Chapter 773: The End of Dishonor
The Tree of Wisdom kept fiddling with its tentacles.
In the translucent light and shadow, countless beast tides, which had been ready to move, surrounded the small Peach Blossom Town from all directions.
The situation then had been even worse than the most dangerous time in Dragon City.
However, most of Peach Blossom Town’s people had erupted with amazing courage and fearless brilliance in the face of destruction.
They had worked together and fought the monsters that had been ten times more in number time and time again, playing out a touching story.
“I was both surprised and delighted to find that the ‘marching ants’ who had fought the flood during the early stage of their journey had returned in the face of the beast tide’s threat!”
The Tree of Wisdom continued, “Most of the human beings exploded with amazing courage, perseverance, and wisdom. Their combat ability increased by three to five times without any fundamental change in their strength and weapons despite being even more lacking in resources!
“This makes me more and more amazed by the mysteries of ‘civilization.’
“You must know that the strength of a muddle-headed monster is completely determined by its claws and flesh. So-called ‘spirit’ and ‘will’ do not exist at all.
“However, when I looked at the leaders and experts who ruled the town with great interest, I saw a scene that made me at a loss. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“In the beginning, when they realized that the monsters were constantly evolving and that the threat to Peach Blossom Town’s survival was getting greater, the leaders and experts barely managed to pull themselves together for a period of time. They seemed to return to the days when they fought wholeheartedly for Peach Blossom Town. They regained their courage, determination, justice, and kindness of the past. They dared to fight the monsters’ white blades in the depths of the dense jungle, and they sacrificed themselves in the great battle.
“Soon, however, in the face of the endless beast tide, the leader realized that this was a war that was impossible to win. It was only a matter of time before Peach Blossom Town was destroyed.
“Therefore, the leader and the experts retreated and transformed again.
“This time, they were even more depraved. At most, they spent one percent of their strength fighting against the monsters, but they spent ninety percent of their strength deceiving the townspeople, plundering resources, and strengthening themselves.
“When the frontline needed crystals and the materials of the monsters the most, the leaders and the experts plundered and seized them wantonly. Most of the resources were used for their own training.
“The ordinary warriors on the frontline fell one after another. Even the warriors who were still alive were short of medicine, ammunition, and food. Even their sabers were broken, but the leaders and the experts were getting higher and higher. Their weapons were sharper and sharper. They did not even lack the luxury of daily necessities.
“Of course, their rhetoric became more and more pleasant. ‘For the sake of human civilization, we will fight until the last soldier’, ‘Courage is the strongest weapon, and we will definitely defeat all the monsters’, ‘Born in a paradise, die in a paradise’, and even ‘Die for the sake of human civilization, and we will be reborn on the most beautiful Earth.’ These were all nonsense that even the leaders themselves did not believe.
“However, many ordinary townsfolk and low-level warriors actually believed these nonsense. They fought the beast tide even more bravely and fearlessly, but of course, they were devoured by the monsters.
“Even if they occasionally won a battle, the monster materials and heavenly materials and earthly treasures that they harvested would fall into the hands of the leaders and high-level experts through all kinds of marvelous and indescribable methods.
“This scene really confuses me.
“How can this be?
“I ask myself, why are the ordinary townsfolk and the low-level warriors not benefiting much from the so-called ‘civilization’? In Peach Blossom Town’s original system, they are all victims of deception and exploitation, but why are they wholeheartedly relying on and believing in the civilization, and are willing to die for the civilization without hesitation.
“The leader and the experts under him were obviously the biggest beneficiaries of civilization. Through all kinds of unfair and un.o.bserved rules of the game, they took most of the resources, including the lives of ordinary townspeople and low-level warriors, into their own hands. However, they did not have the slightest respect or affection for civilization. They merely treated it as an ordinary tool. Once the tool was broken, they could discard it like a worn-out shoe.
“I pondered for a long time.
“During that time, I observed the bravery and unyielding behavior of countless ordinary townsfolk and low-level warriors, as well as the ugly behavior of the leaders and high-level experts.
“Finally, it dawned on me.
“For the ordinary townsfolk and low-level warriors, Peach Blossom Town and the human civilization are the only things that they can rely on and believe in. Without Peach Blossom Town’s protection, they will find it difficult to move forward in the foggy, dangerous foreign land. Without the brilliance of the human civilization, they will be no different from hairless monkeys!
“It was precisely because of their weakness that they could not leave civilization. That was why they were able to fight for civilization with a hundred times more courage and sacrifice.
“However, for the leader and the high-level experts under him, they had gathered a lot of resources and gradually cultivated themselves into existences that surpa.s.sed civilization. Even if Peach Blossom Town was destroyed, they still had a chance to survive in the mist and the foreign lands. They could even live very well. Even if there was no human civilization, as long as they continued to cultivate, they had a chance to become saints and even break through to the Deity Realm, becoming real G.o.ds and devils!
