Chapter 332: Arrival on Earth

Shui Wa spoke slowly, her tone imbued with a hint of perplexity, "I wonder if you've noticed something very strange.

"Why does this message stress that they are the children of the Sun?

"If the objective was simply to warn you not to invade the Solar System, there would be no need for that line. Normally, communication between civilizations should be as concise as possible to avoid revealing too much detail that could be exploited by the other party. Yet this line appears to deliberately, or perhaps inadvertently, betray some aspect of your identity or origin.

"Additionally, it is quite illogical that humans could discern your purpose is to devour Earth. It's as if they knew you are from the Dinosaur Civilization and that your intent was to consume Earth, which is completely implausible."

Ever since Shui Wa learned that the Swallower was from the Dinosaur Civilization, the vigilance once held was no longer present.

An even more outlandish and bold idea began to take root quietly in Shui Wa's mind—whether Humanity could form a joint civilization with the Dinosaurs, such a union might increase the chances of survival for both sides in the Dark Forest.

If the Trisolaran Civilization was Humanity's neighbor, then the Dinosaur Civilization was akin to Humanity's sibling, even the elder sibling in this case, one who was somewhat inherently disadvantaged.

Big Tooth furrowed his brow upon hearing this, "What you say makes sense. Humans might truly have some understanding of us, but how could that be? It defies all logic.

At this point, Big Tooth abruptly shifted the conversation, posing a crucial question:

"So, do you believe we should reveal our identity and directly demand Earth's ownership from humans? Or should we continue to hide and wait for a more opportune moment?

"Humans were capable of resisting the Trisolaran invasion, for whatever reason that indicates, they must not be underestimated."

Shui Wa pondered for a moment, "To speak frankly, I still believe that Humanity's victory was due to strategy, not technology, given that the Trisolarans are so obviously at a disadvantage in this area.

"Especially concerning Lin Sen, engaging in strategy with him would be futile for the Trisolarans, who are constantly surveilling him—let alone being his match.

"We have been with you for many years and understand you well; you are probably no match for him in this aspect either.

"Just like this time, you only sent them a greeting message, and they've inferred so much information from it.

"Of course, that's not necessarily to say they've guessed your identities; the information from humans should mainly be probing.

"If you choose to continue the deception, I fear you may ultimately be the one deceived by them."

Big Tooth touched his massive head, his eyes flickering with confusion and unease:

"Are humans really so adept at deception?

"Hmm, it looks like we have to reassess the danger posed by humans.

"What do you think I should do then?"

Shui Wa: "Now both sides are in the Dark Forest, and your technology is definitely superior to that of humans. But humans are not entirely defenseless and could pose a threat to you; this actually serves as a form of a deterrence balance.

"Your ultimate goal is Earth, so why not try to disclose your identity and engage in an open and honest trade with humans?

"After all, Earth was once your home as well, and by right, you have more claim to Earth than humans do."

Big Tooth: "Trade... that's a distant word, familiar yet foreign to us.

"In our long history, it indeed once held a place. However, for the millions of years that followed, we neither conducted nor needed to conduct trades.

"But perhaps, now is an exception. This might also be an interesting affair. You're right, openly announcing our identity and trading with humans might be the most direct and simplest approach."

In Big Tooth's words, though the danger level of humans was raised, this was still treated as a kind of special game.

...

Solar System Alliance, Virtual Conference Hall.

A message from an unknown civilization appeared on the main screen of the Virtual Hall:

[Congratulations on defending the Solar System. We too are children of the Sun, and Earth was once our home.

Our ancestors lived on this beautiful planet and created a splendid civilization.

After a disaster, we had to leave and venture into the vast galaxy, wandering among the stars for over sixty million years.

Not long ago, we encountered Shui Wa's spaceship and learned from them that a new civilization has been reborn on Earth and the flame of life has been rekindled.

Now, we wish to return home and replenish our resources.

Hereby, as a messenger of the Dinosaur Civilization, I propose a trade for Earth.]

This news, like a bolt from the blue, plunged human society into a vortex of shock and discussion in an instant.

Dinosaur Civilization? The Dinosaur Civilization that left the Solar System over sixty million years ago was actually coming home? This sudden news shattered all of humanity's assumptions about the past and future.

Over the years, Earth's archaeological teams had tirelessly studied Dinosaur Civilization, gradually piecing together the visage of this ancient civilization through fossils and relics.

The Dinosaur Civilization had even colonized Mars; with their level of technology, they should have had the ability to terraform planets to some extent.

They should not have been so easily extinguished by even the greatest of disasters—a perplexing issue for many.

