Earth's Technology Tree Has Already Been Led Astray

When Wang Lei saw Du Kao so agitated, he sneered and shook his head, then continued unhurriedly.

"Really? Then can you explain why Deno deliberately led Earth's technology tree astray?"

Du Kao did not react at first, then flew into a rage. His temper had improved considerably over the past few decades, but that did not mean he would tolerate slander. He slammed the table and stood up. "What? You're saying we led Earth's technology tree astray? Stop talking nonsense. Do you know what the highest technology in the universe is? We've already shared every God-Making technology we know with the government. We even established laboratories for genetic research."

Wang Lei did not stand, but he showed no courtesy in the face of Du Kao's glare and glared right back. Then he said righteously, "The problem is precisely genetic technology. Tell me, how many stages must a civilization in the Known Universe advance through before becoming a God-Making Civilization?"

Du Kao instantly realized through political instinct that there was a trap in Wang Lei's words, but he did not yet know where it lay, so he did not answer directly.

Seeing that Du Kao remained silent, Wang Lei continued with the civilization classifications of the Super God Universe. "Hmph, won't say anything? Then I will. The advanced civilizations of the Known Universe broadly divide all intelligent civilizations into five tiers: Primitive Civilization, Pre-Nuclear Civilization, Spacefaring Civilization, God-Making Civilization, and Super God Civilization."

After Wang Lei named the five civilization tiers, Du Kao sat back down, seemingly listening carefully to his analysis. Everyone else, including Huang Lao, had taken out paper and pens to make notes.

Wang Lei indicated that apparently Du Kao's people had not even passed on such basic information, so he could only continue explaining.

"A Primitive Civilization needs no further explanation. It is a civilization that has yet to understand the concept of planets and has not even widely applied conventional weapons."

"A Pre-Nuclear Civilization is Earth's current stage, though Earth has already reached its final stage. It has discovered nuclear energy and can produce primitive nuclear weapons."

"Spacefaring Civilizations are divided into Near-Earth Spacefaring Level and Starfield Spacefaring Level. A Near-Earth Spacefaring Civilization can effectively utilize nuclear energy and build spacecraft to roam its own star system. A Starfield Spacefaring Civilization has developed an Antimatter Engine or Warp Engine and can travel across starfields. The Taotie are at the Starfield Spacefaring Level. Without the massive wormhole near Pluto, they normally could not have reached the Solar System."

"A God-Making Civilization is one where people discovered that with shipborne space travel, speed alone and fragile lifeforms could never survive a journey from one star system to another. That was why genetic technology and the God-Making Project began. Of course, that was merely the original purpose of creating gods. By now, every God-Making Civilization had long tossed that purpose into some unknown trash bin. Gods had become a collective term for the top combat strength of each civilization."

"As for the final Super God Civilization, both Angels and Styx have actually reached that standard. Blazing Sun and Demon have fallen behind in that regard. But Angels have explicitly forbidden the entry ticket to becoming a Super God Civilization: Void, which is one of Galaxy Power's abilities. Honestly, the legacy left behind by Super God Academy was incredibly rich. It not only propped up Deno, but even after Deno's destruction, the three major God-Making Projects remained at the top level of the Known Universe. No wonder all the major civilizations coveted Earth's Super Gene warriors."

"Oh, right. Death God Karl also defined the next-generation civilization beyond Super God Civilization and named it Void Civilization. But he only had a partial understanding himself, so the civilizations of the Known Universe never recognized it."

Wang Lei's mouth was dry from all that talking, yet no one had even offered him water. He could only exchange a bottle of Linyuan Ice Spring from the system to quench his thirst.

Huang Lao rubbed his temples, seemingly unable to digest so much information at once, but he still asked, "Xiao Wang, the civilization rankings you provided are indeed more detailed than what Old Du and his people gave us. But doesn't that seem to prove that they weren't hiding anything?"

Wang Lei shook his head and continued staring fixedly at Du Kao.

"The logic is very simple. Earth is in the final stage of a Pre-Nuclear Civilization, while Deno's God-Making Project was in the final stage of a God-Making Civilization, perhaps even with one foot in a Super God Civilization. There are nearly two entire civilization tiers between them. Giving Earth genetic technology directly is no different from asking an elementary school student who has just learned addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to research an Antimatter Engine. Even if Earth poured all global resources into it, it could only establish a few basic genetic research institutes, the kind with no development capability. Every process could only copy Deno Civilization by rote, and even that would be more like drawing a tiger by copying a cat. After all, Deno itself no longer had the ability to create new God-Making genes."

