The stars, but they become the gray wind

"What's wrong with you? Or is there something that happened to me in the past period of time? Why did you develop this weird hobby?" asked the current Carlisle.

"People change with their environment... After living in the society of these sisters from the Sky Star Civilization for so long, it's natural for me to start acting according to their ways."

"But what does this have to do with you teasing me now?"

"As a girl... teasing other beautiful girls and seeing how they react... isn't that quite interesting? Especially when the person you're teasing is your past self."

"What happened to me in the future that I developed such a weird habit?" Carisi felt a little ashamed now. It was really hard for her to imagine what had happened between herself at this point in time and her future self.

"Could it be that she was led astray by those sisters from the Sky Star Civilization and turned into a lesbian sea king like Sister Elena?"

"That's not the case... No matter what I say, I'm not that kind of person. Although I like girls, that hasn't changed, but I'm not a lesbian like Anna who just pulls up her skirt and ignores you. Although I still have no experience in relationships, I'm still quite good at teasing girls and looking at them and making them blush. This kind of fun thing is still good."

"But... your behavior... are you sure it's not some yuri green tea?" The current purple-haired girl had a gloomy face and looked at her future self speechlessly.

"No way! I'm very innocent, okay? I've never officially had a girlfriend. Even my physical and psychological virginity, even in the future, has never been taken away by any girl."

"But you give me the feeling now that my future self has turned into a lesbian who likes to flirt with girls!" The present Calisi mercilessly complained about her future self.

"I was just teasing those girls. There's no such thing as falling in love with each other. I just like to see beautiful girls blushing in front of me."

"This is totally a yuri green tea guy who likes to flirt with girls, okay? So what the hell happened to me?" the purple-haired girl said a little madly.

"Oh, really? I don't think so at all."

"Invisible flirting is the most deadly, and don't you have any awareness of yourself in this regard?" Now, looking at her future self whose personality has become somewhat unpredictable, Calisi can't help but feel worried about her future.

"Well... Anyway, this isn't flirting, it's just making friends with girls... Yeah... Yeah, girls who are close to each other often do this kind of thing as friends, right?"

"Making friends, you sis? You have no self-awareness at all?! (

The present Carlisle complained to her future self in a mad and speechless manner.

…………

On the other side, in the Kylias star system, a closed time-like curve computer that had not yet performed any effective calculations suddenly broadcast a message to the galaxy. The content of this message was a coordinate and a star map of the central area of ​​the Milky Way, in which the position of a star was specially marked.

It was a neutron star, a neutron star that the Sky Star civilization had observed and recorded in history. The observations of the Sky Star civilization showed that there were at least dozens of planets around this neutron star. Now this information from the future was sent to the point in time when the closed time-like curve computer had just been manufactured and started operating. Whether it was the sub-plants of the Tree of Life in the galaxy, or every Sky Star individual in the galaxy, or the Sky Star individual in other galaxies through the wormhole superluminal communication network, as well as every device that could receive information, all received this information broadcast from the closed time-like curve computer in the Kelias star system.

As this information is transmitted at speeds faster than the speed of light to every corner of the Sky Star civilization that has been connected to the wormhole network, a voyage and contact towards the central region of the Milky Way is about to begin.

Chapter 153: The Unknown Neutron Star Megastructure at the Center of the Milky Way (6000 words)

Looking at the purple-haired girl in front of her who looked exactly like herself but had a different personality compared to her current self, Carisi didn't know how to respond. Just as the two identical purple-haired girls were glaring at each other, a sudden communication access request prompt sounded, interrupting the two who were glaring at each other.

"Yuuki, what's going on?"

"Something's gone terribly wrong... There's a problem with those closed time-curve computers in the Kylias star system."

"Ah? Could it be that the closed time-like curve computer encountered a problem that it couldn't handle and exploded directly?" After Jicheng mentioned that the newly built and newly operational closed time-like curve computer cluster in the Kaelias star system had a problem, the first thing that came to Calisi's mind was that the computer was input with an unsolvable problem and was stuck, resulting in its direct scrapping. At the same time, she subconsciously looked at the other self sitting on the sofa opposite the coffee table.

