Chapter 98: Internal Conflicts and Establishing Contact

"The fundamental reason for the Olive Branch Civilization to implement a pseudo-shared consciousness collective is to achieve internal unity."

"The Civilized Federation, created by you, Yan Xia, has a single goal: to explore the universe through this collective and utilize the imagination resource theory to advance technology."

"So, you are not concerned about internal conflicts, and you have Ella's main body, an extremely intelligent and perfect artificial intelligence system, to manage high-tech knowledge and information. You don't have to worry about internal struggles."

"However, most civilizations have internal disagreements. Imagine if, in the future, only you, Yan Xia, remained on Earth after a global catastrophe. What do you think would happen to humanity as it ventures into the interstellar age?"

Human civilization on Earth has been divided into multiple countries, and many people imagine that humanity will become a unified whole in the interstellar age. However, in Yan Xia's opinion, this is unlikely to happen.

In his view, the opposite is more likely.

Once humanity enters the interstellar age, they will no longer be able to observe external threats. Without external pressure, it is impossible for humans to become a unified whole. Instead, over time, there will be friction and struggles over the control of resources within the solar system.

Human civilization is one where even family members can mistrust each other. In such a civilization, achieving unity and working together is like a pipe dream unless aliens intervene.

Conflict will be an eternal theme for humanity.

"So, the pseudo-shared consciousness collective is a way to alleviate internal conflicts?"

Yan Xia thought about it and found it reasonable, but it was just an estimate, not the real answer.

They could only estimate because they had no way of obtaining the history of the Olive Branch Civilization.

"Then, we should proceed with our original plan."

Why did Yan Xia come here?

His primary goal was to create conflicts within the Olive Branch Civilization. Knowing that the Olive Branch Civilization might have experienced severe internal conflicts that led to the current pseudo-shared consciousness collective society, Yan Xia needed to drill a hole in this rigid wall.

Drilling this hole would be extremely challenging, but it would lead directly to the civilization's soft heart.

"Okay!"

Ella stared at Yan Xia and nodded silently.

They had a long time, and the Civilized Federation needed to advance towards a Level 2.2 civilization. With the simulated universe technology, this time should not be too long.

However, while the Civilized Federation was developing, the Olive Branch Civilization was also advancing. A 1% breakthrough for the Olive Branch Civilization could enable the Civilized Federation to reach Level 2.2, but the gap between the two civilizations might not narrow; it might even widen.

...

Yan Xia requested a meeting with Chu and proposed a part of the Holy Grail Project.

He suggested constructing a photon communication device within their star system.

Without hesitation, Chu agreed.

The Olive Branch Civilization had not yet mastered tachyon technology, so their communication capabilities were still limited to the speed of light. By building a tachyon communication device, Yan Xia would effectively gain some control over the device, which would be beneficial for stealing technology in the future.

Civilizations that have reached such an advanced level are not fools. Everyone understands each other's interests.

Yan Xia didn't say it, and Chu didn't mention it either. Everything proceeded according to the rules.

Yan Xia's team took 82 years to build the tachyon communication device, and as soon as it was completed, he sent the first message to the Civilized Federation.

"1"

This was a number, a pre-arranged signal that represented many things.

It also confirmed that the original Plan 1 could be implemented, and Ella's main body should prepare accordingly. The plan for the Silkworm Civilization could also be put on the agenda.

Another fleet would not travel to the Orion Nebula, as it was too far away, five times the distance to the Olive Branch Civilization.

Their primary goal was to travel 100 light-years away from the Civilized Federation and release a weapon in a star system aimed at the Orion Nebula. This would provoke the Olive Branch Civilization into believing that the Holy Grail Project was real.

After the weapon was launched, Yan Xia would invite Chu to participate as his assistant.

The Civilized Federation itself is a collective of civilizations. If the most advanced civilization in the Milky Way were to rule the galaxy, they could unite and become the victors, following that civilization to avoid destruction.

This was all part of a grand scheme.

But as long as they played their roles convincingly, the scheme could become reality, and the audience would believe it.

Just like a magic show!

After 104 days, Yan Xia received a response. Ella informed him about the current situation in the Civilized Federation, which was steadily developing. Their star domain had expanded to approximately three times its original size.

The development of Sirius was in its intermediate stage, and the simulated universe project had been a complete success, leading to rapid innovation and development in various technologies.

As a Level 2.1 civilization, they were the undisputed rulers of their star domain. The only concern was the Olive Branch Civilization.

After reading the message, Yan Xia noticed something about the time.

According to the speed of tachyon communication, it should take 106 days for a round trip over a distance of 280 light-years. However, the response time was two days shorter.

This meant that the distance between their star system and Sirius had decreased by approximately 5.2 light-years, leaving only 274.8 light-years between them. This was likely due to their star system stopping its revolution.

The distance between the Civilized Federation and the Olive Branch Civilization was shrinking.

This might be what the Olive Branch Civilization intended.

Yan Xia couldn't calculate the rate at which the distance was shrinking, but it was definitely faster than the revolution speed of a typical star.

"Yan Xia!"

Ella suddenly called out from behind him, startling him so much that he almost instinctively performed a lightning-fast five-strike whip.

"Ella, next time, don't appear so suddenly in such an open space."

Ella nodded.

"No problem."

"What's the matter?" Yan Xia asked.

"The anomaly has been found. The weakness of the pseudo-shared consciousness collective is that it retains individual consciousness, which means that within the vast collective, there will be multiple conflicting voices."

Perhaps most of the lifeforms of the Olive Branch Civilization have accepted becoming part of the shared consciousness collective. However, among the 862.9 billion lifeforms currently in /Border City, there must be some who resist becoming part of the collective.

These individuals are the targets Yan Xia wants to exploit.

"How many have you found?"

"Seventy-eight!"

"Be discreet and slowly cultivate them. The lifeforms of the Olive Branch Civilization do not have the concept of lifespan, so we have plenty of time. We must be absolutely discreet and ensure that no clues are discovered."

Phase one of the plan begins!