A more advanced civilization suddenly became a possibility.
The members of parliament stared at each other with astonishing looks in their eyes.
This was a tricky situation because this had never happened before in the history of the Empire. The only intelligent alien creatures they found was a group of lizards using simple tools, who couldn’t even create fires.
The Calan Empire had no interest in establishing diplomatic relationships with alien species; they were not interested in communicating with alien species at all. They could easily produce enough goods to satisfy their population. Establishing a diplomatic relationship with an extraterrestrial species meant they would have to reinstate their aerospace military forces and invest in military technology.
One thing for certain was that the less-advanced civilization was at a disadvantage.
Just the mere existence of a more advanced civilization would bring uncertainty and chaos to the Empire.
Just look at how much trouble the Oracle had already caused.
The parliament went into chaos.
Being sensitive to new information was an advantage of the Calanians, but also a flaw.
The consul rested his head on his hands and began to think.
This was a common technique used by Calanians; it made their consciousness feel closer to the universe. However, even the universe could not answer his question.
The silence lasted for a minute or so.
He finally spoke.
“You said they took the initiative to contact us.”
“Yes.” Professor Lane looked at the consul and nodded. He spoke in a serious manner, “At first, we thought the quark star was some kind of space probe or a weapon capable of destroying planets. But after some careful research, the result was beyond our expectations.
“Our gravitational waves detector shows that it emits intermittent trajectory waves. The information contained in each wave seems to be non-random.
“It obviously isn’t a space probe because no information communication method can keep up with its traveling speed.
“On the other hand, it can’t be a weapon either. There’s no reason to make a weapon so obvious. They could easily extend its hyperspace channel and make it undetectable.
“So our inference is that it is a kind of broadcasting device. It uses the hyperspace to release gravitational waves to the surrounding area.”
The council chamber was silent.
Everyone was concerned.
Even though the physics behind this was complicated for them, Professor Lane explained it in a simple manner.
If it was a weapon, it would do everything it could to hide its existence, there was no need to make it so detectable.
The Minister of Science and Technology frowned and spoke.
“You’re saying it’s broadcasting information… But how can you understand what it’s saying?”
Professor Lane looked at him and spoke in a calm manner, “Physics rules the universe, while mathematics is the language of the universe. We only need a simple formula such as a2+b2=c2 to let the other party know that the message comes from an intelligent species. Also, we can attach a mathematical proposition that we have recently solved or yet to solve. This tells the other party the level of our civilization… Because mathematics is strongly correlated to the advancement of civilization.”
Consul: “… So?”
Lane: “They did something similar.
“By analyzing the information contained in the gravitational waves, we received a series of complex mathematical expressions, and things similar to hash tables. Although it took a lot of work, we finally decrypted the code…”
The Minister of Defense clenched his fist and spoke.
“What did the information say? Is it a contact request? Declaration of war? Or—”
“Neither,” Lane shook his head and said, “they showed us their level of civilization, then told us about… the Oracle.”
The holographic image in the air formed an image of special mathematical operators. Soon after, the image was replaced by three lines of text.
A natural disaster is approaching.
Our universe is facing an unprecedented crisis.
Watch out!
Unlike a concise declaration of war, this kind of warning was more ambiguous and scarier.
What exactly was a natural disaster?
What was the unprecedented crisis?
Why did they have to watch out?
The message left out the more important part.
Professor Lane looked at the silent council chamber and spoke.
“Gentlemen, this is what the Oracle is.
“Even though we could only extract three sentences from the code… I believe it is enough for us to take it seriously.
“Now, do you still think the Oracle is still just a rumor?”
No one answered.
Even the member of parliament that previously mocked him was terrified.
The consul looked at the scholar for a long time.
Finally, he asked in a serious tone.
“One last question, did you respond?”
“No…” Professor Lane shrugged and said, “Even if we want to, due to the expansion of the universe, there is no way for our signal to reach the quark star.”
When the consul heard this, he was relieved.
Almost everyone in the room sighed in relief.
Even if they had mastered faster than light communication, there was no way to transmit the message that far away in a short amount of time.
Not to mention that the quark star was moving toward the center of the galaxy at astronomical speeds.
The consul leaned back on his chair and spoke.
“Regardless of whether this is true or false, you have no right to make this information public without authorization.”
Professor Lane knew the consul would say this, so he nodded and spoke.
“I know, this is my fault, but I was forced to do this. I know how weak our civilization is. In order to prevent the worse-case scenario from happening, someone has to do something.”
The consul raised his chin; he seemed to be dissatisfied with the scholar’s answer. He spoke in a louder voice.
“So what do you think we should do? Believe in a message from an unknown party? Believe that those aliens have good intentions? What if they attack us after gaining our trust? Who is to say this is not a trap? Not to mention, if there really is a disaster, why don’t they solve it themselves? Why are they putting their hopes on a weaker civilization?
“And if they really have good intentions, they should just tell us what the natural disaster is!”
Professor Lane shrugged.
“I’m not ruling out that possibility, but I think it is unlikely. I think that there are a hundred more efficient ways to attack us, such as sending the quark star our way.”
Parliament President: “Maybe they don’t know our location.”
Professor Lane laughed.
“Stop joking around, even a blind person can find this gigantic ring world.
“Enough!” the consul said as he stared at the scholar. “You’re under arrest for incitement and subversion. Your academic title will be removed and you will be sent to the prison on the polar star.”
Professor Lane: “Where is the trial?”
The consul said, “It just happened.”
The Calan Empire had got rid of the death penalty a long time ago. The harshest punishment was being exiled to the outermost prison of the Empire, where the prisoner would spend the rest of his life there.
In some sense, this was a more painful punishment than death. After all, for Calanians, death was nothing more than returning to the spirit of the universe. A permanent exile meant they would have to endure a hundred years of suffering.
Lane shrugged and went silent for a while before he spoke.
“This is the worst choice, but fine.”
He nodded toward the consul as a guard walked over.
“Put the handcuffs on me, my mission is over.”
There was a commotion in the council chamber again.
The consul pretended like he didn’t hear anything as he stared at the man being handcuffed.
Before being taken away, Professor Lane suddenly looked up and glanced at the consul sitting at the consul table.
“Before sending me to the polar star, I have one last request.”
Consul: “Say it.”
“It’s about my assets.” Lane paused for a second and said, “I have no children nor immediate family members. Before I get locked up, I want to resolve my assets.”
The Empire had private asset protection laws.
As long as the assets were obtained legally, the state would never confiscate a citizen’s assets.
The consul looked at the Minister of Justice, who nodded at him. The consul then looked at Professor Lane.
“According to the laws of the Empire, your request is reasonable. Before being sent to the polar star, you can choose a successor.”
Professor Lane raised his cuffed hands and pointed immediately at Lu Zhou, who was standing at the side of the room.
“I want to give him all of my assets.”
“He is the one that brought me here safely.”
The consul glanced at the soldier standing on the side of the hall and waved his hand in the air.
Two green holographic identity cards appeared in the air; the consul used his finger to transfer the data from one holographic ID to another.
“Reinhardt, is it? From now on you will own all of Professor Lane’s property.”
Before Professor Lane left, he gave Lu Zhou a surprised look; he probably did not expect Lu Zhou to give him a “fake name”.
However, Professor Lane didn’t say anything. He was quietly taken away by the guards.
