People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

"If Ernst can't cure him, he must be eliminated!"

Safar: "......."

What collapse? I didn't collapse! My mental strength is very strong. You, the "fake general," can you explain this to me?

I'm going to be wiped out!

And you, what are you doing, you damned silver boy! What are you trying to do by raising your hand?

Ah, no!

"Snapped--"

A crisp slapping sound was followed by a loud question:

"You beast, what have you been poisoned by?!"

In an instant, the world became quiet.

Chapter 328 Kal'tsit finally gets her first gold coin

Shelag, Tukarim.

Accidents are quite normal when exploring space. Even in India, where nine out of ten rockets explode and one fails to take off, that's still pretty much the norm.

Hmm—it doesn't seem to be the norm, there really is only one company that is both bad at the game and loves to play.

After Kelsey revealed the potential dangers of extraterrestrial life, Ernst warned several of the parties involved in advance.

Christensen and Safar received descriptions of the three threats. Jeragand received a request for surveillance and precautions. Typhon, on the other hand, received an invitation to join them on the mountain at any time.

Some people heeded these three warnings, while others did not.

Safar was one of those who didn't listen at all. When Christensen relayed the safety matters to him, he said he was extremely brave and not afraid of anything outside.

As it turns out, he did indeed have the qualifications. As a soul who had maintained his identity for thousands of years in an environment also filled with countless illusions, the consciousness of others, and cognitive chaos, his experience gave him an astonishing resistance to the cognitive pollution of evil.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that he did not directly encounter the evil spirits, but was only subjected to some residual pollution.

Even with such a strong spirit, his perception was still distorted, mistaking the ice shield that Ya'er had formed for the Flame Demon General with Saria's face, and entering "fantasy time". It is hard to imagine how much worse the situation would be if he were allowed to be corrupted for a longer period of time.

Compared to Safar, Kristen listened to only part of what Safar said.

She reacted quickly, pressing the warning button relatively promptly. For someone without systematic training or experience in combating demonic cognitive corruption, this was already quite impressive.

Even Typhon expressed his admiration for her.

If she weren't so keen on studying collapse bodies.

Apart from these two, the rest of them truly heeded the warning.

Upon receiving the warning, Ya'er immediately made arrangements. She contacted Sami to learn firsthand experience in fighting evil, and then found [Chronology] and instructed Him to take His place at the Matterhorn the next day.

The sense of temporal disorder experienced by Christensen and the researchers was not entirely caused by demonic corruption.

After all, Safar, corrupted by the demons, was in the isolation tower. The safety operation manual stated that after completing the first exploration outside the isolation layer, Safar needed to be checked, "disinfected," and observed in the isolation tower before he could be allowed to leave. The "disinfection" process was naturally to deal with the demons.

After all, if Safar encountered weapons like the Zerg, Earthburst Star, or even more ruthless ones like the Sky-Burning Divine Weapon or the Ether Engine, he wouldn't need to bother with antivirus at all.

He is the one who will be killed, the "poison".

The disinfection is naturally aimed at the contamination. This is also a veiled reference to the [unmentionable] nature of evil spirits. Inside the isolation tower, there are ciphers laid by Typhon to limit the spread of contamination, and most importantly, the [Ama's Love] token that Ernst didn't use last time.

Typhon had checked it before, and the small snowball that emitted a faint light had indeed melted this time.

It was that snowball that helped the entire laboratory withstand the first wave of Safar contamination. That was the first time the researcher glimpsed the contaminated Safar on the monitor—besides that researcher, when Christen later arrived, the monitor was already broken, showing only distorted images and noise.

Safar's contamination was contained by the ciphers in the isolation tower and Ama's love, while the contamination that penetrated Ama's love and seeped into the laboratory was contained by the pre-emptive attention to the timing here. The sense of temporal chaos that Christen felt was essentially a mixture of three factors: [the demon's loss of control over time perception], [the normal flow of time], and [subjective slowing down of time].

