<h4>Chapter 146 The Earth’s Wastnds 19</h4>
"Humph... A paradise?" Feng Bujueughed. "Perhaps for you."
He worked his neck and lifted his head to say, "Their pietyes from deceit, and their contentmentes from ignorance. They have noints... because they are too afraid to do so.
"You rear these people like pigs, deciding where they live, what they should wear, and what they need to do. And the scariest thing is that you control their thoughts and deprive them of their freedom."
Feng Bujue’s icy gaze pierced York Corben. "Do not act like your family’s dictatorship is a service for the vigers. No matter how you try to exin it... everything that has happened was to preserve the dominance of your family, to ensure your perpetual superiority."
"Even if you are right, if you were me, what would you do? Would you give up when the same benefits are ced before you?" York’s face twitched. He turned around and used the twisted face to re at Hank. "My conditions are still standing no matter what you say, but... will you really say no to me? Can you even say no?
"Don’t act like you are above me. With just a nod, you can join my ranks. You do not need to work anymore. The only job you will have is to enjoy life. Think about it, permanent power! When you are eighty, you can still bed a woman who is eighteen. In fact, they will be more than willing to throw themselves at you. You have absolute power over these people’s lives. In this vige, you can do anything you want, and your descendants will of course continue to enjoy that privilege..."
"Forgive me, but I have to ask this." shes of Sword interrupted with a chilling smile. "From what you’ve said, the outsiders whom your ancestor ran into must have epted his terms, right?"
"Haha... Of course, who would be able to reject it?" York replied.
"Then, where are the descendants of these outsiders now?" shes of Sword asked.
"Er..." York was stumped.
"How long did your ancestor allow them to stay in the shrine before they made their move? One month? Six months? One year?" shes of Sword chuckled. York gritted his teeth, but he had no answer.
"Normally, this kind of absolute power will never suffer being shared by others. Even within the family,petition is harsh, much less with outsiders," shes of Sword said. "Furthermore, based on how you treat your own younger brother and son, only an idiot would believe your words."
"Then what do you want?" York was turning to anger from having his ploy exposed. "What can you do? The only device tomunicate with the outside world has been ruined, and it won’t be fixed in a short period of time. If you kill me, the entire vige will riot against you!"
"I need to correct two of your mistakes." Feng Bujue raised his right hand and extended his index finger. "First, I am fully capable of gaining contact with the outside world with the device in this room. You don’t need to worry about that."
He then raised his middle finger. "And secondly... ha ha..."
Hisugh sounded like that of the Grim Reaper.
Feng Bujue stood up to reveal the panel behind him. He had sat there earlier not to study the equipment but to activate his skill, A Hasty Repair. Feng Bujue’s real purpose was to block York’s sight of the panel. The lights on the panel had been blinking since a few minutes ago.
"Once I entered this room, I started to search for themunication system. I do need to thank the person who designed these things. Theyout is so easy to understand. It can be operated by an idiot," Feng Bujue said in this mirthful voice. "The cheerful conversation that we just shared has beenmunicated to the whole vige, so... the people that the vigers will riot against is... you."
York Corben’s eyes were almost popping out of his head, and fear was inly written on his face. When he saw the light that signified that the message was being broadcast to the whole vige, the blood in his body froze.
"Our conversation is no longer a secret, and this vige will not have any more secrets." Feng Bujue walked to themunicator and talked into it. "Vigers of the Vige of Heavenly Blessing, you have heard everything yourself. The so-called God’s Child and his family... have been twisting history, blocking knowledge, and burying the truth for many years. They trapped you in this haze of fear and ignorance, to have you live more like livestock. And for that, you still need to offer them praise and thanks.
"And the so-called outsiders are merely human beings who migrated to another hundreds of years ago. Corben described them as demons, apostates, to prevent you from knowing the truth. Even if you don’t believe what I’m saying now, you should be able to recognize York Corben’s voice on the ount of you praying after it so many times. For once, decide for yourself what to believe."
Feng Bujue paused momentarily before continuing. "I will contact the people from outside and provide them the coordinates of the Vige of Heavenly Blessing. After that, hopefully, you’ll be able tomunicate rationally with these outsiders. How this vige progresses in the future will be decided by you. There is no more false God to dictate your existence, and with regards to York Corben..."
He turned around to nce at God’s Child. "I will leave him to you. He is currently in the Room of Heavenly Decree. In fact, all of you shoulde here to see this ce for yourself."
After that, Feng Bujue deactivated the device. He turned around, opened both of his arms, and told York with augh, "Oh Lord... Seeing the expression on your face now, I couldn’t feel better."
