When Ian opened his eyes again, he suddenly remembered a classic quote from an Eastern fantasy novel that he had read on the Internet in his previous life:
"Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and regard all things as stupid dogs."
This sentence could not be more appropriate to describe Klonai, Planar Will, who represents the underlying logic of the universe. As the core consciousness responsible for maintaining the normal operation of the world, under her cold and absolutely rational judgment In the program, there is essentially no difference between an insignificant ant and a superior Tenth Tier god - she must treat all living beings equally and impose the highest laws of the universe on every being absolutely and fairly.
However, in this era, Klonai seems to have undergone some kind of mutation, which not only gave birth to a truly independent Self consciousness, but was even infected with the instinctive desire that all living things have - the extreme desire for stronger power.
After countless exhaustive deductions, she came to an extremely crazy conclusion: Arcane Empire was the only civilization in the universe that could help her overturn the old chessboard and realize the potential of Transcendence. Therefore, she abandoned the so-called gods without hesitation and began to secretly give Arcane Empire no bottom line and provide special care.
However, the causal backlash caused by Ian's desperate miracle of reversing time was so terrifying that it directly pushed Klonai to the edge of the cliff, even far beyond the limit that she could use loopholes in the rules to cover up. Because what Ian broke was the Cornerstone-level law that maintains the operation of this universe!
'I still remember that when I first time traveled, the me from the future warned me very seriously: If I destroy [Fundamental Law of Spacetime Continuity] wantonly, it will lead to irreparable horrific consequences. Could it be that... was he referring to these monsters called Guardians?'
Ian felt an unprecedented suffocating pressure. Even with the assistance of Time Acceleration Array, he was not sure that he could forcibly raise the power of the entire Netheril Floating City to the terrifying level of being able to kill the Eleventh Tier existence in just fifty years.
What's more, Empire is currently facing countless troublesome bottlenecks, the first of which is the [Soul Limit] problem that plagues all Arcanist; if this difficulty cannot be overcome as soon as possible, the development of the Empire may even come to a complete stagnation.
'Could it be that my only way to break the situation is to find that damn [Sage Clan]?'
Ian was frantically considering various possibilities in his heart. Relocating the whole country or escaping to another parallel timeline? This crazy idea was rejected by him as soon as it came up.
If those so-called Guardians possess the absolute dominance of Eleventh Tier in this plane, then they are absolutely capable of crossing dimensions and tracking any corner of Multiverse. To put it another way, if running away can solve the problem, Klonai could have told him this simplest option just now.
'So, if all the backup plans and countermeasures fail, then my final retreat... is to take the fire of the Empire and flee to other completely unfamiliar dimensions, and then try my best to plot a counterattack.'
This bleak end of traveling away from home like a lost dog, or even having to start from scratch in a distant and unfamiliar galaxy, is something that Ian is extremely resistant to in his heart. But if he really reaches the point where he is at the end of his rope and has no other choice, this may be the only cruel way out for the Empire that can preserve his heritage and continue the fire of civilization.
Ian took a long breath and forcibly dispelled these extremely heavy and depressing thoughts from his mind. His cold-cold eyes finally focused again on the group of trembling Empire senior executives in the conference room.
"You are a bunch of trash, you have completely betrayed my trust, and you have betrayed the expectations of hundreds of millions of the Empire people!" Ian's voice was not loud, but it carried a terrifying imperial pressure that could freeze the soul, making everyone present breathless. "However, now is not the time to find out who deserves to lose his head. Take action immediately and clean up the mess of this disaster as quickly as possible!"
This highest-level emergency meeting did not even last an hour. All response plans for post-disaster reconstruction, appeasing people's hearts, and accountability were quickly finalized with an almost crazy efficiency.
Then, in a solemn atmosphere, Ian led all Imperial Family members dressed in black mourning clothes and appeared solemnly on the personal holographic screen of every citizen of the Empire.
His Majesty the Emperor will personally deliver the extremely rare "Edict of Sin" and a nationally televised speech.
"Hello, all citizens of the Empire. Today, I stand here to speak to you because, as the supreme ruler of the Arcane Empire, I failed to fulfill my oath and I betrayed your trust. For this, I extend my deepest and most sincere apology to all the people of the Empire."
Without any hesitation, Ian bowed deeply to the camera very solemnly. All Imperial Family members standing behind him also bowed down.
After getting up, Ian's stern face was filled with unquestionable solemnity:
"Protecting the safety of your lives and property is my most unshirkable bottom-line responsibility as the Empire monarch. However, in this emergency, my security defense line failed completely."
Ian did not play any political tricks, did not quibble with the so-called "I have tried my best" or "the enemy is too cunning". The facts are facts. In the Cataclysm just now, all the citizens of the Empire witnessed through the live broadcast how their emperor desperately and madly reversed time in an attempt to save this tragedy, and how he failed. Failure is an irrefutable failure.
