章 76: Chapter 76: The Benevolence of Another Advanced Civilization
After stabilizing the Civilization Federation, Yan Xia gradually opened it up to the outside world.
This was a celebration for the entire Federation.
Within just a few decades, the Federation's policies led to a 70% increase in the birth rate, and the population began to surge.
With more and more Explorers, Yan Xia's business also improved significantly.
According to Ella's statistics, the number of registered Explorers reached 11.7 billion, accounting for 8% of the total population, which was already a substantial proportion.
As the number of Explorers increased, the Civilization Federation's control over star domains and the scope of its star maps expanded. The most distant star system they had explored was over 50 light-years away, where they had left a quantum anchor.
About 350 years passed.
A voice suddenly sounded outside the store.
"Boss!"
Yan Xia lazily looked toward the door, and a Kaitian walked in.
"What do you need to repair?"
He had been sitting in the store for over 400 years and had long become a seasoned veteran.
"Hmm, who are you?"
"Where's the previous boss?"
The Kaitian asked.
"Which previous boss are you referring to? What's their name?"
Yan Xia looked closely, but in his eyes, all Kaitians looked the same, so he couldn't recognize the person.
"Well, I don't know. I didn't ask for their name."
"But it makes sense. I've been away for over four hundred years. I initially planned to wander the universe for a few decades, but I encountered interstellar pirates and was taken to a star domain ten light-years away. I was sold into slavery, and it took me a long time to escape. I eventually found a job cleaning spaceships and slowly worked my way up to owning my own ship..."
"I owe it to the previous boss for repairing my spaceship."
"I was too embarrassed to ask for his name."
He sighed, reflecting on his experiences.
This is the aura carried by every explorer who has wandered the stars.
Yan Xia had also experienced this in the past.
The vast expanse of time and space had greatly enriched their experiences, and in the vastness of the universe, anything could happen, and anything could be discovered.
Every Explorer who had traveled across light-years of space was respected and treated with the highest courtesy.
"Although the people have changed, I still want to repay this debt. I should have returned the money a long time ago."
"It's been so long that I probably can't find the previous boss's descendants, but this place hasn't changed at all. You must have inherited his business, so I'll repay you."
As he spoke, a virtual screen appeared in front of him, and he swiped his tentacle, causing a currency symbol to appear, followed by a string of numbers.
10000
Yan Xia didn't remember lending such a large sum to an ordinary Kaitian.
However, Ella reminded him, helping him recall the memory of a young and inexperienced Kaitian named Du Lu. At this moment, Du Lu exuded confidence and maturity, with an air of stability.
"This includes the principal and interest."
Yan Xia swiped the money into his account.
"Thank you for remembering your promise. This is a lot of money, and I don't deserve it. I will use it for charity."
Du Lu laughed upon hearing this.
"You're an interesting person. Let's be friends, Du Lu. If you ever need help, feel free to contact me. Here's my contact information."
Yan Xia quietly observed the once-young man who had become successful and influential.
This, in itself, was a joy.
Du Lu invited Yan Xia to dinner, and he accepted, eager to hear the stories of an Explorer who had wandered the stars for hundreds of years.
Du Lu was more than happy to share his legendary experiences.
They sat in the restaurant for an entire day.
Toward the end of their conversation, Du Lu explained why he had returned. According to him, he had known that his family had passed away, and he could have continued exploring the edge of the Civilization Federation's star domains.
However, during one of his explorations, he encountered something strange and obtained something unique.
This compelled him to return.
Yan Xia examined the object, a seemingly ordinary Federation currency coin.
However, its interior had been altered, with one of its electrons removed. Surprisingly, it hadn't transformed into energy but remained in a state of equilibrium.
This required extremely advanced technology, and even with the Civilization Federation's current level of technology, it would be challenging to achieve this.
Ella confirmed this, but she also pointed out that the energy required to accomplish this would be billions or even trillions of times the value of the coin. In reality, creating a similar basic element from scratch wouldn't be difficult; the challenge was in the process of peeling and stabilizing it.
It's like preventing an atom from releasing energy during nuclear fission and directly transforming it into another substance.
This coin came from a very peculiar spaceship, no larger than a cell phone, with a simple internal structure. Inside was this coin.
The spaceship's trajectory was also unusual. Its starting point was an unknown star domain, and calculations showed that it had been traveling for at least 100 years at a speed exceeding 5% of the speed of light, meaning it had traveled at least 5 light-years.
A signal!
This was a signal from an extraterrestrial civilization, and instead of initiating war, they were releasing a gesture of goodwill and demonstrating their military might.
This was indeed an advanced civilization.
This might seem far-fetched, as there should be more low-level civilizations in the universe, and they should have encountered dozens or even hundreds of them before discovering an advanced civilization.
However, it also made sense because low-level civilizations might not have ventured beyond their star systems, whereas advanced civilizations expand into the universe, making it easier for them to encounter other advanced civilizations.
Du Lu left, but the coin eventually found its way back to Yan Xia.
As he gazed at the coin, Yan Xia pondered for a long time.
"How should we respond to a civilization that has shown goodwill?"
"We can't know whether the goodwill they've shown is genuine or false. This might be a trap to lower our guard."
"Once we trust them, they'll tighten the fishing line and hook our lips."
Unless we have complete control over them, we can't be sure they pose no threat.
"But we can't pretend to be deaf and blind, either. The enemy has already discovered us, and we can't act as if we haven't seen them. That's like covering our ears and stealing a bell."
"Ella, send someone to make contact with them. Even if their goodwill is false, they will at least pretend to be friendly during the initial stages."
Ella nodded, and about two months later, a spaceship was dispatched from the edge of the Civilization Federation.
They used tachyon communication to show respect for this negotiation.
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