Xi
The universe contains many phenomena; some are prominent, others hidden, requiring activation.
In Luna's view, life is a complex technology created by the universe, using life to trigger those hidden phenomena.
For example, photosynthesis, or the utilization of gases and energy within living organisms. It's not just consumption; organisms can also combine elemental substances to create chemical compounds. All of this highlights the wonder of life.
This is why Luna studies biology.
The information Luna received mentioned an energy-utilizing organism. This organism has only rudimentary intelligence, similar to a ten-year-old human child.
It resembles a Kuriboh but is white. Without fur, it looks rather grotesque, like a larval arthropod. Its chest is long, thin, and sharply pointed; this is its weapon, used to hug and kill its prey. Its body isn't structured like an insect but more like a mammal, primarily muscle.
All organisms on Earth share a common ancestor and are essentially horizontally structured, but this organism is different; it's cuboid, its muscle structure resembling a pearl necklace. The pearls are muscles; the chain is similar to tendon structures.
This structure allows for immense muscle strength, enabling them to hunt relatively large prey.
But this isn't its true strength; its strength lies in its digestive process.
Typical digestion uses a stomach or similar organ to extract usable substances from food, which cells then convert into energy; unusable parts become waste.
But this organism absorbs food entirely into its body, converting everything directly into energy. It then selects usable energy, converting unusable energy into waste for excretion.
This extremely inefficient absorption method might seem unremarkable to ordinary citizens, but it sparked an inspiration in Luna.
In physics, energy and matter are interchangeable.
For example, strings themselves aren't matter but energy; they form different elementary particles through different vibrational patterns, and these particles are matter.
Therefore, matter and energy are essentially one; when a string vibrates, it's matter, but it itself isn't matter; there's no conflict.
Luna was inspired by the digestive process of these white Kuribohs.
Since they're a Type 2 civilization, having explored fundamental energy levels like strings, why not separate matter into energy first, then convert energy back into matter?
Some might say this idea is similar to quantum teleportation, but quantum teleportation is actually the transfer of quantum states; it doesn't transfer matter or energy.
That's why it can't achieve faster-than-light travel.
[Real-Form Cloning] only provides a point of inspiration; it differs significantly from Luna's concept of matter-energy conversion. It's purely an energy exchange, not involving matter.
However, through 22 years of research, Luna indirectly solved a problem that had plagued her for tens of thousands of years: consciousness uploading.
Consciousness uploading is information transfer, but the original method was essentially information simulation; after uploading, the consciousness wasn't the original one.
Luna created a new consciousness uploading machine that can compress a living being's consciousness into a semiconductor. With this semiconductor installed, the consciousness is itself.
Of course, if the semiconductor is damaged, the consciousness is lost.
A crude analogy is that the semiconductor is like a brain extracted from a body. Consciousness uploading is connecting this brain to a computer; only then is it the original person.
If the brain is damaged, the computer simulates the brain signals to maintain the person's existence, but it becomes simulated information and isn't the original person.
This technology is a byproduct.
The real research has just begun.
Luna began to destroy and rebuild matter itself. She discovered that each destruction and reconstruction causes minute changes in the matter; these changes exist below the Planck scale; the positions of some fundamental constituent strings shift, and their movement patterns change.
Initially, Luna thought these changes were insignificant, but further research revealed that these string alterations could lead to incomplete information.
Minor informational incompleteness could trigger a butterfly effect, causing macroscopic errors and making the conversion fail.
For example, in a conversion of a pure iron element, after converting to energy and back into matter, it would contain impurities.
This is insignificant at a macroscopic level, but for delicate structures like a high-precision device (a Quark robot), it could cause damage. A life form might remain itself but be subtly different.
After conducting numerous simulations in a simulated universe, Luna finally achieved the first stage of success after 246 years.
A warship capable of lightspeed travel.
Luna calls her lightspeed-capable warship a laser transporter.
In Luna's simulations, she uses a laser weapon to carry the warship's energy information, transmitting this energy information and then reconverting it into matter within a specific timeframe.
Theoretically and practically, this has been achieved.
However, this practice is energy-intensive; it consumes not only the laser weapon's energy but also the energy required for matter-to-energy and energy-to-matter conversion.
Therefore, the lightspeed-capable warship cannot be used in unknown locations; it must be within a specific facility to reconvert from energy to matter.
Also, as mentioned before, losses and impurities are unavoidable.
Influencing the string level requires immense energy; therefore, this equipment cannot transport living beings.
To ensure delicate instruments aren't damaged, Luna incorporates secondary information into the laser transport; this information helps the receiving equipment correct the transmitted matter, increasing the laser transport's integrity from 72% to 98%. The remaining 2% is repaired by nanobots.
This transmission method also has a limited range.
For super long-range laser weapons, although Type 2 civilizations can now generally constrain photons, keeping them relatively straight, this isn't absolute; at extreme ranges, there will still be some scattering.
For every 100 light-years of distance, 1% of the energy is lost due to scattering.
