"It's a very ancient organization," Su Huilan explained. "Based on the information I have, the Alliance was already established at least around 1600 BC during the ancient Ancient Babylon period. And judging from the underwater ruins discovered during this scientific expedition in the South Pacific, the Alliance may have existed even earlier, during the Sumer and Ancient Egypt periods."
"What is this Alliance for?" Petru asked with great interest.
Su Huilan said, "I've said it before, the purpose of the Alliance is to prevent the world from falling into a lower dimension and to allow humanity to return to the previous dream realm."
Qingmu felt that equating dreams with dimensions was inappropriate, so he said, "But what I understand is different from what you're saying. I've heard that the Alliance was established to prevent people like you and me with powerful Mental Power Mental Power from abusing them, and that it has established many rules to restrict Awakened from abusing their Mental Power."
Su Huilan said, "That's right, the Alliance did indeed evolve into what you said, and most of the Alliance members didn't even know the original purpose of the Alliance formation."
"Then how did you know?"
"That's another story..." Su Huilan took a deep breath, but didn't continue.
"Looks like I've messed with a bunch of people I shouldn't have!" Petru rolled his eyes. "Could Ms. Su be part of the Alliance too?"
Su Huilan smiled and said, "If you really want to count, you could say I'm part of the Alliance, but I'm not with them."
"Different political parties within your organization?"
"No, not a political party, but an enemy!"
"The enemy?" Petru and Qingmu asked in surprise at the same time.
"Yes," Su Huilan said, "In fact, the Awakeners' Alliance disbanded long ago."
"Disbanded? When? Why? And who were they?" Petru asked a series of questions.
Su Huilan said, "In human history, no organization has ever been able to maintain internal stability and ideological unity after it has grown large, and the Awakeners' Alliance is no exception. Since ancient times, the Alliance has been constantly arguing due to different ideologies and interests, forming many different factions, just like the political parties you mentioned. However, in every period, the Alliance has had one or a few highly prestigious and very powerful people to take charge."
"Just like the Pope in the Vatican!" Petru interjected.
"And the Redbeard of the Gulf of Aden!" Su Huilan joked.
"I don't count," Petru curled his lip. "Pirates only care about money, they have no ideas."
"But you unified them," Su Huilan said. "I don't know how many times the Alliance has split in its history, but it always survived the calamities until the late 19th and early 20th centuries when a great explosion of Mental Power occurred globally."
"This can also cause an explosion?" Qingmu suddenly thought of Mei Yiqiu's hairstyle and couldn't help but laugh.
Su Huilan said, " The Sun can erupt with solar flares, so why can't Mental Power? However, the reason for this Mental Power explosion remains unclear. The most plausible guess is that a powerful cosmic consciousness descended upon Earth, but this contradicts the theory of the origin of the spirit, because if the universe itself is the result of our consciousness, then where did this consciousness that descended upon Earth come from? This makes the Alliance members even more convinced that we are in a dream, and this power originates from outside the dream."
"But regardless, that period produced a great number of geniuses. If you think about it carefully, you'll find that although the progress of human civilization has been accelerating, only the late 19th and early 20th centuries can be considered a truly revolutionary era. Quantum theory and relativity were both proposed during that time, and the emergence of a host of great scientific geniuses— Einstein, Planck, Bohr, Dirac ...—changed the course of civilization throughout the 20th century. In addition, outstanding figures emerged in philosophy, literature, art, and engineering. Even today, humanity is still enjoying the benefits of this wave of theoretical thought."
"The general public was unaware of what was happening, assuming it was a normal phenomenon of social change. Only the awakened could sense the omnipresent spiritual energy. The emergence of many Awakened made the Alliance appear prosperous and powerful, to the point that everyone thought it was time for a collective ascent."
"What does 'climbing upwards' mean?" Petru asked.
"I bet it's a breakthrough to the next level of the dream world. Those guys think they're living in a dream, quack!" the Crow couldn't help but interject.
"That's right, exactly." Su Huilan nodded. "However, people have overlooked one truth—social change always has two sides, and the progress of civilization is inevitably accompanied by the danger of destruction. The Alliance that has experienced a spiritual explosion is like a nouveau riche who has suddenly become wealthy; many hidden contradictions are slowly emerging, ambitious people are taking the stage, and a global catastrophe unprecedented in human history has quietly begun..."
"You mean World War II?" Qingmu remembered Duwa telling him that the Alliance dissolved during World War II, and Situ said that World War II was a dream. What exactly happened in the middle of it all?
Su Huilan said, "That was just the climax of the disaster. I don't know exactly when it started. What I do know is that during World War II, the Alliance had already suffered a serious split, and many people were drawn into the war. Mental Power played a crucial role on the battlefield, even being decisive in many battles."
A somber look appeared on her face, as if she had witnessed firsthand the tumultuous and unbearable era of war.
"Countless people died on the battlefield, but the most tragic were those ordinary young soldiers who knew nothing but hot blood. They didn't know that besides the smoke of gunpowder, the battlefield was also shrouded in a cloud of dread. Sometimes, a mental attack is more despairing than whistling bullets."
Qingmu recalled the Zhulong Mountain Cave, and seemed to see those suicide squads who had been hypnotized by Kitano Masatake back then, rushing one after another towards the bridgehead fortress that spewed fire snakes.
He could imagine a large number of spiritual masters participating in the battle. Throughout history, a crucial factor in determining the outcome of a war has been morale, which is a highly spiritual thing. If one side possesses strong spiritual suppression, it can easily cause the other side to collapse.
Although he could imagine the scene Su Huilan described, and aside from the lack of evidence, he couldn't find any fault with it, it was still a bit of a stretch to believe it was true. Moreover, Qingmu wouldn't easily believe everything she said, after all, this wasn't a subconscious conversation. Why didn't Su Huilan speak up back then in the dreamlike state within the Space Box?
"How did you know these things?" he asked.
Su Huilan said softly, "My father lived through that era, and he passed on some of his memories to me. When I was very young, I saw everything in his dreams. My father spent his life following Master Nanke, hoping to end the war, but they failed. After the war, he lived in seclusion in San Francisco's Chinatown, drinking all day long, and eventually died of depression."
Qingmu asked curiously, "But didn't we enter a period of peace later? Why didn't your father rebuild the Alliance and the book?"
Su Huilan shook her head and said, "This is something I've never understood either. My father's last words were very mysterious. He said, 'It's too late. The Ark has sunk into the abyss, and God will abandon humanity that has sunk to the bottom.' I was too young then to understand what it meant. Later, I kept pondering it until I figured out the relationship between dreams and the world. I guess he meant that the world has fallen into a deeper layer of dreams, and he couldn't bring humanity back with his power."
Qingmu suddenly asked, "Do you know Situ?"