Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Rumble.
An uproar broke out across the various social media platforms of the Protoss society. All of a sudden, it was chaos.
“Who did it, who is the killer?”
“More than a million Protoss civilians have been killed, Besides our enemies, who else would slaughter innocents indiscriminately?”
“Humans, it must be those despicable humans! They deserve to die!”
“Based on the impact at the scene, it seemed to be something called ‘nuclear weapon’ that was created by human beings using their advanced technologies right before the advent of our era on Earth. Only nuclear weapons can produce effects like the huge mushroom cloud and shock waves that spread out. ”
“Impossible! The humans’ nuclear weapons have all become useless as their power has been eroded by our celestial powers. How could such weapons appear again? As long as humans launch tens of thousands of such nuclear bombs, the combined destructive power of the bombs would be enough to kill the masters from the Shenguang Order. We will certainly be driven out of Earth by humans.”
“Who did the Jinwu family offend? How did they provoke this kind of revenge?”
“It’s over for the Jinwu clan. Almost all of their leaders, elders and elite disciples have passed away. More than 70% of their master practitioners have been injured and a million people have been annihilated. The rest are so terrified that they’ve fled and scattered in all directions. The Jinwu clan has been rich and powerful for tens of thousands of years; they had possessed an infinite amount of knowledge and information. Now, not only are they seriously debilitated, they might even be removed from the ranks of the top family clans.”
“It is not just a possibility but a certainty. As Protoss, we have always respected strength. With so many master practitioners injured, the Jinwu family has lost the right to be the top family clan. This title will automatically fall onto another clan. The clan rankings will change.”
“The Jinwu clan is over.”
…
These were the human public opinions on social media platforms.
Many people were surprised, but at the same time, they exclaimed in excitement and joy…. Their comments were rather schadenfreude.
“Hahahaha, this is so funny. They died well.”
“The Jinwu clan deserve this ending. This family is extremely fierce and unreasonable. Who knows how many evils they have committed that included killing, harming and humiliating human beings. This is retribution.”
“Only a million dead or injured? This is far too little. Years ago, more than a billion humans were slaughtered on Earth. Their crimes are extensive. Compared to the damages done to human society, this little bit of loss can’t even be described as painful. It’s just insignificant.”
“It is doubtless that, nuclear weapons, the weapon that was used in the attack on the Jinwu clan, have been ineffective for many years. Experts estimate that the yield of those nuclear bombs was about one million tons. How can they still exist? The scientific community has long declared that the universe is too polluted, there is no possibility of creating nuclear weapons anymore. What the hell is going on?”
“A trump. That will be the trump card of human beings. With nuclear weapons in our possession again, the Protoss will not dare to act rashly. It was only later when the plan of the universe had changed that it had resulted in us losing the all-important nuclear deterrence, and by extension, also our peace and homeland.”
“Are there more? Are there more of those nuclear weapons or those mysterious resistance forces? They should create more, or they could share the technology so we can put an end to the Protoss’ arrogance!”
“In the last three “Wars of the Humans and Protoss”, we humans have tasted the humiliation of being defeated three times in a row and lost countless stakes and profits. However, if nuclear deterrence returns, humanity will gain equal status. We could even recapture Earth that should belong to us.”
“Mysterious resistance forces, please do a good job. We absolutely can’t let those Protoss look down on us humans anymore!”
“…”
Many cheers arose.
…
The third day.
Inside the villa.
“Grandpa, about that incident, did you… send someone to do it?”
Even though Chen Junfeng was filled with apprehension and breaking out in a cold sweat, his gaze was expectant as he asked Chen Jin who was in front of him.
“Why do you ask that?” Chen Jin looked at him indifferently.
“Many Protoss investigators came for a visit today and asked some questions. They even raised the suspicion that the attack on the Jinwu clan the day before was our result. The Chen family is a major suspect in this investigation,” Chen Junfeng explained.
He was very worried. “Grandpa, the investigators were so aggressive. Not only did they request a detailed investigation of our various factories, they even insisted that we are responsible for the nuclear attack. They want to condemn our family immediately and punish us.”
“Deny it, deny it straight up,” Chen Jin said. “The Chen family did not participate in the attack, they have even less knowledge of the situation. We will never agree to the oppression of our family, framing us for this crime and the false charges against us! We will not be sitting ducks if they insist on using force to oppress the Chen family. In the worst situation, we’ll go for mutual destruction.”
In short, the family must deny the charges with all their strength.
“I know.”
Chen Junfeng raised his head and his gaze was lively. “This must be the trump card that Grandpa talked about? With a trump card of such a high level in our hands, there should be no major issues with the Chen family standing like a giant on Earth without dying. Grandpa, I am more confident now.”
