Learning from History

The Humvee sped along the highway.

Kang De followed the route on Google Maps, gazing out the window at the dark and dreary earth.

"The roads here are even inferior to those of the Empire and Goth..."

The Autobots are complaining.

For the Transformers, the terrible road conditions are like constantly hurting a person's feet. "Why don't the rulers here find a way to repair and maintain it?"

Kang De could guess the reason. "It's definitely because there's no money. Although you can find investment if you don't have money, the fighting in Northern Myanmar is ongoing. Buildings, bridges, and roads that have been painstakingly constructed over several years could be reduced to rubble in seconds. Under such circumstances, who would be willing to invest here?"

The Autobots paused for a moment, then whispered, "Why is there war on Earth too?"

Kang De said calmly, "Isn't this normal?"

Iron Son remained curious; there was still much for him to learn. "Why is war normal? I saw the place where my father lived in the White Mist World. Its resources were far more abundant than in the other world, and its knowledge, culture, and technology were far superior. The people had enough to eat and wear, so why was there any reason to fight?"

Kang De paused for a moment, then gave a cold laugh.

"Because Westerners are terrible, the world is still paying the price for their rise to power hundreds of years ago."

A mocking smile appeared on his lips, "For example, many of the conflicts and wars that have persisted on Earth to this day are gifts from two generations of world hegemons and three superpowers."

"Don't believe me? Take Myanmar as an example. Many powerful local ethnic armed forces that oppose the central government were supported by the United Kingdom to plunge the region into internal strife and facilitate their rule. They've played this trick of creating conflict and confrontation in colonial times far too often."

"After World War II, the US and the Soviet Union tacitly joined forces to dismantle the colonial system, completely ending United Kingdom's hegemonic status. Rather than plundering colonies, the two superpowers had a better option: to integrate target countries into their own economic systems through ideological dissemination. This was the fundamental reason for their 'liberation' of the colonies, because they wanted to end the previous hegemony and the old order, and also establish their own hegemony..."

"So after the war, the colonies gained independence and established their own Jianguo. But the problem was that the contradictions and conflicts created by the colonizers still existed. The US and the USSR did not offer a solution to the problem, but only used force to restrain them. When they were too busy, unable, or unwilling to restrain them, problems would arise. For example, there were decades of contradictions and conflicts in Myanmar, the Indo-Pakistani conflict, and the Rwandan Genocide."

"But how many wars have been fought and how many people have died, why would the world's hegemon care?"

"From a higher perspective, this world is still no different from the primitive era."

These are the results of his reading over the past few days.

Because their opponent was the Dusk Moon Dynasty, a world hegemon that surpassed all other nations, an unprecedentedly powerful enemy.

Fortunately, Earth can learn from history. Although the elves are not Anglo-Saxon barbarians, they share some similarities. They are both world hegemons, both maritime powers, both extremely aggressive, conquering and seizing territory to establish colonies, and both hypocritical and shameful. The mistakes the United Kingdom made, the elves may also make.

The most wonderful thing is...

United Kingdom hegemony is over.

The causes, process, and outcome of the collapse, as well as the internal reasons, external driving forces, all the details, all the causes, and even the hidden strategies, have been studied repeatedly by countless scholars over the past few decades, resulting in various viewpoints, secrets, and explanations.

It's practically a very detailed strategy guide.

This is the greatest information advantage.

It is not merely an advancement in ideas and scientific progress, but a mirror called history.

With the progress of society and humanities, and the profound development of the academic field, secrets and history that were once inaccessible to ordinary people have been studied and explored by generations of historians and scholars, and are now displayed in libraries that everyone can access, becoming knowledge, reading material, entertainment and lessons for future generations.

This is an overwhelming advantage in Civilization.

This advantage is not only reflected in technological and institutional aspects.

It also has culture, heritage, and humanistic values.

Even in the era of cold weapons when technology was not advanced, in the confrontation between Civilization and backward Civilization, for the backward Civilization, the chance of winning an important battle depended on the brilliant idea of a peerless general who was rare in a century, and on the perfect unity of the right time, the right place, and the right people, in order to forge a great victory that would be recorded in history.

For an advanced Civilization, all it needs is a conventional general, a conventional army, and a passage from a history book that the general read in his youth.

--Because that brilliant flash of inspiration from a peerless general, a feat rarely seen in a century, was accomplished by his ancestor hundreds of years ago and recorded in history. Flowing with the river of Civilization to this day, along with hundreds and thousands of successes and failures, it has become a tremendous, almost despairing advantage for future generations facing backward Civilization.

Kang De murmured, "I could do even more..."

The Autobots asked in confusion, "What?"

Kang De pondered for a moment, then looked up. "A model! We can build a national model! The history, military, culture, society, social classes of the Dusk Moon Dynasty... Through detailed intelligence, we can build a vast national model and then submit it to major universities around the world for research!"

How to defeat or even dismantle this country through military, industrial, cultural, and financial means!

Oh shit.

If I alone can't think of a way to defeat you all, do you think the entire world can't?

