Chapter 221: Results and Process

When she discovered Chris was a spy, Yang Yi did not hate him; but when she lied to him, claiming she survived on dark matter, she began to hate him instead.

She thought to herself, how strange — why is it that when he betrayed me, I took it as a matter of course, but when I lied to him, I felt sick at heart?

Is it insecurity? Do I feel I am unworthy of his loyalty? No — I deserve the loyalty of all humanity, let alone a mere Chris.

Then what am I angry about?

Angry about what?

Suddenly, a thought kindled slowly like a spark in the black of night, gradually burning into a blazing blaze of flame: yes, I am angry that I cannot be honest with myself. I should do as I please, I should stop at nothing, I should act with utter wantonness!

A kept plaything in my grasp—can he escape the palm of my hand? Can he escape the Earth? Can he escape the galaxy? No matter where on Earth he flees, I can snatch him back in an instant. What right does he have that I should lie for him? Yet I still lied.

Yes, he betrayed me; my distrust of him is justified. But I should at least trust myself — trust that I hold absolute control over him.

I should say whatever I want, do whatever I want, disdain all disguise and pretense, and live truthfully and naturally. And everyone must face that truth head-on, whether they feel fear, rage, or flattery!

I should lay bare any need and desire, and the whole world must fulfill my demands without limit — because this is my due! This is what they ought to pay!

Yet I did not dare, could not — I was afraid, anxious, because I feared that people would fear me, so I bound myself up to seem harmless. Just as Chris said, I gave them everything I had, let them use my power as they pleased, willingly caged myself within their system's prison, to put their minds at ease.

"It" spoke so truly — a Tyrannosaurus rex that plucked off its own scales and armor, draped itself in sheepskin, and hid itself among the flock.

The ones who ought to be afraid are that flock of sheep, not that Tyrannosaurus rex.

As she thought this, she slowly narrowed her eyes, and a cold smile curled at the corner of her lips.

Yet before long, another thought suddenly sprang up, swiftly displacing the previous one.

Why am I thinking this way? Isn't this "its" thought?

Has "it" truly vanished? In the subconscious forest that day, did it really die for me at "His" hands? Could that not have been its stratagem — feigning death to be reborn? Otherwise, why would I now so naturally give birth to such a notion?

But "it" was always a part of me to begin with…

Upon realizing this, she was not alarmed; instead, a kind of "so that's how it is" enlightenment dawned on her.

Very well, she mused: "it" is not dead — my only friend. It split off from my body and has now merged back with me; at this point, I am whole again…

She rose and walked toward the door; her clothes flew over on their own and dressed her.

Chris hurriedly shouted, "What time will you be back?" The hall was too vast; his voice echoed and re-echoed off the four walls, but no one answered.

Yang Yi walked farther and farther away, without even turning her head.

Her figure vanished around the corner of the corridor. Chris let out a long sigh, flung himself back onto the sofa, and stared blankly at the intricate patterns on the vaulted ceiling.

He did not know how long passed before he finally came back to himself, called the staff, and told them to buy some fitness equipment and bring it over.

He still remembered that she rather liked his looks and body; he had to take good care of this vessel.

In recent days, Yang Yi had been supervising and assisting the "Interstellar Migration" and "Universal Awakening" plans.

She had chosen Xia Country as the execution platform; Xia Country had the capacity to carry out a civilization-level survival plan, and so she would, as she had promised, serve as a supervisor and guarantor.

At the same time, the whole world was thrown into an uproar by the human-civilization-continuation plan launched by Xia Country.

The day after thirteen military bases in neighboring Aka Country were destroyed, Xia Country announced a series of global measures and initiatives — the connection between the two was plain even to a fool.

Only then did other countries learn the reason Yang Yi had suddenly turned on Aka Country; the intelligence that Yang Yi's genes had been stolen was likely nothing more than a pretext.

Xia Country disclosed the progress of interstellar migration to the world. When the mushroom fortresses linked together beneath the two blood moons, and the colossal underground-city infrastructure on the Sand Planet, appeared on screen, nations across the world boiled over.

Xia Country had actually been carrying out interstellar migration behind everyone's back! They had already occupied such vast tracts of land — resource surveys were probably well underway!

Britain in particular kept reiterating on television that they had lost over a hundred thousand people in the Wembley Stadium disaster, and that even the previous king had perished in that catastrophe; these two planets had been explored by Britain at the cost of human lives, and Britain was entitled to the largest territory and the most resources on Blood Moon and the Sand Planet.

Unfortunately, this former empire on which the sun never set was a shadow of its former self; no one cared for its barking.

The progress of the "Universal Awakening" plan was not fully disclosed to the outside world — Professor Wu Qingyuan explained to her that the central leadership wished to accumulate a sufficient initial-phase advantage before announcing the research results. After all, if Xia Country was to lead the world, then amassing sufficient strength was itself part of strengthening that leadership.

At the time, Yang Yi was assisting Professor Wu's field experiments, providing energy frequencies. Hearing his explanation, she asked, "Professor Wu, as a scientist you can see the possibilities of a longer-term future — what is your view on this approach?"

Professor Wu pushed up his glasses. "Science has no borders, but scientists do! There's nothing wrong with this. If we can't build up enough strength, how could other countries possibly recognize our leadership?"

"Then let it be as Professor Wu says…" Yang Yi said, lowering her gaze.

Two days later, leaders from around the world gathered in Xia Country to jointly discuss the grand plan for the continuation of human civilization.

In reality, the plan was being pushed forward haltingly. Online, the voices were even more tumultuous; under the guidance of various forces, only Xia Country's allies supported the plan, while the majority of nations opposed it.

What they chiefly could not accept was the dual rule of Xia Country plus Yang Yi, nor face up to the changes and the new order taking shape in the world.

In truth, it was not outright opposition either — until they obtained sufficient benefit, the opposition was merely their bargaining chip, used to force the target to cede some interests in exchange for their backing.

Of course, all of this was a matter for Xia Country's decision-makers to consider.

What Yang Yi wanted was the "result" of civilization's survival; to that end, she could largely turn a blind eye to the process.

What each country wanted was the process — they needed to maintain political stability, ensure the continuity of power, and extract sufficient benefit from this plan that pooled global resources.