Chapter 361: Chapter 360 Leaving Human Traces

Zhang Yuan asked again, “Not even the most basic templates for DNA and RNA?”

“We haven’t found any yet, possibly because we haven’t searched enough locations… It’s also possible they really haven’t evolved.”

“If we can’t find it, let it be.” Zhang Yuan pondered for a while and shook his head, “The warehouse is already packed full. We are about to set off and there’s no need to keep delaying here for this…”

Truth be told, if this planet were to give birth to intelligent life in a few hundred million or even a billion years, it would definitely not be fortunate.

The larger the mass of a star, the shorter its lifespan. This Blue Dwarf Star was not like the Sun that could last 10 billion years; its lifespan was only a little over a billion years before it would undergo a Supernova explosion, turning into a real neutron star!

If high-level life did develop here, only to suddenly discover their star was about to be destroyed, unable to escape in time, it would undoubtedly be a colossal tragedy.

Therefore, to prevent such a tragedy from happening… Humans, with their rather wicked sense of humor, placed a safe on this planet.

This safe was made of special composite ceramic materials, a rectangular object about the size of a refrigerator.

The contents of the safe were also exceptionally simple: a few thick metal plates inscribed with the Gaia Civilization’s language, containing some scientific knowledge, including Maxwell’s equations, phenomena of electromagnetic induction, and other electricity-related information, as well as the mass-energy equation and method for calculating the lifespan of stars.

Theoretically, with some luck, this artifact could be preserved for hundreds of millions of years without any issues.

“Yes, this planet currently has no oxygen. If intelligent life really emerges in the future, they’ll most likely get stuck in the Electric Era due to a lack of metal materials.”

“If they discover this safe and decipher the text, they will effortlessly overcome this difficulty.”

As for the mass-energy equation and the lifespan of stars that followed, it was just a reminder of how many years their entire civilization could still exist… If they indeed developed slowly and were destroyed by a star explosion, humans wouldn’t be the ones to blame.

“You guys really have a twisted sense of humor!” Zhang Yuan laughed after hearing Li Cheng’s description, but he still found it quite intriguing at heart.

Yes, humans simply can’t foresee what will happen a billion years from now.

Whether this safe can last for a billion years, or whether it will most likely be buried underground by geological movements, undiscovered by any life form, or whether this place won’t give birth to any life at all. These are all possibilities.

And these outcomes, people simply don’t care about!

People are just amusing themselves by enjoying the entire process and leaving a mark here, showing that they have been to this planet, nothing more. Many are genuinely supportive of such an act and find it a great topic of conversation..

“Human civilization was here…”

Thus, with all preparations complete, Kunlun Mountain once again set off, leaving the planet behind.

The glow of the ion engines seemed very dim at a slight distance, and soon, the entire fleet faded into the pitch-black starry sky.

Next destination: Riley Star!

Estimated travel time, 44 years.

…

According to the information from the Badit people, Riley Star is a low-oxygen planet with an atmospheric oxygen content of about 7.2%, where life primarily relies on aerobic respiration.

Because of the low oxygen content, it is unable to support widespread combustion. Even though the Riley Civilization is ancient, they encountered the same predicament as the Gleize Civilization; they got stuck in the Electric Era, unable to develop their own technology, still living in a rather primitive state.

Over the span of tens of thousands of years, a few interstellar civilizations had passed by this location, but none had the special leisure or finesse to rescue this ancient and traditional religious civilization.

The saddest thing in the world is not one’s own weakness, but the indifference of others. Such indifference is as if no one cared about the living conditions of the monkeys in the forest.

When needed, they would capture some population from the Riley Star for research, and when not needed, they would cast them aside. What difference does this make from the lab rats?

In the number 13 Virtual World…

“What you’re referring to are those religious civilizations caught in a cycle of diminishing returns… It’s not that I look down on them, but they’re mostly like mud that won’t stick to the wall. Such civilizations become very dull once you’ve seen more of the universe; they bear no reference value.”

Prince Bart sneered disdainfully, “As you know, our commercial fleet is small, and there’s no need to waste time on such rubbish civilizations. These inexplicable civilizations are everywhere in the universe, believing in their gods… Gods, oh gods, save us who are in dire straits.”

“Look, that’s their common worldview. Instead of trying hard, they believe in some inexplicable thing.”

“I even feel that only those civilizations that have the ability to survive a meteorite attack can really be called civilizations. Otherwise, they’re just ordinary animals, nothing special,” said Prince Bart, full of a sense of superiority.

…without the slightest awareness of being a captive.

“Then, Your Highness, I have one small question.”

“Please ask.”

The Badit people, after their years of hard work, had earned a small status and better living conditions.

Of course, they still did not know that they were living in Virtual Space…

Diplomat Wang Junpeng asked, “What about art? If it’s an ancient religious civilization, it must give rise to brilliant art. Aren’t the art pieces of these ancient civilizations valuable?”

According to human speculation, the Gleize Civilization was targeted by interstellar merchants because its art was very valuable.

“No, no, no, you are mistaken. This is a matter of taste,” Prince Bart extended one of his long tentacles from the side of his head, instinctively wanting to exchange reproductive cells with Wang Junpeng, then suddenly snapped back to awareness and withdrew.

“Religious art? It’s worthless. Mr. Wang, would you believe in the native gods of those religious civilizations?”

Wang Junpeng said, “Of course not. I believe in Science, and in fact, most of our civilization does as well. Of course, there are a few religious believers, but all are pantheists without any fanatics. Our civilization also gave birth to various religions… but I don’t think religion is useless.”

“So, if even beliefs are completely different, why would you think that such art pieces would be valuable among interstellar civilizations? Merely because it’s a crystallization of civilization? That’s far from enough! Of course, if you like, you can exchange some, but for most interstellar civilizations, they wouldn’t like these things too much.”

“…Art must resonate truly with others. The powerful civilizations of this universe are still primarily scientific in their worldview.”

“Only art that tries to describe Nature can be called art! As for the fanatical religions of religious civilizations, to us, they are completely ludicrous and incomprehensible, and therefore… of course they can’t be valuable!”

Prince Bart spoke at length, embarking on his lengthy discourse. Only at times like these could he find his sense of superiority.

Including what constitutes interstellar etiquette, what is conventionally considered elegance, and all sorts of hodgepodge knowledge, some of which he was merely guessing.

But even so, it was quite meaningful for humans.

Humans had already decoded part of the Badit people’s memories, but it was still nourishing to listen again, for many of the scattered memories were illogical fragments; if pieced together using human algorithms, there might be plenty of fallacies.

But what is asked and answered feels much more coherent from a logical perspective.