To transport an object to the Filament Civilization, it would suffer 13% damage; adding the original loss from matter-energy conversion, the total loss would be 15%.
This isn't unacceptable; a repair facility could be established near the Filament Civilization.
However, for living beings, one would pray that the information loss doesn't affect the brain or vital organs; otherwise, the transmission would result in death.
This technology is called a lightspeed-capable warship because its current applications are limited.
"I never thought my first contribution to the Federation would be this, not biology," Luna mused, finally relaxing after over 200 years in the simulated universe.
She reclined on a lounge chair like a puddle of water and thoughtfully turned on the TV.
The Galactic Federation doesn't have TVs, so this one was custom-made by Ayla—a 200-inch 64K 10,000 Hz screen, with an aspect ratio of 1:∞, tiny pixelation, 3200 bits, brightness reaching 20,000 nits…
In short, for current technology, the screen is powerful. This isn't even top-tier. To make this TV, Luna only spent 0.04 Energy Credits; mass production would likely reduce the cost to 0.005 Federation Credits.
After all, such a physical screen is low-tech; they could stack them across the universe.
The TV was currently showing news.
This is Luna's contribution; she established a television station in Alpha Eridani, specifically broadcasting news. The launch of this TV station was widely praised, not for its novelty but for its preemptive information delivery.
In the 21st century, receiving news online was much faster than from news programs, and traditional news often lacked substance, leading to a sharp decline in TV viewership.
But in the space age, ordinary people have very few sources of information. Information dissemination within a star system is possible, but beyond that, the channels are limited.
After all, who would transmit news from light-years away to ordinary citizens?
Luna's television station performs this function, broadcasting long-distance news to broaden perspectives.
Ayla also lay on the couch, dressed like a girl next door—a pink short-sleeved shirt, a white bralette underneath, and loose shorts. She curled her legs and ate snacks with one hand.
Simulated biological beings can now process food and even taste it.
Some citizens in the Federation are advocating for citizenship rights for simulated beings, arguing that simulated life is still life.
This familiar feeling…
"Munch munch!"
"What does it matter? Didn't you invent them, Luna?"
"You're getting more and more impressive, Luna. I remember back then you couldn't do anything."
"This technology will bring significant changes to the Federation. Our warships can now achieve lightspeed travel; this has enormous strategic significance."
"And the future of this technology is vast."
Before Earth's destruction, Luna was indeed like a useless person, but she improved; even a fool, living for over 20,000 years, would be wiser.
Luna published the laser transmission technology at Infinity Academy; its announcement shocked all students and professors.
Initially, nobody believed it, but they were forced to believe it after seeing the models.
Infinity Academy now even has a dedicated major for laser transmission research, aiming to develop it further.
Some students focus on reducing damage in laser transmission; others focus on increasing its range; still others directly research living being transmission technology.
In short, this technology is currently groundbreaking, comparable to thermodynamics and aerodynamics in the 20th century.
Groundbreaking doesn't necessarily mean widespread; here, groundbreaking refers to a specific field—unlike popular fields like macroeconomics or computing.
"Yes, but this technology isn't particularly difficult at this stage. We must maintain secrecy; other civilizations shouldn't learn about it, at least not now."
The two nearest Type 2 civilizations are their enemies.
Laser transmission will primarily be used in military applications for surprise attacks.
They plan to make some military deployments around laser transmission.
However, this will take considerable time—at least ten thousand years of planning.
After this probing attack by the Filament Civilization, knowing the Federation is a Type 2.2 civilization, they likely won't make any large-scale moves soon. Chu's progress is smooth, but he'll face a period of consolidation and the danger of confronting the second great leader, which will also take a long time.
They have ample time.
"Ayla, let's take down the Filament Civilization, at any cost," Luna said calmly, looking at the news.
Ayla simply grunted and continued eating her snacks.
...
The Galactic Federation began preparing for war with the Filament Civilization.
Initially, they didn't dispatch fleets but the [Boundary God].
The Boundary God possesses incredibly powerful creation capabilities. It would travel in a 200-meter-class ship to a location closer to the Filament Civilization, then establish itself and begin construction.
It would start from scratch and create laser transport equipment.
As Luna mentioned, the technological complexity of the laser transport equipment isn't particularly high, and its production is relatively easy.
Especially since the transmission and reception ends are separate, construction difficulty is further reduced, making this operation feasible.
To avoid accidents, not only is more than one Boundary God deployed, they aren't placed along a direct path from the Orion constellation to their star sector, but are offset by at least 20 light-years, preventing detection by Filament Civilization forces.
This is only the initial deployment.
The war is still far off.
The Galactic Federation needs to continue developing new technologies and accelerate its expansion.
...
L28309 Recycling Facility.
A vast civilization like the Galactic Federation generates a tremendous amount of waste daily.
This waste isn't simply disintegrated into basic elements; it's sorted, and reusable components are recycled.
This saves energy; over time, the Galactic Federation's cumulative energy savings are substantial.
Recycling facilities thus emerged and became a vital source of livelihood for many lower-class Federation citizens.
