Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 297 - 216: The Other Side of the Story

Chapter 297: Chapter 216: The Other Side of the Story

"The survival of the Long Branch Guard gave Eisenberg-Adler an almost insane idea. As a madman willing to sacrifice his life for knowledge, he didn’t care what consequences such research would bring.

"But within the Universe Company, normal people still predominated, and over time, people’s eagerness to understand the secrets of planet ’Cocoon’ had waned. It seemed to have become a ’legacy’ from the last century. The current top echelons of the company were more interested in the interests of the consortium and the community.

"The struggle for power within the consortium grew fiercer by the day. They preferred finding a way to completely smooth over their rivals rather than exploring the secrets of ’Cocoon.’

"It goes without saying that Eisenberg’s discoveries were not given due attention. The higher-ups treated him with indifference, but this couldn’t stop a fanatical researcher. He went to great lengths, utilizing every resource at his disposal, to initiate explorations on Dead Star by the frontline troops. If even one squad could blunder into ’Conscious Space,’ it would greatly advance his research."

With that, Earth Wolf Twelve made a pause gesture with his hand.

It was clear that he, too, was one of the victims of Eisenberg’s plan. It was only many years later that he finally understood why there had been a series of "exploration" missions back then.

Unable to confront Eisenberg face to face, he could only ask He Ya, "Why were they so obsessed with ’Conscious Space’?"

"Because Eisenberg believed that ’Conscious Space’ was the only place where one could directly face the true visage of the ’Cocoon’ and see their real form. His theory was correct."

"Correct? But aren’t you talking to us right now?"

Earth Wolf Twelve couldn’t help but retort.

He Ya, the trade god revered by the Shan Clan People, had brought down the destructive ’Cocoon’ upon Flashing Star.

Having worked for the Shanqi Commerce Association for so many years, he couldn’t possibly be unfamiliar with this name.

Earth Wolf Twelve also knew that once they left this door, if they told anyone they had spoken over the phone with the trade god, they would suspect the three of them had been kicked in the head by a donkey.

And it must have been a mad donkey, capable of kicking the brains of a Transcender, a former Long Branch Guard, and the Commander of the Eastern Battlefront Fleet simultaneously.

"I can take on any form you wish to see, but none of them are the real me. Even the voice you hear now has been tailored to your likes, which helps with doing business,"

He Ya said, "but if you really want to see the true me, you’ll have to come to Flashing Star, enter ’Conscious Space.’ There, I will guide you on a path toward me. But I don’t think you really want to see me...or the true form of the ’Cocoon.’ If it scares you out of your wits, I’ll have lost a few potential business partners."

"Let’s not."

Earth Wolf Twelve immediately thought of the man-eating plants and Divine Wood of Forest Sea Star, realizing that these ’Cocoon’ would certainly not be pleasing to human aesthetics.

In fact, there was no need to manufacture horror deliberately; their true size was enough to trigger anyone’s fear of huge things.

"That’s a pity, then. Not everyone is qualified to come before me... You should know what happened afterward. A few operations went awry, several Long Branch candidates died, and when the Tribunal investigated, they found some of Eisenberg’s irregular operations. He was caught red-handed, and this time, there was no one to save him."

Eisenberg-Adler was sent to the Prison Planet as per the Tribunal’s judgment.

"He had a chance to lessen his crimes, but during the trial, he destroyed all of his research and committed everything to his brain."

"He should have been locked up long ago."

Earth Wolf Twelve had no sympathy for these fanatics.

He and the Ranger had become victims because of these things.

"It sounds like a complete story, depicting the life of a fanatical scientist, doesn’t it?"

He Ya paused, asking with a hint of deeper meaning, "Any other questions? Who knows when our next call will be."

"How did that surviving Long Branch Guard leave ’Conscious Space’?"

Duan Mingyuan asked.

He Ya had told a coherent story, but upon careful examination of the details, it didn’t hold up under scrutiny.

The story’s beginning was filled with unexplained parts.

From what he knew about the ’Cocoon,’ their only thing in common was an extreme loathing for humans.

The Long Branch Guard that He Ya mentioned indeed could have entered ’Conscious Space’ by some fluke, but she would most certainly have died in there, just like Ava Qiao and the other assassins who blundered into Forest Sea Star.

He remembered that He Ya also mentioned that ’Cocooning’ was akin to a planet’s ’rejection reaction’ towards humans, that their creation was innately at odds with humanity. Even he had to go through rounds of parley and exchange to become friends with some ’Cocoon.’

In other words, if one couldn’t survive the ordeal of parley and exchange, then anyone who wandered into ’Conscious Space’ was doomed to a dead end.

"It seems you’ve noticed, yes. Why could a human survive in ’Conscious Space’ for thirty days and bring the knowledge of its existence back to the company?"

He Ya chuckled lightly, a laugh that sent a chill down the spines of Earth Wolf Twelve and Mocking Pigeon. An eerily pleasant voice brought an ominous dread, "It’s just a pity that Eisenberg-Adler never considered these points, or even if he did, he couldn’t resist the lure of curiosity."

For humankind and the company, Eisenberg-Adler was tantamount to an inside traitor, a spy; his thirst for knowledge would lead himself and those around him step by step into the abyss.

But for the ’Cocoon,’ he possessed valuable qualities.

"He was chosen, like what you call the ’Chosen One.’"

"What does that actually mean?"

Earth Wolf Twelve blurted out.

"Don’t you ever wonder? You should realize the vast disparity in power between humans and ’Cocoon.’ If we have always despised your existence, why not destroy the companies and the chambers of commerce outright, sending you back into eternal darkness?"

"Because...you can’t take the energy away from the planets you inhabit."

Duan Mingyuan recalled He Ya mentioning this point in Siyang City, and that seemed to be why the company was building more and more space stations, gradually leaving their home planets behind.

But this limitation had been broken.

This ring, which housed the ’Power of Domination,’ had taken the ’Consciousness Barrier’ of Forest Sea Star elsewhere.

"Bingo, that’s correct,"

He Ya said, "You must have heard of Pandora’s box legend—when the ’Chosen One’ completes his research, humanity is doomed."