Chapter 364: Divine Vessel Sets Sail
Lin Sen's speech was like a burst of light suddenly blossoming in the dark universe, each word as heavy and firm as a star, deeply shaking the souls of every member of the Mountain Civilization present, and touching the warm emotions hidden beneath the cold logic of every Trisolaran.
The dreams of humanity were surprisingly in sync with the deepest desires of the Mountain Civilization. It was a stirring of the soul, a resonance that crossed star systems and transcended species boundaries, more shocking and hopeful than any miracle of the universe.
It was not just an ideological fit but a deep calling of the soul, a joint exploration of the meaning of life in the vast universe, a profound reflection and inquiry into the essence of existence.
At that moment, whether it was the Mountain Civilization's minds—cold on the outside but warm on the inside, meticulously logical yet harboring endless compassion;
Or the Trisolaran world's indomitable belief to fight only for survival, struggling to live in extreme environments, with a technology tree warped and grown solely to adapt to the merciless laws of the universe;
Or even the dinosaurs' hearts longing for a home, for understanding—
All these seemingly disparate beings were incredibly and tightly connected with the eternal longing of humanity: the dream to explore the unknown, seek understanding, and achieve communion.
The Head of the Mountain Civilization's gaze lingered on Lin Sen for a long time as if searching for the source of resonance through the abyss of time and space. Finally, he let out a deep and emotional sigh:
"Sometimes, the establishment of a bridge across civilizations is just a matter of a sentence, a thought, a moment of resonance.
"Different worlds, different forms of life, are like lonely stars, each shining in the dark universe, seemingly separated forever by insurmountable distances.
"We once thought we were the only lonely ones in the universe, silently burning, silently extinguishing.
"But when they find a point of resonance, even the smallest intersection can ignite a force that changes everything.
"It's like two lonely stars meeting quietly in a corner of the universe, their light intertwining, illuminating each other's loneliness, and also illuminating the darkness around them.
"Now we believe that this universe may have meaning. Because we have found you, and you have found us.
"The dreams of humanity are the will of our Mountain Civilization. We too have charted such a course, not only to explore the unknown but to find those resonant lives, those stars that shine in the universe with us.
"Together, we will travel to the edge of the universe."
The Head of the Mountain Civilization's voice echoed in the silence, he paused, his eyes twinkling with determination and hope, continuing to address everyone:
"With the current model of the universe, we seem to be bound by an unreachable boundary, never able to reach the end of the universe.
"But we haven't walked that path yet, so who can say what we'll discover in the future?
"Our civilization's mothership is named 'Needle Tip', it's not only a spacecraft but a turning point in our civilization's history.
"In our history, we've always considered the universe to be an infinitely extending layer of rock.
"We seem forever confined to a spherical space of only three thousand kilometers, forever forced to exist in such a compressed space.
"Until the appearance of the 'Needle Tip', it was what brought hope to the Mountain Civilization. It was like a sharp knife that tore through the darkness of our understanding, bringing back rock samples from its travels, allowing us to glimpse the patterns of decreasing density in the strata.
"In that moment, we truly ignited the belief to explore outward, and thus the struggle of the Mountain Civilization began.
"Our world has no gravity, but after generations of relentless effort, through lengthy exploration and experiments, we finally discovered the law of universal gravity.
"From then on, breaking through the 'universe' of the planetary core became our unswerving belief. We believe that one day we will reach that paradise with zero density, where there are no more restraints.
"Afterward, we went through long wars, many times our civilization nearly perished in the flames. Fortunately, we have persevered, exchanging tenacity and wisdom for this hard-won starry sky.
"Now we once again embark on the 'Needle Tip', carrying our longing for the unknown and hope for miracles. We look forward to it bringing us great discoveries again, perhaps even a new 'law of strata density decrease' will be found.
"Maybe we will discover 'time decrease law', 'lightspeed increase law'… Perhaps theoretically, there is a place where lightspeed is infinitely large.
"There is our unseen paradise, and perhaps there is no Dark Forest.
"The current speed of light is too suffocating, we should go there and see!"
In that moment, the Mountain Civilization and Human Civilization had invisibly reached a consensus. In the future, they would have only one direction, a direction carrying the dreams and pursuits of both civilizations.
The Trisolaran Civilization and the Dinosaur Civilization, upon witnessing this inter-civilizational consensus, also expressed their recognition and support. They too looked forward to moving forward along this shared direction, seeking the sea of stars that belongs to all civilizations.
The Trisolaran Leader slowly turned his head towards the direction of their home planet, his voice low and filled with the weight of ages: "In the long and brutal war with humanity, we seem to have lost too much, far too much… even losing our home planet.
"It seems we have lost everything, even the direction of the future.
"We've always believed that with every step we had no other choice, each was a desperate gamble made with no other options. Yet, every time, we lost badly, completely, painfully.
"Looking back now, in fact, we had choices every step of the way.
"If in the early years of the Crisis Era, we had cast aside our fears and earnestly embraced the Earth-Trisolaris Organization, perhaps everything would be different.
