375: Chapter 376 The Shackles of Civilization

The Phylliphimus Empire naturally discovered the abnormal phenomenon appearing on its Planet. In fact, when that image began to spread in a small area in the fringes, the intelligent "Scorpio" that managed the empire had already issued a warning.

However, the officials at the time did not take it seriously, thinking it was just an image and merely alarmist talk, thus unimportant.

Until this eerie image, like a plague, flooded from the fringes into the core star sectors and was seen by hundreds of billions of Plifimos kin, who treated it as a faith as if possessed.

Only then did the high-ranking official managing the Phylliphimus Empire's network realize that things had become serious. He urgently shut down all public communication networks and ordered the containment of the eerie image's spread.

At the same time, he hurried to the Polyphemus center of power, the Fimos Tower, where the Hundred-Eye Council, the empire's highest authority besides the Sovereign, was located.

The Hundred-Eye Council, already anxious because about a hundred Tier-3 motherships sent to conquer Earth had lost contact for no reason and many generals were silent, found this news to be an even greater headache.

This had already shaken the foundations of the empire.

"Mujilaixier, this is your dereliction of duty!"

A rebuking voice echoed in the council hall. The speaker was an elderly Plifimos kin; remarkably, he had twenty-four eyes on his limbs.

The Elder said coldly, "Your position is revoked as of today. Guards, lock him in the dungeon."

"No!"

Mujilaixier was naturally unwilling to be locked in the empire's highest prison, as it was impossible to ever come out again.

"It's not entirely my fault. Who could have thought that image... that image..."

"Yes, Elders, I saved it. I'll show you..."

Mujilaixier struggled, suddenly about to project the image.

Everyone in the Hundred-Eye Council was horrified.

"Don't!"

"Stop him! Guards, stop him! You madman!"

The majesty of the council vanished at this moment; those Elders, who were usually high and mighty, deciding the direction of the empire and the life and death of billions of kin with a single word, were now like a group of prey cornered in a nook. Screams, curses, and orders mingled together, creating heart-pounding echoes in the empty hall.

If that image was truly so eerie that one would be infected just by looking at it, then showing it in the Hundred-Eye Council, the empire's power center, would be disastrous.

The guards swarmed forward and seized the portable intellect-brain from Mujilaixier's hands at the last moment.

Several of Mujilaixier's tentacles were broken, and he slumped to the ground like a puddle of mud.

"Mujilaixier, have you seen this image?"

An Elder asked solemnly.

Mujilaixier replied weakly, "I haven't."

"Swear in the name of the Sovereign!" the Elder pressed further.

The Sovereign, the emperor of the Phylliphimus Empire and the sole authority above the Hundred-Eye Council, was a supreme existence with twenty-eight eyes who had lived for nearly a million years.

Swearing in the name of the Sovereign was the most solemn and inviolable oath for the Plifimos kin.

"I... I..." Mujilaixier's eyes flickered, and he shook his head in pain while holding it with his tentacles, as if two beliefs were clashing in his mind.

Suddenly, he smiled.

Lying on the ground, Mujilaixier's mouth curved into an eerie arc as he murmured something.

A guard carefully leaned in and finally heard him repeatedly saying one word.

"Face... face..."

---

After Mujilaixier was dragged away, the Elders of the Hundred-Eye Council looked at each other with lingering fear.

Only now did they understand the horror of this eerie image, which could actually make a high-ranking official who had served for over 300 years betray the Sovereign of his faith.

"What on Earth is this thing..."

"The infected Face Faction is gathering. What should we do?"

For a moment, the council of Elders, though experienced in handling imperial affairs, was at a loss and confused by this situation.

The Grand Elder with twenty-six eyes stood up and asked into the air, "Scorpio, how many kin have seen this image now?"

[Estimated to be 155,685,247,619]

Seeing this rapidly surging and terrifying number, the Grand Elder's gaze sharpened, and he realized they could no longer delay.

"Keep the network closed, declare imperial martial law, and have the army suppress them. Remember, do not look at that face!"

"I will go notify the Sovereign!"

Just as the Grand Elder stood up, he saw a majestic figure slowly walking through the entrance.

The newcomer was tall, and most chilling of all were the twenty-eight eyes on his head, each filled with fine golden patterns like a galaxy condensed over a million years, calmly sweeping across the room.

He was the Sovereign of the Phylliphimus Empire, the absolute core above the Hundred-Eye Council, a supreme existence who had lived for nearly a million years.

"Sovereign."

The Elders of the Hundred-Eye Council bowed in unison. The original panic vanished without a trace, replaced by a nearly pious awe. Even the Grand Elder lowered all his eyelids, not daring to meet his gaze.

The meeting resumed.

"This should be something for us to be happy about. It has been twenty million years, and finally, an opportunity to break the deadlock has appeared. If this power can be used by us, it will lead to another path."

The Sovereign's words shocked everyone. According to him, this eerie image was actually a good thing for the Phylliphimus Empire.

Only some senior Elders who knew the empire's internal secrets had flickering gazes and fell into deep thought.

Twenty million years ago,

The Phylliphimus Empire reached an unprecedented prosperity that lasted for a long time, but a wise man discovered the problems hidden beneath this prosperity.

The Philiphimus Civilization seemed to be locked by invisible shackles. Every field the empire could explore had been exhausted, every breakthrough technology had reached the pinnacle of perfection, no new theories were being born, and no groundbreaking inventions appeared.

They began to face a predicament, unable to advance to the next civilization level for a long time, pointlessly consuming resources. If this continued, the Philiphimus Civilization would eventually reach the end of self-extinction.

To avoid this situation, the Phylliphimus Empire tried everything but achieved no results.

Until the Great Wise Man Mozaro proposed the Civilization Gu-Cultivation Plan. Polyphemus began to actively cultivate low-level civilizations, forcing them to develop and using the different technology trees of different civilizations for Gu-cultivation to nurture civilizations that could forge their own paths, using these civilizations to feed back into Polyphemus.

This was done to break the shackles that imprisoned the Philiphimus Civilization.

This plan has lasted for 20 million years to this day, and now, something different has finally appeared.

The Great Wise Man Mozaro was right!