Chapter 337: Mountain Civilization
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Crisis Era, Year 445.
The enormous empire of the Dinosaurs had become prey in the eyes of Humanity, waiting for them to fall into our trap.
But such is the way of the world: as you gaze at your prey, there's always someone else watching you.
The view shifts to the Trisolaran world, inside the secret meeting room of The Head.
The Head (No. 7), with a touch of unease and resolution, asked the Military Governor, "Have they already departed?"
The Military Governor nodded gravely, "They've departed, expected to arrive at the Trisolaran Star System in half a century."
"If they hadn't departed now, facing Humanity's blockade strategy, it would have been difficult for us to hold out for another 100 years."
No. 7 said, "Yes, it's difficult for us to continue holding on. The continuous blockade by Humanity is gradually destroying the foundation of our civilization.
"Over these years, although our technology has developed rapidly thanks to the Patch the Sky Project, and some of our technology has even touched the threshold of Civilization Rank 1.3,
"the scarcity of resources has left many of our theories untested, halting our technological progress at Rank 1.2, unable to advance further.
"This has forced us to execute the 'Ignition' Plan, a gamble with our entire civilization at stake. We don't know what the outcome will be, but this fire, we must ignite.
"Just as Ye Wenjie once lamented, 'I ignited the fire but could not control it.'
"I think her final moments must have been filled with utter despair. She had hoped to transform Humanity with the help of an alien civilization. But everything led to an outcome she could least accept. Higher civilizations and lower civilizations are just the same in moral construction, and this universe pushes this state to its extreme, the entire universe is a Dark Forest.
"This is the sunset of Humanity, and isn't it also the sunset of the universe?
"Now it is the sunset of Trisolaris as well. The fire that we are igniting once again, what will it bring forth? Will we usher in the rebirth of civilization, or our destruction?
"May God forgive us!"
After a moment of silence, the Military Governor spoke slowly, "This is also the only lifeline left for the Trisolaran Civilization. Perhaps Humanity's fire has also been successfully lit.
"Though it doesn't align with Ye Wenjie's ideals, under the guidance of Lin Sen, Logic, Ye Chen, and others, Humanity's Civilization Rank has leaped directly from 0.7 to 1.3 in just 400 years.
"And now, the construction of Human civilization has reached its historical peak. This generation of Humanity are Long-Livers, and some of their spirit and qualities will continue to be passed on for tens or even hundreds of thousands of years.
"Ye Wenjie was an Igniter, which is incredibly dangerous, but Lin Sen used this fire to light the way for Human civilization."
No. 7 agreed, "You're right, igniting the fire is dangerous, but more important is how to make use of this fire.
"The relationship between civilization and fire is a mutual and fierce long-term journey. What we need is not to fear it, but to conquer it."
The Military Governor said, "We contacted them over a hundred years ago; perhaps that too was our good fortune.
"Four centuries ago, we sent a Sophon to explore the Ross 154 Star System, which was also a potential choice for our colonization.
"However, before we could enter, our Sophon was destroyed by a Sophon-dampening field. We were worried for a long time, not knowing the reason. They seemed not to pay too much attention to us, as if unaware of the Dark Forest, which allowed us some peace of mind. Non-interference was the best choice for both parties.
"Over a hundred years ago, our civilization faced a life-and-death moment, so they became our last hope.
"We had no choice but to send a Sophon again to contact them. We unfolded in low dimensions from a great distance, displaying our greeting message; this was our 'Ignition' plan.
"Luckily, they responded this time, and we established contact.
"Through interaction, we learned that although their civilization rank is high, they seem unaware of or indifferent to the Dark Forest.
"We introduced to them our civilization and the development course of Human civilization and explained the current situation of our civilization.
"They also introduced their civilization. In many respects, we are extremely similar to them, which is probably the foundation for our ability to communicate.
"Through exchange, we have come to call them... Mountain Civilization."
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The history of the Mountain Civilization was even more difficult than that of the Trisolaran Civilization. They were silicon-based life forms, or mechanical life, with muscles and skeletons made of metal and brains consisting of ultra-high-integration chips—electricity and magnetic fields were the sources of their life.
They fed on radioactive rock blocks in the planet core, living off the energy provided by it, having evolved from a random PN junction that had formed on radioactive rocks.
They were born within a rocky planet slightly larger than Earth, where they felt no gravity, there was only solid matter, no gases or liquids. The magma at the planet's core was almost frozen, and they lived near a cavity close to the center of the planet.