It turned out that even on Earth, where the Protoss was extremely powerful, the Chen family could still retain their power to have the last word.
Good, this was really good.
“Don’t say anymore. If you say too much, you’re bound to slip up at some point.”
Chen Jin frowned and glared at him, “The Protoss are still investigating our family. No matter how they ask their questions, we have to maintain that we don’t know anything about the incident at all, this should be sufficient. If we think too much, they will try to catch our loopholes.”
Even at the very beginning, Chen Jin knew that this was a high risk. The Chen family would definitely be investigated.
The only way for the Protoss investigators to detect not even a single problem was to carry out and complete the attack on the Jinwu family alone. Everyone in the Chen family was unaware of it. Naturally, the investigators would not detect any issues.
Therefore, this was Chen Jin’s style. The secret could be better kept if there less who knew or were involved in the execution.
“I know, I won’t ask Grandpa anymore questions.”
Chen Junfeng nodded and blinked. Everything was between the lines.
…
In the next few months.
Regarding the heavy damages suffered by the Jinwu clan.
The senior administration of the Protoss dispatched a lot of forces and employed a variety of methods to no effect.
There was absolutely no news about the mysterious attacker. It remained difficult to lock down on the identity of the one responsible for the attack.
The Chen family was the key suspect. A large number of personnel were dispatched, and a major search was carried out three times. The family had been interrogated many times, and the investigators even employed the soul-search technique to secretly control a senior member of the Chen family. They had probed and searched the episodes of the member’s memories without finding any obvious signs that proved their suspicion.
Basically, the Chen family could be ruled out as a suspect.
So the investigation team withdrew most of the investigators, leaving only a few elite investigators to lurk around the Chen family… Intuition told a certain high ranking member of the Protoss administration that there was definitely something off about the Chen family.
Even if whatever they were hiding were not exposed now, it would be exposed in the future, hence the Chen family must be scrutinized at all times.
In addition, as expected, a large number of interests were freed after the devastating blow on the Jinwu clan, triggering a crazy struggle between the Tonghuang and Mugu clans as well as other less powerful clans.
The rules of robbing were very simple and crude. The two sides sent their powerful practitioners to slaughter each other. They used their corresponding strength to obtain a proportionate amount of benefits.
However, there was a terrifying amount of knowledge and information accumulated by the Jinwu clan, which surprised the less powerful clans. This also intensified the struggle between the clans for their loot.
After more than two months, the stakes and profits of the Jinwu were divided among the major clans. Among them, the Tonghuang family took over 25% of Jinwu clan’s interests and the Mugu clan took over 20%. But correspondingly, the two families that got the biggest cut of the meat also paid a heavier price.
They had lost 20% of their powerful master practitioners.
However, after five to ten years, the two clans, Tonghuang and Mugu, would surely rise to become new super clans.
But, now, the Chen family had become a huge variable.
They had enough weight to cause an imbalance.
Of the Tonghuang or Mugu clans, whichever annexed the Chen family, would certainly be the biggest clan.
Two sets of greedy eyes were fixed on the Chen family, and a dangerous plan was brewing in their ambitious hearts.
Feeling the atmosphere of greed, the Chen family once again chose to strike first.
Of course, it was not a nuclear strike this time around. The senior administration of the Protoss blockaded the surface of the sea and it would be difficult to implement such a strike again.
Chen Yanfei, an eloquent and articulate child from the Chen family, visited the senior members of the Tonghuang and Mugu clans to explain the current attitude of the Chen family.
“My family is willing to offer 60% of our profits, with the condition that Tonghuang and Mugu will each receive half of that 60% in exchange for providing asylum for my family.”
“In addition, advanced high-precision products of all varieties will be preferentially supplied to the two families at discounted prices and unlimited quantities. We will prioritize service to the interests of the two families.”
“The stakes and benefits that the two families will gain from the Chen family would definitely be more than what you can gain after swallowing the Chen family using military force, then controlling our interests and squeezing us dry…. That is, if the Chen family decide to resist to the death, in a state of desperation, we would rather destroy all the research and production facilities until only the scorched earth is left than to allow the enemy to gain an advantage from us so easily!”
Thus, the value that they could obtain from the Chen family had dropped from a score of 10 that corresponded to the marvel that they had envisaged to one or two, with a maximum of only three.
Even if they had to destroy themselves, they would not let others gain any advantages… This dispelled the beautiful fantasy of the two clans.
What was more, the Chen family were not sheep who would not resist, but a hedgehog covered with spikes.
Especially the Chen family’s fortress, which could definitely be called “the strongest fortress on Earth.”