Logically, the Galactic Federation should distribute resources evenly to its lower classes, ensuring a comfortable life, even with over 60 trillion citizens.
But Ayla didn't do that.
One reason is the distribution problem: why support the lower classes? This is a difficult question.
From a moral standpoint, there's no issue, but Ayla's approach is more pragmatic; she considers what benefits supporting the lower classes provides.
This question, of course, has no easy answer.
Luna also noticed this issue, but her policy only ensures a minimum standard of living for these people, not necessarily a comfortable one.
This is easy to understand.
If the Galactic Federation provided a comfortable standard of living, many people would think:
My monthly income is 3000, but I receive a 2000 subsidy even without working; why should I work?
This is extremely disruptive to the balance, leading to a Cyberpunk-like society.
Ordinary people live on subsidies; the upper class monopolizes everything, creating an insurmountable chasm between them.
Luna also asked Ayla: doesn't a society with extremely high welfare for everyone exist?
Of course, it does.
But such a societal model is unsustainable and unstable, inevitably collapsing.
If everyone enjoys a comfortable life, who is paying the price? And would those enjoying it truly be satisfied?
If everyone in society has 10,000, and you have 10 million, you might be satisfied.
But if everyone has 10 million, and others have 100 million or a billion, what will those with 10 million think?
Social equilibrium isn't just about productivity; it's also about managing human nature and continuous progress.
Only with continuous progress can a society remain stable. Progress suppresses destabilizing factors; a stagnant civilization, even a Type 4 civilization controlling the entire universe, will ultimately collapse.
But this isn't something ordinary citizens need to worry about.
So…
"Damn Federation!" A young man scavenging through the trash spat on the ground.
He looked around; there were others like him.
Humans aren't physically strong, putting them at a disadvantage here.
Most of the waste here isn't ordinary trash but machinery—countless machines.
But this machinery is worthless here; only after repair does it become valuable, and the cost of repair is significant.
Repair isn't like in the 21st century, a simple twist of a screw. The machinery within the Galactic Federation is incredibly sophisticated; sometimes, a single component is only as thin as a sheet of paper, yet contains hundreds of thousands of micro-components. What kind of screwdriver can fix that?
Therefore, these scavengers don't take the machinery.
They collect the energy sources from discarded items.
Energy sources are what?
Money!
Currency is now called Energy Credits; energy sources can be exchanged for credits.
Zhang Ren searched tirelessly, his hands aching, when he spotted a glimmer of light in a gap in a pile of metal.
He pushed aside the surrounding debris, retrieving the object. His experience immediately identified it as a discarded patrol drone.
Patrol drones are machines that fly along aerial routes; they maintain order and surveillance. Patrol drones work almost 24/7 and are prone to failure.
He skillfully turned the patrol drone, about twice the size of his head, finding a section on its back. He took out an extremely thin electronic plate, attaching it to the drone's surface and using his internal quark robot to control the plate and hack the drone.
Quark robots have undergone significant advancements; they're not just medical robots; they treat the host as a computing unit, creating internal computing elements for preliminary calculations.
The power a human body can provide is insufficient, only supporting very low computing power—around 13 PFLOPS, a little over one hundred 4090 super-frequency computing units.
To overcome this limitation, external power is required.
This external power isn't a simple connection but a direct, limitless power supply. This technology is relatively simple, having been used on Earth, although the power output is incomparable to today's levels.
External power requires payment, divided into tiers. The lowest tier is 0.001 Energy Credits per month, providing 200 kilowatt-hours—relatively low, but much higher than bioelectricity.
With the lowest tier, the quark robot's computing power reaches 280 EFLOPS, a ten-thousandfold increase—still relatively low, only about six times the computing power of the world's most powerful supercomputers in the 21st century.
After all, it's an implant, unsuitable for excessively high power input.
And the computing unit, being cobbled together like building blocks by the quark robot, is very crude.
Zhang Ren used the lowest tier; he spent over ten hours of computing power to hack the patrol drone.
The patrol drone's originally smooth back began to reveal a section; its outer shell was also assembled, but the gaps were minute, invisible to the naked eye.
After removing the back section, Zhang Ren pulled out its battery.
The battery was only about the size of a AA battery, easily held in one hand.
Zhang Ren checked the remaining power, a joyful expression on his face.
"Still has 37,000 kilowatt-hours. I don't know which company threw it away; it's so carelessly made."
37,000 kilowatt-hours is roughly 0.133 Energy Credits—a good find for Zhang Ren. He carefully collected the battery and hurried home.
His home wasn't far from the L28309 Recycling Facility; it was a relatively old building.
The streets were mostly metal structures; the apartment was small, only 50-60 square meters.
He returned home, took out the battery, and opened his small safe, filled with various batteries of different sizes.
"Time to sell these."
Zhang Ren took all the batteries to a machine on a side street, dropping them inside. The machine's screen showed a number jumping rapidly, finally stopping at 144,200 kilowatt-hours.
He then scanned his face; these kilowatt-hours were converted into Energy Credits and directly deposited into his account.