Although this also caused some problems to some extent, such as the researcher's body being shattered and being pieced back together by Kal'tsit, his premature confession to his dream lover who was not there and the resulting big fight, and the socially awkward scene where Kristen suddenly invited Ernst to dance in a very effeminate way.

It's a pity I didn't bring my camera, otherwise I would have at least taken a picture to keep as a keepsake.

However, compared to these not-too-bad drawbacks, the existence of [Time Sequence] did ensure that Ernst had time to get from Holy Stone Square to the research lab and resolve the incident.

Ernst glanced around at Kristen, Kal'tsit, Typhon, Ya'er, and a small fragment of Originium in a jar labeled "This is a Balrog, do not touch," as well as the researchers who had been treated by Kal'tsit and Typhon and were now mostly unconscious. Ernst let out a long sigh of relief.

"At least... everyone is alright."

He's really not good at handling these kinds of fighting and killing scenarios.

I am a civil official, not skilled in martial arts. Not everyone can just take off their coat, grab a cane, and start hacking away with -70% defense.

You can't hit someone with a bell!

Of course, Ernst always adhered to the principle that everyone should do what they are meant to do. His weakness was his lack of martial arts skills, but when he actually had to resort to force to deal with problems, it meant that all his efforts had failed.

By then, even if he had some martial prowess and managed to win by chance, the overall situation would probably be beyond saving.

Reality is not a fairy tale. Moreover, even in fairy tales, kings usually send heroes to solve problems, don't they?

As the "king," he still has many problems to solve.

His speech at the closing ceremony was certainly inspiring, and his exploration of outer space was indeed captivating. However, the problem was that, due to an unexpected incident during the experiment, Ernst was unable to produce "sufficiently representative results" to prove that his earlier remarks were not unfounded.

Sherag said the "Star Exploration Project" was about exploring space, but what were the results?

Things from outer space: rocks, soil, or whatever—at the very least, there should be a photograph, right?

No picture, no words?

Countries are not easily fooled. Without concrete results, empty talk is just empty talk, and no matter how eloquently you speak, it has no practical significance.

Just like an airship, it has no deterrent effect if it doesn't come out.

Ernst once famously said: "A nuclear bomb is most effective when it is not being launched."

But why are unlaunched nuclear weapons the most deterrent? It's because everyone knows what kind of destruction, impact, and consequences a nuclear weapon would cause once launched, so they keep each other in check and dare not act rashly.

Why do people know the power of nuclear bombs?

Let's invite the Japanese contestant who's currently living a good life to speak.

Space exploration is certainly not a nuclear bomb. As Ernst said in his speech, he doesn't want the pristine realm of space to be shrouded in the deadly sword of Damocles. But the principle remains the same: you have to put it to the test to see what it's really made of.

This was the first problem Ernst had to solve.

He left the Holy Stone Square and came to the Dome Research Station, so he definitely had to bring something back with him.

If it's not announced today, it has to be announced tomorrow. No matter how much it's delayed, it has to be announced within this week at the very least.

This is the limit of the nations' patience, and also the best time to pique their interest in outer space.

Ernst was conflicted; theoretically, he could choose to fabricate a fake.

Although he didn't have much knowledge of astronomy, he did know a little about it. He also had Levy on his side, who was a polymath. If he could persuade him, it wouldn't be difficult to carry out a fake operation using modern technology.

Just like some conspiracy theories circulating online from my past life claiming the US moon landing was faked, they could simply set up a shed in some remote corner of Kjerag, fill it with dirt, plant a flag, take a picture, and that would be it. The cost would be very low, and considering that Jeragund seems to have awakened the ability to manipulate light, Ernst could even save money on studio lighting.

Moreover, having some basic modern scientific knowledge and having seen the online footage of China's manned lunar landing, he, in collaboration with Levy, could achieve at least 80% accuracy in recreating the fabricated scenario, if not 100%.

It should be more than enough to deal with the Terrans who have never seen space before.

But the downsides of this kind of thing are also obvious.

If other countries also go to space in the future, this lie will be exposed immediately.

After all, Terra's two moons are definitely different from Earth's satellite moons; firstly, their numbers are different. Whether their structures are similar is also unknown.

