326: Chapter 326 Anyway, I'm a thief

"Courage is a precious quality, but it cannot make up for the gap in strength."

"In the Doomsday Era, many heroes emerged, but most of them sacrificed themselves."

"Some went out in a blaze of glory, others... didn't even make a splash."

"So, everyone, I have returned to work with you all to change that desperate future."

After this minor conflict, the group's attitude changed significantly; at the very least, they were willing to quiet down and listen to Tang Long, and their tone was much gentler when asking questions.

The old Daoist from earlier, Dragon Tiger Heavenly Master Zhang Yuanzhen, was the first to speak.

"Kid! What method did you use just now? Why was my lightning technique snatched away by you before it could even be unleashed? Could it be that you have also studied the Five Thunders Orthodox Method?"

Tang Long smiled and replied, "I have not. I used a Blue Star martial arts Cultivation Technique, the Thunder Emperors Eight Scenes Art, though it can really only be considered beginner level."

"When I circulate my Cultivation Technique, lightning within a certain range can be controlled by me."

"Daoist, you were just too close to me earlier."

Laughter immediately erupted from those around.

Zhang Yuanzhen was slightly annoyed and continued to ask, "My Daoist sect's lightning technique is as authoritative as a decree, how could this happen? According to you, a Cultivation Technique you just started learning is stronger than a lightning technique with a thousand-year Legacy?"

Tang Long shook his head, "It's not me saying it, it's just the reality."

"I am not clear on the mysteries and principles of the Daoist sect's lightning technique, but I can tell you all that the gods of Blue Star control the Laws."

"Let me give you an analogy!"

"At the beginning of the Doomsday Era, what caused a greater disaster than the falling planetary fragments was the power outage."

"The gods of Blue Star who control lightning changed the way lightning is generated to a certain extent, which is why all of humanity's power generation and electronic equipment failed completely."

"When the god who controls fire changed the conditions for generating fire, ordinary people could no longer create fire."

"These Laws are contained within spiritual energy, so Blue Star Martial Artists who possess a certain amount of spiritual energy, along with the martial arts Cultivation Technique they have mastered, also possess a portion of this power."

Everyone understood this explanation, but they all looked at each other in dismay.

"No electricity? Then our missiles, fighter jets, and warships are all useless? How are we supposed to fight then?"

"Without communication, organization and structure would be gone entirely. What a chaotic situation that would be."

"I'm afraid it's more than that. If the Law of fire is changed, even ordinary firearm primers won't be able to fire..."

"Never mind weapons, how are we supposed to eat without fire or electricity?"

"Everyone is quite right. These situations are all things I have truly experienced."

Tang Long continued, "So the first few years of the Doomsday Era were a period darker than any in human history. Even if you added up all the tragedies in the history books, it would likely not even compare to a fraction of that time."

"In just two months, the population of my Longxia, which was 1.5 billion, plummeted to under 500 million."

"Three years later, it further shrank to less than 50 million."

"Thirty years later, as far as I know, there were fewer than 80,000 left."

From 1.5 billion to 80,000—these numbers felt like a heavy mountain pressing down on everyone's chests, and for a moment, no one spoke.

At this moment, the Dragon Head stood up, "Comrades, I don't think we need to be so dejected."

"What Tang Long describes is his experience, but for us, it is a future that has not yet happened."

"Whether he is a Transmigration or a Rebirth, I believe his return is by no means accidental."

"With his hints, we can well prepare for a rainy day."

Master Naropa of the Gangren Monastery sighed, "According to Donor Tang, his strength can only be considered that of a beginner among Blue Star Martial Artists."

"He can fly through the sky and escape into the earth, and is invulnerable to blades and guns."

"This old monk's lifelong cultivation could not withstand a single blow from him."

"Unless the Buddha descends to the world, this poor monk truly cannot imagine how we are to confront a world that possesses numerous gods."

As his voice fell, it also triggered a wave of sighs and groans.