"That's not the case... The closed time-like curve computers are in good condition."

"That's good... I thought it was the closed time-like curve computer that blew up. The consequences of that thing blowing up would be horrific..."

"Of course, the computer didn't crash. It was one of the closed time-like curve computers that suddenly output a result to us... This result was obviously a bit beyond our expectations."

"Output? What did you input?"

"That's the key point... Those closed-curve computers had just been turned on, and before we had a chance to input any questions into them, they gave us a solution we didn't know existed."

"So what exactly is the information output by the closed-time-class curve computer?" Carlisle asked curiously.

"It's a set of coordinates. It's the coordinates of a neutron star in the center of the Milky Way, close to the Milky Way black hole."

"Neutron star? Can you send me the corresponding coordinates and specific information?" Carlisle suddenly thought of the small note with coordinate data written on it that her future self had just given her. She turned her head to look at the other self again, but found that he was covering his mouth and laughing.

"OK, it has been sent." Yuki's voice came from the communication.

"Wait a moment, give me more time, I need to take a look."

After a detailed comparison, Carlisle suddenly confirmed that the coordinates in the message sent back from the future by the closed time-like curve computer cluster were exactly the same as the coordinates written on the small piece of paper in her hand.

"Thank you, I understand. I'll be there soon." Carlisle hung up the phone, breathed a long sigh, and rubbed her temples on both sides as if relieved.

"So... I think you should explain to me what this message means?" The present Carlisle asked her future self.

"Isn't it obvious... Known for being Sky Star, with its current social state and speed of development, the first question the Sky Star civilization would input into the closed time-like curve computer immediately after it was activated would inevitably be: where are there other alien civilizations in the galaxy that are close to or on the same level as their own? It's only natural for the future Sky Star civilization to transmit information to their present selves. They knew full well that this would be the first question they would ask after activating the closed time-like curve computer. So, to save trouble, they output the answer to their past selves before they even had time to input the question."

"And I'm just getting up a little early to reveal the answer to you, my past self. Anyway, even if I don't ask this question now, I'll have to ask it sooner or later, so I might as well give the answer to you right now."

"You need to learn to get used to the situation where you get the answer before you even ask the question."

"This isn't as simple as adapting to the social changes brought about by normal technological development. I can't guarantee I can adapt to a civilization that develops in a nonlinear timeframe."

"You will adapt. The me standing before you now is proof of that."

"But...don't you think it's a bit unnecessary?"

"How is this unnecessary?" The purple-haired girl from the future crossed her arms.

"Since the future Sky Star civilization knew the question my past self was going to ask and had already sent back the answer long before my past self input the question into the computer, why did you go to the extra mile of coming to my present time just a short while in advance to deliver a private message to me?"

"I mainly want to see... the you of today is the me of the past, your less gentle state during that time. Over such a long time, my personality has also undergone some changes under the influence of the Sky Star civilization. I am still self-aware of this."

"I just want to look at my past self from a more objective third-person perspective."

"Just for this? Time travel to the past on purpose?"

"Yeah... They say those involved are often confused, while those who are on the sidelines can see things more clearly. I also want to look at myself and others in the past from a different perspective."

"You suddenly saying this makes me a little worried about my future..."

"There's nothing to worry about... I am you, and you are me. It's just that over time, in this ideal utopian social environment, our personalities have subtly and slowly changed."

"Although I knew that closed time-curve computers and time bridges would inevitably create the phenomenon and consequences of time travel, I still didn't expect you to see my future self. At least not before I saw my future self. I also never expected you to appear here and come to see me out of the blue."

"So... can you tell us more about what the future holds?"

"And I almost forgot to ask you... from which specific point in the future did you, the future me, come?"

"As for the former, the first batch of closed-time-curve computers built by the Sky Star civilization have already started operating. Rather than me explaining it myself, I might as well check it out myself when I get a chance. What are the calculations and deductions of the closed-time-curve computer for itself and the future of civilization?"

"You're...making things difficult for yourself... Is it really necessary to play the Riddler to yourself?"

"I'm not trying to riddle my past self. It's just that although our future will be generally similar, there will be some unexpected things in some aspects that we didn't plan for at the beginning. Although these unexpected things will ultimately bring us surprises rather than shocks."

"A closed time-curve computer allows a civilization to truly control its future, past, and present destiny, but it still has certain limitations. I'm sure you know what those limitations are."

"Can't it destroy the very logic of the universe's existence?"

"That's right. The prerequisites for the existence of causality are elements, then sets, then classes, then topological space, then manifolds, then metrics, and finally Lorentz manifolds. Only then can we talk about causality. Even if a closed timelike curve computer can destroy causality itself and spacetime, as the most basic element of the universe, a closed timelike curve computer cannot destroy or eliminate logic."

"But if we really encounter a problem that even macro-CTC can't solve, then it's beyond our reach, right?"

"Or... do you mean... that we will encounter problems of this magnitude in the future?"

"Unfortunately, no. Even if we wanted to, we wouldn't encounter a problem of this magnitude. But let me remind you, for guys like Cabot, destroying, modifying, and rebuilding the logic of the universe itself is not a difficult task, even for a novice Star Governor like her."

"If we really do encounter problems at the level of cosmic logic in the future, it would be best for us to seek her help directly. Rewriting or destroying the logic of the universe itself is beyond the capabilities of a civilization that has just entered the Kardashev III stage. Both we and the sisters on Sky Star are more adept at dealing with the problems of the universe at the level of conventional three-dimensional matter. We may be able to rewrite local cosmic laws to a certain extent, but when it comes to destroying and reconstructing the logic of the universe, we are completely clueless."

"Wait a minute...did you just say Kardashev III civilization?"

"So, from what point in time did you come up?"

"It's not too far. I can't tell you the exact number, but I can give you a rough idea."

"So how much is it?"

"I come from a point in time within 1000 years in the future. In short, it's not too far away from where you are now, and it's much smaller than you think."

"So it seems... our sister civilizations on Sky Star have developed quite rapidly. In less than a thousand years, they've become a bona fide Kardashev Type III civilization? I originally thought it would take longer, after all, the output power difference between Type 2.7 and Type III is still quite large."

"It is very large... but not as large as you might imagine. The reason why the Sky Star civilization was able to become a genuine Type III civilization in such a short period of time is that a number of unexpected events occurred along the way. These events allowed us to gain some unexpected benefits and, thanks to some clever tricks, we were able to reach the level of a Type III civilization at a near-leap-forward speed."

"Oh, what's it? Is it some unexpected surprise discovery while exploring the galaxy?" The spontaneous girl now seemed very interested in this.

"Well... you'll know when the time comes. It's better for me not to tell you for now."

"Tsk... being a riddler again? You're such a fool! Why are you still a riddler to yourself?"

"Some things are better left to nature. Regardless of which path we take, we won't encounter any difficulties along the way. Starting the closed time-curve computer from the Sky Star civilization... I think it was destined when I came to hand you that note a little while early. It's just a matter of time."

"In that case, we might as well enjoy the process. Anyway, both the process and the final result will be extremely smooth and the most important and best result for us." The future Calisi is still confused about her past self.

"Can't you be more direct? Like, just tell us when and where those things happened. We don't have to beat around the bush."

"But come to think of it... I do think I like being a riddler occasionally?" Carissa said as she looked at her future self sitting opposite her.

"But only occasionally. I don't like to play dumb with people I'm familiar with, but..."

"As my future self, what's wrong with you? You're still trying to riddle yourself? It's not fun at all to be a riddler to yourself."

"I'm not being a riddler... It's just that the locations of those future events are generally too far away for you right now. At this point in time, it's more important to lay a solid foundation. I think the Sky Star Civilization and the Tree of Life will understand."

