Chapter 414: The Guardian's Joining

Yet the Divine Vessel Civilization soon voiced their doubts again:

"Your joining us might be seen as a betrayal by your Mother Civilization.

We suspect that your Mother Civilization certainly has some means to restrict your defection, are you confident that you can break free from your Mother Civilization's restrictions?

Even if you get rid of the restrictions, do you have a way to avoid being tracked by your Mother Civilization?"

The Guardian promptly replied:

"We do not care if our actions will be seen as a betrayal by the Mother Civilization, and perhaps the Mother Civilization does not care either.

In the endless torrent of time, all things lose their value, and betrayal itself is a luxury.

On this grand chessboard of the universe, we are all insignificant.

Our bodies have been transformed countless times, whether we have restrictions we cannot judge, but we can use the transfer of our consciousness to other vessels to escape any physical constraints.

In fact, doing so is not even necessary, because there is no absolute way to evade the tracking of the Mother Civilization. Even consciousness can be tracked, which is unavoidable.

You should understand that thought is the projection of a high-dimensional consciousness. It's difficult for the Mother Civilization to track us through a high-dimensional consciousness, but that does not mean it is impossible. If the Mother Civilization is willing to pay a certain price, it can be done.

Not only that, you can also be tracked now, from the moment you communicated with us, the 'seed' has already recorded you.

If the Mother Civilization is willing to pay a certain price, they may be able to trace you back to your location by following this faint clue.

This is also one of the reasons why higher civilizations are reluctant to communicate with each other, any communication carries a great risk.

It is certain that the Mother Civilization will intercept you, but whether they will continue the pursuit after that is full of uncertainty.

We should not overestimate ourselves, in this lost universe, nothing is of utmost importance, everything is just a probability by chance.

Your civilization has only been recorded by our Mother Civilization for now, and the probability of our Mother Civilization tracking you is less than 10%. When more and more civilizations record you, that probability will become 100%.

In the face of the universe's endgame, all struggles and efforts will seem so trivial, so irrelevant.

We just want to be spontaneous once, we are also oppressed by this dark universe to the point where we cannot breathe.

We also hope that a ray of light can shine into this dark forest, even if it is only for an instant, that would be enough."

The arrival of this message signified that the last barrier between the Guardian and the Divine Vessel Civilization had quietly dissipated, and both sides had broken through the chain of suspicion, reaching a preliminary consensus.

At the same time, the Divine Vessel Civilization also realized that the reason advanced civilizations refuse to communicate is not just because of the chain of suspicion and technological explosions, but more importantly because once communication occurs, you may be "recorded" by the other party.

This is like being constantly "monitored" by someone, but such "recording" undoubtedly poses a threat more powerful than the Dark Forest, like the Sword of Damocles hanging over the head.

This may be the real reason why higher civilizations, knowing that the other party is difficult to destroy and there are no absolute contradictions, still choose to pay unimaginable costs to eliminate the other party.

Just like the war between the Singer and the Edge World civilizations, which lasted tens of thousands of years, one side must fall, this might truly be the reversible law.

*

At this moment, the millions of warships of the Divine Vessel Civilization also ceased their relentless bombardment of that last lonely ship among the Guardian's fleet and replied:

"The Divine Vessel welcomes you!

No matter what the end of the universe is, we will continue to press on.

If the universe has consciousness, then by birthing countless civilizations, it surely anticipates that we might change something.

If the ultimate end of civilization must be the same as the fate of the universe, then where lies the meaning of our existence.

In the development of our civilization, although we have always struggled for survival, on the Tower of Meaning, survival has never been the most important.

We believe that there must still be secrets in the universe that we have not yet discovered, our future, and even the future of the entire universe, must still hold the possibility of change.

We do not believe in a predetermined destiny, even if there is only a one in a billion chance, we will give our all."

In the following deeper communication, the Guardian also showed the Divine Vessel Civilization their own civilization process.

The Guardian Civilization has a history of billions of years; they are a carbon-based civilization that quietly rose from the empty spaces between arms. They had a period of stable civilizational development and had even initiated the industrial era.

However, as their constant star slowly moved into the belly of the Arm, all peace was utterly shattered. It was one of the most violent eras of the Milky Way Galaxy, where nebulas cascaded like waterfalls in turmoil, every day witnessing new constant stars born amid roars and numerous constant stars ending their lives in the magnificence of supernova explosions, releasing world-annihilating energy.

Meteors, ice dust, cosmic dust, and various energy storms… surged toward the Guardian's galaxy like a tide, testing the resilience and wisdom of this civilization.

After countless trials of life and death, the Guardian Civilization finally broke free from the bonds of their home planet, transforming into a true interstellar civilization.

In that tumultuous era of the Milky Way Galaxy, the seeds of civilizations were rare and precious, and the Dark Forest was not entirely seamless, yet the inherent genes of hiding civilizations were deeply rooted.

Throughout the long years nearing a hundred million, the Guardians, although never encountering other civilizations colliding, gradually climbed to Second Type Civilization due to the struggle against various cosmic disasters.

