193: Chapter 193 The Destruction Order is Issued, and the Colonization of Mars is Finalized

Rockefeller III slowly relaxed his tense shoulder line by half an inch, lowering his voice to a remarkably steady tone:

"Your Highness, what you saw is merely the worst counterfeit part of this planet."

"The true beauty of form still exists on Earth; it's just that you haven't had the chance to see it yet."

Samuel followed up, bowing slightly at almost the exact same moment:

"Your Highness, we can find candidates for you who are completely authentic at the genetic level."

"Silicone isn't used by everyone on Earth; many people still maintain their most natural state."

Isabelle re-intertwined her fingers and rested them on her knees, saying softly, "I assure Your Highness that there are still many humans on Earth who retain the most primitive natural bodily structures, completely unmodified by any technology."

"No silicone, no prosthetics—everything is as real as it gets."

Jacob flattened the hands he had withdrawn from his cuffs over his knees,

without using any modifiers, simply saying:

"Your Highness, I can use the global art appraisal department under my family's name to verify them one by one for you, ensuring that every candidate withstands the most rigorous genetic-level authenticity test."

William Vanderbilt V added in a thick, low voice:

"If Your Highness is willing to move elsewhere for viewing, my transportation network can deliver the most suitable candidates at any time to any location Your Highness is willing to receive them."

"All vehicles, ports, and transit nodes will coordinate punctually."

The five of them spoke one after another, their speed faster than at any previous moment,

their tones filled with sincere entreaties to stay and profound apologies, terrified that the other party might immediately turn around and leave after just receiving an utterly terrible experience.

Prince Dao Dun still quietly rested his hands on his knees, listening silently to what each of them had to say.

Then he slowly, with a microscopic amplitude, shook his head.

"Actually, with Zeta Star's current technology, wanting to modify our bodies back from the genetic DNA level to the original primitive form of the Zeta people from thirty thousand years ago is not a difficult task at all; it can be done very easily."

He gently lifted those slender hands from his knees, turned them over to look at his fingertips, his tone still calm yet sounding as though he were sighing,

"However, the bodies from thirty thousand years ago cannot adapt to today's technological environment."

"The standard interface templates for all consciousness access management terminals, deep-sea operation equipment, space shuttle vehicles, and accompanying communication links are all designed based on contemporary physiological parameters."

"Any Zeta person who reverts to the old-style human body cannot even activate the most basic emergency breathing regulation circuits in daily survival."

"Therefore, this door is one that we locked with our own hands."

He slowly withdrew his gaze from the gray curtain wall, looking at the five old men in front of him who were still lowering their heads, his voice a bit lower than before,

resembling a sigh, or perhaps the deepest regret of someone who, after being repeatedly crushed by too many years of technological rationality, still unwillingly refused to leave a blank space.

"When any Zeta person sees you humans displaying that primitive beauty of form—accomplished purely through your own muscle coordination without any extra equipment—they all feel that this is an incomparably ancient and exceedingly rare art."

"Just like you humans standing in front of holographically restored ancient Greek sculptures, staring in a daze."

Rockefeller III, Samuel, Isabelle, Jacob, and William listened silently, not saying a word.

No one spoke rashly at this moment, but deep within each of their eyes, the exact same awakened complex emotion gradually surfaced.

They finally confirmed that Prince Dao Dun did not reject the overall appearance of humans, and even regarded human physical forms before technological reverse-modification as some kind of ancient and rare artwork.

This instead gave them a partial opening for communication with the Zeta Star royal family regarding agency strategy after recalibration.

But before this opening could fully unfold, Prince Dao Dun lowered his voice by half a notch, so low that everyone in the viewing hall had to hold their breath to hear clearly.

"Yet now I know that the physical beauty of you intelligent lifeforms is entirely fake."

"It is entirely deceptive art."

"It doesn't possess the slightest bit of artistic value."

He raised those large black oval eyes, gazed at the empty stage outside the one-way glass, and said word by word:

"So, let's just destroy it all."

"Since everything is deceptive, the entire human race has no necessity to exist anymore."

"Destroy them all."

As soon as his voice fell, the air in the entire viewing hall suddenly shook.

That was a spatial fluctuation deeper than physical vibration, as if the entire environment had been scanned inward from a higher dimension by an invisible quantum observation eye.

