Humanity is missing, luckily I have billions of clones.

Chapter 382 I Have a Small Request
"This civilization doesn't intend to build a fleet to escape; instead, it wants to take its home planet with it and leave this star system?"
Propelling a large planet on interstellar travel?
Does this civilization value its local culture so much?

Li Qingsong initially couldn't understand it.

It's just a planet. There are so many in the universe, why not just pick one of the others?
But suddenly, Li Qingsong remembered his own civilization.

"Back then, our human civilization also valued our homeland very much... If we had the ability, perhaps our civilization would have made the same choice in the face of such a disaster."

Looking at the scene before him, Li Qingsong felt a sense of empathy.

only……

The project of propelling a large planet on interstellar travel is immense. Back when I was in the strong core stage, even at the peak of the strong core, and even though my special existence gave me engineering capabilities far exceeding those of civilizations of the same level, I only dared to propel a dwarf planet, and a relatively small one at that, on interstellar travel.

Even if I were to advance to a gravitational civilization by now, I still wouldn't be able to put a large planet into warp drive mode. Conventional travel would also be extremely difficult, requiring an immeasurable amount of resources and effort.

You, a mere strong-core civilization, at most only of medium strength, dare to undertake such a project? Aren't you overestimating yourselves?
Further exploration allowed Li Qingsong to obtain more information about this civilization.

He saw one massive underground passage after another, and countless resolute-faced people performing arduous and dangerous work day after day in vast construction sites. He saw that in some dangerous areas, when one spaceship was destroyed by an accident, another spaceship immediately rushed to its destination...

From some timers, Li Qingsong saw that this project had been going on for more than 1000 years.

"Well, with generations of people going one after another and persisting over a long period of time, it is indeed possible for an ordinary civilization to achieve this."

However, now that I'm here, you don't need to persist any longer, and there's no need to continue your 'wandering planet' project.

Because... I can cure this disease of stars.

I can restore this star to a state of steady burning.

Since this "disease" of stars is caused by an excessive accumulation of heavy elements in the core, the treatment is quite simple: just find a way to break up that "lump".

This sounds simple, but it's actually quite difficult. After all, this "patient" is a massive star, not some dwarf planet or asteroid.

To penetrate hundreds of thousands of kilometers of stellar material and transmit influence to the star's core requires not only extremely precise manipulation techniques and a thorough understanding of stellar motion, but also an enormous amount of energy.

Fortunately, Li Qingsong can meet both of these needs.

Gravitational-level detection methods allow Li Qingsong to thoroughly understand the distribution of matter and convection state inside stars, much like X-rays can detect lesions in the human body. The "stellar cannons" launched by the universal force field and electromagnetic life forms, both unique technologies and abilities of Li Qingsong, can provide sufficient energy.

Of course, even if Li Qingsong could meet these requirements, he couldn't completely cure the star's disease. Because under its own gravity, even if the heavy elements were broken up, they would still slowly accumulate back into the core, eventually forming a "lump" again.

But this method should allow the star to persist for another 10 years or more. As for what will happen 10 years from now, nobody knows; no one thinks that far ahead.

"Let's take this as an exchange; in return, you'll help me keep an eye out for traces of the Grey Worm Civilization..."

With this in mind, Li Qingsong's massive fleet began to slow down as it approached the ailing star.

……

Tavira, Dungeon Number One, Head of State's Office.

Having just finished a day's work, President Yashan had just fallen asleep. But less than 20 minutes later, a rapid ringing of the alarm clock woke him up.

When he opened the door, he saw his secretary looking anxious, terrified, and even a little desperate.

"Major emergency. Your Majesty, our deep space exploration department has detected... detected..."

A sense of foreboding flashed through President Yashan's mind: "What's wrong with our sun? Is it aging faster?"

"No, no, we detected a massive fleet that suddenly appeared at the edge of the galaxy and is approaching our star system..."

Preliminary analysis suggests that the fleet most likely arrived using faster-than-light travel; their technology far surpasses ours…

President Yashan's vision blurred, and he nearly fell. But he forced himself to remain composed and asked in a deep voice, "Has any information arrived?"

"Not yet. Also, this fleet is too far away, exceeding the limits of our electromagnetic communication range, so we are temporarily unable to make contact..."

"Call a meeting!"

Soon, a meeting was held, attended by the highest levels of all civilizations and top scientists.

The people's faces were filled with anxiety, fear, and despair.

The meeting lasted for three full days before it ended. No response strategy was discussed; only some information was clarified.

Sitting quietly behind his desk, President Yashan looked solemn.

The desperate voice of the military official from the previous meeting still seemed to echo in my ears.

"Your Majesty, you should be aware that the technology of this foreign fleet is not just a matter of how much more advanced it is than ours, but rather that there is at least a huge generational gap between us. It is a generational gap, do you understand?"

It's like our ancient ancestors facing airplanes and cannons with stone axes—we can't, we absolutely can't—there's no hope whatsoever, and we shouldn't even have the slightest expectation that we could defeat them.

So……

President Yashan picked up a pen and, with a slight tremor, wrote the first line on the paper: "Confrontation is impossible."

The words of that cosmologist came to mind.

"There are countless stars in this universe, and resources are everywhere. This advanced civilization's fleet couldn't have come to our star system for our natural resources."

Yes, impossible, there is absolutely no possibility.

What's so special about our galaxy? There's only one thing: our civilization…

Head of State Yashan wrote the second line.

"The goal is our civilization itself."

Then, his gaze fell upon the assessment report next to him, jointly prepared by the strategists of the Strategic Intelligence Research Office.

