Chapter 376 - 344: A Disappointing Answer (2)

Chapter 376: Chapter 344: A Disappointing Answer (2)

Haisen stared at it, his eyes a mixture of hope and fanaticism. He muttered, "His Majesty’s most prized ’Angel’... If we can successfully activate it, humanity might truly enter a new world..."

...

「Landing Site.」

The questioner designated by the Human Federation walked up to the Alien Intelligence and asked the question decided upon by the council’s vote.

"Excuse me, with humanity’s current level of technology, what method can we use to obtain a source of energy that is safe, inexpensive, and nearly limitless?"

In the Human Federation council meeting, the question they ultimately voted to ask was about energy.

Compared to other issues, energy was an undeniable and pressing problem.

Celestial Water Star was a planet rich in energy, and with the massive decline in population, it seemed at first glance that there would be no shortage of it.

But the reality was the exact opposite.

Whether it was Soloma’s Intelligent Robot project, the space colonization program initiated by humanity, or other large-scale scientific research projects underway, they were all devouring massive amounts of energy like black holes.

According to AI-assisted projections, at humanity’s current rate of energy consumption, a shortage could force many projects to be suspended or shelved in as little as a year.

This was unacceptable for humanity as a whole.

To combat the Fire Thief and the Apocalypse Rules, all nations were intent on seeking breakthroughs in various fields of scientific research.

For example, the continuously upgraded and enhanced intelligent AI from Soloma consumed an astronomical amount of power and other resources daily.

The construction of various other large-scale devices required for scientific research also depended on immense energy support.

As for space colonization, one of humanity’s options for self-preservation, the fuel for rockets and spaceships was enormously expensive.

Right now, they had only launched two experimental manned rockets. Once the experiments were deemed a complete success, a steady stream of colonization launches would follow, making all forms of energy indispensable.

Based on these issues, the nations finally reached a consensus to see if they could solve the energy problem by asking a question.

The Alien Intelligence’s spaceship was capable of warp travel, so it must have utilized some kind of super-energy. If humanity could master this energy, their overall technological level would surely experience a massive leap forward.

Now, after the question was posed, the Alien Intelligence immediately began to move, devouring the Parasite "food" that had been arranged around it.

The other soldiers had seen this a few times and had reluctantly gotten used to it. For Guan Tong, however, it was his first time witnessing the black ooze devour life in person, and he couldn’t help but find it horrifying.

Its method of consumption—completely swallowing humanoid life forms without leaving so much as a speck behind—would surely traumatize any human who witnessed it, invoking an instinctive disgust and hatred.

It was no wonder that many people online were demanding the Human Federation try to kill the Alien Intelligence. Firstly, to avenge the humans who had been eaten, and secondly, as an indirect form of revenge against the Fire Thief.

The rules stated that the Fire Thief would retrieve this Alien Intelligence after the Rule Stage ended. Thus, if humanity found a way to kill it during the Rule Stage, they could defy the retrieval. ’Let’s see you retrieve it then!’ Driven by their hatred for the Fire Thief, many people wanted to try just that.

But the Human Federation couldn’t possibly give in to such public pressure; for the safety of humanity as a whole, they could not take that path.

Guan Tong glanced at Sikokun beside him. Her expression was grave, her eyes fixed on the Alien Intelligence, constantly calculating the number it devoured.

If there were any signs of it losing control, she would undoubtedly give the command to act immediately.

’I just wonder how much food this question will require.’

Guan Tong had heard the questioner’s words clearly.

It wasn’t strange that the Human Federation wanted to secure more energy to act as the engine driving various projects for humanity’s self-preservation.

’But can this thing really provide an answer for the kind of nearly limitless energy humanity wants?’

Guan Tong watched the rampaging black ooze. For him, there was something else he was concerned about.

’Here it comes!’

The Alien Intelligence slithered near the location of the Living Dead. Without hesitation, it enveloped and devoured several surrounding Parasites, including the Living Dead among them.

’It ate it...!’

A flash of delight appeared in Guan Tong’s eyes. He turned to look at Sikokun, who was also looking back at him, a hint of excitement on her face as well.

She, of course, knew where Guan Tong had placed the Living Dead. Seeing it being eaten, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief.