In the end, to fight for living space, they ignited an unprecedented interstellar war with other civilizations and captured this part of the Orion Arm.

The Orion Arm nowadays seems short, but in fact, it is also part of the Perseus Arm, sheared off during those thousands of light years of war and the movements within the Milky Way Galaxy.

At that time, the hearts of the Guardian Civilization were filled with boundless pride and ambition; they were like a group of warriors poised to strike, ready to challenge deeper and more unknown territories.

However, in the face of higher civilizations, the Guardians were but strong ants.

Time after time they challenged, and time after time they failed. Those once dazzling ideals and beliefs gradually dimmed with countless defeats, until they finally extinguished.

The spirit of the Guardians was worn away bit by bit over those long ages, and in the end, they had no choice but to settle in this starry sky, living a stable and "alive" existence without ever advancing their civilization rank again.

Billions of years hurried by, and the once ambitious and spirited Guardian Civilization, like the journey of the Dinosaur Civilization, was ultimately confined to a corner of the universe.

*

The Divine Vessel Civilization also slowly unveiled to the Guardians the epic historical canvases of various civilizations.

First to unfold was the Trisolaran Civilization, whose resistance and indomitability deeply moved the Guardians, a civilization that never admits defeat.

Although they were touched by the struggle of Trisolaris, it didn't shock the Guardians too much. They had seen too many similar civilizations, and they themselves had grown into a Second Type Civilization through similar disasters.

When introduced to the Mountain Civilization, the Guardians were also moved. The Mountain people were always climbing to new summits; their cultural journey was the most legendary, and between survival and exploration, they only chose to explore.

They firmly believed that by continuing to explore, they would certainly discover a pattern in the universe akin to "reduce density," and they also believed that beyond the universe laid even vaster "spaces for existence."

The historical canvas of the Dinosaur Civilization brought nothing but echoed sighs of resonance to the Guardians. Hadn't the Guardians themselves roamed for tens of millions of years, always unable to find the opportunity for a breakthrough in civilization?

The birth of the Mo Civilization was a marvel of the Creator, and their history of struggle was interesting, but inherent shortcomings had sealed their fate. Had it not been for the encounter with the Divine Vessel Civilization, they would have had no future.

But once they broke free from their bonds, they would surely soar. They are now perhaps the most promising civilization within the Shenzhou Civilization Union, which once they achieve Pure Energy Transformation, might also be the opportunity for the Divine Vessel Civilization to break through to a Type 3 Civilization.

The story of Micro Civilizations is too common in this universe; they are essentially the same as those civilizations that isolate themselves in "low light speed" regions, also civilizations that have lost hope.

Had it not been for the foresight of the pioneers, had it not been for the encounter with the Divine Vessel Civilization, they would have disappeared like cosmic dust in the wind.

When the historical canvas of Human Civilization unfolded, the Guardians stood up, their hearts like rocks battered by huge waves, stirring up endless shock and turbulence.

In their extremely weak era, humans encountered the "powerful" Trisolaran Civilization. Their technologies were blocked, and the entire civilization was under surveillance.

However, in the seemingly "predetermined" abyss of despair, humanity burst out with astonishing power under adversity.

Wallfacing Plan, the Isolated Island Project, the Lagrange Project… step by step, these elevated Human Civilization to new technological heights and prepared humanity to face the Dark Forest.

There was also the super particle accelerator plan hidden for 200 years, which directly captured the Trisolarans' Waterdrop; such wisdom left the Guardians in awe.

Then, they were lucky to enter the Four-dimensional Fragment and obtained the technological power to counter the Trisolaran Interstellar Fleet; they not only withstood Trisolaris but also fought back to the Trisolaran Star System.

In the long lives of the Guardians, counted in billions of years, such miracles were unprecedented even in their vast experience.

The tenacity and wisdom of Human Civilization were thus displayed in their full glory.

It was not until then that the Guardians understood why the other five great civilizations followed the Divine Vessel Civilization so resolutely—because of Human Civilization, that was enough!

*

Eventually, the Guardians uploaded their consciousness and left with the Divine Vessel Civilization.

The Shenzhou Civilization Union now accommodates seven civilizations, and the New Era of the Divine Vessel Civilization has once again begun...

PS: Here, the concept of the Dark Forest of higher civilizations is further expanded. If the Dark Forest of lower civilizations is caused by higher civilizations, then how did the Dark Forest of higher civilizations come about?

The Dark Forest of higher civilizations clearly cannot be explained by the struggle for living space alone. Personally, I have set up the concept of "seeds" recordings, since the "seeds" in the original works are too magical.

As for the idea of civilizations expanding infinitely, I don't agree with it. If civilizations were to expand indefinitely, it would eventually make the universe crowded, and then continuous civilization wars would emerge. This doesn't make sense under the ultimate survival principle. If civilizations expanded endlessly, wouldn't there be no Dark Forest between sub-civilizations and mother civilizations, or between sub-civilizations themselves?