Chapter 412 Is this truly the Way of Heaven?
Commander Qi turned around, looked at her, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"A single punch can prevent a hundred more."
"Reasoning is meant to be shared with friends."
"To deal with an enemy, we only need to make him understand that our fists are harder than his."
"Now that you're back, we have many options regarding how to fight."
Zhou Jue nodded, completely agreeing with the proposed solution.
A balance of appeasement and confrontation, reason and restraint—this is very Chinese.
"I agree with Qi Si's policy."
"But there is one problem that we should perhaps start considering now."
Zhou Jue's voice drew everyone's attention back to her.
"Interstellar space is currently our invisible threat."
"Perhaps in ten years, perhaps in a hundred years, we will eventually meet them."
She looked at everyone present and asked the question that plunged the entire conference room into deep thought.
"When that day comes, when we step into a true interstellar society as a civilization..."
"Are we, as 'Blue Star People,' facing the entire universe as a whole?"
"Shall we continue our struggle today as 'Chinese' and 'American' on the larger stage of the universe?"
"Every decision we make today may be influencing the final answer."
The conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
This question is too grand and too distant, yet it is incredibly real and weighs heavily on everyone's mind.
After a long while, Chief Zhang's calloused fingers tapped lightly twice on the table, making a "knock knock" sound.
"This issue is pending further discussion."
His voice was slightly hoarse, yet as steady as a mountain.
"But it reminds us that we need to broaden our horizons."
He stood up and his gaze swept over everyone present.
"The meeting is adjourned for now. Commander Qi and I need to report to our superiors immediately."
"Xiao Jue, you guys... take a good rest first."
Welcome home.
......
After the meeting ended, Cheng Gan, Zhao Sizhe, and Li Ming left and joined the others. They looked pleased, whispered among themselves, and went about their respective arrangements. Zhou Jue didn't move. She watched their departing figures, her gaze finally settling on Sun Jiuchou.
Sun Jiuchou was organizing several documents on the table. He moved calmly, picked up his tablet, and prepared to turn and leave.
“Sun Jiuchou,” Zhou Jue called out to him.
Sun Jiuchou stopped and turned around, a familiar, gentle smile on his face. He pushed up his glasses.
"What's wrong, Xiao Jue?" he asked.
Zhou Jue walked towards him, stopping in front of Sun Jiuchou: "I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."
Sun Jiuchou put the document back on the table and looked at Zhou Jue: "What's the problem? Tell me."
"When will the spiritual energy fully recover?" Zhou Jue asked, staring into Sun Jiuchou's eyes.
Sun Jiuchou chuckled: "Didn't you feel it?"
He countered with a question, pointing to a corner of the conference room where a green plant, originally intended only for decoration, was emitting a faint glow from its leaves.
“The spiritual energy in the air has been constantly increasing,” Sun Jiuchou said, looking at Zhou Jue.
“Although it’s very faint, each breath carries a bit more spiritual energy than before,” he added.
“Although you just returned, with your current strength, you shouldn’t have failed to notice the changes in the spiritual energy in the air.” He raised an eyebrow.
Zhou Jue certainly felt it. She closed her eyes, focused her inner energy on her dantian, and felt the spiritual energy flowing through her body.
“I mean, a comprehensive, qualitative change, like the concentration of spiritual energy in an energy anomaly area.” Zhou Jue opened his eyes.
Sun Jiuchou thought for a moment, then tilted his head slightly.
“A qualitative change,” he said.
"That depends on the will of this planet. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, it just depends on when this planet is ready." He looked out the window.
Zhou Jue frowned slightly and asked his second question: "Will Earth eventually clash with Interstellar Space?"
Sun Jiuchou withdrew his gaze and looked at Zhou Jue.
What do you think?
"Whether or not we will match depends on the will of all the people of Earth," he said softly.
“This isn’t something that one or two people can decide,” he added.
Zhou Jue felt a little irritated. Sun Jiuchou's answers were always like this, half-concealed, yet seemingly containing a deeper meaning.
"That located planet belongs to the same galaxy as ours," Zhou Jue changed the subject.
"I was planning to go and take a look this time. Do you think I should go?" she asked.
Sun Jiuchou's smile remained unchanged as he looked at Zhou Jue: "What was your purpose in going to that planet?"
Zhou Jue did not answer.
"Are you going sightseeing?" Sun Jiuchou asked.
"Or should we establish diplomatic relations?" he continued.
“Or…go mining?” he said slowly.
"If you want to find out news from interstellar space, you can find out by checking the message that the 'user' on the communicator is passively logged in."
"So, think clearly about your purpose before deciding whether to go or not," he added.
Zhou Jue pursed his lips and changed the question again.
"Where would be a good place to go in the next world?" she asked.
Sun Jiuchou smiled, shook his head, and asked in return, "Don't you already have the answer in your heart?"
"But I don't know if I can win with my current strength."
"Emm...that's a problem, and I can't give you an answer."
Zhou Jue frowned; all of Sun Jiuchou's answers were ambiguous.
"Who exactly are you?" Zhou Jue asked in a low voice, staring into Sun Jiuchou's eyes.
Sun Jiuchou's smile remained unchanged. He pushed up his glasses, and his gaze behind the lenses was as gentle as that of a neighborly elder.
"who I am?"
He repeated Zhou Jue's question softly, then asked a question in return.
"Didn't you already guess that?"
Zhou Jue's breath hitched for a moment, and her heart pounded. She had never dared to think of this answer.
She guessed many answers: an ancient powerful being awakened like a sea beast, a dragon soul returning from its revival, and the Heavenly Dao.
But he once said that we are not enemies, at least not at present. Why only at present? Will we be in the future?
Zhou Jue's throat felt dry, and she felt that her voice had become somewhat unfamiliar.
"You are... the Heavenly Dao?"
Sun Jiuchou smiled but didn't say anything after hearing this.
Zhou Jue took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down: "You said before that we are not enemies, 'at least for now'."
Her voice trembled slightly: "Why 'at least for now'?"
Will we become enemies in the future?
Upon hearing this question, the gentle expression on Sun Jiuchou's face finally vanished. He seemed to have heard something extremely amusing and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahaha……"
"Xiao Jue, that's a very interesting question."
He stopped laughing and looked at Zhou Jue: "We've had far too many opportunities to become enemies."
Sun Jiuchou extended one finger.
"For example, if you later feel that the pond of Earth is too shallow to contain a true dragon like you, and you want to betray Earth, do you think we would be considered enemies then?"
Zhou Jue's pupils suddenly contracted.
Sun Jiuchou extended a second finger, his smile becoming even more playful.
"For example..."
He drew out his words, his gaze seemingly piercing through time and space, landing on the day Zhou Jue underwent his tribulation.
"Every time you undergo tribulation on Earth, when the heavenly tribulation strikes you..."
"Tell me, back then, were we enemies?"
boom!
In Zhou Jue's mind, it was as if billions of thunderbolts exploded at the same time.
Is he... truly the will of Heaven?!
Looking at the nonchalant smile on Sun Jiuchou's face, Zhou Jue felt a huge sense of absurdity and sudden realization wash over him.
Sun Jiuchou withdrew his finger, adjusted his glasses, picked up the documents on the table, took a step forward, walked past Zhou Jue, and exited the conference room.
He left Zhou Jue with a composed back view: "If you can't figure it out, go back to your room and think about it slowly."
His voice drifted leisurely from ahead, carrying a hint of teasing.
"Your vacation days are numbered."
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