"Besides, for Sky Star, which is currently at the Type 2.7 civilization stage, there's no rush to visit our future friend at the center of the Milky Way. If I remember correctly, at this point in time, the wormhole network within the more than 5000 star systems controlled by Sky Star's civilization has been completed by about one-third. In about half a year at most, all of the more than 5000 star systems within the 1000-light-year local bubble where Sky Star is located will be incorporated into the wormhole network. At that time, we can both sit back and relax, work together to expand towards the center of the Milky Way, and visit our future friend by the way."

"Furthermore, half a year is enough time for a celestial civilization to build a large-scale, fully functional, superluminal fleet capable of transgalactic navigation."

"But it's not impossible now... With the high-dimensional space jump engine and the huge production capacity and potential of the Sky Star civilization, it should be no problem to immediately form a fleet to the center of the Milky Way, right?" The present Calisi asked her future self.

"Although I also hope to see a scene of a large number of fleets exploring and advancing towards the center of the Milky Way while building stargates and wormholes, and a scene of full-scale development on both sides, considering that the Sky Star civilization has always carried out interstellar colonization, exploration, and expansion in a relatively stable and steady manner, I think it is better to consolidate the basic foundation first. After completing all wormholes and other superluminal infrastructure within the Sky Star civilization, we can advance towards the center of the Milky Way."

"Should I eat one bite at a time?" Carisi muttered now.

"We have to take it one step at a time. Even though it's possible for the Sky Star civilization, which already possesses a closed-time-curve computer, a time machine that defies causality, to achieve a massive victory in one fell swoop, under extreme circumstances, as I said, that's an extreme situation. For the past 100,000 years since its birth, the Sky Star civilization has faced no external threats or internal troubles. This method of achieving a massive victory in one fell swoop is clearly not particularly suitable for the Sky Star civilization, and similarly... it's not suitable for us either..."

"This method is only applicable if both of us sisters are facing catastrophic disaster. But... you know, with the protection of Cabot, the Senior Star Governor of the Combined Fleet, and with our possession of a closed-loop time-curve computer capable of modifying the entire universe's space-time structure and causal laws, there's no way anything could threaten us within the observable universe, at least within 930 billion light-years."

"Up to the point in time when I traveled back in time, we hadn't encountered any external threats, let alone internal ones. With a spiritual perception network, the Sky Star civilization couldn't possibly have any internal friction. For such a long time, we've mostly just been exploring, communicating, and engaging with each other."

"Contact? With our future alien friends who live in the central region of the Milky Way?"

"No, they're just one of them."

"Wait, one of them?"

"At your time, how many species of intelligent life had been discovered in the Milky Way?"

"Much less than you think... If you want a specific number, I can tell you without reservation—five."

"How much?" Carissa was a little bit incredulous.

"You heard right... five. Including the civilization of Sky Star, that alien friend, and Earth, there are only five civilizations in the entire Milky Way. Sky Star and that alien friend living in the center of the Milky Way are the two most highly developed civilizations in the galaxy, and the only two civilizations in the galaxy to have reached a Kardashev 2.0 level or higher."

"Where are the others?"

"One of the remaining three civilizations is Earth, which has already entered the first industrial revolution. By the time I returned, one of the other two had only just evolved intelligence and could only make the simplest stone and wood tools, while the other had only just learned to smelt metals."

"Surprising, huh? Intelligent life is so rare within the Milky Way? Even after searching the entire galaxy, we can only find two civilizations with a Kardashev Scale of Type 2 or higher."

"Intelligent life and civilizations are indeed incredibly sparse within the Milky Way, but there are quite a few planets with life. By my time, thousands of planets with primitive life had already been discovered. Although the life on those planets is mostly in the Cambrian period of Earth, and almost all of them are quite primitive, we don't mind. The Milky Way will give birth to more forms of life in the future."

"Therefore, both we and our alien friend intend to protect those planets that have already developed natural forms and life, and to provide a certain degree of intervention and guidance if intelligent life is likely to evolve on those planets in the future."

"Not only that... For any intelligent life and civilization that might evolve within the Milky Way in the future, we have prepared something else for them."

