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Chapter 537: Contradictions

“Please enter.” The door to the rear hall opened silently.

A blonde man, dressed like a butler, led the way, guiding Bai Mo into the entrance hall.

“Smith, you may leave for now.”

The blonde butler nodded respectfully, quietly closed the door, and stood alone outside the tightly shut door, awaiting further instructions.

...

The entire rear hall was enveloped and filled with Xuanhua; Yun Jie had unfurled a massive, invisible buffer layer.

“These are my two daughters, Yun Ru and Yun Mei.” He immediately introduced the two girls, standing one to his left and one to his right, to Bai Mo.

Bai Mo said nothing, merely nodding lightly. He found it somewhat strange, for given their current relationship, Yun Jie would normally never expose his vulnerabilities directly to him, even if there was only a one-in-a-thousand chance of danger.

Even though the entire rear hall was heavily protected by Yun Jie, their bodies were specifically encased in layer upon layer of Xuanhua defense.

He had initially thought the reason for celebrating his daughters' birthdays was merely a pretense for Yun Jie to invite him over, and that Yun Jie wouldn't personally put them in harm's way. But now, it seemed this arrangement held a deeper purpose.

...

“How much does it cost to build a palace like this on the Moon?” Bai Mo asked idly after taking a seat.

“Thanks to you, it didn’t cost much.”

Back then, a group of people in the Huaxia Federation, whom Bai Mo had dragged off to “move mountains and fill seas” for several years, had unwittingly accumulated considerable extraordinary engineering experience.

Each of them, after years of toil, had learned how to skillfully control hundreds of engineering machines simultaneously with their own power, creating industrial miracles in a short span of time.

A significant portion of the Moon’s infrastructure projects had been completed by their own hands.

Otherwise, within a mere five years of relocation, the nascent Human Federation could hardly have built a nation capable of housing billions of people on a Moon that was, aside from a few settlements, completely barren.

“Among those who went to Italy back then, fewer than thirty remain,” Yun Jie said, taking a small sip of tea, his tone tinged with emotion.

He suddenly began to reminisce, for after all, they once shared such a connection, which counted as common ground.

“They were all pioneers of Huaxia back then; it’s truly a pity they fell along the way. I wonder how many more of these old friends will have left us in another hundred years.” Yun Jie continued.

“Time always rolls relentlessly forward... The Sun will extinguish, and stars will die. What, then, is truly eternal?” Bai Mo repeated words he had spoken before. He seemed to hold not a shred of compassion for the passing of these old acquaintances.

“They will inherit my will.” Yun Jie gently stroked his two daughters’ hair.

Yun Ru, who usually quite resisted such affectionate gestures, uncharacteristically didn’t pull away. She seemed to keenly sense that something was amiss.

Yun Mei, on the other hand, who had been innocent and carefree from beginning to end, narrowed her eyes like a small cat, thoroughly enjoying the process.

“When you live longer than your sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, and great-great-grandsons combined, will you still believe that bloodline can inherit will?”

“Succession doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to bloodline descendants. As long as they are compatible, other young people can also serve. Human lifespan is always finite; an infinite will requires a successor,” Yun Jie said.

“But why insist on succession?”

“When a person dies, there’s nothing left. If even the imprint of having lived cannot be passed down, then what difference is there between that and never having existed in this world!

We may seem capable of moving mountains and filling seas, but in the vast universe, we are but a drop in the ocean.

Isn’t your Dao Yuan Era also for the sake of leaving a trace of your existence in this world? Society cannot function without a calendar; as long as the calendar remains unchanged, your mark will endure, just like the saint of the Luminous Holy Church.”

Bai Mo remained noncommittal to this conjecture.

...

“It’s already been almost twenty years. The longer I stay in this position, the more I understand why Ye Zi had to leave back then, because we both found that sense of powerlessness unbearable.” Yun Jie suddenly changed the topic.

“We are aware of all the dark secrets within the Federation, from power-for-money deals, to hidden sex scandals, all the way to the desperate struggle for survival among the lowest poor.

But what can I do? Many issues ultimately point back to me – my subordinates, my relatives, my friends. They are the instigators; can I really bring them all to justice?

Yet, to simply go with the flow like those people, accepting everything with a clear conscience, that I cannot do either.”

Yun Ru watched quietly from the side, not uttering a word.

Compared to her peers, she was far more mature and could understand a significant portion of the contradictions within her father’s heart.

A large number of relatives and friends, relying on Yun Jie’s connections, had their fortunes soar, flocking into lucrative positions and becoming members of the power establishment.

Faced with the temptation of unchecked power, very few people could truly maintain their integrity. Moreover, those who didn't conform would face deliberate or unintentional ostracism from those around them, eventually finding themselves unable to move an inch.

Without the power to shatter everything, the final choices were only two: either to join the corrupt current, or to become an invisible bystander.

Yun Ru cast her gaze towards the front hall, recalling how many of the people who had risen through her father’s influence were currently gathered there, ostensibly celebrating her birthday.

“A relative who treats you very well turns out to be a corrupt official behind your back. The person who loves you most has countless blood debts on their hands. A friend who would go through fire and water for you can also stab dozens of others without batting an eye,” Bai Mo said, sipping his tea.

“The affection is real, but the evil is also real.” Yun Jie expressed his utter helplessness at this.

He could see that his subordinates’ respect for him was genuine, yet the dark history of their deeds over the years was also impossible to fully recount.

One of the biggest differences between superhuman leaders and ordinary leaders was that the former were extremely difficult to deceive, capable of knowing a vast amount of information.

An emperor living deep within his palace might never leave the court more than a few times in his life, and his limited inspections could easily be whitewashed into an illusion of peace.

However, none of this held any meaning for superhuman rulers.

Thanks to the various Spirit Arts developed by humanity for detection, the effective sensory range of six-tier superhumans easily extended for thousands of meters, making it utterly impossible to create such a facade.

Even from the city center, every location within half the city that lacked a shielding device was entirely visible.

Slums, which completely lacked the funds to install shielding devices, were effectively under Yun Jie’s watchful eye every single day.

Some things, if unseen or unclear, could be dismissed as not happening. But to witness them daily, it was truly difficult for his emotions to remain untouched, especially since he didn’t walk the path of the heartless Dao.

And of course, there were the standard accoutrements of four-tier superhumans and above: the elusive avatars, drifting about like phantoms, their subordinates forever guessing whether one was currently following them.