Chapter 146: Earth Civilization in the Midst of Great Development (Part Two)

Earth. Inside the command room of the Earth's flagship, Xu Xiao once again ran a resource simulation using the newly developed super-spirit brain.

As Xu Xiao opened his eyes, the surrounding scientists crowded around him. "How is it? Is the result still the same as last time?"

The leading middle-aged man asked with a deep frown. No one could have imagined that the currently thriving and rapidly developing Earth civilization was facing a colossal crisis.

It was not an energy crisis, nor a crisis regarding the upper limit of technological progression, but an impending defeat in a forthcoming war.

"That's right," Xu Xiao said. "No matter how many times I run the simulation, our best outcome is to seek help from the civilizations of Muxingye and Pixu in order to survive this war. But as you all know the outcome, our civilization's potential would be crippled, and there is even a possibility of us becoming a vassal state to those two civilizations."

"How can this be? How can it still be like this?!" Yi Gang pushed the people aside and strode up to Xu Xiao. "We have already scoured all resources within our current mining range, so why are we still going to lose? Does this account for high-end combat power, civilization flagship cannons, and even civilization-core strikes?"

Xu Xiao looked at the agitated Yi Gang. "I know this result is hard for you to accept. But my simulation results are derived by combining all known clues and data." Xu Xiao pushed the stunned Yi Gang aside and gestured for the others to make way.

Xu Xiao walked up to the large screen. "Spirit brain, replay the previous war simulation."

The big screen lit up, and the environment of the entire room transformed into a vast expanse of starry space. This was the star chart previously provided by the system—the star chart of the solar system range they were currently exploring.

"The Sun, Venus, and Mercury are resource planets, but we cannot directly extract energy from these three planets; we can only conduct free-floating harvesting at a certain distance outside them. As for Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto, we have encountered different indigenous life forms on each of them. According to my previous deductions, this is not merely an obstacle to our resource extraction, but also a clue—a clue about the opponents we will soon face in the war."

"On Mars, high-defense earth-elemental life; on Jupiter, winged lightning-based life; on Saturn, high-energy gas-based zerg life; sea-beast life on Neptune, snow-giant life on Uranus, and shadow life on Pluto. The only reason we can deal with them now is because they possess raw power without intelligence, let alone a civilization! Based on previous deductions, the opponents we will face in the upcoming civilization wars are very likely intelligent civilization variants of these very races. In other words, out of the ten civilizations we will wage war against, at least six will immediately turn hostile toward us right from the start."

Yi Gang argued, "Aren't there still four other civilizations? Can't we ally with them from the beginning? Besides, these six types of civilizations might not necessarily have a higher civilization tier than ours, just as you said! As long as we strike first, defeat one or two of them to gain the upper hand, it will naturally strike fear into the rest! In a civilization war, it's not strictly necessary for only one civilization to survive in the end!" He was also well aware of the detailed rules of civilization wars.

Xu Xiao spread his hands. "Just as you said, that's why we have a fifteen percent chance of achieving total victory. And what I mentioned earlier is the worst-case scenario: a one-on-ten match where combat begins the moment we enter. Therefore, what we have always calculated is the worst-case scenario. Because I believe this is not a blessing given to us by the system, but a test."

The room returned to its normal state, and the big screen listed a full twelve sets of simulation data. These were the batches of war processes with the highest probabilities after calculation.

"Anyway, I think relying entirely on this kind of calculation is simply ridiculous. We humans ourselves are beings who constantly create miracles, and moreover, your calculation didn't factor in any of the new technologies Sun Meng brought back from the mission world at all!" Yi Gang increasingly felt that Xu Xiao's approach of relying on calculations and deductions for everything—where every single possibility of an accident had to be anticipated and eliminated in advance—was stifling.

"We are not a machine civilization that relies entirely on calculation and deduction; what are our brains and minds for, then?!" Yi Gang finished loudly, "I'm going to check the latest status of the formation array." With that, he strode out of the laboratory.

