Chapter 1334: God's Retribution's Goodbye
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Shortly after, Han Sen had managed to claim over a million miles of land for humans. Unfortunately, there were hardly any humans in a position to handle the shelters and land, so he had to allow spirits to remain alive and serve as stewards for the time being.
The spirits were right in this assumption. When they feared Han Sen's takeover, they guessed he would need to keep the spirits alive to handle matters. And aside from saving humans, he couldn't actually take over and rule the Third God's Sanctuary. It just wasn't feasible.
Spirits gained power at a decent, steady rate. But humans had always been slow in the Third God's Sanctuary, and although things were better now, they'd still take a long time to gain what was necessary to start ruling the lands Han Sen had claimed.
Han Sen was currently resting in a shelter. He was asleep, but he was roused from his slumber by the detection of someone near. Someone not very familiar to him had entered his private garden.
With Han Sen's heightened senses, he knew that person had to be powerful if he had only now just been noticed.
"God's Retribution?" It was God's Retribution, one of the thirteen members of Blood Legion.
God's Retribution seemed to be at ease, and he sat down gently, saying, "Super Spank? Ha! That's a good one."
"I got lucky. And besides, I didn't name it that," Han Sen said, unsure of the relationship that was supposed to exist between them.
"I've heard it's your goal to take over the Third God's Sanctuary," God's Retribution said, with a smile.
"Well, you've heard right," Han Sen said.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," God's Retribution said.
"It's fortunate you're not me. But tell me; why?" Han Sen asked.
God's Retribution looked over to the pool of water and told him, "Blood Legion knew about super geno points, and we've been killing super creatures since long before the existence of them became common knowledge. We didn't inform humanity about any of it; do you know why that is?"
Han Sen was not surprised they could gather super geno points with the strength they had. They were far stronger than average humans, after all, and it'd be baffling to hear them say they had never killed one before.
Han Sen was curious about what the man was looking to tell him, though. So, he played along and said, "No. Why?"
God's Retribution explained, "Humans are actually the invaders of this place. By coming to the sanctuaries, humans broke the balance. Typical human behavior, really; like parasites. Although there is an abundance of resources, creatures, and spirits here, we slowly break the balance established in these realms. Before, when humans were unable to slay super creatures, things were already bad. After their slaying of those became common, we hit a slippery slope. The ecosystems of the sanctuaries are suffering."
Han Sen frowned and said, "Creatures can nest and shoot out more babies, can't they?"
"Do you know how many years it takes to produce an egg? And if you do, do you know how many eggs have been broken since your lie? Two centuries down the line we are currently treading, humans will be fighting each other for super geno points."
God's Retribution was genuinely concerned, and it appeared to grieve him to speak of these matters. After a lengthy pause and sigh, he went on to say, "And a lot of that has to do with you. You're a remarkable person, I must tell you. But you're speeding up this process; a process that will only lead to ruin. If you continue doing what you're doing, this will happen faster than it did for the First God's Sanctuary."
"Blood Legion didn't tell anyone on purpose? To avoid this from happening? I'd consider that noble, if it wasn't also selfish," Han Sen said.
God's Retribution responded to the slight, explaining, "We were delaying the inevitable. We knew it was only a matter of time before the existence of super creatures and Life Geno Essences were found out, and we just wanted to make these ecosystems last. You've heard it before, surely, but humans really are horrible creatures. Their mistreatment in this sanctuary was a well-needed humbling. Everywhere else, we're parasites; invading one place until its sucked dry, before multiplying and bringing the same fate elsewhere. Take a look at the First God's Sanctuary and you'll see what I mean. What a sorry sight that place is, in recent times."
"There must be something we can do to alleviate the issue, surely," Han Sen said.
God's Retribution said, "If humans insist on becoming part of the cycle, adjustments can be made. But like I said, we were delaying the inevitable, and whether or not we can truly be a part of things in the sanctuaries and co-exist with the current laws, I can't say for certain."