"Today is the darkest and most heartbreaking day since the founding of the Arcane Empire." Ian continued sadly. Even the "Dark Age" that swept the world that year had never caused such horrific and concentrated large-scale civilian casualties.
"In this protracted interstellar war, we have learned about the cruelty and darkness of the universe from history books and battle reports. But today, this Coldblood cruelty has really come to us, and we have paid the price in blood."
"Citizens, the strong rise of the Empire has long shaken the dictatorial rule of the so-called gods over this universe. In this crisis-ridden interstellar meat grinder, any tiny mistake, any negligence of even a thousandth of a second, may lead to the complete destruction of the civilization we have worked so hard to build, causing our home to become a wasteland, and causing our beloved relatives to turn into cosmic dust!"
Ian paused deliberately, letting this cruel and bloody warning ferment in the depths of the souls of hundreds of millions of citizens. Then, his tone suddenly became extremely high and full of unyielding fighting spirit:
"But! We will never allow this kind of tragedy to happen again! No, Empire will never allow this to happen even once!"
"We must not let fear, a cheap emotion, control our thoughts and constrain our actions like poison! We will take over the unfulfilled ambitions of those compatriots who left us prematurely. We will carry their aspirations and dreams for the future on our shoulders, step on the bones of the enemy, and continue to stride forward unswervingly!"
"May the supreme Arcane Truth always protect the immortal souls who took the first step for the Empire."
[May the supreme Arcane Truth always protect the immortal souls who took the first step for the Empire.]
The moment Ian finished speaking, this extremely solemn prayer was repeated in unison by hundreds of millions of citizens in every territory and planet of the Empire like a prairie fire!
This terrifying spiritual resonance, condensed by tens of billions of creatures, set off a wave of extremely mysterious and grand law fluctuations throughout Milky Way Galaxy.
Empire Supreme Council issued an emergency decree overnight, announcing that flags across the Empire would be flown at half-mast for the victims, and the country would mourn for seven days.
In the next few days, Empire's major official media broadcast Ian's historic speech titled "Legacy of Will" one after another.
The media frantically praised how His Majesty the Emperor used this speech to turn the tide, perfectly reuniting the souls of the people who had fallen into despair and had their faith collapsed in the disaster.
A breathtakingly majestic giant monument was erected on the site of the ruins to commemorate all the souls who died heroically in this terrorist attack and this decade-long galactic war.
This hundreds-of-story monument is entirely made of an extremely rare special Crystal glass, with the names of each victim densely engraved with magical inscriptions.
This huge piece of Crystal glass has been personally enchanted by the highest-level arcane mage. Any Empire citizen who comes here to pay his respects only needs to release a weak sense of his soul and touch the glass, and he will be able to very clearly see in his mind the image of any of the victims and their ordinary but great life on the glass.
After finishing that heavy national speech, Ian and Rowena had to embark on a non-stop journey to visit Empire's various places, personally visiting and comforting the families of the victims who he had failed to rescue in the disaster.
At the same time, he must also use the opportunity of this inspection to use his absolute power and prestige to completely stabilize the people's hearts and eliminate the panic caused by the disaster.
It was not until a few hours later that the exhausted Ian finally finished the heavy comfort work and returned to the palace, preparing to have a dinner with his family.
"Is everyone okay?" Ian pulled out a chair and sat down, letting out a long sigh. The food on the table was still steaming.
"We are all fine," Hermione put down the tableware in his hands and looked at him with concern, "How are you feeling now?"
"Still resisting." Ian rubbed his tired face with both hands. Can he really save those three million people? His rational brain, which is comparable to a quantum computer, told him extremely coldly: This is simply impossible. Because before this attack happened, he didn't even know anything about the ancient curse hidden deep in his blood!
However, he also knew very well that if he had not become too arrogant and underestimated the enemy in the later stages of the war, if he had not deliberately used Guznader as a manipulated chess piece for the so-called "maximization of political interests"... This tragedy, which is enough to be recorded in the history of the Empire, would have had a chance to be strangled in the cradle!
"Stop blaming yourself too much for this irreparable thing." Olivia enlightened him very rationally, "Even if Guznader does not detonate this curse today, there will definitely be other enemies more terrifying than him one day in the future who will use this blood loophole to deal with us. By that time, the situation Empire is facing will definitely be a hundred times more tragic than it is now! From an extremely Coldblood but extremely realistic perspective, we should even feel lucky that we discovered this fatal hidden danger buried deep in the Empire's genes so early."
What this female marshal Empire said is absolutely correct. Guznader is at best a Ninth Tier god who was forced into Extremis. The destructive power he can create by using this curse actually has a very high upper limit.
What's more, compared to the old super civilizations in the universe that often have a population of trillions, the current population base of the Arcane Empire is still relatively small, which means that this cursed Magekind bloodline has not spread in the universe in an extremely terrifying and uncontrollable manner.
But no matter how Self comforts it, the death of three million people is still a suffocating and huge disaster.
