Li Yao sighed in his heart.
The real situation of the social classes in the Imperium was truly different from what he had imagined before he reached the center of the cosmos.
At that time, he was expecting in his silliness that the suffering people of the Imperium of True Human Beings who hated the guts of those in power would be hoping for the salvation of the Cultivators of the previous regime and that he could call for tremendous supporters as long as he gave a soul-stirring speech.
But the reality was too complicated. The Cultivators of the Imperium varied in nature, and some of them were downright fake. Even the relatively decent soldiers of the Imperium in the murky environment such as General Lei Chenghu had a great understanding of the ideas of the Cultivators too.
“You will basically understand General Lei Chenghu’s character after I tell you two stories.”
Li Linghai said, “Firstly, when General Lei Chenghu’s eldest son worked in the army, he was once involved in the trades of the contraband goods with the starships of the Astounding Thunder Fleet.
“In fact, such a thing couldn’t have been more regular. Most of the fleets of the Imperium were the private troops of the nobles and warlords in the first place. It was understandable however the fleets were used.
“Besides, after General Lei Chenghu spent all the fortunes of his family and cut off the connections with all the forces in his hometown, making his way to the frontline, he became a duckweed that did not have a base. The only thing he had was the fleet.
“With the supplies allocated by the Council of Elders, it might be possible to ensure the regular operations of the fleet. But what about the resources that were required for one’s own training?
“Therefore, almost all the fleets at that time, especially the deep-sky fleets that boasted the ability to cross Sectors and sail in the sea of stars, had been managing their ‘business’ more or less. They were combinations of armed groups, commercial corporations, and privateers.
“It was almost a public secret. Even the Council of Elders had to turn a blind eye to it.
“General Lei Chenghu, however, after learning that his eldest son was earning benefits for himself through the fleet, set the thing to be known by the public and sent his eldest son to the military court without any mercy. He wanted his eldest son to be sentenced to death according to the military law of the Imperium a thousand years ago!
“Eventually, it was the Council of Elders, which was greatly shocked, that mediated between them and granted a ‘special pardon’ for his eldest son. His eldest son’s life was saved, but ever since then, his eldest son’s wrongdoing has been publicly known, and he is never promoted to the highest leadership of the ‘Astounding Thunder Fleet’.
“The Astounding Thunder Fleet is a super-elite troop that General Lei Chenghu has worked on for a hundred years wholeheartedly. Other than the private troops of the four Kurfürst families, it is the strongest armed force in the Imperium. His harshness on his eldest son was certainly not a show but a sign that he was truly selfless and ambitionless.”
Li Yao took a long breath slowly.
General Lei Chenghu’s integrity was quite rare not just among the Immortal Cultivators but even among the Cultivators too.
At the very least, many big shots of the military in the Star Glory Federation had deep connections with the politicians and the businessmen. Although they would not go so far as to smuggle with the federal fleet, they were certainly not as honest as General Lei Chenghu either.
“The second story is about General Lei Chenghu’s second son. His second son was at the middle level of the Core Formation Stage in the beginning and tried to advance into the peak of it, which would naturally require tremendous resources.”
Li Linghai went on, “He knew his father’s personality very well and did not have the courage to play tricks. So, he simply filed a report to the leadership of the fleet dutifully.
“For regular nobles and warlords, when their biological children tried to break into the peak of the Core Formation Stage, they would certainly invest however many resources available they had to safeguard their descendants and increase the odds of success.
“However ‘fair and just’ General Lei Chenghu was, he should at least allocate an appropriate extent of resources according to the standard determined by Blackstar the Great in the past, right?
“After all, after his son advanced into the peak of the Core Formation Stage, he would be a top-tier expert, which would be beneficial for both the Astounding Thunder Fleet and the entire Imperium.
“But as it turned out, General Lei Chenghu simply withheld his son’s application report for resources without approving it. He was reluctant to give even a single dosage of ‘activation drug’ to his son. In fact, he warned his son many times to not try to break into the peak of the Core Formation Stage!”
Li Yao was astounded. “Why?”
“General Lei said that he knew his own son better than anybody else. His second son was average in talents and aptitude and was not training material at all. He was supposed to be a ‘hominoid’.”
Li Linghai explained, “However, General Lei Chenghu’s family consumed tremendous resources behind his back to cleanse the body of his second son and stimulate his son’s spiritual root. Eventually, because of the astronomical crystals and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, his second son was finally heaved into the Core Formation Stage.
“Although his second son reached the Core Formation Stage, the resources that he overly consumed were a great waste. If the resources were not devoted to his second son but to the ‘appropriate candidates’, such as the people who were born in the underprivileged class but had great potentials in training, it would’ve been possible to raise ten experts in the Core Formation Stage.
