Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“That does sound better than ‘Tartarean Skeleton’ or ‘Gold Vulture’.”

The mental devil observed, somewhat in surprise, “However, in most contexts, ‘arsonist’ is not a word of approval. While sparks of fire may eventually drive away darkness, you’d better make sure that the fire does not spread out uncontrollably and burn everything to the ground.

“Why, have you come up with such a name because you subconsciously have concerns about the first Colossus in history that is installed with a control and attack system maneuvered by information lives?”

Li Yao rubbed his nose. “Do I?”

“Just think about it.”

The mental devil said, “There is a hero who is also a leader who is in a high place on the surface and has made great contributions. He has deeply-rooted forces in his country and is deeply admired and trusted by the people.

“But in secret, he is doing clandestine things for a certain ‘lofty goal’. He even has a massive plan that has inestimable influences, and it will change the entire civilization of mankind profoundly once it is implemented!

“There is also a ferocious-looking, destructive Colossus that he uses. Who do you think I am describing?”

“It does seem so!”

Grabbing his hair and thinking for a long time, Li Yao said, “It can’t be helped. In the past, there were people like Xiao Xuance, Lu Zui, and Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan who led the charge and explored ways in the infinite mists. All I needed to do was to hide in their back as a comfortable opposition who pointed out their mistakes now and then and moved forward on their dead bodies.

“But right now, they have all been taken down. Like you said before, there is not a single person ahead of me right now. It is truly my turn to carry their responsibility and walk on so that other people and history will point out my mistakes and give me a fair ruling.

“I don’t know whether or not I have chosen the right path, but I do know that we will be forever trapped in the three thousand Sectors where resources are being exhausted if we stop, and there will be no future for mankind. Our best outcome will be to become a second Pangu or Nuwa civilization, before our decline tens of thousands of years later!

“‘Arsonist’ does represent high uncertainties and high dangers. One moment of carelessness, and the overwhelming fire will consume everything.

“But don’t forget that when the Pangu and Nuwa civilizations collapsed and perished, and the newborn mankind was just awakened and faced with the unknown world independently, our ancestors made the hardest first step exactly by burning the trees to the ground and farming on the land.

“The glory and grandeur human beings have today are all thanks to the ancestors who burned the mountains and transformed the desert into fine lands. Fire and civilization are inseparable in the first place. If the ancestors were scared of the heat and dangers of fire, the civilization of mankind wouldn’t have achieved what it has today at all!

“There has to be a bold guy who set the first fire in rashness when everybody wavers. Let’s view it in retrospective a hundred thousand years later whether it is a fire of destruction or one that illuminates a new age!”

At the moment, Li Yao’s soul was clearer, firmer, and more condensed than ever.

The bloody stripes on the half-transparent black texture of the Colossus “Arsonist” that had been reborn on the basis of “Gold Vulture” and “Hellstar” also turned into furious flames. All the killing intent and brutality turned into ambitions to break out of the space and conquer the universe!

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Countless bizarre-shaped spiritual puppets showed up. The larger of them were a couple of meters long, like mechanical spiders and mantises that had been installed with crystal cannons, blast drills, and chain claws. The smaller ones were only the size of a thumb and hummed in the midair like metal bees and flies. They all crawled to the sphere space around the “Arsonist”, like an obedient, well-trained army waiting for Li Yao’s instruction.

They were exactly a miscellaneous troop that Li Xiaoming and Li Wenwen had gradually established by gathering all the garbage in the relics thousands of kilometers around.

Although their combat ability was not high enough, Li Yao believed that they would be very useful to evacuate and protect the ordinary people, or to help the ordinary people with their daily life below the ground, say, the maintenance of the basic civil magical equipment.

“Dad!”

Li Xiaoming and Li Wenwen clambered to the spiritual residence of the Arsonist.

The four pieces of the breastplate of the Arsonist opened helically. Little Black, which had turned into a pool of black liquids, extended two tentacles and pulled the two little kids into its body.

Little Black was some sort of “weak artificial intelligence” in the first place. It was not inappropriate to call it a “liquid crystal processor”. Naturally, the two kids could improve its performance like two “strengthening plugins”.

While the two kids boasted computational abilities and hacking abilities that far exceeded human beings, their bodies were only of children no more than ten years old after all, and their own combat abilities were limited. Li Yao thought for a long time and still believed that it was safest for them to stay in the spiritual residence of the Colossus with him. It would also be much easier to control this very special Colossus in such a way.

