They All Went on the Great Voyage
Could it be that the civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy Thirty Billion Years Ago were united by a common ideal? If so, that would be truly incredible.
Perhaps only a unified and harmonious Milky Way Galaxy would have a civilization with such ideas.
Perhaps thinking of this possibility, everyone present was envious. At least if the Milky Way Galaxy were like that now, perhaps humanity's Solar System would not have been destroyed.
With questions in mind, someone couldn't help but mutter, "Milky Way Galaxy this harmonious Thirty Billion Years Ago?"
"It's alright, at least everyone is moving towards a common goal thanks to our efforts." This muttering naturally didn't escape the notice of the Rhomboid Crystal, whose voice continued, "Whether due to pressure or some other reason... Oh, isn't the current New Generation Civilization in the Milky Way Galaxy united under a common goal?"
Everyone fell silent in response to the Rhomboid Crystal's question.
It's not surprising that the Rhomboid Crystal doesn't know the current state of the Milky Way Galaxy, after all, it had been dormant for three billion years and only awakened after encountering humans.
"We don't know, maybe they have a common goal," Yue Yuan, the leader, said. Then he revealed all the information that humanity knew about civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy, including the fact that humanity's Solar System had been destroyed, and what humanity knew about many civilizations plundering Life Planet.
If the records in the Crimson Flame Civilization Database are correct, several Level Six Civilization in the Milky Way Galaxy have the Great Voyage goals, but this is unknown for other civilizations.
"That's normal. It seems what you know is also wrong, which is true, since you're not even an advanced civilization." The Rhomboid Crystal spoke with a hint of regret, "The destruction of your home planet actually happened in the Milky Way Galaxy Thirty Billion Years Ago, before a powerful civilization emerged. War will always happen. We also emerged from war step by step. At any time, force is the guarantee of the continuation of civilization. Thirty Billion Years Ago, we and other civilizations reached a consensus to embark on a voyage together because we all saw the despairing reality. Regarding the destruction of your home planet, perhaps it's inappropriate for me to make any comments about abandoning hatred, but since you've successfully triggered me, I still want to say to you, regardless of whether you find the civilization that destroyed your home planet or not, please remember the voyage."
What this means is that the Precursor were a powerful civilization in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Of course, the Rhomboid Crystal used a very euphemistic way of speaking, and it did not have the condescending manner that humans would expect from an advanced civilization.
This made everyone feel flattered.
"Rest assured, we will never forget the voyage. As long as we have the ability, we will follow in the footsteps of our Precursor and embark on the voyage."
"Very good."
At this point, a scientist asked, "Can you tell us what the Great Voyage is all about? Do you know where your civilization is now, and what its destination is?"
Upon hearing the scientist's words, everyone eagerly awaited the outcome, curious about the purpose of the so-called voyage.
Actually, humans do know something about this.
The Awakeners told humanity that they came to the Milky Way Galaxy to pursue some kind of Wisdom Road, but they were vague about it, and humanity is not sure if the Precursor did the same.
After all, the Awakeners only needed to rely on the relics of Level Seven Civilization to reach the Milky Way Galaxy, while the Precursor seemed to have the upper hand because they truly organized the Great Voyage Milky Way Galaxy Expedition.
"Well, regarding that, due to time constraints, some of my information has been lost, especially information about the destination," the Rhomboid Crystal said again, mentioning the lost information.
Upon hearing this news, everyone present fell silent. They were disappointed, but understanding; after all, it had been 3 billion years, and for the Rhomboid Crystal to awaken again was already quite powerful.
The technology exhibited by the Rhomboid Crystal far surpasses human imagination; such an existence has no reason to deceive. If another civilization of similar level were to tell humanity to remember to go to a certain place and even tell them its location, humanity would likely immediately suspect a conspiracy.
"You said that Thirty Billion Years Ago, all the civilizations willing to embark on this voyage with you left. Were they all the advanced civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy?" At this point, Gan De, who had been silent all along, asked.
"Most civilizations below Level Six Civilization. All the Level Six Civilization have come with us," the Rhomboid Crystal said.
"So that's the Fermi Paradox." Upon hearing this answer, Gan De breathed a long sigh of relief. He had speculated about the gap in Cosmic Civilizations before, but he never expected it to be true.
The hypothesis of Civilization Window Period has been confirmed by Rhomboid Crystal.
If, as the Precursor have said, they took away the Level Six Civilization and almost all advanced civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy Thirty Billion Years Ago, then there must have been a Civilization Window Period.
Advanced civilizations have all vanished, leaving behind Low-level Civilization Milky Way Galaxy can only look on in despair at the vastness of the Milky Way. Of course, they might be able to develop into advanced civilizations during this Civilization Window Period, but it would be incredibly difficult.
It's not hard to tell from the Precursor's words that the Great Voyage Thirty Billion Years Ago was definitely not just a simple journey together. It was a major event for the entire Milky Way Galaxy. Those who followed the Precursor on the Great Voyage Road were either civilizations with aspirations and ideals, or civilizations with great potential.
What remains are probably some Fallen Civilization, which may have disappeared over the long span of three billion years.
In Earth Era, there was a formula for calculating the number of observable extraterrestrial civilizations that should exist in the Milky Way Galaxy. The calculation factors included the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, the proportion of stars with planets among all stars, the average number of Earth-like planets around stars, the probability of life evolving on Earth-like planets, the probability of evolving from primitive life to highly Sentient Life, the probability of highly Sentient Life emitting signals that could be observed by Human Civilization, and the proportion of the duration of technological civilization in the planet's life cycle.
Each term in the equation represents a progressively deeper meaning. The basic idea is to calculate the probability of the next event occurring given that the previous condition is met.
Of course, the equation also has two other factors to consider: the average rate at which stars form in the Milky Way Galaxy and the lifespan of technological civilizations.
This expression aligns well with the viewpoint of the mediocrity theory, which posits that Earth is not special but merely a typical planet, exhibiting the same laws and phenomena as other celestial bodies.
Judging from the current situation, there are many, many aliens. The reason they haven't visited Earth is that they have all gone on the Great Voyage, resulting in a large gap in civilization in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Humanity was born and grew precisely during this window of opportunity. Other civilizations, whether earlier or later, did not exhibit such a significant generational gap as that of the Precursor.
Of course, this is also because Human Civilization on Earth Era has only entered the Information Age for a few hundred years. On a cosmic scale, this time is far too short. Perhaps those civilizations that became advanced earlier did not discover humanity due to these various factors.
Naïve humans even cried out to the universe, "We are so lonely." Little did they know that this was a fleeting coincidence, and the destruction of the Solar System shattered all their dreams.