Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 265 3C-Level Civilization Test Questions (5k)

The appearance of four-dimensional fragments and carbon-based life forms made the Supreme Commander feel a sense of urgency, accelerating the fleet's leapfrog development.

The Second Helical Arm Battle only destroyed the entire invading fleet of the Silicon-based Empire, but the Silicon-based Empire still occupies the top of the First Helical Arm. With the god-level individuals not taking action and the God Civilization retiring, the severely weakened Carbon-based Federation will find it difficult to completely wipe out the Silicon-based Empire in a short period of time.

We must realize the 'Great Wall' project, which is 10,000 light-years long and 500 light-years wide, before the silicon-based empire can react.

Destroy all stars within the 'light-year belt' to completely stop the silicon-based empire's stellar leapfrog development, forever restricting the silicon-based empire's invaders to travel at light speed or sub-light speed.

Under the command of the supreme commander, the remaining two hundred-plus four-dimensional hypercubes gradually overlapped to form a five-dimensional hypercube.

A five-dimensional hypercube has 32 vertices, each formed by "stretching" a four-dimensional hypercube along the fifth dimension. Each three-dimensional "face" is a cube. It has 80 edges and 80 vertices.

This fleet consisted of eight regiments.

More than 200 four-dimensional space structure fleet groups were condensed into eight five-dimensional space structure fleet groups.

Five-dimensional fleet!

The extremely dense five-dimensional fleet completed all jumps in just 0.025 time particles, although this would consume a large amount of vacuum zero-point energy and lead to the end of this giant planet.

But that doesn't matter; the main purpose of the carbon-based Federation fleet's mission is to destroy enough stars.

This level of energy consumption caused the star to exhibit more than just stellar redshift; it directly propelled the star into a supernova explosion. The supernova explosion lasted approximately 3 seconds, after which the residual material formed a neutron star with a mass hundreds of times that of the Sun. The extremely high gravity caused the neutron star material to exceed neutron degeneracy pressure, subsequently forming a massive black hole. The black hole formed even faster, in just one and a half seconds.

In less than five seconds, this object, with a mass three hundred times that of the sun, became a black hole.

Of course, as a price to pay for sacrificing this prime-aged star, the carbon-based fleet also completed all the transfers in one go, shortening the future by at least 1.25 time particles to within a month, most of which was wasted when the fleet overlapped into a five-dimensional space array.

Fortunately, both the supernova explosion and the black hole formation are far away from the Evil Qing, a full 15 light-years away. Neither the Evil Qing nor the Lord of the Rings civilization will be able to witness this event for another 15 years.

If the distance were reduced from 15 light-years to 100 astronomical units, then the only way for Evil to survive in the face of such a supernova explosion would be to hide in four-dimensional debris to avoid being hit.

Once the superior-grade spirit sword, the Green Wood Sword, is caught up by the supernova explosion, its sword spirit will be destroyed by high-energy particle radiation and reduced to its original form. The sword body will be riddled with holes and become a discarded spirit sword.

A distance of 15 light-years saved it.

Evil Qing obediently stayed inside the graveyard fragment, waiting for the fragment to slowly revolve around the black hole. Fifty years later, the fragment would be restored to the position it had just fallen to.

As for whether the 'return journey' home will ever happen, E Qing doesn't know. If he still can't go back after fifty years, then he might have to think of other ways...

...

A month later.

The Milky Way's carbon-based Federation fleet has now dispersed and jumped to a thousand stars. The space dust brought over by the stellar leaps has been ionized, becoming clouds that glow with a dark red light, looming over the dark universe.

The five-dimensional fleet and the earlier four-dimensional fleet began to gradually detach from the high-dimensional space array and lay flat in the three-dimensional universe.

The first round of stellar leapfrogging has ended, and the second round is about to begin. The fleet will continue to expand and eventually become ten thousand sub-fleets, which will be under unified command and dispatch through a low-energy seven-dimensional line.

Although seven-dimensional communication has a delay of a few seconds, it has the advantage of low energy consumption, which is one millionth of that of eight-dimensional communication. As long as there is no surprise attack from the silicon-based empire, the fleet under seven-dimensional communication is enough to react. It is not too late to adopt eight-dimensional communication after entering a state of war.

The Supreme Commander was surrounded by a faint blue aura, which was his mental field.