If it's not made of stone, but of a metallic ore, or even a large lump of Originium, then this lie would be exposed with a single touch!

And this is the best-case scenario.

Worse still, Ernst has a space enthusiast and insider here, and Kristen might be the first to stand up and expose him.

Ernst thought she was capable of it.

Mediating conflicts between various parties is a very difficult task, and weighing the pros and cons and losses is always the most important aspect of one's career and even life.

Some might say, couldn't Ernst have just announced the experiment's failure?

From a purely rational perspective, it is indeed possible. But in reality, it would be the most foolish thing to do.

What was Ernst's purpose? It was to enhance Sherag's international reputation, increase Terrans' interest in the skies, reduce internal conflicts among nations on the ground, and ultimately promote the establishment of the World Summit to guarantee Sherag's status as the initiator and peace.

Announcing the experiment's failure is no different from either of these.

Failure damages reputation, does not fuel interest, and does not contribute to the establishment of the World Summit.

In comparison, even if it's fake, if it's not exposed within a certain period of time, it's enough to arouse the curiosity of at least some countries.

For example, Colombia, the most adventurous country in Terra.

Because Ernst wasn't the only one giving this speech; Vice President Wilson also delivered a speech at the same time and is now eagerly awaiting Ernst's success, making space a top priority for his next term.

But the consequences of forgery...

Weighing the costs and benefits, Ernst clicked his tongue and made a decision.

"Tsk, there's no other way. This is the only thing we can do."

He sighed and looked at Kristen. Perhaps because she had just died once, Kristen was somewhat afraid to meet Ernst's gaze.

But convincing Christensen was the first step in the forgery.

"gram........"

“Ernst, I found this in the tower.”

Kal'tsit suddenly spoke, interrupting Ernst.

Her lips were pressed tightly together, as if she had gone through some difficult decision before making this choice.

What she handed over was a communicator.

Typhon's eyes lit up, and he nodded:

"Oh right, I found this thing while I was disinfecting in front of the top floor corridor. It was still making noise over and over again. I saw that it was still usable, so I disinfected it and brought it back."

As she spoke, she glanced at Kal'tsit with some confusion.

"Didn't I put this thing in that box over there? How did it end up in your hands?"

Typhon pointed to a large box in a corner not far away, which contained the scrapped Dulin 259 mech.

Without a carrier, the Flame Demon reverted to its fragmented form, requiring Levi and Miloch to reactivate it and create a new mecha.

However, Shelag will likely have to endure a period without heating, but fortunately it is summer now, and Shelag is enjoying a rare warm day.

Faced with Typhon's questioning, Kal'tsit remained unfazed: "I picked it up. I saw that nobody wanted it anywhere, so I took it."

"Since it belongs to Ernst, then we'll return it to you."

She handed the communicator to Ernst, who reached out to take it, but before he could quite grasp it, it was already in his hand.

You're holding on pretty tight, aren't you?

Ernst glanced at Kal'tsit with some surprise, but Kal'tsit sighed and let go of his hand.

Ernst then got the communicator and glanced at Typhon.

He had just noticed the unusual point in Typhon's words:

"You're saying there were sounds coming from here back then?"

Typhon nodded: "Yes, he kept repeating the same sentence, even though I didn't understand it."

Ernst nodded thoughtfully.

Although Ernst didn't directly participate in the experiment, he still had some understanding of it. The top of the Tower of Babel was very close to the isolation layer, and the interference level was so strong that there shouldn't have been any signal at all.

In other words, there should be no sound in this room. Even if there is, it should be a noisy busy signal, and at the very least, it shouldn't be the sound of people talking.

Moreover, what does Typhon not understand?

Ernst reached for the recording function on the communicator.

According to operating procedures, Safar should have made a recorded report after confirming entry to the top level of the Tower of Babel. He should have heard that recording at that time.

In other words, the communicator should also have recorded the repeated sentence at that time.

Do you want to listen now?

Ernst hesitated for a moment, glanced at Kal'tsit, and, seeing her slightly pleading look, withdrew his hand and nodded to Typhon: