“Perhaps having no way forward is the greatest blow a civilization can suffer.” Xiao Yu thought silently. “To be confined within such a tiny galaxy really is a terrifying thing…”
Xiao Yu had already roughly reconstructed the entire course of events. In the gravitational battle caused by the collision of two galaxies, this open cluster had been thrown out of the galaxy and traveled through the lonely universe for billions of years, until even the nearest galaxy was millions of light years away. Yet at just such a ti, a civilization was born within this galaxy.
This galaxy was too small. It had few stars and few planets. Under such circumstances, intelligent life still erged from it. For that civilization, it was impossible to say whether this was fortunate or unfortunate.
This was a very tragic civilization. Xiao Yu knew that they had never seen what a sky full of stars looked like. In their sky, there had only been those sparse few thousand stars, and because of angle, brightness, and other factors, the number of stars visible without observational instrunts absolutely could not have exceeded one thousand.
Under such circumstances, this civilization developed silently. Relying only on the strength of its own civilization, with no contact whatsoever with any other civilization, it developed all the way to the level of a Level 5 Civilization. After becoming a Level 5 Civilization, because of the restrictions imposed on them, this civilization’s technological developnt entered stagnation. This was because, for them, everything that could be observed had already been observed, while so deeper mysteries simply could not be studied at all because this galaxy was too small.
This was an awkward and despairing situation. Everything that could be known had already been known, while everything that could not be known would forever remain beyond hope of knowing. They were unlike other civilizations, such as Xiao Yu, who could keep slowly moving forward. Their civilization had developed to this point, and then the road ahead had already been locked shut.
So this civilization despaired. This civilization directed its energy elsewhere, into things like war, conspiracy, division and reunification, and into even more debauched and drunken lives. If not to erupt in silence, then to perish in silence. In the end, this civilization erupted. They chose a road they knew to be a dead end, and steadfastly began advancing down that road of certain death.
And what was the final result? Of course, they all died, dying in this boundless and lonely starry sky. Even a Level 6 Civilization lacked the ability to carry out intergalactic voyages, let alone a Level 5 Civilization. Xiao Yu, who had experienced the long voyage from the Solar System to the Tianyuan IV system, knew what an utterly hopeless scene that was.
As they got farther and farther from ho, their stored supplies would inevitably grow fewer and fewer, and the standard of living for their people would inevitably fall lower and lower. Perhaps, after a certain point in ti, that civilization began dismantling its other spaceships, using those ships as fuel to support their continued advance. But dismantling spaceships could not sustain them for long. In the end, they were completely exhausted.
When the final mont arrived, they disengaged from curvature flight. Using their last fuel, they accelerated those ships into conventional travel, they accelerated them to a speed of seventy thousand kiloters per second relative to their fra, and then began to drift slowly toward their target.
They were like travelers trapped in a desert who, at the mont of death, still maintained the posture of continuing onward.
This was a civilization filled with luck, and also filled with tragedy. Their luck was that they could be born in such a small galaxy. Their tragedy was that they were severely restricted by that tiny galaxy. In the end, they dedicated their lives to the journey of escaping their holand, dedicating them to the process of seeking a way out for their civilization.
This stirred so deep reflection in Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu began to think about a question.
“This civilization, because this galaxy was too small, because its developnt had encountered an unbreakable limit, fell into despair and ultimately died in the process of seeking a way out. Then what about … what about all intelligent civilizations in this universe…”
This was a very profound question. To use an analogy, the universe as it presently existed was still vast and boundless for Xiao Yu, full of unknown things. Even if Xiao Yu exhausted the whole of his life’s energy, he would still be unable to explore even one hundred-millionth of the universe. But Xiao Yu knew that in the early stages of that now-destroyed civilization, when they had still been confined to their planet, that tiny galaxy had likewise been a vast and boundless existence to them, sothing they could not fully explore even over an entire lifeti.
In other words, what difference was there, really, between the entire universe and that tiny galaxy?
