Chapter 236

While Ai Yue was sound asleep, the place was already brightly lit and packed with people. Representatives from countless countries had gathered together, exchanging information with representatives from other countries while constantly receiving new messages from their own countries. It was a lively and bustling scene.

After all, even without definite news, after receiving the warning from Ai Yue, capable countries still tried their best to capture information related to the moon.

Not to mention the enormous, Radiant Giant that appeared behind the moon; even countries without the ability to capture lunar information, or even ordinary people, could observe that scene with the naked eye.

Therefore, without any restrictions on the internet, news about "what might have happened on the moon" has spread throughout the world, and all sorts of speculations are emerging on the internet, but very few people have guessed the truth.

After all, for ordinary people, the Honkai has always been a shadow in their hearts. No one dares to believe that this dark cloud covering the entire human civilization would dissipate so easily. Even if someone does raise such a guess, the replies are mostly evasive, and no one dares to easily hold onto hope.

Of course, as representatives of various countries, the United Earth Government was quite confident about this—after all, the person who orchestrated all of this was Ai Yue.

So they discussed it while waiting for an ending that would allow everyone to survive.

Just then, a message quickly spread throughout the conference hall—someone spotted Kevin at the headquarters of the Moth to Fire!

All the representatives quickly perked up, after all, everyone knew that Kevin was definitely a warrior who participated in the final battle on the moon. His safe return meant that the final battle had come to an end and that victory had been achieved.

Despite having many guesses in their minds, no one spoke up, and no one even wanted to ask about the situation.

Ordinary people don't dare to have any hope, so those who bear greater responsibilities are even less likely to speak up.

Fortunately, the United Earth Government was not without a leader. In this strange atmosphere, it was the representative of Shenzhou who took the initiative to make contact with Dr. Mei.

Those who noticed this quickly fell silent. The once bustling conference hall became so quiet you could hear a pin drop in an instant. Countless eyes were fixed on the Shenzhou representative's communicator, and the complex emotions contained within were enough to serve as a landmark lesson in understanding humanity that Artificial Intelligence could study for three days and three nights.

After a brief but unbearable wait, the communication was finally connected, and Dr. Mei's voice came through the communicator. "Hello, Representative Zhou?"

"Dr. Mei, thank you for staying up so late."

The Shenzhou representative instinctively uttered a meaningless greeting, then quickly got to the point under everyone's silent gaze, "Ahem, well, we received news that Mr. Kevin has returned to headquarters. So, what was the final outcome of the war on the moon?"

"Oh, that."

Dr. Mei's tone was somewhat uneasy, containing a certain absent-mindedness and a hint of urgency, as if this outcome, which concerned the survival of all human civilization, was not her current focus. "We have won, and there will be no more threat of Honkai."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at that moment, and the entire conference hall seemed to tremble in resonance.

"Is that so?"

Despite being mentally prepared, the Shenzhou representative's hand still trembled violently. He shakily removed his glasses. "So, specifically..."

"I'm sorry, I can't disclose this information for now. You can try to get the answer from Doctor Ai Yue after he wakes up."

Dr. Mei's attitude was unexpectedly tough, as if she no longer cared about the United Earth Government's jurisdiction over her. "Now I need to rest. Goodnight, everyone."

She then hung up the call impatiently, leaving the Shenzhou representative no room to react.

"So, we won?"

After a moment, the North America representative finally spoke up, "Really?"

Even at this moment, no one present uttered a sound, as if they were bound by some invisible constraint.

"At least that's what Dr. Mei said, and I don't think she would have any reason to lie to us about something like this."

The Shenzhou representative gave him a strange look. "Or perhaps you want to seek answers from Doctor Ai Yue?"

The North America representative immediately shook his head. "I didn't mean that! I just... I just feel a little... empty?"

His face showed a complex expression, like a philosopher pondering a problem.

Subtle expressions appeared on everyone's faces. Although they did not express it, their inner feelings were very similar to those of the North America representatives.

Even though we won, and we no longer have to live in fear, what exactly is this subtle emotion that arises from the bottom of our hearts?

It even overwhelmed the ecstasy, leaving the person feeling conflicted.

"Feeling empty is normal."

Of everyone present, the Shenzhou representative was one of the few who did not show such an expression, "Because the victor of this war, to be precise, is not humanity, but Doctor Ai Yue himself."

While others were still analyzing the outcome of the decisive battle, the representatives from Shenzhou had already taken the lead and considered deeper issues.

That is why he was able to calmly utter these words that awakened everyone.

