Two civilizations, separated by four light-years, had been born and flourished under entirely different environmental conditions. They possessed vastly different cultural backgrounds and even Physiological Structures; their technological paths, social forms, and ways of thinking were completely different. When two such civilizations suddenly established contact, things that shattered each side's worldview would inevitably happen one after another.
Even with Gawain's imagination, he had never expected a civilization to launch its own gods into space at three percent of light speed. So after hearing of the Loren people's great achievements, the Noi people would naturally be similarly astonished—what the hell was that guy on the other side doing?
Of course, the Noi people's immediate string of question marks had truly exceeded Gawain's expectations. Yet not long after those question marks, the message from four light-years away continued. The printer clattered noisily, and lines of letters appeared on the paper strip before Gawain's eyes: "You went to war directly against your gods?! And won?!"
Before the machine had even been quiet for two seconds, the Noi people sent another message: "Apologies, perhaps we did not make ourselves clear—we mean that you had at least reached a point in certain fields where conflict with the gods became unavoidable, even triggering a direct war. Not only did you win, but you also drew lessons from that war for future use? And after such a 'war of the gods,' you still have confidence in achieving 'coexistence transformation' with other gods?"
Gawain looked at the words on the paper strip in some surprise. He had expected his words to shock them somewhat, but he had not expected them to be this shocked. It made him begin to wonder whether the "war of the gods" he had led the Empire and the Alliance through might be something