Chapter 431: Changing the Milky Way Galaxy

Now, 130 million years have passed, and the Divine Vessel Civilization that split apart back then has completely changed the Dark Forest landscape of the Milky Way Galaxy.

They had all advanced to at least a Level 2.7 civilization and had each ventured into different arms of the River System. This large-scale migration naturally triggered fierce conflicts with the existing old Galaxy powers.

In the struggle for living space, the two sides engaged in a war that lasted for hundreds of thousands of years. This war not only diminished the habitability of the Milky Way but also saw countless civilizations perish in the flames of battle.

Although they eventually emerged victorious, the end of the war plunged the Milky Way into a deeper state of Dark Forest Cold War.

They did not establish contact after the war, despite once being part of the same Shenzhou Civilization. On the contrary, their mutual understanding plunged them into deeper suspicion and hostility towards each other.

In this universe, the greatest threat often comes not from an unknown enemy, but from the adversary who knows you best.

Some civilizations began considering migrating to other River Systems in search of new living spaces. However, through various means of observation, they discovered that the living conditions in other River Systems were even worse, to the point where even dwarf galaxies were no longer suitable for habitation.

By comparison, the living conditions in the Milky Way were relatively good.

The initial intention of the Shenzhou Civilization Union was to change this dark universe and bring a ray of light to the Dark Forest.

However, everything has returned to the starting point. The Shenzhou did not bring light to the Dark Forest—it even made the Dark Forest darker.

Perhaps the Fungus Civilization saw this as well. They knew that allowing the Shenzhou to continue growing could be a disaster for themselves.

As they were unable to ascend to a Divine-level Civilization, they would also prevent any other civilization from advancing.

Yet, Lin Sen's answer as a Returner could not help but make them wary.

From these aspects, it can be said that the universe being a Dark Forest is not necessarily due to the vast disparity in technology between different levels of civilization compelling a "destroy you as an act of self-preservation."

Instead, even with a large technological disparity, under the ultimate rules of the universe, civilizations are too difficult to eradicate, resulting in the current state.

If civilizations could be easily eliminated, then a dominant power should emerge from the cruel wars, potentially leading to relative peace.

*

Now that Lin Sen has led the Shenzhou to become a Divine-level Civilization, he has the capability to change the state of the Dark Forest in the Milky Way.

But it's not that simple.

Peace can generally be achieved in two ways: through governance peace theory or deterrence peace theory.

Governance peace theory, which has been seen repeatedly throughout history, can swiftly establish order and stability through strong rule.

It's built on the foundation of power, yet the balance of power is constantly changing. When the ruling power weakens to a certain extent, peace may be threatened.

As the dynastic cycle law reveals, no rule can prosper forever.

Deterrence peace theory, on the other hand, is based on mutual apprehension between parties. Under this approach, both sides have enough power and means to threaten each other, thereby creating a state of equilibrium.

However, deterrence peace theory is also fragile as it relies on the mutual caution and balance of the parties. If either side breaks this balance, peace may be shattered entirely.

Usually, governance peace can bring about longer periods of peace, whereas deterrence peace is like dancing on a tightrope, where the slightest misstep can lead to disaster.

Deterrence peace is not a modern invention—it has existed widely throughout history, commonly as the dependence of small countries on larger ones, and often such arrangements are short-lived.

After ascending to a Divine-level Civilization, if the Shenzhou intervenes in the peace of the Milky Way, it will undoubtedly employ governance peace. On the surface, it might seem that the everlasting splendor of the Divine-level Divine Ship can maintain long-term peace, but the reality is not so simple.

Governance peace is fundamentally the optimal result of pursuing interests and coping with risks; the Divine-level Divine Ship has no common interests with ordinary civilizations.

A Divine-level Civilization cannot get its needs met by governing ordinary civilizations, so such rule is unlikely to last.

As for how ordinary civilizations view Divine-level Civilizations, it's similar to how ordinary people regard gods. They worship, pray to, and seek blessings from gods, but if a god truly appears, they would no doubt proclaim this god to be demonic.

For example, if at this moment the Divine-level Divine Ship were to govern the entire Milky Way, halting wars among all civilizations, fostering mutual exchanges, and achieving peace.

