Rebirth of the Super Battleship-Chapter 627: The Former Leader and the Current Leader
“In fact, the saying that the victor becomes king and the loser a bandit is not wrong.” Xiao Yu thought silently. “When Ares led the Pegasus Civilization and the Level 5 Civilization Alliance to oppose me, he did indeed adopt some extreme measures. But we must admit that these extreme measures were indeed effective. If not for me having one trump card after another, I might already have lost to Ares. At that time, the one advancing to a Level 6 Civilization would probably have been the Level 5 Civilization Alliance under Ares’s leadership, not our Divine Ark Civilization. Ares’s failure was not because he lacked ability, but because… because… perhaps it can be said this way. He was simply too unlucky.”
“But no matter what, Ares ultimately failed, so he became a bandit and did not become a hero. In the eyes of the orthodox Pegasus Civilization populace, Ares is a sinner who committed a heinous crime, the culprit who drove their entire civilization to the brink of annihilation. Yet if the final result had been Ares’s victory, how would the populace of the Pegasus Civilization view Ares then. I wonder what the current leader of the Pegasus Civilization thinks in his heart. Why does he want to meet Ares. Is it merely to rebuke, face to face, this sinner in their eyes. No, it should not be so. He is not that shallow.”
The request from the current leader of the Pegasus Civilization greatly piqued Xiao Yu’s interest. Xiao Yu was very curious about what exactly drove him to seek out Ares. And as for whether Ares would agree to meet with the current leader who had branded him a sinner, this was also something Xiao Yu was very interested in. So Xiao Yu promptly agreed to the request of the current leader of the Pegasus Civilization and immediately began to arrange the meeting.
Ever since the Level 5 Civilization Alliance was scattered by Xiao Yu, and it was confirmed that those intelligent beings could obtain better living conditions within the Divine Ark Civilization, the two outstanding figures Ares and Ruto chose to go into seclusion. Through biological science they completely altered their appearances and physical traits, drifting among the various habitation ships. When a place felt pleasant, they would live there for a while, and when they grew tired of it, they would move on again. Xiao Yu adopted a tacit attitude toward their behavior. He kept their whereabouts completely confidential and ensured that the information in their bank accounts always remained at the level of the wealthy. So long as their actions did not cause too great an impact on the society of intelligent beings of the Divine Ark Civilization, Xiao Yu did not interfere.
After Xiao Yu came to possess his own small universe and began to transform thousands of planets, turning them into places like earthly paradises, the two of them even purchased their own travel spaceship and spent their days shuttling through space, wandering across different planets. Aside from Xiao Yu, no one knew their whereabouts.
Now, Xiao Yu knew that Ares was sightseeing in a scenic area on Planet 659. He was like an ordinary tourist, sometimes traveling together with other intelligent beings, sometimes having certain romantic encounters with female intelligent beings of the same species and disappearing without a trace the next day. At times he would even use the Divine Ark Civilization’s internal currency that Xiao Yu had prepared for him to casually buy extravagant items that ordinary people could never afford and give them away to others.
Once, he even acted like a street thug, braving the risk of being arrested by patrol robots and intelligent being security, and savagely beat up an intelligent being he could not stand for no reason, then successfully escaped before the security forces arrived. Of course, in this process, Xiao Yu lent him a bit of help so he could get away. He also had many experiences of getting drunk late at night, and some of the crazy things that happened among them even surprised the well-traveled Xiao Yu.
Ares lived quite comfortably. He basically went wherever he wanted, did whatever he wanted, played however he wanted. The money Xiao Yu had prepared for him he could never finish spending. The regularly administered pinnacle advanced genetic modifications gave him a long lifespan and a body that remained healthy and young no matter how wildly he lived. He possessed almost everything, yet he possessed nothing. Because everything he had was given to him by Xiao Yu, not obtained through his own efforts. Xiao Yu could give him everything, and could take it all back at any time.
Xiao Yu knew that Ares must be in great pain inside, and he also knew that Ares was numbing himself through this seemingly unrestrained lifestyle, so that he could temporarily forget the pain in his heart. But Xiao Yu merely let it be and never interfered.
Now, however, Xiao Yu had to intervene. As Ares casually sat on a rock to rest, a voice suddenly appeared in his ear.
“Ares, I am Xiao Yu.”
