Chapter 318: Commission From a Ronin Merchant

After teasing An a little, Duanmu Huai returned to the command room. After all, he also wanted to see how the situation was during his absence.

"Mia, report the current situation."

"Okay, Master."

Hearing Duanmuhuai's question, the artificial angel sitting in front of the console smiled and raised his hand.

"Let Mia take a look... Well, Miss Kukulu reported that the current team's transformation progress is only 23%... She said that they have not fully mastered the technology of being a forerunner..."

"It's normal. Let them take their time. Everything should be done stably. There is no need to rush at the moment."

"Okay, next is...a report from the war planet. Miss Rebecca said that the first batch of renewable energy systems has been transported to the war planet and installed in place. She suggested that the next step will mainly be to restore hydropower... …”

"That's it."

Duanmuhuai nodded.

"Well...then...ah, Mr. Dardanelle left a message. It seems that he has something to ask for help from the Tribunal~~"

"oh?"

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai raised his eyebrows.

"What did he say or not?"

"No."

"Contact him and see what he plans to do with the Tribunal."

"Understood, Master~~~"

Not long after, Dardaniel's cunning face with a big beard appeared in front of Duanmuhuai.

"Ah, hello, great judge, I am really flattered to get your response so quickly..."

"No more nonsense."

Duanmuhuai waved his hand, interrupting Dardaniel's greeting.

"What do you want from the Inquisition? If it's something boring, then you have to be careful with your head."

"Of course, I won't hide anything from the Lord Judge. In fact... I have a small commission this time, and I hope the Lord Judge can help me solve it."

"oh?"

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes.

"What commission?"

"Is such that………"

Dardanelle twisted his fingers.

"You don't know. In fact, I have had contact with a fifth-level human civilization, and I also have a certain degree of power and status among them..."

"Um."

Duanmu Huai didn't say much. This was actually not surprising. Rogue traders sometimes relied on some backward civilizations to gain power, wealth and status. In the era of the human empire, they were essentially like captains issued privateering licenses. They took their ships everywhere to take risks, rob, and even go deep into undeveloped areas to turn them into colonies. In the interstellar age, what these Rogue Traders did... was actually not much different.

Just like in many online novels, the protagonist has a portal that travels between modern and ancient times, and then he gains power, status and wealth by reselling materials in the middle - well, this is the development method of the Rogue Trader.

"That civilization is still trapped on its home planet. Their population has reached its limit and is overwhelmed. I built a new transportation system for them to reduce pollution, but unfortunately it is only a drop in the bucket. Fortunately, on Not long ago, this civilization has moved to the stars..."

"Don't talk nonsense, talk about the important points."

"Okay, that's it, Lord Judge..."

Dardanelle rubbed his hands.

"The transportation system I set up requires a kind of superconducting ore as a material. And we found the raw materials we needed on a planet 4.2 light years away from the civilization's home star. Moreover, the planet itself contains Once a large amount of superconducting ore is completely mined, it will be enough to completely change the current situation of that civilization, and even go one step further..."

"Tell the important point."

"Yes... During the process of mining on that planet, we encountered attacks from the indigenous people. They are an alien race called the Na'vi. Originally, we hoped to negotiate with them to gain peace of mining ore. . But it is a pity that those alien races are too barbaric and backward to understand our thoughts. They have been attacking my mining base. Although I also sent some soldiers there, it is shameful to say that with that civilization. My ability is not enough to deal with the Na'vi, so... I hope the Tribunal can come forward to help me solve this problem."

Having said this, Dardaniel also smiled at Duanmu Huai in a hurry to please.

"Ah, of course, I won't let the Tribunal help in vain. In return, I can give you one-third of the profits. If you need anything, you can just ask..."

"I see."

Duanmuhuai nodded and thought for a moment.

"Give me the information and locations of these two planets, and I will give you a reply after reading them."

"Okay, Lord Judge, I'm really sorry to disturb you..."

Dardaniel was also very sensible. After saying a few words, he hurriedly cut off the contact. Not long after, Mia received the file information from the other party.

"Mia, send a battleship to the coordinates of the planet to observe, and then report the situation to me."

"Okay, Master."

After issuing the order, Duanmuhuai stared at the data and intelligence in front of him.

This is an opportunity, and it is time to let the girls around him know the true meaning of the Tribunal's existence.

Of course, the premise is that... the wandering merchant did not lie to him.

Dardanelle moved quickly, and Mia's reaction was not slow either. Not long after, Duanmu Huai received a report from the front-line reconnaissance fleet. After receiving the report, he glanced at it, and then Duanmu Huai stood up.

"Mia, notify everyone to come to the tactical command room for a meeting."

"Yes~~~"

Soon, everyone came to the tactical command room, and Duanmu Huai sat on a chair, watching them.