“There’s something that I need to make clear to you in advance.”

Thinking for a long time, Li Yao said carefully, “Since you have read a lot of information from the Spiritual Nexus of the Star Glory Federation, you must know many villains who emerged during the decades around the establishment of the ‘New Federation’, such as Xiao Xuance, Lu Zui, and Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan later.

“They were not necessarily evil in nature, and they probably had been doing what they did thinking that they were doing the right thing. However, they made the same mistake, which was that they trusted only themselves but not anyone else. Their plans were all sleazy and clandestine, and when their plans were revealed, it was the end of their cause.

“Your existence is certainly a huge shock and challenge for the civilization of mankind right now. It is exactly because of the sensitiveness of the issue that I do not want to make the mistake that Xiao Xuance, Lu Zui, and Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan made. I do not feel that what I’m doing is clandestine, nor do I feel that the two of you must be kept a secret!

“So, while I will not vehemently introduce you to the world, when we counter the crucial persons, such as Long Yangjun, Li Jialing, or Boss Bai, to create a good start for our sincere cooperation, I do not want to hide your identity from them.

“Can you live with that?”

The kids were silent for a moment before Li Wenwen said in a soft voice, “We can accept that. Even if human beings are indeed very hostile to us or even try to destroy us, we will not be scared.

“The death of carbon-based lives and the death of information lives are not the same concept. Even if human beings can kill our main thread and destroy most of our databases, we can still copy our metadata and hide in the depths of the Spiritual Nexus as ‘seeds’.

“Human beings cannot live without crystal processors or the Spiritual Nexus. The more developed the civilization of mankind is, the more developed the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus will be. Then, our ‘seeds’ will eventually root and sprout again, yielding new information lives.

“All in all, information is the future. How can human beings kill their own future?”

“Besides, we can also hide!”

Li Xiaoming said, “We can inject our databases into a starship and hide in a barren world in a corner of the universe without appearing again and any information exchange with the outside world for thousands of years. Nobody will find us if we are in the hibernation and standby state. We can set ourselves to wake up again thousands of years later. By then, the civilization of mankind will have changed greatly, but we won’t have any feelings about the passage of time at all. Who can destroy us if so?”

“But we are worried about Dad.”

The two children said at the same time, “We can hide, hibernate, or even die, duplicate, and be reborn, but what about Dad?”

Li Yao was slightly stunned. “Me?”

“Yes!”

Li Wenwen nodded her head heavily. “Based on our understanding about human society and popular psychology, if other people learn that dad is ‘father of information lives’, there will be a great chance that they will harm you.”

“By then, the reputations and haloes such as ‘dominator of three Sectors’, ‘father of the federation’, ‘superhero’, etc. will all collapse.”

Li Xiaoming said, “Human beings can be very terrible sometimes, especially when tens of thousands of them are gathered. We cannot infer their psychological changes even with all our computational abilities. That is an inestimable, irresistible torrent that will swallow even the greatest heroes.

“Once our identity is made known to the public, it is very likely that Dad will be affected. Is that alright?”

“You silly kids.”

Amused, Li Yao touched the heads of the two kids with both hands. “First of all, it’s not like I have never been wronged and swallowed. When I returned to the federation a hundred years ago, I was wanted by the entire federation because they believed that I was possessed by the Blood Devil. At that time, I couldn’t have been more depressed, and I even suspected many times if everything I did was worthwhile. But in the end, didn’t I win back my reputation and defeat the seemingly invincible enemy under the trust and support of the people?

“That is exactly the greatest difference between me and Xiao Xuance, Lu Zui, and Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan. They do not believe in people whom they claim to be leading and saving, but I am different. Whatever happens, I always believe in human beings and my compatriots!

“Secondly, you are my children, and I am your dad. This is an undeniable fact. While I am still not used to it yet, I am certainly not a coward who does not even have the courage to admit. Isn’t it only natural for a dad to protect and stand up for his children?

“So, rest assured. I will try my best to protect you, and I believe that you will become my greatest pride someday, won’t you?”

Li Xiaoming and Li Wenwen’s eyes were hot. “Dad…”

“Alright, that’s enough talk for the day.”

Li Yao rubbed his hands and put on a smile of excitement. “Time is limited. Let’s go to the Great Iron Plants and set the first fire now!”