Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Huge War Spoils Harvest
These people couldn’t even control their own bodies, let alone the half-mechanized parts which were under the control of the Supreme Sage!
Even if there were a few with special Talents, those Chosen Ones who attempted to struggle using their Talents quickly found themselves facing squads of neatly arranged, fully armed warriors rushing towards them—the majority of the lower-class Desert Tower people were also under the control of the Supreme Sage!
The Supreme Sage was right, the entire civilization was a highly precise machine, and he was its sole controller.
He could control everything about this civilization just as one controls a machine.
And the rest of the Desert Tower people, since they had enjoyed the benefits of this control, must also endure the detriments that such control brought.
As long as the Supreme Sage believed that surrender would bring better results than war, such an outcome was inevitable.
At this moment, Shen Hao had also seen the real body of the Supreme Sage.
This controller of the Desert Tower Civilization stepped out from the tallest building of the Desert Tower Civilization and stood directly under the cold wave of minus one hundred degrees Celsius.
His size and appearance were the same as those in the previous conversation, but what was different were the numerous fine, white crystal-like data cables connected to his brain, the other end of which was connected to a huge building.
That was his only implant—a giant external brain located right at the heart of the entire civilization!
“So that’s how it is,” Shen Hao easily understood the situation of the “Supreme Sage”, “you have turned your consciousness, your thoughts into a machine as well as mechanical.”
With their technology, they still hadn’t found a way to give artificial intelligence self-awareness or a soul.
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But they had turned life into something akin to an artificial intelligence.
This was the Supreme Sage.
As for Extraordinary?
Although he was a Chosen One and had completed his transformation, the irony was, Shen Hao could tell at a glance that his transformation was purely combative—and apart from supporting him in withstanding the temperature to come to this building, it probably had no other use.
“I have lost,” said the Supreme Sage.
The Supreme Sage did not utter any more meaningless words, just a simple sentence before kneeling in the direction where Shen Hao was.
“That is the price to pay”, Shen Hao knew what his baseline was, and hence did not hesitate at all, “all the technology your civilization has developed to date, the personnel skilled in these technologies, as well as weapons, warships, and production equipment, you are only allowed to keep enough to let your civilization barely survive…”
Shen Hao didn’t want the civilization’s Chosen Ones.
Even though those Chosen Ones were endowed with emotions, under such a cultural civilization, they had lost most of the essence on the Path of the Extraordinary, making them of no cultivation value to human civilization.
Even the technicians Shen Hao wanted were not intended to be migrant personnel, but merely tools, prisoners under the control of Dominator pressure.
He was not even much interested in the scientists of this civilization.
Top scientists and top Extraordinaries shared similarities.
Both require a creativity that belongs solely to the individual.
In Shen Hao’s view, the mission of these technicians was to transfer all the technological and industrial capabilities of the Desert Tower Civilization to human civilization in the shortest amount of time.
Facing Shen Hao’s demands, the Supreme Sage showed no sign of refusal or intention to negotiate, everything was as Shen Hao had thought, he had long since discarded all his emotions, and would not become angry or despondent, all his actions were for the future of the entire civilization.
Unless he thought the civilization could not survive, only then would he make a desperate attempt to fight regardless of the cost.
And knowing this, Shen Hao had precisely targeted this point.
Thus, this war initiated by human civilization was entering its final stage.
After the news got back, there wasn’t much reaction within human civilization—it had all been excitable, but because they were no longer worried about the outcome, each was simply looking forward to the future and continuing their respective tasks.
At most, there was some additional public discussion about the Desert Tower Civilization, as well as curiosity about the Mongolian, Senya, and Wing Sky peoples soon to be joining human civilization.
In fact, if it weren’t for Shen Hao’s presence, such a large-scale inclusion of survivors from other civilizations could be somewhat dangerous for this civilization.
Desire is the instinct of life.
Now, these species, facing the threat of extinction, could accept all conditions, but over time, they would inevitably seek more.
Status, power, wealth…
However, the presence of Shen Hao was their greatest limitation.
The “Emperor’s” grasp on civilization is a deeper essence, not to mention the “Controller”.
In some respects, this could also be considered one of the advantages of the “Emperor” profession.
Besides absorption, plunder was also a means to rapidly increase strength.
Now, Shen Hao was on the Desert Tower Planet looking over the list provided by the Supreme Sage.
It was indeed comprehensive and enormous!
Especially in the military domain.
