Chương 18: Ác quỷ ở nhân gian 5500
"Tell me, why." Joshua asked, his voice tinged with suppressed disgust, brow furrowed as he questioned the only awake woman in the Siberia squad, "Why did you kill those ordinary people?"
Of course, it was to exhaust the enemy's living strength.
Without waiting for an answer, the warrior already knew what they would say... this wasn't hard to understand, especially for him who had experienced countless battlefields. Modern small-scale localized warfare might still adhere to some principles and human rights, avoiding mutual massacres of civilians. But when it truly came to total war, what nuclear weapons, biological weapons, unrestricted bombardments wouldn't be deployed in turn, all striving to turn an enemy nation's entire territory into scorched earth?
At that time, who cared whether civilians were human or innocent? Under nuclear flames, even millennia-old monuments would be reduced to ash. The numbers of life became as meaningless as dust. Earth, where civilization and human rights were highly developed, was like this, let alone this abnormal-looking otherworld.
Joshua hadn't originally intended to interfere.
The battle between the soul puppets and the Siberians seemed fierce, but in his eyes, it was purely a petty skirmish. From the beginning, Joshua knew that at most this battle would cost some ordinary soul puppets. None of the main combat forces on either side had powerful lethal means. Though the light arrows were as unavoidable as light itself, their energy level could only kill ordinary people. At most, they could pierce the outer armor of some low-level puppets, never destroying their cores. And the white shield could block attacks from most super-powered puppets. Plus with that powerful old man, the Siberia squad could leave whenever they wanted.
Since there wouldn't be serious consequences, Joshua naturally had no interest in intervening. He wanted to observe how the soul puppets loaded super-powered units, and how those ordinary people holding the power of steel fought... The battle's result was exactly as he expected. The Siberia squad couldn't break through the soul puppets' defensive line, so they planned to retreat, while the super-powered puppets also couldn't stop their withdrawal.
But just as Joshua was about to follow later and ask the retreating Siberians about the situation, he saw countless light arrows shooting from the white shield, raining down.
Light cannot be stopped, so in an instant, thousands of Siberians died. They collapsed one after another, as if an invisible scythe lightly swept through a field of crops.
Joshua's speed wasn't faster than light. When he observed the light, the people were already dead. He couldn't stop it.
Angry?
Of course.
Joshua had never struck the defenseless weak, let alone carried out massacres—yes, he could understand their reasoning. The moment they acted, he understood why they did it. But precisely because he understood, that's why he disliked it, why he felt disgust.
"To... exhaust this plantation's strength..."
The woman spoke. Her voice was still trembling, as if she hadn't yet escaped the shock of Joshua's aura of terror. "This time... on this mission, we can't... return empty-handed. We must accomplish something before going back, or it would be a waste of military resources... Killing them, these puppets would be busy for a while, and it would also reduce the plantation's supplies..."
Her words were halting, but became smoother as she continued. After answering Joshua's question, the woman immediately fell silent, lowering her head, not daring to look into those eyes that flickered with silver light.
After receiving an answer he'd long expected, Joshua didn't get angrier, nor did he show other reactions. He simply said flatly, "To prevent the enemy from getting supplies, you massacre local civilians... That's your explanation?"
He had heard this kind of reasoning many times before.
Joshua didn't use the local world language contained within the Siberia Steel Fragment's serpent. He still spoke in the Mycroft common tongue, but due to spiritual resonance, the other party could clearly understand his meaning. Just as Joshua finished speaking, the woman kneeling on the ground shook her head vigorously. She seemed to want to stand up and argue, but in the end only softly rebutted, "No, they aren't civilians, they're just production tools for those puppets! If we don't kill them, they'll keep producing resources for those puppets to use!"
To weaken this plantation, killing these walking-dead-like 'things' was the simplest and most effective method. More convenient and effective than destroying those puppets—the woman had wanted to say this, but in the end didn't.
"The soul puppets treat them like livestock, like crops to be cultivated. You also treat them as components, as enemy resource reserves."
Glancing at the kneeling woman and the six others still unconscious around them, Joshua turned his head and said indifferently, "In a certain sense, the difference between you really isn't that great."
"That's not the same... Moreover, they don't even count as human."
The only woman awake had hair that was a mix of green and white. She looked about twenty-something. The green was her original hair color, while the white was genuinely from overwork. Regarding Joshua's words, this exhausted but mentally resilient woman couldn't help but retort, "They don't have intelligence at all, let alone souls, or even abilities! They're not even the same species as us!"
Hearing this self-righteous answer, Joshua couldn't help but turn back. In his youthful body, his eyes widened slightly, as if only now beginning to seriously examine and appraise this group of Siberians.
"...You could argue from the perspective that this is war. You could argue from the perspective of benefits and value. You could argue from the unequal power between our sides... I thought of many responses—strength, faction, necessary tasks, even simply looking down on them as inferior beings—each response could counter my question. After all, this is just my personal preference. I simply can't stand seeing you kill civilians with no power to resist."