’The fact that the Living Dead can serve as food means Guan Tong now has an opportunity to ask a question, which seems disadvantageous for Sisiya. But looking at it from another angle, if a certain question causes the Alien Intelligence to lose control and they run out of Parasites, couldn’t Guan Tong’s Living Dead be used to fill the gap at a critical moment?’

Although Sikokun didn’t know how many Living Dead Guan Tong could create, she knew it must be a large number; otherwise, it would be nowhere near enough to meet the requirements for asking a question.

At that moment, the Alien Intelligence stopped after devouring a little over a thousand "servings" of food.

The number took everyone by surprise.

Not because it was too many, but because it was too few.

After all, the Human Federation had prepared tens of thousands of Parasites as food this time, believing the answer to this question would have a high cost.

But in the end, the consumption was even less than for the last question, "How to identify Parasites?"

A bad premonition arose in Sikokun’s heart.

’This probably means the answer will be a disappointment to humanity.’

The next moment, a low voice emanated from the puddle of black ooze.

This time, it spoke almost entirely in human language, with only a single, short, incomprehensible syllable.

"You cannot obtain this energy, because this planet lacks **. You cannot break through the limitations of material science."

"Cannot break through the limitations of material science?" The questioner seemed agitated by a sense of despair. "Doesn’t that mean..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the muffled sounds of gunshots rang out in succession.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The questioner’s vital organs were instantly destroyed by the bullets, and he died on the spot.

Nearly everyone present was momentarily stunned.

Guan Tong looked toward the distant sniper tower. Without a doubt, the snipers inside had killed the questioner.

As the designated questioner for the Human Federation, he was absolutely forbidden from speaking any unnecessary words after the question was answered. That was a violation of the rules.

Sikokun snapped back to her senses and ordered, "Go clean up the body!"

A few soldiers immediately moved forward to deal with the questioner’s body.

Meanwhile, in the Human Federation’s remote council meeting, the commissioners fell into a collective silence after witnessing this scene.

After a moment, one commissioner was the first to speak. "I... I can understand why he, the questioner, lost his composure. He must have a background in scientific research, just like me. That’s why he immediately understood the meaning of the Alien Intelligence’s answer."

The other commissioners turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue.

This commissioner took a deep breath, his tone filled with unconcealable despair. "Analyzing the answer given by the Alien Intelligence, it seems there’s likely a special substance that exists in the universe, a substance that our Celestial Water Star happens to lack. Therefore, we can’t break through the fundamental limitations of material science."

"And material science is very likely the foundation for obtaining limitless energy. This isn’t surprising. In many cutting-edge fields of technology, the inability to continue deeper exploration and achieve breakthroughs is precisely due to material limitations."

"Take electronic chip technology, for example. Our research on silicon-based chips has nearly reached its physical limits. We are constrained by the material and cannot break through to the next nanometer process."

"There’s also the energy density limit of batteries, the melting point limit of spacecraft coatings, biocompatible mediums in biomedicine... Breakthroughs in all these fields are based on materials. If we can’t overcome this materials barrier, it will be incredibly difficult for humanity’s advanced technology to reach a whole new level."

When the commissioner finished, his expression was dejected. He had clearly suffered a major blow.

The other commissioners’ faces were also incredibly grim. They hadn’t expected the answer this time to be so detrimental to humanity.

"If our planet doesn’t have this special substance, could other planets, like Terra Star, have it?" Gao Liangwei said in a heavy voice. "And if not Terra Star, what about other planets in our star system?"

"That’s... no one can know that."

"If no one knows, then we try to find it. Never giving up is the creed of humanity."

"I agree with Chairman Gao on this point," Mary said. "But first, we need to figure out what this special substance is."

"To crack its language, we currently need more linguistic data. Since we didn’t use many Parasites this time, why don’t we just ask another question tomorrow? By continuously asking questions, we can obtain a large amount of data for decryption," a commissioner suggested.

"It is indeed necessary to ask more questions, and for that, more Parasites are essential. So, has there been any progress in the research on the Mind Network?" Toravt asked.

None of the commissioners responded.

Mary said, "The old methods aren’t working. Without any leads, there’s no way to even start. Chairman Gao, has your North Star’s Strategy Research Room found anything?"

Gao Liangwei thought of Zhang Minglu’s report and shook his head.