This cavity was a spherical space with a radius of about three thousand kilometers, surrounded by rock layers. Walking in any direction, one would encounter a dense rock wall; this space was also called Core Space.
Their first model of the universe was a Bubble World, where the universe consisted of a spherical space with a radius of three thousand kilometers surrounded by infinite rocks. This theory did not rule out the possibility that other spaces or "bubbles" existed within the infinite layers of rock.
Life in such a world was extremely stifling. Their yearning for vast spaces was stronger than that of any other people, so early on, explorers among them would continuously dig tunnels through the rock layers, trying to discover other bubbles within the solid universe.
However, they faced an unavoidable problem: the debris from their digging would accumulate in Core Space. Because the rocks were infinite, eventually the debris would fill up Core Space.
This rule also became the shackle that prevented them from breaking outwards, and any exploration beyond was deemed illegal.
Throughout the long river of history, they endured countless tribulations and predicaments. In their confined environment, they pursued faint hopes and ultimately discovered an important pattern:
The density of the rock layers in all directions gradually decreased outward, and the rate of decrease was largely consistent! This discovery shook the Dense Universe Theory that had dominated Bubble World for more than twenty thousand years.
It was only after enduring hardships and relentless exploration that Universal Gravity finally unveiled its mysterious veil, and they gradually began to understand the true nature of their world over many centuries.
Many significant theoretical breakthroughs often caused tremendous shocks to the prevailing concepts of reality at the time. For example, the Heliocentric Theory… Each breakthrough contradicted the entrenched views of the rulers of the time, inevitably sparking various controversies and resistance.
The explorers of the Core World naturally became enemies with their administrators and defenders.
Moreover, the first cost of pursuing the external Infinite Space was the consumption of the limited space of Bubble World. Numerous bubble ships expelled a great amount of rock debris into Core Space, causing immeasurable damage to the Core World and sacrificing the living space of the original inhabitants of the Core World.
Thus, a long and arduous war, full of hardship and sacrifice, erupted between the explorers and the defenders.
The details of the war are not elaborated upon here, but the original Bubble World nearly turned into a Line World due to the need for constant digging during the war.
In such a war, their universe could be destroyed at any moment, and everyone might suffocate in the extremely confined space, making the war even more cruel and ruthless.
Although the Core Administrators initially had the absolute advantage, the explorers eventually won the war, albeit the battle was prolonged.
The Explorers' Alliance merged all the spaces of the battlefield into one, forming a spherical space with a radius of fifty kilometers.
It must be said they were lucky, for if the protracted war had continued, perhaps not even these fifty kilometers would have been left. One can imagine how they meticulously calculated the use of space for both war and daily life all the time, much like how the Trisolarans carefully calculated their resources.
As their altitude increased, the density of the rock layers gradually decreased, making digging much easier. The explorers continued their journey, and finally, a bubble ship named "Spiral" completed its entire voyage, reaching the edge of Bubble World—eight thousand kilometers from the planet's center.
This should have been the most exciting moment for their civilization, but what they reached was the bottom of the sea. Mechanical life and the onboard equipment absolutely could not come into contact with water. The strong electric current generated by short circuits rapidly vaporized the seawater infiltrating their bodies and machinery, causing the crew and equipment of the "Spiral" to explode like bombs the moment seawater flooded in.
It was the first time the Core World had encountered liquid, almost causing another disaster that nearly destroyed the Core World, and it also temporarily halted everyone's exploratory efforts.
However, that did not stop their exploratory steps. Even in the face of death, they pressed on without hesitation.
It was not until Gagarin of the Mountain Civilization, in a high-pressure-resistant metal container, crossed the ten-thousand-meter-deep ocean and arrived at the Infinite Space they had long dreamed of.
Only then, after a hundred thousand years of exploration, did the Core World Civilization get its deserved reward.
During their exploration, they did not know what the outside world was like, nor did they know if their persistence would ultimately be compensated, but they kept on climbing.
"Mountains are there to be climbed." Climbing is an innate desire of intelligent life forms. They all want to stand higher and see further, and this is not just a need for survival.
If it were for survival, they would flee far from the mountain, and perhaps civilization would always be shackled, unable to break through.
We stand at the foot of the mountain; the speed of light is one foothill, space is another, and the Dark Forest is yet another. Are we not stifled, confined to the narrow valley formed by the speed of light, space, and the Dark Forest?
Perhaps we are accustomed to this from birth, but there will always be those who are discontented and will keep climbing toward the mountain.