While it's called a mind field, it's more accurately described as an intelligent field. Among the many fleet commanders of the Carbon-Based Federation, only this supreme commander is known for his composure.

Over the past 1500 million years (Earth time), the Supreme Commander has directed fourteen major battles against the Silicon Empire, including the annihilation of the Empire's last fleet in the gap between the First and Second Helical Arms. But no matter how intense or perilous the battles, the Supreme Commander's intelligent field has always remained a perpetually calm pale blue.

The intelligent field is a symbol of the Supreme Commander's personality. His intelligent field only turns pale yellow when he is facing his carbon-based brethren. Apart from that, the only thing that can cause him to experience emotional fluctuations is the discovery of new carbon-based life forms.

But now, like everyone else, the Supreme Commander's AI field is tinged with a faint blue.

"The first round of stellar frog leaps is over, and the fleet has been completely evacuated."

The fleet commander's intelligent field trembled, transmitting this information to the senators on either side and the supreme commander at the head.

Supreme Commander: "This is just the beginning. The subsequent stellar frog jumps must be completed within 20 time particles, and we should strive to reach the first spiral arm as soon as possible."

Fleet Commander: "One million galactic-class warships will be dispersed into ten thousand squadrons, each squadron consisting of 100 galactic-class warships. These ten thousand squadrons will divide the space into ten thousand light-years. Each squadron will be responsible for clearing space 500 light-years wide, 1 light-year long, and 1000 light-years high. Every galactic-class warship will enter the light-speed travel phase of its warp drive. The fleet will simultaneously create one million dead lines using high-powered warp drives. These one million dead lines will intersect and extinguish stars, forming an interstellar Great Wall to prevent the silicon-based empire from leaping in."

Supreme Commander: "Although the governor has given us a tight deadline, requiring us to complete the construction of the Great Wall within 100 time particles, the fleet still cannot rush things. During stellar time, we must follow the established scanning procedures to confirm whether there is any native civilization in the target star system."

Fleet Commander: "Your Excellency... the fleet is expected to destroy approximately 2000 million stars. It is almost certain that life exists in star systems of this magnitude, and the number is probably not small. Should we let these life forms affect the construction of the 'Great Wall'? If so, then the dead-line defense network against the silicon-based empire may have loopholes."

Supreme Commander: "Preserve civilizations as much as possible... Before extinguishing the star, we can conduct a basic test on the civilizations existing in the star system. Civilizations above level 1C can be preserved, and questions for level 1C civilizations will be drawn from the knowledge base."

Fleet Commander: "Your Excellency, the test for a level 1C civilization is too easy. You should know that the criteria for a level 1C civilization are simply whether or not they use fire, or whether or not they use something like chemical energy. The number of such civilizations will probably be quite large in the future."

The pale yellow hue of the Supreme Commander's intelligent field intensified.

Senator: "Commander, Commander-in-Chief, I suggest setting the civilization test at level 3C, meaning the standard should be whether a civilization knows the three laws of thermodynamics, or at the very least, the first law of thermodynamics. A primitive civilization that doesn't even know the first law of thermodynamics probably won't have much of a future. We absolutely don't need to let these low-level civilizations cause our defenses to falter. Remember, ensuring the safety of the Carbon-Based Federation's galactic territory is paramount. In the past 20,000 galactic years of war, millions of carbon-based civilizations perished. To prevent a repeat, the necessary sacrifices are worthwhile."

Another senator said, "Supreme Commander, the Dark Forest Strike is spreading rampantly in this dark universe, and even the Milky Way under the rule of the Carbon-Based Federation is not immune. Although the Carbon-Based Federation is powerful, the Milky Way is simply too vast, and the extinction of civilizations is happening all the time. We do not need to pay a greater price for a few low-level civilizations."

The Supreme Commander had to take responsibility for the next action. Since he was the former commander-in-chief of the fleet targeting the Silicon Empire, he was well aware of the cruelty of war and therefore no longer insisted.

The Supreme Commander said, "Let's use the 3C level civilization test as the boundary. Civilizations above 3C level will be spared from survival, and stars with 3C level civilizations will be preserved. Star systems with civilizations below 3C level will be eliminated."

