Soul of Burning Steel

Located on the northwest side of the Central Continent, the star of the Atrium, the holy mountain surrounded by countless rolling mountains is covered with snow all day long, and the gray-white rocks are mixed with frost, forming the scenery of the holy land that the Atrium people have revered for thousands of years. In the largest collection of mountains on the planet with an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters, there are steep cliffs everywhere. Except for a few tenacious coniferous plants and tundra moss that can take root here, it can almost be said that life of the Jedi.

However, in the middle of this high-altitude mountain range where even microbes are difficult to survive, and around the highest peak in the world, there is a huge and magnificent building complex. Countless solemn temples stand upright under the severe cold wind. Although the surface of the rock wall that existed thousands of years ago is mottled, the inside is still solid and intact, and the road paved with stones can still allow people to walk. Today, thousands of priests and ascetics in simple robes walk among the ancient reliefs and inscriptions on the outer layers of many temples, devoutly going to the temple at the foot of the holy mountain to worship.

Fifteen days have passed since the Void Mother Beast was burned to ashes by the flames of Poseidon. After a short period of cheers, the Atrium civilization fell into great grief: Except for the three major colonies of the parent galaxy, the Garden of Flowers , Garden of Roots and Garden of Leafs, only the Garden of Flowers colony survived. On the other two colonies, a total of 67 million citizens died under the attack of the Void Mother Beast—the elderly lost their children , the lovers who were in love lost their love, and only one of their best friends survived. The pain of loss hit like a tsunami, and the atmosphere of the entire planet dropped to freezing point.

The loss of two colonial stars and a quarter of the total population is a great blow to the slow-growing, small-populated Atrium people, and the loss of resources in two galaxies is a great blow to the resource supply for post-war reconstruction. It was also a huge blow. In the face of the suddenly reduced food supply and soaring prices, the central government of the atrium had to start material control and carry out unified on-demand supply. Food is used on children.

However, these alone cannot defeat the Zhongting people.

In the middle of the night, in the mountains northwest of the atrium, a nameless holy mountain that is more famous than all other peaks, a man in a black coat stood on a cliff covered in frost. Even half of the Atrium Central Continent.

The man's eyes swept over many people, and he could see that in a distant city, in the severe cold of minus 30 degrees, there were devout priests running in the snow, distributing food and clothes, encouraging everyone to survive this difficult time . He could see that in a corner of the city, the orphanage built by the government was brightly lit, and in the warm interior, hard-working employees were comforting every child who lost their parents due to the war, so that they could sleep peacefully.

He can also see that in the black government hall, many officials are solemnly discussing the reconstruction plan. They speak enthusiastically, without selfishness, and try their best to think about the future of civilization. scenes that have occurred.

Because of the war, the people of Zhongting lost a lot, but also because of this, the entire civilization was united as one for the first time. In the cold and lonely sea of ​​stars, they finally realized that they could only rely on each other.

The man watched this scene, the devout man was praying to the gods, and the capable man was helping others. In the distance, in a sheltered town built for refugees from other galaxies, the superior priests took the lead in using their powerful psychic powers to carry out engineering operations, performing low-level work that should have been left to ordinary people and machines—class and class The barriers between people have been broken down, and there has never been a moment when people have been so close to each other.

Joshua looked at this, and moved his gaze down to the distance. He saw that in the temple area at the foot of the holy mountain, Nostradamus was assisting the experts of the atrium government to explain it from another magical perspective. The principle of the Leap Engine, and personally demonstrated how to use magic for short-distance teleportation, while a dozen old experts with withered leaves were shocked and delighted, and also proposed a lot of novel insights and knowledge of psychics, which made the old The mage opened his eyes.

And in the open space around the temple, Hotaru is playing with a few children of the holy land worshipers in the open snow field. Besides, she also gestures to the sky, proudly boasting that she has killed monsters in the past His feats made those children in the atrium who didn't know what monsters and chaos monsters were admiring, and just behind the silver-haired girl, Rin and Xiaoguang were cooperating, and the ball of light spewed out out of thin air from nowhere The water column then solidified into an icicle, and the black-haired boy carved it into the appearance of those monsters that his sister boasted about with his bare hands. The lifelike and hideous appearance scared the children and their parents who were laughing and watching this scene. Jump.

