Bab 30: Chapter 30: Unable to Stop the Tower, A Civilizational Conspiracy
Reducing by 10% could lead to even greater reductions.
By the fifth day, the output of the Proxima Centauri civilization had decreased to 74.58% of its original level.
The Babel Tower still shone brightly, like a firefly in the starry sky, small yet enduring.
The Proxima Centauri civilization had become numb.
They had expended 20% of their entire civilization's energy, yet they couldn't budge the tower.
Even the higher-ups felt suffocated.
This was just a tower sent by the other civilization. If their fleet arrived, could they destroy even one of the ships?
Chaos!
The surface became more chaotic the longer the tower remained.
"We're doomed. We're going to anger a powerful hunter."
"It's like a prey rushing towards a hunter, and the hunter will surely raise its weapon and strike down the prey."
"What are the higher-ups doing?"
"Do they want to push our civilization into the abyss?"
"Destruction might be just a moment away."
"Run..."
"Leave the star system!"
Every day, hundreds of ships flew into outer space. With all their military might focused on the tower, they had a chance to escape.
On the first day, 27 out of 241 ships that took off managed to break through the atmosphere and escape, while the rest were intercepted.
More beings saw a glimmer of hope.
On the second day, 31 out of 375 ships escaped.
On the third day, 57 out of 842 ships managed to flee.
On the fourth day, the number of ships broke a new record, reaching 1354, with signs of being uncontrollable. A total of 482 ships escaped.
By the fifth day, the sight of thousands of ships flying into space infuriated the civilization's higher-ups. They saw those who fled as cowards abandoning their civilization.
But they were powerless.
The instinct of living beings is to survive, above all else.
Civilizations and nations are shelters for living beings, and the most fundamental thing they provide is stability.
If stability is lost, civilizations and nations will disintegrate.
"If we keep bombarding, more will try to escape."
"What can we do?"
"A bunch of idiots, they have no idea how hard we're working to preserve our civilization. All they know is how to run away."
"Sigh, the only two choices we have now are to continue the attack or stop it. Choose one, everyone."
All the higher-ups simultaneously visualized the scene in the starry sky.
The tower.
So majestic, so terrifying, so indestructible, so insurmountable.
"Let's stop!"
"How about another 1/10th of a revolution?" (Proxima Centauri b's revolution around Proxima Centauri is approximately 11 Earth days.)
"That will consume more of our energy. You should know that in the past few days, we've used up several years' worth of reserves."
"If we stop now, our civilization's economic stability will be at stake."
Energy is wealth.
30% of energy is equivalent to 30% of a civilization's wealth.
Only through inflation could they stabilize the economy, but they knew it was too much. Typically, a 5% energy fluctuation would cause significant economic turmoil.
Now, it was 20%.
They avoided thinking about this problem.
But why couldn't they stop?
Because even if the economy collapsed, it could be rebuilt, but a destroyed civilization couldn't be resurrected.
They were caught in a dilemma.
They had no choice but to order more battleships to cease fire and reduce their firepower.
By the end of the fifth day, their firepower had decreased to 34.57% of its original level.
On the sixth day, as they looked at the tower, still intact, the higher-ups were exhausted.
"It's over!"
"Continuing is pointless."
"We should admit that there is a huge gap between higher civilizations and us."
They had already expended 23% of their energy.
They couldn't keep pouring it into this black hole.
"Maybe we should send a ship to investigate the surface of the tower."
After the ceasefire, they had no other choice.
"No, it might be a civilizational conspiracy. We should observe for a longer time."
No one knew if the tower was a Pandora's box.
As for the prophecy, the higher-ups shouldn't believe in a prophecy when it came to the fate of their civilization; it was a matter that couldn't be taken lightly.
But on the second day after this decision, they realized something was wrong.
"Our actions have angered the higher civilization, and this might cause us to lose the opportunity to connect with them."
"We will be excluded from the federal civilization. As a civilization outside the federation, we will be destroyed."
"Light weapons will travel thousands of light-years to our star system, just like what happened to the neighboring star system over 2000 years ago. A high-energy beam struck without warning, shattering the planet, and the entire star system was engulfed in a stellar proton storm for millions of years."
"Only by entering the tower and obtaining the civilization's passport will we have a chance to seek forgiveness."
"These guys..."
The higher-ups almost had a brain aneurysm when they saw this message.
The most critical point was that some beings would believe it.
Their civilization had reached level 1.8, so cultural literacy should be high. But this was clearly beyond the scope of simple cultural understanding.
The tower had no origin, yet it was indestructible.
This was what all beings in the civilization witnessed, and it was easy to draw conclusions based on what they saw.
Precisely because it was easy to understand, most beings were convinced.
"We've found the source of the prophecy!"
All the higher-ups saw the same image in their minds.
It was a dilapidated, dirty garbage disposal robot. Its head had exploded, and inside was a circuit board that was unfamiliar to the entire civilization.
But this circuit board was now charred.
"Conspiracy!"
"A thorough conspiracy!"
"Spread this message."
Instantly, all beings received the message in their minds.
But it was too late.
The tower had proven its might. It came from a higher civilization, and a higher civilization wouldn't resort to such petty tricks. This was just the higher-ups' rhetoric.
Even if the higher civilization did use such tricks, what of it?
They were merely spreading information to avoid unnecessary conflict.
Originally, half of the ships leaving the planet were heading towards the tower, and more ships joined the fleet from the planet's surface.
A heavy gloom enveloped the higher-ups.
The fact that the other civilization used such tricks indicated that their level wasn't as unattainably high as they had thought.
The message might be true, but it was more likely to be false.
They had discovered the truth, but they couldn't stop it.
Tens of thousands of ships carried hundreds of thousands of beings towards the tower.
They could order the fleet to intercept, but it was futile.
The universe was vast, and once the ships dispersed, the fleet could only resort to force.
If they destroyed the ships carrying civilians, they couldn't imagine what those still on the planet might do.
After all, this wasn't a decision made by a small group; it was the choice of the majority.
When the higher-ups no longer aligned with the affirmation of most beings in the civilization, they ceased to be the higher-ups.
If they stopped the beings from entering the tower, they would face internal chaos, giving the unknown civilization an opportunity.
If they let them go, they would play right into the hands of the unknown civilization.
Then, a message arrived.
"We've entered the tower. It wasn't the civilians who entered first but our soldiers."
This news made the higher-ups even more despondent.
Soldiers had stronger combat capabilities than civilians, but that didn't mean they could interpret the message on a deeper level.
There were a few critical points in these messages:
1. Saving the Civilization: Every individual in the civilization wanted to be a savior. They, like the higher-ups, felt threatened, but they had limited options. Entering the tower was one of them.
2. Power Control: The civilization behind the tower was incredibly powerful. All individuals wanted to control the power bestowed by the higher civilization, which would enable them to climb the social ladder.
3. Civilizational Friendliness and Lack of Weapons: Entering the tower wouldn't lead to death, and trying it would incur no loss.
This was a civilizational conspiracy, using the illusion of peace to stimulate the survival instinct and greed of the beings.
No being could resist greed. Living beings constantly demanded energy from the world and the universe, the root of greed. Unless a being didn't require any material and could live forever, it would be greedy.
After considering this, the higher-ups felt as if they were under a suspended sword, with their civilization beneath it.
They sensed that the only thing they could do was pray that the other civilization was as the prophecy foretold.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone