AWB Chapter 418 The Most Primitive Method
Chapter 418 The Most Primitive Method
The spaceship slowly landed on the barren planet's surface, and as the hatch opened, a stream of alien air rushed into the cabin.
Yun Tianming took a deep breath; the silver-white power armor gleamed with a cold metallic luster in the dim light shining through the hatch.
As he took his first step, the sudden increase in gravity slammed him into the ground like an invisible giant hand. His knees sank hard, and the armored joints groaned under the strain.
He groaned, and the power armor's auxiliary systems activated at full power, forcefully straightening his tilted body back.
"Humans are such fragile creatures," Daya's voice came from behind, carrying a condescending contempt.
He stepped gracefully out of the hatch, his powerful physique moving with ease under the abnormal gravity, his dark red, keratinized skin gleaming eerily in the starlight. "Like a delicate glass vessel, it would crumble at the slightest touch..."
Before it could finish speaking, its body suddenly froze. At that moment, a gun was already pressed against its back. Thomas Wade walked out of the hatch expressionlessly. Like Daya, the sudden change in gravity had no effect on him whatsoever.
"I don't like the tone of your voice. If I see you like this again, I won't hesitate to knock a few of your teeth out."
Feeling the threat from Vade, Daya's tone softened somewhat.
"Don't get excited, Mr. Wade, we're partners on the same side now."
Vader didn't speak, but glanced at the Kana human receptionist, Li, behind him. Li immediately understood Vader's meaning, took out a notebook, and wrote something on it.
As a subordinate civilization of the Kana race, the Starship Civilization is protected by the Kana race, which has the right to safeguard its security. This protection applies not only to external threats but also to the internal affairs of the Carbon-Based Federation.
However, this protection is only a relative promise. How exactly the protection will be implemented depends on the specific actions of the Kana people.
Daya wanted to test the attitude of the Kana people, and when she saw that they actually intended to write this down and report it, Daya panicked a little.
"This... Lord Li, we were just joking, was it really necessary?"
Li said nothing. Even when beating a dog, one must consider its owner. The Starship Civilization is now their subordinate civilization. To put it bluntly, Daya's actions just now were a challenge to the leadership authority of the entire civilization.
In fact, everyone initially wanted Wade to be the leader of the Starship Civilization. After all, compared to Yun Tianming, Wade's decisiveness and tough attitude were more suitable for the current Starship Civilization to survive in the cracks.
However, Vidère rejected the proposal and insisted on appointing Yun Tianming as the leader. His reasoning was quite simple.
“The entire Carbon-Based Federation has investigated my situation and knows everything I have done. If I were to take on a leadership role, it would only make them more wary of us.”
“Yun Tianming, although he is somewhat indecisive, his threat is no less than mine.”
The conflict was just a minor incident, and soon the group arrived at their destination—an extremely flat and open open space.
The planet was much larger than expected, and on their way there, the group finally saw the Devourer civilization for the first time.
Those lizard-like creatures have built towering metal structures on this barren land, with starport facilities scattered throughout, and the occasional glimmer of transport ships flashing across the orbits.
However, their numbers are pitifully small; they are less a complete civilization and more like experimental subjects kept there.
This feeling made Yun Tianming very uncomfortable, and it brought back some very bad memories of his time on Earth.
At that time, the entire human civilization was also kept in captivity in the same way, without even knowing that human civilization itself was aware of this.
The grain's form flowed like water, its bluish-green liquid body rippled slightly with his words.
“From today onwards, this planet will be your habitat.” His voice carried a kind of inhuman ethereal quality. “However, the Carbon-Based Federation’s resources are limited, and we cannot allow your civilization to multiply unchecked. Therefore, the population size… will be dynamically adjusted according to the planet’s resource situation.”
Upon hearing this, Wade narrowed his eyes: "Dynamic adjustment? Based on what? Our contributions to the Federation?"
A faint, almost smiling ripple appeared on the liquid surface of the particle.
“No, it’s not just about contributions,” he said softly. “Scientific research results are certainly important, but in order to unleash the greatest potential of your civilization, we will use the fairest, and also the most primitive, method to determine the allocation of resources.”
"war."
The liquid arm of the particle raised and gently patted Yun Tianming's shoulder, the touch as smooth as water flowing over the armor surface.
"Keep it up, humans." His tone was almost cheerful.
"We are looking forward to your performance. After all... as products of the same Earth, this battle is bound to be very exciting."
After saying that, he turned to leave, but halfway there he seemed to remember something and raised his hand.
"To be fair, the Devourer Civilization will be prohibited from launching any form of attack against you for the next five years. If we discover them, we will immediately penalize them for losing this resource contest. At the same time, we will complete our research on the technology tree you previously provided as soon as possible and share the latest research results with you."
As he spoke, he waved the small notebook in his hand, his eyes fixed on Daya.
"I'm issuing this warning once: I hope you can get along amicably for the next five years."
After the other party's figure completely disappeared, only Yun Tianming and the other two remained at the scene. Daya seemed to be frightened by what had just happened, and surprisingly, she didn't swear anymore, but instead slunk away.
After Yun Tianming and Wade returned to the spaceship, Yun Tianming finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"I knew things would turn out this way."
Wade crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly unsurprised by the outcome. In fact, he had already guessed this result when Particle demanded that they hand over all their technology trees.
"Yun Tianming, have you thought it through?"
Wade suddenly turned his head, his sharp gaze fixed on Yun Tianming. The latter nodded slightly, a cold, clear understanding flashing in his eyes.
“I’ve figured it out.” Yun Tianming’s voice was low and calm. “We didn’t have enough information before, but now that I’ve witnessed the Carbon-Based Federation’s operations firsthand, everything makes sense.”
"The so-called dependency theory is essentially a shackle on civilization."
Wade nodded, a cold smile playing on his lips: "If the tech tree setting holds true, then it means that—it's impossible for two civilizations of equal level to coexist on the same technological path."
"I don't know what their criteria are for classifying civilizations, but judging from the current situation, we are at most level two."
“Once we hand over our technology tree, the Kana people will become our competitors for resources. Even more fatal is—” He paused, his eyes sharpening, “this will completely block any possibility of us advancing to a higher civilization.”
“Theoretically, the only way to break this is to eliminate the Kana people,” Yun Tianming continued, his tone laced with cold sarcasm. “But putting aside the vast difference in strength, even if we could actually do it, the final result would only be assimilation by a more powerful civilization.”
They were already familiar with the concept of technological explosion—the development of civilization is not uniform, and a backward civilization may overtake others at any time.
However, the knowledge sealing principle acts like an invisible shackle: when one civilization imparts technology to another, the recipient's technological development will infinitely approach that of the imparting civilization.
It's like instilling the concept that "0 is the sun" in a newborn baby; from then on, his thinking will be forever bound by this definition. His intelligence may grow, but his cognitive path will be solidified, making it difficult to break through the original framework.
This is precisely the conspiracy of the Kana race—to extract the last of the Starship civilization's creativity while using the "Knowledge Sealing Rule" to lock the two civilizations into a dependent relationship.
The end result is that they are assimilated into the other, or the other becomes a part of them.
As for who holds the dominant position? That doesn't matter, or rather, the Kana people don't care.
Survival is the first law of civilization, but they overlooked one point: the so-called eternal existence of civilization does not necessarily mean the eternal existence of a certain person or a group of people.
As long as the technology tree continues, I don't care whether the physical body exists or not.
This is the fundamental reason why the Carbon-Based Federation can exist within the Dark Forest Theory: they have never considered the physical destruction of civilization as the destruction of civilization itself.
From the moment Yun Tianming and the others accepted the invitation from the Kana people, the theory of dependence was fully formed, and soon they would become one.
This answer left both of them feeling suffocated. This feeling was different from the military oppression brought about by the Trisolaran invasion of Earth. Instead, they simply didn't know how to resist.
Yun Tianming stretched his body and gazed at the desolate horizon.
"I'll figure something out, just give me some time."
Wade, standing to the side, shrugged indifferently and took a step back, seemingly wanting to leave the decision-making power entirely to the man in front of him.
"This should be my last injection of the immortality potion. I have completed the task assigned to me by PDC very well. As for what you want to do, that's your business and has nothing to do with me."
Wade paused for a moment after saying this.
"However, I must remind you that not everyone wants to go through all that trouble like you. As for me, I think things are fine as they are now."
For the first time, the two disagreed, and the points of their argument seemed somewhat comical.
The radical who once disregarded everything chose the most conservative approach, while Yun Tianming, who was always known for his indecisiveness, chose to fight the other side to the bitter end.
"I don't understand what you're insisting on?"
Wade's gaze was deep, as if he wanted to see through the man's heart, while Yun Tianming cleverly avoided his gaze and did not look him in the eye.
“Back on Earth, I heard a radical economic theory,” he suddenly said. “The most effective way to increase the birth rate in the short term is to lower women’s education level.”
"Because the ignorant are the easiest to satisfy."
"Who told you to read so many books and know about the outside world? If you knew nothing, you would be content to be an ordinary person, have an ordinary child, and end your ordinary life."
Their conversation was quickly relayed verbatim to the council hall of the Kana people by Li, who was hiding in the shadows.
Above them sat three people, who were the final decision-makers in the council hall. It could be said that almost all matters concerning the entire Kana people were handled and decided by these three.
"It seems this Yun Tianming is no pushover either." Tong's voice rang out in the hall, carrying an imposing aura.
"There's no need to worry too much, Copper. You should have anticipated this situation. Children will always have some unrealistic fantasies," Silver said with a chuckle. "Don't forget, back then, the three of us had the same thoughts, and in the end, we still became prisoners of this civilization..."
"okay."
A clear, cold female voice rang out in the hall, and both Bronze and Silver fell silent, their gazes sweeping towards Gold, who was seated at the head of the table.
"The Federation is very satisfied with the technology tree of this starship civilization. Many of its technologies are exactly what the Federation currently lacks. I believe that once we fully absorb them, we will not be defeated as badly as we were by those silicon-based empires' worthless rocks in the Silver War."
Then, her gaze fell upon Li, who was waiting outside the main hall.
"Your missions will be suspended for now. According to my calculations, there shouldn't be a suitable civilization like this in the short term. For the next period of time, you will be responsible for monitoring the next move of this civilization."
Jin paused, closed his eyes and thought for a while before speaking.
“This Thomas Wade is quite sensible. Perhaps… we can try to win him over and make him one of us.”
"Yes."
Li nodded in agreement. He was in a great mood because he didn't have to go out, and couldn't help but speak again.
"Then...should we give them special treatment? After all, given their current overall strength, starship civilizations are still at a disadvantage. What if..."
"You can handle it however you like."
The three, Gold, Silver, and Bronze, seemed very satisfied with this civilization. Although in their eyes, the starship civilization was still a research laborer, a battery that continuously produced technology for them, it would be unreasonable for them not to help when they were bullied.
The Devouring Civilization and the Starship Civilization are of the same lineage, and the conflict between them is a deep-seated hatred that can be traced back to the Cretaceous period. Such a conflict is almost impossible to resolve, which is why the Federation wants to put them together.
Only in this way, when both sides are fighting to the death, can they be truly forced to reveal their true strength.
After all, the Federation had encountered two lazy civilizations before. After placing them on the same planet, they waited for 200 years without going to war.
War is the best catalyst for technology!