Resurrection Empire

Ren Zhong: "I want to know what Ghost Particles really are. I also want to understand their principles."

Ju Qingmeng said in confusion, "Isn't this something that only the advanced civilization that produces them would know? Nobody on Source Star should be researching this, and it's not important anyway, as long as it works."

Ren Zhong instinctively raised his hand to rub her head, "That won't do. If we always know the 'how' but not the 'why,' civilization is destined to stagnate. Then humanity is bound to perish."

"Huh?"

"If a civilization only knows how to extract resources externally but never questions their principles, or even if it questions but cannot achieve understanding, then during its development, it is bound to reach a day when resources are exhausted and all options are depleted. Even if there are no external enemies, it is doomed to silently vanish in the universe. This concept stems from the Great Filter theory."

Ju Qingmeng looked even more bewildered, "A filter? What's its use? Besides, aren't the Nine Major Groups already preparing to go to space?"

Ren Zhong countered, "They're going to trade with the alien civilization through the Alson Group, right? But it seems to me that this is not the true future; it could very well be a trap. This world is filled with lies, isn't it? In the eyes of the Nine Major Groups, the wasteland people and lower Citizens are merely tools. But who knows if in the eyes of the higher civilization, the so-called Nine Major Groups are just tools as well? I had doubts about this ever since I found out that the currency used in the Alson Group's transactions with the higher civilization is also Contribution Points. The Contribution Points system is a tool for the Nine Major Groups to enslave others, but isn't it also a tool for the higher civilizations to enslave Source Star? So, what is the end point of enslavement?"

Ju Qingmeng was stunned for a long time.

Ren Zhong painted a picture of an endlessly desperate future for her with just a few words.

"So according to your description, Source Star's civilization is doomed to perish? As the Nine Major Groups leave, the wasteland people and abandoned lower Citizens will die first. And when the Nine Major Groups reach their destination, they too are doomed to perish?"

"It's possible that a portion of the people might survive and integrate into the advanced civilization as vassals, but the Source Star civilization itself will no longer exist. I'm not concerned about the so-called Source Star civilization; I don't even care about the lives of the Citizens. I just feel... the wasteland people are really pitiful. So pitiful that if I don't try to do something to help them, my conscience will suffer."

Ju Qingmeng: "So what should be done?"

"I don't know. I only know that I can't go with the flow, and I will embed the will to resist throughout my life. Back then, when Lin Wang oppressed me, I resisted Lin Wang. Later, when Yang Bingzhong oppressed and enslaved Starfire Town, I resisted Yang Bingzhong. While I'm on Source Star, I resist Source Star. If I go to the territory of the advanced civilization and confirm my negative suspicions, I will resist the advanced civilization."

"If I can stay alive and continue to resist, perhaps one day we will see true liberation. I'm not entirely sure if my ideals are right or wrong in the real interstellar era, after all, the world I once lived in..."

He actually wanted to say, "The technology level of the world I once lived in was far from as advanced as it is now; past correctness doesn't necessarily represent future correctness because I also have no understanding of what the new world the Nine Major Groups will head to twenty years later looks like. Perhaps humanity at the end of technological advancement is supposed to be like this."

But these words he could not express.

It wasn't because he feared betrayal by Ju Qingmeng, but because he feared that such self-doubt would shake his resolve.

He faced too many unknowns.

Ju Qingmeng: "Hiss..."

Ren Zhong: "Are you scared?"

Ju Qingmeng shook her head, "Not really. Actually, I don't quite understand what you're saying. I just didn't expect it. It seems like your mind contains the entire universe."

"Huh? That's too exaggerated."

Ju Qingmeng picked up the small box again, "So what should we do now?"

"This thing isn't that precious, if it gets broken, we can just buy another. Let's forcibly dismantle it; I just want to see what's inside. I suppose we're not the first on Source Star to take it apart. Others might have found nothing, or maybe they discovered something but kept silent about it."

About an hour later, the time reached 9:30 at night.

After long and arduous effort, the two combined laser thermal cutting with grinding wheel cutting. After wearing out more than ten high-strength grinding wheels, they finally managed to cut a finger-sized square hole on the surface of the small black box.