The fleet commander added, "To avoid any gaps in the defenses, even star systems inhabited by civilizations above level 3C cannot be completely ignored. Stars inhabited by level 3C civilizations must use warp drives to create a diffuse slow fog, forming a dark zone and achieving a security declaration. This will ensure that the silicon-based empire cannot leapfrog through these dark zones, and will also ensure that civilizations reaching level 3C will not be killed by a sudden Dark Forest attack." The Supreme Commander added, "This will forever deprive civilizations trapped in the dark zones of their right to explore the stars, and they will gradually perish in internal strife."

Fleet Commander: "Not every civilization is qualified to explore the stars. Fate is always cruel, as it has always been throughout the universe."

Supreme Commander: "Let's add a restriction: civilizations of level 5b and above can be exempted from the blockade of the Misty Black Domain."

A defining characteristic of a Type 5b civilization is that its individual members leave their home planet and enter its orbit, much like Gagarin during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. Such a civilization has already glimpsed the vastness of space and should not be blocked.

The Supreme Commander believed that it was too cruel to trap these civilizations that had witnessed the stars in an eternal blockade, forever bound to their star systems.

Fleet Commander: "That's not a problem."

The fleet commander and the senator standing nearby had no objections. Compared to a Class 3C civilization, a Class 5B civilization is considerably more difficult to achieve. Almost all civilizations will never be able to develop into a Class 5B civilization. Class 5B civilization is a watershed moment in cosmic civilization. In that desolate star field of the first spiral arm, there are probably not many Class 5B civilizations that will be born.

The omission of one or two stars will not affect the effectiveness of the "Great Wall".

Within the Carbon-Based Federation, there is a renowned carbon-based race known as the "Festival Race." Individuals of the Festival Race have a peculiar hobby: to lurk within 4B-level and 3B-level civilizations, eagerly awaiting the recording of these civilizations' 'festivals'.

They call the planetary rotation day on which the target civilization enters space "Birth Day," to celebrate the target civilization's entry into a Type 5b civilization. However, at the same time, the festival-loving tribe will continue to infiltrate the target civilization to observe whether, before reaching Type 6b, the civilization will become addicted to virtual technology and abandon its external exploration due to its development. If it has already become addicted and abandoned its external exploration, then the festival-loving tribe will call the planetary rotation day on which the target civilization becomes addicted to virtual technology "Abortion Day."

The path of civilization development is fraught with pitfalls at every step. Without the support of advanced civilizations, the vast majority of civilizations stumble into various traps during their self-development, which is no different from the explanation of the Fermi Paradox.

Fleet Commander: "Commander, do you wish to continue commanding the fleet, or return to the Galactic Center?"

Supreme Commander: "From beginning to end, I will be stationed in the flagship fleet."

Fleet Commander: "Then I will not overstep my bounds to command your fleet. After arriving at the first spiral arm, if your flagship fleet is ambushed by the Silicon-based Empire or besieged by a native civilization that believes in the Dark Forest Law, please inform me immediately."

The senator's bright orange aura shone through: "A native civilization that believes in the Dark Forest Theory dares to besiege the Galactic Fleet? They're really asking for trouble."

The Supreme Commander agreed: "The Silicon Empire is no longer capable of ambushing us. The First Arm is a desolate place, and it is unlikely that there will be any force capable of threatening the squadron."

Fleet Commander: "It's always better to be safe than sorry. Traces of two-dimensional foil weapons and warp-speed spaceships have also been detected on the edge of the first spiral arm. Although sparse, there are still quite a few intermediate civilizations. These weapon traces are most likely due to the Dark Forest Theory. After all, the brilliance of the Carbon-Based Federation has not yet shone on every corner of the galaxy."

Supreme Commander: "These weapons are just toys, but I'll keep an eye on them."

Fleet Commander: "Then let's begin the second round of stellar leapfrogging, Your Excellency. After the mission is completed, we'll meet again in the Silver Heart. May the Federation endure forever."

Supreme Commander: "May the Federation endure forever, see you in the Silver Heart."

...

The fleet began another round of sublight-speed cruising. All the nearby sublight-speed engines activated simultaneously, and thousands of blue suns suddenly appeared around the flagship. The fleet then began a second split, forming a formation of one hundred ships at a time. The vacuum zero-point energy engines caused the space around the fleet to fluctuate, and the thousands of blue suns began to sway as if they had fallen into water before flying off in different directions.

