188: The weight of civilization

Mana Star, Northern Hemisphere, deep within the Winter Mountains.

This was the territory of the Stone-skinned Giants, a tribe known as the "Titan Remnants." These creatures, with an average height of over seven meters and skin as hard as granite, were notorious for being ill-tempered, xenophobic, and immensely powerful.

In the legends of the human kingdoms, adventurers who wandered into this place often became broth in a giant's pot or toys whose bones were crushed before being tossed off a cliff.

Yet at this moment, inside the crude hall constructed of massive boulders in the center of the tribe, a group of ferocious-looking Stone-skinned Giants were carefully carrying enormous stone platters. These were piled high with roasted whole oxen, massive tubers, and the leg meat of unknown magical beasts. Like a group of clumsy waiters, they were tremulously placing the food onto a relatively flat boulder in the middle of the hall.

And beside that boulder stood only two figures, as tiny as small animals compared to the giants.

One of them was Gareth, the [hero of dawn] wielding a massive sword. At this moment, he stood with his arms crossed, looking at the girl beside him with a helpless expression.

The girl still had silver hair and wore that white robe that seemed to never catch a speck of dust. She was floating in mid-air, using her crimson electronic eyes to perform a full-body scan on a shivering giant cub.

"Bone density is eight times that of a carbon-based human, the skin's stratum corneum contains a high concentration of silicon, and there are trace amounts of Mithril... Tsk tsk, what a fascinating biological evolutionary path."

As Illya recorded data in the void, she muttered to herself, "In Earth's gravity, this structure might crush its own joints under its weight, but here it has evolved a perfect load-bearing structure. If this gene could be extracted, perhaps it could be used to manufacture cheaper Bio-engineered Mechs?"

The giant cub being scanned was so terrified it was on the verge of tears, looking toward its father—the tribal chieftain—as if for help.

And that giant chieftain, nearly nine meters tall and capable of smashing a Land Dragon with a single punch, was currently clutching one side of his face—which was swollen like a steamed bun—and hiding behind a pillar, not daring to make a sound.

This was because half an hour ago, when this "runt" named Illya barged into the tribe, the chieftain had tried to teach the intruder a lesson with his ancestral mace.

The result was that the opponent had simply extended a finger and flicked the multi-ton mace away. This was followed by a seemingly light flick to the forehead that embedded the chieftain, stone throne and all, into the side of the mountain behind them.

This was the origin of their "hospitality."

Just as Illya was about to pluck a hair from the giant cub as a sample, a red exclamation mark suddenly popped up at the edge of her vision.

It was a communication signal from the distant starry sky.

Illya stopped what she was doing, her gaze freezing for a brief moment.

A stream of information was transmitted directly to the Wanderer via the quantum entanglement network, and then from the Wanderer to the processor of her bionic body.

The message was very brief, containing only a few words, a countdown, and a flight map.

[Sender: Lei Wen]

[Second Interstellar Fleet has set sail. Destination: F-81. Estimated arrival time: 12-15 years.]

The corners of Illya's mouth slowly curled up into a meaningful smile.

She released the giant cub, turned around, and looked at Gareth, who had been standing guard nearby.

"They're coming."

She said those two words out of the blue.

Gareth was stunned for a moment and instinctively tightened his grip on his sword hilt, warily scanning his surroundings. "What's coming? Is it Klaus Difan and the others returning? Or is it an ambush by these giants?"

"No, not that stupid dragon." Illya shook her head, her red eyes shimmering with a light Gareth couldn't understand—a look that mixed anticipation, playfulness, and a hint of coldness.

"It's something ten thousand times more terrifying than a dragon."

"They are about to arrive."

After speaking, she ignored the bewildered Gareth and turned to wave at the giants, who looked as if they had just been granted a royal pardon.

"Alright, data collection is complete. Your biological structure is interesting, but that's about it. Today's friendly visit ends here. Thanks for the hospitality, though your roast meat lacked salt."

She tapped her toes lightly, her figure floating up like a feather as she flew out of the hall.

Gareth hurriedly followed.

The two left the giant tribe and arrived at a cliff's edge atop the snowy mountains. The wind here was biting, but to the current Gareth, it was nothing.