Indeed, many among humanity had speculated whether the dinosaurs might have left the Solar System for another galaxy. These speculations were not without foundation; the dinosaurs of that time should have had the capability to leave their Home Star System.

However, more speculations revolved around the war between the Dinosaur Civilization and an ant civilization.

After the war, the dinosaurs' ability to modify environments was greatly reduced, and Earth's ecology struggled to support the dinosaurs' massive societal needs, ultimately leading to the complete extinction of Dinosaur Civilization.

Now, humanity's speculations were confirmed. Indeed, some dinosaurs had left the Solar System and wandered in the vastness for over sixty million years.

Almost no one believed this information to be false, because even Shui Wa had no knowledge of the existence of Dinosaur Civilization; the other party would not fabricate such a story. Moreover, if it were a lie, it could be easily exposed by a few questions in the future, making all falsehoods pointless.

Subsequently, humanity dispatched a nearby Sophon to the Messenger Spaceship to begin the process of tentatively making contact with Dinosaur Civilization.

During this process, humanity also learned that Shui Wa and his companions were aboard the Messenger Spaceship, which surprised and excited them; they had not expected Shui Wa to return as well.

After a series of communications and negotiations, both parties finally reached an important decision: to allow Big Tooth's spaceship to land on Earth, and detailed discussions and negotiations regarding the trading of Earth could take place after Big Tooth had formally met with humanity.

...

Nine months later, the Dinosaur Civilization's Messenger Spaceship crossed 5000 astronomical units and reached Earth.

The enormous spaceship roared as it descended onto the Earth's surface, like a gigantic boiler plummeting vertically to the ground.

The spacecraft's exterior looked extremely clumsy, but after an in-depth analysis of its material properties by human scientists, they realized it actually possessed extremely strong stealth capabilities. The dinosaurs' creators had gone for a "dumb big black thick" aesthetic,

to land such a behemoth on the Earth's surface, which surprised humanity. It wasn't that they couldn't do it; they had simply never considered doing so.

Earth, once a blue planet, was now a world of ice and snow. Although humans had conducted some environmental restoration on Earth over the past hundred years, it was still difficult to restore the planet to its former state.

The Earth's surface was much better than at the beginning, and the average temperature had only dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Earth had been devastated by the Dust Battle, the planet engulfed in flames, volcanic ash, and water vapor filling the atmosphere.

Although these were greenhouse gases, they also prevented sunlight from reaching the Earth's surface. The hot Earth plunged into a winter within decades, becoming a true Snowball Earth.

The goal of humanity's management of Earth was not to return to live on this planet but to once again see the once-blue Earth. After all, it was humanity's "home."

Greeting the Dinosaur Messenger was the joint chairman of the Solar System Alliance, military representatives, and thousands of multi-functional armored troops. Aside from the soldiers in their exoskeleton armor, other personnel were wearing protective suits.

As the giant hatch slowly opened, a lizard-like figure nearly ten meters tall stepped out slowly. Descending was Big Tooth, the Dinosaur Messenger.

Shui Wa and the others were not permitted to disembark. After over seventy years, Shui Wa and his companions had almost thoroughly explored the spaceship, and naturally, Big Tooth did not want humans to obtain too much of the Swallower technology.

Big Tooth came down and after adapting for a while, he directly removed the mask from his head. This move also surprised the many scientists present. Even after sixty million years, could dinosaurs still adapt to present-day Earth? Apart from the atmosphere, microbial bacteria had evolved countless generations.

Big Tooth came to the ground, picked up a piece of frozen earth, and lost himself in thought, paying no attention to humanity for a good while. Humans didn't disturb him and simply waited quietly.

Fortunately, Big Tooth did not make humanity wait too long. He said, "This environment is a bit rough, but it's barely adaptable, though the oxygen concentration is a bit low."

The joint chairman looked up and communicated a welcome to Big Tooth through a translator:

"Honorable Messenger, welcome! I am the joint chairman of the Solar System Alliance. I am responsible for all your affairs on Earth."

He then mentioned a name that intrigued Big Tooth, "Additionally, Mr. Lin Sen, our greatest human leader, requests to speak with you."

Big Tooth smiled slightly, "Oh? Is that the most deceitful guy among humans? I am very interested in him."

This statement made the joint chairman a bit embarrassed. What did he mean by the most deceitful? Sigh, better not to explain and just open the holographic virtual communication.

Suddenly, a ten-meter-tall holographic projection appeared before Big Tooth. He had to stand straight to meet the gaze of Lin Sen in the projection.

In that moment, it was as if two civilizations separated by sixty-five million years had finally encountered each other.