Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 379 - 378: Major Discovery

Chapter 379: Chapter 378: Major Discovery

"You... what... did you find?" Wu Peng was frustrated, realizing that the long explanation he had just given hadn’t been listened to at all.

Sun Yuting looked up, smiled, and asked, "What do you think, how should we interpret religious records? How about their veracity?"

"It’s hard to distinguish between true and false..." Wu Peng was taken aback and realized that his older sister was actually quite pretty on closer inspection and probably could be recommended to others. Then he smirked, "Religious scriptures, well, they often write ambiguous stuff so that people partially understand and everyone has their own interpretation, which is the best scenario. That way, it’s easy to fill in the gaps with imagination, as any interpretation can seem correct... If it’s too specific, it’s too easy to be debunked, and then the scriptures would be overturned, right?

"This civilization’s play on words is quite clever indeed." As a developer of the Virtual World, Wu Peng had also researched related content, but he quickly lost interest in these enigmatic matters.

There’s so much in the world that could be studied, who would be foolish enough to study the Riley people? They would rather study the more advanced Badit people of a third-level civilization than bother with the Riley people!

Sun Yuting, immersed in the data, said, "But you can’t deny that some records are actually accurate. Like the Great Flood mentioned in the Bible, there are similar records of a great flood in the Sumerian clay tablets dating back to 2660 BCE, and even during the Yao Shun Period of Xia Country, there were also records about a flood. So many believe that a global flood did indeed happen."

"This ’prehistoric deluge’ created a prehistoric cultural hiatus, just like the lost ’Atlantis’ civilization we hear about in legends."

"Okay, okay, you’re really boring," Wu Peng said lazily. "This Riley civilization has been around for n years, where n is more than a hundred thousand. They’ve always been underdeveloped, so it’s not surprising there are cultural gaps, and there should be plenty of records of natural disasters and calamities, right?"

Sun Yuting continued, "I’ve found that in the most primitive records, there is no mention of the World Tree... Help me look for any records about the World Tree. Mark them all for me, will you? Here’s a copy of the ’Amida Fable’ for you."

"This is so annoying!" Wu Peng shouted reluctantly, "You should know, our translation system isn’t that smooth yet, and it’s such a pain to look at these boring documents."

Sun Yuting, focused on her own thoughts, said, "Boring? I don’t think it’s boring at all; this could be a huge secret! Is it possible that a very, very long time ago, these kinds of trees did not have the noble status they have now... They were just ordinary tall trees, and there might have been more than one such tree..."

"Tall trees?"

"The paleontological evidence in geology also supports this, that there were once tall trees fighting for sunlight, growing taller and taller. But once the World Tree appeared, it eliminated these former behemoths because it grew so enormously large that it took all the sunlight, making it difficult for other trees to grow."

"Only shade-loving plants could grow normally."

"Hurry up and help me look for it, the most primitive materials, check if there is any record! Hurry up, my dear brother, I really can’t handle it alone, I’ll treat you to something delicious later, you can have whatever you want!"

Such coquettish behavior from an older leftover woman, truly cringe-worthy.

Wu Peng felt overwhelmed and could only grit his teeth, "I’ll help you look, but you can’t stay cooped up at home all the time, even if you’re a female PhD. You need to go out and network, understand? Network!"

The information on the Riley civilization was so obscure and revolting...

Wu Peng couldn’t understand why his older sister could keep studying such boring stuff.

This must be... because everyone’s interests are different, after all.

But gradually, his heart started racing; he seemed to have discovered a big secret.

Initially, religious texts indeed did not describe the "World Tree". Instead, they contained all kinds of chaotic things like "Astro Boy", "Aolai Tree", which were revered as symbols of Mother Earth. These trees weren’t notably tall.

"I will look further."

Nothing, nothing...

Still nothing!

As dynasties changed and society cycled through, it suddenly appeared that this plant, capable of destroying the ecological chain, emerged, and over time, it assumed an increasingly crucial role in the ecological chain.

The whole process was strange, as if there were... some historical ruptures.

A bizarre idea was brewing in his heart.

Wu Peng seemed to have thought of something.

The siblings exchanged glances and then slowly became excited.

"Ha ha ha ha... I’ve got it, it’s Aliens! It must be Aliens who flew over and created these World Trees! This planet is near the Cosmic String after all, so it’s not surprising that an Alien Civilization has appeared. Over hundreds of thousands of years, there are bound to be a few."

Wu Peng began to wildly speculate, "Aliens should have their own social system and institutions like us, not randomly slaughtering indigenous Biological life. But they probably find the Riley Civilization too crappy, totally incapable of progress, so they made these World Trees."

"These World Trees can provide more food and living space, but they would also cause a massive Biological extinction! Damn hopeless Riley people, just enjoy your lives and die for all I care."

"I am truly a genius!"

"Let’s not jump the gun!" Sun Yuting’s face was also flushed with excitement.

She had the same premonition about this outlandish idea!

But as a doctoral student, she calmed down after a few seconds of excitement, "... Just using speculation, without evidence, won’t make for a qualified thesis. At most, it’ll end up as pseudoscientific discussions on forums, with no real impact. Maybe this species evolved naturally, even if there’s only one in ten thousand chance, we can’t rule it out, can we? We must find so-called evidence!"

"Yes, let me think, let me think carefully... Evidence."

There are many potential pieces of evidence to look for. First, continue sifting through the massive cultural archives to see if the Riley people have any historical records of visits by Aliens, even if just subtle references, like some Divine Messenger descending to the world or Divine gifts, etc.

This requires a lot of time. The cultural archives of the Riley people have at least a hundred thousand volumes!

Going through them one by one would be enough to make one vomit blood!

But developing relevant Artificial Intelligence that can identify useful information is no easy feat either...

The second method is Biological research, particularly genetic analysis of the "World Tree," to see if there are new findings. If traces of gene modification can be found, then the Alien theory is almost confirmed.

How could these backward Riley people possibly modify genes? It must have been done by Aliens.

The third, of course, is Geological study, analyzing the fossil layers to determine the age of the earliest World Tree fossils and when other trees became extinct, rather than merely relying on religious texts for wild guesses. Geological evidence is much more persuasive.

Thinking this, Sun Yuting slapped the table, "You keep looking for documents here, while I need to find some collaborators in Biology and Geology to see if they have any corresponding results! Oh, right, I’ll also apply to go down to the planet for an on-site inspection... Are you coming?"

"On-site inspection, huh... I’ll pass." Wu Peng hesitated slightly, "After all, I still have work to do. Taking more than a month off on short notice is a bit embarrassing... However, helping you find some documents or collaborators is no problem. I know a few good experts, though not in the same team; I’ve just heard my colleagues mention them..."

"They have to be reliable, this is my doctoral thesis," Sun Yuting grabbed him firmly.

Wu Peng boasted shamelessly, "Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’ll even take time out from my dates to help you! Along the way, I’ll get my girlfriend to help you find documents too... now let go, let go, it doesn’t look good for others to see!"

When it came to serious matters, Wu Peng immediately agreed with a thump on his chest, even setting aside his little girlfriend’s affairs.

Kidding, dating, what’s that compared to uncovering such big secrets!

If this thing is real...

If it really were Aliens who made these World Trees, it would be...

An event that could shake the whole Kunlun Mountain!

...