"No rush, no rush."
Academician Lin smiled and waved a hand, asking casually, "What do you think of alien civilizations?"
The confusion in Lin Shuguang's eyes deepened.
Why had they suddenly veered onto alien civilizations?
Such abrupt shifts in topic put a considerable strain on Lin Shuguang's energy and ability to think.
"How do you think we should treat alien civilizations?"
Perhaps noticing Lin Shuguang's confusion, Academician Lin clarified his question.
"How should we treat alien civilizations..."
Lin Shuguang frowned slightly. After a moment's thought, he spat out a single word: "Fight!"
"Looking back over nearly a thousand years of history, we've sacrificed far too much to keep our civilization alive."
"There's an old saying: if you repay resentment with kindness, how will you repay kindness?"
"So when it comes to these alien civilizations, we should..."
"That only applies to some alien civilizations," Academician Lin interrupted him. "According to [Hua], the Dark Forest Law no longer applies as civilizations advance to higher levels."
"That's just [Hua]'s side of the story. We have no way of verifying what the universe is really like!" Lin Shuguang immediately grew agitated. "Academician Lin, don't tell me you've decided to coexist peacefully with alien civilizations, just like those people in Parliament!"
"That-that would make you a traitor to human civilization!"
Breathing heavily, Lin Shuguang glared at Academician Lin, his eyes tinged with red.
"Hear me out first."
Academician Lin did not get angry. Instead, he said calmly, "What would you think if I told you that a group of individuals from alien civilizations were already living in the Academy of Sciences' biology laboratory?"
"What?!" Lin Shuguang's expression changed dramatically, and he cried out, "H-how could Professor Lü allow something like that to happen?!"
"It was Professor Lü's order. As for why... they have considerable scientific