212: Chapter 211 Surrender

Tu Bu Lie in the Milky Way Galaxy had been anxious and restless lately, unable to sleep at night.

Although he had collected quite a bit of information about this place, for some unknown reason, he had been unable to establish contact with the Zhangyang Civilization.

This left him very surprised and shocked.

You must know, the entire universe, apart from this tiny speck called the Milky Way Galaxy, was entirely the territory of the Zhangyang Civilization—a ninety-billion-light-year region that was also the body of the great deity.

Therefore, the Milky Way Galaxy was, in fact, tightly surrounded on all sides.

No matter which direction encrypted information was sent, it should have been intercepted and acknowledged quickly, with a reply transmitted back.

Yet, the device in Tu Bu Lie's hand seemed to have become a useless brick; no communication functions could be activated.

But this wasn't the most distressing part.

What concerned him most was that he had brought an infiltration team of over a dozen people.

In the short few months they had been here, members had gone missing almost periodically.

Right now, when he gathered the members for a meeting again, in the small venue, no matter how he counted, only six members remained.

Tu Bu Lie roared furiously, "What is going on? Where are they?"

A subordinate said tremblingly, voicing his guess, "Could it be... could it be that the people here discovered our identities and arrested them secretly?"

"Bullshit! I can still walk down the street and be welcomed by plenty of idiots around here. To this day, they are still deeply convinced that I am the twin brother of Tuku Lie!"

Tu Bu Lie became more agitated as he spoke, "So, how could they possibly have been exposed? These heretics here are so stupid, how could they capture them!"

The reason for his agitation was his inner fear that his subordinates were secretly defecting to the Xingyang Civilization and betraying the entire infiltration team.

Tu Bu Lie's devotion was bordering on madness, but he hadn't yet lost his reason.

He understood that many believers of the Zhangyang Civilization did not have as high a level of enlightenment as he did.

Those people actually held some grievances against the Zhangyang God.

Furthermore, for the majority of them, their friends and family had been turned into God Walkers by the deity during the "Great Baptism."

If their faith wavered or collapsed, they would truly have no scruples or attachments left.

Therefore, it was highly likely they would turn against the deity.

Regarding this, Tu Bu Lie had considered and prepared.

Before the infiltration team set out, he had Science Officer Wei Wei equip them with tracking devices and bombs that could be controlled from a super-long distance.

This was to ensure the absolute obedience of this group.

However, the cursors for those people still disappeared one by one from the tracking instrument.

This made Tu Bu Lie feel a faint sense of fear.

He pondered in his heart, could it be that the people of the Xingyang Civilization had discovered them and intervened?

Yet, in front of his remaining six subordinates, he still tried his best to appear calm.

He bluffed, saying fiercely, "So it is impossible for them to have been captured by the heretics here; it is more likely that they fled!"

"When I catch them, I will definitely use the harshest punishments to make them wish they were dead!"

The six subordinates all shuddered.

They were well aware of Tu Bu Lie's methods for dealing with traitors.

Naturally, no one wanted to end up with that fate.

However, they also didn't understand why their companions had suddenly vanished mysteriously.

They had clearly all received instructions to scout for information, yet they simply never returned.

Tu Bu Lie couldn't help but sigh.

He then straightened his expression and said, "Let's end the discussion about those traitors. The biggest problem right now is that we cannot transmit the information we've obtained!"

"I've tried many methods, but none worked. So... our team will go into hiding for now. After I find a way to communicate, I will summon you all again!"

"Also, I will say this one last time: you must hide your identities well! I don't want to see any more personnel losses!"

The group nodded repeatedly, trembling in silence.

Tu Bu Lie then instructed them to disperse and continue lurking.

If they found new clues, they were to report them immediately.

After finishing all this, Tu Bu Lie looked at the now-empty meeting place, then looked up at the vast sky, his eyes unfocused.

Not long after the six subordinates left their leader, they went their separate ways.

Actually, a young man named Xuan Mu walked alone on the bustling street.

His face was expressionless, but his heart was in turmoil.

Even though he had been in the Milky Way Galaxy for a few months, the shock in his heart hadn't dissipated much.

Back then, before the "Great Baptism," he had been fortunate enough to be judged as one of the most devout.

