Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 364 - 363: The Surface of Justice

Chapter 364: Chapter 363: The Surface of Justice

After 44 years of interstellar travel, humans finally reached their destination: Riley Star.

On this planet, theocracy and monarchy were firmly intertwined, a union that had persisted for a million years. Due to religious conflicts and historical hatred, wars between kingdoms broke out almost every few years; soldiers fought bitterly, and blood flowed like rivers!

Without the birth of science and technology in Riley Civilization, no individual could see the arrival of the Kunlun Mountain Fleet with the naked eye, at most, they could barely make out the dim ion engines and mistake them for a small star.

In this planetary system, the central constant star was a yellow dwarf star about 5.4 billion years old, with a luminosity 92% that of the Sun, very conducive to the birth of life.

Riley Star’s geographical location and climate environment were quite similar to Earth’s, situated in the habitable zone of the planetary system, with abundant water resources, pale green land, yellow deserts, snow-covered plateaus, and the South and North Poles capped with thick ice.

The only difference was that the atmosphere was slightly thicker, about 123% that of Earth, while the oxygen content was only 7.2%...

An oxygen content of 7.2% could barely support the aerobic respiration of living beings, but it couldn’t be used extensively for combustion. Aside from a few materials with a higher reducibility, such as white phosphorus, that could burn in such low-oxygen environments, it was very difficult to ignite wood fibers.

That is to say, for this civilization, flame was a rare commodity, yet not entirely absent, thus, they had not developed real technology, and even reaching the Bronze Age could only be described as so-so.

For caution’s sake, humans had previously sent some probes to this planet. Even if the other party was just a low-level civilization, necessary caution was still due...

These probes quickly transmitted back the general information about the planet.

A geographer explained on stage, "... The plants here can utilize carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, as for why this planet’s oxygen content is so low, it is, for us currently, an unsolved mystery, possibly related to environmental changes and the overall composition of the planet."

"However, we can use Earth’s 4.6 billion years of evolution to make certain inferences."

"According to the Earth’s evolution, the highest atmospheric oxygen content occurred from the end of the Carboniferous to the beginning of the Permian period, reaching a concentration of 35% oxygen, before dinosaurs had appeared... On the contrary, the ancestors of dinosaurs, the archosaurs, rose to prominence during the Permian extinction when the oxygen concentration dropped to 12%."

"As a result, during the Triassic period, the oxygen content significantly increased again, which is why dinosaurs evolved to be increasingly larger and larger."

"So, according to the evolution of Earth, if we take it to an extreme, a drop to 7.2% oxygen content would also be feasible. We are very interested in the evolution of these intelligent life forms... We surmise their size would not be very large."

"Captain, if possible, I would like to request to collect biological specimens from this planet."

"Captain sir, I would like to request an investigation of this planet’s geographical environment and cultural heritage to provide real samples for creating a Virtual World."

In this landing meeting, many scientists eagerly presented their long-prepared proposals.

The planet currently chosen for direct mining was one in the outer reaches of the planetary system, a barren planet with no atmosphere. After all, we are dealing with a Wisdom Civilization; necessary respect and caution are still required. But the main reason is that such an atmosphere-less planet is easiest to develop, to avoid microbial contamination, and that’s all there is to it.

However, since this civilization is not a significant threat, issues like scientific explorations were all minor matters.

The biggest point of contention among Zhang Yuan and others was how to view this sort of low-level civilization that had fallen into the trap of mediocrity?

Zhang Yuan solemnly addressed the audience from the stage, "Ladies and gentlemen, do not assume that a civilization inferior to ours can be manipulated at will, seizing populations for experiments. We must maintain the moral order of civilization itself, as well as the appearance of justice."

"...Take note, this justice is not for the viewing of other civilizations, but for our own citizens to see."

"All our actions will become history, influencing future ideologies."

Zhang Yuan stood on the stage, his expression unchanging as he delivered these words that seemed somewhat "hypocritical."

What does that mean?

Humans are a highly contradictory species. To give a specific example, cats and dogs are subjected to live experiments by humans, undergoing a series of tests in biological laboratories. Yet, this doesn’t stop some people from loving these animals and founding animal protection societies.

However, would animal protection societies protest against legitimate scientific experiments? Perhaps, but if such events do occur, few people support them.

The eight million people of the Kunlun Mountain Fleet, with their awakened intelligence, are still mostly compassionate due to environmental influences.

They permit a certain degree of biological scientific research but abhor random slaughter.

This is what is referred to as "the appearance of justice."

This facade of justice is necessary for a civilization. It’s because everyone likes to think of themselves as just, rather than evil, to secure inner peace.

Humans are inherently hypocritical; if all our deeds transparently revealed the evil inherent to human nature, the entire civilization would quickly collapse, or at the very least, its cohesion would suffer. Conversely, taking the moral high ground allows one to feel justified.

"Therefore, in terms of diplomacy with lower-level civilizations, we must have our own code of conduct, consistent across the board, not varying from one situation to the next. What the people should be instilled with is not justice itself but a way of handling matters that belongs to the whole civilization..."

Such diplomatic codes of conduct aren’t fixed, of course; they can be very flexible, pragmatic and adapted to circumstances. But generally speaking, they should give the people a sense of stability, a natural belief that, "Oh, we are certainly the just side! We are a human civilization that loves peace and friendship!"

"We do not bully the weak, nor do we engage in massacres!"

That should suffice.

But this "civilizational justice" isn’t something that can be fostered overnight; it requires exposure to more civilizations, enough historical sediment, so all citizens can develop this mindset, emanating inner strength.

Li Zhendong secretly applauded, "So that’s how it is, in actuality, cultivating an interstellar citizen’s rational worldview and values through the handling of lower-level civilizations..."

"Only when the majority of the population embraces the values of their own civilization can we go further on the interstellar stage. This is a very reasonable thing in itself."

Most people understood Zhang Yuan’s point, and many scientists who had submitted proposals also nodded solemnly, agreeing with this perspective.

Zhang Yuan continued, "Regarding diplomatic dealings with low-level civilizations, there are many approaches, and I have listed three main ones here. Once a choice is made, our own code of conduct should adhere to these approaches, treating them with the same regard as we would ants..."