Norton's bold words still resonated in his mind, but Abraham was already starting to feel somewhat dazed and confused. He stood alone in the bright central base corridor, gazing at the starry sky through the glass.
Outside, warships roared past the central base like swarms of locusts. Some were so far away that they could only be seen as tiny dots, while others were so close that they blotted out the sky. It took several seconds for the long, narrow hulls of the ships to pass completely.
The fire and smoke from the spaceship explosion shone brightly on the distant vacuum battlefield. Although sound cannot travel in a vacuum, Abraham's current Sixth Stage Existence Level still allowed him to see the sounds and the entire battlefield clearly.
The front lines were a scene of devastation.
With the most steadfast faith, believers rushed one after another into that desperate battlefield, into that inevitable end.
This so-called devout faith and inevitable death are nothing but a deception created by the high and mighty gods!
Just like the war between the Papal State and the Werewolf back then.
Abraham silently watched through the window as the fleet, like moths to a flame, plunged headlong into the Aberration swarm. He watched the Church knights, shouting to defend His Majesty's holiness, fight to the death, activating their self-destruct devices in their final moments, leaving not even a complete corpse. He watched the central command center continuously calling for reinforcements...
This horrific meat grinder battlefield, where hundreds of thousands could die in a single second, now, as he looked at it, actually brought tears to his eyes.
"Why..."
With a soft sigh, two reddened tears actually slid down his cheeks.
"A fervent and unwavering faith ultimately breeds deception and blind destruction... Humanity's purest faith is born from despair and death."
How ridiculous! The nobility of humanity is revealed only through death; the sanctity of humanity is born only through despair; and socialism, proposed ten thousand years ago, can only be realized through a wartime community...
In the past, the era of peace and absolute sustenance truly constructed by Your Majesty only bred insatiable greed, a thirst for thrills, and a self-destructive madness... Humanity has seemingly progressed to advanced levels of freedom and human rights in terms of technology and social systems in recent years, but comparing it to the past, what is the fundamental difference between the human nature behind this apparent social and technological advancement and that of the Holy Lord Empire of yesteryear?
So, is this the only way to cultivate a truly pure and honest society? But how much of the sincerity forged with such tragic consequences is genuine?
Human desires have been diverse in the past, but today they have come to be solely for survival and continuation. So, what has Abraham been pursuing in his life?
From the ancient Papal State to this day, history continues to repeat itself, and I, Abraham, am still deeply mired in it, as if stuck in mud, only able to drift with the current... For thirteen thousand years, I, Abraham, have been trapped in this sea of suffering!
Your Majesty, from beginning to end, all this old servant has wanted is freedom without control...
The old servant and humans, like this caged bird, will never be free in their lives...
Abraham sighed and lamented, as if standing there observing the sacrifices of others through the glass and expressing his feelings was something that could prove his own nobility, or as if his sighs and lamentations could purify his own ugly soul—how ridiculous!
This old man from Biyang, who had been suppressed by Norton for so many years and hadn't done anything evil, was now suddenly unaccustomed to seeing others do it.
Don't be fooled by this scoundrel's current righteous indignation; in reality, if Norton weren't keeping him in check, he'd probably be the first to refuse to eat beef.
After all, even though Norton was ruthless enough to make Vampire pull his cart, it was always Abraham who fiercely lashed out with the whip!
The Human Federation's support forces this time are not just for support purposes.
After they jump to the battlefield, they need to release the construction ships they brought with them, allowing the scholars and construction personnel inside to set up Subspace receiving devices close to the battlefield, thereby completely establishing communication lines between the front and rear lines.
Its sole function is to provide a stable live streaming environment.
Indeed, in order to make everyone aware of this racial war among humans, and to ensure that joint decisions are made at both the front and rear to avoid mistakes in the war, the Human Federation decided to broadcast the entire war live and analyze it in real time, thereby completely severing the small sense of happiness in the hearts of some people.
In the year 3285 of Norton, amidst the anticipation or perhaps trepidation of the people in the rear cities, the nationwide live broadcast officially began.
The giant screens outside shopping malls, the giant screens at the entrance of the Pale Church, various shops, pubs, and anywhere with screens, even the suggested projection systems in amusement parks, all abandoned their advertisements and began displaying live content from the front lines, coinciding with the official transmission of the network.
