Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 219 - 139: Half and Half

Chapter 219: Chapter 139: Half and Half

"’God’ is a noun created by humans, though He Ya thinks Homo sapiens are arrogant, she too has imperceptibly begun to use the language system created by humans to communicate, establishing rules that humans can understand."

If one strips away the trappings of theology and belief, Duan Mingyuan felt that beings like He Ya resembled something more like the will born from the planet itself.

Not all civilizations give birth to theological beliefs; many cosmologists last century had already proposed the hypothesis of a ’planetary will’—they believed the planet itself was a brain capable of autonomous consciousness, and natural disasters were one of the means by which planetary consciousness adjusted itself.

In the subsequent decades, researchers who agreed with this theory split into two factions, one of which saw the ’Cocoon’ process as a form of planetary self-healing. They believed that when certain civilizations reached a certain stage of development, due to overly inflated technology and ambition, they became a threat to the planet itself and were thus treated by the planet as a virus.

If one were to further develop this theory, it seemed to coincide with the viewpoint He Ya had just proposed.

But clearly, Universe Company did not agree with this perspective.

The academic faction that proposed this theory was quickly accused of anti-human crimes; overnight, all their scholars were incarcerated in a prison on some planet, and it was explicitly stated that anyone who continued this line of research would be punished for the same crime.

Duan Mingyuan remembered that the leader of that time’s faction was named Eisenberg-Adler, a middle-aged man with white, withered long hair, a body so emaciated it was almost skeletal, and a hook nose, immediately looking like a major villain.

The photograph on the science magazine was taken when he had been sentenced to 761 years and was about to be sent to a distant planet to serve his sentence.

Seeing this, the leader of the other faction immediately issued a statement claiming that ’Cocooning’ had nothing to do with planetary consciousness; it was, in fact, a sign that the planet was suffering from a severe illness.

This faction had an extremely profound impact on future generations, lasting until today.

The company’s interference with many civilizations was always under the banner of ’treating diseases,’ and it was the same with Blue Star. At least in the era of the Prime Monarch, the company regarded the Strange Gates and Devious Techniques spawned by Life Energy as a sign of cancerous mutation, and they were there to help the Blue Star people treat the disease.

"Is this a warning to me?"

Duan Mingyuan asked.

He Ya’s sudden meeting with him as ’Cocoon’ surely wasn’t just about making an acquaintance or recognizing a face.

The Trade Deity always came with a strong purpose.

Without realizing it, the three of them arrived at the sixth-floor underground rest area that had been prepared, while Zheng Liu had already entered a mental shutdown state under the impact of this powerful topic.

He hung his head, his words resolute:

He understood the reasoning, but Cosmic Hegemony was an open-world game...

Duan Mingyuan and He Ya stopped listening.

"Reminder would be more appropriate, ’warning’ is too aggressive a term. There’s a saying in the business world that goes, ’Business may not succeed, but integrity should prevail.’ There’s no need to get our relationship so tense."

He Ya maintained her usual gentle and friendly smile, having expressed enough sincerity toward Duan Mingyuan.

Duan Mingyuan hoped she would give him some face, and she did.

The lives of Zheng Liu and Xing, as well as the unlimited chips they could use at any time in the Chamber of Commerce.

The symbol "∞" represented that, should they wish, they could quit their current jobs at any time and start a new life in Siyang City, one as if they had cheats turned on.

"I agree."

Duan Mingyuan nodded in approval; he always sought to resolve problems through peaceful means, "Feel free to speak your mind."

"Wherever the Chamber of Commerce extends, that is the frontier my will can cover. You might understand my relationship with Shanqi Commerce Association in this way."

This was also why after she had expelled the Shan Clan from Flashing Star, she hadn’t slaughtered them to extinction.

Overall, the Shan Clan were still a group of interesting little creatures, as long as they could put away their arrogance and not run wild on Flashing Star, they could indeed provide her with a lot of amusement.

Indeed, the Shan Clan did not disappoint her expectations; despite having lost their homeland, a part of them, acting as the Shanqi Commerce Association, secretly controlled many civilizations. Another part had infiltrated the Universe Company, holding high positions and were able to influence corporate decisions to some extent.

All these were the fruits of wealth.

And doing business was the eternal method of accumulating riches.

"That’s why I can consider myself quite familiar with this planet," she said.

As she spoke, He Ya’s hand lightly touched Zheng Liu’s forehead, and with a "plop," the murmuring Zheng Liu fell asleep on the table.

Although Zheng Liu had been in a state of self-hypnosis, she guessed that Mingyuan didn’t want others to know what they were about to discuss.

"But on this planet, I have never found another existence like myself, until recent events at the Imperial Court and your arrival... Transcender, that’s what Universe Company calls troublesome characters like you, but in truth, they also know nothing about you."

She had learned some descriptions of Transcenders through the descendants of the Shan Clan from the Mandala Consortium.

In her view, those were just boring nonsense. Even the scholarly faction that proposed the concept was full of conflicting opinions, with every person having a different definition of what a Transcender was.

To sum up, there seemed to be only one useful piece of information—do not interfere with civilizations that have given rise to a Transcender.

As for the extent of the Transcenders’ power, the company was clueless. To put it more simply, it was like slapping a label on someone like Mingyuan to show these were not beings to be trifled with.

He Ya felt that she understood Transcenders better than the company did, especially after meeting them in person.

Mingyuan also guessed her intention and asked, "Do you think I am the same kind as you?"

"Not entirely," He Ya replied. She didn’t intend to hide her thoughts, "Half is a familiar aura, and the other half is detestable arrogance."

A "Cocoon" with a "human" aura.

Or perhaps a "human" with the power of a "Cocoon".

For a moment, He Ya couldn’t clearly discern Mingyuan’s essence. When she looked back on Mingyuan’s past, she found that he had been too deeply influenced by humans, so much so that he usually looked no different than a real human being.

Walking down the street, he wouldn’t receive strange glances, nor did he need to be worshipped by others.

But when it came to dealing with corporate issues, his attitude was highly similar to that of a "Cocoon".

He Ya thought that perhaps not even Mingyuan himself understood this problem.

"Come to think of it, you don’t like to look back on the past, and it seems you haven’t carefully considered when the life of ’Mingyuan’ actually began."

After a moment of thought, she said further, "So to confirm this matter, I would like to invite you to join me in appreciating a theater performance."

"A performance?"

"That might also let you foresee what this planet will look like after the ’Cocoon’ transformation."