A Colossus rushes in at the start

Chapter 261 Conflicting Civilizational Concepts

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, surrounded by the high-ranking members of the Belan people, the four-legged creature newly born from the Exploration Bee entered the reception vehicle and was taken away by a special car.

"I need a comprehensive understanding of your civilization." Explore the Bee Path.

The Belan leader flattered, "Please rest assured, everything has been arranged. Soram will bring you relaxation and enjoyment. You can treat this visit as a relaxing and pleasant vacation."

"Arrangements? I can only report to the hive according to your standards?" the explorer bee asked.

The leader of the Belan people was immediately alarmed and waved his tentacles, hurriedly explaining, "No, no, no, you've completely misunderstood."

"Honorable Swarm Messenger, you enjoy absolute freedom of movement anywhere in the Soram, no, anywhere in the Belan Collective Starfield."

The explorer nodded slightly. "In that case, I would like to visit your cutting-edge technologies and civilized industrial system first."

Inside the chauffeured vehicle, a subordinate of the Belan leader immediately replied, "We will arrange transportation for you shortly, and you can visit the various industrial planets tomorrow."

Although it was unclear why the messengers from the Babel Beehive wanted to see the advanced technology and industrial system of the Belan people, it was assumed that such an advanced civilization as the Babel Beehive would look down on these things of the Belan people. Perhaps, on the Babel Beehive's side, these things had already been obsolete for who knows how many years.

Therefore, neither the leader of the Beilan people nor his subordinates took the matter too seriously.

However, there was another matter that the Belan leader was very concerned about: specific information about the Babel Tower bee swarm.

Under the leader's prompting gaze, the subordinate mustered his courage and respectfully inquired of the explorer bee in his seat.

"Honorable envoy, what is your world like? Please forgive my curiosity, but we Belan people are filled with longing and admiration for the greatness of our sovereign civilization, yet we know nothing about it."

The explorer bee said casually, "Just like you, we are low-entropy entities that constantly absorb negative entropy to maintain our existence. In many cases, in order to continue to thrive, we will adopt some unscrupulous strategies."

This statement is essentially meaningless. Low-entropy bodies refer to life itself. Low-entropy bodies absorb negative entropy, which, in layman's terms, means that living organisms obtain what they need from the outside world.

The development of civilization, in essence, also requires negative entropy.

Therefore, the Belan people couldn't glean any useful information from what the explorer bees said.

The leader's subordinate said, "You're joking. How can we, the people of Beilan, compare ourselves to the great sovereign civilization?"

"To bring three star systems under our control and become the supreme ruler of them—this is something we Belan people cannot do. The great sovereign civilization has already surpassed us Belan people on the path of evolution."

The explorer bee asked in bewilderment, "Evolution? Why are you grafting such a false concept onto the development of civilization? I don't understand."

The Belan people had no idea that the swarm messengers would use this concept.

"A false concept?"

The explorer bee replied, "Life is born in different environments. In stable environments, many species are differentiated. Then, due to sudden changes in the environment, many die off, leaving only a small group of life to survive tenaciously. This process is repeated generation after generation. From a timeline perspective, it is as if these life forms are constantly and actively choosing the future of their species."

"It's less about evolution and more about survival of the fittest under objective conditions, so evolution is a false concept."

The subordinates never expected the swarm messenger to say such things. They looked at their superiors with a pleading look in their eyes. The leader of the Belan people quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Your Excellency, he only meant to express that the great sovereign civilization has surpassed the Belan people. Please forgive his inappropriate wording."

"You are a leader of civilization, but your understanding is completely inadequate," the Explorer Bee said with regret and pity as he looked at the leader of the Belan people.

The leader of the Belan people was embarrassed, but he couldn't retaliate. This was a messenger from the Tower of Babel bees, and angering him could lead to the destruction of their civilization.

Therefore, the Belan chief could only ask, with embarrassment and confusion, "Uh...why?"

"Because it could easily lead to the destruction of civilization," the Explorer Bee said earnestly.

"..."

The Belan leader and his subordinates froze for a moment, even their breathing paused.

In that instant, they thought a lot, wondering if the swarm messenger's words were criticizing their impolite and cliché behavior, so they simply brought up the destruction of civilization.

Are the people of Beilan destined for destruction because of a simple conversation between these two?

Just when the Belan leader and his subordinates were almost in despair, the Explorer Bee continued, "You must be wondering why I think this way, right?"

"Please enlighten me," the leader of the Beilan people said, trembling with fear.

Exploring the Bee Path: "You have a completely wrong understanding of the universe itself. You take it for granted that it is a vertical pyramid structure, but in fact, it is a chaotic state. The top of the pyramid can be at the bottom, or in the middle, or even at both the bottom and the middle, or the top can be nowhere."

As the exploratory bees spoke these words, the nearly desperate leader of the Belan people finally realized that they had misunderstood.

While breathing a sigh of relief, they also became curious and began to explore the cosmic concepts proposed by the bee.

The leader of the Belan people said, "This... I'm sorry, esteemed envoy, I didn't understand your meaning."

Exploring Bee Path: "Are you aware of the powerful interstellar civilizations in your galaxy?"

The Belan people in the reception vehicle nodded slightly. They were once the dominant force in the galaxy, a fact known to any powerful interstellar civilization traveling at the speed of light.

The explorer continued, "They are full of confidence, self-esteem, and boundless aspirations for the future. They are ambitious about the unknown regions of the universe and eager to explore and conquer the unknown. This core of civilization means that they are destined to break through the light speed barrier faster and more easily than you civilizations that are trapped at the speed of light."

"So those civilizations became the great powers of the galaxy, while you Belan people are still trapped below the speed of light."

At this point, the Exploration Bee paused for a moment, then continued, "According to your evolutionary standards, these advanced star-series civilizations must be more evolved than you Belan people, right?"

"Then why does your Belan civilization still exist, while their civilization has been completely destroyed? Is it possible that a civilization with a higher level of evolution is less likely to survive than a civilization with a lower level of evolution?"

An subordinate beside the leader of the Beilan people said, "Those powerful civilizations chose to fight the Babel swarm, which was more advanced, and that's why they were destroyed. So it was a result of their own demise. We Beilan people clearly understand this, which is why our Beilan civilization has survived."

"Then why would these great civilizations seek their own demise? Why would they choose to jeopardize their own survival?" the Explorer Bee continued to ask.

"This..." The subordinate next to the leader was speechless.

The explorer answered for him: "It was their confidence, self-esteem, boundless aspirations for the future, ambition, and thirst for conquering the unknown—these core elements of their civilization—that led these powerful civilizations to their own demise."

"These civilizations' core elements both made and destroyed them. You Belan people don't have these, and you haven't been able to escape the constraints of the speed of light. You can only look up at them from below the speed of light, but in the end, you are able to outlive those civilizations that have developed faster-than-light travel."

"Excuse me, what exactly is this so-called evolution of civilization?"

(End of this chapter)