And not far from this empty snow field, at the foot of the holy mountain, two huge statues are being carved, taken from two huge rocks over 100 meters high on the mountainside of the holy mountain, used by powerful psychics Spiritual energy cut and split from the mountain, and then placed it here, and the most famous digital sculptors of the Atrium star worked together to carve them. After several days of continuous polishing, the two huge rocks that were originally square and square have roughly the same shape. One of them can be vaguely seen as a four-armed giant, standing on top of the ferocious monster, with his hands folded in front of his chest, one left hand holding an axe, and the other right hand holding a giant sword, pointing away.

There were footsteps coming from behind, but Joshua didn't turn around, but said casually, "That's not necessary, Mill Habs, Tarquin."

Standing on the cliff, the soldier turned his back to the Supreme Consul of the Court and the Commander of the Central Fleet, the hem of his coat fluttered with the cold wind on the plateau. Joshua closed his eyes and stopped looking at the holy mountain. The statues and monuments being carved at the feet said calmly: "Your resources should be used in the most critical places, not to build statues for me and Nostradamus, and to enshrine some gods."

"My lord, the resources needed for a statue and monument can be provided by an Omega psyker during his break after lunch."

Standing behind Joshua, the middle-aged Supreme Consul bowed respectfully to pay tribute to the soldiers, but regarding Joshua's words, he shook his head gently but resolutely: "But the spiritual power it can provide , is immeasurable to today's people in the courtyard, we are a civilization that uses spiritual energy, and sometimes, spiritual encouragement is more powerful than material."

"It's not important."

Still without looking back, Joshua opened his eyes and looked at the mountains in the distance, he said: "I remember, on the Forerunner, I said that I will not become your new god, I don't need those superfluous Great honor, judging from the recent period of time, you are still continuing to promote this point... Look, the temple of Nostradamus and me has been erected, right next to the temple of the sages, your movements are really fast Ah, but what good is it? You're wasting your time in a week of seminars just to revise doctrine and scriptures."

"Because we need an example, my lord."

For Joshua's obviously reproachful words, before Mill Habs could explain, Tarquin beside him took a slight step forward and said, the old soldier in the atrium spoke slowly, but quite Steady and powerful: "In order to fight the evil that comes from the void, we must have an example."

For this answer, the soldier did not respond immediately, but after a short thought, Mill Habs followed Taquin's words and said with a serious expression: "Maybe you can't understand, but the people in the atrium today are in a difficult situation. In a dangerous situation... They began to fear the starry sky, and began to fear the darkness behind the stars. Many people would rather stay in their hometown as ordinary people for the rest of their lives, and would never go to the other side of the star sea to explore new planets... The void life brings The catastrophe planted the seeds of fear in their hearts, and if this is not changed, the Atrium people will have no future."

Joshua nodded silently. What Mill Habs said is true. Nowadays, many people in the courtyard are indeed beginning to fear the universe and the unknown. They refuse to accept all actions related to exploration, distance and the unknown. They just want to To stay on the small island called hometown, and refuse to sail in this boundless sea of ​​stars. These Atrium people who have personally experienced the disaster brought by the Void Mother Beast, or whose relatives have died because of this, believe that whether it is the exploration of the mysterious void or the voyage in the star sea, it will lead to a catastrophic ending. They even advocate the closure of all Atrium people. From now on, I will never say no to the voice from the other side of the veil.

And of course that won't work. A race that has lost its desire to explore and its curiosity about the mysterious and the unknown will only gradually perish in the long river of time, becoming nameless bones, whether it is Mill Habs, Tarquin, or other people in the atrium All disagree with this negative point of view.

"So, we need your name, your deeds."

The Supreme Consul of the atrium knelt on one knee with his old friends facing his warriors, and he said in a sincere but firm tone: "Your temple is being built, your legend is being passed down, and your statue will be Appear in the squares of every city, side by side with the saints - the transformation of the Poseidon Fortress has been put on the agenda, it will become a huge monument hanging in the gravitational orbit, advertising that you and Lord Nostradamus defeated The deeds of the mother beast, and the Great Red Spot on Sea God Star will become a memorial area and be included in the textbook."

"...It doesn't have to be like this."

"It must be so, my lord."

In response to Joshua's repeated response, Mill Habs shook his head and said: "This is not a project to please you, it is to prove that our enemies, those beings from the void, have appeared, destroyed, and wreaked havoc We have been... and have been defeated. The value of these monuments and statues is not to show off victory, but to tell our people and future generations that we have overcome despair and defeated monsters from the void."

