Chapter 236: Comrade, we need your guidance!

Inside the Command Center, dead silence.

Luo Lao, Zhang Xianzhong, Zhou Shaoqing, and a multitude of Federal high-ranking generals all widened their eyes,

With mouths agape, they looked at the being of light on the holographic screen bowing ninety degrees to them, feeling their brain processors about to burn out.

Comrade?

Revolutionary comrade?

Criticism and guidance?

What is this all about?

A third-level civilization that has existed for hundreds of thousands of years, spanning thousands of light-years, its supreme ruler actually speaking to them in this tone?

This was even more shocking and absurd than when they first saw the two-dimensional foil unfold.

"He... he just called us what?"

Zhou Shaoqing took a long time to regain his voice, he turned his head to look at Zhang Xianzhong beside him, his eyes full of bewilderment.

"It seems like... comrade?"

Zhang Xianzhong's expression was also like seeing a ghost.

"These godmen, they wouldn't be trying to numb us with this approach, would they?"

A staff officer muttered quietly, "Sugar-coated shell? But this is too... too absurd."

Luo Lao forced himself to calm down.

He had lived nearly a hundred years, experienced countless storms, but this scene before him still far exceeded his expectations.

He looked at the Church Leader on the screen still maintaining the bowing posture, then looked at Kaenti beside him, face full of fervor and reverence, his mind racing.

Acting?

This doesn't seem like it either.

No civilization's ruler would use this manner of lowering oneself to dust to act; this pertains to a civilization's most fundamental dignity.

If this gets out, how will we manage in the Milky Way Galaxy from now on?

Then they... are they real?

As soon as this thought arose, even Luo Lao himself felt it absurd.

But the facts lay before their eyes.

"Cough..."

Luo Lao cleared his throat, trying to respond in a steady tone, but he found his voice still a bit shaky.

"Church Leader... Your Excellency, you're being too courteous. Our two civilizations are equal allies; you need not be so."

"No!"

"The being of light straightened up, voice extremely firm, even with a hint of fervor,"

"Those who excel teach! Your civilization has given birth to such great thought; you are the mentors of our entire Star Sea Divine Church Civilization!"

"We had long been immersed in void theology, lofty and detached from the masses and reality, committing grave dogmatist and bureaucrat errors!"

"The being of light actually began, right before their eyes, conducting a "self-criticism.""

"It is the thought of that great one; *He* is like a light, illuminating our path forward!"

"It let us recognize our mistakes! It let us find the true truth!"

"Kaenti at his side also immediately took up the speech, face likewise filled with the same fervor:"

"Yes! We now understand that the true source of power is not illusory void prayer, but the countless masses!"

"We are launching a mighty ideological liberation movement within the Church!"

"We aim to thoroughly cleanse, from thought to organization, the poisonous legacy of erroneous theology accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years!"

"Luo Lao Xiang:..."

"Zhang Xianzhong:..."

"Zhou Shaoqing:..."

They felt they were not in dialogue with the ruler of a third-level civilization, but participating in an early Yanhuang Guo ideological study report meeting.

This art style is truly too bizarre.

"So,"

"The Church Leader's tone became utterly sincere: 'We earnestly request that you approve our study exchange team to go to your home star system.'"

"We hope to see with our own eyes the land that gave birth to that great one."

"We hope to have the deepest possible exchange with your scholars and your people."

"We want to learn how you have permeated that great thought into every corner of your society."

"Of course," the Church Leader seemed to feel his request was somewhat abrupt, and quickly added, "We will not let our comrades help for nothing."

"As tuition, we will fully open our Holy Light Gene Bank to the Human Federal!"

"Holy Light Gene Bank?"

This term left the Federal high-ranking officials present stunned.

Kaenti immediately explained:

"The Holy Light Gene Bank is a collection of tens of thousands of the finest gene sequences from various civilizations, gathered and cultivated over tens of thousands of years by our Star Sea Divine Church."

"Among them is our Church's core Holy Temple Warrior genetic modification technology."

"Once enhanced, your warriors will be able to draw power directly from the cosmos, with physical fitness and mental power increased tenfold!"

"We can even share the gene sequence of our Church Leader's clan, the 'Son of Light,' with you."

"It is a kind of ultimate gene that can let humanity gradually evolve into energy beings!"

Boom!

This bargaining chip outweighs all previous tech data combined!

Directly share a civilization's most core gene technology?

Even including the technology that lets them evolve into energy lifeforms?

This is no longer aid.

This is… to pour out one's entire fortune and life and give it all to the Human Federal!

"They… are they all crazy?" Zhou Shaoqing muttered.

No one can comprehend this near‑"sacrificial" act of the Star Sea Divine Church Civilization.

Could it be that the great person's thought truly holds such great power?

Of course, he isn't doubting the great person; he just feels it's somewhat unreal.

Lao Luo's gaze unconsciously drifted toward the portrait of the great person hanging in the Command Center.

He suddenly felt that he and all of humanity might have vastly underestimated the thought of this senior.

For an advanced civilization trapped in a developmental bottleneck and ideological stalemate, just how lethal is its allure?

"Our demand is only one." The Church Leader's voice sounded again.

"We hope that within our study and exchange group, a mentor who truly understands that thought can guide us."

Having said that, his gaze pierced the screen, pierced the endless void, and finally landed on that portrait.

Everyone knows whom he is looking at.

"I know, that great being has already returned to the universe, returned to truth."

The Church Leader's tone was filled with reverence: "It's truly regrettable that we couldn't see its true form, and now we cannot have it personally guide us."

"But, according to our analysis of your history.

In your civilization, aside from that great being, there is another person whose understanding of that thought has reached an astonishing height."

"One could even say that he is the most perfect contemporary practitioner of that thought."

"Who?"

Lao Luo asked instinctively.

Kahn Ti and the Church Leader exchanged a glance, then in unison uttered a name that no one expected.

"Ge Ge."

"Ge Ge?"

"How could it be him?"