Chapter 334: The Last Black Cuboid Person_1

Number Three and Zhao Yang both wanted to pour out all the questions in their hearts, and Zhao Yang followed up, "What is a First Epoch Life Form?"

The other party said, "I will again clarify that I am not obliged to answer all your questions. Our Q&A can only be considered an equivalent exchange because Wallfacer Jiang Yu answered a key question for me, so I will consider answering some questions for you.

"You'd better think carefully before asking. Once I believe I have repaid Jiang Yu's answer, I will no longer respond to any of your questions."

However, Jiang Yu bargained, "You can't just decide the price on your own; we should have room to negotiate."

Without waiting for the other party to make a counter-offer, Jiang Yu turned to Zhao Yang and said, "I will answer your question. A First Epoch Life Form is the first group of life forms in the universe, or to be precise, in the three-dimensional universe, that developed self-awareness.

"For now, we know that Venus is a First Epoch Life Form. You can understand that the entire planet is a single life form."

Then, he turned to Number Three, "As of now, capturing a First Epoch Life Form is of no use to us."

Finally, Jiang Yu addressed the other party, "But you have to answer Number Three's last question, and I am very interested in what happened to you before you came to the Solar System."

Only by understanding the Black Cuboid People's purpose on Earth can we determine whether there are any remaining threats left by the Black Cuboid People on Earth now.

The other party said, "The Wallfacer is correct; you currently lack the capability and the necessity to capture a First Epoch Life Form.

"We came to Earth to develop an industrial system for repairing our spaceship and to harvest the energy required for our spaceship."

Jiang Yu shook his head, "That answer isn't valuable; we have basically learned the answer from the 'Tianshan Murals'."

The other party did not argue but continued, "Venus also guessed our purpose, so it created a survival crisis for us.

"Unfortunately, it succeeded. The human body is too frail, and our transformation was not thorough enough; this disaster almost led to our annihilation.

"As for the situation before we arrived in the Solar System, please forgive me for not being able to answer."

Jiang Yu felt a wave of sadness; this method of communication made it hard for Jiang Yu and the others to lie but also easily exposed the other party's thoughts.

Jiang Yu risked saying, "You don't need to say it; I already know. You mentioned earlier that your civilization had encountered an Advanced Civilization.

"As you said, we are aware of the 'Dark Forest Law'. When two civilizations meet in the universe, the weaker can only choose to flee.

"Sometimes, even fleeing is a luxury."

The other party's sadness intensified, and connecting it to its initial question allowed Jiang Yu to know his guess was correct, "You're intergalactic refugees, aren't you?"

Only after a few seconds did the other party respond, "Yes, we are a group of wretches driven from our homes, the last spark of our civilization.

"The huge loss on Venus robbed us of any chance of revival!

"We shouldn't have gambled everything like that, but at the time, we had to take the risk; otherwise, extinction was just a matter of time.

"We have already lost all ancient technology from before antimatter energy; it's not possible for us to go back technologically. We could only go to Venus to take what we needed."

This dialogue made Jiang Yu understand many things. The other party might have realized they had misspoken and did not continue.

Jiang Yu felt somewhat disappointed and quickly changed the subject, "We can continue discussing the topic after the Indonesian volcano eruption, but if it requires a price, forget it; we have already obtained most of the information."

The other party's emotions had returned to a "defensive state," "There's not much to hide about that, earlier, to express our feelings of depression, we painted a lot of information in the 'Tianshan Murals'.

"That massive disaster cost us many lives, but there is a piece of history we did not record in the 'Murals'."

"Because we were accustomed to living dispersedly, many of our isolated kin were captured and eaten by famished Homo sapiens."

"Later, when we regrouped, we discovered that most of our compatriots had perished at the hands of Homo sapiens."

"Others died from a lack of food, as we were not yet well adapted to the ways Earthlings obtained energy, and thus had no habit of storing food."

Number Three said, "That doesn't make sense! You should have been armed to the teeth! How could you have been defeated by Homo sapiens?"

The other laughed, "Why did you suffer such a devastating defeat in the Uranus campaign?"

Zhao Yang said, "Of course, it was because of technology... "

The other said, "That's not the main reason. If your fleets had dispersed to colonize nearby star systems, you would have definitely suffered a crushing strategic defeat at the hands of the Trisolarans!

"Given your rate of development, you were bound to surpass the Trisolarans in the future! Even if most of Humanity was killed, you could have exacted your revenge."

Jiang Yu understood the other's point, "Pride!"

The other said, "Right, pride, that's one thing we have in common.

"At that time, our attention was all on Venus, and we never regarded Homo sapiens as our equals.

"Yet, they knew when to strike when we were most vulnerable, especially when we lost the protection of our intelligent systems to regroup with our companions. We were scarcely stronger than Homo sapiens."

The other continued to narrate, "Fortunately, a small number of us managed to gather, but soon we found that most of our equipment had been discarded in the name of survival, even losing the ability to return to and contact our ship.

"Thus, we were forced to survive like the Homo sapiens, a struggle you can't understand having not experienced it. We had the power to destroy worlds, yet did not know how to kill prey or which fruits were edible.

"After a long period of feast and famine, our longevity and knowledge gradually earned the worship of the Homo sapiens.

"You might not imagine, but we then spent a long time as prisoners, though we were easily fed and warmly clothed and widely respected.

"But we had little personal freedom and had to lead the Homo sapiens to our ship so that everyone in the tribe could receive 'divine baptism.'

"For a long time, we intentionally provided false information, because finding the ship could have been our doomsday!

"It was only when our Consciousness Transmitter started to malfunction, preventing our consciousness from entering new bodies, that we began the serious search for the ship.

"Turns out, we couldn't find it either, until over a hundred years ago, when the lifespan of my current body was about to end, that I finally found the ship.

"My original body had long decomposed, and by then the ship was too weak to prepare a new body for me, so upon entering the ship, I had to shake off the pursuing humans and upload my consciousness into the system!

"Now, the remaining energy of the ship can't support it much longer."

Number Three realized a problem, "Your bodies haven't been alive for 70,000 years, but have been replaced many times? It seems that your consciousness transmitting device broke down thousands of years ago, so how have you survived all this time?"

The other said, "We and the descendants of Homo sapiens have a very small chance of inheriting the longevity gene. Although it has weakened much, having a lifespan of several thousand years is no issue, so..."

Number Three waved a hand, signaling the other not to continue.

It was just a matter of finding who had inherited the longevity gene; a simple case of "the cuckoo taking over the nest."

Jiang Yu nodded in understanding; the origins of the Black Cuboid People, as well as their actions on Earth, were finally clear!

So, the one communicating with them was the last of the Black Cuboid People.