A total of 0.519 Energy Credits.
He was overjoyed; this was a significant income, almost his entire earnings for the past year, excluding other expenses like rent.
In this era, no one comes to collect rent; after signing an electronic contract, the rent is automatically deducted from your account unless you terminate the contract; rent evasion is virtually impossible.
If you try to cheat and not pay, your apartment is automatically locked.
These metal apartments, once locked, create a vacuum inside; free living is impossible!
Individual strength is useless against machinery.
"After deducting the rent, there won't be much left, but at least I can finally leave this place."
Zhang Ren's face showed relief.
In this era, there's only one way to escape your fate: learn a skill. Only with skills can you leave this place.
Learning skills isn't difficult; it's extremely easy.
You can find courses online. Thinking you can be lazy is impossible; your quark robot can directly drag you into a simulated world and lock you there until you finish the course. You can't steal even a moment of laziness.
In the simulated world, there's only you and the teacher. Textbooks appear at specific times; you can't even close your eyes because the teacher is always within your sight. You can't sleep, close your eyes, or even use the restroom…
Under these circumstances, if you still can't learn, it means you're simply not cut out for it; give up.
This learning method is prevalent in the Galactic Federation, having been common for ten thousand years.
Most children don't attend traditional schools; children who attend school are usually wealthy; ordinary children are assigned similar learning programs and can take graduation exams anytime.
You can take the exam after ten years of study, or after one.
After passing, you receive a certificate; there's no need for registration with employment agencies or scheduled breaks; you can directly enter secondary education or take a break at any time.
The Galactic Federation doesn't rigidly dictate age limits for education; you can study elementary school at 90 years old and still receive a certificate.
The concept of "school" is blurred in this era.
It's more of a higher-level institution; for instance, teachers can provide personalized instruction and tutoring, not just mechanical teaching in a simulated world.
Zhang Ren studied mechanical repair.
This is his area of expertise; he's interacted with machines since birth, as his parents were scavengers.
But they weren't content with this; they became explorers, but they were too weak. They went on one expedition and never returned; only a necklace was brought back.
After exchanging his Energy Credits, Zhang Ren went to a tall tower. The top floor wasn't a building but a park, a common sight here.
Zhang Ren lay on the grass, gazing at the stars.
The L28309 Recycling Facility exists in space; it doesn't belong to any planet or star system; it's incredibly far from the inner star system—too far for him to imagine.
For him, the 6000-kilometer-diameter L28309 Recycling Facility is vast—too large to traverse in a lifetime.
The L28309 facility isn't just a recycling center but a city, Zhang Ren's aspiration. It's said that all the citizens there work for a single company.
Zhang Ren had been there once. This era has financial disparity but not social class; with enough money, you can go anywhere.
His last visit was with his parents; he saw luxurious flying vehicles, enormous spaceships, buildings 100,000 meters tall, and elegantly dressed citizens and mechs patrolling.
Everything was so new.
It's said that citizens there have stable monthly incomes exceeding 1 Energy Credit annually, plus other benefits: company-provided housing, free food, healthcare, and education…
He didn't know these things weren't particularly valuable in this era.
Energy is everything.
After waiting an hour in the park, Zhang Ren got up, ending his daydreaming and returning to his scavenging.
Suddenly, a loud explosion came from the sky; a massive warship flew overhead.
"So cool!"
He exclaimed in awe.
He couldn't imagine who was on that warship.
...
History records countless events, all traces of our civilization.
From weakness to strength, gradually seizing global dominance. No life form is our opponent; even powerful creatures ultimately fall before us.
Every time Mot glances at these historical records in the bookstore, his emotions surge.
Because their race is incredibly weak. Before those giant monsters, even passing by is dangerous; roadside plants are taller than them, and small stones are heavier.
The turning point was recorded in history as their ancestor. He obtained a divine artifact, mastering the method of crafting tools. He used these tools to defeat creatures ten or even a hundred times larger than them.
They called him the fool; fools among fools.
Mot extends his hand—a flexible appendage made of several thread-like tentacles. Each seems delicate but is incredibly strong.
His body is similarly long and slender, resembling a fish, but their structure isn't that of fish but insects. Their exoskeleton allows them to stand upright. Their lower body is circular, like a fish mounted on a spherical base.
Their heads are large, shaped like a hammer, with a sucker at the top; they originally used this sucker to cling to cliffs above the water.
Their tentacles are used to lure prey into the water. Once hooked, they use the tentacles to kill the prey and slowly pull it out of the water.
Two tentacles are particularly unique.
One has feathery tips at its end, serving as bait; the feathers emit a sweet scent, but the tentacle has hooks with poisonous barbs. The other tentacle is thicker and stronger; it's used for feeding.
Their locomotion is simple: they jump using their lower appendages. Because they're small, only 10-13 cm tall and weighing less than 60 g, their jump distance is considerable—30-40 cm.
A similar creature approached, its body pale.
"Good child. I don't see many children your age in this bookstore."
Mot looked up and asked, "Elder Xili, did the fools among fools truly exist?"