In these ten years, he had not only stepped from being a half-step Legend into the true Legendary realm, but more importantly, his equipment had been completely overhauled.

The greatsword in his hand was no ordinary metal, but a High-frequency Vibration Particle Sword forged by the factories on the Wanderer using Kul Alloy. Cutting through metal like paper was merely a basic function; this sword sliced through high-level magic shields like a knife through butter. His armor also had a built-in miniature Deflection Force Field and a Life-support System, allowing him to survive in extreme environments.

But the upgrades to his equipment were secondary; what had truly changed Gareth was his perspective.

Over these ten years, he had followed Illya to almost every corner of this world, and even beyond it.

He still remembered the shock of the first time he followed Illya aboard the Wanderer and flew out of the atmosphere toward that gas giant named "Io" (F-81-03).

When he saw that massive gray-blue planet occupying his entire field of vision, and saw the terrifying eye of a storm large enough to swallow all of Mana Star, he finally understood how insignificant a so-called "Legendary powerhouse" was in the face of celestial bodies.

Illya had once piloted the ship into the atmosphere of that giant planet, collecting data amidst winds of thousands of kilometers per second, and had taken them to observe the star named F-81 at close range, letting him witness the destructive majesty of a solar prominence eruption with his own eyes.

They had even ventured deep into Mana Star's forbidden zone—the Death Marsh. There, the legendary and invincible ancient beast, the "Three-headed Venomous Dragon," had been pinned in place by Illya using a device called a "Spacetime Tractor," then sliced into pieces for study like a dissected frog.

Gareth had watched with his own eyes as Illya hummed a song while severing the three heads of the giant beast, analyzing their venom gland structures and magic circuits.

This "Divine Envoy" he looked up to was actually a mad scholar with a near-pathological obsession with the truth.

"Teacher..." Gareth stood behind the floating Illya. He hesitated for a moment before using the title he didn't quite dare to call her by.

Although Illya had never admitted to taking them as students, treating them only as "high-level bodyguards" and "local guides," in the hearts of the Dawn squad and the Red Dragon Klaus Difan, this girl who had shown them the truth of the world was already an irreplaceable mentor.

She had taught them to use mathematics to analyze magic and physics to understand power, making them realize that the land beneath their feet was but a speck of dust in the universe.

"Do you really want to know?"

Illya turned around, the wind and snow automatically parting as they hit the force field around her body.

"I'm not one for being cryptic. Since you asked, I'll tell you straight."

She pointed to the deep sky above, which appeared profound even in daylight.

"The nation I belong to—the Interstellar Fleet of the Human Federation—is already on its way to this planet."

Gareth's entire body shook as if struck by lightning.

In these ten years together, he had heard Illya mention that nation called the "Human Federation" countless times.

At first, he thought it was just a powerful empire located across the sea, but after seeing the Star Map on the Wanderer and reading parts of the open database, he realized what a terrifying concept it was.

Spanning two star systems, possessing a population of nearly twenty billion, and wielding the supreme power of "technology," they could manufacture steel arks like the Wanderer that traversed the void (though in reality, the Human Federation couldn't build something like the Wanderer)... This was a civilization more magnificent than the divine realms of myth.

And now, Illya was telling him that this civilization's fleet was coming.

"The fleet... you mean..." Gareth swallowed hard. "Ships like the Wanderer?"

"The Wanderer?" Illya chuckled and shook her head. "No, Gareth, the Wanderer is just a research vessel, specialized for study. At most, it's an armed research vessel."

"What's coming are true machines of war."

With a wave of Illya's hand, a holographic image was projected between the two.

It was footage of the First Interstellar Fleet massing in Earth's orbit. Though somewhat outdated, it was enough to illustrate the point.

Thousands of warships were arranged in neat phalanxes. The 1,800-meter-long hull of the flagship pacific was like a moving mountain of steel, with countless gun ports glinting coldly.

"That was the First Interstellar Fleet, and this time, it's the Second Interstellar Fleet coming," Illya explained. "Although the primary mission is colonization and construction, the escorting warships are still enough to crush all the armies on this planet combined a million times over."

