The Supuha Mountains, the portal.
The voice of the throat bone echoed within the volcano: "Your people are being slaughtered by the undead, your kingdom is collapsing in calamity, what can you do now?!"
Todd, whose body was already mangled beyond recognition, was bound in mid-air by the parasitic tentacles of the Necromancer Mother. He roared angrily, "You will never get everything you want! Being devoured by the undead will be your final end!"
The throat bone tugged at the tentacles, and the immense force imprisoned every inch of the dragon's skin.
With a piercing creaking sound, Todd's body was squeezed and stretched again and again, and countless cracks appeared on the originally hard dragon skin, and dragon blood dripped down from the wounds.
The Necromancer brought the eye of her tail close to Todd's face, staring at the dying dragon, and said, "Why won't you admit your ignorance and mistakes? Your so-called path is destined to be a dead end."
Todd slowly raised his head, looked at the enormous monster in front of him, and said in a low voice, "Throat Bone, do you know what the biggest difference is between you and me?"
His throat tightened, and he instinctively asked, "What?"
Todd: "When faced with failure, I will strive for a better result, but I will stick to my principles."
Throat bone: "Bottom line?"
Todd: "As a human being, an individual who coexists with others, I will do my best to promote social progress and strive to lead a civilization to a more advanced era."
"However, regardless of the technology used or the path taken... my bottom line is that the integrity of individual and social will must be guaranteed. In other words, it is to maintain the existence of thought in every intelligent being."
Todd opened his blood-blurred eyes and said to the throat bone, "But you are different. You have given up everything that makes you human, including your own independent will, and placed your hopes of becoming a god on a bunch of organisms that only know how to devour and destroy."
The man with the throat bone said disdainfully, "You keep emphasizing the integrity of humanity and society, but haven't you seen what these so-called humans have actually done?"
"Enslaving others! Slaughtering one's own kind! Fighting for power and profit! Do you really think such a society, such a civilization, can continue?"
Todd sighed softly and said, "I admit that humanity is indeed a flawed race. Their selfishness, greed, arrogance, and cruelty have pushed the world to the brink of destruction time and time again."
"However, they also have a shining side. Compassion, creativity, curiosity, resilience... these qualities have allowed them to survive and continue to thrive through one major disaster after another."
The throat bone brought its eyes close to the dragon's and suddenly said, "Todd, have you remembered?"
Todd was taken aback.
The throat bone continued, "Sutherland should have told you what we are."
Todd slowly opened his eyes.
Throat Bone: "We are all soul memory holders, or in your words—reborn ones. When our bodies are destroyed, our souls are reborn once again, but the recovery of memories will be delayed."
Do you remember... when was the last time we met?
Todd looked at the throat bone, his eyes slowly swirling with memories of the past.
Throat Bone: "Let me remind you, the Kaplan Era, Dawuti Homeworld."
“I once fought under your command, defending against the rebels’ attacks.”
"You once said something similar to me: that although humans have flaws, they also have strengths, and there is always hope for the future."
The laughter from the throat bone sounded like plastic being rubbed together: "And the result? The rebels ultimately created and activated the Black Hole Matrix, and millennia of civilization were destroyed in an instant!"
"If... if you hadn't placed your hopes on that false humanity, and had instead launched the purge sooner, this disaster could have been completely avoided!"
Todd paused for a moment before replying, "You really think that black hole matrix spanning four galaxies was built by those rebels who hide all day long?"
Throat bone: "What did you say?"
Todd: "The Empire itself spent thousands of years building that black hole matrix across all its colonized star systems, with the aim of suppressing any rebellions under its rule at any time. However, this double-edged sword ultimately turned against them."
The throat bone was silent for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Doesn't this just prove my point? Humanity's own flaws are simply incurable, and any civilization they build will one day face destruction."
Todd: "I don't agree with what you said. The human race has unlimited creativity and potential, and their abilities and ambitions need to be restrained and guided."
Throat Bone: "Restraint? Guidance? Are you referring to the Emperor or the Parliament? Haven't you seen enough tragedies time and time again? Handing power over to those people will only embolden them to indulge their desires and demands!"
Todd: "Whether it is a monarchy or a parliamentary system, they are merely products of the progress of civilization in response to the times, and they need to be constantly improved and replaced."
“I have always believed that humanity can find a balance between ambition and creativity. This balance may not be perfect, but it can help civilization continuously correct its path forward.”
Throat Bone: "Idealism? Empty talker? Todd, your optimism and folly are the root causes of your eventual demise. Where there are people, there are desires; an era with desires is destined for destruction."
"There is only one way to correct everything: to completely end the existence of humanity and let the undead take over the world."
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