Rebirth of the Super Battleship

Watching the more than thirty thousand ships swiftly depart, Xiao Yu knew he had succeeded. Indeed, it was exactly as that scientist of Species Number Fifty Eight had surmised: after he spoke the correct answer, those ships immediately returned to their base.

"Well done! Long Fei! You did excellently. I will reward you and your species!" Xiao Yu was in very high spirits. As soon as he received confirmation, he immediately announced the result.

For a newly promoted scientist, to participate in the General Assembly for the first time and solve such a major crisis left an extremely strong impression on Xiao Yu, a very promising sign.

At this moment, Long Fei, the scientist of Species Number Fifty Eight, was finally overcome with emotion. He stood up, bowing again and again to Xiao Yu, continuously repeating, "Thank you, thank you."

Xiao Yu smiled and motioned for him to sit down. Only then did the meeting room erupt into enthusiastic applause.

The leader of Species Number Fifty Eight, a psychosocial sciences scientist under Luka Two, had also participated in this meeting. When he saw what had happened, he slapped the table with excitement. "That kid Long Fei did us proud, truly brought honor to Species Number Fifty Eight! When we get back, I'm going to see he's properly rewarded."

After the brief moment of celebration passed, Xiao Yu raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet again.

Because Xiao Yu had just received another transmission from Intelligent Program One.

"The first trial is complete. Proceeding to the second trial. Please answer, what is the meaning of life in the universe?"

After a moment's thought, Xiao Yu understood what had disappeared.

It was the anthropomorphic quality. It was as if, in this moment, Intelligent Program One had reverted to a cold, lifeless program, stripped of all independent thought.

"Did its internal hard-coded restrictions activate? Once it confirmed I had passed the first trial, did it forcibly trigger the real second trial?" Xiao Yu immediately guessed. "Very good, very good. Now we've truly entered the second stage."

There was still one leftover question from the first stage, why had the thirty thousand ships withdrawn after the transition into the second phase? Xiao Yu couldn't quite make sense of it. In his estimation, it was probably related to certain internal hard-coded constraints in Intelligent Program One. What exactly they were, he had no interest in finding out. As long as it worked, there was no need to dwell on the process.

The response from Intelligent Program One was relayed in real time to the great conference room. All seventeen thousand scientists received the message. Immediately, the meeting hall seemed to explode, voices rang out in every direction.

"What kind of trial is this? What kind of question is this?"

"We'd theorized the Trolor Civilization set these trials to assess the Dwarf Civilization's development potential, but can such a question really test whether a civilization has potential? It defies common sense, this isn't scientific."

"A question like this has no fixed answer. Every individual's response would be different. How can we possibly know what answer would count as passing the trial?"

"Could this be another of Intelligent Program One's tricks?"

Xiao Yu exchanged glances with Luka Two, Three, and Four. In each other's eyes, they saw the same helplessness.

"This question… has a lot of sophistication," Luka Two said slowly, tapping his finger lightly on the table. "To judge a civilization's potential based on the maturity of its philosophy… The Trolor Civilization truly was a Level 6 Civilization. To have devised something like this…"

In the course of a civilization's development, one thing is certain, different levels of technology will shape different types of intelligent beings. These two aspects have always been interconnected. The advancement of technology improves the physical and mental capabilities of intelligent life, and in turn, the improvement of those capabilities accelerates technological progress. Within this cycle, other byproducts emerge, such as social structures, prevailing schools of thought, and understandings of nature, the universe, and life itself.

To give a simple example, in ancient times, people, lacking advanced technology, firmly believed in the existence of gods. Modern people, by contrast, no longer believe in ghosts or deities. Even though Xiao Yu had presented himself to the Dwarf Race as a god, he had long since redefined what 'god' meant, stripping away concepts like omnipotence and control over life and reincarnation, and had instilled this definition thoroughly into the Dwarves' thinking. In reality, the Dwarves all knew that Xiao Yu was simply another civilization with more advanced technology. Calling him a god was merely a respectful form of address.

