Cthulhu Gonfalon

Sui Xiong had the audacity to speak in this tone, but indeed, it was well within his capacity for him to make such a bold statement.

It should not be forgotten that just recently, he had blocked the way of a real god and confined this god within their home for a few months.

Although the “blocking-the-door tactic” did not achieve the desired effect, the Goddess of Love was still touched by Kalisa’s undying love that towards the end, she changed her mind. But if Sui Xiong had not persevered in blocking her doors for so long, would the Goddess of Love bother to pay attention to Kalisa and then come to realize how unique Kalisa was?

It was thus evident how the blocking-the-door tactic was still proven to be very effective.

Even the gods were afraid of blocked doors; given a mere group of mortals, would it be possible for them not to be afraid?

So Sui Xiong cast aside the unfinished fortress and headed straight for the venue of the Grand Parliament.

He did not bother engaging in nonsensical talk with the mortals. He spread out his countless tentacles right away. Then the great aristocrats from all walks of life, powerful aristocrats, great merchants, leaders of large chambers of commerce and the likes of them were all caught and brought to the Parliament Hall. Then in an ice-cold tone, he said, “I’ve helped to gather all of you here. Take your time to talk things through.”

A merchant who was slightly bolder asked, “Just how long exactly are we supposed to have this talk?”

“When you have settled the problem, that’s when this talk will end,” Sui Xiong said. “If you can’t reach an agreement, then all of you can live here all your life.”

There was nothing strange in the first line. But the line that followed carried such a deadly aura that it scared the daylight out of those big shots. Some of them were so scared that they even peed their pants.

Reality was not a story by the bards. There were few mortals in this world who dared to be at loggerheads with gods—especially when this god was one of the most powerful among all gods. All the more that no one would dare to go against his wishes. So even if they were unwilling to do so, the leaders from both the merchant party and aristocratic party obligingly sat themselves in the Parliament Hall to negotiate with deliberation.

Sui Xiong was someone who practiced what he preached. He kept them shut securely within the Parliament Hall. From eating to answering nature’s calls, everything had to be done within the hall. No one was allowed to take even a single step outside, much less go home to sleep.

Winter had passed, and flowers could be seen blooming in the warmth of spring as the weather became warmer with each passing day. A big group of people had gathered inside the hall of this Grand Parliament. Even though food and drink could be brought in from the outside, and whatever they released when they answered the calls of nature could be carried out in chamber pots, bathing was still unthinkable—when this Grand Parliament Hall was built previously, it did not cross anyone’s mind that there would come a day where there was a need to bathe here.

With a change of clothes or even, with the use of spells, the problem of dirty clothes could be resolved. But there was no help for the dirt on their body. As the days passed, those big shots within the Parliament Hall got increasingly dirty. Gradually, the people all had a body odor that made them smell really bad. And they were so used to this smell that they did not realize anything. But everyone entering the hall from the outside would get dizzy from the stench of these few hundreds of people. Then, later on, there were even people who vomited upon stepping inside.

Up to this point in time, the Goddess of Wealth began to feel a little uneasy. She tried to persuade Sui Xiong to give these people a few days off. No matter what, they should scrub and tidy themselves up, or at least, wash off that terrible stench from their bodies. However, Sui Xiong remained adamantly unmoved and flatly refused her on this matter right away.

“I’m a person who practices what I preach, and mean what I say,” he said. “Since I’ve taken this matter under my care, I must get something out of it. If they can’t reach a conclusion, then all of them can just stink themselves to death in there!”

There was no way anyone else’s persuasion would work since his words were as such. These leaders from the merchant party and the aristocratic party could give up all hope. But how was it possible for a negotiation to reach a conclusion so quickly? Both sides had long reached the point where they wanted to fight one another to death by stabbing each other in the chest. Many problems simply had no room for moderation, accommodation or discussion. Even if they were anxious or worried or simply wanted to get out, no one was willing to give in.

The leader of the aristocratic party, one of the two marquises, once said, “Even if I die in this hall, don’t expect me to give in at all! At most, we can all die together!”

By comparison, the merchant party’s attitude was a little milder. After all, the merchants were not as stubborn as the aristocrats. Or rather, they were characterized with softer and gentler dispositions, so there was no way they could be so resolute to death like the aristocrats. As time went on, they gradually started to back down.

The moment the merchants started to show signs of conceding, the matter became easier to handle. Since the aristocrats had gained the upper hand, they did not mind giving in a little in certain areas, allowing this negotiation to gradually get on the right track.

Everything that happened within the Grand Parliament Hall would naturally not escape Sui Xiong’s eyes. Seeing the merchants retreating again, Sui Xiong sneered in his heart. He could not help thinking about Professor Cheng’s comments years ago.

The merchants were in truth, a group of people who were very weak. Although they were crazy enough in the face of interests, they tended to withdraw the moment they were required to toil through long and arduous periods. This was why none of the countries with complete basic infrastructure, with a foundation laid in place for future prosperity, were fully controlled by pureblood merchants.

At that time, there were students who did not accept what the professor said. They asked, “Since the merchants are so weak, then up till now, why is the world situation developing in such a way where the aristocrats are eliminated by the merchants?

Professor Cheng laughed and said, “The ones who eliminated the feudal system are not the merchants, but the people! The merchants are weak, and this made it easy to get them to yield to the aristocrats, as well as to give in to the people. So they’d naturally get more support from the people as compared to the aristocrats. Then ultimately, the feudal system would be eliminated too. What’s so strange about that?”

“If the power of the people is so strong, why do we still have so many kinds of problems in our lives?” someone asked.

“You little rascal! You think progress falls from the sky?” Professor Cheng scolded with a smile. “You have no idea how many people’s efforts, as well as how many twists and turns in life that people must endure, just to push for that little bit of progress. The ancient apes took hundreds of thousands of years before they evolved into humans, yet up till now, it has only been around a hundred years since the elimination of the feudal system—there are even places where the feudal systems have yet to be eliminated. Why are you in such a rush to build up a Society of Great Harmony? Reality is not just storytelling. There’ll be no black technology like infinite energy emerging. We’ll never be able to see the realization of a Society of Great Harmony in this lifetime… Maybe in a few thousand years, it’ll be possible.”

Looking at the situation inside the Grand Parliament and recalling these words that Professor Cheng had said back then, Sui Xiong felt a sudden spark in his heart and then appeared to be absorbed in his thoughts.

Relying solely on technological progress to boost social progress was ultimately still too slow. Should he focus on training those forces that were more progressive in nature and enable them to grow and mature faster? Until they were able to defeat the aristocrats who had social dominance in the government and bring about a new generation?

If cultivation was required, what kind of strength should be cultivated?

The working class? This world had yet to develop comprehensive large-scale production. The number of workers in this class was not big enough, so even if they wanted to sing, “We workers have strength,” their voices would not ring loud enough with their mere numbers.

The farmers’ class? From his impression, the farmers in this world were even weaker than the merchants. Even if there was no food, most of them would only choose to escape. They did not have the courage to raise their arms in resistance, much less stage a revolt because they had no food.

The merchant class? Just their burly appearance alone made Sui Xiong lose all confidence in them.

Thinking through this over and over again, he still could not find the most suitable person. He could only secretly shake his head.

It seemed like the degree of social development was still inadequate after all!