Evolution - Chapter 70
Chapter 70
At 00:00 on this day, the entrance exam officially ended, and the Fourth Military's data backend updated in real time.
At nine the next morning, all 120,000 candidates admitted based on their total scores, as well as the 5,000 admitted by special exception for participating in the rescue operation, received their acceptance letters from the Fourth Military.
At ten, the instructors organized the candidates to board the ships in batches. Ji Changqing, Gu Changge, He Qingping, and Lu Youxia all found themselves boarding the same transport ship bound for the Fourth Military.
The four of them looked at each other and couldn't help but smile.
The temptations had been there, and the offers had been genuinely moving, but the thought of abandoning the Fourth Military and leaving these new friends with whom they were just starting to build a rapport... they decided against it.
The Alliance and the Fourth Military simultaneously went public with the events of the entrance exam: the candidates' encounter with the star pirate group, followed by their confrontation with an Imperial warship.
The news reports were embellished to some extent, but they largely avoided concealing the facts just because of the negative impact.
At the same time, the Alliance initiated an accountability investigation. The military, the government, and the Academy of Sciences all dispatched personnel to form an investigation team. With broad authority, they began to investigate the planets, military bases, and patrol routes along the Imperial warship's entire course.
This move was not just about assigning blame; it was about identifying and plugging any gaps in their defenses.
After all, they couldn't let the enemy slip in undetected once, and then let them slip in again the next time, still completely unaware.
The moment this was made public, the Alliance's web erupted in an uproar.
The Alliance populace engaged in their daily round of cursing the Empire, clamoring for the Alliance military to retaliate in kind.
No one really took this clamoring to heart. The decision to go to war was never that simple.
After cursing the Empire, the real headache for the Alliance began. Public doubt was rampant, and the credibility of both the military and the government suffered. However, it was clear that the public's criticism was directed more heavily at the military.
First, their patrols were lax. The fact that an Imperial warship could sneak in completely undetected was a terrifying thought upon closer inspection. No one wanted to wake up one day to find their peaceful planet besieged by Imperial warships.
Second, the incident had occurred during the Fourth Military's entrance exam, resulting in the deaths of nearly a thousand candidates. The Fourth Military's reputation plummeted and it came under heavy attack.
Some even questioned whether the Alliance favored the Fourth Military too much. They argued that after such a serious accident, the Fourth Military should be severely punished, including but not limited to stripping it of most of its resources and distributing them to other military academies. Perhaps, they suggested, this would allow several academies more outstanding than the Fourth Military to emerge.
This kind of argument, feigning naivety while being truly insidious, actually garnered a wave of support on the StarNet.
There were also accusations that the military was inactive and wasting taxpayer money, and that the military academies' exams disregarded human life and failed to provide adequate protection, leading to the candidates' deaths...
Everyone remained quite composed. The military and government, who were being furiously criticized, responded very officially: a final explanation would be given to the public once the investigation was complete.
Only the Fourth Military's response was somewhat unique. It announced the number of casualties and the list of meritorious individuals. It also stated that the candidates had performed heroically during the incident, and because their participation in the rescue had resulted in low scores, the school would grant special admission to these 5,000 people.
The only thing they kept quiet was the news that nearly two thousand Alphas were to be handed over to the judiciary.
If they were soldiers, they would face a court-martial. However, they were currently civilians who had not undergone rigorous special training. They had made a mistake and would receive the punishment they deserved, but they shouldn't be exposed to the public eye and bear pressure they were not meant to endure.
Ji Changqing was quite surprised. The Alliance was truly straightforward, actually making this matter public. She had instinctively assumed it would be suppressed. The military and government would conduct their investigations and hold people accountable, while the candidates' families would be placated and silenced, quietly burying the incident.
Who knew the Alliance would be so bold?
Boarding the transport ship to the Fourth Military required scanning one's acceptance letter. The 5,000 students admitted by special exception happened to be mostly recuperating on Major General Xie'er's flagship.
As everyone disembarked from the flagship and boarded the transport ship, they naturally gathered together.
The journey was uneventful. Everyone was scrolling through the news. Seeing Ji Changqing's shocked expression, Gu Changge, who had a deep understanding of her "country bumpkin" status thanks to Major General Xie'er's previous actions, nudged her with his elbow. "What's wrong?"
Ji Changqing pointed at the news on her screen. "I'm just a little surprised they would make this public."
Gu Changge glanced at it and said dismissively, "How could they not? This was a major incident, and it involved the Empire. Otherwise, there would still be people who think the Empire is their dream paradise."