Yes, in this war, and even in the entire process of human civilization fighting against Honkai, how much has humanity actually contributed?

The representatives from various countries quickly recalled the answer in their minds and then realized it was quite absurd.

That is—it is almost negligible.

The entire process of fighting against the Honkai, starting from the appearance of Ai Yue, entered a very absurd state.

Herrscher hardly need to worry about the Herrschers; they can leave everything to Ai Yue and the Fused Warrior. There's also little to worry about with the Honkai Beast, as drone swarms and virtual Honkai Beast will handle it. Even the containment and resettlement of people has already been planned and prepared by Ai Yue. They just need to follow the plan step by step to save the lives of almost everyone.

In other words, starting with the Eighth Herrscher, Ai Yue has always prioritized protecting more people in his efforts to defeat the Herrscher.

This led the Ninth Herrscher to make the decision to ignore Atra City, the technological center of all human civilization, and instead target Ai Yue alone.

What kind of help did humans provide to Ai Yue?

Did they provide funding? Did they provide the venue? Did they provide manpower?

But these weren't even necessary conditions for Ai Yue.

Funding? Without it, Ai Yue's development will only be slower, and in the end, it's humanity that will suffer. Site? Australia is a place that everyone hates. Strictly speaking, Ai Yue is helping humanity restore the local ecology. As for manpower, Moth to Fire's even more laughable. Everyone knows that Ai Yue even created his own assistants. The only permanent residents of Star of Light are him, a nominal guard, and oh, a cat.

In other words, even without human help, Ai Yue could still defeat the Honkai, just at a slower pace. But if humanity lost Ai Yue's protection, it would be a miracle if even a fraction of the humans survived.

Regarding Ai Yue's position on human civilization, the United Earth Government actually had a rather serious discussion, and the final conclusion was: Ai Yue is the leader of human civilization, and under his leadership, the possibility of humanity defeating the Honkai is the highest.

It was precisely because of the outcome of this meeting that the entire human civilization ultimately decided to unconditionally support all of Ai Yue's decisions.

But now it seems, this isn't a leader at all; it's clearly a power leveling service!

Even if you brought the gods from human mythology to life, they couldn't possibly do a better job Ai Yue —and considering the absurd portrayals of some of the characters in mythology, it might even have a negative effect.

That's why everyone feels empty, because this victory theoretically has nothing to do with humanity; they simply won by doing nothing.

Just then, some of the representatives' communicators vibrated again, this time with more eyewitness reports coming from certain areas.

Cosmo, Desdrobia, Kalpas... all those who could theoretically participate in the final battle on the moon appeared on Earth unharmed.

This means that in this decisive battle, humanity suffered no casualties—this is not just a simple victory, it is a perfect victory! A pure triumph!

But the expressions on everyone's faces were somewhat numb.

Because after realizing the conclusion that "humans win by doing nothing," these things no longer seem to matter much.

But no matter what, victory is victory.

After all, everyone was a seasoned politician. After a brief moment of reflection, they quickly composed themselves and began to engage in serious discussion.

The announcement of information to the outside world, the guidance of public sentiment, and the outlook for the future... these are all things they need to discuss and resolve.

Of course, while these arguments sound grand and noble, they are essentially all about the same thing—the distribution of the spoils of victory.

Although all countries and regions in the world are nominally under the unified administration of the United Earth Government, the representatives of the participating countries still come from different countries and races, and they can't help but want to fight for more benefits for their own side.

So theoretically, at this point, everyone will rack their brains to claim credit for themselves or prevent others from doing so, resulting in a lively and boisterous atmosphere with lots of arguments and laughter throughout the venue.

This time, however, everyone was quite restrained. Even the North America representatives, who usually love this segment the most, were unusually well-behaved and even offered to maintain the original priority of regional needs in order to allocate the Earth's resources in a unified manner.

It's important to understand that this demand priority system was established to ensure that less developed countries and regions can also preserve their populations as much as possible. In other words, these resources will be prioritized for less developed areas, which is actually quite disadvantageous for regions like North America, Shenzhou, or even the European Community.

Therefore, this was only a short-term wartime policy, and now that the threat of Honkai has been eliminated, it should be abolished.

However, the representative of the country that most needs to abolish this policy has announced that it will continue to maintain it, which is completely contrary to the old stereotypes. As a result, the North America representative has received strange looks from many other representatives.

Dude, did you take the wrong medicine today?

Why are you all staring at me like that?

Faced with the obvious meaning from everyone, the North America representative couldn't help but curl his lip, "At this point, there's no point in fighting for this anymore, is there?"

