"Sir, please spare my son! Both of my sons have gone to the battlefield, and now I only have this one left. Please spare him, so my family can continue its lineage!"
"Arrest her too, and send her to the front lines to serve as a comfort soldier!"
"No, no, no, sir, I was wrong, sir, I was wrong!"
Several soldiers dressed in high-ranking officer uniforms were snatching people off the street. A mother and child, surrounded by the soldiers, could only wail in despair.
However, he dared not resist, nor could he resist at all, as everyone around him had already fled to avoid the chaos of this conscription.
The imperial city of the Northern Continent is now completely different from what it used to be.
The Godfall War lasted only four short years, and the entire Gothic Empire of the Northern Continent was in a state of utter devastation, with its people suffering immensely.
Even though the de facto leaders of all industries have been taken over by the Eternal Life Society, the termites on the empire's massive body have still eaten away at the already crumbling empire, leaving it riddled with holes.
After all, not everyone can be like Pale God, completely controlling and monitoring the entire empire!
Such a street scene is a typical example: the children of those in the family who pay money or have some power can be protected, while those in the family without power are all sent to the battlefield from top to bottom.
If most of the powerless had not been forcibly sent to the production workshops, the Gothic Empire would probably have collapsed completely by now.
Even so, the Gothic Empire is now not far from collapse.
With the frontline war lost, the Pale God emerged from the depths of his palace, his Pressure covering the entire Southern Continent. In an instant, he completely reversed their previous advantage. Even the puppet army, wearing the Holy Church's protective amulets, could hardly survive under the Pale God might. This forced them to continue this perilous war by relying on pure-blooded humans as their primary resource.
Now that the entire Southern Continent is engaged in a continuous war, the Gothic Empire has been placed in an extremely passive position.
The transoceanic battle was extremely costly, and logistical problems became the biggest burden on the front lines. Such immense pressure caused the Gothic Empire to suffer from the devastation of all industries and widespread poverty. Even the rations for production workers were barely enough to feed themselves, and all resources were allocated to the front lines.
In just three months, the death toll on the front lines reached a terrifying three million. The total number of dead and wounded was nearly ten million.
Even a vast empire with a territory and population far exceeding that of many countries on Earth can only barely withstand such enormous casualties and losses in a short period of time.
Even so, the all-out war launched by the Southern Continent has not ceased.
One secret order after another drifted from the front lines to the capital like snowflakes, like death warrants.
The mother and son screamed as they were dragged away by a group of sergeants. The sergeants' arrogant laughter and the mother and son's cries could still be faintly heard not far away, which made the old man in a wheelchair in a high-rise building in the distance look down into silence.
"Perhaps I understand why your teacher suddenly changed his mind, transforming from a staunch anti-God to the person he is today."
Perhaps an entity capable of controlling everything can truly exert forceful stability in this society rife with desires.
The extremely elderly King Miles XIV's eyes were already cloudy, and he could barely open his mouth to speak, only able to purse his lips slightly and utter a few soft words.
He was far too old.
Even the old popes of the Holy Lord Church in the past were in better condition when they died than him.
So it's quite clear that he has finally reached the point of death.
Jacob, dressed in a black robe, stood quietly behind him, listening to his muttered lamentations without being moved.
As people grow old, their will becomes less firm.
Just like his teacher Duoxia, or perhaps like Miles XIV today.
He dedicated his entire life to this goal, only to regret it on his deathbed and question whether he had made a mistake. It's utterly ridiculous.
If it weren't for Miles XIV's obstruction, nuclear weapons would have already been used on the front lines against the Southern Continent.
The human race across the entire Southern Continent is no longer a pure-blooded race; they deserve to die. He had already proposed using nuclear weapons to launch a devastating attack on the Southern Continent, thus deciding the outcome in one fell swoop!
However, Miles XIV disagreed from the very beginning.
He believed that the humans of the Southern Continent were also his people, and that such genocidal methods should not be used to treat his own kind.
