“This light is so blinding. I say, do you really want me to stay in this body?”
Nuopeidan returned to its original body and was taken to a room by Yan Xia.
This room was even more extreme.
Nuopeidan could also feel that upon entering this room, the moment the door closed, everything vanished.
This was an independent space; though not absolutely so, it was still an independent space.
Nuopeidan was certain of this.
Yan Xia sat opposite Nuopeidan.
Nuopeidan was not a silver-tongued fellow, perhaps in front of ordinary people, but for him, it was not the case.
His long lifespan, especially with countless avatars, had allowed him to encounter all sorts of people.
“You have a sense of fading twilight about you, something I’ve never seen in anyone from Human Civilization.”
“I guess you must have a special identity.”
Nuopeidan launched the first offensive.
It hoped to gain the initiative.
“Let’s stop the probing. You are very clear about your current predicament, and in my opinion, you are not someone who is unafraid of death.”
“As you’ve shown, you’ve lived for too long, and there’s still a trace of obsession in your heart, so you don’t want to die easily.”
Nuopeidan was definitely a self-important fellow.
In fact, every living entity has such a tendency.
However, sometimes, it gets diluted by the traces of life.
Of course, most people actually end their unrealistic fantasies because they’ve done too many foolish things.
What replaces it is the fantasy of erasing those foolish things.
Yan Xia believed Nuopeidan was no exception.
“The way you stare at me makes me very uncomfortable.”
“Do you know what this condescending feeling is?”
“Arrogance!”
“Aggression!”
“I don’t think you’ve studied psychology, but the original owner of this body was a psychology expert.”
“To be honest, his memories have given me deep insights.”
“But apparently, I don’t seem to have grasped the essence yet.”
Why say that? Because Yan Xia dominated this negotiation.
Yan Xia’s indifference convinced Nuopeidan that it would be difficult to sway the man’s heart.
Of course, it wasn’t absolute, because there are no unbreachable walls in the world.
It’s just that Nuopeidan estimated it didn’t have the time to do so.
Yan Xia gave it time.
When the next fellow who was willing to reveal information was captured, that would be its death day.
“Alright, our interrogator doesn’t have much of a sense of humor.”
“You’ve already guessed most of what I am, haven’t you?”
“Alright, that’s also a lie, just following your words. When you meet another one of my kind, you’ll expose this foolish lie.”
“What I want to tell you is that you’ve guessed many things wrong.”
“We are not servants, but merely some criminals.”
“As you know, within a Civilization, there are always many factions. The struggles between factions are often peaceful, but if one side becomes radical, then it’s no fun!”
“We call our Civilization the Truth Seekers.”
“A Civilization that pursues truth.”
“There are many ways to pursue truth, and many things to pursue.”
“There are only two major factions in our Civilization: one pursues the origin and destruction of the universe, the primordial beginning and the ultimate end of everything.”
“The other faction pursues the true nature of all things, which is the cause and effect of everything.”
Yan Xia said, “These two factions don’t seem to have any conflict.”
Nuopeidan nodded.
“Indeed.”
“But what if the side that seeks the origin and destruction of the universe starts to act?”
“They want to go to the edge of the universe and know all the truth.”
These two still seemed to have no conflict, at least on the surface.
But actually, they did not.
Society, Civilization, factions—many things are very complex.
When a faction becomes radical, it either weakens or strengthens.
The strengthening of one faction inevitably leads to the decline of another.
This world is not 0 and 1.
There are other numbers.
When one side, left or right, weakens, then the weaker one might be plagued by endless troubles and then replaced.
This is true for a country, and even more so for a Civilization.
“It seems there are very complex issues involved.”
“And you should be the latter, the losing side.”
“So, why did things escalate to this point?”
Nuopeidan’s memories were stirred.
As an eternal existence, it had lived for 2.5 billion years, and even with the aid of technology, such a long time could not allow it to quickly recall those past events.
It was silent for a long time before finally answering.
“That’s the charm of factional struggle.”
“To leave, one must mobilize the entire Civilization’s power.”
“The radical faction must eliminate all its enemies, and we were the biggest enemy.”
“Of course, that’s not entirely accurate; our resistance was also part of it.”
