Chapter 16: The Sojitz Agreement and Three Soul-Searching Questions

Against the background of the black subspace, a sun with a black exterior and a white and gold core stood in silent confrontation with another sphere with a pitch-black exterior that absorbed all light.

The sun's light was still cold, and Jiang Wen might have been stimulated or inspired by something, and his originally dormant consciousness also briefly awakened from the darkness. Both sides were using mental fluctuations to communicate with each other in the spiritual world.

There, a towering, sacred, golden and white phantom was looking down at Jiang Wen, who was still a mortal in his previous life. Gold symbolizes noble personality, and white means the godhood believed by all living beings.

"What are you?" Two identical voices came out of the same body at the same time. The double resonance and the solemn voice without distinction between the front and the back made Jiang Wen realize in an instant that this was the most fundamental and most undeniable question, and he must answer it seriously and carefully.

"I? I am..." Jiang Wen hesitated. What is he? He is a human, is he still a human? He looks like this now, how can he still look like a human?

If he is not a human, what is he? Memories of the past life passed through his eyes. A lifetime of joys and sorrows, ups and downs, anger and sorrow, just like that, it doesn't count?

He is a human being, of course he is a human being! He has the same feelings as others! He has the same desires as others! Why can't he be a human being? Jiang Wen's confused eyes gradually cleared up.

"I am a human being!" Jiang Wen answered firmly.

"What is a human being?" the voice asked again.

"Human beings have humanity! I have humanity! Of course I am a human being!" The sluggish thinking became more and more agile, and once the idea was clear, Jiang Wen's answer was no longer hesitant.

"Are you proud of this?" The voice seemed to laugh, but it seemed not to.

I am proud of this? Jiang Wen murmured, what is human nature? Is it the thinking of I think therefore I am? Or growth? Is it emotion, or desire? None of them, human nature is hope!

It is the brilliant light that everyone can bloom as much as possible in their short life like fireworks! It is the hopeful progress of the old and the new! Only in this way can they be called human beings.

Is immortality important? Is powerful power important? Important, but not as important as hope!

If a population has no life limit, then the old life can never die, and the new life can never make changes.

The behavior of the population will become more and more rigid, and the variables corresponding to the new life will become fewer and fewer. Their thinking will stay in the same place, their desires will be extreme, they will lose the possibility of moving forward, and finally lose hope!

And what will the race that has lost the possibility of moving forward do? In the long and endless time, there is endless life but no corresponding immortal will like gold and stone. Those deformed lives can only live by satisfying their own desires.

When a race begins to use the power of the entire race to satisfy its desires simply to eliminate the loneliness in eternal life.

The endless desires brought by the infinite life will be like an abyss, and eventually swallow them all.

Any attempt to indulge it is the beginning of a disaster. I think there is already a pioneer in this universe who has paid the price for this.

Is it shameful to be a short-lived species? Is a short life inferior to a long life? Jiang Wen never thinks so. If there is no will to match it, life can only be poison. So Jiang Wen has never been ashamed of this, on the contrary, he is proud of it.

"Of course I am proud of this!" Jiang Wen's voice became more and more firm.

"So, are you willing to defend this hope?" The voice was still calm.

"I am willing!" Jiang Wen answered decisively.

"The price, have you thought about the price?" The heavy voice suddenly calmed Jiang Wen down. What kind of heavy experience would have such a sigh! Jiang Wen didn't dare to think about it, but he also understood that this question could not be ignored.

"The price? The price is..." Jiang Wen thought of his military career in his previous life. The hard training as a recruit, the anti-human discipline for a long time, the loneliness away from the prosperity in the service life, and the pain of not being able to see relatives and friends often in a lifetime. Even once the war started, the cold tactics, cruel killings, and vicious means specifically targeting human nature or even anti-human nature.

"The price... is to lose humanity." Jiang Wen said in a dry tone. He suddenly understood the intention of the figure in front of him.

Without clear thinking and resolute awareness, some power is not luck, but a curse.

Taking on power and responsibility that one has no corresponding awareness of rashly is definitely not a good thing for both parties who are carrying out this responsibility. And such behavior will inevitably lead to some unfortunate results.

"Now that you know the price, are you still willing?" This is probably the last question of this figure.

As a human being, you are proud of your humanity, but you have to embrace animality in order to defend your humanity. This is a cruel irony, but also a helpless necessity.

"I am willing." Jiang Wen's answer was unexpectedly fast. He has this awareness, and he had it in his previous life.

From the day he joined the army in his previous life, he understood that when he put on this military uniform, he was not only his mother's child, his wife's husband, and his children's father, but also a defender of a country's interests.

And isn't this the opportunity that he has been seeking all his life in his previous life? This responsibility is there, and someone has to stand up to take it. If so, why can't it be me?

This responsibility is a burden or even punishment to others, but to soldiers like Jiang Wen, it is a supreme honor. It was like that in his last life, but in this life, he just wants to live a simpler and more self-sufficient life.

"Shan! Go ahead!" The shadow waved his hand, announcing the end of the conversation. Jiang Wen lost consciousness. This memory ends abruptly.

In the spiritual world, Jiang Wen, now Calvin, also came to his senses. He thought quietly about the aftertaste of this conversation. At the present time of 39 thousand years, he suddenly and strangely resonated with the beliefs of the first Astartes ten thousand years ago.

In their eyes, death is never a punishment, but a reward, rewarding him for his life's work and giving him the opportunity to perform his duties from beginning to end. For them, and for Calvin today, if this great drama of life could happen again, there would be no better ending than dying in battle.

At this moment, he remembered the famous saying from a certain game in his previous life:

“Heaven goes to the left, warriors to the right.”

And in his ears, the famous oath from the Astartes in this world seemed to ring:

"What is your duty!" What is your duty.

"Only what the emperor points out!" To serve emperors will.

"What is emperors will?"

"It's just fight and die!" That we fight and die.

"What is the death!" What is the death.

"It is our duty!" It is our duty.

"What is your duty"What is your duty......