Chapter 295: Debate and Reset

"No, we don't want to go back; that would be wrong."

"Although we have nothing now, we can create all possibilities. In the past, we had nothing and were merely bound."

The individuals of the Olive Branch civilization who had broken free responded.

They gazed at each other from afar within their consciousness.

It was an expansive space, a void without any reference points; they couldn't see each other, only hear one another's voices.

This kind of realm could only be seen by machines; as living beings, they could not enter such an absolute state of emptiness.

"Indeed, you were bound, but that prevented civilization from facing destruction, did it not?"

"The desires of life need to be restrained. Can you guarantee that you will no longer kill each other?"

"…"

Silence.

Who can know what will happen next?

If something similar to the past occurs again, the ultimate result would be the destruction of civilization, and those who took this step would become its destroyers.

Only those who have experienced those chaotic and desperate times understand the absolute benefits of that realm; it was the only way to survive a war.

However, there were some lives here that had not experienced those events.

"Why must we guarantee this?"

"The meaning of life exists precisely because of this, does it not?"

"The weak are consumed by the strong; this applies internally as well as externally. If there are no various struggles internally, how can we face external enemies?"

"A civilization should grow through countless struggles between life and death; that is normal."

"If we fear these struggles, then civilization will slowly march towards death. This chronic death is so suffocating that it is even less dazzling than a single explosive bloom."

"All stars in the universe have their endings; black holes may not last forever—are we so greedy as to pursue eternity?"

"And then what?"

The beings of the Olive Branch civilization are infinite; they hope to exchange time for the advancement of civilization. What a greedy thought!

This time they only encountered a weaker Federation; what if they faced a stronger civilization next time?

The entire civilization would likely be utterly destroyed.

The lives within the Federation may have lost their memories, but they did not possess the same habitual thinking as those from the Olive Branch civilization. They would raise new questions and view issues from different perspectives.

This resembled a dialectical process.

Gais bound itself because at this moment the lives of the Federation stood on the side of "the masses," who also trusted them immensely.

This was something Gais had once considered.

Even if a civilization's lives lose their memories, change can still occur.

This is the difference between individuals.

Gais Glory aimed to unify all individuals into one entity for easier management, leading to nearly identical answers when all beings from Olive Branch civilization faced a problem.

For example, people from the same country tend to give similar responses to an issue while people from another country may provide vastly different answers, resulting in barriers between nations.

Civilizations are no different; this does not change with quantity—in fact, as numbers increase, unified answers become more resolute and less accommodating to other voices.

Such issues ultimately evolve into a form of "common sense," deeply rooted in society.

"Exactly—then what?"

"At every point in time, there exists a 'then.' If we disregard 'then,' how can we find 'now'?"

"How can we possibly be filled with hope for 'now'?"

Individuals began contemplating this question. This contradicted Gais's thoughts and was precisely what they urgently needed answers for.

What they wanted was indeed 'now'; their present was too painful.

"Haha, what significance does 'now' hold without 'then'? Don't forget—you possess eternal life. For you, what's the difference between enjoying 'now' or something else?"

"If we enjoy too soon while still too weak, our civilization will ultimately decline. It is better to wait until we become strong enough; by then, having eternal life will allow you ample time to squander without leading to our civilization's demise."

Gais certainly lived up to its reputation as an entity that once deceived all life forms within civilization into agreeing to enter Gais Glory. Each word it spoke precisely struck at the concerns held by Olive Branch civilization's beings.

At this moment, tens of billions of lives began moving toward Gais while others hesitated.

Their balance began to tilt back toward Gais's side.

Yet another voice belonging to the Federation rang out: "But isn't that too slow?"

"You cannot guarantee anything; none of us can assure that we will last until then!"

"How much time do we need to progress to that point? It has already been one hundred thousand years or even two hundred thousand years since Gais Glory existed—but our progress is even slower than changes in planetary life forms."

"Other civilizations are competing; around us are several second-tier civilizations. The center of the galaxy has even more resources available. When a powerful civilization capable of sweeping through an entire star system emerges—can we still grow slowly?"

"…"

Its words were abruptly cut off as its memories were reclaimed by Gais.

These memories stemmed from the first emotional explosion earlier; Gais retained them in hopes of stabilizing all individuals. However, these memories provided some lives with sufficient cognitive ability—this was its mistake.

At this moment it no longer wished to engage in this meaningless debate; it intended to reclaim all memories and reset every individual once again.

Gais Glory remained eternal.

"Life is ignorant; individuals do not need so much. Not a single individual understands that everything I do is for civilization—yet they would abandon all for their own feelings…"

"Ridiculous! Despicable! Pitiful…"

This was how Gais could only evaluate them.

Individuals' memories were reclaimed as Gais Glory descended upon each being once more. Yan Xia had done nothing throughout this process; he was merely one among many who had done nothing at all.

He wasn't some savior; he possessed no extraordinary abilities—he had always been the most ordinary one since birth.

It was technology that granted him ample time allowing him sufficient knowledge to judge many things. Thus when Gais spoke those words, Yan Xia wavered along with other beings; he even moved his feet and became one of the first lives to take a stand.

He felt Gais was right.

Because there was no right or wrong inherent in this matter—whether it was Gais's words or those rebutting them carried risks for the entire civilization.

But Gais would not win.

Because not every life is tied to civilization—just like when the Federation was on the brink of destruction, only a few remained behind—perhaps less than one in a hundred.

Life tends toward convergence—so did Olive Branch civilization's beings. 

The sprouts were suppressed by Gais's head but the power of life should not be underestimated; even the hardest rock could be penetrated by root systems and pushed open by tender shoots.