Crossover anime/manga, immediately transmigrated after death

He paused for a moment: "You said there were problems with Aristotle's books, and I remember that many people did have doubts at the time."

Zhang Yang: "..."

and many more.

Is this guy speaking up for me?

"Moreover," the Marquis continued, "when I was young, I read many books translated from Chinese."

"At that time, there was indeed a trend in European high society to regard China as an ideal country."

"Xiao Yi, the 14th, and 2nd Brother of Route 9 said after thinking for a moment, seemingly with a touch of nostalgia: 'I remember back then I even became interested and went to the land of China, and even fought against the Triune Storm God on the northern soil.'"

"Hmm..." Zhang Yang didn't even frown, feeling as if he had grasped something, but the next moment it was scattered by the cult leader.

"What you say makes some sense. Westerners are barbarians; they really can't make such exquisite things," the cult leader said calmly.

Zhang Yang was overjoyed.

But the cult leader immediately added, "However, what you've said is ultimately just one person's opinion."

“I have seen far more with my own eyes than you have heard about. You say that Western civilization was stolen, then let me ask you, how did they manage to defeat the Qing Dynasty?”

Good question.

Zhang Yang is waiting for this question.

"Your Excellency, please forgive me." He cupped his hands in greeting. "If I may be so bold as to ask a question, if the barbarians had not stolen the Yi Dao of my China, how could they have defeated my Great Qing Empire?"

"The Qing Dynasty has been established for hundreds of years. In terms of both civil administration and military prowess, has it ever been inferior to the barbarians?"

Zhang Yang's voice turned somber. "But ever since the missionaries brought back Chinese knowledge, the technology of Western countries has advanced by leaps and bounds. What is this? This is using our own things to fight us!"

He didn't give the cult leader time to think and continued, "Cult leader, you say you've seen many things with your own eyes. Have you ever wondered why it was the West that rose to power? Why not India? Why not the Ottomans? Why not the Arabs?"

"...Why do you think so?"

"Because they stole our 'way'."

"What nonsense!"

The Marquis suddenly spoke, his tone not harsh, but very certain: "If the principles of change in China are truly so powerful, why didn't the Industrial Revolution occur in China? Why did Europe achieve it first?"

Zhang Yang had been waiting for this question: "Your Excellency Marquis, that's a good question."

"The Industrial Revolution... What is the Industrial Revolution? It is the transformation of human labor into machine labor. It is the transformation of human hands into iron hands. It is the transformation of people into tools."

What is needed for this?

"It requires treating people as less than human beings."

"Does the leader know that during the Yin and Shang dynasties, human sacrifice was once prevalent in our land of China?"

The cult leader suddenly widened his eyes.

“Back then, the Shang Dynasty king would use living people as sacrifices during his rituals. There would be anywhere from dozens to hundreds.” Zhang Yang pressed on, “Those who were sacrificed were called ‘Qiang’.”

"A sheep with a child underneath means the sheep eats people."

"King Wu attacked King Zhou because King Zhou had used Boyi Kao as a sacrifice, chopped him into mincemeat, and shared it with many powerful and noble people."

"He even sacrificed his two sons as offerings, simply because offerings are considered noble, and what could be more noble than royalty?"

"Later, King Wen established the Book of Changes, King Wu attacked King Zhou, and the Duke of Zhou established the rites..."

"Starting from the Zhou Dynasty, the Chinese people stopped the practice of human sacrifice."

"Because we understand! Humans are not livestock, they cannot be sacrificed."

He paused, looking at the cult leader and the marquis: "But what about the Industrial Revolution?"

“They used people as fuel. Child laborers suffocated to death in chimneys, workers were exhausted to the point of vomiting blood on assembly lines, and when men died from exhaustion, women took their place; when women died from exhaustion, children took their place.”

"Isn't this human sacrifice?"

"However, the object of their sacrifice was not God, but 'progress'."

"They used the lives of living people to build that thing called the 'Industrial Revolution'."

After saying this, Zhang Yang let out a long sigh: "Although I haven't read many books, after traveling around Europe for so many years, I've become more and more certain of one thing..."

"The Industrial Revolution was destined never to happen in China!"

"It's not because Chinese technology is inferior."

"It's because we are different from the barbarians in terms of the bottom line of being human."

Elsa was completely stunned, looking at Zhang Yang as if he were a saint.

The Marquis remained silent, his fingers tapping lightly on the table, lost in thought.

The cult leader's expression changed: "How do you know about the sacrificial rites of the Yin and Shang dynasties? I only learned the truth about King Wu's conquest of Zhou when I entered the sacrificial altar ruins from that period during my battle with an ancient god of the Yin and Shang dynasties. How could you know that?"

