Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 243 - Chapter 243 Chapter 243 The Capital of Art

Chapter 243: Chapter 243: The Capital of Art Chapter 243: Chapter 243: The Capital of Art About ten minutes later, at the exit of the Underground City, several Glizerians emerged, each dressed differently. The tallest among them was only 1.2 meters tall, making humans appear significantly taller by comparison.

However, Zhang Yuan dared not underestimate them because height and weight was inconsequential when compared to intelligence.

A race as intelligent as humans, possessing nuclear weapons and capable of interstellar attacks, should not be underestimated even though they were in decline.

“Welcome, our human friends, to our visit. We come with an attitude of seeking common ground while reserving differences, in hopes of achieving friendly cooperation between us…”

The leader of the Glizerians, named Ganyador, was using the common language of Gaia Civilization; the translator in the earpiece quickly interpreted the message.

Subsequently, following human etiquette, they shook hands with one another, the pangolin-like fingers of the Glizerians being thick and totaling six, yet they appeared quite flexible.

Adhering to human etiquette as a welcome was already a cordial gesture.

Upon hearing that this leader had once been a diplomat who visited human spaceships for inspection, Zhang Yuan felt slightly surprised, originally thinking he was just a regular diplomat, not expecting him to be a high-level leader.

He found these pangolins hard to distinguish, unable to discern whether he had seen any of them before…

Diplomat Wang Junpeng whispered at the edge of his earpiece, “Mr. Zhang Yuan, don’t mind it too much, it might be a part of their culture… Or perhaps they decided on peaceful negotiation after assessing the human condition.”

Zhang Yuan nodded, indicating that he understood the situation.

After a brief conversation between the two parties, some welcoming officials swiftly led the group of more than twenty humans towards the Underground City.

The entire welcome ceremony was quite peculiar, with several Glizerians holding broom-like objects, sweeping the floor ahead. As they swept, the rest walked forward, as if sweeping the floor clean before letting the guests walk was a sign of utmost respect…

However, being an alien civilization, any sort of culture was understandable. Holding to the principle of respecting other cultures, Zhang Yuan hardly showed any expression.

The defeated and dim Underground City was filled with a somber aura, matching the description in written reports. The humidity in the air was high, quickly condensing into a fine layer of droplets on the space suits.

Fortunately, the space suits had a self-cleaning feature, equipped with a special coating similar to that on a lotus leaf, causing water droplets to roll off onto the ground.

Zhang Yuan and the others did not venture too deep; ahead, through an isolation and disinfection chamber, was the human living area where they would reside for a while.

To prevent biological contamination and out of respect for human privacy, the Glizerians would not enter this area.

The moment everyone stepped into the living area, the lights brightened instantly, making them feel as though they had entered their own spaceship.

Lin Xuanyuan quickly tested the air quality with a portable medical device.

“…No harmful microorganisms detected for the time being. However, if you can wear a helmet, try to wear one, and wearing a mask is still necessary.”

“Complete disinfection is impossible.”

Zhang Yuan nodded and looked around.

The room’s construction was nearly identical to that of the Earth Era, with similar decor and lighting effects, suggesting that the other side had indeed put much effort into it… Besides the slightly stronger gravity on this planet, which the Glizerians were unable to change.

Of course, what the Glizerians didn’t know was that compared to the environment inside the spaceship, humans actually preferred living under the blue sky and white clouds. If the rooms could be built on the surface, that would be even better.

“Alright, everyone, let’s take the time to rest for a while… The exchange meeting is about to begin, we definitely need to follow their schedule of activities, and missing this opportunity might mean a long wait for the next one.”

Zhang Yuan turned on a video device in the room, and soon, the screen displayed the figure of the Glizerian leader, Ganyador.

“Respected human leaders, I hope you enjoy this living area.”

“Indeed, thank you very much for your warm hospitality!”

After a brief handover, at four in the afternoon, they rested for a few hours and then hastily organized an art and science exchange meeting.

Although they had been flying in the sky for several days and all the diplomatic teams were a little tired, missing this opportunity would mean the Glizerians would hibernate for more than ten days, which would be an unbearable ordeal for humans.

At the exchange meeting, in front of a large audience, several human artists first played music that belonged to humans, including some original songs and some classical music of Earth civilization.

The Glizerians used a strange instrument, a shell-like stone that sounded like a variant of a wooden fish, “dong dong dong” and “dang dang dang.” It couldn’t be said to be pleasant, but it couldn’t be said to be unpleasant either; it had a wonderful rhythm and regularity.

Zhang Yuan looked at Lin Xuanyuan beside him, who seemed to be enjoying the alien music, and quickly nudged her, winking. Since he was bored anyway, he decided to close his eyes and rest for a while…

Lin Xuanyuan caught his drift and winked back.

This guy always wants to sleep as soon as he comes out…

Then, the artists exchanged their musical instruments and began instructing each other on how to play.

The atmosphere was quite harmonious.

In fact, some human instruments, especially the violin, were extremely difficult, and ordinary people could only produce a bunch of noise. However, some of the Glizerian musicians still showed great interest.

“Squeak…”

As expected, an unpleasant noise was produced. The musician was a bit defiant and curious, tirelessly trying.

The Glizerians’ instruments were also not easy to master and required a lot of attention.

Zhang Yuan was never interested in these things, but many humans on the spaceship, including his wife, were interested, and that was enough…

As long as there was a mutual understanding of each other’s cultures and mutual understanding was built, a breakthrough point was established, and communication would become much smoother.

Over the next few days, there were exchanges in painting, sculpture, and dance.

To Zhang Yuan’s surprise, human artists had a considerably high appreciation for the art of Gleize civilization!

This evaluation was not to please the other side but was a heartfelt assessment.

Frequently, in the living quarter discussions emerged about what emotions and thoughts some artworks conveyed… Some differences led even to arguments.

“Old Guo, what do you think? Do you have any favorite art?” Zhang Yuan patted a middle-aged man’s shoulder.

A sculptor surnamed Guo was fervently commenting, “Decades of accomplishment, indeed, are quite remarkable! Look at this sculpture, it contains a powerful beauty, embodying a strong emotion of challenging Nature!”

“I get it, it’s that repression which science has been unable to birth!” Old Guo’s voice became louder and more fervent, “And it is an abstract beauty! That feeling, like someone forging steel, do you hear that pounding sound?”

Zhang Yuan took a close look, and the sculpture was merely a stone with some crooked lines carved on it, utterly without the forging “pound pound” sound.

This is… utterly absurd!

“What a pity, we didn’t see the original… just images. If it were the original, it would be even more impressive! Why don’t they show us the original? Maybe it’s not in this city… it’s possible… Ah.”

Zhang Yuan looked strangely at the artist surnamed Guo, thinking to himself, “These freaks… are simply people from a different world from us.”

In any case, based on the current performance, everything seemed to be progressing very smoothly…