"A single one of our salvos could wipe these Winter Mountains off the map. Furthermore, the fleet possesses orbital bombardment capabilities, allowing them to precisely destroy any city on the ground from space."

Looking at the suffocating image of the steel torrent, Gareth felt as if his breathing was about to stop.

As a native powerhouse, he instinctively felt a world-ending power from these images.

"What are they... doing here?" Gareth asked with difficulty. "Are they here to destroy us?"

"Destroy? No, that would be too wasteful."

Illya put away the holographic image and looked at Gareth with a calm gaze.

"I imagine they are here to conquer."

"For population, for resources, and for living space."

"I can more or less guess the thoughts of the Earth Council... or rather, that fellow Lei Wen."

"This planet will be incorporated into the territory of the Human Federation. All nations will be abolished, all royal powers will be deposed, and all divine rights will be shattered."

"You will become citizens of the Federation, or... second-class citizens."

"You will accept the Federation's laws, learn the Federation's language, provide labor for the Federation's factories, and provide soldiers for the Federation's military."

Illya's words were like a cold blade.

"This is an invasion!" Gareth couldn't help but clench his fists. As a subject of the Ailan Empire and as a knight, his sense of honor made him instinctively reject such a future.

"Yes, it is an invasion." Illya didn't deny it; instead, she nodded frankly.

"Weakness is its own kind of original sin."

"Gareth, you've learned a lot in these ten years. You should understand that when two civilizations meet and the power gap is vast, there are only two outcomes: assimilation or destruction."

"The Human Federation in my memory likely won't choose to destroy you, but they probably won't interact with you as friends either."

Gareth fell silent.

Looking at the girl who had taught him for ten years, he suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of estrangement and fear.

She was still that girl who liked sweets, occasionally lost her temper, and had an insatiable desire for research, but she ultimately didn't belong here. Perhaps she was the harbinger of that massive invader, the scout sent into this world by that higher civilization.

"Teacher..." Gareth's voice trembled slightly. "What if... what if we resist?"

"Resist?"

Illya looked at him, a hint of pity in her eyes.

"Gareth, you've seen the Wanderer's main cannon test-fire. You know that kind of power, and that was just the self-defense weapon of a research ship."

"If you resist, the only result will be death."

"Countless deaths."

"Cities will become ruins, armies will turn to ash, and the magic and battle qi you take pride in will be meaningless in the face of orbital bombardment."

"Furthermore," Illya pointed to Gareth's equipment, "the weapons you use now, and even your understanding of the world, were given to you by us."

"What do you have to resist with?"

Gareth was speechless.

Indeed, the sword in his hand, the armor on his body, and even his current Legendary strength were inseparable from Illya's teachings and gifts.

What a hopeless disparity this was.

"Then what about you?" Gareth looked up, a final glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Which side will you stand on?"

Illya was silent for a moment.

She turned around, her back to Gareth, looking toward the distant horizon.

"I am human, Gareth."

"I am a citizen of the Human Federation."

"My mission is to explore the unknown and record the truth. As for conquest and rule, those are matters for politicians and soldiers."

"But I can give you a piece of advice."

Illya turned her head slightly, her crimson eyes appearing exceptionally eerie amidst the wind and snow.

"When the storm comes, do not try to block it."

"Learn to go with the wind, and perhaps you can survive."

"This is not just for yourself, but for your country and your compatriots."

"Go back, Gareth."

Illya waved her hand.

"Go find your king, and go find those powerful experts you know."

"Tell them that the sky is about to change."

"Let them prepare... whether to welcome new masters or to welcome destruction."

Gareth looked at that small back and finally gave a deep bow.

This bow was not only a farewell to his mentor but also a farewell to the old era.

He knew that when that fleet descended, the history of Mana Star would turn a completely new page.

And this page was destined to be written with blood and fire.

"I understand, Teacher."

Gareth turned and leaped off the cliff.

He activated his armor's gliding wings in mid-air and flew toward the Ailan Empire.

He had to bring back this news, even if it would cause worldwide panic.

Illya stood alone atop the snowy mountain, watching Gareth's receding figure, and sighed softly.

"This is the weight of civilization."