Lü Yongchang's words sent the atmosphere in the laboratory straight to freezing point.
"The... Cleaners Civilization?"
Beside him, Fang Xu swallowed hard, his pupils trembling slightly as he muttered breathlessly, "Wh-why would they come looking for us?"
Lü Yongchang said nothing, rapidly sorting through all the information he knew in his mind.
A few seconds later, he let out a long, weary breath.
"I understand now..."
Lü Yongchang's expression darkened, and his once-straight back slumped slightly.
He murmured in an utterly subdued voice, "That message wasn't sent to the Gardener Faction..."
"Wh-what?"
Hearing this, Fang Xu froze for a moment and instinctively asked, "What message?"
Seeing Lü Yongchang, their pillar of strength, looking so defeated, Fang Xu immediately grew anxious.
"Yongchang, is this really the time to talk about some message?!"
"Right now, we..."
Lü Yongchang braced a hand against the lab bench before him and interrupted Fang Xu in a heavy voice. "Do you remember [Hua]'s final distress message?"
Fang Xu paused briefly, then nodded. "Of course I remember..."
Before he could finish, Fang Xu's eyes flew wide open!
He seemed to have realized what Lü Yongchang meant!
"You mean..."
"That message was sent to the Cleaners Civilization?"
"That can't be right. Aren't they enemies?!"
Lü Yongchang slowly shook his head and corrected him softly. "It wasn't sent to the Cleaners Civilization."
"If I'm right, that incomplete message was a broadcast to the entire universe."
"At the very least, it was a broadcast to the advanced civilizations in the universe."
Before Fang Xu could ask, Lü Yongchang continued, "The type II or type III artificial intelligence [Hua] mentioned falls under dangerous technology."
"It wanted to nip that danger in the bud. That approach is understandable."
"Fortunately, Zero dealt with [Hua] in time, so its message wasn't transmitted in full."