“Ares. Who is Ares. And who is Xiao Yu.” Ares looked around somewhat blankly.
“Although you already have a new name and a new identity, I know that deep in your heart you have never forgotten that your true name is actually Ares, nor have you forgotten that you were once the leader of a vast civilization. I am Xiao Yu. I have something to discuss with you.” Xiao Yu said.
With Xiao Yu’s voice, Ares’s expression gradually shifted and finally settled. At this moment, Ares’s height and appearance had not changed, but his bearing had. It was as if Xiao Yu’s words had touched some of his most secret inner depths. In that instant, he once again became that leader of a vast civilization commanding several hundred million spaceships and a population of several hundred billion.
“Tell me. What do you want with me.” Ares said calmly. Although there was no one around him at this moment and he did not see any mechanical equipment, as if he were speaking to the air, he knew that his voice could be heard by Xiao Yu.
“I think you probably do not know the circumstances your Pegasus Civilization’s populace encountered after you left your capital star system.” Xiao Yu said, and then recounted one by one all the experiences of the Pegasus Civilization. During the narration, Xiao Yu also watched Ares’s emotional changes. But very much to Xiao Yu’s surprise, he found that no matter what he spoke of, whether it was the destruction of the capital planet, or encountering a black hole, encountering a preliminary Level 6 Civilization, the entire civilization nearing extinction, Ares had no reaction at all. His expression did not change, his heartbeat did not change, and all kinds of physiological indicators did not change.
“You came to me just to tell me these things.” Ares said coolly. “All right, I know.”
Xiao Yu was slightly silent for a moment, then continued. “There is something else.The orthodox Pegasus Civilization is at this moment staying beside our Divine Ark Civilization, and the current leader of the Pegasus Civilization has made a request to me. He asks to meet you face to face. I have come to ask your opinion. Will you meet him, or not.”
Xiao Yu noticed that after he posed this question, Ares’s eyes narrowed slightly, and a nameless emotion flowed within them. It was impossible to know what Ares was thinking at this moment.
“Very well. Let him come see me. I will wait for him here.” After a moment, Ares said.
“Good. In ten minutes he will arrive here, and I will arrive as well.” Xiao Yu said.
The spaceship sent to receive the current leader of the Pegasus Civilization was already waiting at the outer layers of this planet’s atmosphere. After receiving Ares’s answer, the spaceship began to accelerate rapidly, yet because of its extremely outstanding aerodynamic form and material design, its violent friction with the atmosphere produced almost no disturbance. Three minutes later, the spaceship came to within less than five hundred meters of the ground. Its speed quickly decreased and it finally descended slowly to the surface. Five minutes later, the hatch opened. At the sixth minute, the current leader of the Pegasus Civilization appeared at the hatch. With a certain faint, distant expression, he looked at the seemingly ordinary man sitting on a rock before him.
He spent four minutes walking to stand before Ares. At this moment, exactly ten minutes had passed.
Just then, the three-dimensional holographic projection apparatus aboard the spaceship activated, and Xiao Yu’s virtual image was projected. The three-dimensional holographic projection apparatus Xiao Yu used now had advanced to the point that the virtual projection possessed real tactile presence. When Xiao Yu’s foot stepped on the ground, the low plants on the ground would be pressed flat, and footprints would be left on the ground. When a breeze blew by, Xiao Yu’s clothes would flutter with the wind.
Xiao Yu wore a well-fitted black suit and a black necktie. His neat short hair revealed an air of sharp capability. Xiao Yu was not tall, at most about 1.75 meters, but his figure was excellent, perfectly standard. Xiao Yu wore a pair of black, full-rim glasses with a clear Earth-era style, looking like a successful young man of the Earth era.
With a warm smile on his face, Xiao Yu walked over to the two leaders of the Pegasus Civilization, who were seated on two rocks, and sat down on another rock.
The three of them formed an approximate equilateral triangle.
“I suppose there is no need for me to introduce you two to each other.” Xiao Yu said with a smile. “To show my respect for both of you, I have especially brought my virtual projection here as well. Say whatever you wish. You need not mind my presence.”
The current leader of the Pegasus Civilization looked somewhat dejectedly at the ground. After a while, he raised his head and said to Ares, “A talent like you, even in the Divine Ark Civilization, would receive very good treatment, right.”
“Yes,” Ares replied.