Xili chuckled, "Of course. It was the fools among fools who guided us from weakness to strength. Without their guidance, we would remain among the weakest creatures; most creatures would consider us food. We would live in darkness and fear."
"What did the fools among fools look like?"
"Um…" Xili faltered.
"That's too long ago. The age of the fools was long before the [Epoch], when we were still ignorant and unenlightened; even writing hadn't emerged; only paintings recorded history."
"The fools among fools were as dazzling as the sun in the empty sky. We couldn't see their form or appearance because they were too vast, too powerful; everything in this world was their creation, including us."
"We were their most beloved race; that's why they granted us intelligence."
Mot questioned again, "But we aren't the only intelligent beings."
"There are the Snows to the north; they are strong, powerful, and possess an ancient and brilliant civilization and intelligence."
Fear flickered in Mot's eyes when mentioning the Snows.
They were once the Snows' favorite food. The Snows brought the cold, freezing the water and harvesting everything in the lake, including them.
Xili was equally afraid.
"They are our enemies. They weren't created by the fools among fools but by the fools' enemy, Luo."
"We bear a heavy responsibility: to eliminate the Snows. Then, the fools among fools will descend again and bestow their blessings upon us."
This conversation greatly benefited Mot.
His dream, like Xili's, was to become a scholar, filled with wisdom.
As the sky began to darken, he bid farewell to Xili. Darkness brought cold; this was the Snows' active period; they couldn't stay outside in the dark.
He left the library and hurried home along a side street.
But the sky, which should have been darkening, began to brighten. Mot was puzzled; he tilted his body, turning one of his eyes towards the sky.
Then he saw a new light appear, dazzling, brighter than the original light.
It was growing.
Mot felt his entire body trembling; it wasn't just him; the ground was trembling too. Everything in the world trembled as the light approached.
"The fools among fools!"
He couldn't imagine anyone possessing such immense power besides the fools among fools.
He lay on the ground, completely relaxed, expending no effort, showing reverence.
He happened to be looking upward, watching the light grow brighter, then suddenly dim.
Instead, a colossal monster fell from the sky. He couldn't describe it; he had never seen anything like it before.
"Could this be the true form of the fools among fools?"
"Far, far larger than the Snows."
Mot thought.
Just as he thought the fools among fools would land, it stopped in mid-air. Countless beams of light emerged from its body, illuminating the earth. Unlike before, this light was gentle, turning the entire sky into daytime.
Then a beam of light shone on the ground—no, not one.
Various beams of light appeared everywhere; one was near Mot. He saw a colossal creature, a being unlike any he had ever seen, unimaginably vast, ten or a hundred times larger than the Snows.
He lowered his head, looking at his small self. Mot was terrified; he felt his entire body paralyzed.
"Border-world lifeforms."
"It's said they feign death when facing powerful enemies; the intel seems accurate."
Hata was a Warbeast; not a soldier but a researcher.
In fact, there were no soldiers on this warship. This is the new frontier of the Federation's star sector; beyond it lies the endless star sea, where billions of explorers search, yet haven't discovered any advanced civilizations.
The only civilization discovered is on this planet within this star system.
Explorers initially discovered it, finding a long-haired beast on this planet. It resembled a primate, walking on two legs and possessing relatively strong arms.
However, their bodies differed. These creatures, about one meter tall, had a massive, spherical body; their arms were closer to their chests; their backs were covered with thick white fur and spines; thick layers of fat under the fur protected them from the cold.
Their overall shape resembles an inverted teardrop; the teardrop's tail forms their tail, with two strong legs extending from either side. The teardrop's head contains their head and vital organs; their arms aren't as dexterous as human arms; they lack fingers, having only two rigid, beak-like structures that can open and close.
Because these creatures like to use large amounts of saltpeter to freeze lakes, and this planet is naturally quite cold, freezing small lakes is easy.
Explorers crudely named them the Ice-Making Tribe.
While discovering the Ice-Making Tribe, the explorers unexpectedly found another intelligent species: the Shore Tribe, fishermen who lived by the lakeside.
Finding two intelligent species on one planet, the explorers excitedly reported their findings because the Galactic Federation offered a reward of 100,000 Energy Credits for reporting a new intelligent species—a considerable sum.
Especially finding two; reporting two directly yielded 200,000 Energy Credits.
To encourage reporting intelligent species, the Federation also provided other policy benefits to discoverers, such as benefits for their children, tax breaks, free docking at Federation-owned spaceports, etc.—all significant incentives.
This also prevents explorers from trafficking intelligent species. Trafficking intelligent life within the Federation carries severe penalties; all participants and those who know and don't report are stripped of their Federation citizenship and sent to the planet where the trafficking occurred for forced labor.
Of course, everyone understands this is a death sentence.
Such incidents are rare because interstellar civilizations are scarce.
The Federation doesn't prohibit trading non-intelligent life and encourages discovering new lifeforms. Each valuable new species receives 110 Federation Credits and a medal.