Du Kao was instantly speechless. He wanted to say that was not what he had intended. The truth was that there was really nothing around Earth, and Deno Civilization no longer had the ability to gather resources across star systems. Even the current Super Soldier Company had only been activated through aid from Blazing Sun Civilization. They even needed Blazing Sun to supply darksteel.

Moreover, Du Kao had grown accustomed to wars between Super God Civilizations. So when threats arrived, the first thing he thought of was Super Soldiers. He completely ignored the possibility of strengthening Earth's foundations to resist invasion. In his view, no matter how hard a Pre-Nuclear Civilization like Earth tried, it could never defeat the Taotie Civilization, which had nearly reached the end of the Spacefaring Civilization stage, by relying on itself alone. Only Super Soldiers offered hope of breaking the deadlock.

It could not be said that Du Kao's judgment was wrong. If Earth had not possessed these Super Soldiers, then under the circumstances of the original story, Earth truly would have had no hope of turning things around. But making Earth stubbornly pursue genetic technology from the start was simply leading it astray.

At that moment, Lianfeng, who had just hurried out, had completed the preliminary testing of the Energy Battery and returned with the data.

However, the moment she entered the office, she found Du Kao's face dark and livid, looking as though he wanted to say something but could not get the words out. Jess had his head lowered, desperately trying to make himself invisible.

Huang Lao and his assistants were studying Du Kao with scrutinizing eyes, seemingly waiting for an explanation.

As for Wang Lei, he was staring at Du Kao with a grave expression. His face plainly said, "Let's see how you explain this."

Lianfeng's entrance temporarily rescued Du Kao and broke the awkwardness in the meeting room.

Seeing Du Kao at a loss for words, Huang Lao had already developed some misgivings about Deno Civilization, but he still helped his old friend out of the situation.

"Lianfeng, what were the results of the battery analysis?"

Lianfeng did not know what had happened while she was away, so she could only report according to her duties.

"The battery Wang Lei provided uses an unknown energy compression method that can directly compress and store energy itself. It is somewhat like compressing carbon dioxide into dry ice. They directly compressed an unknown form of energy into a liquid. Judging from its energy output efficiency, with only minor compatibility adjustments, this battery could sustain a First Generation Super Soldier at full operational capacity for over five hours. Its storage efficiency already surpasses all our energy devices."

Huang Lao nodded and continued asking, "Then if converted into the electrical energy we use daily, roughly how much would that be?"

"About the amount generated by the Three Gorges Power Generating Units operating at full power for half a month. But in practice, we simply cannot compress energy storage equipment to such a small size."

Huang Lao immediately looked troubled. Clearly, he wanted to buy equipment from Wang Lei. The equipment Wang Lei had worn when he first appeared had actually been quite good. But Wang Lei obviously could not haul energy storage equipment as tall as mountains around for trade.

Wang Lei had never expected the Hua Xia government to provide him with help right away. If he wanted Hua Xia to supply him with energy, they would at least need to unlock Controlled Nuclear Fusion first. So he said directly.

"Forget it. Deno Civilization does not have much legacy left either. Don't waste your brains on batteries. Now then, General Du Kao, do you have anything to refute about what I just said?"

Du Kao had no idea how to refute him. He was not a scientist. Fortunately, Jess briefly explained what had happened to Lianfeng, and she indicated that as a technology researcher, she had something to say.

Naturally, Wang Lei would not stop Lianfeng from speaking. After receiving Huang Lao's permission, she said.

"Wang Lei, I think your judgment is flawed. In the long term, having Earth research genetic technology beyond its level is indeed unwise. But the Taotie are already at our doorstep. Only Super Genes can break the deadlock. We have no choice. Even if the government cannot possibly fully understand Super Genes right now, even if it cannot even perform repairs and modifications, it must still understand what they are and how to provide logistical support. Otherwise, Super Soldiers alone cannot win this war."

Wang Lei nodded. Du Kao was not a professional when it came to science, but Lianfeng was far more qualified. She would not be so easily cornered by his questions. So he said.

"So you had the government completely abandon technological advancement for its military and accompany you in researching genes? Knowing how to provide supplies should not require so much manpower, should it? In principle, you are not even the ones providing supplies right now. According to the records of Deno No. 3, Earth's only achievement in genetic technology is that High-Energy Compressed Meat. Its sole use is preventing the Super Soldiers of the Super Soldier Company from starving to death when they lack sufficient energy replenishment."

Wang Lei was not making that up. The reason the Super Soldier Company could fight across the country after Demon destroyed the Juxia was largely because its energy supply agreement with Leina had not been interrupted. Even when Leina was captured by the Taotie for a time and her Gene Engine shut down in a self-protective state, she had not left Earth's vicinity. Thus, the members of the Super Soldier Company did not need to worry about energy replenishment.