"Boom!!!"
"Second assault team, immediately provide cover for the 130th Army Corps' warship 188678 to advance to the front line and release Gore!"
"Dad, Mom, your son is going to charge into battle and dedicate himself to the Pale God!"
"I am determined to cleanse you of your damned filth and defend Your Majesty's holiness!"
Various noises rang out from the speakers on the screen, creating a silent environment. However, the live stream window switched to the communication lines of various frontline soldiers to slightly adjust the sound.
This live stream did not originate from a single source. Instead, it used the brain-computer interface department at the rear as the central hub, randomly selecting frontline soldiers and infiltrating their brains to use the brains as the live stream camera, thus creating numerous windows.
Even on the same street, the content displayed on different live streaming screens is completely different.
Some shots show the knights standing guard at the central base, motionless. Others show warship pilots assisting in maneuvering their ships through space, releasing lasers to destroy the swarming Aberration. Still others show Church knights fighting on the deck, amidst blood, mud, and bits of flesh and bone, still resisting the frenzied onslaught of Aberration.
Armed with explosive rifles and clad in power armor, the Church Knights faithfully guarded the various entrances to the central command base. From their perspective, people jogged back and forth inside the base: logistics scholars in white lab coats, Church Knights covered in Aberration scratches, their power armor's outer steel torn apart, fresh from the battlefield reporting and awaiting rest, and high-ranking officers in various armors, vividly portraying the urgency and grim atmosphere of war throughout the base.
On space battleships, the horrors and dangers of war are even more evident.
The warship pilots were on high alert, their eyes constantly scanning the holographic screens projected around their ships. They coordinated with their five teammates, who were also piloting the ships, following commands as they circled and attacked in space, or retreated to eliminate threats. From their 3D perspective, the warships weaved and bombarded through swarms of Aberration, desperately searching for a way out – a truly perilous situation. Even from the perspective of those inside the warships on some screens, alarms blared and warning lights flashed. In no time, a gaping wound was torn open on the ship's surface, followed by an endless Aberration pouring in, engaging the hastily positioned Church knights at the windows in fierce combat. The result was usually the same: the entire warship exploded amidst scorching flames and deafening explosions, plunging the view into darkness.
The most brutal scenes, however, are those of the Church knights standing on the outer deck of the warship, engaging in close combat with the Aberration. These scenes are also the most numerous, because a single shot cannot last very long. Even the entire process from when these Church knights receive their mission, begin preparing for battle, and enter the deck, probably wouldn't last more than half an hour.
After the Aberration breached the warship's protective shields, the sheer number of Aberration swarming across the entire surface far exceeded the Aberration that could have entered through a small hole in the ship. Aberration were everywhere, attacking from all directions, making resistance virtually impossible. The first group of Church knights to escape from the ship and enter the outer deck faced an endless barrage of Aberration from all sides, even overhead.
Most Church knights would fire a burst of gunfire after rushing off the deck, then be forced into close-quarters combat, with no chance to exchange bullets. Melee combat meant facing enemies from all directions; if isolated, their armor would be completely destroyed within two or three minutes, leaving them only able to fight off the Aberration with their Fifth Stage strength. Even Fifth Stage powerhouses would quickly fall behind against the relentless Aberration of mutants, eventually forced to self-destruct. Even forming a formation only prolonged their time.
If the warships can break through the encirclement, they may survive; otherwise, the scene of their destruction will repeat itself.
Therefore, the shots of the Church knights would basically explode every three to five minutes, plunging into darkness, before reconnecting to the next one, repeating endlessly, in a desperate and chilling way.
However, human thought is quite strange.
Before the war even begins, most people fear it, while a few immature individuals look forward to it.
However, once war begins and mass casualties occur, humanity can become consumed by fervor and wage war madly! Especially when this group is exceptionally united, shares a common belief, and considers itself righteous, then it is not the upper echelons driving the war, but rather the grassroots spontaneously propelling it!
Such a live broadcast, though bloody and moving to witness the deaths of countless Church knights, did not immediately reveal humanity's fear of war, but rather its madness at the sight of its own people dying!