This seems small, but if you find a life-bearing planet, the number of species discovered is usually in the tens of thousands.
The explorers who discovered this planet requested species identification. About 200 years ago, 15,000 robots scanned all species on the planet.
Ultimately, 1.87 million valuable species were identified; the explorers received 3.56 million Energy Credits, plus the previous 200,000, totaling 3.76 million—a vast fortune. The Federation also granted them tax-exempt status for any gifts received.
Upon receiving this news, the Galactic Federation dispatched scholars to study the planet, examining its unique properties that allowed for two intelligent species, and investigating if a third exists.
Hata carefully studied this creature, which was far less impressive than the keratinous plate on his own body.
Mot's body was nearly exhausted under Hata's intense examination. One weighed 60g; the other, 17 tons—a 280,000-fold difference. For humans, it would be like a 50-meter-tall Godzilla standing before a normal person.
"Fools among fools…" Mot felt he couldn't endure it any longer and uttered the phrase.
Hata was stunned, then his internal quark robot, using the warship's 10,000-meter-long antenna to draw power, combined with previously deployed robots that had recorded the Shore Tribe's language, instantly understood what Mot meant by "fools among fools."
He found it amusing.
He, too, would one day be called a god.
Speaking of gods, the closest to receiving worship, the so-called "god," was on the same warship.
After all, inventing laser transport technology single-handedly raised the Galactic Federation's civilization level by several decimal places; if that's not a god, what is it?
After receiving the highest award and a 10 million Energy Credit prize, she donated the entire sum—unimaginable to Hata. This was a huge amount; he couldn't even dream of such wealth in his lifetime.
10 million. The Galactic Federation probably doesn't have 100,000 companies with a 10 million market cap; at most 70,000-80,000. And this was cash. Companies with this kind of liquid capital are usually super-tycoons with market caps in the millions.
Such tycoons could be among the top in a star system.
He retracted his thoughts and said, "Get up. I'm not one of the fools among fools."
His internal quark robots automatically gathered around his vocal cords, transmitting signals through his nerves to produce sound; these sounds were translated into the Shore Tribe's language.
Without vocal cords, the quark robots could vibrate other muscles to produce high-frequency sounds; they didn't even need to be internal; external devices could substitute.
And without speaking, they could communicate directly through the internet using text; even text is too inefficient; the quark robots could directly transmit nerve signals. If a Warbeast transmits a nerve signal, a human receiver would receive it as a human nerve signal, directly transmitted to their brain by their internal quark robot.
In the Galactic Federation, English is commonly used because of quark robots; communication is extremely easy.
Hearing Hata speak and communicate, Mot's fear subsided.
He curiously asked, "Then who are you?"
Hata said, "You can consider me… a… guest assisting your civilization. I come from the Galactic Federation, a gathering of countless civilizations; it is powerful, stable, peaceful, prosperous, and possesses boundless knowledge and scientific technology."
"Our purpose is to invite you to join us."
Mot only heard one thing.
"Boundless knowledge? How much is that? More than the lake?"
Hata laughed.
"Lake? No. It's far greater than the sky you see. A single individual can only explore a small part in a lifetime, yet even that small part captivates everyone; it's beautiful, like a sweet drink, delightful both to drink and to remember."
Mot listened, captivated.
In his world, could anything be more beautiful than knowledge?
...
What exactly is the starry sky?
What exists in the starry sky?
Why do those glittering stars shine?
Are they flames?
Mot had a long, long dream; he dreamed of the starry sky, feeling the stars surrounding and dancing with him.
Those stars felt like warm flames.
Upon waking, he realized it wasn't the warmth of stars but real flames; his home was burning.
He cried out in terror and fled, his once snow-white fur singed and blackened, emitting a foul odor.
He was puzzled.
Normally, his kin would use water to extinguish the flames.
But now, there was no one around.
Then he became angry, not because of the fire, but because he had forgotten his dream, the appearance of the stars becoming blurry; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall it.
Then he looked up at the sky.
He was stunned.
What was that?
A giant head seemed to loom from the sky, with countless flashing eyes staring at the world.
Terror!
He quickly found a room to hide, peeking through a crack at the giant creature in the sky.
After waiting a long time without anything happening, he slowly came out.
He made a long, drawn-out, flexible, and magical "Ooooe" sound, audible for 10 kilometers.
Soon, a response came from far away.
"Ooooe"
He hurried towards the sound.
About half an hour later, he finally found his missing companions.
They had gathered in a clearing.
And in the center of the clearing stood a strange, giant creature, unlike anything he'd ever seen; it looked powerful and… intelligent.
"Sugu!"
Sugu heard a familiar voice.
It was the chief; slightly puzzled, he approached. The chief pulled him forward and said to the strange beings, "Mighty Autha, Sugu is the most intelligent child in our tribe. If you wish to take one, take him."
Sugu didn't understand.
The chief usually called him the stupidest; why praise him like this?
And were these the legendary Autha?
It was said that the Autha were the strongest warriors. These creatures were indeed gigantic, but were they truly Autha?
He had many questions.
