Chapter 417: The Tree of Destiny and the Appointment with Moirai
In the following months, the writer watched the progress of the war with a cold eye, while constantly comforting Wonder Woman's emotions that were always on the verge of exploding; he had to continue to polish the edges of this Amazon princess, grinding away the part that was ignorant of the world and unacceptable to the world, so that she would learn to restrain her edge and learn how to integrate into this imperfect human society.

In Lin You's heart, he does not have much responsibility to this society, but he has an unshirkable responsibility to Diana.

During this period, the British government, which had suffered a defeat in the first phase of the war, was completely alert and no longer dared to underestimate Transvaal and Orange, two small countries with a combined total population of less than one million.

New reinforcements continued to arrive, and a new expeditionary force was formed with the local army as the backbone. At its peak, the total strength of the expeditionary force was close to 500,000, equivalent to the entire young and middle-aged population of the Boers.

The absolute advantage in manpower and equipment allowed the British Expeditionary Force to achieve a crushing victory on the front battlefield. The major cities of Transvaal and Orange fell one after another; in late May 1900, Britain announced the annexation of the Orange Free State. On May 5, the British army occupied Johannesburg, the most important mining city in Transvaal. On June 5, they occupied Pretoria, the capital of Transvaal. On September 31, Britain announced the formal annexation of the Transvaal Republic.

Judging from traditional European military theory, Britain had already won a great victory at this point and could have opened champagne to celebrate another successful colonial expansion. However, the Boers used practical actions to tell the British that it was only the first half of the game and that opening champagne in the middle would be a retribution.

Until the British government announced the annexation of the Transvaal Republic, the Boers still had an army of more than 20,000 people persisting in resistance; although they failed on the front battlefield, the guerrilla warfare in the occupied areas intensified, and the war even spread to the Cape Town colony, which was originally part of the British.

When the war situation fell into the quagmire of security warfare and both sides were exhausted by the long stalemate, the writer finally took action.

"What are you going to do?" After several months of repeated tug-of-war, Diana's understanding of human society has advanced by leaps and bounds, but her attitude has become increasingly dissatisfied; this dissatisfaction is not directed at Lin You himself, but is an instinctive reaction caused by the long-term accumulation of negative emotions.

A white lotus growing on Paradise Island suddenly comes into contact with the outside human society, and someone recklessly dyes its petals with all kinds of dark things. Who else can Diana vent her anger on except the guy who "dye" it?

You can't take revenge on the whole society, right? Wonder Woman isn't that kind of person!
"It's almost time. We can try to find the God of Truth, that is, the evil thoughts of Ares." Lin You took Diana out.

The long transportation line from Cape Town to Pretoria was full of battlefields for Boer guerrillas. The British marching speed limited their efficiency in pursuing the guerrillas, but this limitation did not exist for Lin You. Soon after leaving the city, he found a train station where a firefight was taking place.

This place was under siege by guerrillas. The British troops guarding the station and escorting the train were overwhelmed by the guerrillas with superior numbers and soon gave up resistance.

The British withdrew from the station, but no one surrendered. Instead, they retreated in an organized manner along the railway line. Both sides had long been killing each other, and few people in this era really cared about protecting the human rights of prisoners of war.

The Boers did not pursue them, their purpose was to plunder supplies; the guerrillas were already short of manpower and unwilling to fight the British, especially since the British had deployed heavy troops along the railway and reinforcements from nearby stations could arrive at any time. The Boers just wanted to take as much supplies as possible and retreat to the depths of the wilderness before British reinforcements arrived.

"When will this aimless and senseless killing and looting end?" Diana looked depressed as she watched the fire at the station.

Lin You smiled lightly and did not correct her evaluation.

The cruelty and peculiarity of guerrilla warfare are not clearly understood by even modern military theorists, let alone warriors from the classical era. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Amazon princess described this kind of fighting as "purposeless and unreasonable."

"I'm not sure when the war will end, but the mastermind behind the war's expansion and profit from it may be found today." Lin You's words brightened Diana's eyes, and her resentment was reduced a lot; "Is it really possible?"

"The brutality, pain, sorrow, and evil of this war have reached a climax; now is the time when the God of Truth is most vulnerable to exposure."

"Why is it easiest to be exposed now?" Diana was puzzled.

Lin You sneered, "Because what I just said is exactly what the God of Truth needs most to heal his wounds. Ares's divinity represents the side of aggression and brutality in war, but aggression and brutality are just a concept. It needs a certain medium to be transformed into nutrients to strengthen the divinity. This medium is the human heart, which is the collection of thoughts and emotions of all the participants in the war. Now, this collection has grown to a certain stage and can serve as a signpost for me."

"What do you need me to do?" Wonder Woman was greatly encouraged and quickly got rid of her previous depressed mood.

Lin You smiled and said, "For now, this is all my job. Don't do anything, and don't leak any aura, so as not to alert the other party."

As soon as he finished speaking, a blazing fire of the universe suddenly ignited on Lin You's body, and the golden armor instantly covered his entire body; the golden armor only remained on the writer's body for a short moment before it immediately disintegrated, and the next moment it covered Wonder Woman again.

The Ophiuchus Microcosm easily swallowed up the divine aura from Ares and Zeus on Wonder Woman; if an outsider saw it, he would only see the Ophiuchus Microcosm and would not discover the existence of the "Sword of God Killer".

"This doesn't fit you very well. When you have the chance, ask Minerva to make one specifically for you." Lin You commented after admiring it.

"Minerva? Are you talking about the goddess of wisdom in the Roman pantheon?" Diana looked at the holy garment in amazement, without missing the name that Lin You said.

"Well, no; she's just a greedy, sleepy, spoiled little girl with a bad temper." Lin You answered casually, and then his mind sank into the depths of consciousness.

The tree of destiny rooted in the soul grew stronger and stronger. Now it was no longer a sapling, but a big tree with well-developed roots and luxuriant branches and leaves. At this moment, Lin You stepped on the ground, allowing the roots of the tree of destiny to continue to extend downwards, deep into the earth, the bottom of the world.

The lush branches stretched toward the sky, touching the breath of war that permeated the land. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians, everyone had no way to hide their feelings about the war, which were clearly exposed under the divine light of the Tree of Destiny.

Under the roots, three familiar divine consciousnesses emerged from deep within the earth and went straight into Lin You's consciousness level along the roots.

"It has been a long time since we last met, Moirai; my promise has been fulfilled, and now it is your turn."

"It has indeed been a long time since we last met, Writer; we are here to fulfill our promise."

(End of this chapter)