The Desert Tower Civilization came from a universe that was far from peaceful. Although there were no threats from other alien species, the Desert Tower people themselves split into different civilizations and wars were a constant presence. The Supreme Sage had the largest military investments.
From individual soldier weapons to space battleships.
In just the realm of Level 14 Weapons, they had achieved a certain height. Whether there were Golden Legendary Level quality, it was still unclear, but Purple Epic was definitely present.
For example, a transformable war armor named the “Supreme Fighter Plane,” standing twelve meters tall, powered by nuclear fusion, covered entirely in high-strength alloy, equipped with intelligent AI and various weapons, and also capable of transforming to meet the needs of different battlefields. Ordinary Chosen Ones would hardly stand a chance against it, and the production of such machines was even relatively high.
This was originally the Supreme Sage’s trump card against the Chosen Ones.
If it had not been for Shen Hao, it is unknown how many Chosen Ones would have died from such a weapon.
But now, it naturally belonged to the humans.
To transport some industrial production equipment and these weapons, Shen Hao even planned to spend a great deal of money to purchase fifty Level 22 transport-type spacecraft.
These spacecraft did not carry many weapons and their hulls were not very strong, but they were large and fast, also in demand for short-distance migrations, so they wouldn’t be a waste.
After all, there were still three civilizations waiting to migrate.
Aside from the original technology and equipment of the Desert Tower Civilization, the biggest gain this time was the reward the Desert Tower Civilization had received from the last settlement period.
When Shen Hao first saw this item, he was somewhat surprised as well.
Because, this item was the biggest trump card the Supreme Sage had originally planned to use against Shen Hao.
[Name: Thunder God Cannon]
[Quality: Purple Epic]
[Level: 19 (40)]
[A high-powered planetary defense weapon made using alchemy technology, capable of firing immensely powerful Thunder Balls with long-range capabilities, capable of inflicting great damage even against non-physical Extraordinary Life forms.]
[Note: Be careful not to fire at the ground!]
The name and description of this item clearly explained its function.
Just the appearance alone looked imposing enough.
It was three hundred twenty meters long, with a muzzle diameter of ten meters, resembling a massive structure standing upright on the ground, but it was covered in golden complex patterns, surging with abundant Extraordinary Power.
Although the current level was one level below that of the spacecraft, if hit by this cannon, it wasn’t clear if it could be withstood.
Luckily, Shen Hao had never planned on a head-on attack. Using the power of the Scepter and his strength, he was able to bridge this slight distance.
Making this last trump card utterly useless.
And now, this treasure also belonged to the humans.
Facing Shen Hao’s demands, the Supreme Sage had no reason to refuse, as military strength was no longer important to the current Desert Tower Civilization.
As long as Shen Hao left it with sufficient industrial capability to withstand the cold waves, any other demands were permissible.
His only bottom line was to allow the Desert Tower Civilization to survive in this enormous defeat and continue through the Trial.
Ultimately, fifty transport spacecraft that were bought on site, coupled with twenty warships that the Desert Tower Civilization had assembled on site to temporarily hold cargo, loaded with spoils of war, embarked on the return journey.
Shen Hao did not press them to their limit, considering the Desert Tower Civilization had a huge population of twenty billion. If this vast number were to turn into Undead in a short time, it would pose a significant threat to Human Civilization as well.
After all, the Eternal Night had not yet reached its most severe period.
The threats inherent in the Trial itself were still not to be underestimated.
Even now, the average surface temperature on the Human Mother Planet had already dropped to minus one hundred twenty degrees Celsius. If not for the magic technology from the Sky Spirit Civilization protecting the existing cities, those who had not managed to enter the Underground City in time would be facing life-threatening cold.
And if the temperature dropped further, whether these magic barriers could still function was unknown.
Underground Cities must be built quickly.
Moreover, the situations of the other civilizations were also rapidly deteriorating, and migration also required time. The Sun’s rays continued to diminish. Except for the Senya Civilization, which temporarily ensured safety by virtue of plants’ digging capabilities, the other civilizations were suffering great losses.
Every day, a large number of individuals died.
This made Shen Hao, who had refocused on the Trial itself, slightly more cautious.
This was also one of the main reasons he was unwilling to delay more time in the Desert Tower Civilization.
“The existing transport ships are still too slow,” Shen Hao looked at the marketplace again.
From the departure to the Desert Tower Planet to now returning fully laden, eight days had passed.
The second batch of six hundred Underground Cities were successively completed, and together with the army’s campaign on the Sky Spirit Civilization, the Level 23 marketplace finally opened at this moment!