A young Daoist then asked, "Mr. Tang, you can traverse the Universe with your Physical Body; are you really just a bottom-tier Martial Artist on Blue Star? If, as you say, what did you rely on to hold out for thirty years in the Doomsday Era?"

"Good question!"

Tang Long raised his voice slightly, "Classified by Realm, the cultivation of Blue Star Martial Artists consists of Qi Manipulation, Blood Refining, Open Origin, Spirit Map, Huagai Realm, Liberation, and God-Form, plus the Gods above them; there should be a total of eight Realms!"

"Each Realm is further divided into one to nine stages, with every three stages categorized into Upper, Middle, and Lower Realm."

"I am currently at the Middle stage of Qi Manipulation, the sixth stage, so I can indeed only be considered a bottom-tier Martial Artist."

"But my circumstances are extraordinary, and one cannot judge solely by Realm. Now I can confidently say that among Blue Star Martial Artists below the Open Origin Realm, there are likely few who are my match."

"As for the ability to fly in space, the vast majority of Blue Star Martial Artists cannot do it either."

"The reason I am able to possess these powers is largely because I have integrated the abilities of a game player."

"This type of ability was synchronized to every heavenly change player at the moment the dimensional wall was broken. Our thirty-year struggle in the Doomsday Era relied on those original players."

Game powers synchronized to reality?

There were quite a few young people present; even if they hadn't played heavenly change, most had played other games.

Ding Jianping asked with a trembling voice, "Mr. Tang, are you saying that you possess skills like a game character?"

"That's right! When I healed you and everyone else just now, I used a healing game skill."

As Tang Long spoke, he raised his hand and summoned four giant pandas of immense size.

"This is a summoning skill. These four pandas of mine can easily tear apart a tank."

Then, his figure flickered, and he sprinted at an extremely fast speed, circling the large conference room once before returning to his original position.

"This is a speed-up skill. It can increase my speed by several times on top of my own extreme speed."

"Game skills are all conceptual skills; in some aspects, they are even more powerful and unreasonable than those of Blue Star Martial Artists."

"Moreover, my game attributes are several times that of an average Blue Star Martial Artist. Take strength, for example; I am currently at 65 points, which is 6.5 times the limit strength of an ordinary Blue Star human."

"The higher the level in the game, the higher the attributes, and the more skills one has, the stronger the combat power will be after synchronization."

"Even if one's strength is not high, simply the synchronized addition of game attributes can greatly improve a person's survival ability in a disaster. Even if everyone only learns one healing skill, the effect would be extremely huge."

"That is why I previously suggested to the Dragon Head that we immediately promote the heavenly change game comprehensively, allowing the people of Longxia to participate to the maximum extent."

These words immediately sparked another round of heated discussion.

"My god, is that even possible?"

"This old man doesn't understand; what is the logic behind these so-called skills?"

"Didn't he just say it? There is absolutely no logic to it; it's the kind where if it says you can, you can."

"He is right. As long as you learn one healing skill, you are a master of trauma."

"It really should be promoted to everyone! And immediately, with the greatest effort!"

Listening to the crowd's discussion, the Dragon Head stood up again, a bitter smile on his face.

"Everyone, you should all have heard a common saying: the ideal is plump, but the reality is bony."

"I also think Tang Long's suggestion is very good."

"But how are we to implement it?"

"A country this large requires a massive amount of work for its daily operations. If everyone goes to play games, who will do this work?"

"Who will produce, transport, and distribute the food, clothing, housing, and transportation for over a billion people? Who will drive the vehicles and ships, and who will maintain public order?"

"If the social operating system that has been used for decades or even a century is completely disrupted, what kind of consequences will occur?"

"If we really do this? I'm afraid whether Longxia can even make it to the Doomsday Era is an unknown."

The Dragon Head's logic was like a bucket of cold water poured on everyone's enthusiasm, and the discussion immediately quieted down significantly.

These people were all top-tier elites, so they naturally understood that what the Dragon Head said was absolutely correct.

