Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Conclusive Evidence
Civilizations on Earth have never given up on their yearning for extraordinary powers since records began.
In Western civilization, extraordinary powers are often represented by magic and superpowers, like medieval witches or superheroes in the Marvel universe.
As for Huaxia civilization, the representative of extraordinary powers is.....
Immortals.
The image of an elegant sword immortal, with a jug of turbid liquor at his waist and clad in white, soaring on a sword with the wind, is one of the classic perceptions of ’immortal’ through the ages.
For instance, when describing someone as handsome and carefree, the term ’banished immortal’ is often used.
What?
You say ’often’ is inappropriate because such people are rarely seen in reality?
Rubbish, just look at our great forum at Qidian, which reader doesn’t have the air of a banished immortal?
Ahem.....
Back to the point.
In conclusion, the three elders in the Martial Arts Arena almost perfectly embody all the imaginations of Huaxia culture about cultivators.
Images that are usually only seen on screen or imagined in dreams.
Now appearing vividly before everyone’s eyes, how could it not make one’s blood boil with excitement?
It is no exaggeration to say, when seeing the three elders soaring on their swords, everyone’s DNA stirred.
This is destined to be a moment written in history.
Lin Li and others have witnessed not just extraordinary powers, but this scene also represents that the ancient oriental nation of Huaxia has touched upon the possibility of a certain life level transcendence.
Even though for now, this ’possibility’ is full of unknowns and there is a long way to go before it formally turns into an ’opportunity’.
But no matter how difficult the road, it is ultimately a path laid out in front of us, and at least it is countless times better than vague illusions.
........
Within the mansion.
Due to his current status, Yu Lian did not have many opportunities to closely observe the three elders.
Arranged by a servant in blue, he was grouped with a batch of refugees, responsible for transporting some smaller wooden crates.
All the refugees in the group were male, with rough and dark skin, unkempt beards and hair, and clothing patched at least four or five times.
In another setting, aside from their bodies and clothing, these refugees would look almost identical to those simple and quiet migrant worker brethren.
Moreover, Yu Lian noticed they were very diligent workers, with almost no one slacking off.
They occasionally looked up while resting or catching their breath, glancing at the three elders in the Martial Arts Arena.
But none showed signs of astonishment or resentment; instead, most wore expressions of gratitude, and a few refugees even knelt and bowed towards the arena center.
Showing no surprise indicates that for these refugees, extraordinary powers are not a highly classified secret.
This suggests that the concept of the extraordinary is well publicized among the lower classes of foreign societies, to the point where virtually everyone is aware of it.
Showing neither resentment nor hostility, and displaying gratitude, suggests that these refugees’ current situation likely has little to do with these extraordinary beings — at least in this city, there might be a ruling relationship between ordinary people and the extraordinary, but it’s not to the degree of oppression or harm.
The former facilitates collection of extraordinary information, while the latter...
Is highly significant for the decision-making at the rabbit base.
The rabbits respect, and acknowledge, the sovereignty and dignity of foreign civilizations for sure.
However, if this civilization’s form of rule is like that in Greek mythology.
Where the upper class oppresses the populace with nearly crushed human rights, treating the lower class as pig-like resources and fodder...
Then the rabbits will inevitably cosplay Prometheus once, stealing fire for foreign lower people, speaking physically with the upper class.
Luckily, from the information collected so far, the extraordinary class of foreign civilizations seems to be relatively good.
Not only do they not oppress civilians, but they also provide some degree of protection to refugees.
This aligns with the rabbit’s views and might even become a foundation for future interactions between both parties.
As Yu Lian pondered, suddenly a refugee said a few unintelligible words to him and made a gesture to move items.
Only then did Yu Lian remember he still had transport tasks, promptly smiled at the man, shouldered the crate, and moved with the crowd.
The crates handled by Yu Lian’s group were about a meter long, weighing around 20 pounds with the materials inside.
The materials inside the crate made clanging sounds as they collided with each step.
As an elite reconnaissance soldier, Yu Lian was very familiar with this metallic clanging sound — how could he not be familiar, a day and more ago, he passed through the light gate with a bunch of these things.
Undoubtedly, the crates contained controlled knives.
Or to use a more fitting term, cold weapons.
The destination for these cold weapons also got confirmed half an hour later: a warehouse on the city wall.
This particular city wall is in the west of the city, an area Yu Lian hadn’t explored yet.
When Yu Lian arrived on the city wall, a large troop of soldiers in armor, looking solemn, was passing by before him.
Yu Lian kept his pace steady, while quickly judging in his mind: "Are these soldiers training? No, if it were training, the atmosphere wouldn’t be this heavy, could they be preparing for war?"
As Yu Lian pondered, he quickly saw a ’familiar face’ again:
The goateed housekeeper Wei Lianzhang, who invited him into the mansion.
At this moment, Housekeeper Wei was standing at the forefront of the city wall.
Looking stern, he was gesturing with a few young men and women dressed quite extravagantly.
Soon, these young men and women pulled out a stack of light yellow paper sheets and tossed them gently.
The ’paper sheets’ instantly emitted a brilliant light, dancing in the air with a strange and profound rhythm.
A few breaths later, these ’paper sheets’, as if conscious, evenly flew in all directions, finally clinging tightly to the ground.
Housekeeper Wei nodded satisfactorily and led the group of young men and women to the next target.
Yu Lian watched this scene closely, and the camera on his collar faithfully transmitted the footage back to the rear.
At the Fire Squad base camp, twelve kilometers away.
Wang Qiang clasped his hands together, one palm flat: "It’s solid evidence, there’s definitely going to be a war!"
Lin Li glanced helplessly at this clown: "Anyone with a brain could see that, okay? Didn’t you notice any other information?"
Wang Qiang spread his hands cleanly: "Nope."
Lin Li’s forehead veins visibly throbbed, and he reached to grab a... huh? Where’s the ballpoint pen?
Seeing this, Wang Qiang smirked, revealing two little tiger teeth: "Director Lin, don’t bother looking. I just took your ballpoint pen away, ensuring not a shadow left on the table, I checked so thoroug.....ouch!"
Lin Li nonchalantly stuffed a Parker pen back into his chest pocket and decided to have no expectations for this goof beyond research tasks.
Then he turned to Ma Ning and said, "Professor Ma, could you say something?"
Ma Ning was accustomed to the master-disciple duo’s antics and smiled: "Sure, then I’ll share my shallow views. Aside from what Comrade Xiao Wang mentioned about war, we can also derive two key pieces of information:
Firstly, based on the attire and behavior of those young men and women, this city seems to possess a significant amount of extraordinary power, gathering in family forms.
Of course, the depth of individual power levels needs further discussion.
Currently, the only known ones possessing flight ability are the three elders in the center of the mansion.
Secondly, during Comrade Yu Lian’s exploration, we didn’t see any trace of official institutions at all.
The relief point was set up by the mansion with eight sections, and the military transport was done by refugees recruited by this family, even the deployment and arrangement of city defense were directly handled by them.
So, can we make such a judgment:
This city does not have institutions like official governments. Its ruling power, in fact, belongs to this family?
Even bolder...
Might this world be primarily governed by families, without the concept of a national government?"