“It was fine at first, but later, the hatred between both sides piled up like mountains, and being executed after capture became a luxury.”
“We were captured, then stripped of everything, and time was used to repeatedly inflict wounds upon us.”
These were all pains.
Yan Xia asked it why it still didn’t want to die.
Was it because of hatred?
Nuopeidan was not an immortal.
“Of course not.”
“Didn’t you hear? We pursue the true nature of all things, all cause and effect.”
“For us, a long lifespan is actually already enough.”
“Acquiring this information brings us joy; understanding all knowledge is the meaning of our existence.”
Scientific ascetics.
This was Yan Xia’s assessment of it and them.
“Then you definitely understand the Milky Way better than the Petrochemical Civilization!”
Nuopeidan said proudly.
“Of course, the Petrochemical Civilization is just a small Civilization that has existed for a hundred million years. In reality, they only truly entered the interstellar age, or rather, became active in Civilization exchanges, about thirty to forty million years ago.”
Only!
Thirty to forty million years ago, humans, no, even hominids didn’t exist.
Human ancestors were just a group of mammals like mice.
“But they acquire information through trade, while you acquire it through theft.”
Yan Xia exposed the actions of Nuopeidan’s Civilization.
This was not something to be proud of.
Because any Civilization that could be stolen from by Nuopeidan was necessarily not strong enough.
Nuopeidan chuckled: “You’re right, such things are not presentable. You might think you can’t get enough useful information from me.”
“Actually, you don’t need to worry about that. All Civilizations have their weak periods, and we are not Civilization destroyers, so the Civilizations we steal from won’t perish.”
Yan Xia’s heart stirred.
It seemed this fellow in front of him was truly a treasure.
Most of the information it knew should be related to information, but not so much to technology.
“If you want to exchange for your life, what sincerity do you think is best to offer?” Yan Xia asked directly.
Nuopeidan did not answer immediately, but instead asked.
“Do I still have a chance to live?”
It didn’t hold much hope.
Its long lifespan had already made it understand the cruelty of life, especially when viewed from the perspective of a Civilization.
“Perhaps you’ve forgotten what the place we are in right now is called,” Yan Xia said.
Nuopeidan thought for a long time before finally understanding Yan Xia’s meaning.
“Civilization Federation!”
“You’re not serious, are you? Even though you call yourselves by that name, are you really upholding such standards?”
Yan Xia retorted.
“Why not?”
“None of the Civilizations here were forced to join.”
Nuopeidan sneered.
“The Baiyan Clan has something to say.”
Yan Xia countered.
“The Baiyan Clan’s submission was before the establishment of the Civilization Federation.”
So it could be discounted.
If that’s the case, then indeed.
Nuopeidan asked, “So you plan to let us join too?”
Yan Xia did not fall into another one of Nuopeidan’s verbal traps.
“That’s not for me to decide, but I think there’s great hope.”
“The Civilization Federation will not reject any Civilization, provided that Civilization has sufficient capability.”
Yan Xia actually wanted to absorb this Civilization lost in the universe.
This would greatly enrich the current foundation of Human Civilization.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. As I said, we are independent individuals. Even if you capture me, you won’t be able to persuade the other Truth Seekers.”
Yan Xia was noncommittal.
If he didn’t try, who would know?
“This isn’t what we should be discussing right now. It’s your turn to present your chips.”
Nuopeidan chuckled.
“It is indeed off-topic.”
“Let me think, how about the Dimension War?”
“Don’t look at us like this, but at least we come from a Tier 3 Civilization, and for us, crossing dimensions is a very normal thing.”
“Although I don’t know the specific method of achieving it—that information has been erased—my body itself possesses this ability.”
“Of course, only my main body!”
So, when Nuopeidan wanted to escape just now, it was actually trying to ascend to a higher dimension.
If Yan Xia hadn’t “revived” it, then it would have truly left.
“That’s not quite enough, but I’m willing to listen.”
Greedy fellow.
Nuopeidan knew many things, and it actually had a desire to confide. It wasn’t averse to imparting knowledge to Yan Xia.
Knowledge, for these “sealed” beings, had no value other than bringing them pleasure.
