Chapter 482: It Awakens
It’s important to have a way forward. A guiding line, pulling you towards where you need to be. Jack meditated on that as the starship shuttled closer and closer to the New Cathedral.
What is my path now? he wondered. I’ve saved Earth, destroyed the Animal Kingdom, and avenged my son… Now, where is my fist aimed?
At the Immortals. That much was easy. In the previous years, Jack had matured greatly and understood many things. The reason he and Earth suffered so much was due to the Immortals. The Animal Kingdom was just a symptom—the System was the real cause. It sank the galaxies into permanent war, encouraging everyone to kill each other. It rewarded levels for blood. Of course it would create tyrants. In such an environment, any system of government not based on raw power was bound to collapse.
The Immortals and their System had made the universe suffer for a billion years now, all to create as many warriors as possible. Trillions of lives had fallen for their cause. It didn’t have to be this way. Cultivation was meant to be a slow, peaceful process. There would always be enemies and killing, even war, but the world order should try to prevent that, not actively encourage it.
Jack had attained his own freedom. He’d liberated his people. Now, he fought to save the world.
He was certainly against the Immortals. As for whether the Old Gods were a good alternative… That remained to be seen.
His rumination was interrupted by a constant whisper at the back of his mind. He sighed. Just a little bit ago, he’d made a mistake.
He’d opened his space ring to find The Stone, a blabbering pebble he’d once picked up from the corpse of Eva Solvig. He hadn’t given it much thought at the time, but The Stone was lonely. The moment he took it out, guilt-ridden into keeping it company for a while, it had launched into a ceaseless barrage of questions.
“Oh, hi!” it had said in its high-pitched voice. “Long time no see. How are you doing? All good? Where are we? Nice room, by the way. I love the window. Is that the Spiral Stair galaxy? You have a little bit of spit on you, by the way. Did you face a Spitting Salamander? Those critters are vicious!”