The Truth of History 123

N4 sat next to Li Aoz, her legs crossed, her high heels touching the floor, revealing her beautiful ankles. She rested her chin on her hand, a glint of light in her eyes.

"I'm curious, what exactly is your purpose in provoking major powers?"

"To go to space." Li Aoz didn't bother to hide it. "You'll find out soon enough."

"You can choose to cooperate; that's what Nethermark Heavy Industries does."

"So you've been developing for three hundred years and still haven't gone to space."

Li Aoz said mischievously:

"Because capital is profit-driven, sponsors will not allow you to do something thankless. Developing space requires 10,000 private companies to provide materials for various components, at least 200,000 workers, and the selection of the best astronauts from hundreds of millions of people across the country. Then, you send them into space full of Malefic Calamity, never to return—this has no commercial value."

N4 blinked her beautiful eyes and said, "I didn't realize you were sometimes smarter than I thought."

[220/12/21/23:09_Du Du Zexin: This woman is more difficult to deal with than I thought. She doesn't have a single electronic device on her body, even her terminal is Biological Chip.] Li Aoz glanced at the drone's flashing camera, shrugged. Du Zexin's dislike for [Biochemists] was too strong, perhaps due to the influence of their conflicting political paths.

"If I were you, I wouldn't make myself too smart, otherwise..."

"How about it?"

"Smart people always have flexible backgrounds and identities, rather than sticking to their own positions."

"An interesting statement. I can roughly guess that you've encountered a formidable foe, and you're in big trouble."

N4 glanced at the players:

"These are your astronauts? You're taking these little ones to space? I don't understand, what's the purpose of your mission?"

Li Aoz didn't hide anything. For someone with an intelligence level of N4, hiding it was pointless; it only piqued her curiosity, making her actively search for information and deduce many things, thus making things more complicated.

So he replied, "If you know Cresta, you should know what's in the universe."

"I see... You know about the truth about Malefic Calamity Sha?"

"I know everything from Entropy to the destruction of the Old Era."

Li Aoz timely issued a mission to the players called 'Witness the Past,' allowing everyone to witness his meeting with N4.

At the same time, he downloaded the footage he recorded in the Abandoned Mist from the system and used it to create Mouldy Crotch projection:

"I learned the truth about Azure Planet a long time ago. You should all come and listen. Some things need to be laid bare."

He pointed to the Abandoned Mist in the projected video:

"Look, this thing is called Abandoned Mist. It can recreate things from the past. It usually erupts underground and looks like an ocean, but it is actually just a sea of information. You can directly record this information with electronic devices. For example, this dolphin. If your equipment is good enough, you can directly analyze its genetic information and the memories in its brain at this moment."

"And do you know the origin of the Abandoned Mist?"

Li Aoz pointed to the Malefic Calamity in the sky:

"Like the Malefic Calamity, this is not a natural phenomenon, nor a virus, and it is even unlikely to be a disaster. Because their source is a being that can be considered a god."

"We can call Him—Entropy Lord."

"I'm awesome!"

The players were stunned; it was the first time they had ever entered such a high-energy main storyline. The two streamers had already opened their live streams to record this part of the story.

"God?" Du Zexin's consciousness returned to his Mobile Armor, and he asked via broadcast, "Does God really exist in this world?"

"Yes." The person who answered was N4. She put her hand on her knee and explained, "For humans, there are too many beings that can be called gods, but for the universe... gods are not unattainable beings."

"I can tell you definitively," Li Aoz explained, "Everything you've accepted—the [Mechanic], the [Martial Artist], the [Biochemist], and our best [Mutant]—these inheritances are all Path to Divinity in the universe."

"Cresta has such a record?" N4 glanced at Li Aoz, his eyes filled with doubt.

N4 was unaware of Li Aoz's "Echo" explanation, and Li Aoz had no intention of telling her, leaving her to continue guessing.

"--Yes."

Li Aoz blatantly lying. He was in the middle of a passionate speech, using his charisma to draw everyone's attention to his outstretched hand. "Cresta, also known as the 'White Tower.' They are an organization from the Old Era that specifically contacted extraterrestrial civilizations. Long ago, Cresta were told that there was a major threat on Azure Planet, and they had to prove themselves as soon as possible to enter interstellar space in order to enjoy the right to immigrate to the universe."

Accompanied by various relics and inscriptions from the Old Era shown in the video, Li Aoz continued to explain, "According to the principles of interstellar travel: the standard for classifying civilizations is that they must be able to leave their home planet on their own, otherwise they will be regarded as primitive animals."

—The phrase "leaving the home planet" actually refers to being able to carry out various activities within at least 1 light-year.

Civilizations are prohibited from directly contacting civilizations at the atomic energy level or higher.

Civilizations must not interfere with the progress of civilizations that have not yet left their home planet, nor may they use newly advanced civilizations as a battlefield for relocation.

For civilizations with potential or about to venture into space, some assistance can be provided, but control through colonization is prohibited. Excessive aid should also be avoided, lest it create psychological dependence.

"Yes, by interstellar standards, the people of Azure Planet are essentially no different from monkeys."

"But fortunately, a star system civilization called the Fiennes Federation saw the potential of Azure Planet, maintained contact with Azure Planet, and prepared to bring the Azure Planet People into the realm of civilization and further develop them as a subordinate civilization."

"The strength of Martial Artist, the magnetic energy of mechanics, the cellular energy of biochemists, the life force of healers, the energy of Plunderer, and the incredibly powerful Aoneng of us Mutant, as well as the unified standard for classifying strength—all of these came from extraterrestrial civilizations."

"The rise of the Red Arrow Empire was due to its acquisition of the knowledge left behind by the White Tower ruins. It can't really be called a rise; it can only be called a revival."