The massive puppet body took a slow step forward. It lifted the carbon-based youthful body and placed it back on its shoulder. From above, a voice tinged with surprise reached the woman's ears: "But you didn't. You chose to argue from the perspective of species, and with such self-righteousness."
The massive soul puppet's eyes flickered with silver light. Enhanced by the power of steel, Joshua could clearly analyze the essence of any life. He had previously examined the nameless technician, those garden children, and naturally, those ordinary farmers in the cultivation area.
Now, he examined this woman before him. The result wasn't surprising at all.
They were all the same species, exactly the same, one hundred percent belonging to the same kind.
"Only you can't say this... Only you can't kill like this."
Anyone else could—the soul puppets, six-legged hippos, even plants bị ma hóa by high-purity magical energy could do this. Even warriors from other worlds could. But only you Siberians yourselves can't say this, can't do this. You are all people who were once enslaved by soul puppets, all oppressed people on the same frontline... yet you don't treat the others as your own kind.
From the cultivation area to the garden area, he waited twenty years, and this is the kind of people he got.
Remembering the nameless technician, Joshua sighed softly. He stopped paying attention to this woman. Having already eliminated all surrounding defense puppets, the warrior simply stood there quietly, waiting.
"Ugh..."
"My head hurts..."
"What's going on..."
Thus, in the silent waiting, gradually, those Siberia squad members who had been knocked unconscious by Joshua's aura of terror began to wake up. At first they were somewhat dazed, but then quickly recalled their last memories. The only woman who had been awake took care of them, and they turned their gazes toward Joshua—at first, some squad members' eyes held a trace of resentment. But then, seeing the mostly shattered remains of soul puppets around them, plus recalling that terrifying aura, they immediately shivered and became much more subdued.
"What's going on... why is that little... that compatriot with the soul puppets?!"
"Judging by the design, it looks a bit like a Nova-type super-powered puppet, but specially modified... very burly, very strong."
"So powerful! Although I didn't sense any super powers, that soul is enormous, completely unfathomable... Was it just one sentence from him that knocked us all out? Such a powerful soul is rare even among commander-level puppets, right?"
"Could that puppet be controlled by him... The military has records of such super-powered individuals who can control puppets. The last Central Holy War was initiated by such a super-powered individual..."
Joshua sensed waves of spiritual communication—though faint, they were very clear. He glanced at the squad, who were calmly acting as if they had just woken up, and immediately understood: soul communication. The relay and coordinator was the woman who had been awake. No wonder she could stay conscious under his aura of terror and even argue with him—her soul quality was dozens of times that of ordinary people, fully capable of serving as the entire squad's coordinator.
"Could he be autonomously awakened? It's been a long time since there were autonomously awakened compatriots. Those soul puppets' thought imprinting gets stricter with each generation. It's been over a decade since we heard of someone autonomously awakened."
"Probably. Just now he attacked both us and the soul puppets, even got angry at those things... If he wasn't autonomously awakened, how could he not know these things?"
"Alright, stop talking. Let's see his reaction... Such a young autonomous awakener, possibly able to control puppets. If he joins us, it would definitely greatly strengthen the military's power."
After hearing what was clearly the woman's soul communication, the last steady wave rippled: "Let's observe the situation. Let's understand what this young compatriot's true purpose is."
The soul communication ended. In reality, the white-haired old man who had previously suppressed all close-combat puppets alone and blocked the storm super-powered puppet stepped forward. He carefully glanced at the youth sitting on the puppet's shoulder, then his gaze was involuntarily drawn to the massive steel body. After coming to his senses, he cleared his throat and prepared to speak: "Excuse me..."
"Your identity."
Joshua's voice interrupted his words. The warrior seemed unwilling to discuss other matters. He asked directly: "Your purpose, the general situation of this world, the relationship between the cultivation area, garden area, and plantation, who made the soul puppets, the specific details of the current situation, and do you have any historical documents?"
A series of questions flowed smoothly and clearly from his lips. Through spiritual resonance, even though everyone present couldn't understand the Mycroft common tongue, they all understood his meaning. To this, the white-haired elder at the head responded excellently. He was only momentarily stunned, then began answering Joshua's questions without hesitation or unnecessary words.
"We are the Fifth Battalion from the Resistance Army. Our purpose is to reach the garden area and rescue all our compatriots."
His tone wasn't fast nor slow, his words forceful and clear. The old man continued like this: "I don't know the situation of this world, isn't it just like this? The cultivation area and garden area are both part of this plantation... Though there are also 'collection gardens' that don't cultivate but specifically mine minerals, and gardens with other various functions."
"As for now... What is history?"
The old man's response was appropriate but stumbled at the end. He genuinely seemed not to understand what the word 'history' meant, appearing somewhat embarrassed. But Joshua could see that the old man had more to say. He seemed to be thanking the warrior for having no interest in their super powers; otherwise, making up an explanation would have been troublesome.
