Chapter 945: Chapter 933 The Germ of War Chapter 945: Chapter 933 The Germ of War The azure sky was slightly grey in this world, where a room, now completely sealed, began to fill with the three-dimensional holographic presence of one influential figure after another from within the world.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s continue with the topic from last time, whether to take military action against Pandora World,” the man seated at the head of the conference table said, tapping on the table.

“Your Excellency, such matters require prolonged discussions; therefore, I believe we can take a brief pause to address a report sent from the Forward Base in Pandora World.”

Interrupting the speaker, a man in military uniform began to speak, “Since the 21st, the number of personnel disappearing from the Forward Base in Pandora World has been increasing exponentially, and to date, the number has reached 172.”

“Is this the sort of thing we need to discuss here? Councilor Hubert Wojtowicz,” the speaker chided, showing some displeasure at being interrupted.

“Your Excellency, I know the lives of these 172 fellow people may seem to you not worth mentioning, merely a string of somewhat trivial numbers! But I urge you to consider what these numbers truly signify!”

“Councilor Hubert, mind your words, I have never disrespected the lives of our fellow people! It’s just that I feel bringing this issue to our current meeting is a waste of time for everyone! It’s not a problem that we here should be dealing with.”

“Heh!” Hubert scoffed, at their level, would they really care for the lives of the commoners? Save that talk for fools!

“Your Excellency, I have no interest in making such pointless accusations against you. As I said, I want you to pay attention to the significance behind these numbers. These people, their disappearances all occurred less than ten kilometers from the base! What does this signify? I ask everyone to ponder this.”

“A distance of less than ten kilometers from the military base. At such a place, by convention, all dangers should have been eliminated! More than a hundred people have disappeared in less than a month; there is only one possibility: we are being targeted!” Another councilor quickly chimed in.

“Targeted? Who would target us?”

“Who else could it be? Most likely it’s the indigenous life of Pandora World. Those monsters don’t have such organizational capabilities.”

“Why not? Haven’t you all seen the data on the incidents in Pandora? The intelligence of those monsters is no less than any of us here, and some of the monster groups act in swarms. If there’s a monster tribe hidden around the base, attacking our soldiers and scholars, that wouldn’t be unusual at all, considering the slaughter we’ve enacted in that world!”

“But this does not eliminate the suspicion on the indigenous inhabitants of Pandora World!”

“What reason would they have to attack our people? So far, we haven’t caused them any conflict of interest. On the contrary, we have brought them a continuous stream of ‘benefits’.”

At this point, the councilor himself couldn’t help but laugh because, with their huge advantage in civilization, they could exchange extremely cheap manufactured goods for rare mineral and energy resources on Pandora World, with a profit margin approaching ten thousand times, faster than robbing a bank was trading with the Yikong People.

“Who knows? Maybe they’ve sensed our ill will towards them, preparing for war, or perhaps they’ve noticed the massive trade deficit between us!”

“Am I to understand that the indigenous inhabitants of Pandora World have turned hostile towards us and they are preparing to attack our base?” A white-haired old man in military uniform twisted his lips into a sneer as he spoke.

“General William, I feel the need to remind you that our base was attacked not long ago!”

“I know, it was the indigenous leader with the code name ‘Walking Nuclear Silo.’ At that time, you folks even voted directly for the base commander, the young man named Alvin, to apologize to that indigenous leader!”

“It was an unavoidable action, after all, we were at fault to begin with!”

“Heh, since when do we talk about reason between two civilizations? Are you joking?”

“We have no choice. There are just too many unknowns hidden in Pandora World, so we have to reason with them!” calmly stated a refined councilor, leisurely cleaning his glasses that had rested on the bridge of his nose.

“Unknowns lurking in the shadows, heh. Just give your approval for the army to move out, and I would gladly lead the charge on the frontlines, sweeping through Pandora World with our military and eradicating any life form that could pose a threat to us!”