When that civilization developed to the point that it could fully explore that galaxy, it fell into madness. So for Xiao Yu, if one day Xiao Yu also developed to the point where he could fully explore the entire universe, would Xiao Yu also fall into madness? And when that madness ca, that civilization had chosen to set foot on a road it knew would certainly lead to death, a road of pursuing the unknown, and in the end had indeed died on the journey. So when Xiao Yu fell into madness, what should he do, and what would he do?
This question seed to connect with another question, naly, what aning did the existence of life really have? Perhaps life originally had no aning. Perhaps the aning of life’s existence lay in endlessly pursuing the unknown, in continuously achieving one goal after another. But… if there were no more unknowns ahead, if there were no more goals left in life, then what kind of scene would that be?
Xiao Yu felt a bone-deep chill spreading through his spirit. Xiao Yu had never before doubted his own life, but if one day he truly stood at the peak of the universe, and everything in the universe had beco known to him, then what would he do?
Would he also, like that mad civilization, embark on a road of certain death in order to keep pursuing the unknown?
Xiao Yu did not know.
“When that civilization died, I was there to fulfill their final wish, bringing them to their destination. Then when I too die of madness one day, what am I supposed to do?” Xiao Yu muttered to himself as he thought over this question.
From this perspective, the vast universe and that tiny galaxy in fact had no essential difference between them. Both were cradles that nurtured intelligent life, and at the sa ti prisons that restricted intelligent life.
“In truth, all intelligent lifeforms are drinking poison to quench their thirst. All intelligent lifeforms satisfy their desire for exploration by continuously advancing technology and continuously exploring the unknown. This technology, and these theories and knowledge, are not good things. They are poison. They will cause civilizations to develop a powerful dependency, and when all the unknown has been explored, this poison will finally take effect and cause that civilization to die from the outbreak of the poison. Yet the most laughable thing is that, although this principle is perfectly obvious, all civilizations, myself included, are unable to escape this cycle.”
“How… how could I possibly stop? Even if they are clearly poison, I still have to keep consuming them.” Xiao Yu muttered to himself. “If my technology could no longer advance, if the road of my progress were cut off right now, I would go mad right now. This was determined from birth. Back when I was still on Earth, when I picked up a pen, picked up a book, learned my first mathematical formula, learned my first physical law, this poison had already taken root deep within my soul, binding to it for the rest of my life with no escape. My addiction will only grow stronger and stronger. The dose of poison I require will only grow larger and larger. I can only go on like this. Better to have the poison erupt later than have it erupt now.”
This civilization, which had died on the journey, made Xiao Yu think of many, many things and struck his soul deeply. But Xiao Yu could no longer stop his footsteps. The vast and boundless starry sky, the endless universe, was like a field of poppies of extraordinary beauty. Even knowing the danger, countless civilizations still stepped into it, Xiao Yu included, and every one of them rushed forward eagerly, afraid only that they might consu the drug a little slower than other civilizations.
“From this perspective, those civilizations destroyed by war, and those civilizations that died in the process of exploring the unknown, were actually rather fortunate. But this kind of fortune… how many civilizations are capable of sensing it? At least for now, I do not want that kind of fortune. I still want to keep consuming, even if my addiction only grows heavier and heavier.” Xiao Yu thought these things with a bitter smile.
Xiao Yu thought about this problem for a full one thousand years and still did not arrive at a clear conclusion. Xiao Yu still did not want to die. There were still many things waiting for Xiao Yu to do. So Xiao Yu could only continue advancing along this road.
“Maffei One Galaxy is in sight… I will leave this question for later.” Xiao Yu shook his head and cast the question out of his mind.
Xiao Yu released the ruins of that civilization and gave them a little initial velocity. Under the push of that velocity, they would enter the range of the Maffei One Galaxy. If they were lucky, they might even be captured by so star and ultimately obtain a stable orbit.
What appeared before Xiao Yu was a brand-new and vast galaxy. Xiao Yu paused slightly, then resolutely stepped onto the route leading into that galaxy.
“Even if the final result is dying from the poison taking effect, let first satisfy my addiction now.” Xiao Yu thought.
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