Chapter 1944: Spiritual Inheritance

Looking at the other's firm and earnest gaze, even Leijia, who had long been accustomed to centering everything on his own self-interest, could not help but be moved.

But unfortunately, being moved was one thing; he was unwilling to abandon everything to walk this path that saw no light alongside the resistance organization, and he was certain that the vast majority of Siluwende would not be willing either.

This even included those people who, in the other's words, should not become victims!

"How could the people become victims? If Yierlan wins completely this time, they will become the people of Yierlan; that is still better than following behind you all and becoming cannon fodder!"

Facing such a challenge, Kelusi did not waver in the slightest, and even retorted with a question, "Do you think that after Yierlan completely occupies Siluwende, it will treat the original Siluwende Elf and the original Yierlan Elf as equals?"

"Of—"

Leijia subconsciously wanted to say "Of course," but the words reached his lips and he pulled them back; facing those eyes of Kelusi—eyes that saw through the ways of the world yet remained incomparably pure—he truly could not say such insincere words.

And Leijia's silence had long been within Kelusi's expectations; he continued, "Or perhaps, do you think the people of Yierlan live very happily?"

"Isn't that the case?"

This time Leijia did not remain silent; although Siluwende was being "supervised" by Yierlan, the Siluwende Elf were not completely without opportunities to go abroad.

In his early years, Leijia had traveled through the nations of the Northland and had even been to the Underdark, but based on what he had seen and heard, the people of Yierlan were already doing quite well among the various nations.

Their basic lives were worry-free, and there was room for advancement; it was countless times better than the life of the Siluwende Elf now!

Of course, "the people" in the Elvish context did not specifically refer to Commoners; this term had a very ancient flavor, because at that time the distinction between classes was not as obvious as it was now.

Regarding Leijia's rebuttal, Kelusi did not feel surprised, only sorrowful, "Not to mention what the true life of the people was like in the prosperous ancient times, just speaking of Siluwende, before the war, the life of the people was far more affluent than the current Yierlan."

Kelusi only said affluent, but did not say "peaceful and healthy" or "developed," because Siluwende at that time was actually very similar to the current Keman, with distinct classes.

It was just that the Siluwende Elf were mostly Gold Elf, lacking the complicated racial factors that entangled Keman, but generally speaking, just in terms of the living standards of the Commoner, it was indeed better than the current Yierlan.

In reality, the restoration of the nation that Kelusi pursued was by no means to let Siluwende return to the past as it was, but to restore the nation for the people, and this was actually what most Siluwende resistance organizations pursued—

To let the majority of the people be free from the discrimination, oppression, and exploitation of Yierlan.

"You generations born after the war have lost your Faith and only know how to calculate gains and losses; you truly make me very disappointed."

A rare look of desolation appeared on Kelusi's face, and Wendisha, who had not made a sound on the side, immediately interjected, "That shouldn't include us, right?"

Kelusi shook his head and said, "Do you dare to say that you initially joined the Ecliptic Contract not because you were tired of a boring life and wanted to seek excitement?"

"Then I must have changed for the better now!" Wendisha patted the armor on his chest, making a *clack-clack* sound.

"There are some changes; I have to say that your second-generation leader was truly a Sage of great Wisdom who had the people at heart!" Kelusi sighed.

According to his understanding, this organization 【Ecliptic Contract】 (called the Secret Society or the Restoration Organization by the outside world) only had the foundation for inheritance and development starting from the second generation.

Among all the resistance organizations in Siluwende at present, only the 【Ecliptic Contract】 best matched his wishes.

Mentioning the second-generation leader, Wendisha also had a look of reverence, but Elder Leijia had a look of confusion, "What exactly are you all talking about? How did this get tied to Faith again?"

"Wendisha, you tell him; I am going to look around elsewhere."

Although he said that, Kelusi's body did not move at all, which made Leijia even more confused, and at this time Wendisha had already begun to persuade him:

"Elder Leijia, perhaps you think we will ultimately fail, but what I want to say is that the people will surely win; even if we individuals fail, our will to resist will be passed down, constantly inspiring those who come after to continue to resist until the final victory is achieved."

"Is there any meaning in you all doing this?"

"You saying this is exactly what General Kelusi meant by having no Faith, or rather, your Faith is yourself; as for me personally, I respect your choice, but history will not—it will nail you to the pillar of shame, never to be freed."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, I am just stating a fact; right now Yierlan has major movements, but the scales of victory have long tilted toward us!"

"How is this possible? Don't forget how Siluwende was defeated back then!"

"I certainly won't forget, because of the participation of Shaerwen, as well as the tacit support of the various Northland nations; if it were truly one-on-one, Yierlan could not possibly be the opponent of Siluwende."

Speaking of the previous defeat, Wendisha appeared very relaxed, unlike members of general resistance organizations who always avoided talking about past failures.

Because as long as one talked about past failures, it would inevitably lead to this association—if Siluwende in its prime in the past failed, then these scattered resistance organizations now would inevitably end in failure.

But Wendisha, or rather the 【Ecliptic Contract】 organization, did not have thoughts in this regard; in their view, resistance itself was a helpless choice.

The rights and wrongs of back then, the new generation actually did not have much qualification to judge, but there was one point that the Siluwende new generation could not avoid no matter what.

That was Yierlan's oppression and exploitation of Siluwende.

Even if the resistance of the 【Ecliptic Contract】 failed, as long as the oppression and exploitation remained, the seeds of resistance would remain, and the bit of spirit of resistance inherited by the organization was the spark that ignited the fire.

It did not need to be much; as long as it existed, it could make the resistance endless, until the final victory.

With the Northland Alliance existing at the moment, large-scale acts of extermination would likely become a thing of the past, so even if Yierlan eventually won over the hearts of the Siluwende people, that would also be a change that had to be made because of the resistance activities.

It could also be considered a victory for the resistance.

In reality, the 【Ecliptic Contract】 where Wendisha was located did not shy away from so-called "failure" at all; they cared more about the inheritance of the spirit of resistance.

Of course, if there were an opportunity to achieve a comprehensive victory, they naturally would not miss it, and would even value it more than other resistance organizations.

And now, they had already seen the hope of a comprehensive victory; although it was still slim, compared to the past where they could almost only have a "passive victory" ending, it was already much stronger.