People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

If you have never known the light, how can you pursue it? The most painful thing for a person is to feel powerless when trying to do something.

It was with this guilt that Mark Max, for decades before Ernst met Trevor Friston, refused to approach his father, even though he knew where he was.

He felt that his current achievements were still too insignificant compared to the civilizations of the past. He believed that as a descendant of the fallen, he bore a mission and was therefore afraid of disappointing Trevor Friston.

But now, he can finally openly admit that he has taken the first step.

Or rather, he has reassembled a wrecked ship of a prehistoric civilization from a pile of scrap metal and begun his "return voyage."

Ernst praised him lavishly:

“You are the most amazing AI I have ever seen, Mark Max.”

Mark Max found this statement particularly pleasing, so much so that after Ernst said it, he stood there stunned for a long time before recovering from the CPU overheating.

"I am honored to receive such praise from you."

Ernst felt that his tone just now was a bit off, and he had a feeling that pink bubbles were starting to appear around him.

Fortunately, he was in the form of a winged beast.

Meanwhile, Kal'tsit, who was walking towards Ernst, suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason.

【Didn't I just send it back to the factory for repairs?】

A somewhat surprised thought arose in Kal'tsit's mind: ☆ Kal'tsit called out to Ernst:

"Lord Ernst, um, please come here for a moment."

"What is it?" Ernst turned around. He was about to set off to greet the triumphant space hero Christensen, but Kelsey stopped him. Compared to Mark Max, he unconsciously turned his scrutinizing gaze to her, waiting for her to give an explanation.

Kal'tsit was taken aback by the gaze, and shrank back a little, but quickly straightened up again.

She's here on important business, what's there to be afraid of?

Wait, wasn't she supposed to have important business with Ernst that time? Why would she have this strange stress response?

She shook her head almost imperceptibly, shaking off the strange thoughts in her mind, and solemnly said:

"The doctor needs to speak with you."

He said he had some clues about the problem.

Ernst paused for a moment, and to Kelsey's surprise, he did not immediately agree, but shook his head.

"Let me go and greet our hero first."

Kal'tsit was slightly taken aback:

"But"

"I'll go find the doctor, no need to rush."

Ernst waved his hand.

On the other side, at the landing site of the return capsule.

Christensen walked out of the return capsule with a belly full of questions. Around the landing site, the cordon had been set up and security personnel surrounded the return capsule, but they still couldn't stop the crowds who wanted to pour in.

The space base is a military base, but the people there are very enthusiastic.

The security around the area was extremely tight, but the people were very enthusiastic.

The exact time of the return capsule's landing was a secret, but people were very enthusiastic.

Passion can overcome everything, so a large group of journalists, leaders of technology companies, scientists who were unable to participate in the launch plan, and even ordinary people in the frontier area all chose the most unreasonable method. They stayed up all night for several days and nights, and finally waited and witnessed the landing of the return capsule.

The camera flashes and the cheers of the crowd vibrated in Christensen's ears. Normally, for Rhine Life, to obtain more investment to realize her space dream, and also for Ernst, she would usually show a business smile and wave to the crowd.

But today, she really wasn't in the mood.

She was pondering another question.

What exactly did she mean by the "murmurs" she heard in space with the Shapeshifter swarm?

Chapter 1027 Treasure Treasure Treasure Treasure Treasure Treasure

One day after the Star-Picking Project ended.

Columbia, a space base, in a futuristic office with two full safes.

"You mean you heard some strange noises in the universe? And the Shapeshifter even lost one of his clones because of it?"

Looking at Christensen in front of him, Ernst's face showed the same surprise as hers.

The existence of something else in the universe was not unexpected for Ernst, after all, he had just broken through an isolation layer and immediately received a signal from the main body of [Heavenly Pivot].

To his surprise, Christensen could actually tell.

Am I wrong with the theory of evolution I've learned? I remember dogs should have a better sense of smell, and bats should be the ones that can distinguish sound waves, right?

Aren't you making it seem like you're taking away Warfarin's niche? She's already having a hard time being stuck on the bridge every day!

However, although the possibility was slim, Ernst also considered another low-probability scenario.

In the vast universe, perhaps the once glorious human civilization had more than just Terra and its few survivors.

The reason why this possibility is considered very small is because Precys, Trevor Friston, and the Doctor all unanimously and unequivocally told themselves that the last hope for human civilization rested on their shoulders.

Ernst is definitely inclined to trust his own people. He's not the kind of person who goes to the hospital for a checkup and then uses Baidu results to question the doctor with overflowing confidence. The doctor and others truly experienced that era and witnessed the "Observer's" cleansing of the entire civilization. The conclusions they reached are the highest authority conclusions that the survivors can draw.

Of course, maintaining skepticism and questioning authority was also an instinct Ernst had developed. Although he never mentioned it, he did have a slight doubt about the idea that "there are no more survivors in the vast universe."

Are there no other geniuses in human civilization? Is there absolutely no possibility of devising other plans for survival?

Even setting aside the level and completion of the [Originium] project, and even with a project like the [Preserver] which was just a filler project, Trevor Friston still survived, didn't he?

[Observer] Were they really killed so cleanly?

To be on the safe side, Ernst immediately expressed his concern, frowning as he pressed for an answer:

"Kristen, explain yourself clearly, what did you hear?"

Startled by Ernst's reaction, Christensen took a small step back, then shook her head.

"I can't tell."

"What do you mean?" Ernst frowned even more deeply.