Once the idea took hold, it spread like wildfire.

He vaguely felt that he had grasped some of his thoughts.

What Earth can offer him may not just be a material reflection of the White Mist World.

Besides buying a house, he can do many other things on Earth.

"Making money, expanding influence, and commanding the world's top universities and even think tanks to serve such a vague and elusive topic—money alone is probably not enough."

He murmured, "Intelligence about the elves can be provided by Goth's intelligence department and even more organizations and forces, but on Earth, I can only rely on myself."

For a moment, a thousand thoughts raced through Kang De's mind.

The Autobots calmly said, "Congratulations, Father."

Kang De paused for a moment, then asked, "What?"

"Battle of Valentan, I could sense my father's emotional shift—a brief moment of relief, but the anxiety remained," the Autobots said. "And now, you seem to be free of confusion, which is good."

Kang De remained silent for a moment, then slowly began to laugh.

That's absolutely true.

Mass Projection strikes can only be used three times. Nuclear power is too decisive and cruel, and he doesn't want to consider this step lightly. Besides, he feels that even nuclear weapons won't solve all problems once and for all.

The elves' dominance and military might still put pressure on him.

Moreover, Valentan's experience taught him one thing.

The victory Goth needed might not be a nuclear missile falling from the sky and razing the Dusk Moon Dynasty to the ground. Even without the elves, there was still the Empire, and powerful nations and races that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Upon thinking of this, Kang De scoffed at himself, "Damn it, am I Goth's nanny?"

"On this matter, Father, my view is that while there may be love and kindness without reason in this world, there shouldn't be continuous one-sided giving. Your help to Goth at this time, and even your defeat of an army of elves, has already exceeded expectations in demonstrating your kindness and sincerity, and Goth has responded accordingly."

"They should respond... and to what extent depends on what they do for you."

The Autobots's voice was steady and composed.

From birth, he followed his father into the Goth battlefield and experienced the Battle of Valentan. In addition to the smoke and fire of war, he also witnessed countless deaths, conflicts, choices and human nature.

These experiences, along with Kang De's teachings, shaped the temperament and personality of this Man of Steel.

"You mean it."

Kang De smiled and said, "Anyway, that's not something that can be done overnight."

Just then, Iron Son suddenly said, "Someone's coming."

Several trucks emerged from the fork in the road ahead, their cargo beds covered with green tarpaulins, emitting a dull rumble as they drove forward. You could even see two rows of people sitting inside the truck beds.

Kang De calmly said, "Slow down."

The Humvee slowed down, its lights already off, and drove toward the side of the road. Kang De stared straight ahead, preparing various responses to any unexpected situations, but the trucks seemed oblivious to them.

He said, "It wasn't the military, because there were no checkpoints, no signs, and no stops for inspection."

The Autobots have a different perspective. "But the people inside the car definitely look like soldiers, judging from their posture and uniforms. They seem to have a certain level of discipline and adherence to rules."

Kang De opened the electronic map, searching for the nearest city. There was an airport nearby. He pondered, "They look like soldiers, but not quite... mercenaries?"

He glanced at the now-disappeared convoy. "Did they get a job? Where are they going?"

But the thought only lingered for a moment before it faded away.

This has nothing to do with him; he's only here to pick up the goods.

The Autobots said, "Father, could it be that the information was leaked and they're here to steal our weapons?"

Kang De replied, "No problem, let's rob them all too."

Iron Son chuckled softly, "I like this idea."

A father's words and actions also influence his son's personality.

But this little incident made Kang De more vigilant. After all, this was a foreign land, and he didn't speak the language. Moreover, it was under the rule of a military government in some sense. Being stopped and inspected by Myanmar soldiers was still quite troublesome. So the Humvee turned around and sped into the deep mountains and forests.

Anyway, the father and son had traveled all the way from the Empire to Goth and were used to this kind of road. And with the Transformers' self-repair and recovery capabilities, there was no need to worry about the car breaking down.

This is it.

Kang De confirmed the location.

Based on previous photos and descriptions, this is the desolate valley right before our eyes.

"I'll inspect the biological components, you inspect the electronic equipment."

He put on the helmet he had taken from the White Mist World. The car slowly approached, Kang De tore open the scroll of life detection. The Humvee's headlights emitted waves that were imperceptible to humans.

"Found it."

"I noticed that too."

"Father, what should we do?"

"What else can we do? Crush the electronic devices, knock the person unconscious, and dump them in a cemetery."

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PS1: You wouldn't believe it!

PS2: Well, here's the thing. At the end of August, I mentioned opening a bounty, and a friend reminded me that the impact drill might not agree. I thought about it, and I do have that concern. More importantly, I need to regulate my sleep schedule. After all, if I don't go to bed early now, the impact drill will definitely wake me up early too...

PS3: So I won't be offering a reward for extra chapters yet. I'll try to update more while maintaining a regular schedule, like I am now. So I won't be offering a reward for tickets either. If you see that I'm updating early and frequently, please give me a ticket or a knife if you want, it will motivate me. There will be another chapter tonight.