Chapter 27 So-called Faith
On the battlefield, the fighting spirit of the Fallen Insects is often stronger than that of humans.
When things go wrong, human armies are much more likely to spontaneously collapse and flee than the Fallen Insects.
In the mountains north of the base, several small-scale battles have just ended.
The fighting force was from the First Division. Yang Yuzhi had just inspected the battlefield and the defenses of several large outposts and was returning to the city.
The armored vehicle, with three rows of seats, carried Yang Yuzhi, Yao Du'an, several guards, and the commander of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division.
We were chatting in the car, and the conversation eventually turned to praying to gods and Buddhas.
"Brother Yao, where is your little shrine? I'll go and pray there tomorrow, just so that the 'White Pagoda' will be built soon!"
Today's "White Tower" project underwent a practical test.
The first round of testing has eliminated two of the eight people. In addition, Qi An, the top scorer, was unable to participate. The remaining five people, along with the purifiers assigned to them, formed five tower groups.
These four groups resonated remotely with the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division and the five battalions of the Dragon Roar Team.
These five groups serve as control groups for each other, while the overall remote resonance group and normal combat group also serve as control groups.
Even on the remote resonance team's side, because it was their first real-world test, unexpected problems frequently arose in the front and rear, such as power supply, data transmission, and coordination between personnel.
However, after a major battle, the half of the soldiers without long-range resonance suffered heavy casualties compared to those with resonance!
A melee team typically consists of 100-200 people, with each Purifier Tower group having only 3 or 4 members.
Compared to the original "White Tower" project, this scale is like the difference between a clod of earth and a mountain.
But accumulated soil can form a mountain.
This test has proven the superiority of the collective defensive line. All that remains is to overcome the difficulties and put all the steps into practice!
The regimental commander thought that he must go to the temple to pray and ask the scientists of the "White Tower" project to overcome all the technical difficulties and produce all the equipment as soon as possible, preferably within six months!
In addition, we also need to ask those top purifiers to increase their enhancement values by another 345 points within a year.
The current test is on such a small scale, and the battlefield environment is so simple, yet even the purifiers are struggling to cope. How will they manage to deal with a large-scale battle involving tens of thousands of people?
We need to ask for this too, and we need to ask for it with utmost importance!
Yao Du'an was somewhat absent-minded tonight, but the words of the 1st Regiment Commander brought his attention back.
He glanced at the unshaven man beside him, whose face was full of daydreams, and asked:
"If you're going to pray to the gods, what do you plan to offer?"
The regimental commander was taken aback: "Offering tribute?"
He quickly realized. Of course! In the past, when you went to a temple to worship the gods, you had to at least buy incense.
Let alone worshiping gods, even when visiting graves to ask ancestors for blessings, you have to bring some fruit, snacks, and good food.
However, "In these last days, doesn't God understand how hard it is for us on Earth?" the leader muttered. "Doesn't everyone say that God loves the world?"
Yao Du'an couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth:
"Human worship and belief in gods is like a bribe, like inviting someone to dinner. But you don't even want to invite the guests, yet you want them to do things for you."
These words startled the regimental commander again. "How is it bribery? That's so harsh! I just..."
He just wanted to pray to God for a blessing so that his wishes would come true.
This... this is not a bribe, not a deal without money!
What is this?
The regimental commander's mind went blank for a moment, but he quickly realized—a request, yes! This is a man's request to God!
He thought of it and immediately voiced his rebuttal.
Upon hearing this, Yao Du'an lowered his eyes and smiled:
"So you're saying you treat God like your parents, and whatever you want, you just ask them and they'll give it to you?"
The regimental commander frowned: "Did I offend Brother Yao today? Why are you always arguing with me?"
Yao Du'an said, "I'm sorry, no. It's just that you suddenly mentioned wanting to go to the shrine, and that made me think about faith."
The regimental commander pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized: "Oh, I understand! You mean that I don't usually believe in God, so it's not working when I suddenly turn to God."
That makes perfect sense!
So, in that case, you should be the one to pray for it, Brother Yao. You burn incense three times a day, that's true faith, your prayers will surely be answered!
Yao Du'an chuckled again, but the smile vanished in an instant.
Faith is for the sake of giving back.
People who occasionally go to worship gods usually ask for very specific rewards, such as the "White Pagoda" wish of the 1st Regiment Commander.
Those who are willing to spend more time, energy, and effort to believe generally seek something broader and more general.
For example, health, marriage, even happiness, or happiness in the afterlife.
To people, deities are like the "guests" at a dinner party, or their own parents.
Every time people express faith or show filial piety, isn't it while calculating what the other person can give them in return?
People even put forward the slogan "We don't keep idle gods on the mainland," which made this transactional relationship crystal clear.
Faith is a transaction, and a murky one at that.
Some people are very devout and pray to God, but they get nothing in return.
I've asked for wealth but haven't gotten it, I've asked for health but haven't gotten it, I'm almost at the end of my life just to live a good life, but I'll keep asking, at least I can ask for a next life, to be reincarnated and become a superior person.
What is faith at this point? It's a carrot dangling a donkey along.
Yao Du'an also saw a person in the small shrine, whose surname seemed to be Li, and who was also a soldier.
He hadn't seen that person for a year, but he had seen him several times a year ago, which meant that the person used to come frequently a year ago.
But every time that person came, his expression when he looked at the statue on the seat was complex, a mixture of doubt, grievance, and resentment.
Yao Du'an guessed that he had encountered some hardships in life and discovered that the gods had not protected him.
He was betrayed by the gods! How could he not feel wronged and indignant?
The man surnamed Li never came back. He probably realized that so-called faith was just a carrot that could be seen but not eaten, so he simply abandoned it.
When Yao Du'an thought about faith, he was thinking that humanity probably cannot have pure faith.
Before the end times, a very wise writer once said: "Fate cannot be bribed, but hope is with people. This is the true meaning of faith and the path of believers."
But isn't this just believing in nothing? All that faith, what are we really believing in—our own hopes?
A vague and ethereal "hope" that is self-generated?
Yao Du'an gripped the string of beads in his hand tightly.
A utilitarian transaction, or a complete failure, evokes disgust and despair.
However, not all beliefs in the world lead to these two outcomes.
The corrupted, the defiled, have a pure faith.
He had once witnessed an army of fallen insects, on the verge of collapse, regain their morale and even face death calmly because of the crude drawings and short hymns sung by the priests of the Wise Insects.
The white priest who hid on this side of the river and lived underground said that they regarded that deity as the source of life and the supreme will.
They drew his image, praised his name, regarded him as themselves, and themselves as him; their will was set, and they were fearless in the face of death!
Isn't that what it means to have a "mind as clear as a mirror, almost free of dust"?
......
The fearless White Priest has already rushed into the underground core of the "Star Fortress".
As its main body lunged forward, several tentacles on its back pierced the wall at the stairwell entrance.
The dense, tiny tentacles, like some kind of fiber or even mycelium, instantly grew and covered the entire entrance!
The special forces soldiers who rushed in after them were blocked outside.
They fired at the mycelial wall, but couldn't penetrate it at all.
The White Priest flew like the wind, its tentacles extending infinitely, their dense sensors and neurons sensing the wind.
It split into several parts; more than half went to find the entrances to seal them all off, while a smaller half went to find the power switch to shut off the power to the entire underground central layer!
Its main body then flew straight towards the area where Insect 1 was located, in the direction indicated by Insect 1!
It was getting closer and closer; it seemed to be right behind him! As Qi An ran, a chill ran down his spine, and he couldn't help but look back.
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