Chapter 127 Judgment Day: Holographic Execution

The faint blue halo of the "Heavenly Court" fortress did not dissipate; instead, it projected thousands of red beams, like laser pointers, onto the surface.

That was the mark of the "God."

In the corners of major cities across the globe, and even in private shelters deep underground, those "deeply infected" who thought they had escaped disaster discovered in terror that their bodies were emitting an unmistakable, mechanical red glow.

This light pierced through walls and disguises, as if three words were carved onto their foreheads: I am a thief.

"gaia, is the list ready?" Lin Yuan sat in the Commander's seat, rolling two walnuts made from high-strength alloy bearings in his hand, which emitted a crisp clicking sound.

"The list has been synchronized to the entire army." gaia's small face remained expressionless, with only data streams rushing frantically across it, "A total of 3,412 people. This includes corporate tycoons, regional councilors, leaders of radical sects, and... three high-ranking staff officers hidden within the Heavenly Army."

Lin Yuan didn't even lift his eyelids: "Proceed."

The moment the order was given, the Earth erupted.

Switzerland, an underground vault of a private bank.

A normally well-dressed financial tycoon was frantically stuffing large-denomination bonds into a briefcase, muttering to himself, "I am chosen... I have an admission ticket... What do mortals understand..."

Boom!

The half-meter-thick alloy vault door was torn open as if it were made of paper.

Amidst the swirling dust, a black-painted "Xingtian" mecha bent down, its scarlet singular eye locked onto the tiny human. It didn't waste words, extending a massive mechanical palm to pinch the man's collar between two fingers, as if handling a bug.

"Let me go! I have immunity! I know your Commander!"

The mecha's vocal unit emitted a cold electronic voice: "According to Wartime Order No. 1, your rights have been physically revoked."

The next second, the mecha's engines ignited, carrying him into the sky with a sonic boom cloud in its wake, shooting straight up into the clouds.

The same scene played out simultaneously in a manor in London, a skyscraper in New York, and a secret shrine in Tokyo.

There were no interrogations, no delays. All marked red light sources were violently captured within ten minutes. Dense streaks of light in the sky converged toward a single point: the "Heavenly Court" fortress located in synchronous orbit.

Half an hour later.

Every screen, holographic projection, and even the large screens in open-air plazas across the globe were forced to switch to the same image.

It was an open-air deck of the "Heavenly Court" fortress.

With the vast starry sky as a backdrop, over three thousand people were bound by high-energy magnetic locks, suspended in mid-air like cured meat. Beneath their feet was the blue Earth; above their heads was the pitch-black abyss.

Lin Yuan sat on that modest metal chair, a massive holographic projection floating before him, broadcasting to all of humanity.

"Good evening, everyone, or good morning."

Lin Yuan's voice was soft, yet it transmitted directly into everyone's minds via the mental network, "I'm sorry to interrupt your meal, but if some trash isn't cleared away, you won't be able to eat in peace."

He pointed to the people suspended behind him.

"Let me introduce you to these 'pioneers' who just wanted to drag you all down to be slaves with them."

In the crowd, a middle-aged man wearing an exquisite religious robe struggled violently. He was the founder of the "sect," and on that chaotic night, it was he who incited tens of thousands of believers to launch a suicide attack on the defense line.

"Lin Yuan! You dictator!"

Although the man was flushed red from the constriction of the magnetic locks, his voice remained fervent, as if high on adrenaline, "You are destroying humanity! Mechanical divinity is the ultimate truth of the universe! Flesh is weak, and only ascension leads to eternity! I am preserving the spark for humanity! We are establishing diplomacy with a higher civilization, while you are launching a war that cannot be won!"

His words were highly inflammatory. Even now, after being cured, many people still felt a tremor in their hearts.

After all, the opponent was a super-civilization spanning galaxies, and Earth was simply too weak.

Lin Yuan did not interrupt him; he even waited with interest for him to finish before digging at his ear.

"Are you done?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Mortals like you simply don't understand the greatness of the gods..."

"gaia, show him his 'God'."

Lin Yuan snapped his fingers.

A massive holographic screen unfolded in space, displaying memory fragments extracted from the brains of the captured "missionaries."

The images were extremely clear, and also extremely cruel.

It was a planet conquered by the Mechanical Papacy.

There was no imagined mechanical ascension, no eternal paradise.

The gray surface of the planet was pierced with thousands of kilometers of metal pipes. At the bottom of these pipes were densely packed, hundreds of millions of transparent life-support pods.

Each pod contained a creature submerged inside. Their limbs had been amputated, their brains were bristling with electrodes, and thick energy conduits were connected to their spines. They weren't dead; in fact, their consciousnesses were still awake, because only a conscious brain could generate high-quality bioelectricity.