For all forces and powers, if they wanted to take down the Chen family’s Fortress, they must be prepared to suffer heavy losses.
Chen Yanfei introduced, “The only thing my family fear are the practitioners from the Shenguang Order or the Sage Order. If more than ten practitioners of the Shenguang Order are dispatched, my family would rather offer everything that we have and surrender.”
“However, if there are less than ten master practitioners of the Shenguang Order, then my family would still have the power to wage war.”
This was because a colossal lineup of various defenses was recently installed in the Chen’s Fortress. After the defenses were fully activated, it would be able to withstand the joint attack of ten practitioners from the Shenguang Order!
In addition, the large array of defenses could remove all traces of the natural spiritual energy inside the fortress to form a “vacuum zone” with only a minimal concentration of spiritual energy. As long as the practitioners entered this zone, it would be difficult for them to draw upon the spiritual energy in the air in order to enhance and maintain their combat ability.
Even the Shenguang Order would see their strength greatly reduced in such an environment.
Moreover, they had prepared countless high-tech weapons such as missiles, mechas, laser cannons, etc. in the fortress. They had way too many of such weapons, thousands and tens of thousands of them, the amount of firepower packed in the fortress was shocking.
Coupled with some even more powerful “celestial weapons.”
Even if one or two practitioners from the Shenguang Order broke through their defensive lineup, they would face the possibility of death.
Practitioners of an order lower than the Shenguang would go straight to hell where they belonged.
Chen Yanfei said with a curt finality, “This is the conclusion that we obtained from the computer simulations which had been done more 10,000 times – to breach the fortress and take down our family, you must pay the price of losing 40% of your powerful practitioners, or one or two immortals of the Shenguang Order! Are you willing to try?”
He also took out a video projector and played the simulation of the possible war that had been loaded inside.
The risk was clearly presented to the two clans.
Then again, would this work?
Naturally.
And the effects were very obvious. The expressions of the senior members of the Tonghuang and Mugu clans fluctuated for a long time. They gradually gave up on their risk-taking intention.
After all, the master practitioners of the Shenguang Order were extremely rare. There were at most five or six of them in the Jinwu family. In the Tonghuang family, there were only three; the Mugu family only two.
They had less than a handful of the strongest high-quality combat power, and not only would they have to participate in the battle personally, which was not usually done, they would also suffer heavy damage if even one of them was lost. If all the master practitioners fell, then the ranking of the clan would immediately fall to the point that they would be in a totally different league – they would become an ordinary family.
Sending a master from the Shenguang Order to attack the Chen family fortress, where they would face a large number of weapons with a probability that 40% of them would be injured all in exchange for low-value ruins; nobody would do that.
Moreover, the two clans had just absorbed the interests of the Jinwu clan, and they needed time to digest and stabilize themselves.
It was merely the Chen family. There was no need to be so eager to slaughter them. They could continue to raise them for some time.
In this way, the Chen family had once again won some valuable time to develop their projects.
…
Haierfa.
Recently, a big event had taken place in this universe.
That was after the Sela civilization was conquered by Mu Yunhua and merged into one civilization, it had become a very powerful force.
It ruled over more than a thousand star systems.
The ruling class population and the slave population combined were more than 500 billion.
They had more than a thousand powerful warships. Their large number of resources and technology was also undergoing rapid development.
He believed that it would not be long before it would occupy a very important role in the Milky Way galaxy.
But… Chen Jin found that there was a rather deadly flaw in this new type of power.
“The structure of the upper ruling class is loose, and its overall cohesiveness is only average. Such a structure exudes a free and beautiful vibe, but its centripetal force and sense of honor are not very strong. Although it is united now, it is also based on a group reaction that arises from a survival crisis. Now that the crisis is solved, the war over the dividends is unending. And it seemed that political institutions are still using the original voting system. It takes a majority vote against a minority vote to decide whether a motion is passed or not. In fact, it has bought huge party disputes that could present a potential danger.”
“The rights are very scattered and leaders have insufficient authority.”
“If they continue down this road, at most 50 years, the All-Stars Federation in your hands will experience a crisis, and even become a stage for all kinds of ambitious players and conspirators. There will be no peace, not even for a moment.”
Hearing this, Mu Yunhua’s expression became painful, she said helplessly, “‘It is easy to conquer a civilization but difficult to maintain it and to keep oneself in power.’ Since you said so, it should have a high probability of happening. So… What do you think I should do?”
In fact, she did not want to do anything else now. Now that she had her great vengeance, why not abdicate promptly so that she could do the things she liked, and just lead a simple life.
It was never her wish to be a politician.
“Yun, maybe… your All-Stars Federation needs a revered and prestigious queen to lead it onwards.”
Chen Jin said calmly.