Yuanzi silently condensed and formed out of the void.

She still maintained the appearance of a classical woman dressed in deep cyan Hanfu,

but the moment she appeared, she knelt on both knees before Prince Dao Dun, crossed her hands in front of her, and bowed her upper body to the utmost depths of reverence.

"Fourth Prince, this order of yours has been instantly sent to Grand Commander Nailong."

She raised her head, looking at Prince Dao Dun with a cold yet serene gaze, her tone steady, but every word carried unquestionable confirmation:

"By then, the Commander-in-Chief will execute Your Highness's command and completely annihilate humanity."

The complexions of Rockefeller III, Samuel, Isabelle, Jacob, and William changed simultaneously at that exact instant.

Rockefeller III gently pressed his hands, which had been respectfully hanging in front of him, against the sides of his knees.

Samuel straightened his back slightly, but immediately suppressed it in place without truly standing up.

Isabelle clenched her intertwined fingers resting on her knees once more until her knuckles turned white.

Jacob gently rested that pair of fingers—which had always remained steady amidst any circuit-breaker alarm—on his knees, the force of his fingertips causing his finger pads to tremble slightly for the first time.

William picked up the wine flagon that had just been set aside, gripping it in the palm of his hand without unscrewing it.

They were also human.

Prince Dao Dun had just said "completely annihilate."

This extinction order, personally issued from Prince Dao Dun's mouth, confirmed on the spot by Yuanzi, and instantly transmitted to the Zeta Fleet, undoubtedly included themselves as well.

Prince Dao Dun turned his head, looking at Rockefeller III's face, which still maintained respect but had already turned noticeably pale, gently wagged his finger, and spoke in an even voice:

"Rest assured, you are our agents; you will not die."

Rockefeller III and the others let out a gentle sigh of relief.

Each of the five individuals released their over-constricted breathing from that brief moment one by one, yet they only released half of it.

Prince Dao Dun's pair of large black oval eyeballs slowly swept from Rockefeller III's face to the remaining four people, his tone calm and devoid of ripples, like someone briefing a routine task already written in a plan, meant to be executed item by item once the time arrived:

"By then, my Zeta Star million-strong fleet will crush down upon Earth."

"After this battle, Earth will no longer be habitable."

"At that time, you The Five Great Families will lead a batch of kind-hearted humans to start anew on Mars."

"Living freely there like rare species in a zoo, displaying the most authentic beauty of intelligent form to us Zeta people."

Rockefeller III crossed his hands and rested them on his knees, leaning his body slightly forward, his tone steady and solemn as if signing an eternal diplomatic treaty of allegiance:

"Your Highness, The Five Great Families will forever preserve for Zeta Star the purest, truest art of intelligent life forms on this planet—untainted by technology or any shoddy embellishments—ready for inspection at any place designated by Your Highness."

Samuel closely followed by bowing slightly: "The Astor Family will immediately initiate global surveying for the selection of the Mars biosphere site."

"All transportation engineering and colony pre-placement related to transplantation will be completed before the arrival of the first fleet."

Isabelle gently placed her intertwined fingers on her knees, her voice softer than at any ordinary time:

"I assure Your Highness that over hundreds of years of battles in the Middle East and Far East, the DuPont Family provided complete settlement supply systems for the reconstruction of the old world, and this experience will be fully utilized in the initial construction of the Mars colony."

Jacob slightly flattened those slender fingers resting on his knees, his tone still maintaining that offhand casualness that the Rothschild Family had maintained since the era of the Napoleonic Wars:

"All financial flows involving the Mars colony and Your Highness's arrangements will be personally overseen by me."

"The path of every piece of alloy and every single seed will not leave any embarrassing loose ends outside the ledger."

William Vanderbilt V picked up the wine flagon from beside the sofa armrest again, unscrewed the cap only to put it back down, and said word by word in a thick, low voice:

"All transportation and shipping resources. From the first batch of selected personnel heading to Mars to any viewing station designated by Your Highness, all vehicles, ports, and transit nodes will coordinate punctually."

Prince Dao Dun brought a cataclysm-level destruction to humanity, yet the only thing he left for them was the qualification to reign as kings on that new world after the cataclysm.

The only thing they had to do now was to execute this task flawlessly.