Chapter 1028: Chapter 1027: Community of Destiny

Under the infinitely vast blue sky, shallow water extends like a mirror to the edge of sight. In this unbelievably vast world, anyone here cannot help but feel an ever-growing sense of insignificance.

Emperor Rosetta couldn’t help but glance around this place once more before withdrawing his sight, saying with a touch of emotion: "Those Eternal Sleepers once described the power of the ’Wanderers from Outer Realm’... Some mentioned that chosen individuals were entitled to meet with these wanderers in a special space, but none have truly seen this place—are they describing here?"

"Pretty much—but those believers have many misunderstandings about me," Gawain chuckled, "They seem to exaggerate my... dangers, and since they’ve chosen to side with Typhon, they certainly won’t use flattering words to describe me as their ’enemy’."

Emperor Rosetta looked at Gawain seriously, despite being in an eerie space and seemingly without any initiative, he remained very calm here, devoid of any feeling of being helpless: "I’m curious—are you, whether Gawain Cecil or a Wanderer from Outer Realm... are you a human in this world, or a wandering existence akin to gods?"

Gawain opened his hands: "I’ve just cooperated with you to defeat a god. I thought we already had the most basic trust between us."

Emperor Rosetta remained unmoved, his expression unchanged, still just watching Gawain.

"Alright, you can consider me a Traveler, a ’human’ similar to you all but with some unique experiences and abilities," Gawain sighed hopelessly, speaking with even more casualness, "Understanding me this way will help us build a friendly and trusting relationship—don’t think of me as an ’Outland Wanderer.’ Often, this title is just to deter those Dark Cultists."

Emperor Rosetta frowned, his typically gloomy face showing a thoughtful expression. After a few seconds, he broke the silence: "Then, by bringing me to this ’place,’ what do you wish to discuss?"

"Just to make contact—you know, since this ’war’ broke out, communication between Typhon and Cecil has fallen into a semi-stagnant state, which is very dangerous. Now that the greatest threat has finally disappeared, I believe we need to make contact as soon as possible to prevent any chaos from erupting between our two countries in such a tense atmosphere," Gawain said seriously, "After all, our armies are currently jointly located on a very chaotic post-war scorched earth."

Gawain spoke with a very friendly tone, even carrying a certain ease of casual conversation, yet Emperor Rosetta could discern deeper meanings in these calm words. He looked at Gawain deeply before slowly saying: "This fire burned fiercely enough—you and I shouldn’t hope for it to keep burning."

"It seems we agree on the main direction," Gawain looked into Emperor Rosetta’s eyes, "Thus, we have the foundation to return to the negotiation table—as for how to slowly extinguish this fire, we will have time to discuss that at the table later."

Emperor Rosetta’s expression remained composed, but he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief inside. He knew that one of the worst-case scenarios in his post-war projections wouldn’t come to pass. Although this might not be cheap, it’s preferable to a war extending all the way to Aldernon. After relaxing a bit, he couldn’t help but take another look at Gawain, speaking very frankly: "To be honest, I thought you wouldn’t stop—this is a rare chance for Cecil; Typhon is so weak right now, Aldernon almost right in front of you."

Emperor Rosetta’s frankness made Gawain a little surprised. He looked unexpectedly at this Typhon Ruler and raised his eyebrows: "Then guess, why don’t I do so?"

Emperor Rosetta paused in silence before speaking in a deep voice: "You can’t swallow all of Typhon—the land is too vast and densely populated, only to drag post-war Cecil into a quagmire. Beyond that, I can’t think of a better reason."

Gawain looked at him deeply, having to admit Emperor Rosetta at least got it half right.

He had indeed considered letting the fire continue burning, even taking this opportunity to strike directly into Aldernon, merging the two human empires into one, a highly attractive option enough to stir the soul—unfortunately, the logic of the real world isn’t so simple.

As Emperor Rosetta said, Cecil couldn’t swallow all of Typhon, nor even a third of it—Typhon isn’t the wilderness of the southern borders, nor is it the blank canvas of Anzu following a civil war; it doesn’t have like Victoria or Baldwin Franklin from before willing to sincerely join a whole aristocratic system as "our own," it’s an Empire already entering a period of significant industrial development with a clear and strict system of officials, and the populace beginning to enlighten—a modern Empire with almost a billion people, a stable ruling order, an independent and complete cultural system, and countless people and officials loyal to the Augustus royal family... not at all comparable to Anzu of the old;

These factors do not change much, even after experiencing this war.

On the other hand, Gawain is also aware of Cecil’s own situation: Hidden under the surface strength brought by advanced technology and international trade is a country just emerging from the shadows of civil war, many areas still struggling hard for restoration and construction. The scars from the civil war and divine disaster are only just healing, and the nationwide shortage of officials and staff in Administrative Offices is barely patched up; the cleansing and counter-revolutionary work against old aristocrats and civil war opportunists is still unfinished, and the previous food crisis has only just been peacefully resolved—the current food reserves in the national treasury wouldn’t even sustain the war till the coming autumn.

If a war were really to occur, given Typhon’s current state, the Cecil Legion might indeed reach Aldernon—but that would only be another quagmire engulfing Cecil entirely. The people of Typhon would not be easily defeated like the southern and Plains of the Holy Spirits aristocrats in the past; ongoing minor conflicts would likely persist into next year or potentially the year after, a new order couldn’t be established, the massive increase in population would far exceed the processing limits of the Cecil Administrative Office, and long-term deficits would deplete Cecil’s fragile reserves, while subsequent supply tightness and worsening public order would spiral out of control.