Just look at Ge Xiaolun's miserable state in Fereze, when his energy was exhausted and even his Invincible Body could not activate. If Yan had not used her last remaining energy to activate Ge Xiaolun's Wings of Time and Space and send him back to Earth, he might truly have fallen in Fereze.

That situation only changed later when Zhi Xin arrived and used Divine Code to help Ge Xiaolun establish a Stellar Energy Supply Channel, freeing him from dependence on Blazing Sun.

Under those circumstances, Lianfeng could not refute the fact that Earth's current genetic research was truly of little help to Super Soldiers. Seeing this, Wang Lei continued.

"So you could clearly walk on two legs. With Deno Civilization's basic archives, you could help Earth avoid many technological detours. Have one group study genetic technology that Earth could not figure out even after hundreds of years, then have everyone else urgently climb the basic technology tree. Earth is not that far from becoming a Near-Earth Spacefaring Level civilization. The fact that you secretly built a spacecraft already proves that. Though it was still built using resources skimmed from Blazing Sun. You completely ignored Earth's own potential. Is this the arrogance of an advanced civilization?"

Lianfeng's expression froze. Mount Mangdang was among the most classified secrets, so secret that even Deno No. 3 contained no records of it. How did Wang Lei know? Wang Lei kindly answered her question as well.

"Stop looking so suspicious. I work with quantum technology, namely electronic information. Even Angels and Styx might not be able to outdo me in that field. Do you know Laplace's Demon? In theory, once many harsh conditions are met, I can become an inferior version of that Laplace's Demon. Of course, I'm still far from that level. But it is enough to detect Deno's little secret moves."

"Think about it carefully. If Earth could now meet the minimum standard of a Spacefaring Civilization, then its light weapons would no longer be unable to even penetrate Taotie armor. How much pressure would that take off the Super Soldier Company? So Deno must have harbored ill intentions, wanting to use war to reduce the population of Hua Xia and its military."

The moment Du Kao heard that, he panicked. But this time, he did not slam the table, because he had no confidence left. Instead, he sighed and said, "Wang Lei, I admit that my judgment was mistaken. I will voluntarily submit a self-criticism to my superiors and take off this uniform to await judgment from a military court. But the Super Soldier Company is Earth's hope. I hope you can take my place and train them from now on."

Huang Lao had actually understood by then why Wang Lei said the De Nuo Remnants had led Earth's technology tree astray. In truth, Super Soldiers were simply too tempting. Once thoroughly understood, they could allow a civilization to leap directly into the top ranks of the universe. No civilization could resist that temptation. So this was not something one side could be blamed for alone; one was willing to give, and the other was willing to accept. Therefore, he said nothing.

Wang Lei thought Du Kao had played this retreat-to-advance move beautifully. But it was an open conspiracy. If he accepted the Super Soldier Company, he would most likely have to support them as well. That bunch of useless trash... he might as well go to the Star Rail World and look for a super energy source. Then he could exchange it for a mechanical army and steamroll the Taotie. So he refused directly. "Don't be ridiculous, Du Kao. You want me to clean up the Super Soldier Company's mess for you? Dream on. Angels, Demon, and Blazing Sun are all eyeing the Super Soldier Company's Super Soldiers greedily, but I'm not. Oh, no, Qi Lin and Mengmeng are exceptions. There is room for discussion if you want me to protect those two. The others... I couldn't care less. Your Black Great Wall Project has been underway for so long. Just go fleece Blazing Sun again later."

Huang Lao also spoke up to comfort Du Kao, because he knew Earth still needed Super Soldiers. But as Wang Lei had said, they could not put all their hopes on Super Soldiers. Strengthening themselves was the real path. How had they forgotten the wisdom of their ancestors?

Wang Lei knew it was impossible to bring down Du Kao with a single meeting. In any case, Du Kao would be written out later, and according to the subsequent plot, he really would be written out. And if Wang Lei did not intervene, Rose would still defect to Morgana just like in the original story. That would be when he truly made his move. For now, he should first leave a good impression on the Hua Xia government.

So Wang Lei exchanged an electronic document from the system, placed it on a USB drive, took it out, and handed it to Huang Lao.

"Huang Lao, while I cannot help the government much right now, and honestly, the government cannot give me much help either, consider this document a gesture of goodwill. It contains the formula and manufacturing process for a Room-Temperature Superconducting Material. I specifically chose one whose materials can all be easily gathered on Earth and which is very easy to produce. An ordinary university laboratory can make it. However, the material itself is not very strong, so it is something nobody wants in the universe. Still, it is enough for Hua Xia to quickly unlock Controlled Nuclear Fusion and Electromagnetic Weapons. It can even be used for Near-Earth spacecraft."