Chapter 973: Teach Everything One Knows

Chapter 973: Imparting All Knowledge

[A great relief to the people! The trial at Golden Harbor has concluded! Ryan, the Eastern Front Commander of the Southern Corps' Bahr Province Theater, along with Chief of Staff Fevret and several other war criminals, has been sentenced to death! Execution by firing squad to be carried out immediately!

John, the captain of the "Bugle," argued that the bombing of Lion City was ordered by Ryan, yet the undeniable fact remains that over ten thousand civilians were killed or injured. The court rejected the appeal, upheld the death sentence, and postponed its execution to the following day!

Additionally, Woolf, the commander of the 36th Ten-Thousand-Man Division, and other lesser war criminals were sentenced to over ten years in prison.

— *Survivor's Daily*, Golden Harbor Edition]

...

Mammoth City.

The solemn courtroom was thick with the cloying scent of blood, and the floor still bore sticky footprints and palm prints that could not be wiped clean.

Gurion, standing in the defendant's dock, did not know why the Bahr people's courtroom reeked like a slaughterhouse, nor was he particularly curious.

When he learned he had been sent from the relatively civilized Golden Harbor to stand trial here, he had almost given up all hope of survival.

At that moment, he did not know that Ryan and the senior officers left behind in Golden Harbor had already been packed into boxes.

The judge on the bench stared at this Velantian man, whose hands were stained with blood, his lips trembling slightly.

After a long pause, he finally steeled himself to deliver the verdict.

"War criminal Gurion."

"This court will not repeat your crimes..."

Gurion closed his eyes, unwilling to listen. He had not even hired a defense lawyer, wanting only for this to end quickly.

He had many questions he wanted to ask Tyl.

If he went down early, he might even meet that fellow before reincarnation—

"This court hereby rules as follows:"

"The defendant Gurion, convicted of war crimes, is sentenced to life imprisonment!"

The crisp thud of the solemn gavel sounded like a mockery.

Gurion, standing in the dock, froze. He opened his eyes in disbelief, staring at the judge on the bench, and involuntarily took half a step forward.

The two soldiers beside him pressed down on his shoulders with stern expressions, but Gurion, as if not seeing them, glared at the judge.

"Why?"

The judge did not answer. He merely hastily announced the adjournment and hurriedly left the bench, as if afraid to stay a second longer.

The other court personnel did the same.

Gurion stood there, dazed, his eyes vacant, not knowing what to do.

Why?

Another question he could not understand.

In the jury box.

A stern-faced officer stood up and walked over to the empty bench.

Gurion noticed the man and cast a gaze full of longing for answers at his back.

But the man did not heed his question. Instead, he gazed at the scales symbolizing justice and fairness and spoke to himself.

"General Grov of the Bahr nation has deployed eight hundred thousand troops south of the Tasan River. Counting the former loyalists of Abusek and Sharuk, it may amount to a million."

"Not many are usable. I'll give you four hundred thousand. You hold them off for me."

Gurion was stunned and almost instinctively replied.

"That's impossible! They have full equipment supplied by the Eastern Empire! Especially their ace unit, the Gray Wolf Army, which is almost modeled after the Eastern Empire's armored and mechanized ten-thousand-man divisions."

He had seen this with his own eyes at Westport Harbor.

Shawa smiled faintly.

"The Gray Wolf Army won't move. Gopal won't give Grov his real trump cards. Your opponents will be the cannon fodder of the Northern Field Army."

"Still impossible," Gurion shook his head. "You have no idea of their strength... You have no chance of winning."

Shawa simply snapped his fingers, signaling a soldier to bring a map and hand it to Gurion.

"Look at the map first."

Gurion hesitated, took the map from the soldier with skepticism, and spread it out on the railing of the defendant's dock.

It was a map of the three northern provinces and the southern part of Mammoth Province.

A narrow mountain range, like a crescent-shaped dagger, thrust from the Jobal Mountains into northern Bahr Province, cutting a fertile plain from that rich territory.

Not only that.

To counter the Southern Corps' invasion, Rasi had built numerous fortifications, tunnels, and hidden bunkers between the mountains.

Gurion had already felt deeply how difficult it was to attack the three northern provinces. Now, holding the complete strategic maps provided by his former adversary, he was even more moved.

It was still the fault of underestimating the enemy.

If he had known these three northern provinces had been turned into an iron fortress by these Mammoth people, he would never have ordered Olet to march into Dog Province.