But for Joshua, was there any need to ask further? The moment he brought the seven-person squad down from the sky, the warrior had already roughly understood everyone's super powers. He even knew their mutual addresses through soul communication.
The leading old man possessed a self-enhancement type super power. He could normally store energy and release it when needed, making himself indestructible. His address was 'War Tank'.
The timid girl hiding behind the old man was the maintainer of that white shield. She possessed the rare energy barrier type super power, capable of blocking any type of impact below a certain energy level. Her address was 'Iron Wall'.
The thin boy and long-haired woman standing together had the abilities of 'Floating' and 'Condensed Light Arrows' respectively. One was responsible for the team's transportation, the other for large-scale clearing and long-range attacks. Their addresses were 'Pegasus' and 'Magic Arrow'. It was Magic Arrow who had killed those Siberians. Currently, she showed no reaction, seemingly only having a headache from Joshua's impact.
The other two men—one looked very weak, as if his ability was overloaded, while the other was supporting him, with extremely low presence. These two held power of steel that was simple but extremely pure. One could trigger violent explosions through contact—'Blast'. The other could manipulate light optics to turn invisible—'Invisibility'. Joshua guessed it was the cooperation of these two that could blow open the black outer wall of the cultivation area without being stopped by soul puppets.
The last member was the exhausted woman who seemed to have no ability, but whose ability itself was 'Soul Amplification'. Her role had been clearly revealed in the soul communication: as the team core, responsible for soul communication and breaking the thought imprinting of 'compatriots'. Her address was 'Unlocker'.
This Siberia squad used abilities to address each other, seemingly without actual names. But thinking about it, that made sense—names were just codes. As super-powered individuals with different abilities, the ability names themselves were sufficiently striking and unique codes.
"Explain what the Resistance Army is."
Joshua continued questioning. The old man and other Resistance members seemed somewhat helpless, but due to the vast disparity in strength and Joshua's unapproachable attitude, they decided to answer honestly. "The Resistance Army... is the army resisting the soul puppets..."
Through the white-haired old man's explanation and others' supplements, Joshua quickly understood what kind of organization the Resistance Army was.
This was an organization that had existed for about a century. Initially, it was a small group formed by several lucky super-powered individuals who had gained self-awareness and escaped the garden area. It was used to resist the soul puppet battalions that came to capture them. But later, as more super-powered individuals gathered, individual 'gardens'—soul puppet gathering places—no longer had enough strength to eradicate them. These super-powered individuals even counterattacked 'gardens', rescuing garden area children, breaking their thought imprinting, and letting them join.
By now, the Resistance Army was quite large-scale. According to the white-haired old man, there were over a hundred squads like theirs, with scattered super-powered individuals numbering in the thousands. Decades ago, they had even launched a holy war against the tower at the world's center. But not all super-powered individuals had sufficient combat strength. Plus, slightly larger soul puppet gardens could gather nearly ten thousand combat puppets. These puppets often united, sending large armies to purge the Resistance Army. So they now didn't stay in one place but constantly moved, avoiding puppet army purges. Along the way, they attacked smaller plantations to obtain resources and population replenishment.
As for the process... why say more? Just look at those Siberians who had life cut away like grass, vô cảm. These Resistance members only recognized children with supernatural abilities as their compatriots. They didn't have enough power to break ordinary people's thought imprinting, nor enough food to provide for these worthless individuals. Every time they broke through a soul puppet garden, their first task was eliminating soul puppets, their second was rescuing super-powered individuals, and their final task was plundering all resources, killing all livestock and Siberians who couldn't be taken away in time, then burning the garden to ashes.
It was like ancient primitive nomadic tribes.
"This..." Not knowing how to address Joshua, the white-haired old man could only judge by appearance. "This 'Puppet Master', may I ask what your current purpose is?"
"Your strength is very powerful, you could even single-handedly defeat an entire plantation's soul puppets. Why didn't you leave earlier?"
The entire Siberia squad seemed to have little experience communicating with others, speaking bluntly and without tact. If not for their soul communication for coordination, they might have discussed the warrior right in front of him. Facing the old man's simple, direct, and slightly curious question, Joshua didn't immediately respond. He turned his head, looked at the surrounding devastated fields, the countless puppet remains, and Siberian corpses. The warrior said softly, "Originally, I wanted to see what problem this world had."
"But now it seems the world's problem might not be great... Instead, the entire civilization's spirit, even the civilization itself, has completely rotted away and ceased to exist."
Joshua's youthful body sat on the puppet's shoulder. He looked down from above at the soul puppet remains nearby. "You are not human."
He turned to look at those Siberians collapsed in the mud, killed by light arrows. "You are not human."
Finally, Joshua turned back, gazing with a complex expression—not quite coldness or sympathy—at the seven-person Siberia squad who were beginning to feel inexplicably afraid.
"None of you are human."