Furthermore, Haoyun believed that the reason Erl dared not openly absorb those energies was due to his fear of the Destroyers. Forcefully absorbing such energies could easily be discovered by the Destroyers, leading to the failure of his plans. Therefore, Erl chose to bide his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to absorb those negative energies. And Haoyun's appearance became Erl's best opportunity.
However, Haoyun was feeling somewhat disheartened now because he never expected that King Erl would not be truthful with him until the end, not even hinting at his intentions. At the same time, Haoyun again thought of Tie Ta. From his perspective, Tie Ta was likely deceived by Erl, staying there and diligently covering for Erl.
"Poor Tie Ta!" Haoyun couldn't help but sigh at the thought of Tie Ta's tragic death.
"Hey! Why are you silent? Did you die?" Amu Zinen hadn't heard Haoyun's voice for a while and couldn't help but ask. It seemed that being imprisoned for so long had made him lonely, unwilling to lose someone he could chat with.
"Don't worry! Even if you die, I won't die! I'm just feeling regretful for King Erl's fate," Haoyun replied.
Indeed, as a priest chasing Mold Spirit energy, Haoyun naturally felt sorrow for the plight of the creatures in the lower realms suffering from Mold Spirit energy. He also felt extremely guilty for not timely preventing the sinful acts of Mold Spirit energy. Moreover, King Erl was not only Yan Chaoyue's husband and Judge Yan's son-in-law but also Dao Lao's adopted son-in-law. Under the influence of these significant prefixes, Haoyun felt even more guilty for not being able to prevent King Erl from being consumed by Mold Spirit energy.
"Hmph! What's there to feel regretful about? In my opinion, King Erl is just another scum like Black Gate," Amu Zinen said disdainfully.
Although King Erl had no intersection with him, he was at least on their side. So when Amu Zinen mocked King Erl, Haoyun naturally felt extremely uncomfortable. However, Haoyun quickly reconsidered. Amu Zinen probably equated King Erl with Black Gate because of their relation to the Destroyers and the other Erl. Moreover, the Eternal Star Legion led by King Erl had been defeated by them and thus became their prisoners, which made Amu Zinen completely disregard King Erl.
But what surprised Haoyun was that Amu Zinen's next words not only overturned his previous assumption but also left him in great shock. The following is the dialogue that unfolded between them.
"I ask you, do you know how these Mastanians propagate life?" Amu Zinen asked.
"I've heard a bit about it," Haoyun replied.
"Then what do you think, how are the Mastanians here propagating life? If you truly understand the nature of the Mastanians, don't you find that the Eternal Star is unusually calm after being occupied?" Amu Zinen asked again.
"Your question reminds me. According to what I know, Mastanians, like locusts, begin endless plunder once they occupy a planet until all its resources are exhausted. So, I'm also curious why there hasn't been significant destruction here after they occupied the Eternal Star," Haoyun said.
"For Mastanians, a planet, a civilization, is just a free meal. When they're hungry, they won't hesitate to devour this free meal and then move on, searching for the next free meal. Anyway, in their eyes, this world offers infinite planets for their free consumption. Therefore, they only treat the worlds they occupy as disposable food, mercilessly discarding them after consuming everything," Amu Zinen described.
Amu Zinen paused and continued, "But in the current situation, Mastanians not only dare not leave Eternal Star easily but also prepare to live here for the long term. Therefore, Mastanians naturally can't squander the resources here as recklessly as before. Additionally, since the people of Eternal Star have received the protection of the spirits of the divine realm, their bodies have undergone significant changes under the influence of this divine power. The evolved bodies of the people of Eternal Star make the Mastanians feel they are different from other puppet bodies. This has finally led Mastanians, under the leadership of Black Gate, to change their usual policy of slaughter in occupied areas and prepare to try a new method of governance."
"Are you suggesting that Mastanians didn't launch a large-scale massacre on Eternal Star because they plan to continue their lives here?" Haoyun summarized the core idea after carefully listening to Amu Zinen's explanation.
"You've summarized it well. However, you've only guessed half of it," Amu Zinen said.
"Only half?" Haoyun asked in surprise.
"Mastanians indeed considered their future survival needs, so they didn't massacre the Eternal Star and instead ruthlessly plundered its information. But the one who proposed this idea wasn't Mastanians; it was King Erl, who hadn't yet been invaded by Mold Spirit energy at that time," Amu Zinen replied.
"You mean King Erl was strategizing for Mastanians?" Haoyun couldn't believe his ears.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
"Hmph! That's right, King Erl. Do you know how King Erl negotiated with us after being captured?" Amu Zinen sneered.
"How did you negotiate?" Haoyun asked.
"Ah! I have to say, King Erl is indeed a very responsible king. He willingly allowed himself to be captured to prevent Mastanians from slaughtering the Eternal Star. However, capturing only King Erl himself did not satisfy the Destroyers. After all, King Erl and their side were already surrounded by us, and breaking his shield and arresting him was only a matter of time," Amu Zinen said.
"We are willing to negotiate with King Erl for two main reasons. On one hand, Black Gate admires King Erl's willingness to sacrifice himself. On the other hand, King Erl proposed an idea that Black Gate found hard to refuse. King Erl's idea is to assist the Mastanians in efficiently propagating their offspring on Everlasting Star. The tool to aid the Mastanians in long-term propagation is the Eternal Mourners still trapped on Everlasting Star," Amu Zinen said word by word, fearing Hao Yun might not hear him clearly.