Better to concentrate forces and capture the Heavenly Capital.

"How many mountain troops do you have?"

Seeing the fighting spirit rekindled in Gurion's eyes, Shawa's face showed a faint smile.

"Mammoth Nation is almost entirely mountain divisions and guerrilla divisions. We have exoskeletons, anti-armor weapons... including plasma warheads that can break through Conqueror defenses, and some 'Fire Crossbows' and 'Conquerors' we captured and repaired from you."

"Of course, the most crucial thing is that we have a complete ammunition production line, a large number of overseas laborers, and ample foreign exchange reserves."

Gurion licked his dry lips.

"Then it might be worth a try."

Shawa nodded.

"Go try. Meritorious service can reduce your sentence. When our war is over, you might still have hope of going home. Also, Grov has some of your old subordinates under his command. I hope you won't show them mercy."

Gurion shook his head.

"There's no question of mercy. Going all out is the way to respect an opponent. I believe my men think the same."

A war without the logistics bastards holding things back...

It would be quite interesting.

Gurion had never imagined that a stray dog like him would one day have the chance to return to the battlefield and contribute.

And to fight for his former enemy at that.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Go ahead," Shawa said expressionlessly.

Watching the soldier who unlocked his handcuffs, Gurion turned his gaze back to Shawa and continued.

"You are all Bahr people—at least that's how we see it. Haven't you ever thought of sitting down and talking?"

"Shall we talk?"

As if hearing something utterly ridiculous, Shava suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter.

"Those who wanted to sit down and talk are either dead or gone. When I'm old enough to go down and join my father, then I'll play the good man!"

Then his expression turned cold as he stared at Gurion.

"As for now, I have nothing to say."

"All I want is to ensure the Tasan River never floods again."

...

[To our esteemed Eastern Empire friends, your loyal, friendly, and hospitable Southern friends have run into a bit of trouble. Due to climatic reasons, the red soil across the Brahman Province is spreading.

The situation is dire, and we urgently need a professional biologist to clean up the mess left by General Lowell. Of course, it would be even better if you could send a whole team.

— Tendu, Telegram]

[The Alliance doesn't even bother with red soil—why do you? If you don't like it, dig it up and dump it in the sea. Do you lack shovels or hands? We've already given you enough help. Don't bother us with such trivial nonsense in the future!

— Eastern Empire, Telegram]

[Understood! Understood! We'll hand this over to the think tank immediately!

— Tendu, Telegram]

[...?

— Eastern Empire, Telegram]

...

[Academy Expert Team Arrives at Dawn City!!!

— Survivor's Daily, Dawn City Edition]

...

As it turned out, the Academy hadn't been blowing smoke.

Just two weeks after Qiliu, the Director of the Investigation Department, made his promise to Chu Guang, a team of experts led by a B-level researcher arrived at Camp 101 in Dawn City.

At the Academy, B-level was already a fairly high rank.

Yang Kai, the permanent liaison to the Alliance, and Li Ke, who had participated in the Falcon City ceasefire negotiations, were both B-level. Qiliu himself was only A-level.

A high rank meant high access privileges.

Secrets that a C-level researcher could toil a lifetime to never touch, a B-level could uncover with a flick of a finger.

Previously, the Academy had sent some experts to the Alliance, but they never taught anything sensitive—just superficial enhancements, especially avoiding the "graviton-related technologies" that were "cutting-edge even before the war"!

But this time was different. The ban on "graviton" technology had actually been lifted!

The significance of gravitons needed no elaboration.

At least in this universe, it was considered a prerequisite technology for entering the interstellar age.

It was virtually the only particle known to human civilization in this cosmos that could transcend its own dimension and use the laws of other dimensions to interfere with the laws of the three-dimensional world.

This included slow nuclear fusion at room temperature, faster-than-light travel between galaxies, and more.

Things deemed impossible in the old era, miracles with a probability approaching zero on a macroscopic scale, had become possible through the intervention of gravitons!

It was precisely for this reason that, although the industrial and mainstream social opinion of the Human Union era regarded controlled nuclear fusion as the dividing line between the prosperous era and the old era, the academic and aerospace industries widely considered "gravitons" as the watershed between the new age and the old!

Its significance was like sails and compasses to the Age of Exploration—truly opening the door to a new world!

A civilization that could not grasp the mysteries of gravity would never become a true interstellar civilization.

And the difference between a starship without a warp drive and one equipped with it was like the difference between a dugout canoe and a cog ship!