"Everyone, next, I have something very important to tell you. The situation is like this. Just now, Dardanelle asked the Tribunal for assistance... ... "

He first explained to the girls the current situation on the human civilization planet, and also released the pictures taken by the reconnaissance fleet. It can be clearly seen on the picture that the entire surface of the planet is gray everywhere, and there is almost no trace of green. Under the high-rise buildings one after another, countless people come and go like ants. They all have gray faces and wear masks.

"So pitiful..."

When the girls heard Duanmu Huai say that the air quality had deteriorated because of the overpopulation on that planet, and people had difficulty breathing fresh air, they were amazed. It was the first time they had seen the other side of civilization development deeply and directly—the dark and full of ills.

Although the girls had been to civilized planets before, those planets were either destroyed by demons or attacked by beastmen, and there were ruins everywhere. It was impossible to treat them as normal samples.

"Wow... I have seen descriptions of environmental pollution in books, but I didn't expect the problem to be so serious..."

Seeing this, An also frowned, looking worried.

"But Dardanelle has also found a solution. As long as they use the ore mined from the planet Pandora, they can greatly change the current situation of humans on that planet, and by further changing the planet's environment, they may be able to colonize that planet in the future, but there is a small problem now."

"Problem?"

Faced with the girl's puzzled question, Duanmu Huai gently pressed the button, and then the girls saw a group of tall, tailed and blue-skinned humanoids running in the jungle of the green Pandora planet. They drove strange beasts to hunt and live.

"They are the native species of this planet, called Na'vi. Because the ore area mined by Dardanelle is regarded as a sacred place by them, they are unwilling to let humans dig, and have attacked the mine several times in a row. So, Dardanelle found us, hoping that we can help him solve this problem."

"Solve this problem?"

An repeated it in a murmur, and then his face changed drastically.

"Wait, Mr. Knight, what you mean is..."

"Yes, Dardanelle hopes that the Inquisition will completely eliminate the Na'vi to ensure their interests in mining and colonization on this planet."

"How can this be possible!"

Hearing this, Lorena couldn't help but stand up.

"Isn't this an invasion?"

"Yes, it is indeed an invasion."

Duanmu Huai nodded.

"So, what do you think?"

"Of course this is not possible............!"

"Yes, how can you do such a thing?"

Soon, the girls all gave their answers, of course, they were not willing to do such a thing. Then, An looked at Duanmu Huai again.

"Mr. Knight, you asked us to come here, don't you mean...the Inquisition wants to do this?"

"Yes, we do want to do this, because it does not violate the duties of the Inquisition."

"Huh?!"

Hearing this, everyone was shocked. In their memories, the Inquisition has always been a righteous organization that saves mankind, but...

"Indeed, I understand your thoughts."

Duanmu Huai pointed to the Na'vi who were having fun in the jungle on the screen.

"They have lived on this planet for generations, without provoking anyone, but suddenly someone wants to drive them out of their homeland. This must be pitiful and unfair, right?"

"Hmm......"

"Well said."

Looking at the expressions of the girls around him, Duanmu Huai nodded. Then he suddenly turned over another screen.

"So what do you think should these humans do?"

"…………………………"

Looking at those humans who were living in pain in the steel jungle, the girls... couldn't speak for a while.

"But...but..."

After a long silence, Lorena spoke softly.

"Is there no better way to have the best of both worlds?"

"No, in fact, all life in this world reproduces by cannibalizing other life."

Duanmu Huai shook his head.

"You think this kind of behavior is evil and excessive. But unfortunately, this is not a patent of humans. Take the wolf pack as an example. When a wolf pack expands to a certain extent, they will divide into two wolf packs. Fight for territory. The winning wolves will stay here, while the losing wolves will go elsewhere and look for prey elsewhere. For animals living peacefully in other places, these driven or migrating wolves, Isn’t it also an innocent disaster?”

"Well……………"

"Ann, Lorena."

Duanmuhuai nodded at the two of them.

"You hope your country can be prosperous and powerful."

"Yes………"

"Well, you also know what this means. This means that a large number of people will be born in your cities and countries. They need land to live, work, grow food, hunt or domesticate animals to sustain their lives. So where did these lands come from? Could it be that they were created out of thin air? For the animals that originally lived on that land, what is the difference between the humans who reclaimed the land and the invaders?"

"………………"

This time, neither of them spoke.

"This is the truth of the universe."

Duanmu Huai spread his hands.

"For any living thing, survival is the first need, and civilization will inevitably continue to expand unless it is destroyed. However, the total amount of matter in the universe remains unchanged. It is like cake. When you take too much If you have one piece, someone will take less. It is the stupidest behavior to feel guilty about this, because the battle between lives is originally a life-or-death battle. You have also personally experienced the war between humans and beasts, and humans and demons. , should understand this very well.”