Zhang Yang: "..."

Fighting against the ancient gods of the Yin and Shang dynasties?

We've entered the site of King Wu's conquest of King Zhou.

What is this person saying?

I can't understand a word of it!

Snapped!

The cult leader, now completely convinced by Zhang Yang's lies, stood up in anger and declared, "I will punish the wicked and bring justice to the people!"

Zhang Yang: "Huh?"

"Western barbarians, they stole my Yi Dao, burned my classics, and used the wisdom of my Chinese people to create this man-eating monster." The cult leader's voice grew louder and louder, and Zhang Yang even felt a storm blowing towards him, whether it was his imagination or not.

“I want to tell all of the West that their crimes are obvious.”

"I will destroy the Industrial Revolution, this pathetic human sacrifice!"

She said, emphasizing each word: "Today!"

Chapter Twenty-Three: He Has Divine Power

The cult leader stepped out of the bar.

Zhang Yang rushed out after him, only managing to catch a glimpse of a hem of clothing brushing past his head.

The cult leader went straight up, pressing all the weight onto his feet.

Wow!

A robe unfurled in the thick twilight fog, like a white crane rising from nowhere.

She walked upwards as if stepping on air, each step feeling like she was on invisible steps, her figure growing taller and taller.

Zhang Yang tilted his head back, and his neck ached.

Standing steadily hundreds of meters in the air, it felt as if it were standing on flat ground.

"...Holy crap."

Zhang Yang opened his mouth, but only managed to squeeze out these two words.

Before he could react, the cult leader spoke, his voice loud.

It cannot be described by the word "big".

It was as if an invisible giant bell was striking above her head, the sound waves crashing down from the sky, forming a visible shockwave that spread out with a roar.

Boom!

Standing on the ground, Zhang Yang felt a sudden buzzing in his eardrums, as if he had been punched in the chest, and he could even see ripples spreading through the air.

Ripples swept overhead, over the eaves, across the entire street, and swept across the city of London.

"Western barbarians have stolen our Way of Change—"

Her voice echoed high in the sky, yet it was as clear as if it were spoken right next to your ear.

"Burn my books, sever my literary lineage."

"With the wisdom of China's millennia-old civilization, this cannibalistic den of demons was built."

"Chimneys are the bones, railway tracks are the sinews, steam is the blood, and living people are the sacrifices..."

"Today, I, the Emperor, will relieve the people's suffering and punish the guilty."

"To declare to the world—"

"The Western nations are guilty beyond redemption!"

The air in the entire city of London seemed to vibrate.

Zhang Yang covered his ears, wondering if the volume was loud enough for the whole of London to hear.

What he didn't know was.

Not London...

It's all of Europe!

From the British Isles to the heart of Europe, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean coast, from the Pyrenees to the Ural Mountains… everyone heard that voice.

On a Paris street, a vendor who was hawking his wares suddenly stopped what he was doing, looked up, and stared blankly at the sky.

In a Berlin square, a street performer playing the violin suddenly had his bow break.

In a Vienna café, ripples spread across the coffee in a cup.

In a Roman church, a priest who was praying suddenly felt a pang of fear, and the cross in his hands fell to the ground.

The voice came from the west, speaking a language they couldn't understand.

The intonation was varied and rhythmic.

It sounds good.

But I can't understand it.

Most people stood there, looking at each other in bewilderment, not knowing what had happened.

Some people knelt down, clasped their hands together, thinking it was some kind of divine miracle.

Some people screamed in terror and ran frantically through the streets.

Some people hid indoors, covered their heads with blankets, and shivered.

All of Europe fell into a frenzied and chaotic silence.

Those who understand Chinese include Western missionaries who speak Mandarin, Han Chinese merchants living in Europe, and translators in embassies...

They understood.

Then they were all stunned.

"The West has stolen the Chinese Way of Change?"

"A man-eating den of monsters?"

"To hang...to punish the guilty and punish the wicked?"

Where did this deity come from?!

What is this even talking about?

If you can't understand Chinese, how come you can't understand Chinese?

The unparalleled leader had no intention of explaining, nor did he bother to. He simply pointed lightly at the ground.

"—Water nourishes wood, and wood overcomes earth. The principles of the Five Elements, manifest your power—"

Boom boom boom!

Zhang Yang was standing on the street when he suddenly felt the stone slabs under his feet tremble.

Then he saw green things emerging from the cracks in the stone slabs, from under the moss in the corners of the walls, from the edges of the drains, from every corner with soil and water.

rustle--

Those plants grew extremely fast, almost at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Vines climbed along the wall, roots burrowed into the cracks of the bricks, and leaves unfurled in the air, releasing a strong scent of grass and wood.