Chapter 97: The Ninety-Seventh Day of Being a Salted Fish

Goudan… seemed to think he was angry.

As he withdrew the Mental Power he used to contact Goudan, Lu Yuan realized this a beat late.

That’s quite strange. Am I even capable of getting angry? Lu Yuan wondered.

Lu Yuan had rarely even experienced the emotion of “anger.”

He certainly knew what anger was. He wasn’t a fool, and he had studied the emotions that normal humans produced. Once, in order to become a qualified commander, he had even specialized in psychology. He was actually quite skilled at mobilizing the emotions of his soldiers and utilizing them, whether it was the grief and indignation over a fallen comrade or the resentment toward the Zerg.

Because of this, he was certain that he didn’t experience such emotions much himself.

He was always calm.

Lu Yuan had once considered whether this was abnormal.

But given his experiences… being abnormal was perhaps the only normal outcome. Moreover, it wasn’t as if he lacked emotional fluctuations entirely.

He had things he liked, states of relaxation, and feelings of pleasure and comfort.

When playing games, when encountering something novel, when solving a difficult problem… though they weren’t intense, he did experience some emotional shifts. And they were positive ones.

This was actually a good thing, in Lu Yuan’s opinion.

Negative emotions, such as anger or resentment, might be useful at times, but for him, the disadvantages outweighed the benefits. As a commander, he had to remain calm at all times to make the most correct decisions.

However, there was one drawback to this…

He didn’t even realize when he was angry.

But Goudan was someone very sensitive to emotions. Lu Yuan had always been clear on that point. So, he was actually quite willing to trust Goudan’s judgment.

It was just a bit strange.

Lu Yuan recalled his previous emotions with a hint of curiosity, but he truly couldn’t find anything unusual.

He had thought he was very composed.

After all, he could understand Desolate Planet’s actions.

If it were him…

Well, he wouldn’t necessarily have done the same.

The information he possessed wasn’t complete enough, so he couldn’t truly put himself in its shoes. Analyzing “what would I do if I were in that position” out of thin air was clearly irresponsible. In fact, Lu Yuan rarely performed such analyses. More often, he analyzed the potential behaviors of others based on his understanding of them.

If one viewed Desolate Planet as a living entity, it was actually quite easy to understand.

It was a little unlucky thing that was very friendly toward humans, possessed some special abilities but couldn’t quite utilize them, and had a strong will to survive despite being weak and immature.

For such a little fellow, faced with an impending war, choosing to use a few harmless little tricks to stop it was perfectly reasonable.

It was war, after all.

They were planning to conquer the entire planet. Even if Goudan himself had no intention of hurting anyone, and even if Goudan would do his best to restrain his subordinates, casualties were still highly likely.

Especially after a war had gone on for some time, as the front lines gradually stretched, the number of people involved increased, the commander’s control inevitably diminished, and the soldiers’ emotions became increasingly numb, the casualty rate would see a significant spike.

If Desolate Planet did not want people to die, or hoped to minimize casualties as much as possible, then it had to do something.

And the only thing Desolate Planet could control was itself.

An earthquake, a volcanic eruption.

It was both a statement of its own stance and a way to drag Lu Yuan into the fray.

Or rather, a way to make Lu Yuan realize that he could not remain a bystander.

The houses on the Desolate Planet were generally low-rise and mostly made of wood. Even if an earthquake caused them to collapse, they generally wouldn’t crush anyone to death. As for the volcano, as long as Lu Yuan controlled it in time, it wouldn’t pose any threat to the people.

-As long as Lu Yuan controlled it in time.

And Lu Yuan obviously wouldn’t stand by. He couldn’t save everyone, and he had never thought about saving everyone, but he still couldn’t watch people die before his eyes because of a game between himself and another “being.” Or rather, he would not allow innocent people to die because of him.

At any time, under any circumstances, it was impossible for Lu Yuan to face such a thing and not intervene.

And the moment Lu Yuan intervened, the nature of the entire matter changed.

It shifted from “the Desolate Planet people’s own business” to “a matter between Desolate Planet, Lu Yuan, and the Desolate Planet people.”

Before, Lu Yuan could slack off and let Goudan and the others figure out how to unify the Desolate Planet, at most helping to correct a few problems.

But now that Desolate Planet had entered the field and clearly indicated its refusal to accept war, Lu Yuan had to take action. Because this was not an opponent Goudan could contend with, and because this was not Goudan’s opponent at all-if Lu Yuan hadn’t been there, Desolate Planet clearly wouldn’t have shown its hand.

Desolate Planet had bet its own existence on the gambling table to force Lu Yuan into the game.

It was the simplest yet most effective of open schemes.

From the moment Lu Yuan realized Desolate Planet still held the “Natural Disaster” trump card in its hand, he had already seen through the entire situation.

As for Desolate Planet…

It clearly hadn’t offered him any surprises.

Without exception, everything was unfolding exactly as he had predicted.

…So, would he be angry because of this?

Lu Yuan’s Mental Power monitored Goudan’s movements. Goudan was currently reorganizing the ranks, selecting some people to stay behind and rebuild the houses while others packed their belongings to join him in the rescue mission. As Lu Yuan watched, he pondered.

When something is expected long in advance, a lack of surprise leads to nothing more than a bit of disappointment at most.

Even if Desolate Planet chose to trigger a volcano in a populated area…

…Oh.

Lu Yuan suddenly understood.

It seemed that Desolate Planet might be even stupider than he had initially thought.

It should have understood that as long as it gave a signal—proving it truly controlled natural disasters and intended to use them to stop the war—Lu Yuan would have grasped its meaning.

And that would have been incredibly simple. It only needed to trigger a minor earthquake in an uninhabited area.

Yet it chose the most extreme method.

At the final moment, just as Goudan and the others were making their last preparations, it unleashed a sudden, life-threatening disaster that affected this very location.

Lu Yuan didn’t find it impossible to understand.

There were benefits to doing it this way.

Affecting this area ensured that Lu Yuan wouldn’t remain ignorant of the disaster. Endangering lives served to harden its stance, forcing Lu Yuan’s hand while providing a viable alternative: replacing war with disaster, and replacing conquest with rescue.

But…

It was a waste of manpower and resources, yielding half the result for twice the effort.

It was boring.

Lu Yuan clicked his tongue. He thought that if he ever managed to capture the consciousness of this Desolate Planet, he would have to give it some serious lessons.

Tactics that involve harming oneself to hurt the enemy are meant for when one is backed into a corner against a mortal foe.

Using the things one cares about to threaten one’s own people was simply too childish.