Chapter 1485: 9

This is a game of strategy...

Leaning against the simple tent, it felt as if he were in two worlds.

On one side were the chattering, excited whispers of Anduyin discussing the future; on the other, Lin An gazed vacantly at the torn tent flap and the sky beyond.

Under the tense, curious gazes of Anduyin and the others, they did not realize that the seemingly dazed Lin An in their eyes was then contemplating the fate of all humanity, contemplating the future that even the top experts of countless civilizations across the universe had once pondered at some moment...

Why? Why is it like this?

"A three-way struggle, it concerns everyone."

Lin An murmured softly.

Though he sat in a shabby tent, in a place where sewage flowed, in the most inconspicuous gathering on this planet; beneath him lay a decorated black rag, at his feet lay scattered debris.

Yet at this moment he seemed to sit upon a throne, from another angle looking down upon thousands of years of human history.

A fragment, a glance, passing over was billions of suffering and tears.

"The rise and fall of human civilization, the cycles of dynasties, the rise of races, the reproduction of life, from single-celled to multi-celled, to the diversity and evolution of life's structure..."

"This is in fact nothing but a microcosm of apocalypse."

"The Doomsday Game merely amplifies the difficulty, pushing all disasters and deaths to the extreme..."

"Take the rise and fall of human dynasties, using Huaxia as an example... they are almost always three hundred years."

"No matter how strong an empire, no matter how many heroic emperors arise, how many loyal officials strive to repair it, exhausting themselves; yet in the end they all perish in chaos."

"The crux of the problem is the solidification of class and the annexation of land (resources)."

"Put another way, if human empires and dynasties are also a form of life, then these two problems are the apocalyptic crises they face, a matter of life and death."

"Yet after countless cycles over thousands of years, almost no one has been able to break this fate."

"Why?"

Carrying the question, Lin An attempted to give an answer.

"Is it because the empire's decision-makers lack long lifespans? Is it because they cannot consistently enforce his will? Is it because ancient emperors also age, fall ill, and die, lacking the power to correct the empire's mistakes?"

"Is it because the upper and lower ranks are not united, so even if they know continuing the empire would not solve the problem?"

"No..."

"A parliamentary system is equally a failure; democracy is inefficient and foolish."

"Even in modern society, from children to leaders, everyone knows that class solidification and resource distribution issues will cause huge crises, yet everyone numbly awaits death."

"Then is it because individuals' qualities are still not high enough?"

"Is it because of the boiling frog effect, making everyone only care about the present? Is it because individuals still harbor selfishness, lacking true unity?"

"No..."

"In Earth's earliest harsh environment, those anaerobic bacteria had no so-called power struggle for profit; they merely followed life's instinct, endlessly reproducing to survive."

"If we liken that early harsh environment to a catastrophe, then each individual anaerobic bacterium is actually equivalent to a powerful Awakened One."

"Primitive humans are actually an upgraded version of those anaerobic bacteria; they even possess stronger information communication and thought sharing."

"Yet they (they) still cannot prevent the apocalypse."

"So.."

"So.."

His eyes showed recollection.

Lin An stared blankly at the sliver of sunset about to fall above his head; the golden-red gleam filtered through a small tear in the tent, falling on his face.

Long An, primitive humans, aberrants, celestial eye people, amoeba worm world, Earth... first ascetic practitioner...

At this moment, a vast amount of memory and information, like a gradually brightening starry sky, quickly linked in his mind into a river of stars.

Moments later, a flash of realization passed through Lin An's eyes.

He seemed to have grasped the tail of the problem, seizing the correct direction.

"Perfect beings and civilization are not separate individuals."

"If we say civilization as a whole is like a person without eyes, a brainless walking corpse, its collective height dragged down by the whole."

"Then the perfect being is the eyes, the brain of a civilization."

"The stature and thoughts of the perfect being determine how far civilization can go, whether it can find the correct path in the apocalypse."

"And the degree of civilization's cooperation determines whether it can take that step."