He went on to reassert his meaning by again saying, "Humans have upset the balance of the sanctuaries. The First God's Sanctuary is bad enough as it is, but you are making things worse."
"You said that already. But what if I decide to continue down the road I'm currently headed? What would you plan to do about that?" Han Sen asked, needling God's Retribution to learn as much as he could about what he wanted.
"I won't stop you. The trail you blaze is your own, but with how people see you, you should set a better example. If your heirs are one day killing each other for a measly scrap of flesh, you can't roll in your grave and say we didn't warn you," God's Retribution said, then turned to leave.
Han Sen thought he'd be threatened, and he readied himself for a fight. With his strength now, he was keen to stress the limits of how powerful Blood Legion members truly were.
Han Sen did not expect him to immediately say his piece and then leave.
He thought the encounter had been rather strange, and his perception of Blood Legion had been altered somewhat, after it. He thought Blood Legion was an evil, slightly scary organization, but they were obviously concerned for the overall trajectory humanity was headed on.
Blood Legion cared about the environment like the people of Greenpeace. And the thought of those two organizations sharing similar goals was something he was struggling to comprehend.
"Go to the Fourth God's Sanctuary. I'll be waiting for you there, and when we do next meet, let's hope it won't be as enemies." God's Retribution swiftly left after saying this.
Han Sen now understood these were his parting words, and the only chance they'd have to speak before his departure to the Fourth God's Sanctuary. This was God's Retribution's goodbye.
Chapter 1335: Super King Spirit's Tenth Gene Lock
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"He must be making a mockery of me," Han Sen ultimately thought to himself, following the strange encounter with God's Retribution.
He made it sound as if he was doing it for the children, but Han Sen thought it was a ploy of some sort. He thought he had been lied to, and that there was an ulterior motive behind his words of concern.
He thought he was being a hypocrite or a Pharisee; like a person that attends vegetarian rallies but still goes home and enjoys a good steak.
He had been told that Blood Legion didn't want others to kill super creatures, as it would upset the balance. But Han Sen knew they must have had to kill a lot of super creatures themselves to maintain the strength their members had achieved.
What they were doing was pretty much what Han Sen himself did, he thought. Han Sen was never entirely truthful about how he went about things, but at the end of the day, much of what he did was for the betterment of mankind. He was still leaving things in good shape for others, who would one day carry the mantles he himself established. He was paving the way for others, whereas Blood Legion were only concerned with themselves.
It was true, Han Sen hadn't thought about the long-term, negative effects and what things might be like for the next few generations, but it wasn't as if Blood Legion had the concerns of such eventualities at heart, either.
Blood Legion was different, too. Their lineage and the strengthening of their next of kin was different than how ordinary born and bred humans were reproduced. Having an heir was a priority and chief concern for the members of Blood Legion. God's Retribution had tried to disillusion Han Sen.
"They make themselves sound so righteous, but deep down, they're as dastardly and wicked as can be," Han Sen thought to himself.
While God's Retribution might have had his own interests at heart, some of the things he mentioned really would become legitimate concerns in the future. If Han Sen did kill creatures at a rate quicker than they could reproduce, things really would be a struggle further down the line. The flesh of creatures was needed, and if there weren't any creatures left to eat, things would be dire.
Han Sen rubbed the temples of his head in thought, over the state of things. He still wanted his primary focus to rest on bringing the Third God's Sanctuary to its knees.
He needed to save humanity and allow his mother and Ji Yanran to enter the Third God's Sanctuary without worry. But to do that, he had to ensure he could do so without killing too much of the local population. He couldn't mass-murder creatures as he saw fit.
If humans became the majority, that would be quite worrisome. It truly was like an invasion, now that Han Sen thought about it. In the little time they had access to the sanctuaries, they had done a lot.
Even Han Sen was willing to admit humans were greedy, he himself included. Some were greedier than others, but it was an inherent trait of mankind that humans were greedy things that always wanted more.