“General William, there’s no need for such exaggeration. If our world really supports the army to that extent, our economic system would surely collapse. Millions of soldiers would die in Pandora World.”

“This again? Pandora World is not as dangerous as you all imagine it to be!”

“Not possible? General William, tell me, since we’ve established that Forward Base in Pandora World, how many satellites have we launched to this world, how many detectors? But what do we have to show for it? We still haven’t even figured out the actual size of Pandora World!”

A middle-aged man in a robe stood up and looked at the hawkish general, scolding him sternly,
“We’ve spent three years and we haven’t even produced a rudimentary map of the Pandora World. Under such circumstances, you actually tell me that Pandora World is not as dangerous as we imagined? Are you filled with water in your brain? This world is more dangerous than we ever anticipated!”

After his statement, this scholar-like councilor looked up at the presiding speaker, “My opinion will never change. I am against military action in Pandora World, which is to send our soldiers to their deaths.”

“But relying solely on trade, we are far from having enough energy. We must obtain more WZ ore, and the only way to get this ore is to wage war against the Yikong People.”

After hearing the councilor’s response, the chairman also expressed his helplessness, or rather, the helplessness of their world’s civilization, “You all should know that the land inhabited by Yikong People contains a massive amount of ZW ore. We need to take over three Yikong tribes, and our world’s energy crisis will vanish!”

“That’s why we must go to war!” Another young man in a military uniform said emphatically, his eyes burning with passion.

He had nearly exhausted his family’s influence to sit in this position. If it were peacetime, he could only hope to ascend by outlasting others in service, but in wartime, he could rise quickly with military achievements.

“Are you mad? Do you want to drag our civilization into the Abyss, never to recover?”

“Councilor Havin, please calm down. You are indeed correct that Pandora World is filled with many unknown and mysterious dangers, and according to our exploration thus far, they seem to be predominantly creatures of immense and unfathomable strength.

“The local indigenous threats we have targeted are relatively low in comparison. Currently, the most powerful among them has been dubbed ‘the walking nuclear silo,’ and indeed he is mighty, but no matter how strong, can he withstand a shot from the main cannon of the Glory Battleship?”

“…”

“I propose that the army be sent out to sweep the Yikong tribes within a hundred kilometers of the Forward Base, and we should stop trading with these primitive blue-skinned apes. The place for these blue-skinned apes is in zoos, on dissection tables in laboratories, and in museums commemorating extinct species!”

“We will now begin the vote on Councilor Kenny Gilet’s proposal!”

“Seconded!”

“Seconded!”

…

“Great King Uhl, your faithful servant Allen greets you!”

Muria sat on the obsidian throne, watching the woman, who knelt before him in fervent reverence, with an impassive gaze—her fanatical demeanor closely resembled the zealots he had encountered before.

“What brings you here, Allen?” Muria did not prevent this otherworldly woman from worshiping him, as he had already resolved to exploit the faith others from her world had in him.

“Great King Uhl, I come to make a request,” Dr. Allen bit her lip, then laid out the plan she had been contemplating.

“Hmm!”

“I request your permission to return to the base and then to my world!”

“Hmm?” Muria narrowed his eyes and then smiled, “Allen, you’re a smart person. You should know that I will not let any of you leave Yunjian Peak right now.”

“King Uhl, I have no other intention in making this request. If I could, I would wish to serve by your side for a lifetime, but doing so would be too selfish for my people. They are completely unaware of your mighty power. I want to proclaim your existence to my people!”

Allen revealed her intentions. As someone who grasped core technologies and was frequently in contact with big figures, she knew many confidential matters.

For example, she was aware that her civilization was increasingly dissatisfied with the amount of energy ore obtained through trade with the Yikong People. Her world, every group, yearned for their government to obtain more energy minerals. If things continued this way, war was inevitable—a prospect she wished to avoid.

“I understand your meaning, but the time is not yet ripe. You will serve as my emissary and return to your world later,” Muria said as he sat upon the throne, nodding his head. Just then, a surge of emotion suddenly welled up within him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read