He had been sent to the Holy City before the black mist enveloped the entire Blue Star.

But his parents, his siblings, his girlfriend, his best friends... and so on, everyone he knew had turned into those terrifying zombies—God Walkers with ugly faces and bodies covered in tumors.

Xuan Mu was devastated at first; he didn't understand why the great Zhangyang God had to turn billions of Blue Star people into that state.

He didn't understand why the deity had to turn a planet that was once full of laughter during the day and quiet and gentle at night into such a terrifying hell.

Black mist permeated everywhere, dead and desolate.

All the plants rotted into mud, coating the earth.

Then, it seemed to turn into something slightly writhing, a dark, skin-like substance that wrapped around the planet.

Just when Xuan Mu couldn't bring himself to believe this reality, it was Tu Bu Lie who kept instilling the concept of absolute devotion into the survivors.

He shouted over and over, "The great Zhangyang God is grand and benevolent! He is the only true God of the entire universe, the only radiance!"

"So turning those people into God Walkers is not punishment, but encouragement!"

"After becoming God Walkers, they will be just as loyal as you, serving the deity with equal devotion!"

"They will be organized into the Shenxing Army, to go to the stars and the sea, to the four corners of the universe!"

"To spread the gospel of the God and shine upon the entire universe!"

Under this repeated brainwashing, Xuan Mu actually gradually came to believe Tu Bu Lie's nonsense.

He came to believe that all of this was what a devout believer should believe, and only in this way would the entire universe have no heretics in the future.

The entire universe would become a paradise filled only with loyal believers!

But soon, information obtained from various channels made Xuan Mu doubt again.

The territory of the Zhangyang Civilization was expanding at extreme speed.

The speed even far exceeded the understanding of some Blue Star humans.

However, not even a single new believer had been produced.

Or rather, not a single believer with self-awareness who could communicate normally had been produced.

All planets visited by the Shenxing Army were immediately and thoroughly changed.

Regardless of whether the beings on that planet or that civilization had resisted, they would all be converted into zombie-like God Walkers.

They would then be quickly loaded onto spaceships and sent to the next unexplored region of the universe.

And that planet would also be completely transformed, turning into a spaceship manufacturing base with no living things, only unmanned factories.

Not long after, news that the Zhangyang God wanted to turn the entire universe into his own body spread like wildfire.

At that moment, Xuan Mu finally understood.

What the Zhangyang God needed was never believers.

It was never the devout conversion of living beings.

It was his own absolute power!

At that moment, Xuan Mu was disheartened.

But being a calm person, he did not immediately show dissatisfaction or even unease.

Soon, some survivors who expressed resentment and skeptical remarks were arrested one after another.

They were forcibly converted into God Walkers on the grounds of insufficient devotion.

Since then, Xuan Mu became increasingly taciturn.

He was desperate not only regarding the deity but the entire universe.

He just wanted to crawl quietly like a bug, living a numb, lingering existence.

Everything, everything would soon be destroyed, right?

The entire universe would have only the Zhangyang God as the sole consciousness.

But on the eve of the entire universe being devoured, the vast Shenxing Army and the divine power that shook time and space actually returned in defeat before the tiny Milky Way Galaxy!

This caused quite a shock to Xuan Mu, whose heart had long become stagnant water.

In his eyes, there was finally light once again.

Moreover, he, who had always been taciturn, was selected as a member of this infiltration team because he had never once expressed a hint of doubt about the deity.

After arriving here, he discovered that this Milky Way Galaxy, this place described by the Zhangyang Civilization as full of heretics and filth, had an environment and food for countless living beings that was far, far better than the Zhangyang Civilization, which possessed almost the entire universe.

Xuan Mu felt that even the food discarded by those beings was a hundred times better than the unpalatable nutritional paste in the Holy City.

His heart yearned more and more for the Xingyang Civilization.

Now the only concern was the bomb implanted in his body.

Based on his understanding of Tu Bu Lie, once Tu Bu Lie discovered he had ulterior motives, he would definitely detonate the bomb without hesitation, blowing him to smithereens.

Xuan Mu's heart was struggling frantically.

However, those missing comrades gave him the final courage.

