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When Long woke up again, he found himself in the Platypus. Was he alive? Was he saved by his teammates? Yamanaka and Konno were not far away.
"How long have I slept?"
"Captain, only ten minutes have passed now."
Only ten minutes? In his mind, it felt like much longer than that. He even thought that several days had passed. His lungs were still numb and tingling, and breathing became a burden, as if someone was constantly pressing on his lungs. Long knew that it was because his alveoli were injured.
The damn smell of alcohol was gone. He felt as if he had been rescued from the depths of the ocean.
At least he's alive.
"Why am I here?"
This question made the team members look at each other in bewilderment, and no one could answer it. Because they didn't know why the captain was here. He just suddenly appeared and fell into a coma.
"Anyway, I'm glad you're okay, Captain." Konno said thankfully.
He was not okay, but was rescued by someone. Long recalled the person holding the rabbit and thought it was Beidou, but it seemed that he was not.
"What about the others? Are they all back?"
"The Platypus' engine has some problems. Dr. Kiji is performing emergency repairs outside the cabin. Beidou is also outside the cabin to protect him."
As expected, it broke down again. Long found that he was not surprised.
"The doctor said it was just a minor glitch and it will be fixed soon."
"Well, what about the monster?"
"I haven't been chasing you since just now."
The monster didn't chase me, but I could feel the ground shaking. It was as if something was fighting.
"Yoshimura, can you hear me? What's the situation on the ground?" Captain Long used the communicator to contact the ground. The depth of 40,000 meters did not affect the signal of the communicator.
"This is Yoshimura, Captain, the voice is clear. There is no abnormality on the ground right now. I am currently on standby in the air in the Airo."
"Okay, continue to be alert on the ground! Konno, turn on all the lights of the Platypus!"
"But Captain, that would expose our position."
"It doesn't matter. We were already exposed."
From the moment you are discovered by the underground people, there is no need to hide.
Regardless of whether the demands made by the underground people are reasonable or not, it is impossible for humans to give up groundwater resources. It is not just water resources, but also various minerals and oil, which are indispensable to modern people.
If the underground belongs to the underground people, then their demands will not be limited to groundwater. This is a war for living space.
Humanity can no longer go back to the time a hundred years ago, and there is no possibility of compromise between the two sides.
"But it always feels a bit sad. The underground people are also life on Earth, right? For the sake of human development, do we really have to be enemies with everything?"
Enemies from the universe, enemies from the ocean, and now enemies from underground. In the darkness, beyond the reach of human eyes, it seems that there are always countless enemies hiding.
Do they really want to see everyone as an enemy?
"Why is there no possibility of peaceful cooperation?" Yoshimura felt a little sad on the other side of the communicator.
He studied folklore and biology. In the past, he studied these things, always hoping to increase his understanding of other creatures and other civilizations in the future.
He didn't learn this to point a gun at someone.
However, the real work is to fight, fight. Everything, all the civilizations encountered, seem to be the enemy of mankind. The only way to communicate is with gunpoint.
"Because we are too weak." Long stated the most fundamental reason.
War requires strength, but peace requires even more strength to keep both sides rational.
No one wants an endless war, but because we are weak, we have to fight with our fangs bared, because once we retreat, there will be no recovery, and we don’t have the courage to actively express goodwill.
The Platypus's main lights were turned on at full power, and the cave ahead was brightly lit.
Then they saw that the monster didn't chase them because it was fighting another monster.
"Hey, on the other side, isn't that the rabbit monster from a few days ago?" Yamanaka said with some surprise.
I thought Ace and Gaia had destroyed each other, but now it seems that they didn't. And now, it is fighting with this underground monster.
"How is this going?"
"It seems that not all monsters are our human enemies." Captain Long sighed, thinking of the rabbit that Beidou was holding just now. Konno said it was a mascot.
But this 'mascot' can really give people a surprise. The figure holding the rabbit that I saw when I was unconscious was not my illusion.
"Captain, are you saying that the bunny monster is helping us?"
"Although I can't be completely sure, since the other side is clearly an enemy, the enemy of my enemy, I should understand it as such."
"I see. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? Haha, it's really easy to understand."
Although that was not actually the case, Captain Long did not explain further.
[It was you who saved me just now, Gaia?] Long silently said in his heart. He actually had a lot of questions to ask the other party.
He didn't know if Gaia could hear the voice he was silently praying in his heart. Maybe she could, because the gods could always hear the prayers of humans.
[Are all these things that humans do right? As long as they are inconsistent with human interests, do we really have to regard them as enemies and take it for granted that we are the righteous party? ]
As the captain of the TAC team, Long cannot be weak, so he cannot show any confusion about these issues.
