Tao Yuda's words echoed through the command center.
Lü Yongchang frowned and, after a moment's thought, spoke.
"You mean..."
"They're just a level one or level two civilization, like us?"
"Correct. We can't rule out that possibility," Tao Yuda said gravely, nodding.
"No, that doesn't add up."
He Bilin's voice rose from beside him in objection. "Academician Tao, according to your reasoning, what does the second sentence mean?"
"Why would they call us little ones?"
"Doesn't that contradict the previous sentence?"
The corners of Tao Yuda's mouth lifted slightly. "In my view, that was a deliberate smokescreen."
"Its purpose was to confuse our judgment."
"But how can you be sure the first sentence wasn't the smokescreen?"
He Bilin countered without the slightest hesitation.
Tao Yuda's expression abruptly froze.
That was indeed a problem.
At the head of the room, Lü Yongchang sighed softly and waved a hand helplessly, cutting off their debate.
So this was the chain of suspicion...
Just two short sentences could give rise to an endless string of questions.
"All right. For now, I suggest we treat them as a civilization whose strength doesn't exceed ours by much."
"And for some reason, their military strength must have been greatly diminished."
"In other words, a crippled level three or level four civilization."
Lü Yongchang's conclusion immediately drew everyone's attention.
Facing their puzzled looks, he began to explain quietly.
"You all understood Tao Yuda's and He Bilin's arguments."
"There's a major contradiction between those two forms of address."
"From them, we can see how cautious this civilization is."
"On the other hand..."
"Their second sentence shows that they immediately detected our attempt to attack Ross 154."
"Yet we still haven't detected any trace of their civilization."
"The Interstellar Probe near Ross 154 hasn't detected anything unusual either."
"Based on