“No, we just want to preserve the seeds of the Shentao Empire, follow the destined one, and break through the dark prison.” Mother Lin’s tone was sincere.
Lin Xiaohe raised an eyebrow. “I’m the destined one?”
Mother Lin said with a hint of regret, “You are a candidate for the destined one. But from the moment you refused to push open that golden door, you voluntarily gave up your status as the destined one.”
“Oh.” Lin Xiaohe didn’t feel the slightest bit regretful.
Destiny this, destiny that—what she believed in was: I am the master of my own fate!
Lin Xiaohe was more curious about something else. “Why are you being so cooperative with me?”
During the day, Mother Lin had been quite the sly one.
Mother Lin replied, “Because you opened the Gate of Revival, and now everything is unstoppable. At present, I can’t leave you—we are one. The only way to avoid being easily outmaneuvered by others is to make sure you have more information.”
“That’s the only way we might survive this divine war.”
Divine war again!
“What exactly are these gods fighting over?”
Mother Lin wore that familiar smile again, even the curve of her lips identical to before. “That’s not something I can know.”
Lin Xiaohe knew she wouldn’t get anything more out of her and prepared to leave. “Don’t deceive my family. They love my mother very much.”
“I’m not deceiving them. We’re family.”
Lin Xiaohe stared fixedly at this woman wearing her mother’s face. That smile was still there, annoyingly perfect, as if it had been programmed.
So irritating!
Even though Mother Lin had been honest and had placed them in the same camp, in Lin Xiaohe’s heart, aside from the Lin family, the only people she could truly trust were her fellow Stardust Humans—and maybe the Giant Sound Whales.
After listening to Lin Xiaohe’s account, everyone fell into deep thought.
Melina was the one among them who had held the highest position in the Federation.
She carefully recalled the classified files she had once seen and heard about. “Regarding prehistoric civilizations, the Federation officially acknowledges two: one is the civilization that created the Dead Hand system, and the other is the Behemoth Civilization.”
“An expedition team once discovered Behemoth ruins on Gonggong Star in the Fifth Star Ring. Experts claimed it was highly likely an intelligent species with a complete social structure.”
“There’s been ongoing debate about whether the Behemoth Civilization was a surface civilization or a spacefaring one.”
What a coincidence—Gonggong Star just happened to be one of the areas where the Empire and the Federation were locked in the fiercest competition.
Melina gave Lin Xiaohe a slight nod. “There are indeed such speculations among the public. Both the Empire and the Federation want to find the ruins of the Behemoth Civilization on Gonggong Star—ideally, a weapon as powerful as the Dead Hand system.”
Humans had already reaped many benefits from prehistoric civilization ruins, so naturally, they wanted more.
The elder of the Giant Sound Whales, through Lin Meimei, conveyed their perspective: “We don’t know if there were prehistoric civilizations, but in our mythology, a god left a single drop of blood on Haige Star. That drop of blood gave rise to all things.”
In summary, there was a high probability that the Shentao Empire really existed and was one of the prehistoric civilizations.
As for whether they were contemporaneous with the Behemoth Civilization or from a different era—that was anyone’s guess.
Lin Xiaohe drew an inference: “What about the Yanidam and Jormungandr that have popped up now—are they also from a prehistoric civilization?”
If so, if individual members were already this powerful, just how terrifying would their entire civilization be?!
Could the newly born Stardust Humans really withstand such a civilization?
Everyone shook their heads.
These events were simply too ancient—so ancient that they predated the birth of Federation humanity!
The scant traces they left behind had been almost completely eroded by the passage of time.
Lin Xiaohe clapped her hands. “Since we can’t figure it out, let’s stop trying. The Shentao Empire has already surfaced, and other prehistoric civilizations will gradually reveal themselves too. There’s nothing to fear—no matter how powerful they were, didn’t they still face extinction and can only revive through us now?”
“We are new, and there’s a lot we don’t understand—but that also means we have more possibilities! We have something they want!”
Wesley said firmly, “That’s right! As long as we follow the Party Leader and the Xinghe Party, we will definitely survive this divine war!”
After steadying everyone’s resolve, Lin Xiaohe continued to have them prepare for battle.
The appearance of a Shentao Empire revivalist on Jiuzhou Star served as a wake-up call for her.
She returned to the Fourth Dimension Sanctuary and opened the Sacred Codex.
Because of the appearance and expansion of the Little Black Giant Tomb, the second page of the Sacred Codex was faintly emerging. If she really pushed it, she could probably write a word or two.
Using her spiritual power as a pen, Lin Xiaohe wrote the second evolutionary direction with great precision.
【ID】!
The ID—the innate, entirely unconscious component of the self—contains all primitive instincts, impulses, and desires, and is the source of psychic energy.
What exactly makes me who I am?
After being possessed, am I still me?
Lin Xiaohe gave her answer: Protect the ID!
Possessors also have desires and instincts, but their instincts are entirely different from those of Stardust Humans.
As long as she guarded her ID, even if she were possessed, she would still be her!
These two characters transformed into beams of golden light, striking each small white orb of light.
The white orbs trembled slightly—they would follow this evolutionary principle and evolve autonomously!
On the chessboard, the surging energy sea was rapidly absorbed, returning to calm.
On Jiuzhou Star, a flash of golden light passed through the eyes of the Lin family members, and a muffled groan seemed to rise from deep within their bodies.
The soldiers on Miluo Star, who carried shadows within them, shivered in unison, as if some force had slapped something down from above their heads.
They reported this anomaly in their bodies to Old Black Brother.
Old Black Brother conducted thorough physical examinations but found nothing wrong, so he simply logged the incident.
Wanting to look into the Shentao Empire and the Neptune Cult, Lin Xiaohe traveled to Viltara Star again.
Viltara Star looked much the same as last time, except that a new sect had sprung up—jokingly referred to as the “Stingy Cult.”
Rumor had it that each elite member of this sect received a green seed. If their abilities reached a certain level, the seed would sprout and grow, becoming a ladder to enter the divine kingdom.
This sect was bizarre—unlike others that gave out free doctrinal pamphlets, they actually charged a fee to join.
Lin Xiaohe immediately sensed trouble. She checked the network and, sure enough, it was Chen Kuan behind it all!
That kid really had a knack for scheming. He figured that being a part-time follower didn’t pay well, so why not become the second-in-command of a sect instead!
After all, out in the world, you could make up whatever identity you wanted.
Chen Kuan marketed himself as a missionary chosen by the bishop, yada yada yada. With his experience as a part-time follower, he could talk a good game—he’d actually roped in several hundred people and made a killing.
Lin Xiaohe was speechless. My reputation is being dragged through the mud for no reason—where do I even go to complain?!
After thinking it over, she still felt it wasn’t fair, so she sent Chen Kuan a message demanding a 70-30 split.
70 for her, 30 for Chen Kuan!
It wasn’t about the money—it was about saving face!
While waiting for his reply, Lin Xiaohe received a call from Chu Huaizhi.
He looked well—rosy-cheeked and mild-mannered—which suggested the war between the Federation and the Zerg was going quite well.
“Xiaohe, with the help of the gods, we’ve reached an agreement with the Empire to jointly fight the Zerg. Would you be willing to join us? I truly, truly look forward to working with you!”
