Splitting Forces

"Captain," the oldest member stepped forward, "What about the natives we've helped along the way? If we leave, they won't even last until next month."

"Zhou, we're here to deliver supplies," Jenny said. "We can't be garrison soldiers here."

"But we're better fighters than these natives," Old Zhou said. "The Amber Lord's side doesn't need our team; if we're gone, they'll be wiped out. Shouldn't our Preservation protect them?"

When the argument started, no one raised their voice. Everyone spoke with restraint. Although it was a debate about ideas, every word they spoke was about practical matters—stones, lamp oil, how many days they could last, whose child still had a fever. One young team member said he was still at the salt lake last month, where only three wooden railings remained; another said the winch at the valley entrance was broken and someone needed to stay and repair it.

Jingxing stood outside the crowd listening, and suddenly realized that he had heard this argument before. Right there in Fanghu's council hall, the high-ranking officials of the Xianzhou had also argued in the same way, except that back then there was an entire ship city spread out on the table, while here there was only a pile of stones.

Midway through the argument, Jenny suddenly turned to him and asked, "What does Mr. Jingxing think?"

Jingxing was taken aback. He'd been fighting all these past few days; why was he suddenly asked to speak?

Jingxing looked down at his hand. The marks left by the pen on his fingertips were long gone, replaced by a faint line, like a mark made by a thread.

He thought about it.

"Only the Amber Lord can solve the Swarm Disaster," Jingxing said. "After the Ancestor of the Locust Calamity, the Swarms have become boundless. Every town we defend today will have to defend again tomorrow; only if the Amber Lord succeeds can we keep the Swarms out and free more places from this suffering. Therefore, I believe helping the Amber Lord is the greater good."

He paused, then began to play both sides. "But Old Zhou isn't wrong either. Someone has to be here to protect them today."

The basin was quiet for a moment. Someone bent down and kicked a pebble at their feet, and the pebble rolled to a stop near the fire.

"Then let's all go," Fu Xuan said.

Everyone looked over.

"I've calculated it," she said. "If there's one more person going west, the wall will close a day sooner; if there's one more person here, these towns will hold out a day longer. People are needed on both sides. Who's right and who's wrong is irrelevant here."

After she said that, no one argued anymore.

Old Zhou looked at her for a while, then suddenly cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to her, turned around, and left. Some people dispersed after him, walking faster than before; others rolled up their sleeves, as if they had just taken on a new job.

The specific plan for dividing the forces was finalized the following morning.

The main force boarded the spaceship and continued to aid Amber Lord. The remaining small force stayed behind at Priva II, led by Old Zhou, to collect supplies and guard the settlement.

"How can I contact you?" Old Zhou asked.

Jenny pulled something from her bosom—a small piece of amber, about the size of her palm, with worn edges and a crack in the middle. She placed the amber on her lap, pressed it, and it broke.

"You take half, I'll take half." She stuffed one half into Old Zhou's hand, "I believe the Amber Lord will guide us to meet."

After Fu Xuan organized the number of people and resource allocation on both sides, he handed it over to Jenny and Old Zhou to review.

"Now everyone should have no objections, right?"

Old Zhou smiled. He flipped back to look at Fu Xuan's records, nodded to Jingxing, said nothing more, and turned to call out the people who would be with him.

He ordered slowly, and after he finished, he turned back and raised his hand to Jenny; Jenny also raised her hand, and neither of them spoke again.

In this global Swarm Disaster has engulfed the entire universe, this scene may be a final farewell.

"Human life is as worthless as grass," Jingxing murmured with emotion.

"After all, it's a battle for the path of the Aeon. We can't change much, we can only do our best to protect those we encounter." Fu Xuan patted his leg. "If you feel mentally exhausted, would you like to lie down for a while?"

"Shall we depart soon?" Jingxing glanced at the others watching. "We'll talk about it after we get on the spaceship and into our rooms."

After taking off from the Priva II spaceship, Jenny arranged a room for the two of them. "This should be fine, right? As long as we hold out for twelve days, we'll reach Pier Point."

"Pier Point?" Jingxing repeated. Somewhat surprised, he had assumed that the headquarters of the Interastral Peace Corporation was built later.

"Yes," Jenny said, "Amber Lord is building the wall over there. Right now, it's just a huge construction site—a quarry, transport teams from all over the universe, people fleeing from various star systems, everyone's gathered there. As long as Amber Lord succeeds, many lives will be saved."

"It should take twelve days to arrive," Fu Xuan said. "How long do you estimate it will take to build that wall?"

"I don't know, maybe only the Amber Lord himself knows," Jenny shook her head. "He's been building the wall since before we were born. Our generation finishes this section, and the next generation continues. One day, we will help the Amber Lord fulfill His grand ambition."

Jingxing stood on the roof of the car, looking at the stardust outside the window. The color here was lighter than elsewhere, as if it had been polished by something; if you looked further away, you could also see some Swarm circling around like headless flies.

"Swarm Disaster..." Jingxing sighed inwardly.

As for this destination, Pier Point —the headquarters of the Interastral Peace Corporation in his time was located here. The people in the company called Qlipoth "Chairman," and this was no joke. Although some people always said that the Amber Lord ignored the Interastral Peace Corporation, you can tell from the source of the Zhenzhu's power that the Interastral Peace Corporation can indeed use the power from the Amber Lord.

Just as the Xianzhou is to the Aeon of the Hunt, the company is an extension of the Amber Lord's power.

Thinking about that last sentence, he suddenly felt like laughing, "Thinking about it this way, am I considered an extension of the power of the goddess Idrila?"

Then I thought again, Idrila has already left this universe, does that mean I am...?

"What are you thinking about? Your smile is so dangerous." Fu Xuan, sitting in his lap, asked, tilting his head back.

"I was thinking about the Interastral Peace Corporation." Jingxing poked Fu Xuan's cheek. "In a while, we won't need to spend 1.8 billion Credits to pay homage to the Amber Lord."

That night, the two slept fully clothed in bed. The autopilot of the spaceship slowed down slightly, allowing the people inside to sleep soundly.

Before lying down, Jingxing glanced out the window. The sea of stars stretched endlessly, with only a single light shining in the far distance.

"At its worst, the Swarm Disaster affected two-thirds of the observable universe, but the lights of civilization never went out."

The Genius Society, Ninth Mechanism, the Interastral Peace Corporation formed from the Amber Lord Support Team...

Jingxing took out the invitation from Polka Kakamond from his pocket and glanced at it. The small gear-like pattern was still lying flat, without any movement. He put the invitation away, closed his eyes, and listened to the sound of the air conditioner blowing.