After Yi Gang left, the group of scientists looked at Xu Xiao. "So, should we initiate that protocol? It's almost been a year, and the probability of Sun Meng making any new breakthroughs over there is exceptionally low."

Xu Xiao waved his hand. "Prepare to initiate it! Earth civilization must ultimately rely on itself to be certain. Neither the system nor Sun Meng is as reliable as we imagined." Having said that, he left the laboratory from the other side.

Entering another room, Xu Xiao gazed at an object resembling a crystal ball before him. Moments later, an image projected from it—it was the live broadcast feed of Sun Meng.

"Are you planning to launch the Song-Liao War ahead of schedule?"

Sun Meng suddenly noticed the red bullet comments. Since establishing direct contact with Yi Gang, the Earth civilization side rarely used this method to contact him anymore. Thus, this time it must be Xu Xiao contacting him personally!

"Yes, if we wipe out the northern nomads in advance, the reward points should be substantial. Anyway, since destiny rests upon the shoulders of the Star Hosts, I might as well make use of them. It's just a pity I don't know if we can deduce the subsequent path; otherwise, I'll only have to rely on points for redemption," Sun Meng said. He was finally beginning to experience the sensation Li Qingmeng had described.

A clear intuition told him that as long as he was willing to fully assist the Star Hosts and the Song Dynasty in conquering Liao, he could break through his current realm, with no bottlenecks until the later stage of Tier 3.

"I wonder if it's the world's consciousness or the system's restriction. But some things must be done so you won't have regrets!"

Sun Meng looked at the screen. "In half a month, I will initiate harassment against the Liao Kingdom ahead of schedule, and I will take action personally."

"I will keep an eye on the situation over your side," Xu Xiao said. "Although the Earth civilization as a whole has progressed more than the original timeline, our spiritual cohesion is not as strong as before. I think the national will over at your end will be sublimated under such circumstances. Once we have a practical example, our operations here will become much easier." With that, Xu Xiao closed the light screen.

"Even the slightest gap brings such massive impacts. Although our fate is somewhat better now compared to the Earth civilization in that other world, the crises and trials we face are far more severe. I hope this Sun Meng can deduce the path beyond Tier 3 as soon as possible; otherwise, we will have no choice but to forcefully enter the civilization-will condensation phase."

When Earth civilization entered Tier 3 back then, the system reward Xu Xiao received was not merely simple future prediction; he had also obtained memories of himself from a parallel world.

Strange to say, that set of memories originally intended to usurp control and overwrite his own mind, but after confirming the anomaly in Earth's development, it abandoned the memory restructuring of Xu Xiao and instead chose to integrate into Xu Xiao's brain as a reference database.

In that parallel world, although Sun Meng did not die directly in the valley, spending a full half year to complete the mission subsequently, he brought martial arts cultivation methods up to the half-step Tier 2 to Earth. This caused internal strife within Earth civilization at the time; some hoped to continue along the path of cultivation since no one wanted to die, while many Western countries believed that continuing down the technological path was the most suitable choice for Earth civilization.

Consequently, when the first-stage assessment arrived, Earth civilization there had only experienced three worlds. At the end of the second world, a contestant died due to an operational error, though the completion of the mission prevented disaster from befalling Earth. The subsequent contestant became him.

The Earth civilization, lagging behind by another step, had a very difficult time after the assessment phase began. Fortunately, Pixu and Muxingye jointly schemed within the trading market of various civilizations, allowing them to quickly acquire the data their civilization lacked and step into the mid-Tier 2 stage.

However, Earth civilization's good luck ended there. Not only did they fail to enter the super-technology selection, but they also failed to break through to a Tier 3 civilization by the end of the assessments. Afterward, they entered the civilization wars, carefully surviving two wars before suffering devastating blows in a large-scale civilization war, ultimately being annexed by Muxingye's civilization.

Thinking about how Earth civilization eventually became the Earth Clan, relegated solely to managing lower- and middle-tier affairs, he narrowed his eyes.

"This time, you are the ones who are going to suffer!"