People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

"Each time, the doctor ended up destroying this land."

"I've considered all the possibilities: If Kal'tsit disagrees and forces the sarcophagus open, we'll die. If Kal'tsit agrees but doesn't prepare beforehand and opens the sarcophagus directly, we'll die. If Kal'tsit isn't there, we'll die. If Kal'tsit is there but not in good condition, we'll die. If the Agor open the sarcophagus, we'll die. If the Sarkaz open the sarcophagus, we'll die. If everyone on Terra opens the sarcophagus together, we'll also die."

"The ways of dying are almost limitless, encompassing every possibility we face. Through a summary and categorized analogy, even situations we haven't experienced in these 5 instances can still lead to death."

"But in the end, I found you here, and I didn't die."

"So this makes me realize even more how hard-won the world I actually live in, the things I've experienced, and the 'Doctor' I've met are."

Theresa sighed softly, her gaze fixed firmly on the Demon King's diamond-shaped pupils:

"You ask me if I regret it? I don't regret it."

"Among countless possibilities, I, and countless versions of myself, have finally reached this point. The doctor ultimately chose to kill me instead of destroying this land, which proves that I am on the right path."

"But you are dead."

For the first time, the Demon King's voice responded to Theresa with a somewhat cold tone.

Theresa nodded:

"But Terra survived."

"You have destroyed our hope." The rhombus in the Demon King's eyes gleamed.

Theresa gave a wry smile:

"But I left Terra with a glimmer of hope."

The Demon King suddenly laughed:

"You admit it? The struggle between civilizations is inherently a matter of life and death?"

Theresa's expression stiffened.

This is something she has always been unwilling to admit.

So far, apart from her final "revenge" against the doctor, everything she has done has been to build a world where they can "coexist."

She hoped that the Sarkaz could coexist with the nations of Terra, that Kazdel could be recognized by the nations of Terra, and that in the future, people would no longer be distinguished by bloodline or whether they were infected, so that everyone on this land could sleep peacefully.

She was the one who least believed that the struggle between civilizations should be a matter of life and death.

This is her naiveté, and also her persistence.

The Demon King knows this.

She was created by Prissis using all of Theresa's information, an "anti-Theresa creation" who knows Theresa best.

So, she set this trap.

Precyth is a descendant of human civilization, whose magnificent civilization was built upon countless skeletons. She certainly knows what the struggles between civilizations in the universe are like: life and death are the vast majority, while coexistence with singing and dancing is a rare exception.

Theresa hurt the Doctor, who was her beloved. For these remnants of a lost civilization, the most important thing was that kind of affection. The Preservator felt this way, as did Lo, and she felt the same way. She believed that Ernst felt the same way.

But Little Te was very helpful. She dared to mess with the powerful and provoke him, and with a "snap," she deleted everything!

pain!It hurts so much!

Precy wouldn't resort to such superficial means as "death" or "repeated deaths" for revenge. It's meaningless to kill someone with ideals no matter how many times you kill her.

Therefore, she wanted Theresa to personally negate the set of beliefs she held dear and destroy what she cherished most.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

She used the existence of the Demon King to present Theresa with this difficult problem.

Option A: You agree that civilizations can coexist, admit that erasing the Doctor's memories was a huge mistake, and then you will embark on the same path as the 365 failures you have just experienced, watching Terra's destruction, watching your kindness and ideals be exchanged for Terra's demise.

Option B: You personally deny the wishes and ideals you have held onto until now, admitting that you are capable of killing the hope of another civilization for the sake of the survival of your own civilization.

Wanting to survive is nothing to be ashamed of.

Precys had seen many such wishes; she had even listened to the mournful cries of stars before their demise among the stars.

To commit the crime of annihilating another civilization in order to ensure the survival of one's own civilization is not considered a crime. There aren't that many moral police in the universe, and the destroyed civilization won't speak for itself; you're just a hero.

When the Doctor destroyed countless Terras, didn't he even blink?

The only question is, Theresa, are you willing to accept this title of "hero" that I'm giving you?

Precys liked this method very much.

"Treasure" told her this when he was chatting in the past and sharing stories from his "Amber Era".

He said this tactic is called "killing someone by destroying their spirit"!