"The war is finally coming to an end."

As the relative distance between them grew increasingly sparse, until finally only 99 Galaxy-class warships remained in the super-small fleet, everyone sighed with emotion.

Once the blockade of the silicon-based empire is completed, this war can come to an end.

Twenty thousand galactic years (5 million years) have not erased the Supreme Commander and the senators' most terrifying memories of the Galactic War. Even the Supreme Commander wasn't always a commander; he was simply the longest-surviving member of this long war. Long before he was just an ordinary interstellar warship captain, he had already witnessed the most devastating super-war in the universe caused by the Dark Forest Theory.

Aside from the crucial victory in the Second Spiral Arm campaign, the intensity and losses of the war in the Galactic Center region were the most terrifying in the early stages of the war. At that time, the Galactic Carbon-based Federation fleet barely regained some initiative after being severely damaged. Subsequently, all the advanced carbon-based civilization fleets engaged in a chaotic battle with the invading fleet of the silicon-based Empire, as their command systems could not cover the entire area.

In the core war zone, supernova remnants and black holes were everywhere, but the most terrifying thing was not these celestial bodies. Rather, it was the massive melee between the allied forces of various advanced carbon-based civilizations, who spontaneously resisted and believed in the laws of the Light Ocean, and the invading silicon-based empire fleet.

The unimaginably large number of warships on both sides conducted numerous ultra-short-distance spacetime jumps for tactical maneuvers. This resulted in the creation of numerous three-dimensional spatial wormholes, and the warp drive smoothed out large areas. At the time, some interstellar fighters engaged in space combat, and the shortest spacetime jump distance was only a few kilometers, which in the context of interstellar warfare was almost the distance of a hand-to-hand combat.

Two-dimensional foils and light-speed kinetic energy weapons were indiscriminately unleashed like ordinary artillery shells. Among these were even advanced weapons such as thermal rings (regional heat death weapons) and ice cubes (atomic-level space solidification), leaving the ancient battlefield's spacetime structure in ruins. The battlefield ruins were filled with two-dimensional zones, high-energy radiation zones, solidified space zones, heat death zones, and even decay zones caused by vacuum decay triggered by a civilization's desperation.

So much so that even millions of risk-mitigating sensors couldn't stop the fighting.

Stop hitting us! We still have to go to work!!!

Has anyone considered the feelings of robot vacuum cleaners?
Finally, the exasperated Risk Removers Sensors chose to attack the Silicon Empire, the invaders, and joined the Carbon Federation, becoming the first god-like civilization to intervene in the galactic war.

These millions of ideal blackbodies swallowed up many silicon-based imperial warships and provided considerable assistance to the carbon-based Federation.

In short, that massive battle was the first stalemate after the Carbon-based Federation suffered successive defeats under the offensive of the Silicon-based Empire, comparable to the Battle of Shanghai in human warfare. Although it was ultimately forced to cede most of the Galactic Center region, the Carbon-based Federation shattered the Silicon-based Empire's hopes of a swift victory. Subsequently, the Federation finally reacted, completely unifying all advanced carbon-based civilizations within the galaxy, bringing the war into a tactical stalemate and counter-offensive phase, resulting in an interstellar version of the Battle of Stalingrad and the Normandy landings, and ultimately completing the final annihilation battle in the Second Spiral Arm region.

It is precisely because of the application of various conceptual weapons that the ancient battlefield ruins in the galactic center region have become a wasteland. If a low-tech spaceship accidentally enters this region, it is easily twisted into a thin metal rope by the distorted space, or compressed into a thin film with an area of ​​hundreds of millions of square kilometers but a thickness of only a few atoms, and finally torn to shreds by the radiation of high-energy particles.

But more likely, it will inexplicably become a 'painting,' a 'fire,' a 'ice,' or fall into an eternal slumber within the death zone...

The past is too painful to recall, but thankfully it's all almost over.

"Supreme Commander, where are you going?" the senator asked.

Supreme Commander: "I suddenly remembered that I copied an interesting life form. Before we reach the first spiral arm, I'll go and have a chat with it."

Supreme Commander: "The universe is always boring, only carbon-based companions can bring a little fun. I cherish this, and I hope you do too."

As the senator observed, the Supreme Commander, radiating a pale golden aura of intelligence, leisurely departed into the distance.

(End of this chapter)