Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 403 - 401: Trading Table - Controlled Nuclear Fusion!

Chapter 403: Chapter 401: Trading Table - Controlled Nuclear Fusion!

The list contained many items, large and small, totaling tens of thousands, and when printed out, it was nearly as thick as a comprehensive encyclopedia. Some were technologies that humans themselves had discarded, while others came with the Universal Factory, in any case, they were junk produced by other civilizations; selling them to the Taipu people at a lower price wasn’t a bad idea.

And the main purpose of assessing the other side’s technological level was to create this series of trading tables.

According to the interstellar trading convention, the value index of the same technology varied greatly for civilizations of different levels. The same airplanes and rockets would definitely be priced higher if the civilization did not possess them.

As for human diplomatic concept, it was "fair trade, limited assistance", the other party would get what was proportional to what they gave; if they found this unfair, they could simply walk away.

There was no love without reason in the world, nor hate without reason. The humans in Kunlun Mountain were cultivating their civilization’s unique concepts. They wouldn’t become the holy mother of the Milky Way, nor could they bear the responsibility of saving countless ordinary civilizations.

Soon, the entire trade table was transmitted to the Taipu people’s computer.

...

Several secretaries rushed through the corridors, "Mr. President, Mr. President, the other side’s trade list has been sent over! We’ve printed it on paper for your review."

The president took the document and his face changed immediately. What a thick volume!

"Let us see! Show us quickly!" The group of scientists below immediately shouted.

As the documents were distributed one by one, the meeting room gradually fell into silence, where only a succession of heartbeats could be heard.

Everyone was flipping through the materials, which were meticulously detailed, with diagrams, textual explanations, and pictures.

Reading the text on the materials, the scientists of the Taipu Civilization were trembling with emotion as if they had encountered... the greatest opportunity of their lives!

Suddenly, the suppressed voices erupted!

"This is... Controlled Nuclear Fusion Technology?! Quick, look at page 102! It’s merely a Level 1 Civilization’s technology? Does it mean that we are currently at only 0.5 in the hierarchy of cosmic civilizations?"

"Is a First-level Interstellar Civilization already this powerful?"

This scientist named Asimi, who was the most renowned physicist in the Taipu Civilization, had long retired, but now he was back and serving as an advisor for this trading operation.

Since discovering the mass-energy equation, fission power stations, as well as atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs, had already been successfully developed.

But he was acutely aware that the difficulty of achieving Controlled Nuclear Fusion was at least ten thousand times more so than these things!

It took a good while before he started panting heavily. "This is not good... Are there more civilizations in the universe than we imagined?! This is not right... We haven’t even reached Level 1 civilization... We are too weak."

He bowed his head, muttering to himself.

And the other scientists were loudly analyzing the technologies in the list... or rather, what they could acquire, which was even more important.

"Controlled Nuclear Fusion... too expensive. We can’t just buy this technology outright. Yes, Controlled Nuclear Fusion is a comprehensive technology of a Level 1 Civilization. Mastering it means mastering a vast array of technological branches, including permanent energy technologies. Even one of the sub-branches, Supermagnetic Material, is unaffordable... It’s too expensive, we can’t afford it."

This scientist sighed deeply, as if wishing to pound his own chest in frustration.

Everyone knew the value of this energy technology, but if they couldn’t afford it, there was nothing they could do.

"So, what about the engine for the flight vehicles? If we had control of flying vehicles, we could achieve global strikes, at the very least not having to fear attacks launched by enemies nearby..."

"I saw it, the Nuclear Fusion Engine... technology of a Second-level Civilization?!"

The scientist nearly fainted.

"Isn’t there a simpler technology? Not this nuclear fusion stuff."

"Material technology then? Still can’t afford it!"

A part of the Taipu people secretly glanced towards the transport ship parked not far away.

A transport ship was bound to integrate a vast array of technologies, including Controlled Nuclear Fusion, material technology, information technology, and so on.

But even if they were a hundred times greedier, they wouldn’t dare think about laying hands on this transport ship.

At most, they could only take a few distant photos, and even that was pushing the limits of safety regulations. The transport ship was under strict military surveillance, and even they couldn’t get close again. If someone really dared to cause trouble, they were guaranteed a bullet!

President looked at the hubbub below him and became very tense and irritable.

"Do you think humans could have any ulterior motives?" he asked with concern.

"Mr. President, we can’t see any ulterior motives at the moment. If we could easily acquire these technologies, then there might be a possibility of a conspiracy, but as it is now, it’s clear that we can’t afford them..."

"In the time we’ve spent together, they haven’t shown any obvious desires. It’s as if they’re... here to play? Yes, like tourists. You know, many people like traveling to other places, even if those places are remote and poor, they still find it interesting."

"Here to play?" The president couldn’t help but give a wry smile. He unconsciously scratched the sparse hair on his head, feeling a voice inside him incessantly telling him that this most bizarre guess might just be the ultimate truth.

Yes, the other party was just here to play, but all the Taipu people were so nervous, a small favor could make all the scientists extremely excited.

After a long discussion, he finally shouted, "Quiet! Quiet, please! Ladies and gentlemen, think practical, select something we can afford! Or, what can we offer in exchange?"

"All technologies are not obtained for free, but through trade, trade, do you understand?"

In return for the Taipu people’s friendly hospitality over these days, humans directly shared some starship common knowledge with them as a reward.

According to the usual interstellar trade rules, technology from a First-level Civilization can be exchanged on a relatively equal basis for technology from a Level 1 Civilization; Second-level for Second-level. Otherwise, there would be a marginal increasing effect, with prices rising exponentially.

The Taipu Civilization had not yet stepped into the category of interstellar civilization, barely considered a Level 0.5. Although their airship industry system was quite interesting, it was only interesting and wouldn’t fetch a particularly good price if it were really sold.

The human scientists visited the Taipu people’s airship manufacturing base and evaluated the entire production chain as well as all the technological patents supposed to be worth around 5,000 Trading Points.

The asking price for Controlled Nuclear Fusion Technology, however, was a full two hundred million!

Don’t think that humans are overreaching, even the scientists of the Taipu Civilization thought it only natural.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and technological dominance increases exponentially. A Second Industrial Revolution civilization could easily crush one that had just completed the First Industrial Revolution, likewise, a First-level Interstellar Civilization could easily crush their Level 0.5 civilization.

And after all, we’re talking about Controlled Nuclear Fusion Technology here, which integrates a vast amount of technology, including research on the first wall, the study of the triple product, plasma turbulence control engineering, and so on. The importance and difficulty of various papers was not something airship manufacturing could compare with.

Once this technology was acquired, the price of energy would drop significantly, and stepping towards a Level 1 Civilization would be a nailed-on certainty!

The scientists made some rough calculations; even if they sold all the technologies humans were interested in, they could only gain about 60,000 Trading Points, which was a far cry from two hundred million. Therefore, they had to consider more practical issues—what exactly could they afford in exchange?