Experiment

However, the Epoch Clan soon discovered the unreliability of this experiment.

Even with their interference, building a civilization from scratch wouldn't be too difficult for the Epoch Clan. However, developing it to the point where it could serve as an adversary would be extremely difficult.

First, there's the issue of technology. Even if the Epoch Clan disregarded costs and sacrifices, they couldn't force this nascent civilization to reach a level of technology close to theirs in a short period.

Because those scientific theories require a large number of highly skilled people to digest them, but cultivating such a population takes time. After digesting the theories, a mature and supporting industrial system is also needed to transform these scientific theories into various physical products. But even with an industrial system, this transformation still requires raw materials.

At that time, the Epoch Clan already possessed territories spanning over fifty star systems, with resources beyond imagination. Given similar levels of technology, a worthy opponent for the Epoch Clan would need at least twenty star systems. Otherwise, a simple exchange of casualties would easily wear down the opponent.

Would the Epoch Clan grant a newborn civilization twenty star systems' worth of territory? That's definitely impossible.

Therefore, even if a civilization that cannot instill a sense of crisis in the Epoch Clan is cultivated, it will not be able to become that external stimulus.

Moreover, the philosophers of the Epoch Clan discovered that this experimental subject itself was full of paradoxes. When a civilization discovers that another race is approaching a threat to its status or even its life, unless the race is extremely reckless, the normal course of action is to nip it in the bud.

Therefore, the Epoch Clan philosophers asserted that even if the experiment continued indefinitely, the immense sense of threat would cause the Epoch Clan to halt it when it was close to success.

This experiment will be meaningless.

The Epoch Clan, whose experiment had failed at the very beginning, did not give up after their frustration and reflection. They came up with another idea: since cultivating opponents didn't work, they would cultivate "their own people."

This definition of "one of our own" is closer to that of an assistant. The Epoch Clan proposed that at some point in the future, Epoch Clan thinking might become homogenized again, and their civilization might encounter constraints. Wouldn't it be better to create some non- Epoch Clan to break this deadlock?

Because of their different structures, each species observes the world differently. For example, the Rat-folk's dual-color perspective makes it impossible to imagine the colorful world presented in the Mantis Shrimp's 24-color eyes.

Different people perceive the world differently, leading to different understandings. And when these different perceptions collide, can they spark even more intense and brilliant insights?

Following this line of thought, the new experiment quickly began.

The Epoch Clan artificially cultivated two highly intelligent races, and then raised their offspring according to the model of the Epoch Clan offspring, teaching them various kinds of knowledge level by level.

As expected, due to differences in perception, they raised many questions about the Epoch Clan's knowledge. For example, what the Epoch Clan saw as red might be blue or purple in the eyes of another race. But because they had learned Epoch Clan knowledge, they perceived what they saw as blue as red. However, this did not change the fact that they saw things differently.

However, these basic differences did not have much impact, but as more and more knowledge was acquired, deeper differences in understanding eventually led to a clash.

The results were encouraging. This collision provided the Epoch Clan with novel ideas and different perspectives, which can help them break through their constraints.

But not long after, the problem arose again.

Because these races are heavily influenced by the Epoch Clan, their upbringing is essentially the same as that of the Epoch Clan. This results in them remaining highly homogeneous with the Epoch Clan and unable to offer Epoch Clan much inspiration.

Simply put, they lack their own culture, and their understanding is largely fixed by the Epoch Clan. For example, regarding the issue of color, they believe that the blue they see is the same as the red in the Epoch Clan's understanding, but in fact, the color they perceive is completely different in the Epoch Clan's knowledge.

This rigidity in perception meant that while there were some clashes of ideas, they weren't intense enough, and the help to the Epoch Clan wasn't as significant as expected.

If a problem arises, then solve it. Since they don't have their own culture and aren't a purely natural civilization, then we should correct that.

Heaven seemed to favor the Epoch Clan, and soon, during their routine exploration, Epoch Clan discovered a Life Star. A highly intelligent race had already emerged on it and had even developed the ability to smelt metals.

The Epoch Clan was overjoyed and didn't interfere much, only providing some simple guidance. Once their civilization had developed to a certain level, the Epoch Clan secretly abducted several of their top researchers...

Although these researchers, due to the limitations of their own civilization, had far less knowledge than the Epoch Clan, individuals who could stand out within a civilization were by no means ordinary.

Upon arriving at the Epoch Clan, they absorbed new knowledge with great enthusiasm and raised numerous questions, providing the Epoch Clan with even greater inspiration and sparking even more intense intellectual exchanges.

The Epoch Clan was thrilled by the experiment's renewed success, but they soon discovered a new problem...

That is, individuals raised in a natural civilization have a very high sense of racial identity. Although some individuals of the Epoch Clan chose to submit to the abduction method, many others regarded the outsiders as a scourge and would rather die than submit.

This flaw is unacceptable to the Epoch Clan.

Therefore, in the days that followed, the Epoch Clan conducted a large number of related experiments, eventually developing into a model similar to that of today.

If Epoch Clan exploration team discovers a new Life Star that has already spawned a potentially thriving race, they will mark it and place the star system under protection. They will also bury a small warship on the planet or its moon, a practice commonly known as establishing good karma.

Although the Epoch Clan's technology was advanced, their creations still could not withstand the ravages of time. Therefore, this time point was usually chosen to be buried between the time the tribe entered the Stone Age and the Metallurgical Age.

Once the race continues to develop and discovers this "good fortune," the Epoch Clan will receive the news and begin to pay close attention to the race.

This warship is both a "good deed" and a "test paper." By deducing its speed, the Epoch Clan can obtain data related to their race.

In this regard, the Epoch Clan has a mature scoring system.

For example, the Riken Race has a long lifespan, efficient organization, a large number of highly skilled researchers, and a fast reverse engineering speed. In the Epoch Clan's scoring system, they are good enough to be rated as excellent. This process usually takes about a hundred years because it requires a long period of observation.

After the scoring is completed, the Epoch Clan will arrive, stating that the warship crashed here many years ago, and will retrieve the warship while demonstrating their military power. After intimidating the native civilization, they will invite that civilization to visit the Epoch Clan.

The more advanced Epoch Clan would definitely open the eyes of these "country bumpkins," at which point the Epoch Clan would offer to help the native civilization.

Of course, this is not free.

This native civilization needs to send its best researchers to work for the Epoch Clan. Although the knowledge learned in the Epoch Clan is not allowed to be leaked, these researchers can earn points through various means and use these points to exchange for related theoretical knowledge or physical blueprints.

With transparent pricing and fair treatment for all, the potential of these researchers from other ethnic groups was fully unleashed, while also minimizing the creation of negative emotions.

Of course, the Epoch Clan also has a comprehensive system in place to protect its own interests in terms of preventing leaks.

A gentle approach yields greater benefits than coercion—a conclusion reached by the Epoch Clan after countless rounds of experimentation. However, to prevent them from becoming a threat, each native race is confined to its own Mother Planet. If they reveal ambitions beyond their capabilities, the Epoch Clan army will descend.

This order, established by the Epoch Clan, had been maintained in this region for tens of thousands of years, until one event occurred that changed everything.