"I just didn't expect you guys to actually make such a decision."

The representative from Shenzhou smiled slightly and spoke more casually, "After all, the situation on your side is so complicated. Are those people really willing to give up their interests?"

"It's not like you're the only ones who think this through."

Seeing the expression on the Shenzhou representative's face, the North America representative also laughed. "Of course, some internal conflicts have not yet been resolved, so this is just our current stance. How long it can be maintained depends on those people."

"Hopefully they can see things more clearly."

The representative from Shenzhou shook his head, a meaningful expression on his face. "After all, their word doesn't count anymore."

After the threat of Honkai is eliminated, where will human civilization go from here?

This issue used to be a regular topic of discussion for the United Earth Government, and it would be brought up for discussion every now and then. As time went by, the answer to this question gradually changed from a variety of opinions to a unified conclusion.

That is, "It depends on what Ai Yue thinks."

Although humanity did not play a crucial role in this life-or-death struggle, and some people were even too well taken care of to have a strong sense of the threat of Honkai, the subtle influence of this event has awakened many more people and made them realize the crux of the problem.

If humanity continues to indulge in endless infighting, even if it defeats the Honkai, it will one day be destroyed by its own hand.

If Ai Yue knew about this, he would probably be pleased with the effectiveness of the "Divine Tone Project".

As for whether this is due to genuine human enlightenment or an awakening driven by external forces, that is a matter of opinion.

After the proposal from the North America representative was quickly approved, the meeting proceeded smoothly. However, at that moment, a solemn and deep bell rang in the conference hall.

This is the chime of the clock crossing midnight in Coordinated Universal Time. Originally intended to remind everyone that civilization has been able to continue for another day, it now has a new meaning.

"A brand new day."

The North America representative exclaimed, "It's only now that I realize how good it is to be alive."

"Yes, this is truly a brand new day."

The representative from Shenzhou smiled and echoed, "I think human civilization should also make new changes."

"How about we start with a brand new holiday? Let's call it Victory Day, shall we?"

"Sounds good."

With twelve consecutive chimes, the people representing the future of humanity began a new meeting.

Chapter Two: A Fierce Display of Power in Front of Others.

When Ai Yue woke up, it was already noon. Twelve hours had passed since the United Earth Government announced its victory.

During this period, they not only established a holiday called "Victory Day of the War Against the Honkai of Human Civilization," but also successfully introduced a series of policies to maintain previous decisions and ensure that humanity would not start meaningless fighting and internal strife after the huge external pressure disappeared.

Of course, they could actually do much more, but there are many things that the United Earth Government cannot decide on its own at the moment, so they have to wait until Ai Yue wakes up.

So, just as Ai Yue left the bedroom, he received a reminder from Ai Yi: "Doctor Ai Yue, the United Earth Government has invited you to participate in an online meeting, which was initiated eight hours ago."

"Eight hours ago, wasn't that four in the morning?"

Ai Yue glanced at the time and shook his head slightly. "Don't these people sleep?"

"That's understandable. After all, this victory is of great significance to humanity. If it were me, I probably wouldn't be able to sleep either."

Ai responded, "Actually, I didn't sleep either, because I was also responsible for network control."

"You don't have the ability to sleep either, do you?"

Ai Yue couldn't help but glance at Ai Yi, "Besides, are you really working instead of sleeping? I feel like you're playing games."

"It's all the same, it won't cause any delays anyway."

Ai casually asked, "And what about the United Earth Government?"

"Give them a reply, just say you'll be there soon."

Ai Yue had already arrived at his laboratory. He pushed open the door, and the lights inside automatically turned on. "Oh, by the way, prepare a bit more later..."

When Ai Yue entered the online meeting room, he was greeted by a dense array of over a hundred participants' avatars and a meeting hall that occupied two-thirds of the wall screen area.

"Oh, they're all here."

Ai Yue glanced at it and casually greeted him, "Thank you for your hard work."

With his current visual system, he could see the undisguised fatigue and excitement on everyone's face from just a casual glance.

"It's not hard work, it's not hard work."

The Shenzhou representative was about to speak when the North America representative beat him to it, "Doctor Ai Yue, shall we get straight to the point?"

Doctor Ai Yue hates roundabout ways the most, and this is something that everyone who might have to deal with Doctor Ai Yue should understand beforehand.

"Um."

Ai Yue nodded, but his eyes weren't on the screen. Instead, he looked down at the various decisions the United Earth Government had made while he was sleeping, as summarized by Ai Yi. "I guess what you're most concerned about is the course of that decisive battle on the moon?"