babel Bees care about your reputation? You've committed so many acts of genocide, do you really need to care about this war expenditure tax?"

Lu Shang glanced at the other leaders of the civilizations, then his gaze returned to the president of the Lyonnas Confederation, and he spoke.

"President of the Lyonnais Confederation, I think you may have a deep misunderstanding about our Tower of Babel bees."

"We, the Babel Bee Swarm, certainly don't care about our reputation, but we also hate taking the blame for things that pop up out of nowhere. What are you, the Lyonas Confederation, that you think you can make our bee swarm take the blame for you? Do you really think we are playthings that you can control at will?"

Lu Shang addressed the assembled leaders of the civilization: "Before this meeting, I had contact with some of the people who collect this tax. Some of them boasted that there is a darkness within it that the swarm could never contend with."

"Therefore, I convened this meeting to see what kind of darkness is so overwhelming that even our Tower of Babel swarm cannot withstand it."

After saying that, Lu Shang pointed to another leader of a civilization and said, "You are next. Stop with the irrelevant nonsense and tell me everything honestly."

(End of this chapter)