"what?"

"Artificial stargates and anchored wormholes throughout the galaxy will serve as the foundation for a galactic highway that even a Type I civilization can use. This will provide future life forms within the galaxy with a relatively cheap and simple means of interstellar superluminal travel, eliminating the need to be stuck at the speed of light for tens or even hundreds of thousands of years."

"Are you...Denusa (the Gate Builder civilization that created Xiaohui)?"

"Not entirely... After all, we built those stargates and wormholes. We'll certainly open them to new civilizations for free. But as the builders of this highway, we naturally have the right to set the rules, don't we?"

"Only those willing to abide by the rules can travel on this intergalactic highway. As for civilizations that don't, we won't allow them to access the stargate and wormhole network we've personally spent so much time and effort to build, allowing them to travel into the galaxy."

"When driving on the road, we still need to obey traffic rules. As the builders of the roads, it is reasonable for us to set rules for those who come later to follow." The purple-haired girl from the future smiled meaningfully.

"Those civilizations that are qualified to march towards the Milky Way will be those that are more gentle, less destructive and less aggressive. We and our sisters will bring order to the entire galaxy, rather than endless chaos. We will not let human civilization make the same mistakes again and again in history. We will ensure that those latecomer civilizations, from the moment they step towards the Milky Way with the help of the star gates and wormholes we build, will develop in a more ideal direction." After saying this, the future Calisi gently placed the drink in her hand, which was empty and only had ice cubes left, on the coffee table.

(1) The Second Chapter of the Second Chapter

The Tree of Life was very confused. After the closed time-like curve computers in the Kylias star system were completed, before she had time to input any questions, those closed built-in curve computers had already output a message to the outside world in the form of a broadcast. It was an answer from the future, and the sender of this answer might even be the Tree of Life in the future.

After seeing the specific information and content of the answer, Tree of Life aimed all the observation equipment in the sky galaxy at the marked neutron star in the center of the Milky Way, and then she made a great discovery.

The luminosity of the neutron star in the central region of the Milky Way has dropped significantly. It seems that something is blocking the light emitted by the neutron star around the neutron star. At the same time, the Tree of Life and some Sky Star people also discovered that the magnetic field around this neutron star seems to have undergone quite abnormal changes. The magnetic field strength of this neutron star is at least hundreds of times higher than the previous observation data. The strangest thing is the planets around this neutron star. As early as nearly 100,000 years ago, this neutron star in the central region of the Milky Way was discovered by the Sky Star civilization. Shortly thereafter, this neutron star was found to have planets orbiting around it, and there was more than one. After a series of observations and studies, it was found that the total number of planets orbiting this neutron star was as high as 18, which is an extremely rare phenomenon. Even in the center of the Milky Way, where the density of matter distribution is extremely high, a star system with such a large number of planets is definitely one of the best.

Although this was a very significant discovery at the time, the central region of the Milky Way where this neutron star is located is too far away from the local bubble of Sky Star, making it almost impossible to reach it. Therefore, the Sky Star civilization did not pay much attention to this neutron star afterwards.

After receiving the message from the future, the Tree of Life and the Sky Star civilization once again focused their observation equipment on this strange neutron star system. They made a startling discovery: a significant number of the planets orbiting this neutron star had disappeared! 14 of the 18 planets had vanished, completely lost to sight. The luminosity and radiation levels of the neutron star had plummeted, while the neutron star's magnetic field remained abnormally strong. For both Calisi and the Sky Star civilization, this represented an all-too-familiar phenomenon: the neutron star was being obscured by some kind of stellar-scale astronomical engineering project, blocking the star's light. The 14 inexplicably vanished planets were likely dismantled and became part of this stellar engineering project.

.........

In a conference room on the orbital ring of the Sky Star planet, the Sky Star civilization delegation and the four-member group were enthusiastically discussing the news about the neutron star.

"You mean...it might be a geomagnetic coil built around a neutron star?" Yuki asked Lina who was sitting next to him.