"It's just..."
"Even now, we still can't determine why it acted that way from what it said, nor can we assess whether its words were true."
Lü Yongchang sighed softly. "As far as we can tell, there are no holes in its statements."
Then he shrugged.
"Still, it's not that big a problem."
"After all, even a gravely wounded Level Seven Civilization is beyond our ability to challenge."
At those words, Fang Xu and the others gave bitter smiles.
Harsh as they were, his words were undeniably true.
For now, Human Civilization could only live trembling in its shadow, praying that it would show them mercy.
Time ticked steadily by.
An hour, a day, a week...
The 1,420-megahertz signal seemed to have vanished, never appearing in Human Civilization's world again.
It was as though... the Level Seven Civilization within Ross 154 had quietly left.
Until a month later.
Lü Yongchang sat in his office aboard the [Earth], frowning at the holographic projection before him.
The projection displayed an image of Ross 154 transmitted by the Interstellar Probe.
Watching the dark red light emitted by the red dwarf, Lü Yongchang sighed softly.
"I have no idea what this Level Seven Civilization is trying to do..."
"Our development has been stalled for an entire month," he muttered to himself.
Indeed, ever since the Two-Dimensional Lifeform [Hua] had stopped speaking, Human Civilization had spent an entire month living under its shadow.
They could neither leave nor stay.
"Exactly."
Fang Xu's voice came from across the desk. "Who knows what this Two-Dimensional Lifeform's sense of time is like?"
"If the five billion years it mentioned is true, a moment of distraction for it could last tens of thousands of years."
"If that's really the case... Human Civilization will eventually waste away here."
Lü