"This was originally a good thing. The Old Era was already thriving and had received help from Cosmic Civilization, which solved the problem of food and clothing, developed interstellar spaceships and Gravity Wave Antenna, and saved the energy crisis from the high-energy laser nuclear fusion technology. The journey to the universe was just around the corner."

"The first year of the Galactic Era, also known as the Era of Malefic Calamity, saw an overwhelming swarm of Malefic Calamity seal off the sky, blocking the path to the universe and ending the future of civilization. This marked the beginning of the Age of the Outland. The White Tower also became an institution that controlled energy and monopolized extraordinary knowledge—that is, the GTB."

"The environment of Azure Planet is not suitable for the survival of those stronger than the Gamma-rank. However, if the GTB is willing to open up that knowledge, the Gamma-rank will at least not have such a difficult time. They will have to rely on regular surgeries to maintain their health. With the help of that knowledge, the Azure Planet People can completely reach the Beta-rank —this can be achieved simply by popularizing university education."

Li Aoz's speech shocked everyone, especially Du Zexin.

"No wonder I felt that the Beta-rank ... wasn't that difficult to advance to." Du Zexin recalled, "The Gamma-rank may require strength, but it seems that as long as you obtain the official knowledge, you can basically advance to the Beta-rank."

As a newly promoted Beta-rank, he felt this deeply.

"Because you have access to the correct path to extraordinary knowledge, which is controlled by the authorities. Without education, there are no strong individuals; Grand is the best example. Grand has less than 30 million people and only 6 native Beta-rank, while Frostplate, with a population of 600 million, has a full 700,000 Beta-rank, which are distributed across the military, political, and scientific research fields, and that's still considered too many."

Li Aoz said:

"Imagine this: if we include Outland People, there could be 2.6 to 3 billion Beta-rank on Azure Planet. With the abilities of these trashy and incompetent scoundrels, can the Four Nations still rule them? What you need is an alliance, an absolute community. The form of a nation is insufficient to govern such a powerful human race."

"3 billion Beta-rank... that will bring about a qualitative change in productivity."

N4's perspective was more practical. "If the GTB doesn't control that knowledge, humanity will probably be engulfed in a large-scale war within a few decades. The scale of such a battle would be enough to completely destroy civilizations on the surface."

"Stop making baseless accusations; you don't even deserve to be called civilized."

Li Aoz shrugged:

"The Fiennes Federation is very happy to see Azure Planet develop. The White Tower explained the reason: from the perspective of the star system, Azure Planet is very suitable as a springboard for advancement, helping the Fiennes Federation to fight its mortal enemy - the Maxwell Syndicate, which is a war-mongering star system. For this strategy, the Fiennes Federation is even willing to help the Azure Planet People reach the Gamma-rank of the entire population."

In reality, Li Aoz didn't tell these people that the Gamma-rank is the norm in the universe. The distinction between the Beta-rank and Alpha Rank was only made to accommodate lower-level civilizations.

Those who join Narrative-level civilizations are often born at the Delta or Zeta-class or higher. Their civilization's productivity is terrifying. Even if they wipe out the Azure Planet People, it wouldn't be as much as the resources they would need to organize a single school basketball game.

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of aliens, the Azure Planet is nothing more than a chimpanzee, and can only be aided by animal protection organizations.

Therefore, if the actions of the Fiennes Federation were not driven by any ulterior motive and were so kind to Azure Planet, it would appear to outside civilizations as the behavior of Holy Mother.

"I knew the aliens wouldn't offer aid for nothing... So your goal is to Fiennes Federation and liberate Azure Planet from Entropy?"

Du Zexin turned the turret around, as if shaking his head.

"It's not that I'm unhappy, I understand that idea, but this might send the Azure Planet People to the front lines of the war... We've already lost enough people in the war."

"No."

Li Aoz said:

"Besides Entropy, Azure Planet also faces the threat of Society—a Living Civilization, which can be described as a monster. It's terrifying, but Society was attracted by Entropy. If we deal with Entropy, they will leave. And there are only two ways to deal with Entropy."

Tell me about it.

"First, I'll go to another planet and apply for immigration to move all our people there. Then, I'll use planet-destroying weapons to destroy Azure Planet. The still-infant Entropy will be wiped out immediately. It'll be a permanent solution."

This is what Li Aoz and the players did in their past lives. "Sounds reliable, but what's the price?" N4 asked.

"The cost is considerable. First, the expenses are high, but I will find a way. Second, a civilization without a home planet can only live on land given by others. As a wandering civilization, not only is its status very low, but it is also not entitled to enjoy basic interstellar communication and transportation routes. It's like being stateless; even if someone engages in slave trade with the Azure Planet People, no one will care."

"There is an even more fatal problem—not everyone can go to space. Twenty percent of them will die directly during the space migration process, and thirty percent will die from illnesses caused by not adapting to their new home. Add to that conflict and workplace injuries—in the end, perhaps only twenty-five percent of them will be able to develop a stable civilization."

"And the second one?"

"The second one is a bit troublesome," Li Aoz said. "A cosmic-level civilization could find the larva of Entropy and, incidentally, divert society's attention by throwing the larva into a black hole, essentially sealing it. Once the black hole evaporates, Entropy will grow again, and then the process can be repeated."

"The advantage is that the mother planet of Azure Planet is preserved, Azure Planet's geopolitical value will continue, and it can officially become a part of Interstellar Civilization. Moreover, too many people will die because of space colonization."

"What's the price?" Du Zexin asked curiously. "It's a bit of appeasement, but it sounds acceptable."

"The price is that you may have to wait for me for a while."

"Approximately how long?"

"Oh, it wasn't that long."

"At most, a hundred years," said Li Aoz.