Chapter 1871: Chapter 1264: The Whale Effect
As the master assassin, Madayas had already made thorough preparations when he set out on his mission, even considering countless backup plans.
But… in reality, none of those backup plans were needed.
They weren’t on guard against him at all; Madayas went in as he came out, and they even brewed him a pot of tea.
As for what Madayas gained…
“Everything we wanted to know is all here.”
Staring at the King, the master assassin handed over a small booklet with a bitter smile.
“What is this?”
Looking at the small booklet handed over, Varian was baffled, but he still indicated for Duke Vutagen beside him to take it, then flipped it open, causing his expression to freeze.
“Judgement Court Manual?”
Reading the title, Varian looked questioningly at Madayas. How could something like this, resembling the Azeroth National Geographic Manual, be what’s handed over? Did you just bring this back?
If Madayas weren’t the master assassin of SI:7, Varian might have suspected him of trying to pull a fast one. It’s well known that this kind of thing is used to trick others; how could the real intelligence be in here?
“Your Majesty, you’ll know when you look.”
Madayas wasn’t dumb. Seeing Varian’s gaze fixed on him, he understood what the other was thinking. In fact, when the other party had given him this manual, he had also felt that the Tribunal was treating him like a fool. But after reading it…
“…………”
Varian silently flipped through the small booklet in front of him, page by page. Initially, he was somewhat indifferent, but as he got further along, his expression grew heavier. After finishing the last page, Varian fell into silence, unable to utter a single word.
Madayas wasn’t lying; this small booklet indeed provided the intelligence they needed.
What is the Tribunal?
The booklet clearly states at the outset that the Tribunal is an organization dedicated to guarding Humans and extinguishing any threats to them at all costs.
If it were just this, Varian wouldn’t care much; anyone can spout empty rhetoric.
However, the booklet goes on to detail the Tribunal’s standards for judging Humans, including fully Human, partially mutated, and fully mutated. Moreover, it outlines how the Tribunal would deal with these entities.
In short, it’s practically a standard guideline manual.
If it were just this, most people would laugh it off, seeing it as a joke.
But after the Forsaken were truly wiped out, this was no laughing matter.
Not to mention the parts in the Judgement Court Manual that define Humans, which further puzzled Varian.
Why the skull?
In fact, this question had been encountered by players in a game. There was once a mission where players had to investigate the mysterious disappearance of people from a village on another world, then find the missing ones. Without detailing the process, players eventually discovered through tracking and investigation that the two missing individuals had already been killed and that the children they had were enslaved by a race called Ratman, becoming tools of war used against Humans.
Next naturally comes the part where players assist the Human village in repelling the Ratman attack and capturing the Ratmen.
However, during the final investigation, players were shocked to find that these creatures perceived as Monsters, resembling rats in appearance, were once Humans!
Historically, most of that world’s populace were ordinary people without superpowers, but later Superpower Users appeared and waged war against ordinary people. Following numerous nearly world-ending wars, Superpower Users became the Humans, while ordinary people evolved into Ratmen, turning into threats seen as Monsters by Superpower Users.
Yet, even though their bodies devolved and mutated, these ordinary people remained obsessed with seeking revenge against the Superpower Users, which led to this mission.
Ultimately, the Ratman Clan was completely obliterated, and players, with complex emotions, posted the entire mission process on forums, sparking a big debate without surprise.
In the end, most players had to admit that the Tribunal’s standards for defining Humans, though simple and crude, were indeed the only usable criteria.
First, when it comes to historically verifying if a race belongs to Humans, it’s an enormous archaeological challenge. Players are here to play games, not seek suffering. Even Human origin remains an unsolved issue among anthropologists, so how could they define what sort of history qualifies as Human?
As for judging by genes?
That’s even less possible! In fact, it’s considered a taboo by the Tribunal!
The reason? It traces back to the Golden Age of Human prosperity. At that time, Human civilization was booming, and Humans themselves inevitably sought thrills and faced disasters. They even chose the path of genetic Ascension, altering their genes chaotically.
To the extent that a joke emerged among players: the Iron Rebellion, strictly speaking, wasn’t a rebellion, but rather, the Humans of that era had altered their genes so chaotically and grotesquely that even the Ironmen couldn’t distinguish from a genetic standpoint whether they were Humans… thus leading to the Ironmen rebellion to exterminate these “Alien Creatures.”
Put it this way: imagine the citizens of a cornered Isolated Island claiming their lineage is from the heavenly sons of the Central Plains, purebred heirs of the Royal Family. Yet upon conducting a genetic test, it turns out they’re descendants of Nomadic Tribes slaves… well, that boast sure can’t hold.
Moreover, if you base Human determination on genetics, it’s possible that even some aliens possess purer Human genes than those from the Human Empire.
If this were exposed, wouldn’t the Human Empire explode on the spot?
Turns out after all those thousands of years of boasting Human orthodoxy, the clown might be none other than ourselves?
The mindset collapsed, it’s all over.