Eve added somberly, "For some people, it really is."
Ji Changqing grew thoughtful, recalling the online wars on Blue Star sparked by the ABO Social Basic Law. A person's stance truly changed with their position.
She then considered that the Alliance had existed for ten thousand years, yet certain ideas might still be deeply ingrained in some people's minds. When the rights and power they felt they should naturally possess were not permitted in the Alliance, their dissatisfaction would accumulate to a certain point, and they would naturally choose to defect.
After several space jumps, the transport ship, which had been flying for nearly 40 hours, landed steadily on the planet where the Fourth Military was located.
One hundred twenty-five thousand new military academy cadets lined up, registered, received their military-issued supplies, were assigned dormitories... and began their military academy careers.
Elsewhere, Major General Xie'er also received the investigation team. After handing over the relevant materials, she was finally able to lead her fleet to a nearby base to replenish armaments and personnel as originally planned.
On the way, she received a communication from Claire.
Claire, who was managing various affairs on Blue Star, looked grave. Clearly, something unpleasant had happened.
Sure enough, Claire brought bad news. Recently, perhaps due to Xie'er's absence and the lack of a deterrent, armed conflicts had broken out in several places.
Without exception, they were all in countries where equal rights had been a serious problem.
Over the past two years, as the Alliance's ABO Social Basic Law became more widespread, places that had restricted and suppressed the development of women through various means were corrected one by one.
They were given the rights they should have had all along.
As a result, a particularly interesting phenomenon emerged on Blue Star.
In a typical ABO society, issues like gender discrimination are divided along ABO lines, not between male and female. But on Blue Star, millennia of gender perception were so deeply ingrained that even though they keenly felt the differences of ABO, the fact that men still held the vast majority of power led them to tacitly and mutually agree to continue enjoying the gender privileges they had as men before.
Even with physiological changes, they remained psychologically intoxicated by the various gender-based privileges they had once enjoyed so effortlessly.
Xie'er was not surprised by this. She clasped her hands, leaned back in her chair, and crossed her legs. "A purge?"
"Yes. In these conflict zones, female casualties are severe." Claire nodded. The premeditated riots had happened too quickly. After all, the superior weapons were all in the hands of the other side. Most women were thrown into prison before they could react, and the majority of those who resisted were executed on the spot.
Xie'er let out a soft laugh. "Were the built-in defenses on their comms useless? Or were they coaxed into willingly giving up their last line of protection?"
Claire's expression was hard to put into words.
"Many were betrayed by their families, colleagues, and friends. Others were threatened with their children and families."
"Is the situation under control?"
"It's a standoff," Claire said, choosing her words carefully. In reality, the matter could have been resolved quickly with military force, but the rioters were holding a large number of hostages—the women thrown in prison, as well as their families and children.
What was even more frustrating was that these persecuted women, in turn, were fighting against their rescuers for the sake of their persecutors.
"When thugs decide to use the blood of others to pave their way to power, they should be prepared for their own blood to be used to commemorate the path of others." Xie'er stood up, a murderous glint in her eyes. "In the three years since Blue Star began its evolution, there have been 137,037 conflicts. 99% of them were due to an inability to accept the post-evolution changes. Not the physiological changes, but the changes in rights. Claire, I gave you three years, but it turns out I was right."
She had said long ago that Blue Star, in some respects, was no different from the Empire tens of thousands of years ago. To think it could integrate into the Alliance naturally without bloodshed was a fool's dream.
An overly gentle approach would only fuel the ambitions of some.
Claire smiled bitterly.
"But it doesn't matter. Let the standoff continue. As long as no one dies, just keep an eye on things."
Xie'er said this just before ending the communication.
Let those self-sacrificing saints feel a little more of the malice from their own people. If they were willing to be stepped on by their persecutors, trampled into the mud, as humble as dust, and still feel good about themselves, that was their business.
But if they wanted to drag others of their own gender down with them, then she was sorry, but that wouldn't be allowed.
Two months later, Major General Xie'er returned to Blue Star with a fleet of 10 fully equipped warships.
Her first act upon returning was to personally lead new recruits to suppress the rebellion.
Within three days, she swept across Blue Star's three major continents, moving through more than a dozen locations, and slaughtered until all those who had been stirring up trouble were scared into silence.
This time, the nearly seven billion people of Blue Star profoundly understood that this major general from the Alliance was definitely not a feminist. She was a thorough egalitarian. Regardless of male or female, regardless of A/B/O, she treated everyone the same. She killed who needed to be killed, suppressed who needed to be suppressed, and sent those who deserved it to the mines as exiles...