During the Interstellar Era, everything was a resource and every resource was wanted. And the spending of resources always outpaced the influx of resources, too.
With a desire for ownership of worthless items, silly hobbies and such, a lot of resources were wasted. The resources taken didn't all go to the long-term betterment of mankind.
And it seemed ironic to think the more civilized humans became, the more waste would be produced. Civilization seemed to equal lavish expenditure that only came at the cost of the planets that were ravaged for the necessary components to feed and keep the flames stoked. Han Sen thought man had become so in love with greed, they had forgotten themselves and found only appetites.
Back in the Alliance, Han Sen turned off his phone and had a meal with his mother.
If Han Sen turned it on, it'd undoubtedly be ringing 24/7. And the buzz of constant messages and notifications would shake the foundations of the building.
When he defeated No God Emperor, all the factions wanted to co-operate with him. They all wanted to help Han Sen manage the shelters he had procured.
Of course, they cared more for themselves than they did for a genuine co-operative venture with Han Sen. They'd earn a lot for themselves by having joint-ownership of a number of shelters.
This also played a part in why Han Sen chose not to return to the Alliance for quite a while. He knew he'd be hounded by fatcats and corporate jellyfish day and night, all so they could line their own pockets with further unnecessary amounts of cash.
Han Sen was going to just let the Ji family handle the issue and save himself the trouble.
Ji Ruozhen had even come to tell Han Sen, "You have to let some of them go."
The Ji family did not want to take over the Third God's Sanctuary exclusively, as that would almost make them seem like a dictatorship. The sanctuary might then be viewed as a police state, forever under the watchful eyes of Big Brother Ruozhen. They'd be hated.
Ji Ruozhen wanted Han Sen to give many of them up for distribution amongst a number of different companies and corporations, as well as families. He would lose a lot of potential money that way, but he would earn a lot of friends, in return.
"It looks like I really can't take over the Third God's Sanctuary myself. It sounded like Godslayer Luo might have been able to, but it seems he conquered even less than I have," Han Sen thought to himself.
Han Sen didn't want to give up what he had earned, though, and he then said to himself, "Fine, if I can't claim ownership of more as Han Sen, then I'll just have to take them over with a different name."
After a while, Han Sen stopped his ventures of expansion to focus on something else. He wanted to go off in search of geno treasures that could increase his self geno points. He needed to open his super king spirit's tenth gene lock, after all.
Ji Ruozhen, in the meantime, ran through his contacts, trying to determine the best partners he could co-operate with.
A month later, Han Sen had achieved a thousand self geno points and managed to open the tenth gene lock of super king spirit mode. It only increased the power of super king spirit mode across the board, and there were no new, special traits earned.
Super king spirit mode was very plain, but that was part of the attraction. It made you far stronger, and that was it; it was that simple.
The greatest benefit of it now, though, was that he could remain in this form forever. There was no longer an annoying timer he had to adhere to.
After opening his tenth gene lock, he decided to pay another visit to the spirit base. When Han Sen entered, though, he was unable to find any other islands.
Han Sen chalked it up to there not being many spirits with ten gene locks open, so as a result, there weren't going to be many to find there.
Han Sen drove his island around for a while and eventually saw another spirit.
He didn't reveal himself, though. Only seeing one, he just turned around and left.
After that, Han Sen returned to the sanctuary and went back to conquering lands and claiming territories alongside the spirits and creatures in his employ.
This news was relayed across the Alliance once more, making people even more hyped for the prospects of proper settlement in the Third God's Sanctuary. The spirits were all co-operating, and they no longer resisted. On the sly, though, they still pleaded for Undead Emperor to help them out and defeat Han Sen.
Before Sky Mountain, Undead Emperor began leading a grand host of spirits and creatures to bring an end to Han Sen's reign.
"Han Sen, will you fight me?" Undead Emperor asked, with a tone as chilling as a winter's grave.
"Of course I will." Han Sen raced towards him, airborne.