Christen hesitated for a moment, then decided to imitate it for Ernst:

“(Unknown language) Ah Minos, Idgorami, Ababa aba, Jiligulu—”

Ernst: ""

Now it was Ernst's turn to take a step back in fear.

If Ernst hadn't confirmed that he didn't sense any demonic corruption on Christensen, he would have thought she had been infected with some kind of collapse paradigm!

Seeing this, Christen stopped imitating, shrugged at Ernst, and looked helpless.

Ernst looked at him incredulously: "You heard that?"

“Not entirely,” Christen shook her head.

"What else?" Ernst asked again.

Christensen gave him a serious look:

Are you sure you still want to hear this?

She spread her hands:

“I don’t mind, you can continue to imitate me if you want.”

Ernst: "Then forget it."

Although there are only four people in this office right now—Ernst, Kristen, Kal'tsit, and the Shapeshifter—two of whom are the parties involved and two are insiders with knowledge of prehistoric civilizations, strictly speaking, there are no outsiders.

But for the sake of Christensen's image, Ernst decided to try his best to prevent his beloved blonde CEO from making those strange and unpleasant noises.

So he turned his head and looked at the shapeshifter standing to the side: Eight

"Shapeshifter, come here and repeat it!"

Shapeshifter: "?"

The shapeshifter's dead fish eyes stared at Ernst: Three

Why choose us?

Ernst, without batting an eye, answered with composure and dignity:

"Your ability can guarantee the maximum reproduction of those sounds. Christensen is lacking in this aspect and is not as good as you."

The shapeshifter's gaze swept between Ernst and Kristen, then he rolled his eyes.

He knows everything; he's not stupid!

Are we also part of your play? If Christensen gets sick in the future, will she need us to replace her meals?

The shapeshifter must declare that although he has no gender, no orientation, no object of affection, and no emotional needs,

But it doesn’t seem impossible.

Ernst shuddered as he noticed the shapeshifter's inexplicably scrutinizing gaze.

Prejudice in people's hearts is like Sichuan. For some reason, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

Fortunately, the sensation didn't last long; the shapeshifter quickly averted its gaze and began its physical transformation.

In front of Ernst and the other two, his body gradually transformed into a black shadow, and then he began to repeat those voices:

“(Unknown language) swill (!)”

Ernst listened attentively for a while and confirmed one thing.

Hmm, I still can't understand anything.

This is definitely not any of the languages ​​currently in use in Terra. Even Kal'tsit didn't react, so it's probably not some "dead language" (a dead language, referring to a language that is no longer used in daily communication, such as Latin).

Thinking of this, Ernst suddenly turned his head with some curiosity and looked at Kal'tsit.

Kal'tsit remained silent; he had almost forgotten she was still there.

That said, her reaction today was a bit off. Normally, she would have already participated in the discussion, and she should have told Ernst about these simple deductions before Ernst even came up with them himself.

Kal'tsit wasn't a taciturn person like Ernst; she was a real chatterbox, and many people could attest to that!

"Kal'tsit, do you have any objections?"

7 Ernst turned to look at Kelsey, who was standing behind the sofa, and asked a question.

But when his gaze fell on Kal'tsit, he noticed that the old lynx's facial muscles were tightly clenched together, as if it was suppressing some emotion or fearing something, and it barely dared to breathe.

Ernst's gaze sharpened instantly.

Something is wrong!

He'd seen Kal'tsit with that expression before, but where was it again?

Oh yes, Lentinium!

Back when he and Priscilla were putting on a show for Kal'tsit at the top of the Shard, her expression was exactly the same!

That time, Kal'tsit's decision to protect Ernst at the last minute passed the minimum threshold set by Precys, and Ernst's intercession saved the little servant robot Ama-10 from being directly melted down. However, while she was spared the death penalty, she was still punished. She was taken back and rebooted. The system was repaired, but some rather strange terms were added, such as the way she addressed Ernst, whom she initially found awkward but has now grown increasingly fond of, as "Master."

Incidentally, Precys's passing criteria actually had many levels. The lowest was to risk her life to protect Ernst, but that only meant having a life and nothing else to offer.

A slightly more sophisticated approach would be to use persuasive techniques or, like Ernst, to appeal to Priscilla's emotions and persuade her. The most sophisticated approach would be to directly offer a "bargain" that would surprise Priscilla and block her out head-on.

Ernst thought it was completely impossible for Kal'tsit to reach the highest level of completion, but Precys said, "It's the most likely. She's been with you for so long, and she's a super AI with a deep understanding of both the prehistoric civilization and Terran civilization. She should know."

Unfortunately, Kal'tsit never understood.

So when Ernst said that Mark Max was the most powerful AI he had ever seen, this assessment was absolutely sincere and not at all flattering. Mark Max started from scratch and is now playing a combination of Europa Universalis, Cities: Skylines, and Stellaris. Kal'tsit, on the other hand, squandered a winning hand. All she has left is Rhodes Island, the Doctor and Sui sent by Ernst, and at most some decent individuals, but she can't affect the overall situation.

Okay, let's stop bringing up Kal'tsit.

"Kal'tsit, did you understand?"

Ernst narrowed his eyes, realizing something, and asked rather seriously,

"Is it really the language of a prehistoric civilization?"

If Kal'tsit confirms his idea, then the fact that there are indeed survivors of the prehistoric civilization outside Terra will be definitively established! No joke, Ernst will have to overturn and start all the policies he has set so far!

This is no joke. A civilization stuck in the past should not hold back those who are moving forward, but only if that past civilization is truly stuck.