However, as there are no mutual interests or exchanges between civilizations, they are only concerned with living space, which is non-negotiable.

What's even more terrifying is that in the deduction, without the Dark Forest, the number of civilizations would increase exponentially, and soon the Milky Way Galaxy would be saturated.

At that time, the struggle for survival space between civilizations would inevitably erupt, and the entire galaxy would be destroyed in this great war.

Therefore, this is also why, even though there are god-rank civilizations in the universe, they also do not intervene, allowing the universe to remain in the Dark Forest state.

At most, they prevent those meaningless great wars between super civilizations, and they even approve of the method high-level civilizations use to reduce the number of lower-level civilizations.

Even in their eyes, the Dark Forest is the best way to alleviate the increase of entropy in the universe.

All of this seems to have returned to the starting point.

Once dreaming of changing the Dark Forest of the universe, in the end, it's found that this might be the best way, which is an immense irony.

*

Today, the living environment in the universe is much worse than 130 million years ago. Taking the Milky Way Galaxy as an example, nearly one-tenth of its regions are below Level 0 in terms of the living environment.

The living conditions of the universe are divided into different levels based on the survival requirements of ordinary carbon-based life, using a number between negative ten and ten to indicate the level of livability of the environment.

Only in environments with a level greater than zero can carbon-based life survive, the higher the number, the better the living environment, and vice versa.

During the Crisis Era, Earth had a living environment level of ten. Spaces below Level 0, mostly caused by spatial distortions resulting from cosmic wars, such as two-dimensionalized regions, have a living environment level of negative ten.

Though the divine-level Divine Ship civilizations could restore those distorted spaces, it would be meaningless since it would consume even more material and energy.

But how could Divine Ship civilizations, possessing such immense power, just settle for nonaction?

Since other god-rank civilizations were unwilling to change the status quo of the universe, the Shenzhou would go and make the change. They might be the most rational, but all along the way, the Shenzhou has relied solely on itself, casting aside rationality, refusing to accept fate.

If rationality could decide everything, that would be the most despairing.

In the end, the Divine Ship of god-rank decided to split off some entities to remain in the Milky Way Galaxy, while the main civilization continued on to other large river systems.

They will travel from one galaxy to the next, and each large river system might have a fraction of them left behind; the change in this universe begins from now on.

The Divine Ship civilization of god-rank remaining in the Milky Way announced their existence through long Arm communication to civilizations of level 1.7 and above.

They are not sure whether this is right or wrong, but any outcome would not be worse than doing nothing.

When the high-level civilizations within the entire galaxy learned that the remaining Divine Ship had ascended to god-rank, they were filled with immense emotions.

They understood they would not have the chance to break through to god-rank level either, as they could not possess such a conviction to thrive in the face of death; knowing the way to ascend made it even harder to do so.

Afterward, the remaining Divine Ship of god-rank also went through numerous stories with the former Divine Ship, which do not need to be recounted here.

Eventually, the Divine Ship of god-rank, relying on strong deterrence, managed to achieve a temporary peace among high-level civilizations.

And as for low-level civilizations, the Shenzhou did not interfere too much; perhaps their living environment would become even harsher.

If high-level civilizations cannot expand their living space outward, they will inevitably develop inward, targeting the living environments of low-level civilizations.

The goal of the Shenzhou Civilization is to change the Dark Forest, but it is not to protect low-level civilizations like the Holy Mother.

They have their own path to walk, and if they cannot finish it, then so be it! If they insist on completing an even more difficult journey, maybe then they will have the right to stand high above the Dark Forest.

PS: Some may think that the Shenzhou is a bit cruel to low-level civilizations, and perhaps it is, as has always been Lin Sen's attitude.

The author believes that suffering is necessary. Of course, the author does not praise suffering. Most people today are against literature of suffering, and the author actually opposes it as well.

Those works of suffering literature seem to focus more on attributing blame and expressing repressed emotions; they like to blame the "environment" while expressing feelings, hoping to generate empathy to alleviate loneliness.

Suffering does not deserve to be praised, but going through suffering can indeed allow a person to grow rapidly. Look indifferently upon all that does not concern oneself, confront everything one must go through with a strong spirit, strive to make a statement with one's life, and disregard the rest.