"...Based on our civilization's experience of encountering the 'Eye of Deception' thousands of years ago, we believe that the possibility of two unfamiliar civilizations coexisting peacefully in this universe is nonexistent. Even if both civilizations harbor goodwill, they cannot coexist peacefully, because one civilization cannot be certain whether the other harbors malice."

When two unfamiliar civilizations meet, keeping their distance is the best course of action. If one civilization actively approaches another, it can be assumed with absolute certainty that the other is malicious.

In this situation, the advanced civilization's fleet would certainly know that their approach would be interpreted as malicious by us. If they knowingly approach despite being perceived as malicious, then they are indeed malicious.

......"

With trembling hands, President Yashan wrote the third line: "This advanced civilization's fleet harbors ill intentions."

Combining these three lines, a very simple and direct conclusion appeared in his mind.

"This advanced civilization's fleet, which we have absolutely no chance of fighting, entered our star system with malice towards our civilization itself..."

At that moment, he felt a surge of emotions churning in his chest, making him want to roar and question the mysterious fate: why is it so unfair to our civilization?
First, the stars aged prematurely, forcing civilizations to relocate their home planets at a huge cost. Now, they are being targeted by a malicious advanced civilization.

Where exactly does our civilization find its way out?

But he once again suppressed his surging emotions.

He knew perfectly well that venting his emotions was pointless. As the head of state, what he should be doing and thinking about at this moment was how to lead civilization to find a glimmer of hope in this dead end.

Meeting after meeting were held, and by combining opinions and wisdom from all sides, a final solution was finally developed.

Facing the exhausted attendees, President Yashan spoke slowly and heavily: "Using the full strength of civilization to resist to the death, even if it means the death of all our people, to never be taken prisoner, while it embodies our values, has no practical significance."

We will only choose this path when all hope is lost. And this path itself can also serve as leverage in our negotiations with this advanced civilization's fleet.

According to comprehensive calculations by the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and other departments, our civilization needs to retain at least 10% of its population, or about 200 billion people, in order to pass on current technology and culture and preserve the flame of civilization.

Since the fleet's target is our civilization itself, then...

Our solution is to peacefully sacrifice 90% of the population, and guarantee that these 90% will cooperate with the fleet's management and accept any disposal, in exchange for the survival of 10% of the population, thus ensuring the continuation of civilization.

Our bargaining chip is this: if the fleet rejects this plan and forcibly attempts to capture our entire civilization, then... we will resist en masse, fight to the last man, and ensure that this advanced civilization loses nothing.

This is the most hopeful solution for the continuation of our civilization.

The attendees remained silent; not a single person stood up to object.

This approach is very inconsistent with civilized values, but... everyone knows that civilization must continue before we can talk about values ​​and such.

What's the use of values ​​if civilization is gone?

"Before this civilization enters our communication range, we should first complete a lottery process to determine who will stay and who will be dealt with by this advanced civilization."

Among them, scientific and technological personnel rated at Level 2 or above will be automatically reserved without needing to participate in the lottery. Then there are the following categories of personnel…”

He explained the plan for the lottery operation in detail, and finally whispered, "My family and I... don't need to participate in the lottery. Let's just go and be prisoners."

The attendees looked up, their faces filled with shock.

It's understandable that the Führer would set an example by forgoing the lottery to become a prisoner, but...

“They have enjoyed the benefits of my position as head of state, and now it is time for them to assume their responsibilities.”

Yashan said calmly, "Besides, if my family and I don't set an example, how can we expect the public to accept this plan? Now is not the time to talk about principles or morality. The most important thing is to ensure that the lottery goes smoothly."

The attendees remained silent for a long time before standing up one by one.

“My family and I also gave up the lottery and volunteered to become prisoners of war…”

……

Time flew by, and Li Qingsong's fleet finally slowed down and maneuvered to a distance of only about half a light-year from the star, entering the range of electromagnetic wave communication.

"Sigh, it's such a hassle not to have long-range communication terminals. We're a gravity civilization, yet we still have to rely on electromagnetic waves to communicate with other civilizations."

Aside from electromagnetic wave communication, there are no other means. Gravitational waves? The powerful nuclear civilization has not yet mastered sophisticated gravitational wave communication technology; at most, it can only receive some extremely simple information through gravitational wave detectors, and it cannot even send gravitational waves to respond.

Li Qingsong was too lazy to go through all that trouble, so he simply sent electromagnetic waves once he reached the distance.

However, before Li Qingsong could send a message, a message had already arrived at his signal receiving device.

"Respected foreign civilization, we are the Tavira civilization, which has lived here for generations."

We pray to you with utmost reverence: may we leave some seeds so that our civilization may continue?
For this, our civilization is willing to give up 70% of its population to become your captives, to be at your disposal, even as slaves, even if you use them all for biological experiments, we will not have the slightest complaint.

Our civilization is timid and cowardly, a weak civilization that only hopes to survive and has no aggressive tendencies. We beg for your mercy, we beg you to allow us to continue...

Respectfully presented by Yashan, the sovereign of the Tavira civilization, and by all 2000 billion lambs awaiting slaughter throughout civilization.

Upon seeing this message, Li Qingsong paused for a moment, then realized what it meant, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"This Tavira civilization is quite sincere... It's just a pity that I already have more than 1000 billion intelligent beings under my command to support. If I support you as well, it will be very difficult for me. You'd better fend for yourselves and don't count on me."

With that in mind, Li Qingsong responded to the civilization that called itself Tavira.

"Your Excellency Head of State Yashan, you and your civilization have misunderstood."

We are not a malicious civilization, and we are not here to capture your intelligent life.

Your star is sick, and I can cure it.

This is the purpose of our visit.

Of course, we also have a small request, but let's discuss it after I've finished my 'treatment'."

(End of this chapter)