——So there is no need to be full of fear of the dark and the future.

Mill Habs didn't say the last sentence, but both the warrior and Tarquin knew what he meant. Joshua was silent for a while, then nodded his head, he accepted the answer, and asked curiously: "From what you said, it seems that you are still planning to fight against chaos—that is, void creatures?" He Emphasized the tone: "But as long as you don't use the void door ceremony at will, they will not come to this world."

"If it weren't for the hopeless situation, we would never use the Void Door Ceremony again."

Mill Habs shook his head, turned his head, and looked at the silent Taquin, and then the commander of the Central Fleet said in a strange tone: "But you may not believe it, my lord, in the fleet Many people in the upper echelons of the government have had revelations in their dreams."

The old atrium man's face was tired, but his aura was filled with inexplicable excitement. He looked up at the gray sky, which seemed to be within reach, and the heavy snow was falling, and whispered: "In the dream, there is a huge , a warm existence, has sent a revelation to us in the courtyard, and even to the civilization in the entire star sea... It says that evil has invaded, and there are enemies from the void peeping into this star sea in every corner of the galaxy. We must go Defeat them, take the lead, and destroy all enemies before they grow up, otherwise we will never have peace!"

It is the 'star' of the steel python. Joshua immediately understood that the self-immune system of the star world was activated, so the consciousness of this world manifested itself, announcing the start of war to all its people. Through a kind of foreknowledge, warriors can even foresee fragments of the future: countless warships from different civilizations and races gather in the cantilever of the galaxy, becoming a river of steel shining among the stars, and then they will move towards devouring The stars, the almost endless clusters of darkness are driving away, the war between the two will span countless galaxies and light years, thousands of suns will be extinguished as a result, and hundreds of millions of lives are destined to be wiped out in this war, becoming the tiny stars in the universe. Undetectable dust.

This scene is so magnificent that it cannot end even after thousands of years. With the dark cosmic starry sky as the stage, countless stories and legends will be staged. Joshua does not know who the final winner will be, but he is willing to Believe in the power of life.

"Mirhabs... I know that the people of Zhongting have a brilliant civilization for thousands of years, but what you have to face is that evil has existed since ancient times, and their birth was even earlier than the awakening of the wisdom of your ancestors."

It is precisely because of this that Joshua offered advice: "Your technology is not weak, and it is even far superior to the civilization I am in, but the lack of top-level force is too much... This is caused by the characteristics of civilization, but In any case, you can't deal with them quickly, at least heal your wounds."

"Your teachings are the guidelines for our actions."

Lowering their heads slightly to show respect, Mill Habs and Taquin raised their heads together, and then said slowly in a slightly hesitant tone: "However, my lord... May I ask when you plan to leave?" After saying this When he spoke, Millhabs paused for a moment, then lowered his head and continued: "It's not that we don't welcome you to stay in the atrium, but your companion, Lord Nostradamus mentioned it many times, you and him There are still unfinished missions on the other side of the void, and we dare not interfere with your mission, so we want to know when you left so that we can prepare for the return ceremony."

But what Joshua said afterwards caused the two of them to raise their heads in shock and stare at his back.

"immediately."

So far, Joshua, who has not looked back, glanced at the two people who represent the highest secular authority in the courtyard, raised his head and stared at the thick clouds swirling in the gust of wind. His eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the haze and reach a certain place in the inner world. In the corner, the soldier said calmly: "There is no need for a return ceremony—in fact, I should have left seven days ago. The reason why I am still staying in this world is just to wait for a late response and reward."

"But now, it's here."

In the next moment, before Millhubs and Tarquin could figure out what Joshua was talking about, a hazy silver light flickered at the foot of the holy mountain, and the small light that was originally sculpting ice sculptures with Rin suddenly Misty starlight flashed all over his body, and all the people and things illuminated by this light seemed to stop time. The snowflakes froze in the wind, and the frost stopped spreading. Immediately afterwards, it and Joshua Yazizi disappeared into reality. world.

Inside the world, under the dome of the sea of ​​stars, the soldier looked up at the steel python 'star' wrapped around the Milky Way, he shook his head helplessly and said, "You are late."

The window in my room was broken yesterday... The wind of minus twenty-three degrees poured into the house through the gap, making typing a painful torture... It was late at night to fix the window, and I can only update it now...