Chapter 347: Demands on the Dinosaur Civilization

Lin Sen faced the Dinosaur King, "I believe what you say, maybe you hold no true malice towards us.

"You have simply been adrift for too long, having forgotten where you came from, and where you are meant to go.

"You still remember having a home, which is why you yearn to devour Earth.

"But you possess the capacity for 'malice,' and that alone is enough. We cannot ignore any potential threats...

"Our demands of you could be considered simple, yet they are quite severe."

Many dinosaurs in attendance tensed up upon hearing Lin Sen's words, but others, such as the King, the Grand Secretary, and their kind, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This speech of Lin Sen's had one purpose: to make the dinosaurs contemplate the meaning of civilization, where it comes from, and where it goes.

Lin Sen then said, "First, the Dinosaur Empire must destroy all Sophon tracking and shielding devices. Humanity will explore and obtain all technology and information of the Dinosaur Civilization. At the same time, we will use Sophons to monitor all your actions. You are not to create or develop any devices for detecting Sophons.

"Second, Humanity needs to station twenty thousand troops in the Dinosaur Empire. They will carry fifty high-yield antimatter bombs, which will be kept in 'negative countdown' standby mode, positioned at critical points throughout your warships.

"As an additional safety measure, we will install the Cradle System in the hearts of some of these troops, which will regularly send quantum entanglement signals to disarm the antimatter bombs. Should the disarming signal not be received within ten minutes, the antimatter bombs will detonate.

"With Humanity's current technology, it is impossible to crack this type of quantum entanglement signal device. Of course, you may attempt to break it, and if successful, we will congratulate you.

"Third, the Dinosaur Empire must send no fewer than five thousand young students to study in Human Society each year, for a period of at least twenty years. Among these students, there must be direct heirs to your royal family and descendants of heirs to all important positions in the empire. We will strictly scrutinize their identities.

"We will teach them Human technology and culture. It's time for your empire to change. You have wandered the stars for sixty million years, yet your society and technology seem to have made no substantial progress or change. Relying on your own strengths, it is difficult for you to break the shackles of your current civilization; thus, relying on external forces and wisdom has become the necessary path for your breakthroughs.

"If you still cannot adapt to such changes, then being obliterated in the river of history will become your unavoidable fate.

"You and Humanity were born from the same cradle; you have no intention of annihilating Humanity, and, likewise, Humanity never intended to annihilate you.

"What puzzles us is why, over tens of millions of years, you have never managed to break free from the confines of your civilization and ascend to a higher level of development.

"Fourth, this student exchange program will only last for five hundred years. If, by that time, you still cannot surpass the shackles of your civilization and become a 1.4-rank civilization, we too will destroy you."

To the eyes of the Dinosaur Empire, Lin Sen's demands were not only far from harsh but seemed extraordinarily lenient, a stark contrast to their initial expectations.

The dinosaurs had assumed that Humanity would dismantle their planet-level warships ruthlessly, stripping them of the foundations of their existence as an independent civilization.

Or that the individuals of the dinosaur species might be entirely integrated into Human Society, losing their identity and culture, becoming slaves to Humanity. Or be forced to engage in the most arduous and dangerous labor, and even, in the most extreme cases, possibly be used as food for Humanity. Such treatment, in their view, was already the best scenario.

Upon careful analysis of the demands laid out by Humanity, they realized they were not unacceptable.

The first point is that the Dinosaurs are to be under constant surveillance by Human Sophons, a situation quite similar to that of Humanity in the early years of the crisis, when it was monitored by the Trisolaran Civilization.

However, the Dinosaurs' situation might be even more difficult than that of Humanity back then. After all, no matter what Humanity did, the Trisolarans were unable to interfere materially.

Now, if the Dinosaurs make any excessive moves, Human warships are very likely to take immediate action. This is a fact well understood by the Dinosaur Empire; they have few defenses against Sophon surveillance, and this has become an established truth.

The second point makes the Dinosaurs reminisce about the war between ants and Dinosaurs. During that war, ultimate deterrence was so fragile, and as a result, the Dinosaur Civilization collapsed, forcing them to begin wandering the stars. Now, the same deterrence is once again placed before the Dinosaurs. Despite their reluctance, this might already be the best outcome they could hope for.

The third point is somewhat perplexing to the Dinosaurs, and it's a bit like cultural infiltration. But why would Humanity bother with cultural infiltration when it could completely strip their civilization of its independent basis?

Moreover, cultural infiltration between different civilizations is almost impossible; at most it could only change the ideological mindset of Dinosaur society. But as long as the Dinosaurs possess an independent basis for their civilization, the effects of cultural infiltration are very weak.

A more likely possibility is that Humanity is teaching the Dinosaurs technology, helping them to break free from the shackles of their civilization. But how could that be possible? Even two civilizations emerging from the same home world, the greatest kindness they could show each other is not to kill each other, let alone help each other.

And this is explicitly stated in the fourth point, which requires the Dinosaur Civilization to advance to a 1.4 rank civilization within 500 years. Leaving aside whether Humanity really is that generous, or if there is something else, even that timeframe is impossible. Even Humanity itself shouldn't be able to break through to a 1.4 rank civilization within 500 years, should it?

The Dinosaur King is somewhat surprised, "Your demands, our Dinosaur Empire can agree to all of them. In fact, these terms are much better than what we initially thought would be the best-case scenario."

"Only, your requirement for us to reach a 1.4 rank civilization in 500 years is nearly impossible to achieve.

"Actually, we were once full of confidence that we could break through within ten thousand years. However, after tens of millions of years, we are still trapped at this level, unable to break through. In the meantime, we tried many times, but each without exception ended in failure, nearly annihilating our entire civilization.

"In the end, we also came to understand, whether the price paid for a chance to advance a civilization rank is worth it. You might think it's worth it, but after those bitter lessons, no one thinks it's worth it anymore.

"Breaking through this technological level means that we need to pursue the ultimate development of all technological paths, achieving a comprehensive technological breakthrough. It is not just a simple process of progress but a Herculean task that requires the completion of a Grand Unification Theory.

"And to achieve such a degree, its difficulty level is almost enough to make us despair. Civilizations at the 1.4 rank are already, to some extent, less afraid of the Dark Forest, because they have certain means to evade a Hines Strike.

"As long as they are given enough time, and a bit of luck, such civilizations have a great possibility of becoming a higher civilization.

"Only, for our Dinosaur Empire, because of our limitations, becoming a higher civilization has become a distant dream.

"Now, we almost no longer aspire to become a higher civilization. We have gotten used to our current state, and even if we were to vanish in the next moment into the long river of history, it would not matter.

"Countless civilizations are perishing every moment in the universe, how could we possibly consider ourselves to be special?"

Lin Sen also understood the Dinosaurs' psychology; it's akin to after Humanity's great nadir on the original timeline when it proclaimed, "Grant civilization the ages, not ages to civilization."

The Dinosaurs too had tried countless times, but each time they nearly wiped out their entire civilization, and eventually they did not dare to launch an assault on a 1.4 rank civilization any longer.

With a comfortable life to choose from, who else would bet their future with their lives? If Humanity had not met Lin Sen, how different would its choice on the original timeline have been from that of the Dinosaur Civilization?