Staring at the long list of technology transfer documents provided by the Academy, Chu Guang, sitting behind his desk, couldn't help but recall the hard days of fussing over a single plasma engine. He sighed with emotion.

"Well, well, the sun really does rise from the west. Even the iron rooster is shedding feathers."

It seemed those folks weren't solely focused on running away; they had also considered fostering a reliable ally back home.

Of course, these technologies transferred to the Alliance came with strings attached.

The most critical condition was that, before the Academy left this star system, these technologies could only be used by the Alliance and could not be transferred to any other survivor factions on the wasteland not recognized by the Academy.

This included the Corporation and the Great Rift, as well as the Valiant Alliance and the South Sea Alliance, among others.

They didn't care about what happened afterward, but at least as long as they remained on this planet, they had an obligation to limit the spread of technology—or so they believed.

Chu Guang naturally respected their decision.

After all, the Alliance had experienced the power of "technological barbarians" firsthand and wouldn't be foolish enough to harm themselves and others.

Yin Fang, sitting on the office sofa sipping coffee, wore a complex expression, clearly not expecting the Academy to open its doors so suddenly.

"Don't say you didn't see it coming—I didn't either."

Herya, seated on another sofa, cast a questioning glance at Chu Guang.

"Should we share Xiaoyu's research data with them?"

The Alliance Biological Research Institute was one of the few research institutions in the Alliance that could stand on equal footing with the Academy's researchers.

Especially in the fields of mutant slime mold and hive research, the Academy had little to teach the Alliance and instead had to learn from them.

Chu Guang closed his eyes in thought for a moment before speaking.

"Courtesy demands reciprocity. Since they're so eager to see, let them have a look. After all, they've already shared the secret of the 'Gaia Seed' with us. It wouldn't be right to keep hiding things from them."

A smile curled at the corner of Herya's lips.

"Great, no more beating around the bush in our exchanges."

From an academic standpoint, she naturally hoped for open exchanges with the Academy, as holding back made communication too cumbersome.

But she also understood that Chu Guang had to consider the Alliance's interests, as research on mutant slime mold was one of the few cards the Alliance held.

So she had always cooperated with Chu Guang, engaging only in limited technical exchanges within the framework of the Sticky Commonwealth.

Now, with mutual trust reaching new heights, there was no need for the previous wariness.

"I've put you through a lot before. From now on, feel free to communicate directly with the Academy on mutant slime mold research without consulting me on every detail," Chu Guang said, giving Herya a grateful look before placing the list on the corner of his desk. "But honestly, although I once thought we might reach some consensus with the Academy, I didn't expect it to happen so quickly."

Yin Fang nodded in agreement.

"It seems the Celestials really scared them."

Everyone has their limitations, even the head of the Alliance's scientific expedition team.

To this day, he still harbored resentment over how his superiors had pinned the blame on him and then ordered his assassination without explanation.

Even if all that was in the past.

Seeing Yin Fang's hypersensitivity, Herya smiled faintly, then turned to Chu Guang behind the desk and teased him.

"Actually, I think it's you who gave them hope."

Chu Guang laughed out loud at that.

"Haha, I'm not that thick-skinned. Better to credit the united shelter residents and survivors for that!"

These words were sincere.

Though his awakened talent had indeed granted him abilities beyond the ordinary, he did not believe that his personal charisma alone could make the iron rooster of the Wandering Swamp willingly shed its feathers.

The Academy had observed the Alliance for a long time.

Even longer than the Corporation had taken notice of the Alliance.

That they had been scared by the Celestials was merely a joke.

In his heart, Chu Guang was still more inclined to believe that the reason they had made such a decision must be that they saw something worth doing so.

Just as Yin Fang was still marveling at the Academy's grand gesture, the expert team from the Academy had already arrived at the nuclear power plant in Dawn City.

When the Alliance's engineers proudly showed the Academy's researchers their most advanced reactor technology and the heart of the entire industrial system, a certain researcher whose face was even sourer than Jiang Xuezhou's merely curled the corner of his mouth meaningfully.

It was worth mentioning that although the Academy had ten thousand schemes, the emotional intelligence of the vast majority of its junior researchers was actually not very high.

Especially the honest ones who toiled like beasts of burden in the laboratories.

“Laser ignition... Heh, never thought I’d see such an antique.”

“Using this thing to defeat the Legion—you must have had a hard time of it.”