In various scenarios simulated by the Governor group, neural networks, Nariteer, and others, the final conclusion was pretty much the same: Typhon couldn’t be fully conquered nor fully assimilated, and Cecil would ultimately have to withdraw from this quagmire with only several years of economic stagnation or even regression. The only gains for both nations would be two to three generations of lasting hatred and the downfall of the Supreme Administration Office’s authority.

If this war could be postponed a few years, perhaps things would be different—yet the real world doesn’t have so many "ifs."

But this is merely one half of the reasons for Gawain to stop the "fire" from continuing.

"Have you ever considered that even if I can’t swallow the entire Typhon, I can have many other choices," he raised his head, looking into Rosetta’s eyes, "For instance, I can dismember your Empire, or foster a puppet regime in Aldernon, or even block and divide Typhon’s economic cycle. That’s far easier than occupying a country..."

He did not elaborate on how he would do it, simply voicing one vague concept after another. While Rosetta was plunged into serious thought, Beltira, who had been silent since earlier, couldn’t help but speak up: "Who knew there were so many means?! I never thought of that..."

Instinctively, Rosetta glanced at Beltira with a peculiar expression on his face: "Regardless of anything, you are still one of the ancestors of the Augustus Clan..."

Beltira’s expression was solemn, and with a tone as if seeing through everything, she sighed: "That was in the past."

Forcing himself to turn his gaze back to Gawain from Beltira, Rosetta looked into his eyes: "You mentioned these not to threaten or warn—it’s too superficial for you."

"Indeed, I just wanted to make one thing clear—the future can become dire, but none of us wish to head in that direction," Gawain nodded. "The means I mentioned earlier, from Cecil’s perspective, could bring great benefits, yet the cost would be the collective loss of all humanity—Cecil and Typhon would be left only with enduring opposition and discord, countless generations spending their days in suspicion and mutual discrimination, and the damages caused by such a relationship might never be repaired; the overall development of mortals would be slowed as one of the countries with the most potential had its wings clipped, while others... might be left in fear..."

"And there’s another very important point," Rosetta suddenly opened his mouth, interrupting Gawain, "The order you’ve been promoting all along, striving to achieve—the concept of a community of mortal destiny would collapse due to Cecil’s actual actions in reality."

Gawain paused, then slowly smiled, not with a polite smile, but with genuine pleasure.

"That’s right, if I did that, I’m afraid no one in the world would believe in the concept of ’the destiny of mortals as a whole’ anymore," he said with a smile. "What about you? Do you recognize my ideology?"

"...It seems you really want to establish such an order," Rosetta paused for a moment, then spoke solemnly, "An order that regards all humanity as a whole..."

"Firstly, not just all humanity, but all mortals—including every race on Loren Continent, and even those intelligent beings beyond the continent," Gawain corrected with a serious expression. "Secondly, it’s not that I want to create this order—it is in itself a natural reality, a natural law of this world."

He spoke slowly, and suddenly a breeze blew between the vast water surface and the sky, rippling the water, and beneath the slightly swaying vast water, scenes suddenly emerged—

It was a battlefield viewed from above, the post-war ravages of the Bitter Winter Castle frontline, a shocking fissure covered by lava and black crystal scorched earth extending from the plains all the way to the main peak of Bitter Winter Castle. The vast land was dotted with rising smoke, and in the distance in the scene were cities and villages, as well as winter’s tranquil woods and snow-covered farmlands...

The scene kept pulling back, to the point where specific national details could not be discerned and continued pulling back, finally stopping at an angle covered in clouds, the vast earth boundless.

Rosetta stood up, instinctively looking at the earth reflected on the water beneath his feet, intuitively thinking the view should be broader—but it stopped at this distance, even only half of the Gondor wasteland was visible.

"This is the land where we live—when you look at it from above, you’ll find all cities and villages disappear, let alone the borders between nations," Gawain’s voice came from the side, waking Rosetta from his thoughts. "Of course, we still need the concept of nations, need the concept of individuals, but on this basis, all of us... are just dwellers on this land.

"We face a common world, with all its blessings and challenges, we face the gods, and the chaotic waves that could resurge at any time, and those unknown threats. If I had spoken of these before today, it might still sound nebulous to you, but today... the shockwave of the War God’s disintegration has just swept over the rooftops of Bitter Winter Castle.

"And you should know, what we have to face... is not just the War God.

"We have many gods, many that have sheltered us, and still continue to shelter us, they cover the entire world, not only influencing the human nations but also affecting elves, dwarves, fairies, beastmen...

"Today, we succeeded in defeating one god, but you witnessed the cost firsthand—how many other nations in the world can do what Typhon and Cecil did? This... you should know clearly too.

"That’s why I say all mortals face ’world crises’ like gods and chaotic waves as a community of destiny—this is not my decision, it is the world’s decision, a part of the natural order of the whole world."

Gawain paused, and the breeze in the space also gradually stopped, the images reflected under the water slowly vanished, turning back into endless blue. Rosetta finally took a light breath, giving Gawain a glance: "Considering your identity as an ’Outland Wanderer’, my feelings now are becoming even more peculiar... you are even more concerned about this world than the residents of this world."

"That’s why I said not to think about ’Outland Wanderers’ for now—I didn’t stop in this world because I found it interesting," Gawain shook his head with a smile. "Moreover, what I just said wasn’t to persuade or show my ’concern’ for this world, as I said at first, this is just an ’interaction’, we need such a private interaction, not at a negotiation table, not in an official meeting, but merely an ’informal talk’ that doesn’t require publicity. I am here to share some of my thoughts with you, and as for how much you understand, or are willing to understand... that’s up to you."

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