Precursor

Of course we're curious; we're curious about everything.

Everyone craned their necks, looking all ears.

Leaving the Milky Way Galaxy and Level 5 Civilization would naturally make Yue Yuan understand. He secretly memorized these keywords. He was now certain that this Rhomboid Crystal was at least Level Six Civilization, or even higher, otherwise it would not have said something like "My civilization has left the Milky Way Galaxy".

It's important to know that even Level Six Civilization like the Awakeners only managed to reach the Milky Way Galaxy by relying on the ruins of a Level Seven Civilization. Moreover, the Awakeners' words at the time were filled with the sense that their journey to the Milky Way Galaxy was arduous.

Crossing a galaxy is incredibly difficult even for Level Six Civilization. From the descriptions given by the Awakeners at the time, it's clear that without the aid of that Level Seven Civilization relic, the Awakeners might not have been able to complete the intergalactic journey for many years, or even reach the Milky Way Galaxy.

Just as Yue Yuan was feeling sentimental, the voice representing the Rhomboid Crystal rang out again.

"As for your questions to me, you are of course New Generation Civilization. New Generation Civilization is a civilization that appeared or developed after my civilization left the Milky Way Galaxy, which was Thirty Billion Years Ago."

!!

Thirty Billion Years Ago? Three billion! Upon hearing this number, all the scientists present felt a chill run down their spines, because they knew the significance of this number: three billion years! This Rhomboid Crystal was said to be Thirty Billion Years Ago?! Didn't that mean that this Rhomboid Crystal had existed for three billion years?!

It's incredible that it has existed for so long! Three billion years, and it has still managed to preserve the information intact! Such technology is truly astonishing; no one knows how it was done.

Precursor, is this the technology of the Precursor? Just in terms of information preservation alone, it is terrifyingly powerful.

Now everyone understands why the Rhomboid Crystal refers to humanity as New Generation Civilization. Compared to civilizations from Thirty Billion Years Ago, isn't humanity New Generation Civilization? Perhaps not only humanity, but all the civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy today are New Generation Civilization.

From this point of view alone, this Precursor truly deserves the title.

But what exactly were the pioneers? Why were they called Precursor? Before anyone could ask, the voice of the Rhomboid Crystal appeared again. "You must be very curious about why we left the Milky Way Galaxy."

This voice awakened those who were immersed in the epic phrase "Thirty Billion Years Ago".

"I'm sorry, Thirty Billion Years Ago is beyond our imagination. Yes, why did you leave the Milky Way Galaxy Thirty Billion Years Ago?" Yue Yuan asked on behalf of everyone.

As he spoke, he glanced intently at the Rhomboid Crystal. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but at that moment he suddenly felt that the Rhomboid Crystal not only had a high-tech feel, but also seemed to have an ancient and rustic texture.

"Because there is no hope in the Milky Way Galaxy, we see a bleak future for all civilizations that have grown up in the Milky Way Galaxy, including ourselves. Staying in the Milky Way Galaxy will only lead to death, with no hope at all. The only hope is in the distance. Although we don't know if leaving is the right choice, we would rather place our hope in that unknown distance than stay in the Milky Way Galaxy."

Driven by that sliver of hope, we embarked on the Great Voyage. All the advanced civilizations that had initially agreed to join us departed. Having learned from us that hope lay in the voyage, they also trusted our navigational abilities and thus came with us.

And I am an Information Storage Device left behind in the Milky Way Galaxy when our civilization was about to depart. My purpose is simple: to tell future generations about the journey ahead.

We can't wait until all the civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy have developed before we leave, and of course we don't want all the New Generation Civilization to be trapped in the Milky Way Galaxy, but we have no way to directly tell the New Generation Civilization that haven't appeared yet.

And so I came into being. At the time, we even gave this farewell project a name: the Message in Drift Bottle Project. And I was one of its components. Your two questions: 'Entering my range and awakening my mechanisms,' the answer is that when you approach Sentient Life, I will be activated, awakening from my slumber to deliver this message to the New Generation Civilization."

"Of course, I am very surprised that you are a Low-level Civilization. Logically speaking, my mechanism should not be activated by Low-level Civilization, because Low-level Civilization is simply not capable of long-distance voyages, and it is even unknown whether it can advance to the level that is qualified to conduct long-distance voyages. Therefore, it would be a waste for such a civilization to trigger my mechanism. However, you have successfully triggered my mechanism. I have checked it, and there is no problem with the program."

This short passage contains a wealth of information.

Everyone was engrossed in the Rhomboid Crystal's description: Thirty Billion Years Ago, the Great Voyage Milky Way Galaxy place in the Milky Way, leaving the Milky Way Galaxy. What was the destination of this the Great Voyage? Why did the Rhomboid Crystal say that there was no hope for the Milky Way Galaxy, and that the only hope lay in the distance? Where was that distance?

To transmit information to New Generation Civilization? Why transmit it to New Generation Civilization? Does the Great Voyage need successors? But why?

Moreover, judging from its description, it seems that the civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy got along quite well Thirty Billion Years Ago, because everyone heard some key phrases. "All the advanced civilizations that were willing to follow us have left." If they didn't get along well, how could they have embarked on the Great Voyage together?

A host of questions lingered in their minds, and everyone sensed that the answers to these questions might conceal a tremendous secret—the secret of the Great Voyage, and also the secret of the Milky Way Galaxy Thirty Billion Years Ago.

Seeing the Rhomboid Crystal stop speaking, Yue Yuan, who had recovered from the overwhelming information, asked, "Don't you know why we were able to trigger your mechanism?"

"There's nothing strange about that. The universe is incredibly mysterious, and there are still so many things we don't know," the Rhomboid Crystal said.

His tone seemed somewhat wistful.

"You're talking about the 'Message in Drift Bottle Project,' so can I understand that there are many beings like you in the Milky Way Galaxy, and why do you do this? Hmm, why do you want to send your information from your the Great Voyage to the New Generation Civilization?" Feeling that everyone was looking at him, Yue Yuan continued to ask.

Before he could finish speaking, the voice of the Rhomboid Crystal rang out. "Yes, there are many beings like me, but I'm not sure if other 'Drift Bottle' can survive for three billion years, nor do I know if other 'Drift Bottle' have been picked up by other New Generation Civilization."

We are very confident in our information preservation technology, but we cannot guarantee that it can be preserved for three billion years. We already have many problems; some information related to the Great Voyage has already been lost.

The Rhomboid Crystal paused for a moment. "As for why we should pass on the information about the Great Voyage to the New Generation Civilization, it's because the universe is too dangerous, because the Great Voyage is extremely arduous, because we are all Milky Way Galaxy civilizations, and because we don't know if we will succeed. If we fail, at least the New Generation Civilization will continue to stand on our shoulders and move forward. If we have to find a reason, it's hope."

The few words about Rhomboid Crystal deeply touched everyone's hearts.

Everyone present couldn't help but wonder what the Milky Way Galaxy was like Thirty Billion Years Ago, and what kind of environment would enable such a civilization to say, "We are all Milky Way Galaxy civilizations."