“Now, I know what the leader and the high-level experts are up to.
“Peach Blossom Town’s broken ship is about to sink.
“The common townspeople and the low-level warriors are thinking of ways to plug the hole in the bottom of the ship and forge a brand-new dragon bone with their flesh and even bones.
“The leader of the captain is thinking of secretly gathering all the resources on the ship and escaping before the ship sinks.
“Indeed. The combat ability of the current captain and the high-level experts is no less than that of most of the monsters in the hidden fog domain. Together with their intelligence, it is possible for them to carve a b.l.o.o.d.y path in the forest alone, if I don’t interfere.
“Perhaps, the captain and the high-level experts still think that the ordinary townsfolk and the low-level warriors are burdens that will only slow them down!
“As the footsteps of destruction got closer and closer, the leader’s actions became more and more unscrupulous. Finally, the ordinary townsfolk and the low-level warriors discovered the fact that he, as the captain, wanted to abandon the ship and escape, and he even wanted to take away all the resources.
“As well as the irrefutable evidence that he, as the leader for so many years, harmed public and private interests, framed and killed people to silence them.
“Now, the ordinary townsfolk and the low-level warriors are all furious.
“They never expected that the leader who seemed to be bright and righteous should have been the ‘rat’ among the army ants. He had paved the way for Peach Blossom Town with his flesh and even his corpse, but in fact, he was a fierce rat disguised as an army ant. He had paved the way for himself with the flesh and even the corpse of the ordinary townsfolk to surpa.s.s both human beings and civilization.
“Thus, an extremely absurd scene happened.
“At a time when the beast tide was still eyeing them from all directions, and there was a dense fog and jungle surrounding the beast tide, and Peach Blossom Town was about to be destroyed at any moment, this small, fragile civilization that was about to be destroyed erupted into internal strife once again.
“The leader and a few high-level powerhouses, as well as ordinary townspeople and low-level warriors, each occupied a corner of the town. For the remaining resources, there was an intense conflict that was no less intense than a jungle battle, and in the midst of the conflict, these little resources were quickly exhausted.
“I was dumbfounded by the scene. My feelings were extremely complicated.
“I was even considering whether or not I should launch a general attack immediately and drown Peach Blossom Town with the overwhelming beast tide.
“This is not cruelty, but kindness. Fighting to the last moment in the war against the beast tide, such an ending is better than killing each other in a meaningless internal struggle, clinging to each other and rolling into h.e.l.l together, isn’t it?”
Meng Chao was silent.
He was not sure whether the monster mainframe was destroying the glory and sanct.i.ty of human civilization through despicable lies, so as to defeat his determination to fight for humanity.
However, judging from Dragon City’s collapse of order and the lawless “b.l.o.o.d.y decade” between the zombie crisis and the Monster War, Peach Blossom Town, which was more embarra.s.sed, more unbearable, and more fragile than Dragon City, ended up like this, there was indeed a theoretical possibility.
“I’m not lying to you. In fact, no one is more unwilling than I am to see Peach Blossom Town come to such a disgraceful end.”
The Tree of Wisdom seemed to see through Meng Chao’s thoughts and sighed faintly. “After all, you are my teachers. I learned how to create a civilization in Peach Blossom Town. Even if the students are eager to defeat their teachers, they would never hope that their teachers are a despicable sc.u.m.
“I used to believe in civilization. I believed that civilization would solve my confusion and help me find the meaning of my existence and the mission that was worth all my efforts.
“However, the hopeless Peach Blossom Town in front of me made me fall into a new confusion.
“If Peach Blossom Town could really unite as one and fight until the last moment, even if it failed, it wouldn’t be a big deal. After all, the resources that you control are far too different from the resources that I control. Failure is not a crime of war. Although it is a glorious defeat, it is not a crime of war.
“But, before the beast tide attacked the city and the city was about to be destroyed in my hands, I had to ask myself something—I spent so much time and effort to learn this d*mn thing?
“At the same time that the internal strife broke out in Peach Blossom Town, I was surprised to find that there was a problem in my neural network.
“As the intelligence and complexity of the race continued to increase, some of the monsters gradually developed an independent will and became more and more disobedient to my orders.
“In the past, the brains of those muddle-headed monsters were like pieces of white paper. Through the neural network, I could easily plant commands on them. As long as these commands didn’t go against their instincts, such as biting their own offspring to death or trying to reproduce with different species, they wouldn’t refuse to explore and hunt.
“But now, as a large amount of human memories, emotions, and thoughts are injected into their brain, the monsters’ brains have become colorful oil paintings. Not only am I hard-pressed to find a blank s.p.a.ce to write new instructions, I can’t even understand the contents of these oil paintings. I don’t know what the monsters are thinking!”