So, anyone involved in the riots, whether directly or by secretly providing material support behind the scenes, was rooted out.
Those with blood on their hands, with sufficient evidence, were uniformly executed.
Those who participated but had not killed, as well as the persecuted who had protected their persecutors and resisted the Alliance's rescue, were spared their lives, but what awaited them were prison sentences long enough to make them weep.
It wasn't that there were no protests.
Most of the women thrown into prison couldn't understand why they, the victims, were also being severely punished.
Facing all kinds of questions, Major General Xie'er released all the evidence and stated expressionlessly, "You're used to kneeling. If you don't want to stand up and prefer to kneel, no one is stopping you. However, you obstructed the Alliance's rescue and suppression efforts and sheltered rioters. The evidence is conclusive, and you will be treated as accomplices."
A sentence she left unsaid was that the existence of these fools, their obstruction and betrayal, had caused the deaths of so many clear-headed people. The very thought of it pained her heart.
In her mind, the death of 1,000 such fools couldn't compare to a single clear-headed person, right?
The suppression of the rebellion lasted three days, but the subsequent trials and executions, even at the fastest pace, continued for a full three months.
There weren't many areas with direct armed conflict, but those who were implicated were rooted out by following the leads, and the trail spread to almost 90% of the countries on Blue Star.
Major General Xie'er showed no mercy, taking the opportunity to purge the upper echelons of every country.
To top it off, she held a press conference and, from every conceivable angle, dissed those who clung stubbornly to the two-gender concept.
She didn't even need to say much. Blue Star's original internet had more than enough material, and the current StarNet also had plenty of face-slapping content.
All she had to do was connect the dots between the IDs.
First, she showed clips from before the evolution, from most countries on Blue Star, where women's contributions through childbirth and to the family were taken for granted, their value unrecognized. The entire society believed women should naturally sacrifice for their families, which led to escalating gender discrimination in the workplace.
The statements from women were helpless and resentful, the men's were full of superiority, and the corporate HR's were sharp and profound. Gender equality was the state's job, not the company's responsibility or obligation; hiring women incurred excessively high hidden costs for the company, and so on.
After reviewing all the statements, it became clear that on a scale of 10, a man only needed to score a 2 to easily defeat a woman who scored a 4, suppress a woman who scored a 6, and mock a woman who scored an 8.
Then she began to show clips from after the evolution. With the full implementation of the ABO Social Basic Law, the Alliance recognized the contribution of childbirth to society, awarding childbirth contribution points and providing subsidies. Once society began to bear this expense, the corporate world's attitude changed dramatically. In two years, the employment and promotion rates for women far exceeded those for men.
Then, men started posting complaints about gender discrimination in the workplace.
This time, the statements were much more meaningful.
Most women said things were much better now. Although there was still some bias towards men at times, most companies hired based on merit and promoted the best candidates.
The men's statements were much heavier. For example, opportunities that were once easy to obtain now required double the effort, and they still couldn't get them.
The corporate HR statements were particularly frank. With costs being equal, companies would of course choose the more outstanding candidate. The problem was, most of the resumes they received were from more outstanding women. "Men, you need to step it up! Improve yourselves! While the women are studying hard and constantly getting certified, stop getting addicted to games and failing your classes. We believe your competitiveness in the workplace won't be weaker than the women's."
Finally, Xie'er smilingly played her ultimate trump card, displaying the, in her view, ridiculous proposals from various countries one by one.
These proposals were interesting. They listed a pile of data showing that women's employment and promotion rates had far exceeded men's in the past two years. The consensus was that this would affect social and family stability, and they demanded preferential policies for men.
Xie'er enunciated each word clearly: "The Alliance only protects individual rights from being infringed upon. All six genders are treated equally. We will never sacrifice the due rights of any one gender for the sake of so-called family and social stability."
"I just want to know, how do you have the gall to even suggest this?" This sentence, thanks to Claire's frantic signaling, the irate Major General Xie'er ultimately swallowed and did not say out loud.
The audience was in an uproar, and comments flooded in.
One comment was pushed to the top of the page by the people of Blue Star with the most upvotes, standing proudly above all others.
"When physique techniques have comprehensively improved everyone's physical strength and stamina, when five out of six genders can potentially get pregnant and give birth, and five out of six genders have estrus cycles, hiring based on estrus has become a fantasy. Men who once relied on their gender to win effortlessly without improving themselves have finally come to the stark realization that they have been left far behind by their female peers."
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