Lin An has always felt that he and human civilization are actually divided.

He is too strong, possessing ultimate combat power surpassing all of humanity.

Especially as time passed, he grew stronger and stronger, to the point that in the life-and-death battle against alien civilizations, he even considered facing it alone.

And after destroying the alien civilization and that planet.

Lin An even had an illusion.

Being strong enough as an individual is enough.

Just like the planet-devourer encountered by the Celestial Eye People.

As long as I am strong enough, I can still go further.

But, is that really the case?

Lin An subconsciously lowered his head and glanced at his own hands.

Weak, powerless, trembling...

He will surely encounter beings stronger than himself, he will surely face various unimaginable crises; he will surely be wounded again or fall into desperation at some day, some moment.

Who will save him?

"If I return to Earth and find no one here, then I am already dead..."

"If one day I alone face the apocalypse, and in battle I am heavily wounded and dying, can I survive in the dark universe?"

Can I not make a single mistake, not need any companions, not need any backing?

He muttered to himself.

Lin An believed that perhaps, if individual enhancement reached its extreme, one person could be a civilization; perhaps such a path exists, perhaps it could work.

But does he really want to see such a world?

A strong civilization, a strong collective as backing—this is certainly not wrong.

What's wrong is that the several civilizations he has seen have all committed fatal mistakes.

"Perfect Ones possess tremendous talent and combat power surpassing that of ordinary individuals in a civilization, but that does not mean their mental level is equally high."

"Early Perfect Ones could rise in the early chaos, but at that time the population had nearly dropped to the most dangerous point."

"But can he realize that no more people should die?"

"Will he really not lose himself in power?"

Lin An slowly clenched his fists, his arms trembling slightly from muscle damage.

"No, taking myself as an example. I too will lose myself, I am constantly—whether forced or intentional—killing my own kind."

The early appearance of Perfect Ones means the civilization is weak, but the apocalypse is extremely difficult.

Under these conditions, a newly born Perfect One seeking to become stronger will inevitably find the optimal solution in killing his own kind to seize resources and gain power.

It's easy to imagine how the mindset of early Perfect Ones could possibly be "healthy".

He won't realize he is a savior, and it's hard for him to realize what he should do. Moreover, it's rare to figure out how to stand at a sufficient height to review this apocalyptic trap.

Lin An asked himself, let alone saving humanity; for his early self, not being anti-human would already count as having a good heart.

Moreover, even if early Perfect Ones were true leaders with unparalleled intellect and resolve, and had early awareness of this huge trap.

So, does he have the power?

No.

Even if he stepped forward, exhausted to the point of death, desperately trying to stop everyone from killing each other, he could not even hope to unite all of humanity.

By the time he becomes capable of doing so, he will most likely have missed the best opportunity.

After a simple deduction, Lin An had to admit that this is really, really difficult...

Heroes are not understood by people.

Being one step ahead is genius; being ten thousand steps ahead is a crime that terrifies everyone!

If he tried to integrate civilization early on, Lin An could almost imagine what that scene would be like.

Clearly he could live well, yet he has to endure countless incomprehending gazes, being labeled a dictatorial tyrant, being suspected, being doubted, even being framed!

On one hand he must strive to become stronger; on the other hand he cannot drink too much blood.

To be frank, Lin An experienced this as early as when he established Long'an Base.

He knows very well that, just from his violent takeover of a small academy, many already hated him and saw him as an enemy—and this is without him even "consuming" Faction: Long An's resources.

In the trials, he alone consumed most of the resources—even though in many cases it was his own ability, his due—but at least over 80% of the global Awakened Ones wish him dead.

Even domestically, many voices have risen to oppose him, regarding him as a demon.

"If I want to grow to this point on Earth, there is no doubt humanity will hate me to the bone."

"I will definitely kill many people. I will definitely swallow vast resources to reach a higher level."

"Even if I still have the heart to protect one side, at most I can only protect the people around me."

"If others hate me, I will naturally kill them all."