He whispered to himself, "Since they have the means and the courage to escape the clutches of the Zhangyang God, then I have the guts too!"

"Moreover, the place where I am lurking is not far from a Resistance Army outpost; I can just go there directly. The Resistance Army is the most closely connected with the Xingyang Civilization and will definitely take me to the Xingyang God!"

Thinking of this, Xuan Mu immediately made a decisive decision and took a detour.

He turned and walked straight towards the direction of the Resistance Army outpost!

Passing through the crowded boulevard, a wide iron gate was already in sight.

Xuan Mu walked toward the sentry post by the iron gate without the slightest hesitation.

The armed guards immediately cast curious glances at him.

The distance between them grew closer.

Just as Xuan Mu was about to speak, he heard a "tick-tock" sound inside his body.

Not good!

That bastard Tu Bu Lie had activated the bomb.

Apparently, he had seen on the tracking instrument that he hadn't returned directly to the lurking spot, but had come to the Resistance Army outpost.

Xuan Mu broke out in a cold sweat in an instant.

But soon, he realized something.

So he spread his arms to drive the crowd away.

"Quick, quick! Stay away from me, I have a bomb on me!"

"Hurry, I'm about to explode!"

The crowd immediately scattered in fear.

The guards also raised their guns, aiming at him with vigilant expressions.

Xuan Mu held his hands high with a calm face, a smile of relief even on the corners of his mouth.

He then said to the guards, "You should stay away from me too. The blast radius of the bomb is fifty meters!"

"Please shoot me from fifty meters away!"

As he said this, he closed his eyes, welcoming the death that was about to come.

But after a long while, the "tick-tock" sound inside his body had stopped for some time.

Xuan Mu found that he was actually still alive.

For a moment, he felt a bit embarrassed.

But he still shouted to those who had relaxed their vigilance and came to watch the fun, "I'm not joking, don't come near me now. I really have a bomb in my body!"

"It's just that for some reason, there was a delay!"

At this moment, the iron gate opened.

Two people slowly walked out from inside.

Xuan Mu widened his eyes and said with a surprised expression, "The half-faced Tu Bu Lie! No, you are the Missionary Officer Tuku Lie of the Xingyang Civilization!"

The person nodded, then pointed to the man beside him holding a black square box and said, "This is Science Officer Murphy from our divine grace!"

"He has already blocked the signal for the remote-controlled bomb; you won't be exploding."

Xuan Mu's face, however, showed some anxiety, "Listen to me, I didn't come to conduct a terrorist attack; I came to tell you..."

Tuku Lie waved his hand, "No need to say it; I know everything you want to say."

"Actually, when you first arrived in the Milky Way Galaxy, you were targeted by us."

"And pretending to be my twin brother, that's truly ridiculous!"

"A total of fourteen people came, and you are the seventh to come to defect!"

Xuan Mu looked stunned, moving his lips slowly, "What? So you knew all along."

"Tu Bu Lie's information could never be transmitted. He even thought the communication device was faulty."

"Now that I think about it, all of this was already under your control."

Tuku Lie nodded, "Mm, the Xingyang Civilization welcomes you; come into the outpost first."

"Not forgetting the safety of strangers around you before facing death, I admire your intention!"

Xuan Mu scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed, "It's nothing; I just didn't want innocent people to be implicated."

Soon, he was invited into a spacious room inside the Resistance Army outpost.

On the other side of the room were the bound Tu Bu Lie and several other infiltration team members.

Even though he had been captured, he was still full of energy, cursing loudly, "Xuan Mu, you traitor. The Great God will surely give you the harshest punishment!"

"You will suffer unimaginable pain!"

Hearing this, Xuan Mu sneered, "I have already experienced the greatest pain, the moment all my family and friends were turned into zombies by the devil!"

Tu Bu Lie was stunned for a moment.

After realizing he couldn't berate Xuan Mu, he turned his spearhead toward Tuku Lie and the others from the Xingyang Civilization.

"You heretics just wait; don't think that just because you blocked my signal, the Zhangyang God doesn't know what you are thinking."

"This tiny Milky Way Galaxy won't last long! You will all die a miserable death!"

Tuku Lie smiled, "How miserable? Worse than a zombie?"