"You... Why... Why! Why would you do something like this?" York Corben’s mind was broken as he roared. "Have you lost your mind? Why wouldn’t you want this wealth that is practically handed to you? You and your friend even have the power to rece me, don’t you? Why?"
"Master sh, I’ll hand the floor over to you to exin." Feng Bujue chuckled.
Several sword shes cut through the air, and shes of Sword appeared next to York Corben in the blink of an eye. In the same second, Corben’s mechanized limbs were hacked off his body. The man’srge torso fell to the ground. Blood, oil, and nutrients pooled on the ground, and Corben’s face was overwhelmed with fear and shock.
"There’s a saying that goes... whenever one sees injustice, he will draw his sword to avenge the injured. I suppose you can call it the way of Jiang Hu," shes of Sword said as he handsomely sheathed his sword away. The tactic he showed was much more powerful and shier than the attacks that Feng Bujue had used on Harvey. However, since his weapon did not have a damage buff against machines, to be able to dismember York so quickly and perfectly showed how good he was as a swordsman.
"Honestly, perhaps I mightpromise if I were given this choice in the world that I am from," shes of Sword admitted. "But here, we will not stay for long, and, how shall I put this... you kinda deserve this."
York Corben was in the throes of despair. He had thought that he would be able to somehow sneak his way out of the vige, but that dream went up in smoke. Most adult males of the Corben family were mechanized, and there was a reason behind it. It was to prevent assassinations, to help during acts of ’miracles’, to extend their lives, and when the situation became desperate, they could survive on Old Earth. The mechanized heart could deal with the horrible air, and their mechanized limbs would allow them to hunt mutated animals.
The family’s ancestor had thought of many things. They set down many rules like body modification, power over history, the sequestering of knowledge... In a way, they had figured a solution for any contingency their descendants might face. The sess of the Corben family’s rule wasrgely due to their ancestor’s wisdom.
If not for the two yers’ arrival, perhaps the only thing that could have ruined the Vige of Heavenly Blessing was the dwindling gene pool or the sudden discovery by other humans. But who knew when that would happen?
"Oh, by the way, even though the chance of this is small, to prevent you from using the power and influence that your family has gathered over the years to confuse the viges and turn this around..." Feng Bujue took out the steel sword and squatted next to York. With a smile, he poked the tip of knife into the man’s mouth. With the sharp end pointing at York’s cheeks, he said, "For the sake of safety, let’s put a smile on that face..."
"Ah... Ah!" York Corben groaned in pain as his cheeks were cut away by Feng Bujue and his tongue was chopped off. But for some reason... there was a dull sensation travelling through his throat.
...
Ten minutester, at the entrance of the shrine, Hank walked out of the shrine slowly. Many vigers were already gathered at the door. There were vigers from all threeyers. The priests had been apprehended by the vigers. Even though some of them were innocent, they would have to suffer a bit, and no one would buy their words again.
Of the people gathered there, there were some who were the patrols and guards who had interacted with the ’intruders’ earlier. Once they say Hank, they screamed, "That’s him! He’s the one who apanied the two intruders!"
Hank walked to stand before the crowd. Everyone stared at him, waiting for the man to say something. It was like they were waiting for the light before dawn, waiting for the shaft of light to guide their way. Hank’s eyes scanned the crowd. He saw Miss Molly, his mother, and his friends among them. At that moment, the attention on Hank was something that he had never imagined he would experience in his life.
After a moment’s silence, Hank finally opened his lips.
"The two outsiders... No, I should say the two travelers from another world have already left. They will never return. They do not wish to be remembered or discussed." Hank tried to keep his voice calm and his words clear. "Mr. Feng... He repaired the device that Corben destroyed and contacted a ce called The Sr System Research Center. He gave them the Vige of Heavenly Blessing’s coordinates and radio frequency. Our vige is no longer isted from the world; people outside know about us.
"Soon, other humans wille to visit us. They have the power to take us all away. We can move to a ce called Second Earth, the current home of human beings. They have clean air and water there, with blue ocean, rivers, mountains, forests, andkes. They have real cities as well.
"There, sickness can be cured; we do not need to beg God for mercy. The weather can be predicted, and they are not the whims of God. Every child has the right and responsibility to enjoy a full education. No one will dictate what you shall believe, what you shall wear, and what you shall do. Women do not need to sacrifice themselves to other men before their marriage, and men do not need to risk their lives for jobs like scavenging."
His voice involuntarily turned up, or perhaps it seemed that way because the crowd had fallen silent.
"I can understand your current emotions. Like you, I am afraid, apprehensive about the future, but at the same time, I feel anticipation. But there’s one thing I am sure of..."
In Hank’s eyes, there was a relief and an affecting emotion.
"Now, we are free."