Brother, just how powerful is our family?

"What about the indigenous people? What do they look like?"

The commander then pulled up another set of images.

Those are high-resolution photos taken by a reconnaissance ship in low Earth orbit. In the photos, intelligent beings are walking on the streets of a city.

They are not human.

They are about 1.4 to 1.6 meters tall, walk upright, and have limbs that are similar to those of humans, but the details are completely different.

Their skin is a light gray color, their heads are slightly larger than humans, and their facial features are somewhere between humans and felines—pointed ears, large eyes, and vertical slits for pupils.

"What are their names?" Qin Zhanjun asked.

"Their name for their planet roughly translates to 'homeland.' Their name for their race is roughly equivalent to 'human,'" the commander said. "We'll temporarily call them 'Grey Cats.'

"Gray cats," Qin Zhanjun repeated. "And their level of civilization?"

"Their recorded history is about 12,000 years. Longer than humans, but shorter than the Serandians. Their development was slow—perhaps due to a lack of certain key resources, or perhaps due to their social structure." The commander paused, "But what's most interesting is..."

He hesitated for a moment.

"What is it?"

"Their myths and legends," the commander's expression became subtle, "are very similar to those of ours on Earth."

Myths and legends?!

In the reconnaissance ship's conference room, several analysts were organizing data collected from the Gray Cat Civilization.

They mainly obtained information in two ways: first, by remotely intercepting radio signals—the Gray Cat civilization had already begun using radio, and although their encoding methods were different from those of humans, it was only a matter of time before they could crack them; second, by sending stealth probes to land on planetary surfaces to directly collect physical information such as books, murals, and stone carvings.

In just one week, they have collected a massive amount of data.

"Look at this," an analyst said, pointing to an image on the screen. "This is one of their oldest written records, about eight thousand years old. It says—'In the distant past, the sky split open, enormous flames descended from the heavens, the earth shook, the seas overflowed, and countless people of their race perished.'"

"A massive flood? A meteorite impact?"

"Yes. And there's more than just this one." The analyst pulled up more data. "Look at this, a mural from six thousand years ago—there's a huge fireball in the sky, and creatures on the ground are fleeing in all directions. And look at this, an epic from five thousand years ago—'The gods were angered and unleashed a cataclysmic disaster; only a few survived.'"

"Isn't this just like the legends on Earth? A great flood, meteorites falling from the sky, the gods destroying the world..."

"Yes. And it's not just the Graycat civilization." The analyst's expression turned serious. "We explored more than twenty star systems this year, and eleven of them harbor intelligent life. We conducted detailed studies on seven of them, and the results—"

He pulled up a huge spreadsheet.

The names of the seven civilizations are neatly arranged on the table.

Behind every civilization are the contents of its myths and legends.

The first civilization (codename: Scaled Race): with a recorded history of approximately 30,000 years. Myth and legend: "In ancient times, the sky god and the earth mother fought a war. Stars fell, the earth sank, and only those who escaped by boat survived."

The second civilization (codename: Clan A): has a recorded history of approximately 15,000 years. Myth and legend: "Long, long ago, a giant star fell from the sky, the earth cracked open, and floods poured out from the cracks, submerging the entire world."

The third civilization (codename: Feathered Race): With a recorded history of approximately 40,000 years. Mythological legend: "At the beginning of creation, an evil behemoth descended from the stars and devoured everything. Brave ancestors fought the behemoth and ultimately sealed it underground. But that battle destroyed the old world."

The fourth civilization (codename: Fin Clan): with a recorded history of approximately 20,000 years. Myth and legend: "The sea once rose, submerging all the land. Our ancestors hid on floating islands and waited for hundreds of years until the waters receded."

The fifth civilization (codename: Ao Clan): With a recorded history of approximately 10,000 years. Myth and legend: "A huge rock fell from the sky, creating a large crater in the earth. From then on, the climate changed, and many animals died."

The Sixth Civilization (codename: Xu Clan): With a recorded history of approximately 50,000 years. Mythological legend: "The ancient ancestors possessed magical powers, capable of flying and escaping the earth. However, they were too arrogant and angered the heavens, who punished them by destroying their cities and turning them back into barbarians."

The seventh civilization—the Gray Cat Clan: With a recorded history of approximately 12,000 years. Myth and legend: "The sky split open, flames descended, the earth shook, and the seas overflowed."

Seven civilizations.

Seven different races.

Seven civilizations located in different galaxies, separated by several light-years or even tens of light-years.

Their myths and legends are strikingly similar.

The analyst took a deep breath: "This is no coincidence."

"Of course it's not a coincidence," another analyst chimed in. "If one civilization has a flood legend, it might mean a flood actually happened. If two civilizations have it, it might be a coincidence. But if seven civilizations have it—and the content is so similar—there's only one explanation."

"What explanation?"

"These legends record real historical events."

The meeting room fell silent.

A true historical event.

If these legends are true, it means that in the distant past, when all these civilizations were still in their infancy, a great catastrophe occurred.

A catastrophe that spanned tens of light-years and affected countless galaxies.

A catastrophe powerful enough to destroy the old world and force all civilizations to start anew.

"There's one more thing," the first analyst spoke up, his voice a little hoarse, "Have you noticed the length of history these civilizations have?"

Everyone looked at the form.

Scaled Clan: 30,000 years.

Clan A: 15,000 years ago.

Feathered Clan: 40,000 years.

Fin Clan: 20,000 years.

Claw Clan: Ten thousand years.

The Xu tribe: 50,000 years.

Gray Cat Clan: 12,000 years.

The longest recorded history is that of the Xu tribe, with 50,000 years of written records. The shortest is that of the Ao tribe, with only 10,000 years.

"Is there a problem?" someone asked.

"This is a big problem." The analyst stood up and walked to the window. Outside the window was the starry sky of the Outpost Galaxy, with countless points of light twinkling in the darkness.

"These galaxies, including our solar system, have existed for billions of years. Billions of years. The time it takes for life to evolve may only be a few hundred million years. But how long does it take for intelligent civilizations—from their emergence to the development of writing, to what we see today—to exist?"