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Chapter 396: The Missing Piece

A massacre.

Whether they were silver-tongued commentators, ostentatiously dressed celebrities, immensely wealthy merchants, or grand dignitaries radiating official prestige, at this moment, they were all equally fragile.

In the face of the irresistible "Era" tide they had personally forged, not a single person could endure for more than ten seconds before their bodies were incinerated by the potent Spirit Energy.

But this was far from the end; rather, it would be more accurate to say that the nightmare had only just begun.

After losing their bodies, they did not become like ordinary wandering souls, devoid of most memories once their brains were gone, left to merely drift aimlessly by instinct.

Through the concerted efforts of several behind-the-scenes masterminds, the vast majority of memories stored in their cerebral cortices were, in the instant before their brains were destroyed by Spirit Energy, transferred into their souls.

Then, under deliberate protection, one by one, through the resonance network, they were guided as perfectly intact as possible to the core of the Jingshi Shengmie Jinlian, thousands of kilometers away.

Transformed into soul forms, they still retained their senses, so even though they were helplessly trapped within the network, they could still perceive their surroundings.

People continuously resisted and struggled, attempting to break free from the control of this man-eating network, but the disparity between the two sides was simply too immense; all efforts were futile.

Four seventh-stage individuals, acting with intent against a group of people not even at the fifth tier, meant that even if their numbers reached thirty million, as long as they couldn't escape the brand, being completely devoured was only a matter of time.

According to Bei Di'en's arrangements, all fifth-tier individuals willing to follow him, as well as a small number of fourth-tier warriors who served as his trusted subordinates, would personally control the Jingshi Shengmie Jinlian alongside him, while the rest would act as energy providers through the resonance network.

Infinitely confident in himself, he naturally placed his trusted aides on the front lines where it was easiest to earn merit, never expecting that this was, from beginning to end, a complete setup.

"That fellow Gaia truly invested a considerable amount to cultivate Bei Di'en as food," Bai Mo mused, watching Bei Di'en, who had been consumed into an empty husk within the Jingshi Shengmie Jinlian's core control room.

"If he hadn't given me the Soul Crystal, I probably would have had to consume everyone in this country, or even on the entire planet, to gain the strength to deal with those few."

To ensure he grew sufficiently plump, Gaia, before being sealed by Bai Mo's suicidal attack, secretly transferred almost all the knowledge and experience contained within its avatars remaining on Earth to Bei Di'en.

Through gradual subconscious indoctrination, it allowed him to experience continuous "epiphanies" over a long period, desperately advancing by consuming the abundant spirit material resources on the Moon, completing the feat of "achieving godhood through pills."

Cultivating a "Son of Destiny," then destroying and devouring him once "mature"—this was one of Gaia's methods for gaining power.

Originally, it had intended to cultivate him for a while longer, allowing Bei Di'en to grow stronger before harvesting, but a message from Bai Mo ultimately prompted Gaia to act preemptively.

"Something truly did happen," Chen Bo murmured, setting down the book in his hand.

Earlier, subtly hinted by Bai Mo, he had vaguely guessed that the Jingshi Shengmie Jinlian might have been tampered with, or even harbored malicious intent from the very beginning.

Because Bai Mo's words had struck him as slightly amiss, Chen Bo ultimately, even when yielding, chose not to employ it. Instead, he readily handed this secret weapon over to Bei Di'en, who had returned from the Moon and clearly intended to seize power, allowing him to serve as a pathfinder.

If Bei Di'en truly managed to defeat Bai Mo, then with Chen Bo's power and influence within the Huaxia Federation, at most he would just yield his position as Speaker and move down to become a Council member. They were all merely Six Tiers; as long as he didn't wish to ignite a world war, he would have to learn to compromise.

Individuals like Bai Mo, who would rather shatter everything and rebuild anew, were ultimately a rare minority.

And if Bei Di'en was thoroughly trounced, Chen Bo would suffer no loss. What was meant to be five years of re-education through labor would remain five years; he wasn't the one courting death.

He exchanged a potentially small price for avoiding a life-or-death gamble.

"These thirty million people are the elite class of Huaxia! Are you insane? If you kill them all, the Huaxia Federation will be set back at least a hundred years!!!"

"You're digging a grave for the Huaxia Federation!"

...

The former high-ranking officials, who had been closely monitoring the situation in various ways, dispatched their avatars in haste to the scene of the incident upon realizing the scale of the massacre.

Among these thirty million people, the vast majority had intricate ties to the high-ranking officials who had announced their resignations. They represented the middle and upper strata of the Huaxia Federation's colossal pyramid, and over more than a decade, they had woven together a vast network, forming the very foundation of the nation's governance.

"This world has never lacked replacements for high-ranking positions; what it always lacks are the positions themselves. Even if I truly killed all thirty million of them, within three days, every single vacancy they left would undoubtedly be filled."

"The general manager dies? The deputy general manager steps up. The deputy general manager dies? The department manager steps up. The department manager dies too? The team leader steps up. Below, there are ambitious and capable people as numerous as ox hair; what they lack, perhaps, is merely a good bloodline, or even just an opportunity for promotion."

"Don't overestimate yourselves. Society won't cease functioning simply because someone is missing. Even with what happened over a decade ago when the Sea Race caused havoc, this nation, which endured casualties of over a hundred million, still managed to complete most of its reconstruction in just over two years."

"You don't understand anything at all! Do you think that just because the nation is rebuilt, everything can be treated as if it never happened?!" Upon hearing Bai Mo's callous words, someone immediately became agitated, for almost all of his family had died under the nuclear warheads launched by the Sea Race.

"In our society, there are no isolated individuals; everyone is connected within a web of human relationships. If you tear out one piece, the impact extends far beyond just the vanished node itself," someone else retorted with a relatively calm demeanor.

"Look closely, I haven't actually killed them; I've merely allowed them to continue living in a different form." Watching the increasingly agitated people, he gestured toward the resonance network.

"Furthermore, I've always believed that killing is a tremendous waste," Bai Mo continued.

"A waste..." Hearing such a reason, everyone was momentarily speechless.

"What do you intend to do, sparing no expense to collect their souls?" After Bai Mo's hint, and having carefully observed the actual situation, several individuals simultaneously posed this question.

They discovered that even though these people's bodies had been completely melted away, their souls had not been instantly annihilated by the high-energy Spirit Tide as they had imagined. Instead, they were all meticulously preserved and guided together toward a certain location..