"Okay, let's not talk about these heavy topics. Let's eat first." Ian forced a smile and glanced across the dining table, "Wait, where is Luna? Why didn't you see her?"
"You'd better go and talk to her in person." Ian's mother sighed worriedly.
Ian immediately stood up and walked quickly to Luna's exclusive bedroom in the palace. Opening the door, he saw that the girl, who had always been eccentric, was slumped on the bed like a broken doll, and her eyes that were originally full of aura were now empty and lifeless.
"Dear, are you okay?" Ian's heart suddenly tugged, and he quickly walked to the bed and sat down.
"I should have listened to you..." As soon as Luna opened his mouth, two lines of clear tears came out of his eyes like broken beads.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"I should have listened to your advice long ago and gone to those parallel variants that belong to me in Fusion Dark Multiverse without hesitation! If I had done that, my [Prophecy ability] would have definitely experienced a qualitative leap! I could definitely have foreseen this horrific tragedy in advance and saved those three million innocent people!"
"I really... really should listen to you." Luna burst into tears.
"No, no, this is definitely not your fault. Don't put this heavy burden on yourself!" Ian hugged her tightly into his arms and comforted her very gently, "Even if you really forced Fusion those transformations, in that unpredictable destiny, no one can guarantee that you can accurately foresee this attack."
Luna lay in Ian's arms and continued to swallow more. Ian's comfort did not make her feel any less guilty.
"Actually... I feel lucky from the bottom of my heart. I'm glad you didn't listen to my crazy suggestion." Ian continued to caress her back, "In this family full of killings and calculations, there are only you and Hermione is the absolutely indispensable 'moral bottom line' for our whole family! If it weren't for the existence of you two, I and others would have completely degenerated into Coldblood monsters who do whatever it takes to achieve their goals."
"However, Hermione's extremely competitive character means that when faced with certain extreme situations, her bottom line is often more flexible than yours, and it is easier for her to make compromises. Therefore, I am really lucky that you can always stick to your pure heart and not be assimilated by the disgusting darkness and cruelty in me."
In fact, Ian's words did not tell the whole truth. In this complex family, there is actually a third person who truly has a kind and firm moral bottom line - Wiz. As for Tsunade, although as a top Medical Ninja, she also has a benevolent heart to save lives and heal the wounded, but her extremely tragic Boy Scout experience left extremely serious war trauma deep in her soul, causing her to have countless psychological shadows that need to be overcome.
Therefore, looking at the entire harem, the only people who can really serve as "moral ballast" to prevent the whole family from completely going dark are Luna and Wiz. However, After all, the time Wiz joined Empire was too short, and her power and voice in this family are still very weak. Therefore, the important task of maintaining the family's bottom line can only fall on Luna's shoulders.
"You... are you telling the truth?" Luna raised his head and looked at him with tearful eyes.
"Of course, when have I ever lied to you?" Ian rubbed her blond hair lovingly.
"Thank you... I really needed someone to say this to me at this time."
"There is no need to say the word thank you between us." Ian nodded extremely gently, "You are too nervous now. You must have a good sleep. Let me help you."
"Hmm."
Ian opened his lips slightly, and a lullaby that contained extremely profound soul soothing principles and an extremely beautiful and ethereal melody slowly flowed in the room as he sang. Under the comfort of this magical power that reached the depths of the soul, Luna felt that his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, and after a few seconds, he fell into a deep sleep.
Ian sat by the bed and waited quietly for a few minutes. Only after confirming that Luna's breathing became extremely steady and deep, and that he had completely entered a deep sleep, did he prepare to get up and leave.
However, he had just taken a few steps when the highest-level encrypted communicator on his wrist suddenly sounded an extremely harsh emergency alarm.
"What the hell happened again this time?!" Ian connected to the communication, and the voice was so cold that it seemed to freeze Void directly. Several Royal Guardss guarding outside the bedroom door heard this terrifying low roar, and even shivered uncontrollably.
An encrypted holographic screen instantly popped up in front of Ian. Just after glancing at the top-secret briefing on the screen, Ian's stern face instantly became extremely solemn!
Without even half a second of hesitation, the magic power around Ian exploded, tearing apart the space and teleporting to the Empire Time-Space Aurors's top secret headquarters as quickly as possible!
"Where are they?!" As soon as Ian landed, he sternly asked the oncoming supreme commander.
"Report to your majesty! The target has been arrested and brought to justice by us in an extremely secretive manner. He is currently being held in EX7 Classified Isolation Cell, the highest security level, awaiting your fate!" The commander stood at attention, saluted, and reported loudly.
"You guys did a great job." Ian praised him in person in a very rare way. Then he took a deep breath, adjusted his condition to its peak, and strode towards the cell where Empire's fate was decided.
When the heavy alloy isolation door slowly opened, the moment Ian saw clearly the extremely special "felon" who was restrained on the prison chair... Arcane Emperor, who was used to seeing strong winds and waves, his pupils suddenly shrank into a needle!