Watching Qian Weining’s figure recede, Melgor asked, “Why did you suddenly go and catch rabbits?”
Ren Xiaosu said as he commanded the two servants to gather firewood to start a fire, “Our relationship with Qian Weining and his men right now isn’t that good. Since the Tudor family wants to kill you, Qian Weining might also be thinking about killing you. So from today onwards, we have to be very, very careful when it comes to our food. Remember, only eat the food that I give you. You mustn’t eat anything that’s brought over by others, not even if it’s shit.”
Melgor snapped, “I won’t eat that even if you don’t tell me!”
“That’s good then,” Ren Xiaosu said thankfully.
“… What’s with that thankful look on your face?”
Ren Xiaosu skillfully butchered the rabbits. However, he could not help but say with a sigh, “The rabbits in your Kingdom of Sorcerers are much smaller than those in the Central Plains.”
“Are the rabbits in the Central Plains very big?” Melgor asked.
“Mhm.” Ren Xiaosu nodded. “Rabbits in the wilderness are at least four or five times larger than these two I caught. I guess it’s because the Central Plains was more affected by The Cataclysm.”
Melgor said, “I’ve also heard from others that the reason why the magus order was able to put themselves in a dominant position at the beginning of The Cataclysm and kidnap people from other regions was because they had found this land of paradise.”
Ren Xiaosu’s interest was piqued. “Tell me everything you know.”
“At that time, the global climate turned really cold due to The Cataclysm and lasted for a very long time.” Melgor said, “Plants started withering, and people went underground for shelter. Furthermore, they could only eat the food that had been stored away by civilization before The Cataclysm. Later, when the food ran out, people even had to start eating some of the plants and rhizomes that could grow in a low temperature and slow photosynthetic environment. Fortunately, this land of paradise was not affected by the contaminated particles, so everyone managed to survive after a while. During that period, the magus order reestablished order in this territory and cut off many things that posed a threat to it.”
Ren Xiaosu nodded. The “contaminated particles” were probably radiation. He had also discussed this with Yang Xiaojin before. According to her, the region where the Central Plains and the expeditionary army were located was the main disaster zone. That was why it became so difficult to survive there. A large amount of scientific knowledge had been disrupted or destroyed during The Cataclysm. Afterwards, the development of science in the Central Plains became unusual. Basically, everyone would just focus on developing whatever knowledge they discovered.
After all, tapping on the centuries of research by countless scientists before The Cataclysm was still better than having to start all over again.
When Ren Xiaosu asked Yang Xiaojin why Yang Anjing hated nuclear weapons so much, her answer was: “Actually, one or two nuclear bombs wouldn’t have much of an impact on the world. But in the period leading up to The Cataclysm, all of the nuclear countries’ pursuits turned to stockpiling nuclear weapons. Some of the countries even managed to stockpile 6,000 nuclear warheads.”
The Nuclear Apocalypse policy was not meant to deal with just enemy countries but to envelop the entire world.
As long as a full-scale nuclear war broke out, the countries that were attacked would have to immediately launch a full-scale counterattack. This counterattack would not only target direct enemy countries but also cover 600 global cities to seek to bury the entire world with them.
Only with said confidence could a country hold a tough diplomatic stance. A lot of people did not actually want such a situation to happen, but when everyone was doing so, they were forced to do the same. In a competition, if you were always weaker than others, you would only get bullied.
Before The Cataclysm, the various countries’ policies regarding nuclear weapons use were divided into a few categories.
A “no first use against non-nuclear states” policy meant that a nuclear power promised no first use of nuclear weapons as a means of warfare against non-nuclear states.
A “no first use” policy meant that a nuclear power promised to not be the first to use nuclear weapons in warfare.
The “no promises” policy was as it read. A nuclear power could use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare against whoever it wanted, whenever.
When civilization developed to such a level, destruction would be only a step away.
Everyone thought they could maintain restraint and rationality, but there would always be a few lunatics in the world.
Fortunately, human civilization recovered and survived that gloomy period.
Yang Xiaojin said, “The reason the Yang clan was able to grow into a consortium was because they did not have to cut off certain cultural heritage things during that period due to the scarcity of daily necessities. This is the importance of knowledge. The Yang clan has kept some intermittent journal entries by their ancestors, and if you’d read them, you’d understand that all of the despicable acts that you can imagine happened during that period. What do people eat during extreme starvation? How are women treated in the absence of protection of moral law and order? How are the elderly treated when they can’t contribute their labor? You just have to think about the darkest acts possible. As long as it’s something that can be thought of, it’s happened before.”
Those journal entries were probably what inspired Yang Anjing to be anti-nuclear weapons.
Ren Xiaosu disliked the way Yang Anjing did things, but he could understand why she made such a choice. If Yang Anjing were not so extreme and cold in her ways, he might really have been on her side.
Thinking of this, Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt a little melancholic. After this trip to the Kingdom of Sorcerers was over, he would have to go back and face a new war.
Suddenly, Ren Xiaosu sighed and said to Melgor, “The sorcerers were lucky, but their fortune did not make them feel grateful. Russell led them to this land of paradise, but he got poisoned to death in the end. This is also the reason why I told you to be careful with your food. If they can do it once, they’ll definitely do it again. Moreover, I have reason to suspect that they also persecuted another group of people who helped them.”
The organization founded by the Central Plains Rider was probably suppressed by the magus order too.
Melgor suddenly asked, “What exactly is your reason for coming here?”
Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, “I’m here to help you reach the pinnacle of your life.”
Melgor curled his lips. At this moment, he did not realize the “pinnacle” Ren Xiaosu was referring to was so high that it would make him get acrophobia.
As night fell, Ren Xiaosu handed a roasted rabbit to Melgor. “Hurry up and eat. It’s almost time to work.”
Melgor was stunned for a moment before quickly wolfing down the food. As he ate, he asked, “What did you discover? I’ve always been curious about how you can preempt an enemy attack. It’s almost like you can see the future.”
“Hurry up and eat your food,” Ren Xiaosu said. He could not tell Melgor about Old Xu’s existence yet. After all, Mel still had a lingering fear of White Mask.
“Remember,” Ren Xiaosu instructed, “when we encounter an enemy attack, you just have to recite your incantations and pretend like you’re casting your spells. Leave the rest to me, and make sure you don’t stop reciting the incantations.”
Melgor could already hear the approaching trotting of horses. There were a lot of them, and they were approaching very quickly!
Melgor asked, “Should we make our move now?”
Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “Of course not. Let’s wait for Qian Weining and his men to battle them for a while first.”
“Why?” Melgor was puzzled.
“Because, be it these people who’re suddenly attacking or people like Qian Weining who’re pretending to protect you, they’re all your enemies,” Ren Xiaosu explained.