Amu Zinen continued, "King Erl proposed at that time that as long as the Eternal Mourners trapped here continue to live peacefully, he will assist Black Gate in persuading them to regularly provide a certain number of young bodies to the Mastanians. These contributed young bodies will be raised by the Mastanians and undergo specialized training from an early age to help them grow into physically and mentally strong warriors."
"Finally, we will conduct comprehensive evaluations of these Eternal Mourners during periodic coming-of-age ceremonies. The elite group with the highest ratings will graduate in the most honorable manner—that is, by becoming Glory Hosts. They will gain even greater power through fusion with the Mastanians, becoming truly formidable warriors. Of course, these outstanding graduates essentially become puppets to help the Mastanians propagate life or prolong it."
"Furthermore, to ensure the smooth implementation of this plan, King Erl personally designed a method to brainwash the Eternal Mourners, assisting the Mastanians in controlling the survivors' words and deeds through strict regulations and brainwashing all young Eternal Mourners. Thus, all young Eternal Mourners will know from an early age that obtaining the opportunity to fuse with the Mastanians when they grow up is a great honor. As a result, when this group of Eternal Mourners eventually dies off, the Eternal Mourners on Everlasting Star will gradually be spiritually controlled by us and willingly serve our purposes."
"Of course, if anyone is unwilling to provide young bodies for the Mastanians, other adult Eternal Mourners can be used as substitutes. However, the Mastanians will inspect these substitutes. If the substitutes do not meet the requirements, the Mastanians will refuse the exchange and demand the original plan be followed for timely supply."
"If any Eternal Mourners neither provide young bodies nor stand up to become substitutes, the Mastanians will classify these individuals as impure and publicly execute them. In severe cases, they may even arrest all children from their families and friends' homes and subject them to severe torture, thereby deterring those who still harbor resistance," Amu Zinen said, his tone inadvertently revealing a hint of admiration. It seemed he was quite satisfied with such stringent control measures.
"Is this also the content of negotiation between King Erl and you all? Are these ideas all proposed by him?" Hao Yun asked. Although Hao Yun expressed serious doubts about Amu Zinen's words, he couldn't deny that during his previous journey with King Erl, he indeed saw a complex and fearful emotion in the Eternal Mourners they encountered along the way.
"Yes, everything I just mentioned was what King Erl proposed during the negotiations at that time. Although Black Gate understands clearly that King Erl's purpose in doing this is to use a portion of unborn lives to save more Eternal Mourners' lives, allowing these Eternal Mourners to preserve the spark of revolution and perhaps launch a counterattack against us someday. However, considering that King Erl's ideas can indeed resolve a pain point for the Mastanians, Black Gate had no reason to refuse King Erl's proposal," Amu Zinen said.
He then emphasized, "Of course, the Destroyer's ability to finally agree to King Erl's conditions also owes much to my undeniable contribution. Hmph! After all, the Mastanians are a barbaric bunch. Trying to calm down those who have long been filled with killing intent and occupy Everlasting Star in a relatively peaceful manner is no easy task! Fortunately, Black Gate remained rational, and with my active persuasion, Everlasting Star ultimately avoided becoming a tragic battlefield strewn with corpses. So, logically speaking, these Eternal Mourners should indeed thank me!"
Hao Yun didn't believe King Erl would make such a decision regarding his people, but upon further thought, King Erl's purpose was to protect the people of Everlasting Star from greater-scale slaughter. After all, preserving the spark of revolution as much as possible was far better than Everlasting Star falling victim to the Mastanians' hands. So, from a rational standpoint, Hao Yun would still understand King Erl's proactive proposal, even if it meant sacrificing many Eternal Mourners' lives.
After receiving Amu Zinen's explanation, Hao Yun became somewhat curious and asked, "So, where were those young bodies contributed to the Mastanians sent? Concentration camps? Or some large closed military camp?"
"They were all sent to specialized military training camps at that time. These young bodies of the Eternal Mourners are the puppets for the Mastanians' future breeding or life extension. They are not criminals, so why would they be sent to concentration camps?" Amu Zinen first retorted.
Then Amu Zinen continued, "Rest assured, Lord Hao, the young bodies contributed by the Eternal Mourners are living well in the military training camps. To ensure they grow up strong, we have even provided them with many experienced Eternal Mourners in child-rearing. Besides practicing various martial arts there, they will also learn a lot of cultural knowledge. After all, only by excelling in both culture and physique can they grow into the highest-quality parasitic embryos!"
"But what if some of these young bodies fail to meet the elite standards?" Hao Yun asked again.
"To breed higher-quality offspring or promote them to become stronger Mastanian warriors, the Mastanians naturally put their full effort into nurturing these contributed young bodies. However, due to individual differences, not every young body can become elite. But since we invest so much effort in their upbringing, naturally we won't simply discard them because they don't meet elite standards," Amu Zinen replied.
"I need to remind you again, once they are fused with the Mastanians, it means they have been deprived of their lives. From that moment on, they become empty shells manipulated by the Mastanians," Hao Yun reminded coldly.