"Facing the Wallfacing project, if we had abandoned our fears, ignored their layout, perhaps everything would also have turned out differently.
"Facing the Dark Forest Deterrence, if we had abandoned our fears, we wouldn't have been led by the nose, losing everything to humanity's schemes over and over."
"Our failure was never because we had no choice, but because we were afraid.
"Now, the Trisolaran world once again faces a moment of choice, once again confronting the deepest fear in my heart.
"But this time, we choose this path not because we have no choice, but because we fear it, fear the unknown, fear loneliness, fear failure... That is why we need to choose it!"
The Dinosaur King slowly stood up, its figure seeming to bear the vicissitudes of millions of years:
"Sixty million years of journeying, like a lonely boat drifting in the cosmic ocean, we have weathered countless storms and tribulations.
"Yet, during that lengthy span of time, we were like travelers lost without direction, muddling along, bewildered, having completely lost ourselves.
"It wasn't until the emergence of humanity that it was as if a bolt of lightning had shattered our chaotic hearts. Only then did we feel that we might also have meaning, that we too have our own missions and value.
"The vast night we face is directionless darkness. We need a direction, a ray of light where hope converges.
"This path is your choice, and it is also our choice!"
...
Following this, the specific process of establishing the Civilization Alliance, as well as future inter-civilization affairs negotiation meetings, no longer required the direct involvement of the highest leaders of civilizations.
The name of the Civilization Alliance was also confirmed as "Divine Vessel," like a colossal ship carrying the dreams of four civilizations, soon to sail into the unknown deep sea of the universe.
The four civilizations formed a regular tetrahedron structure in their journey, with each pair of civilizations separated by 0.2 light-years.
They would maintain their independence and freedom at this distance from each other, without interference, each developing on their own. If one faced difficulty, the other three would provide support.
The apex of the tetrahedron was Human Civilization, which was also the direction of the Civilization Alliance's journey, the position of the navigator, with Human Civilization bearing the greatest risk.
But Human Civilization might also be the safest, for one thing, because it would all be hidden within the Moon, making it harder to discover, and even if found, it wouldn't be immediately obvious that a civilization was hidden there.
Moreover, the Sword of the Interstellar is vast and constant, and encounters between civilizations are highly unlikely. As for humans discovering the Dinosaur Civilization's mothership three light-years away, it was also after pointing several giant array telescopes in one direction and scanning continuously for a long time that it was finally discovered. Normally in interstellar space, one can only discover objects within a hundred astronomical units.
Secondly, under normal circumstances, unless one rashly enters a stellar system or a special region, there tend to be fewer threats in front of the journey's path; instead, side threats are actually higher.
Of course, if we encounter a High-Level Civilization, then the entire Divine Vessel Civilization Alliance could be overturned instantly. But according to the experience of the Dinosaur Civilization, the chances of encountering a high-level civilization are exceedingly slim.
Even encountering civilizations capable of a Hines Strike is a low-probability event, unlike having star system coordinates exposed, which then results in a hundred percent chance of suffering a Hines Strike.
Additionally, one can speculate that, although the message sent by Ye Wenjie will not expose the specific coordinates of the Solar System, it did leave behind a vague direction.
A Hines Strike has randomness and economy; if there really were so many "Hunters" around us, and if several hundred "Hunters" were to search in this direction randomly, humanity would likely have been exposed long ago.
Civilizations do not need to overly worry about the Dark Forest.
The three points at the base of the tetrahedron are respectively the Mountain Civilization, the Trisolaran Civilization, and the Dinosaur Civilization.
Although the four civilizations do not interfere with each other, they also compete with one another. Each civilization must always guard against enemies from outside and be ever vigilant of their companions beside them.
The best outcome would be, when one side—Human Civilization—encounters a powerful enemy, the other three will be able to provide support together. Their only bond between them is the least controllable: trust.
Even though all four civilizations possess the capability of curvature propulsion, anything can happen on the battlefield.
In the original timeline, the Trisolaris Second Fleet was a lightspeed spacecraft, but still, a massive battle erupted near Taurus, which was so fierce that the wreckage formed a new dust cloud.
Curvature propulsion is not omnipotent; it can only relatively enhance one's own survivability. But this battle also showed that the technological level of the opponent might not be much higher than that of Trisolaris.
Otherwise, the war would have been a one-sided crush, and that's often how merciless the clash of civilizations is, destroying you, regardless of your existence!
In such a situation, the "allies" at critical moments become very important.
The common hope for the Divine Vessel is that the four civilizations will, during their long years of wandering, accommodate each other, understand each other, respect each other, and ultimately, their spirits will fit together like stars, achieving the unity of subjective and objective, and together weave the most brilliant chapter of civilization in the universe.
Perhaps this is their unique complementary relationship!
...
Crisis Era, year 520, that was a junction of history and future.
After more than 20 years of travel, the Mountain Civilization and the Trisolaran Civilization finally arrived at the Solar System, merging with Human Civilization and the Dinosaur Civilization.
A new journey began!
The Divine Vessel set sail!
Dreams also set sail!