Because of this, the philosophical question now posed was indeed extremely sophisticated. One thing was clear: a Level 3 Civilization, a Level 4 Civilization, and a Level 5 Civilization would all have different understandings of the meaning of life. Such interpretations were the product of a specific level of technological development creating a corresponding social atmosphere in which philosophers reflected and summarized these ideas.

Xiao Yu was not a scientist. Among his subordinate races, the psychosocial sciences could be said to brush against philosophy, but it was far from a pure discipline. Among the Dwarves, after several centuries of Xiao Yu's guidance, philosophers certainly existed, but they were very rare. And more importantly, they had been shaped too profoundly by Xiao Yu's influence. As a result, their understanding of concepts like life would never be the same as that of a civilization that developed naturally.

"This is a very sophisticated question," Xiao Yu agreed with Luka Two, nodding silently. "We are not an ordinary technological civilization. In fact, our social structure is not truly complete. Under my rule, people do not have to toil and struggle to enjoy an abundant life. Conversely, some of the experiences and insights that emerge from hardship are absent. Without the trials of ragged clothing and empty bellies, beings will not develop the worldview that comes from such adversity. One could say that the society I shaped is not suited to nurturing philosophers."

"Gains always come with losses," Luka Two said with a helpless, bitter smile. "The universe needs schemers, not philosophers."

"Even if we had enough philosophers to perfectly simulate how a fully developed Level 4 Civilization would answer such a question, the odds of our answer passing the trial would still be slim," Luka Three added. "Don't forget, Intelligent Program One already has its own consciousness. Whether the answer passes or not is for it to judge. A philosophical question like this has no fixed solution. It's not like the first question, where we could force its internal evaluation program to confirm our success with a single definitive answer. For a problem of this nature, it only needs to exert the slightest influence to ensure we fail."

"Yes," Xiao Yu nodded. "This Trolor Civilization really… truly…"

He paused, but in the end, he didn't know what word to put after 'truly.'

"If my kind of existence is so rare in the galaxy, if I am the only one of my kind, I'd almost suspect this Trolor Civilization devised this question specifically to deal with me," Xiao Yu said with some resignation. "Among all the technological civilizations in the Milky Way, I'm probably the only one with such an incomplete social structure."

"So what do we do next?" Luka Four asked.

"I noticed something," Xiao Yu said. "The Trolor Civilization didn't set a time limit for passing the trial. Which means we have plenty of time to figure out what to do. For now… there's no rush to solve this problem. First, let's get rid of that damned alien beast."

After those thirty thousand untouchable ships had abruptly departed, the Level 4 Alien Beast simply froze in place. In the next moment, as if realizing something, it sent out a broadcast message, then turned and fled at once.

Xiao Yu received the transmission and, after converting it to audio, it was a high-pitched screech filled with fury.

"Trying to run?" Xiao Yu sneered inwardly. "This small universe is only so big. Where exactly do you think you're going to escape to? You enjoyed yourself when you were chasing me, didn't you?"

"The China, Russia, and Palestine Nation-Class ship fleets, stay behind to protect the Home fleet. All remaining ten Nation-Class ships, lead one and a half million other vessels and commence pursuit!"

"Now, it's my turn to hunt you down! After all the trouble you caused me, I won't be satisfied until you're dead!" Xiao Yu thought fiercely, as he maneuvered the one and a half million ships to detach from the main formation and accelerate after the fleeing Level 4 Alien Beast.

This was a small universe. The space was limited to just this small extent. Without mastery of spatial technology, no amount of running could get the creature very far. This was the perfect place to finally settle the score with that cursed tail.

In fact, when Xiao Yu first entered this small universe, he had already been contemplating this plan. But later, a series of complications delayed him before he could act. Now, Intelligent Program One was temporarily quiet, and figuring out how to pass the second trial would take careful thought, there was no need to rush. This was the perfect moment to eliminate the nuisance.

Xiao Yu had resolved: even if it cost him one or two Nation-Class ships, he would kill that thing.

And so, a full one and a half million ships began a new round of hide-and-seek in this confined little universe with the Level 4 Alien Beast. Only this time, the roles of hunter and hunted had been reversed.