So, the Tribunal chose the simplest and most straightforward approach: regardless of your history or your genes, as long as your skull resembles that of a human, you are part of our human family, it’s that simple. Other matters, the Tribunal neither cares nor bothers.
Take the Ratmen, for example. From a historical perspective, these ordinary people persecuted by powers were quite miserable. Even after their degeneration and mutation, they were still obsessed with revenge, staying resilient and tenacious until the very end without surrendering. It’s commendable, it’s poignant.
But if you hence consider them as humans, then the human species within the Human Empire would be excessively numerous.
To say the least, no matter how tragic the background of this crowd of Ratmen is, the average person would not recognize these walking mice as humans like themselves.
Thus, the simplest and most direct method is — from a cranial perspective, these Ratmen are not humans, hence they are treated as aliens.
Simple, brutal, cruel, efficient.
Additionally, what surprised Varian the most was that, in the view of the Tribunal, humans are the supreme race, with an intact, unmutated skull representing the sanctity and purity of humanity. Therefore, those dwarves, gnomes, elves, and the like are all considered subhumans in the Tribunal’s eyes.
This concept undeniably shattered Varian’s worldview completely.
It’s essential to understand that on the Continent of Azeroth, almost all beings regard elves as a long-lived, powerful, and noble race. However, in the Tribunal’s eyes, that group with long ears only qualifies as subhumans…
Well, strictly speaking, this could be seen as Duanmu Huai’s little personal preference, or a shift in the player’s likings.
In most fantasy games, elves are very popular. However, in the Star Ocean, the Spirit race is a despised race, which disgusts a lot of players to the point they disdain all similar races altogether.
Especially elves, a race very similar to the Spirit race in appearance and temperament, are further punished by players as a knockoff Spirit race.
Can’t beat the Spirit race, but can I not beat you?
According to the Tribunal’s attitude towards races, humans definitely come first, followed by dwarves — due to the dwarf’s steadfast willpower (or stubbornness) making them difficult to corrupt or erode by Chaos. Forming alliances with them secures a very loyal and trustworthy ally, reliable and secure.
Conversely, species like elves, who are arrogant and prone to corruption, are seen by the Tribunal as even lower in status than Oga.
Their sequence in the purification list is also very prominent, guaranteed to be on the first page at least.
This left Varian very uncomfortable; being friendly to dwarves is reasonable, as the Kingdom of Stormwind maintains a good relationship with Ironforge, the two even have a direct subway connection.
However, such blatant disdain and contempt towards elves is something Varian finds difficult to accept.
“Could this Tribunal… be survivors from Lordaeron?”
After reading the manual, Varian questioned Madayas doubtfully, and his suspicion wasn’t completely unfounded. Back when the Lordaeron Kingdom existed, its king’s lifelong wish was to unify the seven human kingdoms and fulfill the dream of a Human Empire. But this Tribunal is more extreme than Lordaeron ever was, blatantly stating that humans must live, and aliens must die…
Moreover, since the Tribunal is currently established on the ruins of Lordaeron, Varian can’t help but think more.
“I don’t think so.”
Madayas shook his head.
“The Tribunal’s power is immensely strong, their technology is very similar to dwarves, but several times more advanced. Honestly, if Lordaeron had this kind of power, they wouldn’t have been destroyed. Also, their insignias are entirely different from Lordaeron, and the philosophy vastly contrasts too. The Tribunal only handles eliminating human threats and doesn’t interfere in human domestic affairs, if they were Lordaeron survivors, they’d surely use this opportunity to restore the kingdom and even complete the human unification endeavor…”
“The issue is that the times have completely changed.”
Varian smiled bitterly; the once seven human kingdoms are now few, and as for unifying humans… alas, mentioning it now is meaningless.
But, according to the Tribunal’s manual, there is a significant issue.
“They wouldn’t wage war against the Horde, would they?”
After all, the Horde includes trolls, Tauren, Orcs, goblins; Varian casually counts, knowing that according to the Tribunal’s standards, most of these don’t even qualify as subhumans, purely “aliens” as mentioned above.
“They do indeed have plans to act against the Horde.”
Madayas nodded; after reading the manual, he subtly probed and was flatly told by them that all aliens must die, without exception.
“This…”
Upon hearing Madayas’s response, Varian fell silent. Honestly, in the beginning, Varian indeed wished to get closer to the Tribunal to have them as a member of the Alliance. But after thoroughly examining this manual, Varian was thoroughly intimidated by the Tribunal’s radical style and had to reevaluate his thinking.
“… Dispatch someone to closely observe and monitor the Tribunal. If there are any unusual activities, report to me immediately.”
In the end, Varian could only issue such an order, staring at the manual in his hands, his face full of worry.
Azeroth is in turmoil, and the emergence of this new power… really makes one wonder whether it will bring benefit or harm.
Varian knows that in the north, fishermen, to prevent sardines from dying during transport, would throw in a few catfish to keep the sardines active.
But, what if the fish thrown in weren’t catfish, but whales?
Can this small pond of Azeroth withstand the storms it stirs up?