Chapter 399 Aftermath
After the independent reality space shattered, the Humanitarian Division's headquarters was destroyed.
Fa Zheng has already located all the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau's outposts in various locations, and he is determined to completely eliminate the Bureau. Presumably, this organization will not reappear. Even if it does, it will only be a new organization of similar nature, born from ruins and rubble. As for whether it is the "righteous organization that genuinely fights for the common people" that Fa Zheng hopes for, that remains to be seen.
With the demise of the Humanitarian Division, Ying Lingyun's madness also came to an end. Looking back, from the moment I stepped into the strange world until now, all my adventures have been closely followed by Ying Lingyun's shadow. His death made me feel that my adventure had come to a close.
However, there are still many questions that I haven't had time to answer.
It's not just about the reasons why the Lord of Peach Blossom Village cooperated with Ying Lingyun; there are also clues related to the apocalypse, and the background of the "Blessed Cultivator" who once gave Ying Lingyun the technology for the future apocalypse... Many questions have become difficult to investigate further due to Ying Lingyun's death.
If I could, I originally intended to proceed gradually, extracting all the informational value from Ying Lingyun before killing him. However, the reality is that I don't have that much time and energy. During the battle for the Humanitarian Division's main stronghold, I could only focus all my attention on saving Chang'an, leaving no time to collect clues related to the apocalypse.
Perhaps I could have joined the battle like Shenzhao and Mingzhuo, collecting the information I needed from various locations at the Humanitarian Division's headquarters, but as it turns out, not doing so was the best choice.
The entire battle at the Humanitarian Division's main stronghold lasted only a few minutes. It was truly worthy of the Demon Hunter team from the Luoshan headquarters. I later learned that in just a few minutes, they had thoroughly searched the Humanitarian Division's main stronghold and obtained a huge amount of information, a very fruitful result. However, the cost was also quite heavy, with nearly half of the Demon Hunters dying on the battlefield.
On the battlefield, life and death are commonplace. The Humanitarian Division's main base is heavily guarded, housing a large number of high-ranking guards, and reportedly even some high-ranking freakish guards. It's not surprising that the Witcher team would suffer heavy casualties. The problem lies in the cause of the casualties. The conflict with the freakish guards was only a secondary reason; the biggest cause of death was being caught in the destructive aftermath of the Great Impermanence.
Mingzhuo, along with Weiyang and Maotu, fought almost from one end of the Humanity Division to the other. During this time, the aftershocks of their power indiscriminately swept into the surrounding area, causing numerous casualties among both enemies and allies. Later, when Taoyuan Township Lord appeared, the aftershocks of Mingzhuo, Shenzhao, and Fazheng's attacks destroyed a large area of the Humanity Division, resulting in another large-scale casualty incident.
It's important to note here that, unlike Mingzhuo and Shenzhao who used energy attacks, the massive ice spear that Fazheng threw, just as it appeared, wouldn't explode. Despite the urgency of the situation, he was still thinking about avoiding harming his allies, but he couldn't stop the other two in time.
The two men were completely oblivious to the casualties suffered by their allies. Mingzhuo, in particular, even though it was his own team, seemed to think that the deaths of demon hunters of level 1 and below were not worth mentioning.
It seems that for powerful figures like Shenzhao and Mingzhuo, if their subordinates cannot survive on their own battlefields, it's entirely their fault. Even the demon hunters under Mingzhuo's command seem to have accepted this value system.
As for me, I was helped by them when the Peach Blossom Village Lord attacked me, so I have no right to criticize them. Originally, I didn't have any intrinsic motivation to criticize them; it's just that I felt it wasn't quite right on a general moral level.
Furthermore, compared to pondering those moral issues, there are more pressing problems waiting for me to address.
That was the fragment of the divine seal that I had taken from Ying Lingyun and was bound to.
According to the pre-arranged spoils distribution plan, if the number of Divine Seal fragments we obtained at the Humanitarian Division's main base was even, Fa Zheng and I would split them equally with Shen Zhao; if the number was odd, Fa Zheng and I would each receive one extra.
When evacuating the independent reality space, Mingzhuo casually retrieved the corpses of Wei Yang and Mao Tu, taking out two fragments of the Divine Seal from them. Adding these to the fragment I obtained from Ying Lingyun, I acquired a total of three. Two of these fragments belonged to me and Fazheng. According to the agreement, these two fragments nominally belonged to the collective of the ruling faction; Fazheng, Jian Feixian, and I only had the right to use them, not ownership.
However, I have formed a bond with one of the divine seal fragments, which I cannot throw away. If I move more than a short distance away from it, it will automatically return to me.