But, is it allowed to silently pray to the gods for answers in your heart?
Under the spotlight of the Platypus, the battlefield on the other side could be seen clearly. The underground monster named Gitgitaga by the underground people had already fallen into a disadvantage in the battle. Lunaticus was not afraid of the opponent's alcohol-smelling suffocating gas, but it was burned by Lunaticus's repeated magma attacks.
"You deserve it! That rabbit monster is so cool, I find that I fall in love with it!" Konno said half-truthfully.
It seemed that for the first time, humans had monsters willing to fight to protect them.
"Gaia, why are you on the side of humans? Don't we underground people have the right to live?"
The one who spoke was the underground man Angramon. Seeing the monster he had placed high hopes on gradually showing signs of defeat, he cried out in unwillingness. He had endured ten years underground and was no longer willing to endure it.
He wanted a life under the blue sky, not this dark place.
"Great. You are not a life form of Earth."
"what!"
Angramon heard the voice and found the human girl standing in front of him. No, that's not a human, that's Gaia!
She heard Captain Long's prayer, but Ling also didn't know the answer.
Gaia has helped humans time and again, so humans can rest assured that everything they do is allowed by the Earth. Because Gaia is on their side, isn't that enough? This is the will of the Earth!
Gaia helps them, which means the Earth helps them. The Earth thinks they are just, so they can put aside all their worries.
But how cunning, humans can rest assured because of Gaia.
What about Gaia?
God is high above and should not be confused. Heaven and earth are unkind and treat all things as straw dogs.
But she is not. If humans are enemies of other creatures on Earth and other civilizations that were also born on Earth, how can Ling make herself feel at ease when making a decision?
Gaia never interfered with her choices, and Ling didn't know whether she should be thankful. But at the same time, she didn't know whether what she did was right or wrong. No one would tell her whether her choice was correct, just, or fair.
Therefore, when she found out that the so-called 'underground man Angramon' was not a life form on Earth, she felt extremely fortunate. It was great that she didn't have to make a decision against her will.
"I am an underground person. I have been living underground on this planet..."
"ten years!"
"what?"
"You have lived underground on this planet for ten years. You came to Earth ten years ago. Or do you want to lie and say that you built this underground city?"
The girl pressed on step by step, and Angramon retreated in panic. It was a terrifying creature over two meters tall, but it was completely suppressed by the momentum of a little girl. This scene was a bit ridiculous.
But Angramon, the person involved, did not find it funny.
"Since you have occupied this underground city, tell me, where did the original inhabitants of this underground city go?"
Discovered? But that's right, that's Gaia, who knows almost everything on this planet. Angramon was a little surprised, but not really very surprised.
"Gaia, do you really care so much about the former underground people? Then why did you do nothing about them in the past ten years?"
Ling also fell silent. She had to admit that her relentless pursuit was not really motivated by a sense of responsibility to seek justice for the "underground people". Instead, it was because she was relieved to find out that the other party was not an indigenous person and had escaped the condemnation in her heart. It was just cheap justice.
You can make accusations with a clear conscience and stand on the side of moral justice.
Chapter 202 The True Underground Civilization
The engine started again, with a roar that echoed throughout the underground.
"It looks like it's been fixed."
Beidou followed Dr. Mukaji into the cabin. Mukaji's hands and face were dirty because of the oil. He took off his oxygen mask and took a deep breath. Although the air in the cabin was not fresh, it was better than the breathing mask connected to the oxygen tank.
Some things that we take for granted, we will realize how precious they are only when we lose them.
"Captain, some gravel got into the engine just now. I added a block outside and it's fine now." Mu Qi simply wiped his hands and face and reported to Captain Long.
"Is everything really alright?"
"Of course, you have to trust my skills."
Captain Long certainly believes in Mu Kaji's skills, but at the same time, he also hopes that he won't have to drive an underground tank to perform missions next time.
"What about the tank's weapon system?"
"No problem. I just checked it out. All weapons, including the main gun, are ready for use at any time."
This is good news, Konno pumped his fist excitedly.
"Let the underground people have a taste of our power!"
"Blow them up!"
Captain Long was not very interested in this topic. Unlike previous battles against alien invaders, this time they were fighting against life on Earth.
The underground people attacked the human factory, so they were fighting back in justice - although he could comfort himself in this way, Long felt that such "justice" would not make people happy.
After all, it is also a fact that humans have polluted groundwater.
Anyone can come up with many reasons for war, so talking about justice in such an environment is not inspiring.
The tanks began to advance, with rocket launchers aiming at the tentacles on the monster's head.