"But, but..."

At this time, Gu Leiya raised her hand timidly.

"At that time, the beasts and demons were invading humans, the evil side..."

"Evil? What criteria are used to judge whether they are evil?"

Duanmu Huai snorted.

"The beasts invaded humans because they were infected by the fluorescent tribe underground and had nowhere to go. The reason why the Mek tribe joined forces with the demons to attack the Yajins and humans was also to gain soul power and maintain their own lives—— —You see, the starting point of all races is to protect themselves, isn’t it?”

“………………but, but……”

"Of course, from a human perspective, their actions are evil because they cause harm to humans. That's it, and the Inquisition..."

Having said this, Duanmu Huai stood up.

"The existence of the Tribunal is to protect mankind, protect human civilization, and eliminate all threats to mankind! Therefore, no matter what difficulties the Mek tribe or the Orc tribe has, in the face of the life and death of the race, it does not matter. Because , when two races start a war for the right to survive, there is only one outcome - either you die or I die! There is no third way! The reproduction, survival and expansion of any race are based on other lives. On the wreckage and corpses!”

"………………"

There was dead silence in the command room.

An's face turned pale and he was speechless. Lorena clasped her hands in front of her chest and prayed silently. Lani looked thoughtful and remained silent. Feilin, on the other hand, was scrolling through the tablet in boredom, seemingly not interested at all. Gu Leiya, on the other hand, sat there with a serious face and said nothing.

Bambi frowned, looking at this and that, not knowing what to say for a moment. Ogis's expression didn't change at all, she just sat quietly aside. As for Xueli, her face was complicated and tangled. She opened her mouth and then closed it again, as if she didn't know what to say.

"I will not take you with me on this operation."

Duanmu Huai sat down again and looked at everyone.

"In fact, I could have told you nothing, but I think it is necessary to let you know the true meaning of the Tribunal. Indeed, perhaps in the eyes of humans, we are heroes, saving them from water and fire, and saving them from water and fire. Heroes who escaped from the threat of death. However, in the eyes of other races, what we do is no different from that of demons - the difference is that the Tribunal will always be the guardian of mankind, and we will always stand on the side of mankind. ,That's it."

Speaking of this, Duanmu Huai looked at everyone.

"If you feel that this is different from what you want, then you can withdraw from the Tribunal and return to your original life. However, I think it is better to inform you in advance. I don't want you to be concerned about the existence of the Tribunal. What misunderstandings have arisen—including some beautiful misunderstandings.”

Of course Duanmuhuai noticed that the girls were in a very confused mood at the moment, which was normal. They had always thought that they were doing "the right thing", but now, they found that they might be doing something "not so right". ", at least, that's what they think.

Of course, in Duanmu Huai's view, this is all hypocrisy. Just like those Western idiots in his original world who couldn't help shouting cruelty when they saw the video of killing chickens and pigs - these idiots really thought that chicken and pork grew in the ground. They are so stupid that they dare not accept that humans maintain their own existence by killing other living things, and think that this is an "evil" behavior. They are really idiots.

Since you feel so painful, you might as well commit suicide, which can be regarded as improving the per capita value.

It doesn't matter if it's IQ or anything else.

Duanmuhuai has seen a lot of corruption and betrayal, all due to this kind of "beautiful misunderstanding", but in fact many misunderstandings are not inevitable.

It’s like there was a rumor in Japan that “idols don’t poop”!

Those girl idols who co-wrote are not human, right?

In the final analysis, these are the results of "beautification" in other people's minds, so once the filter is broken, it will lead to more resistance.

Duanmu Huai didn't want this "beautiful filter", nor was he willing to hide these things from the girls. After all, he also knew that once such things were exposed in the future, the problem might be even greater.

That's why he explained it in advance and made it clear to the girls.

"…………"

Finally, Lorena stood up.

"I'm sorry, Lord Knight, I, I'm very confused. I want to go back to the Holy City and have some peace and quiet."

After saying this, Lorena turned and left without looking back, and at the same time, An also stood up.

"Me too, I'm sorry, Mr. Knight, um...I understand your reasoning, but...I just want to calm down a little more."

After saying that, An also left the command room, and then the other girls also stood up. After a while, only Ogis and Bambi remained here.

"Ugh, Bambi thinks everyone is taking it too seriously. There's obviously no need to go to such trouble."

Bambi looked confused, while Duanmuhuai shrugged.

"Haha, humans and vampires are different. If they had the same needs for resources as vampires, maybe they wouldn't be so troublesome."

"Humans are really a complicated and troublesome race."

"Isn't that true?"

Duanmuhuai stood up and let out a long sigh.

"Anyway, we have to start taking action."