"Indeed a clever child. Take him."
"Perhaps he could become an outstanding scholar."
Luna carefully observed Sugu; she noticed the Ice-Making Tribe's eyes were beautiful—a light blue with flecks of crystal.
This tribe's intelligence hadn't been assessed, but judging from the conversation, it wasn't low.
In fact, among the 14 dominant species in the current Galactic Federation, none had demonstrably low intelligence. Research revealed that human intelligence is roughly the average for intelligent life.
This is understandable. Careful study of Earth's biological history shows that many creatures' intelligence can reach the level of a three or four-year-old human; some even reach six, seven, eight, or nine years old. This suggests that human intelligence is simply the baseline for intelligent life transitioning from pre-civilization to civilization.
Species with demonstrably lower intelligence than humans are not considered intelligent life.
Among the current 14 species (excluding the Ice-Making Tribe and the Shore Tribe), the least intelligent is the Kankaya. They aren't prominent in the Galactic Federation; they're almost invisible.
Their average intelligence is only 85% of humans', and their reproductive rate is extremely low. Although certainly stronger than Warbeasts, they still lag behind humans.
This results in a small population; even now, the Kankaya population hasn't exceeded 100 billion.
Most Kankaya live in the lower strata of the Galactic Federation, though some high-ranking members have undergone genetic modification to improve their intelligence.
Luna herself advocates for genetic modification to improve intelligence across the Galactic Federation. This plan has been ongoing for thousands of years, including humans; the average intelligence of most species has increased by 15-20%; Luna has also undergone this modification.
While Luna was interacting with the Ice-Making Tribe, Ayla's voice came through his comm.
"Checked. The total Ice-Making Tribe population on this planet is 110,000; the Shore Tribe population is 580,000."
"The Ice-Making Tribe's reproductive rate is slightly higher than humans', but due to their low ecological niche, the death rate sometimes exceeds the birth rate, resulting in little population change over hundreds of years."
Ice-Making Tribe individuals are small, about one meter tall, weighing around 20 kg.
On Earth, such creatures would be considered medium-sized; on this planet, Bius-2383c, they are small.
This planet is currently in a giant-beast era, similar to the dinosaur age on Earth.
There are 17 predator species exceeding 10 tons, 78 exceeding one ton, 215 exceeding 100 kg, and 303 exceeding 50 kg.
Besides the 10-ton+ predators who largely ignore these small creatures, 80% of the predators include them in their diet.
The Ice-Making Tribe's existence is incredibly difficult.
Even if they went extinct in a few hundred or thousand years, it wouldn't be surprising.
The Shore Tribe is similarly disadvantaged; their individuals are even smaller; 100% of the medium and small predators on this planet include them in their diet; their ecological niche is similar to rats on Earth.
Even worse, the Shore Tribe lives near the Ice-Making Tribe, and they're also on the Ice-Making Tribe's menu.
Luna's main purpose in visiting this planet isn't these two tribes but another creature called the Xi.
The reason intelligent species develop high intelligence is largely due to their low ecological niche; they need intelligence to survive. Therefore, most intelligent lifeforms aren't particularly noteworthy.
Except for Warbeasts.
This is one reason for the sensation caused by Warbeasts' arrival in the Galactic Federation.
Their civilization's development is like a Tyrannosaurus Rex developing civilization in the dinosaur age; the Tyrannosaurus Rex wasn't even as large, and its combat capabilities were far inferior to those of Warbeasts. Warbeasts also occupied a much higher ecological niche than Cretaceous Tyrannosaurs.
In fact, Warbeasts still value hunting; dinosaur hunting grounds are among their favorites.
The Galactic Federation now has a widely circulated video (views exceeding 1 trillion) showing a female Warbeast using only her physical strength to wrestle a Tyrannosaurus Rex without a quark robot or mech.
That Tyrannosaurus Rex weighed 8 tons, but the female Warbeast was a large one, comparable to a 1.9-meter-tall human female, weighing a terrifying 27 tons. Warbeasts' arm muscles account for 60% of their body mass; theoretically, that Warbeast's arm weighed 8.1 tons.
A highly-rated comment on that video was: "Tyrannosaurus Rex: It said its arm is thicker than my leg. How am I supposed to fight? Your arm weighs more than my entire body! How am I supposed to fight?!"
The Xi's ecological niche isn't predatory but herbivorous; they mainly feed on the planet's vegetation.
The reason Luna came here is because of their bones.
Many microorganisms on Earth use silicon to create their exoskeletons; examples include diatoms and radiolarians. Most organisms' bones are primarily composed of calcium and carbon; other species in the universe have different skeletal compositions.
For example, Warbeast bones contain a significant amount of iron, over 30%, with a significant amount of carbon; isn't that high-carbon steel? This makes their bones incredibly strong; even with similar body sizes, their strength is over 50% greater than Earth life.
It's worth mentioning that Warbeasts don't have hearts; they use respiratory muscles to circulate blood. Theoretically, Warbeasts would go into shock if they stopped breathing.