It means that it is better to expose and condemn a person's motives, thoughts, and intentions than to destroy their physical body.

Precys, being a science and engineering student, couldn't win a debate with Theresa on topics like "whether civilizations should have different levels of status" or "whether life should have different characteristics." In fact, due to the different environments in which they lived, Precys couldn't even come up with any arguments that Theresa could "understand."

Therefore, she decisively copied a "treasure" of "debating" skills that were so powerful that she could even leave Dr. and Trevor Friston speechless in a "debating environment"!

Seeing the stiff expression on Theresa's face, Precys finally felt a little better after the Doctor's memories were erased.

The "treasure" received off-site assistance tens of thousands of years later! Thank you!

"So now do you think you did something wrong?"

"Precys asked again."

The Demon King spoke, conveying Prestis's meaning.

Theresa pursed her lips.

"I"

"The commotion just now came from the Shard. Ernst, you'd never guess what a mess the Shard is in now!"

Inside the Self-Salvation Army's underground stronghold and shelter, Talulah's voice was somewhat startled.

Just now, a deafening roar, like an earthquake, suddenly shook the ground from Londinium. Even the rust and dust on the intricate network of pipes within the Self-Salvation Army's stronghold were shaken off!

After the commotion subsided, Talulah led her people out to investigate. When they returned, their faces showed shock.

"That Shard you mentioned! My God, that thing's practically turned into a tree!"

"And the sky over Londinium has changed too, it's turned a deep red, and it looks really unsettling! I suspect those Sarkaz are up to something again! Do you think the Shard can even be used now, looking like that?"

Yelena handed over a camera. In the photo, the sky over Londinium looked as if it had been drenched in blood, with the crimson clouds so heavy they seemed to be pressing down on the city.

But what bothered Ernst even more was the unusual change that had occurred at the original location of The Shard.

Just as Talulah said, the changes in that place were absolutely terrifying.

A towering tree made of Originium crystals replaced the original Fragment Building. Like the towering Jianmu tree described in Ernst's "The Chronicles of Erzley," it stood tall on the earth, its branches reaching straight into the scarlet clouds in the sky, as if connecting heaven and earth, and communicating between gods and men.

Without a doubt, at this point, even a blind person could see that Sakatsu had pulled out another "surprise"!

Or rather, from the moment they arrived at the Londinium battlefield, this "surprise" has never stopped!

The Sarkaz truly deserve to be called the most resilient creatures on this land; they probably won't have to worry about surviving for the rest of their lives!

"Can't delay."

Gazing at the blurry "diamond" mark atop the Shard in the distance in the photograph, Ernst took a deep breath and murmured,

"We'll set off as soon as Gretia returns."

"Get to The Shard as fast as you can!"

Chapter 856 What if I use Ernst as an example?

Thunder rumbled across the Shard, casting an ominous crimson hue over Londinium.

Victoria's heart is in the hands of the Sarkaz. Airships pierce the sky, overlooking the once-dominant fleet of high-speed warships that once dominated Terra. The Carrion Eaters have unleashed the legendary War of the Gods, settling all scores from ten thousand years ago.

The Sarkaz are a people steeped in history. Ernst had seen some Indian jokes in his previous life, about how Indians, excavating ancient ruins, found no wires and declared that the ancient Indians had mastered radio technology. Back then, this seemed like a joke lacking basic common sense. But in Terra, and in the context of the Sarkaz, this might not be a joke at all.

Their civilization was declining under devastation. As one rises, another falls; the question Precys asked Theresa was never a simple matter of logic. It was a question intertwined with the specific realities of Terra.

"If civilizations can coexist, then why have the nations of Terra repeatedly destroyed the Sarkaz civilization countless times throughout history? While you are expressing tolerance, countless Sarkaz people are dying under the firepower of the Victorians."

"Why have the Terrans never considered coexisting with the continent? Does your talk of coexisting with the continent lead to destruction?"

This argument seems particularly ridiculous. From God's perspective, onlookers can cite countless examples of how cooperation benefits both sides while separation harms both.

But Theresa is a Terran.

"Debate" is never a process of persuading the other side. "Debate" is a process in which representatives from both sides use logic, examples, arguments, and finding loopholes in the other side's arguments to persuade a third-party "judge" and "audience".

