parentshiftbook Chapter 709 5 years
Chapter 709 5 years
Fifty years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Purgatory Sulfur Plane, Main Control Room Side Hall.
Dark red lava light shone through the crystal dome, casting a slowly flowing shadow on the floor of the reception room.
Jemin leaned back on the bench, dozens of pale blue light screens floating on the magic network terminal beside him, countless data streams flowing silently within them. Opposite him sat Luli, the former planetary governor of the Tentacle Tree civilization.
When the tree surrendered fifty years ago, the canopy of this old tree man had already begun to wither.
Based on the average natural lifespan of 120 years for the Tentacle Tree civilization, he should have turned into a decaying old tree thirty years ago. But now, the cracks on his bark are still thick and aged, but the tips of his tentacles have regained a healthy emerald green luster, and even the light in his crystal eyes has become much more stable.
The reason is simple: he took the cheapest basic life-extending potion from the wizarding civilization.
The low-level alchemy potion that could be mass-produced as a holiday gift in the Star Ring Federation was already considered a "miracle" for a life form of a level six technological civilization.
"The last group of people has completed their migration."
Luli spoke in a low voice, his tentacles neatly folded in front of his knees, still maintaining the standard salute of submission he had learned for fifty years.
"This group of people totals 320 million and has been resettled in the seventh resettlement area of the Purgatory Sulfur Plane. The basic faith adaptability screening has been completed, and they have now been integrated into the secondary faith network of the incense and divine path system."
"The ecological restoration of the seventh resettlement area has also been completed simultaneously. Gravity parameters, atmospheric ratio, and day-night cycle have all been adjusted according to the original home planet environment of the Tentacle Tree Civilization."
Jemin nodded slightly.
The android administrative network had already submitted a complete report on these matters, but Hearthstone insisted on reporting them in person.
In his view, this is not a matter of efficiency, but of attitude.
Lu Li remained silent for a moment, her crystal eyes flickering slightly, as if she were considering whether she should continue speaking.
Jemin didn't urge him, but waited quietly.
Finally, the old tree man slowly spoke.
"To be honest... after these fifty years, I think I've come to understand it all." His voice was calm.
"You don't actually have very high expectations for us."
The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.
Hearth Fence continued:
"In your power system, the Tentacle Tree Civilization is probably at the second tier. They are... a relatively useful subordinate race, and a source of faith replenishment in the incense and god system."
"Not as good as the Black Giants, nor as good as those priests."
He spoke these words with an unexpectedly calm and relaxed tone.
Jemin did not deny it, because Firefly was right.
The Black Giant Legion was his true core armed force.
The researcher system comprised of the Black Giant Priests is the foundation of his power.
As for the Tentacle Tree Civilization...
It certainly has value, but it exists more as a resource-based, subordinate civilization.
The eyes of the hearth lowered slightly, but the sound gradually became more complex.
"But precisely because you don't have high expectations for us, the 'breeding conditions' you provide are implemented entirely according to the standards of the wizard civilization: a stable atmospheric environment, non-toxic drinking water, free public education, legal protection against being arbitrarily captured by noble private armies for experiments... and public medical care, which may be the most basic for you, but is simply amazing to us."
As he said this, the tip of his tentacle curled up slightly, as if it were a kind of bitter emotion.
"These things are just the bare minimum in wizarding civilization. But in our original society, they were a life we wouldn't even dare to dream of," Lu Li sighed softly. "My people don't know these things. They only know that the new rulers are much better than the old governor's mansion."
"...and they were indeed not wrong."
Inside the reception room, the light of lava flowed slowly.
Jemin listened quietly without interrupting, because what Firefly said was the truth.
Wizard civilization has never been a gentle civilization.
However, for a lower-level civilization, the "standards" of a wizarding civilization are often so high that they are almost heavenly.
Suddenly, Luli raised her crystalline eyes and looked at Jieming:
"Actually, on the surface, the Black Giants are even worse off than us. They have to earn their promotions through battle merits and missions." "We, on the other hand, only need to obey the order to enjoy everything we have."
He paused here:
"However, I can roughly guess the reason. In your eyes, the Black Giants are 'the same kind,' so they need to walk their own path." "And we..." Hearth Fence lowered her head slightly. "What you give is 'breeding,' not 'cultivation.'"
Jemin still didn't refute it, because it was also true.
The Tentacle Tree Civilization is too weak, so weak that it doesn't even qualify to be truly incorporated into the core system.
But Luli suddenly laughed.
The smile on that face, made of ancient tree bark, was quite radiant.
"But no matter what, at least the ordinary people of the entire civilization are indeed living better lives."
"As a governor who failed to protect civilization, I have no complaints about this outcome."
"Therefore...please allow me to express my sincerest gratitude to you."
After he finished speaking, he slowly stood up, lowered the treetop to the standard angle for taking his leave, and then quietly left the reception room.
After the door closed, the meeting room returned to silence.
"Thanks? It's just a matter of each getting what they want."
Jemin shook his head and turned to look at the dozens of light screens floating in front of him.
The document contains quarterly education and outreach reports submitted by the Android administrative network, updates from the Nest regarding the progress of clearing the Tentacle Tree plane debris, a request from Lava Mountain to replenish the training losses of the Level 7 Black Giants, and the latest experimental data from the God Armaments Reverse Analysis Project.
His gaze swept over each one, and after answering them, he raised his hand to close all the light screens.
"Let's go check out the situation on the other side first."
With a whisper, the teleportation array lit up, its silvery-white light spreading through the air.
In the next instant, Jemin's figure had disappeared from the spot.
The Tentacle Tree Plane, located on the periphery of the core area of the plane.
Inside a temporary research institute situated in a synchronous orbit around a gas giant, the cold white lights illuminated the entire facility with extraordinary brightness. As soon as Jemin entered the research area, he saw Viola and Dean Avery Knight huddled around a worktable.
The two of them had almost identical expressions of excitement on their faces.
At the center of the work area, a fist-sized sealing sphere hovered in mid-air, with runes of eerie green and grayish-white swirling rapidly. Inside the sphere, a dense shadow was writhing wildly, like some kind of living thing trapped in glass.
Jemin paused slightly, then immediately realized what was happening:
"Found a new one?"
"Yes, this is the seventh one already." Viola didn't even look up, but reached out and poked the surface of the sealing sphere.
As if stimulated by something, the shadow inside the sphere suddenly slammed into the spot where her fingers were.
A ring of eerie green ripples spread across the surface of the seal, but it quickly stabilized again.
"This guy is more active than the previous six."
Viola licked her lips, her light green eyes filled with obvious pleasure.
"Sellas almost let it escape. In the end, I had to use the Law of Pain to bombard it twice to finally pin it down."
Jemin turned to look at Dean Avery.
Dean Avery gently rubbed his temples, his eyes showing obvious fatigue.
But more than anything, it was a feeling of satisfaction.
"That's pretty much it. We've thoroughly explored the entire Tentacle Tree dimension three times in this period."
"We've done a comprehensive scan, cross-dimensional verification, probed the interior of stars, detected the event horizon of black holes... we've searched every possible area."
He let out a deep breath as he finished speaking.
"This was just dug out from a degenerate matter interlayer of a white dwarf star during the third round of searching."
"If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the last one."
Jemin quickly calculated in his mind.
With a total of seven, according to the original allocation agreement, each level seven wizard participating in the operation would receive one sample.
As the owner of the plane and the provider of intelligence, Jemin can obtain two.
Even including the one he had to give to Viola, he could at least get a sample himself.