“Right now, not knowing himself at all, his second son was thinking to break into the peak of the Core Formation Stage. According to General Lei’s repetitive evaluation, the odds of success were extremely low, no higher than 5%. Most likely, a great deal of resources would be wasted for nothing, which would harm the overall interests of the Imperium.
“The true path of immortality dictates that the hypocritical and sanctimonious ethics of the past be broken, and the most precious resources be configured to the people who deserve them in the most reasonable and ruthless way, thereby boosting the high-speed development of the entire civilization.
“In short, only the experts are entitled to resources, and the weak do not deserve them at all. Nor should they waste any resources.
“His second son, on the other hand, was a weakling and a piece of garbage. It was already his greatest concession as a father that his son did not live a hominoid’s life. As the commander of the Astounding Thunder Fleet and a general of the Imperium of True Human Beings, he would not allow such a waste of resources to happen again.
“Therefore, he wanted his second son to completely drop the idea and stabilize himself at the middle level of the Core Formation Stage. According to him, his second son should die for his country with his current capability!”
Li Yao was more or less astounded. “Huh?”
This General Lei Chenghu was a little bit… too inconsiderate.
Although the optimal configuration of resources was indeed a truth for the civilization of mankind to proceed in the dark universe, such a way of doing things was quite cruel!
“Don’t presume that General Lei was just talking big.”
Li Linghai said casually, “It is exactly what General Lei has been thinking, saying, and doing.
“After supervising the frontline for a hundred years, he made countless contributions, and the Council of Elders never wronged him in terms of either awards or resources. In fact, they wanted to buy him over with high places in the court. So, many resources and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, in the name of both the Council of Elders and the four Kurfürst families, were awarded, offered, and allocated to him.
“If he had kept all the things to himself, even if he simply fed all the resources to his descendants like stuffing ducks, they would’ve been raised into above-average experts.
“But he only reserved one-tenth for himself and his family at best. The other nine-tenths were all given to the bottom-level officers and soldiers in the frontline, who were often born in poor families and did not have enough resources but had distinguished themselves in the war.
“After a hundred years of selfless rearing, lots of officers in every fleet of the expedition army in the frontline received favors from General Lei. Some of the officers whose fate was changed because of General Lei’s help a hundred years ago have already found their way to the decision-making circle of their fleets. General Lei’s prestige half comes from fighting and half comes from the support of those guys.”
Li Yao was greatly touched. After a long daze, he asked, “Then, what happened to General Lei’s second son later?”
“He died.”
Li Linghai said casually, “Despite General Lei’s repetitive admonition that he must not try to break into the peak of the Core Formation Stage, who in a world where the fittest survives could hold back the temptation of getting stronger? General Lei’s second son collected resources in secret and risked making the breakthrough in private, only to be killed in an accident.
“It was said that he was not killed on the spot after the accident, and he could’ve been rescued with the investment of tremendous resources. But General Lei sentenced his second son to death in person. General Lei said that there was no need to waste national resources on such a piece of garbage who had more ambitions than talents and who did not know what was best for himself.
“General Lei looked at his second son in the face and said that. Soon, his second son vomited blood and died.”
Li Yao was already sweating hard.
“What kind of Immortal Cultivator is this?”
In disbelief, he asked again.
“A real Immortal Cultivator. This is what the real true path of immortality should be like!”
With admiration popping up in her eyes again, Li Linghai said, “If there are no people of honor and integrity such as General Lei, how can we lead the civilization of mankind to break the dark fog that beleaguers us, and how can we argue that the true path of immortality is a better path than the path of the Cultivators?”
Li Yao did not intend to debate with Li Linghai on the topic. Pondering for a moment, he said, “All in all, I already understand now. This General Lei Chenghu is indeed one of the most important persons in the military or even the entire Imperium. If we can rescue him and he totally supports the reformists, our cause will have hope!”
“Exactly. In the past, General Lei still had fantasies on the Council of Elders. We never dared to reach out to him or expose our real strength and purpose to him.”
Narrowing her eyes, Li Linghai declared resolutely, “But we do not have a choice right now. As the saying goes, when the string of a bow is stretched, an arrow has to be shot out. No matter what the price is, we have to rescue General Lei Chenghu!”
Li Yao said, “Then, where exactly has General Lei Chenghu been invited to to ‘help with the investigation’?”
Li Linghai eyed Li Yao in a weird way and said, “Not a long time ago, you broke the beehive prison in ‘Manjusaka, the City in the Sky’.
“However, in terms of defense, the beehive prison only ranks top five in the entire Imperium.
“The prison that is most heavily guarded and holds the most important criminals in the entire Imperium is the Godly Might Prison!”