Age of Cosmic Exploration
chapter-256

Chapter 256: Conservation of Life

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

246 years ago? This was a crazy revelation.

Needless to say, it shocked everyone present. After all, the Hope had left Earth only for decades. 246 years ago? Mankind had barely reached the first industrial revolution then, how was it possible that the space merchants had stumbled across humanity in space?

If this was 246,000 years ago, then perhaps it wouldn’t be such a shock. After all, it could be a completely different alien race that looked similar to humans, or prehistoric human races with super tech. But 246 years ago? A human spaceship was impossible then!

However, there was no harm in listening on, or at least that was what everyone thought.

The big-brained alien continued, "I remember it was around the Orpheus Nebula, and our main trading target was a level 3 space civilization. We were responsible for transporting their necessary resources, and in return they traded with us their victory spoils. However, regrettably, the pillage target at the time, the Shelter from the other side, was well-guarded, so there weren’t many spoils. The war had been going on for too long, so we decided to venture to a new location. There we stumbled across a tiny spaceship.

"The spaceship still had various qualities of a Level 1 Space Civilization. It had about 7,400 plus people, and when they entered our creator’s particle range, their spaceship immediately shut down. Of course, since we are merchants and not pillagers or destroyers, we eventually deactivated our creator’s particle and started to establish communication for trade.

"There was no habitable planet within a few light-years of where we were, so we reached a consensus that this was a spaceship most likely abandoned by a larger colony or it was unfortunate enough to encounter a space catastrophe. Since our original trade kind of fell apart, we decided to trade with this small spaceship…"

Here, the big-brained alien halted, as if weighing something in its mind.

Yao Yuan waited for a moment before urging the alien to continue. "Well, what happened next?"

The big-brained alien continued, "Then we realized that they had 6 Cosmic Adapters on this spaceship. This was a bargain beyond our imagination, so we started to plot for these 6 Cosmic Adapters…"

Guang Zhen scoffed, "And the claws show. In times of peace, you’re merchants, but when there is profit, the merchants become burglars. When the Homo Evolutis, or what you call the Cosmic Adapters, were identified, you would seize them shamelessly. For shame."

The big-brained alien looked at Guang Zhen curiously. "Why would you say that? Shouldn’t we seize Cosmic Adapters whenever we can? Is there any reason not to?"

Guang Zhen was speechless. This was like a burglar who had stolen your money, and after being detained, argued that stealing was his profession, so why should he be punished for his occupation? It was an illogical argument.

The big-brained alien ignored Guang Zhen. "However, this race was highly suspicious. When they realized that we were attempting to snatch their Cosmic Adapters, they initiated their spaceship’s self-destruct sequence. If we continued to press, they would self-destruct. So we had no choice but to revert to normal trade and eventually promised to trade with them our level 2 space civilization technology.

"The whole trade process was complicated; we had not seen such a troublesome race before. Any single one of them could come up with logic that we couldn’t refute. In the end, we ended up with an atrociously bad trade. For six Cosmic Adapters, we gave them all our level 2 civilization technology, some from level 3, space navigation charts, the coordinates of our Shelter, large amounts of cosmic information, many radioactive ores, and materials.

"That wasn’t enough for this race. They wanted us to first pass them all our information and materials before giving us the six Cosmic Adapters. After an internal discussion, we decided to follow their proposed trading program. After all, this was a small spaceship from a level 1 space civilization, so we weren’t afraid of them running.

"Alas…"

Yao Yuan and the gang answered in unison, "They disappeared before your eyes."

The big-brained alien wasn’t surprised. He continued, "That they did, along with all our trading chips. This was beyond our wildest dreams. We had given them so much and got nothing in return. This has never happened before. The few main negotiators were frozen and made into supplies when we returned to Shelter. I can still remember how angry our executives were…"

Yao Yuan had a follow-up. "And then? 200 plus years later, you met us and you thought we were that small spaceship’s future generation?"

The alien looked at him curiously. "Future generation? No, we thought you people were the same bunch, but this time you put forth more Cosmic Adapters to swindle us even more. Is 246 years a long time? Why would you think we assumed you were the future generation?"

Yao Yuan’s group had too many things they had to discuss among themselves. He quickly ordered a soldier to escort the alien out and had someone bring the alien some food and water for it to rest, to prepare for the later interrogation.

"…First question’s first, why 246 years? That would be the 18 or 19th century; did we even have a spaceship then? Furthermore, according to the alien’s description, this small spaceship was probably the politicians that abandoned Earth before us, so why would it be 246 years ago?" Yao Yuan asked the moment the alien was led out of the room.

Ren Tao and Xiao Niao were confused by this as well. After a long time, Xiao Niao finally said, "The time is probably something only the Academy can answer, but the only possible answer is it has to do with our space warp technology. This is the only similarity we have with that group of politicians. Both of our spaceships have that technology."

Ren Tao added, "From the perspective of physics, time itself is meaningless; it comes into being when it has something to affect. Furthermore, time progresses differently in different situations. Variables like speed, gravity, and magnetic fields affect the passage of time. Therefore, space warp might not be a warp from one space to the next like we thought. It probably affects time too. Or perhaps during warp, we pass by something like a black hole that speeds up the time on the Hope. All these are possibilities, but I would advise you to pose this question to the Academy or Bo Li. We are, after all, not scientists like Einstein."

Yao Yuan thought about it and decided to let the question slide for now. He then said, "The alien seems to be telling the truth, and his story does corroborate the things you two told me earlier. Other than the issue of time, everything else makes sense. Before us, there was indeed another group of humans that tricked them. Therefore, they would put on the aggression first. Of course, this is not to say that they are innocent. After all, they admitted that if their opponent has Cosmic Adapters, they do everything to steal them. From this point alone, it could be said that they are not some do-gooders either."

Guang Zhen concurred, "They definitely are not. They led their assault with the pretense of trade and they have the face to call themselves merchants."

After a long discussion and food break, the big-brained alien was brought back into the room to continue the interrogation.

Similarly, it was Yao Yuan who led the questioning. "I think we’ve learned everything we need to know about the history, but how can you be sure now that this is all a misunderstanding? Is it because we are different from that earlier race?"

The alien shook its head. "No, you’re definitely the same race. The only reason I know this is a misunderstanding is because you guys have no idea what the Law of Conservation of Life for space civilizations is. This should be common knowledge to all level 2 space civilizations and beyond. Furthermore, during our earlier trade with your tribesmen, this information was included in the things that we lost. If you were them, then you would've known about this, and there would've been no need for the earlier interrogation, so I and we are now certain you two are not the same."

‘I and we?’ Yao Yuan picked up this curious use of pronouns, but he didn’t point it out. Instead, he asked, "Okay then, if you know this is a misunderstanding, then would you tell us what this Law of Conservation of Life is?"

The alien didn’t hesitate. "The meaning of this law is that the longer the civilization survives in space, the weaker the soul of the civilization. In other words, the future generations of such a civilization will become dimmer and dimmer until the civilization disappears completely in space. It is because of this law that the cosmos doesn’t have many high level civilizations. In fact, the number of those is extremely small. This is why the cosmos isn’t crowded with life forms even though it has been around for billions of years. This is a law that keeps the balance on the number of space civilizations, and it is called…

"The Law of Conservation of Life."