Theresa could spout countless grand principles, but she couldn't offer a single example, because this was the land itself, so rotten that there wasn't a single instance of civilized cooperation to be found.

Precy may not be as good as Theresa at preaching grand principles, but she has seen countless examples, and any example she can casually cite can be so real as to be bloody!

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Precys is practically guaranteed to win this "debate" simply because of his overwhelming knowledge.

But Theresa actually came up with an "example".

“In the past, there was indeed no precedent for cooperation between civilizations.”

The Black Crown contains countless memories of the Sarkaz Demon Lords. They will not lie to Theresia. Instead of searching for answers in history, it is better to openly admit the fragility of their ideals.

But in addition to the memories of the Demon King, Theresa also has her own memories.

In her memory, civilizations had indeed begun to cooperate.

"But now, Miss Precyth, how long has it been since you paid any attention to Terra?"

"Kazdel has been peacefully established, and the Sarkaz have been recognized by the nations and have built their own homeland."

“Sherragh may be just a small, insignificant place in your eyes, but Mr. Ernst Shivaish did not choose between A and B as you suggested.”

"Or rather, he chose [or]."

Yi [the Demon King]'s expression remained unchanged, and he subconsciously retorted:

"But Theresa, Ernst, didn't you also sacrifice yourselves?"

"Kazdelnia was built on the destruction of the Military Council and your Kazdel."

Seven Theresa nodded, then shook her head:

"That's true, but Kazdel's civilization has continued."

“Miss Prestis, if the destruction of Kazdel is equivalent to the extinction of the Sarkaz civilization, then the Sarkaz civilization has been destroyed countless times throughout history. You will not see me here.”

"You can think of it as our unique way of passing on traditions."

Theresa's situation actually involved a bug.

The story of Ernst destroying one Kazdel and then promoting the establishment of another Kazdel can be interpreted in many ways.

Liu's extreme Sarkaz conservatives might see this as Ernst trying to substitute one faction for another. Since they can't eliminate the Sarkaz, they might as well eliminate a portion of them and then use this method to tame the moderates. This, too, is destroying Sarkaz civilization.

They might even think that integrating the Sarkaz into Terran civilization, allowing nations like Kazdel and Victoria, who are sworn enemies of Terran, to share the same sky, would be destroying Sarkaz civilization.

Therefore, Ernst chose option B, sacrificing the "orthodox Sarkaz civilization" to protect his fabricated "weak Sarkaz civilization".

But to the vast majority of Sarkaz people, the situation is quite different.

The vast majority of Sarkaz people want to survive. They are not so vengeful, and even those who choose to become mercenaries are not really bloodthirsty or murderous.

In the Soul Forge, which records most of the Sarkaz’s thoughts, the description of the inspiration called Rise and Fall is: I plan to go out of town to make a living.

Yes, for the Sarkaz, the rise and fall of civilizations doesn't involve so many lofty cultural concepts, traditions, or talk of orthodoxy and inauthenticity.

As long as we can survive, that's prosperity!

If you can't survive, then you die!

In their eyes, Ernst chose option A. He was someone who took a huge risk, acknowledging that civilizations could coexist, and helping the marginalized Sarkaz gain a legitimate and compliant homeland.

This homeland is under the protection of the World Summit. As Resolution 001, as long as the World Summit stands, no one or country will dare to openly question the legitimacy of Kazdelnia—that's like wanting purple eggs (bullets) instead of cauliflower soup!

So the Sarkaz thanked Ernst, and no matter how much Ernst said it was a win-win situation, they wouldn't change their minds.

The person who saved countless lives deserves even a black crown!

For Theresa, Ernst's actions, at least so far, have not brought about any so-called destruction.

This is enough to prove that he did find the balance between A and B, which is the so-called "or" (or) balance.

Of course, Theresa also knew that Ernst was an isolated case, and there was a saying that isolated cases were not conclusive evidence.

Her use of Ernst as an example was more of a self-comforting act. If the "Demon King" had truly copied her information and thoughts completely, then refuting her wouldn't be difficult.

Sure enough, after Theresa cited Ernst's example, the Demon King only pondered for a few seconds before coming up with countless rebuttals.