This "mysterious phenomenon" is truly difficult to explain to Fazheng, and if handled poorly, it might even expose my identity as a Void Realm Apostle. I don't want to reveal the truth yet, after all, the Void Realm Apostles and Luoshan Dawuchang are currently enemies, and there are many deep and complex entanglements between them, making me genuinely worried about the potential consequences of revealing my true identity. Incidentally, I also somewhat want to continue being a mysterious villainous organization member who conceals my true identity.
Neither Shenzhao nor Fazheng witnessed me acquiring this fragment of the divine seal. It seems I might have suppressed the news, but Mingzhuo was present at the time, so I don't know if he clearly saw it. Concealing spoils like this isn't in my nature, and I don't know if it will cause a scandal later. It's better to be honest.
Although I had considered reneging on the agreement at the last minute, it was something I had personally promised. Without a specific reason, I didn't really want to break my promise. More importantly, I felt that doing so would make me seem somewhat inferior to the naval commander Xuanwu.
So after leaving the independent reality space, I used my right to use this fragment of the divine seal, thinking that I would take it back under the pretext of "having something to use" and then exchange it for the unclaimed fragment of the divine seal that I had on hand.
However, it seems that all the fragments of the divine seal I have now taken on their own tasks. I need to collect another unclaimed fragment of the divine seal and find a way to hide it, specifically to guard against the master of the divine seal... Although it is such a simple strategy, other Void Realm apostles should also be able to think of it, so it seems that it makes no difference whether I am one more or one less.
Perhaps because it was mainly Mingzhuo and I who were on the front lines this time, and because we obtained two fragments of the Divine Seal, and only the right to use one of them, the process of gaining Fazheng's approval was very easy. Not only that, according to Fazheng, it seems that I not only have the right to use this fragment of the Divine Seal, but also the right to use it indefinitely.
Indefinite usage rights—isn't that equivalent to turning it into mine?
“It’s just a single fragment of the Divine Seal. You can use it for as long as you want,” Fa Zheng told me. “Currently, the ruling faction has a total of four fragments of the Divine Seal. Even if you, me, and Jian Feixian each hold one for a long time, we can still have one more fragment of the Divine Seal of Freedom, so there’s no problem.”
"As long as you hand over all the fragments of the Divine Seal once you've collected them all, you can restore the Divine Seal to its complete state."
"The complete divine seal must be used to prevent the end of the world, and I am the user of that seal. You have no objection to that, do you?"
The ruling faction now only has four fragments of the Divine Seal, while Shen Zhaoguang already gave me and Yuchi four fragments of the Divine Seal.
If we include the divine seal fragments I obtained from Ying Lingyun, I have a total of five in my social circle—although three of them were gifts from the Divine Illumination.
I could feel the difference.
It's highly likely that it wasn't that Fazheng and Jian Feixian weren't working hard enough. The task of collecting the Divine Seal fragments had a strong element of "fate-driven" connection. For powerful figures like Fazheng and Jian Feixian, access to the fragments was probably solely due to their immense strength—a kind of "fate forcibly established through power." However, Shenzhao, as a Void Realm Apostle, likely had a far stronger connection to the fragments than ordinary powerful figures, making their collection much easier.
I am an ally of Fazheng, but not a true like-minded partner, so Fazheng's desire to collect the complete divine seal is most likely unattainable.
“No objection. But is it just a verbal agreement?” I asked.
"It was only a verbal agreement... After all, even if we signed a contract like ordinary people, there's no higher authority to arbitrate us..."
As he spoke, Fa Zheng paused slightly and read out the next sentence, "...at least that's how it is now."
Legal provisions are not applicable to the unpredictable. Even if relevant provisions are enacted against all odds, they are meaningless without practical means of punishment. Forcibly creating laws that cannot be enforced only diminishes the authority of the law.
That being said, in Fazheng's vision of world order, even the Great Impermanence would eventually become part of the social order. But until human civilization and technology advance to the point where even the Great Impermanence cannot do whatever it wants, this seems to be nothing more than a contradictory wish, and he clearly does not intend to wait until then to implement world order.
Unless there exists a law... a law far surpassing the power of current human civilization, like the Sword of Damocles hovering over everyone's head, a law that can punish even the most ruthless equally.
I seem to have a vague idea of what kind of wish Fazheng wants to place on the divine seal.
I sincerely hope that my friends can live in such an orderly and peaceful society. On the other hand, I yearn for a world full of chaos.
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Afterwards, I took Chang'an back to my residence at the headquarters in Luoshan.
Because his soul had suffered extremely severe damage, Chang'an remained unconscious, and it was necessary to find a way to treat and revive him.
(End of this chapter)
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