The most terrifying aspect of the Xi is that their bones contain a large amount of radioactive elements. These heavy elements don't affect their genetic structure, but most predators that hunt them are killed by these radioactive elements.
Luna was eager to see this radioactive creature.
But the immediate tasks needed addressing.
He asked Sugu, "Do you want to go now or prepare first?"
Sugu's home was burned down; he had nothing to prepare.
He asked uncertainly, "Go where?"
Luna said, "Above. You could think of it as into space."
Space!
Sugu trembled.
He had countless times imagined reaching space, but now he could hardly believe it.
Was he still dreaming?
Sugu felt it was unimaginable.
"Really?"
"Of course!"
Hearing the firm reply, Sugu's breathing quickened. He didn't have lungs; his respiratory pores were on his skin, numbering 0.9-1 million.
This rapid breathing change made his body expand and contract slightly, like a leather balloon inflating and deflating.
"I want to go now," Sugu said excitedly.
"Very well."
The Ice-Making Tribe doesn't have the concept of familial bonds; this is true for many species in the Galactic Federation. Familial bonds are insignificant; even love ends after mating. Human emotions are irrelevant to these species.
This was insignificant to Luna.
The moment Luna said "very well," Ayla acted; she used electromagnetic waves to lift Sugu into the air.
There was no light constraint this time; Sugu seemed to fly directly.
This method doesn't require beams; the beams serve to confirm location. For example, if I shine a light on you, you know you'll fly soon, allowing for mental preparation.
If it's from the warship, the light designates your landing point, letting you observe the surroundings and determine your direction after landing.
"Hoo hoo…" Sugu made this sound.
It wasn't crying but similar to a human's excited exclamation.
He felt it was unimaginable; he was actually flying; he'd never experienced anything like this.
The sky felt vast, the ground shrinking; his kin became infinitesimally smaller than their food.
"Thoom—"
A deep sound suddenly echoed; Sugu looked towards the sound.
It was a Ber, a giant monster; they often carried off their kin. Sugu was terrified; the Ber was flying towards him, its blue eyes fixed on him.
Compared to the Ber, he was minuscule; he had no chance of resistance.
The Ice-Making Tribe on the ground cried out in fear, scattering.
Luna looked up; it was indeed a large bird, with three fleshy wings, a long and slender body, a wingspan of nearly 20 meters, and a weight of about one ton.
The next moment, a thin laser beam struck the Ber.
The Ber was instantly incinerated to ashes; no remains were left.
Sugu was stunned.
Was this the power of the Autha? Even a Ber could be easily destroyed.
Overwhelmed, his body was brought aboard the warship.
This was a new Federation warship, 120,000 meters long. Sugu entered a compartment; he couldn't understand why it was brighter than day, despite the absence of artificial light.
A being similar in appearance to the Autha approached, saying, "Follow me. You're Sugu, aren't you?"
"I'll arrange your food and daily life on the warship and show you around."
This was a simulated being, not controlled by Ayla; it was a purely simulated entity.
Sugu looked around, momentarily speechless.
Only when the simulated being moved did he follow; he stood on a hover-pad that lifted him into the air.
The simulated being showed him many places: the soldiers' quarters, the warship's mess hall, a nighttime movie screening, entertainment streets, a theater, tea rooms, water features, lush parks, a gymnasium, and an aquatic amusement park. Sugu felt he was in another world.
Then he reached an extremely long, straight corridor near the warship's hull; it was 2000 meters long and had a 2000-meter-long floor-to-ceiling window. From there, he could see the outer space.
Sugu stopped, leaning against the 30-meter-high window, gazing at the dark, deep expanse outside; it resembled the night sky.
"Is this the warship's starry sky?"
The simulated being shook its head: "No. This isn't the starry sky of any place; it is the starry sky, the only starry sky."
Sugu didn't understand.
"Then where are we now?"
He didn't grasp the meaning of "the only starry sky."
The simulated being replied, "We are in the starry sky."
"Including your world, this warship, you, and me; we are all in the starry sky."
Sugu found it hard to comprehend. He pointed to a star and asked, "What's that? Can it take me there?"
"Not now. Perhaps you could go there if you have your own ship someday."
"That's a star, incredibly far away; you couldn't reach it even if you lived forever. Of course, we have cryosleep chambers; you could reach it while in cryosleep."
Hearing this, Sugu's desire intensified; he truly wanted to see what that star was like.
He still couldn't fully understand what the simulated being had told him.
Of course, he wouldn't remain this way forever.
The Federation values the first intelligent species members brought in; Sugu would receive preferential treatment and attend the best schools.
His future wouldn't just be that of a scholar; he wouldn't just reach the star.
After finishing his studies, he would return and show the starry sky to all the Ice-Making Tribe children.
Luna wouldn't pay much attention to this small lifeform; she was busy searching for the Xi; the Xi would bring significant changes to the Galactic Federation. What does radioactivity mean? Energy.
If a creature can control radioactive elements, it can control energy and become a true magical being.
Therefore, Luna was very much looking forward to this.