Chapter 263: Star 262

To be frank, I'm not blaming you; you've been part of the Vaulted Plateau for years, yet your minds still haven't changed.

When everything settles, or when the rescue operation ends, the next period is the judgment.

Wang Wu and these few cultivators aren't only responsible for rescuing people; they also have to deal with the local authorities. When a True Calamity erupts and the local government is ineffective, according to the Vaulted Plateau's regulations, all local officials and their relatives must be executed.

And the scope of "relatives" is huge; basically anyone with a blood tie counts.

Of course, it's not based on human DNA standards, and the blood ties aren't that exaggerated— even a tiny trace will get them seized and executed.

Basically, an official plus any relatives on the spouse's side, as well as those without blood ties but with close connections and mutual interests, are also counted on the list.

By that calculation, in this era, an official's family could number tens of thousands, and cutting them all down is no problem.

A planet's officials range from tens of millions to hundreds of millions; the punishment level is a bit lighter, but still roughly the same as exterminating the nine families back home.

Anyway, the exact judgment depends on the orders from above, and Wang Wu and his team only handle execution.

This time, after all the survivors we could find were rescued, and after we also captured an alien civilization lost in the True Realm, this Wang Wu— ah, no, the Xuan Youzi squad also earned a lot of merit points.

And next, they can earn another one.

"Now it's settled." Wang Wu holds a sheet; the command, of course, isn't issued on paper but sent directly to their communicators.

This sheet was printed by Wang Wu himself with a printer; how he got a printer is irrelevant.

"You all ran out first, but does that help?"

Saying that, Wang Wu walks toward the hundreds of Songlan Realm senior officials crawling before him.

More precisely, they are the former royal family and ruling class of this star system.

Before joining the Vaulted Plateau, they had already been managing this civilization for many years; after joining, they still control the lifelines of the entire star system.

As for officials dispatched by the central court, the Vaulted Plateau hasn't sent anyone yet; this is meant as a goodwill gesture and also a way to lull them.

Letting them continue to oppress the populace eventually sparks popular anger. Then the court steps in, reclaims control of the whole star system, and conveniently executes all the former ruling tiers.

The Vaulted Plateau has always been like this, dry.

Of course, if your attitude is good enough and you're willing to cede authority, the Vaulted Plateau can still guarantee your family's prosperity for the next few thousand years.

Yes, only a few thousand years, not ten thousand, hundred thousand, or a million years.

In most cases, those ruling families that hand over power often don't even live a few thousand years; the reason is simple—they gradually lose their privileges and fade away.

Families that sustain brilliance for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years do exist, and the authorities heavily publicize them, since they prove the correctness of ceding power and encourage more local ruling families to do so.

But the details, well, those who understand will understand.

In short, the Vaulted Plateau is a highly developed interstellar civilization; although many of the problems back home still exist, they haven't been eliminated.

Overall, with a bunch of patches, they are certainly far more advanced than the system back home.

As long as self‑purification and internal circulation work roughly fine, a little bit of hidden filth is no big deal.

On this point, everyone has become aware.

"Do you really need to waste so much chatter with them?"

Seeing Wang Wu, who was holding a sheet and weaving through the crowd, Xuan Youzi, who had been waiting impatiently at the side, spoke.

"What's the hurry?"

Wang Wu stopped, turned his head toward the other side, "Can't you let me have some fun? This time we rescued so many people; ninety percent of the credit is mine. What's wrong with me playing a bit longer?"

"Whatever you like!"

Xuan Youzi waved a hand impatiently, turned her head away, and stopped looking at him.

"Master, senior sister…"

At that moment, junior sister Xuan Qingzi also spoke; she looked at her senior sister and whispered:

"Really, do we have to… get everyone…"

"What's wrong?" Xuan Youzi was a bit surprised, she looked at her junior sister.

This was the first time Xuan Youzi and Xuan Qingzi carried out a mission together; although both came from the same sect and had always been together, even after entering the Jade Mist Sect they rarely split.

But during missions, this girl, aside from this time, had never been on his team.

"This is normal, right? What's so strange?"

"B‑but they…"

Xuan Qingzi looked at the group, "Even if they deserve death, those… their relatives, friends…"

Xuan Youzi looked at her junior sister, said nothing, and after a while sighed:

"Junior sister, your temperament is still the same as before, unchanged."

She shook her head, her gaze turning sharp:

"But have you ever thought that for these people's lives, how many others have they sacrificed?"

"Even if they are objectively innocent, having never done a bad thing since birth and only doing good deeds…"

"But objectively, their rescue is built on how many deaths?"

"Vaulted Plateau's law states that once a True Calamity erupts in a star sector, the primary duty of local officials is to save the populace, at any cost, maximizing population preservation."

"But now? Junior sister, look at this Songlan Realm, this vast star sector; even after spending so much time, how many people have we actually rescued?"

"And the previous household numbers here, I think you've seen the data, right?"

Xuan Qingzi said nothing, only lowered her head.

Seeing her like that, Xuan Youzi turned her gaze to the officials crawling on the ground, then to behind them; her sight pierced the great hall's doors, reached outside, to those who survived the disaster yet did not know their ultimate fate.

"They are all destined to die."

"No one can be exempt."

Finishing, she lowered her head, gently patted her junior sister's shoulder, "This matter, senior sister knows you don't want to do it, so let senior sister…"

"Do you want to live?"

At that moment, her words were cut off; the two instantly looked up toward Wang Wu in the crowd.

They these cultivators, although acting on orders, actually have some discretionary power; although the higher‑ups stipulated that everyone must be killed, leaving some alive is also permissible.

However, for this mission, according to Xuan Youzi's own values, it is definitely that everyone must be killed.

She will not leave a single one.

"What do you want to do?" Hearing Wang Wu's words, Xuan Youzi asked the other.

"I want to play a game." Wang Wu turned his head, speaking both to her and to those officials.

While speaking, he raised his hand, and his palm blossomed with light, as if holding a sun:

"The Asura Star in my palm will simultaneously target you all, as well as everyone outside. When it is released, they will rush toward their respective targets until they kill each other."

"And what you must do is survive beneath this Asura Star."

"No matter what means you use, no matter what method, as long as you can dodge a single attack, then you have succeeded."

"It will only attack once, only kill one person, and will not actively attack others."

"Regardless of the means, as long as you evade the first strike, you will live."

"Although the higher‑ups ordered you all to be killed, we have a certain scope of freedom, so…"

Saying that, he looked at Xuan Youzi again, said nothing further, evidently waiting for the captain's answer.

Xuan Youzi stared at the little sun in his palm for a while, then lifted her chin.

"Boring."

"Ha ha." Hearing the other's reply, Wang Wu grinned.

"Then now, let's begin."

Having said that, he flew into the sky.

At that moment, the ground below, all the officials were stunned, raising their heads one after another.

"What? You don't think I'll give you a preparation time, do you?"

Above the dome, Wang Wu, hovering high in the air, looked at the astonished expressions of the officials below and laughed heartily.

"Asura Star!!!"

In an instant, the points of light turned into countless stars, shooting outward in all directions.

This move is Shashou Ge's skill; when I gave him a red envelope during last Spring Festival, he taught it to me—quite useful, at least for showing off, it's truly handy.

They are countless meteors, countless death‑bound meteors, dragging long tails of flame, seeking the people destined for them.

At this moment, this side of the mortal world has become an endless furnace.

(End of chapter)