Such a concept is truly laughable. If the people of the Southern Continent are reproductively isolated from those of the Northern Continent, then where does the idea of a "tribe" come from?
This old man is simply old and frail, and his mind is no longer firm!
Jacob did not answer Miles XIV's question, but instead whispered in his ear, " The Eternal Life Society has started pressuring again, demanding that nuclear weapons be dropped before next Sunday to nuke the Southern Continent."
Your Majesty, your life's pursuit could have been easily achieved, so why are you now hesitating and wavering?
As he spoke, Jacob's fingers lightly traced the skin on the back of Miles XIV's neck, his sharp nails barely visible. His soft words sounded like a word of comfort, but they sounded more like a warning.
Sensing the threat behind him, Miles XIV showed no fear on his aged face, but instead managed a relieved smile.
"He who seeks the skin of a tiger will end up in the tiger's belly. Jacob, this is why your teacher's will has become increasingly wavering over the years."
The strategy of using one tiger to devour another may have been effective, but ultimately the tiger remained.
It's better to share a room with a domesticated wolf than to have a tiger that knows no bounds.
Unfortunately, I woke up too late in my life. My entire life was trapped in obsession, from which I could not extricate myself. Only when I was on my deathbed did I begin to understand.
Miles XIV gazed silently through the glass window at the desolate scene of the imperial city outside, his smile a mixture of relief and sorrow.
There is no need to dwell on what has vanished; it is the things that still exist that we should cherish.
If I had worked diligently to govern the country after I took the throne, putting aside past grudges and losses, the Gothic Empire today might very well be a vast empire with a prosperous and harmonious society.
But now, it is teetering on the brink of collapse, and it will inevitably vanish into the dust of history along with the madness of my life.
Perhaps we can defeat that Pale God Pale God, or perhaps we cannot, but the damage caused over the years and the suffering of families torn apart have truly affected far too many people.
Today, I finally see clearly that everything I've done in my life was for the sake of the past, not for the sake of the people.
Just like you today, Jacob.
All that you've done isn't to realize your ideals, but to prove you haven't done anything wrong.
But actually, you've already embarked on the wrong path.
King Miles XIV sighed deeply, as if recalling the past, his cloudy eyes filled with confusion.
By now, the empire's decline is inevitable, and he can no longer reverse its downward trend by saying anything. The empire's future is destined to perish in madness.
This is why he only expressed his feelings without making any request to prevent Jacob and the Eternal Life Society from wreaking havoc on the people, and it is also the reason for his current melancholy.
The things he did in his life were so wrong, so wrong, that in the end, they were impossible to correct.
However, Jacob, standing behind him, did not appreciate his well-intentioned advice. Instead, he sneered, "Hmph, Your Majesty. There's no need for your pretense. Your dying words only reveal your increasingly cowardly nature."
The Pale God has always stood in opposition to our human race. His existence is the greatest constraint on our human race, and this will never be wrong!
Perhaps you can understand this principle when you are young, or perhaps if you were given several more decades to live, you would revert to your old mindset.
But now, you have become the only obstacle to our shared goal.
Your Majesty, you are too old and no longer fit to continue in your post.
Jacob quietly lay down beside Miles XIV's ear and whispered something.
As they spoke, Jacob, standing behind Miles XIV, plunged his dark, sharp fingernails into the skin behind Miles XIV's neck, then through his trachea and out of the skin in front of his neck.
Thin streaks of blood squeezed out from between the nail and the flesh, dripping down the skin.
"Heh heh..." A few breaths, like the wind breaking through the air, rang out from Miles XIV's throat.
A sharp pain, accompanied by unbearable agony, swept over him. Miles XIV resignedly relaxed his body, slumping into his wheelchair, his gaze fixed on the chaotic and desolate imperial city outside the window, and on the people of the empire he had ravaged his entire life.
Those cloudy eyes, slowly losing their luster, held no trace of reluctance towards power or life, only a look of desolation and melancholy.
"I was wrong..."