Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 476 - 474 Hicks Civilization

Chapter 476: Chapter 474 Hicks Civilization

Zhang Yuan actually wasn’t too bad at the political maneuvering either, but the diplomats were capable enough. Except for the occasional strategy he offered, he didn’t interfere too much.

The politics of this trade market were even simpler than those of some virtual worlds. After all, each interstellar civilization was independent; aside from technological trade, there was almost no cultural exchange or commercial trade between them. If they didn’t see eye to eye, they simply didn’t interact.

In certain virtual worlds, where nations’ trade and interactions were intertwined and inseparable, the political struggles were truly complex. People expended most of their energy and intelligence on infighting...

And so, another month passed. After establishing an embassy on a planet with suitable gravity, they communicated with the fleet behind them, and the first batch of scientists had begun to try attending various exchange meetings.

This was how civilizations interacted—where could one find truly unbreakable friendships? Banding together for warmth was possible, but when interests were involved, arguments would flare up immediately, only to have everyone thick-skinnedly band together for warmth again in the next moment.

...

Besides these diplomatic affairs, people also obtained some information about the Hicks Civilization—a Sixth Level civilization present in the trade market. Their trade application with the Hicks Civilization had been submitted and was currently in the queue.

It was always good to gather more information before it was humanity’s turn.

The Gaia Faction, a rather mysterious faction in the Universe with a minimum entry requirement of Sixth Level civilizations, was enigmatic in terms of what those ancient civilizations were researching. Their behavioral ideals were unknown. From their external actions, they seemed to carry a degree of goodwill towards weaker civilizations.

As a member of the Gaia Faction, the Hicks Civilization communicated with the trade market through superluminal communication.

"This civilization likes to purchase the history, culture, and art of various civilizations and pays a hefty reward for it. In fact, it doesn’t really matter if there are no artworks; just selling one’s own history can earn a large amount of AmiBa Points... The more tortuous the historical process and the more storied, the better."

"What’s this supposed to be? A starter reward for newly emerged interstellar civilizations? It’s a big income."

As Zhang Yuan walked, he said with a touch of confusion, "Moreover, how do they determine the authenticity of the artworks?"

Zhao Qingfeng replied, "Don’t know, it’s just bizarre. But most of the interstellar civilizations here have sold their historical culture..."

These scientists had landed on a Planet Fortress with proper gravity and had been living there for nearly a month, mostly spending their time examining parts of the fortress’s structure.

A Planet Fortress was too vast; in one month, they had surveyed less than one-thousandth of it.

Of course, this investigation cost money—not too expensive, 5 AmiBa Points. For poor humanity, it was a significant expenditure.

Zhang Yuan shook his head and couldn’t help but complain, "This Huantai Civilization really has mastered capitalism; even slightly better services come with a fee... I reckon this Planet Fortress is one of the more ancient types. We might draw inspiration from its internal mechanical structure, but its weapon systems are quite outdated. It’s possible that the Huantai Civilization built it during their Third-level Civilization stage; overhauling it completely would be very difficult."

"This planet might end up being auctioned off. The entire market is about to relocate, and the obsolete must be directly cast aside."

The discussion reached this point and everyone gave a wry smile, knowing that humans simply could not afford such a space fortress... This opportunity would have to be missed.

The high mountains and vast oceans that once spanned the surface of the planet had long vanished, leaving an endless plain as far as the eye could see. Not far off, about one hundred thousand meters away, stood a massive war fortress, three hundred meters tall, roughly the size of a small hill, capable of accelerating electromagnetic gun projectiles to sublight speeds.

Even farther away, there stood a device shaped like an obelisk, thirty kilometers tall, which must be the so-called curvature generator.

Beneath the surface of the planet, a hundred kilometers down in the mantle cavity, lay artificially created oceans, storing a wealth of water resources, metals, and various mechanical devices. There was also an atmospheric environment suitable for harboring life, and the living quarters there had been leased by a species known as the "Asman."

In short, everything, if one must use human words to describe it: colossal. The inner space of this planet fortress was dug out by seven different civilizations over three thousand years. The planet was hollowed out by a great extent, and after its development, several civilizations accumulated a wealth of experience, choosing to return to their Mother Star Systems to develop their own planet fortresses.

This, indeed, was the advantage of inter-civilization cooperation; even helping others with their tasks was by no means unrewarded.

Supposedly, this was only a medium-sized and obsolete space fortress; standing here, in the presence of the endless open space, people still felt a faint oppressive sensation, as if confronting the pressure of the universe itself.

After all, this was not a war star of their own making.

The car sped forward, and Zhang Yuan manipulated the electronic instruments in his hands, recording everything he saw... All of which were permitted contents for the negotiations.

At this point, many scientists began to lament their own civilization’s poverty, not so much backward in its socio-economic status—it was considered above average among third-level civilizations, especially after the invention of the auxiliary brain, making humans a rather intelligent species. But indeed, it was poor! Lacking deep heritage!

"By the way, are we really going to trade away our history? It feels quite odd... Could it pose security issues?" Zhao Qingfeng stroked his chin with a hint of skepticism, "We don’t know why the Hicks Civilization wants to collect the history of various civilizations. Do they also study New Civilization History? How about we sell them the entire discipline instead?"

Zhang Yuan smiled wryly, "I don’t know either, whether we should sell our history or just parts of it... What does the Scientific Council think?"

"They are still discussing, arguing very fiercely... Anyways, a definitive result will eventually emerge. What’s your opinion?"

"We should maintain enough reverence in the face of the unknown."

"So, you mean not to sell?"

"No, if we sell, we should sell completely. Actually, we have already traded with the Gaia Faction... That is, the Artificial Intelligence Yita in the high-dimensional prison." Zhang Yuan said with a smile, "By selling these cultural histories, are we really going to lose anything we already have? Not really, at most it lets higher-order civilizations know that in the Milky Way, in the Solar System, a human civilization was born, and it is developing quite well."

"If the other party has good intentions, there really isn’t much to worry about; we may even forge some good relationships. If they have ill intentions, is it really possible for us to protect ourselves well by not engaging in trade?"

"Weakness... is truly a cruel thing," said Foreign Minister Chen Mu, his expression unchanged, in a calm and collected voice.

Whether it is shamelessly seeking connections, or begging, or whatever else, humans really don’t have many options to choose from.

...