180: Sorry, we are traitors.

On this planet, this day was known as Return Day—the day the leader of the "Saints" returned. Not only was it a public holiday, but every settlement and town would arrange for a collective, centralized broadcast.

According to the common sense of the people on this planet, even if the sky were to fall, this broadcast should never have been cut off. Yet today, it had been inexplicably disconnected—and it was a unilateral disconnection originating from Baghdad.

This turn of events terrified a great number of people. The crowds were filled with suspicion and panic, and almost every settlement had descended into chaos.

This chaotic situation only improved slightly when those bone-white Warships, which looked like shoehorns, flew overhead and projected massive holographic screens into the sky. Those "Cloud Sea"-class light landing ships responsible for the broadcast were kindly sponsored by Xi Hai.

Xi Hai and Muldra had reached an agreement on certain aspects: Muldra would hand over all intelligence regarding the other eleven apostles of the "Saints," assist Xi Hai in relocating all the humans on this planet, and comply with every demand Xi Hai put forth. In return, Xi Hai promised to let it broadcast its final words across the entire planet—allowing it to personally repent to the people of its hometown (naturally, this would be a remastered version that had gone through two rounds of machine translation). Afterward, Muldra would be given a pistol with only a single bullet to depart with dignity.

Consequently, under the expectant yet anxious gazes of the people in the settlements, a face appeared on the giant screen. Immediately, a wave of cheers erupted—yes, the person on the screen was indeed Muldra.

But at this moment, no trace of high spirits could be seen on its face anymore. Its eyes held only infinite sorrow, guilt, repentance, and exhaustion.

"Devout followers of Megastract,"

"It is I—the leader of the 'Saints' organization."

It paused, its tone gradually becoming choked with emotion,

"Today, I am here,"

"I want to confess to you all what a wrong path I once took."

"I do not want to continue deceiving you with ignorant words or binding you with hypocritical morals as I did on past Return Days."

"I want to tell you a shocking fact:"

"The image of the 'Saints' on the outside is not as civilized as we have portrayed."

Its voice grew quieter,

"In fact, it would be better to say—"

"We..."

"are the Traitors to humanity."

This speech was short, lasting only ten minutes, but the waves it stirred up could be described as a raging tempest.

Muldra could be considered somewhat responsible; it did not attribute everything to the coercion and temptation of the Empire, nor did it use the banner of "I fell only to protect you" to bind the people of the homeworld.

It simply and calmly admitted that it had betrayed its faith and betrayed humanity, and it brought out a small notebook that looked like a diary—it said it contained all the crimes it had recorded itself. In front of everyone on the homeworld, it pronounced the death sentence for itself and all members of the "Saints."

Thus, in the current interrogation room—*Bang!!!* A soft sound penetrated the wall and reached Xi Hai's ears.

"Bury it in the sand sea."

Xi Hai said silently to a Marine beside him, who saluted and walked out.

Soon, Xi Hai also walked out of that tent. He recalled the recent confession and introduction regarding the "Saints" by Muldra. All members of the "Saints" were selected from the Protectorate Army here—taking advantage of the opportunity to return every five years, they would extract a portion of the people each time. Those grassroots Protectorate Army soldiers, after joining the Saints, still carried the purest and most fervent faith, only to gradually become executioners with blood-stained hands under lies and deception—yes, to maintain their own legitimacy, those high-ranking Saints still used the same old rhetoric, forging themselves into so-called warriors "fighting for humanity."

Truly absurd. As Xi Hai thought this, he walked toward the Shuttle returning to the Warship—he had just decided to convene a brief online meeting to make simple arrangements for the subsequent handling of the Saints. It was time to put an end to this organization that had deviated from its original intent. While thinking, he inadvertently arrived at the tarmac and stepped onto his own gray Shuttle.

Muldra's speech—or rather, its confession—stirred up a huge reaction across this sand sea. Those who regarded the Saints as pioneers and heroes were in such disbelief—at first, they thought it was deliberate rumor-mongering and smearing, but only after seeing the evidence of crimes that Muldra itself had uploaded did they dare to face that bloody reality.

On this barren land, the simple spiritual world of the people was so simple, so simple that it contained only faith in the lord of the sand sea and reverence for the "Saints," to the point that at the very moment their spiritual pillar collapsed, their hearts were in such a complex state—they knew that anyone could hate the "Saints," but they alone could not. Because in fact, the people of the Saints had indeed saved and protected them. In the teachings of the lord of the sand sea, the souls of the ungrateful shall be punished for eternity; but at the same time, they seemed to think they should hate those who had betrayed humanity, because the doctrine also stated that to wield a blade against the weak is to be a coward, and to wield a blade against the innocent is to be a demon. Thus, their state of mind entered a very peculiar superposition.

But fortunately, Xi Hai had already made arrangements for this situation: although it was impossible to reverse their faith in a short time, the scriptures were written by people after all, and what is written by people can be interpreted by people—much like the "new wine in old bottles" of the Renaissance.

Soon, those Cloud Sea-class landing ships slowly descended to the ground, and squads of Marines walked out. Most of the indigenous residents looked at those people with complex expressions. In Muldra's final words, it expressed its hope that the people of the homeworld would follow these people wearing red and white powered armor and leave, carrying their nobility and firmness to start anew in another place. After careful consideration, most people chose to agree. And so—a silent migration began.