Chapter 605: A Big Tree_1

Invitation? To do what? A Dwarf Planet day trip?

Most crucially, what kind of legitimate life forms live on a dwarf planet?

There's no atmosphere, and gravity is low. If one had to live there, the transformation would be time-consuming and laborious, and building a space city of the same scale would make more sense.

Jiang Yu speculated, "Could this dwarf planet have something to do with the 'Curtain' we captured?"

Could it be a companion of the "Curtain"? If they were Second Era life forms, it wouldn't be surprising for them to dwell on a dwarf planet.

But the problem is the "Curtain" seemed to display a very low level of intelligence.

At this moment, the commander of the Second Corps joined the channel and inquired, "Should we launch an attack immediately?"

If it's another civilization, then a Dark Forest Strike it is!

However, Jiang Yu did not give a clear order; instead, he asked further, "In what form was this invitation sent?"

Song Xingrui answered, "It was similar to a neuron computer signal."

Jiang Yu pinched his forehead, "That's strange."

Could the species of the "Curtain" really create such advanced equipment?

Xiao Qi speculated, "Could they also be a civilization here to capture Second Era life forms?"

Any intelligent life would want to understand its origins. Second Era life forms are rare biological samples for humanity, and they should also be very valuable research subjects for other intelligent beings.

If it's as Xiao Qi speculated, then prepare to either attack or let the mothership self-destruct!

Whatever the other's intentions, their invitation seems to be of ill will.

Just as Jiang Yu was about to issue the attack command, he suddenly had a second thought and asked, "Give me details about how the dwarf planet was discovered, and report the preliminary exploration of the dwarf planet in more detail."

Then he said to the commander of the Second Corps, "Be ready to launch a Dark Forest Strike at any time!"

The commander of the Second Corps saluted and said, "Yes!"

Next, Song Xingrui reported, "Actually, it should be said that the dwarf planet found us; it suddenly appeared in the radar's field of view, and I immediately made a report."

He paused then continued, "The dwarf planet is now following our reconnaissance mothership, maintaining a distance of about one astronomical unit!"

"Hmm, the reconnaissance mothership didn't detect any trail from the other party. It can be basically determined that it is not a spaceship.

"Preliminary detection of the dwarf planet shows that its surface is rock structured, and on the gravitational wave detection map, there are many echoes inside it, indicating that many parts of its interior seem to be hollow."

Jiang Yu scratched his head, "So, the other party had a chance to ambush us but instead sent us an invitation?"

"Perhaps this is a ruse of theirs?" Xiao Qi guessed.

Suddenly, Jiang Yu said, "Be confident! If it's a sincere invitation and we attack them, wouldn't that be impolite?"

Xiao Qi earnestly replied, "I must remind you, there are no courtesies in the Dark Forest, only traps and destruction."

"Do you think I'm a three-year-old child?" Jiang Yu was a bit disappointed as if to suggest that Xiao Qi was lucky to have been picked up and not born to him, or else with such foolishness, he might suspect that he was secretly adopted by Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yu pointed out, "With all the civilizations we've encountered, it's basically fisticuffs upon meeting, as if they're ready to knock each other's brains out.

"This is the first time we've received an invitation from another civilization. They have such a tactic for one of two reasons: the first is that they know humanity is not a match for them.

"The second is that they have no concept of the Dark Forest Law."

Jiang Yu paused, "If it's the former, our resistance will immediately enrage them; if it's the latter, there's no need for us to be hasty in attacking."

Xiao Qi reminded him, "You once sent an invitation to the Trisolarans yourself."

"No way!" Jiang Yu said with a smile, "I would never take a group of my compatriots to meet the other side, plus we and the Trisolarans are old acquaintances, while we're not so familiar with this dwarf planet.

"Do you understand? Just because we have never encountered the situation we face now, we shouldn't force this invitation to fit into the Dark Forest Law."

Xiao Qi nodded thoughtfully, "Then what is your plan?"

"To accept this invitation!" said Jiang Yu, "If the other side is an advanced civilization, then I will try to stall them for as long as possible, while humanity should enter the fifth dimension or a microcosmos as quickly as possible.

"If the other civilization is not highly advanced, it wouldn't be too late to eliminate them after we have accepted their invitation and completed our visit.

"We cannot miss humanity's only chance to escape just by rigidly adhering to the Dark Forest Law!

He continued, "Don't stick to the old ways, as the universe is fickle."

Xiao Qi nodded again, "I will remember that."

Jiang Yu gave a slight smile and said to Song Xingrui, "Dispatch a probe to accept the invitation."

The Reconnaissance Mothership, far away at over twenty thousand light-years, upon receiving the command, released a large Interstellar Probe.

This probe was much larger than the standard models. It was capable of receiving real-time signals, conducting multifaceted detection, and one of its cameras could even extend out to observe its own condition.

Soon, the probe approached the dwarf planet, bringing its optical image into view for Jiang Yu and the others.

The dwarf planet was about two-thirds the size of the Moon, with its surface dotted with craters. Uniquely, there appeared to be a blurred protrusion at the top of the dwarf planet.

When the probe was about thirty thousand kilometers away from the dwarf planet, it suddenly received an intelligent signal. After translation, it roughly said,

"Cheers for your courage, day after day, year after year, not a single civilization dared to accept the invitation; it's clear you have great confidence in yourselves."

Jiang Yu took a deep breath; his guess had been right on target.

What happened to the civilizations that didn't accept the invitation, Jiang Yu didn't know; all he knew was that it was the dwarf planet that ultimately survived.

But he felt no joy, "A wishful plan to steal chickens only to end up losing the rice!"

We failed to find the Singer civilization but ran into this tough nut!

Jiang Yu immediately commanded, "Initiate an emergency state nationwide, everyone must start entering the fifth dimension or the microcosmos to avoid the Dark Forest Strike!"

Then, he ordered to Song Xingrui, "Send the intelligence decryption code; I will have a good talk with them."

While sending the intelligence decryption code, Jiang Yu said to Xiao Qi, "Contact Jiang Shiliu and have him prepare for support."

Xiao Qi responded promptly and hurriedly ordered his subordinates to activate the cross-dimensional communication system.

The other party responded quickly, "This little gadget you sent proves your immense creativity. Come then, approach me."

Suddenly, the Interstellar Probe disappeared from the radar, and all its signals were cut off.

However, shortly after, the radar showed that it had appeared in the area of the protrusion on the dwarf planet, and the signals resumed.

This was clearly spatial jump technology, but the method used by the other party to capture the probe was unknown to the observers.

Once the signal was restored, Jiang Yu and others saw a giant tree!

The tree was so enormous that the probe, with a diameter of around twenty meters, looked like a small pebble in front of it.

The tree was lush and leafy, with white bark and greenish-yellow leaves.

The area here was rather dim, but the tree seemed to emit a faint light of its own, giving it an almost holy appearance.

The protuberance of the dwarf planet turned out to be a towering giant tree!