The collapse of social order is far worse than any natural disaster.

The Dragon Head then continued, "Also, the appearance of this heavenly change game is strange; who initiated it, and who is running it?"

"Has the hand of the Blue Star people already reached over here?"

"Or perhaps, is there another force laying plans in the shadows?"

"We know absolutely nothing about these things."

"If we rashly invest too much energy into it, will it trigger changes different from what Tang Long experienced? Even if we survive the so-called Doomsday Era and repel the enemies from Blue Star, how do we know we won't fall into the trap of another force?"

"Even if I am worrying groundlessly. But you probably don't know that this is already the relatively easiest one among all of Tang Long's suggestions."

"Vice Dean Wang Wenzhang, do you know why we called your Physics Research Institute here today? Because his first suggestion was to expand nuclear capabilities to the limit!"

Wang Wenzhang's face twitched, "How about we continue discussing the comprehensive promotion of the game?"

Laughter erupted all around.

The Dragon Head then continued, "Tang Long's second suggestion is to wipe out the Jiaopen country, because they will backstab our Longxia during the Doomsday Era."

Hearing that they were going to war, the laughter immediately quieted down.

But some hotheaded youth suddenly shouted out loud, "This one is doable!"

Immediately, he got a slap, which then caused another round of laughter.

"The third suggestion is to execute in advance a group of people who have caused major evil consequences. I looked at the list; there are currently over three thousand people, including many heads of state, political figures, and business tycoons. Not just domestically, 70% are foreigners."

Speaking of this, the Dragon Head sighed, "To be honest with you, I have presided over Longxia's secret front work for over thirty years, and I have never encountered a day as difficult as today."

"Every one of Tang Long's suggestions has a reason for needing to be implemented, but for me, they are all difficult to decide upon."

"Every suggestion presses on my nerves like a great mountain."

"After thinking it over and over, killing people is actually the one with the least pressure. But... those are several thousand lives after all."

"Everyone, please share your thoughts."

At this, the crowd was silent.

Now, their gazes toward Tang Long were very complicated.

Tang Long had first brought great panic, but subsequently, he also brought hope. Yet, every one of his suggestions really did make people's teeth ache.

Many people present were department heads and could empathize with the Dragon Head's difficulties.

That was truly difficult!

After quite a while, a monk stood up.

"Amitabha!"

"To judge major crimes and impose capital punishment based on evil deeds that have not yet occurred is illogical."

"This poor monk does not agree with this suggestion."

"That's right, the Master's words are very correct. A gentleman judges by actions, not by intentions. In our world, they haven't committed crimes yet, so how can we directly take their lives?"

"I also agree with the two of you. Since we have the list, we can just take precautions in advance. To kill people indiscriminately based on fabricated charges—in the eyes of the world, we would likely be equated to Qin Hui from back in the day."

"Although one should not get hung up on small details when doing great things, those are over three thousand lives after all."

"Although we all belong to special departments, in the end, we are still public servants of the state. If public servants do illegal things, once this precedent is set, what will happen in the future?"

"It's too extreme. Can't we find another way, such as investigating their illegal activities and first imprisoning them?"

The public opinion was overwhelmingly in disagreement, and the Dragon Head turned his gaze to Tang Long.

"Tang Long, you have heard everyone's thoughts."

"This is still just our internal discussion; if it were to spread to society, the consequences would be far more serious than you can imagine."

"So..."

Tang Long nodded, "I understand."

While he said he understood, Tang Long felt a deep sense of disappointment once again in his heart.

In all fairness, the Dragon Head's difficulty in making a choice was based on very sufficient reasons, and he could understand that.

Without having personally experienced that great catastrophe, it is indeed difficult to make such extremely intense and difficult decisions as he did.

Besides, someone just hit the nail on the head earlier.

They were all public servants, their actions constrained by the system; how could they act as they pleased?

All these obstacles and constraints were destined to ensure their footsteps could not outrun that catastrophe.

So, I will do it myself.

I'm a thief anyway.