They were screaming and wailing, but in the vacuum, not a single sound could escape.

They lived like this, as biological batteries, providing energy for the Mechanical Papacy's warships until their brains withered away, turning into waste to be flushed into the sewers.

In the corner of the image, the Mechanical Papacy's collection vehicles were shoveling tons of "discarded batteries"—that is, corpses—into a furnace, just like trash.

There was dead silence.

The sect leader who had been clamoring just a moment ago turned deathly pale, his lips trembling, unable to utter another word.

"This is the master you begged for."

Lin Yuan stood up and walked to the man, his eyes as cold as ancient, unmelting ice, "They don't want dogs, because machines don't need pets. They want batteries, they want consumables."

"Is this the eternity you spoke of?" Lin Yuan patted the man's face; the force wasn't great, but it was deeply insulting, "Going to a place like that to be a battery—you certainly have a spirit of self-sacrifice."

The man broke down, tears and snot streaming down his face, "No... I didn't know... They said that if we surrendered, we could obtain mechanical bodies..."

"Because that pyramid scheme leader lied to you." Lin Yuan turned away, no longer looking at these pathetic, ugly traitors.

He faced the camera, facing the seven billion compatriots on Earth.

"I'm a fair person."

Lin Yuan's voice spread across the world, "Since you yearn for that mechanical civilization so much, and want so badly to be their batteries, I will grant your wish."

"Don't... don't kill me! I have money! I can donate all my assets!"

"I'm a councilor! I have immunity!"

Pleas for mercy rang out in a chorus.

A cruel smile curled on the corner of Lin Yuan's mouth, "Kill you? That would be a waste of bullets. Besides, it would dirty my deck, and gaia would have to clean it up."

He raised his hand and waved it gently downward.

"Execute."

Click.

There was no gunshot.

The magnetic locks binding the three thousand plus traitors suddenly changed the direction of their force fields.

The original binding force turned into a massive thrust.

These three thousand plus people, along with their screams, were launched instantly into the pitch-black, freezing deep space of the universe, like pebbles shot from a slingshot.

No spacesuits, no oxygen.

A few seconds later, they rapidly expanded and froze in the vacuum. The gases inside their bodies boiled, their eyeballs bulged, and they eventually turned into grotesque ice sculptures.

They would not die immediately; due to inertia, they would drift in this star system for a long time.

"gaia, calculate their trajectories." Lin Yuan watched the receding black dots, his tone flat, "Target the edge of the Solar System. Let these collaborators go and greet their 'masters' first. This is called... diplomatic protocol."

This scene was more shocking than any bloody beheading.

On Earth, countless people looked up at the sky.

The fear born from the unknown had vanished, replaced by a shared indignation.

So the fate of surrendering was to become a battery.

So only by dying in battle could one maintain the final dignity of being human.

"Detected intense fluctuations in the global collective subconscious, currently forming... resonance." A hint of surprise permeated gaia's voice, "Commander, the stability of the mental network is rising exponentially."

Lin Yuan closed his eyes.

In his perception, that originally fragile and chaotic mental network was undergoing a qualitative change.

There was no need for him to force it to maintain with his own mental power anymore; the wills of seven billion humans, driven by shared anger and the desire for survival, had spontaneously linked together.

A golden, indestructible barrier was slowly forming on the level of human consciousness.

From this day forward, any whispers or temptations targeting the mind would be blocked by this Wall of Sighs, named "Community."

"It's done."

Lin Yuan opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath of stale air, his whole body feeling as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted, and he slumped back into his chair.

"That's it?" Chen Weiguo walked over, handed Lin Yuan a bottle of water, and looked at the skyrocketing public approval ratings on the screen with a complex expression, "You kid, this move of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys was ruthless."

Lin Yuan unscrewed the cap, drank half the bottle in one go, and wiped his mouth, "These days, good people who act as saviors get nailed to the cross. Only bad people can kick these guys who don't want to live out of the fire pit."

He stood up and walked to the massive porthole.

The internal pus had been cleared away; Earth was now a truly united front.

Regardless of gender, age, wealth, or status, there was now only one identity—warrior.

But this was just the beginning.

Lin Yuan's gaze crossed the blue Earth, crossed the floating space debris, and finally settled on the cold, full moon.

The far side of the moon was a dark forbidden zone that always faced away from Earth.

And in the last segment of data gaia had just intercepted, the energy reaction there was showing a geometric-scale leap.

That was the coordinate for the "reception."

It was also where the gate would open.

"How much longer?" Lin Yuan asked.

"According to the energy convergence speed and the warp fluctuations of the enemy fleet..." gaia walked to Lin Yuan's side, looking at the moon following his gaze, "30 days."

"Thirty days, huh..."