CHAPTER 419: CHAPTER 419: LEVEL-FOUR TECHNOLOGICAL CIVILIZATION

Chapter 419: Level-Four Technological Civilization

Ever since the wedding, Chen Ye had barely stepped out of the house for several days, sticking close to his wife every day.

But today, the newlyweds had to part ways temporarily.

Because today was the day the secret realm would open.

Tang Zichen still held on to her dream of becoming stronger, so she wasn’t going to miss it—she was heading off for the secret realm adventure.

Chen Ye supported her decision.

With Tang Zichen’s current strength, the early-stage secret realms wouldn’t pose much danger to her.

As for the heretical reincarnators?

They had already been cleaned out once by Chen Ye and Qin Muyin. Most of the powerful ones were already dead. Tang Zichen’s safety shouldn’t be a problem.

Even if she encountered reincarnators in the secret realm, it was they who should be cautious.

This time, Chen Ye didn’t plan on entering the secret realm.

It wasn’t that he thought he was strong enough to slack off, but because last time, he and Tang Zichen had deliberately staggered their entries to avoid competing for extra rewards.

Now, Tang Zichen was one round behind in progress. To wait for his wife and carry her forward in future rounds, Chen Ye needed to sit this one out and let her catch up.

It worked out well.

Because there was another rather important matter waiting for Chen Ye to handle...

The passage to the alternate world wasn’t exclusive to the Xia Nation. Previously, in a foreign country, another alternate world portal had also appeared.

And recently, Chen Ye had heard news that the portal on the foreign side also led to a human world—one with an extremely advanced level of technology.

Reportedly, that world had already developed interstellar battleships. Technologies like artificial intelligence, controlled nuclear fusion, anti-gravity systems—many such "black technologies"—were already in application.

Their technology was at least a few centuries ahead of Blue Star.

Perhaps because both sides were human civilizations, their attitude toward the humans of Blue Star was relatively friendly.

However, the people of that tech world were currently facing a major crisis.

They had detected a colossal entity in the universe approaching their star system with hostile intent.

To ensure their survival, the upper echelon of the tech world even dispatched envoys to Blue Star to seek assistance.

Currently, high-level officials from many Blue Star nations had already met with representatives from the tech world and had engaged in numerous exchanges.

This was top-secret information—ordinary people would never know.

But Chen Ye wasn’t an ordinary person.

Not only did he know all the details, but he had even received an invitation to a high-level meeting.

What the authorities wanted now was to understand Chen Ye’s stance on the matter...

However, Chen Ye had been newly married and utterly engrossed in Tang Zichen, unable to pull himself away to attend any meetings.

Now that Tang Zichen was heading to the secret realm, he finally had time to check things out.

...

Around ten in the morning.

Inside the room.

Tang Zichen had already dressed and was ready to leave for the secret realm.

This secret realm was also an individual one—no teaming allowed.

"Wife, be sure to stay safe!"

Chen Ye reminded her, "As long as you can get through this secret realm smoothly, I’ll be able to carry you through the rest."

Tang Zichen nodded, gave Chen Ye a gentle look, and said, "I know. Don’t worry!"

When the plum blossom mark on her arm heated up, Tang Zichen pressed on it, smiled at Chen Ye, and then vanished on the spot.

Chen Ye let out a breath, got dressed, and prepared to deal with the matters concerning the other alternate world.

He didn’t go to meet the upper authorities but headed instead to Ba Liming’s dojo.

Just two days ago, Ba Liming, acting as a representative of Blue Star humanity, had traveled through the alternate world portal with others to visit the human world of that technological civilization.

After all, one couldn’t just blindly believe whatever they were told.

Ba Liming had been part of the delegation, so he’d definitely know the situation in full.

"Shibo!"

At the entrance of the dojo, seeing Ba Liming waiting for him personally, Chen Ye hurried over and said, "Why are you waiting here for me? That’s bad luck for me!"

Seeing that Chen Ye was still respectful toward him, Ba Liming immediately smiled.

"Come, let’s talk inside."

Chen Ye nodded and followed Ba Liming into the dojo.

Once seated, Ba Liming got straight to the point. "You’re here to ask about Alternate World No. 2?"

"Yes."

Chen Ye asked, "I heard the tech level over there is extremely advanced?"

"Correct. Very advanced and very prosperous. I’ve been there. The people travel in hovercars—not only are they extremely fast, but there are no traffic accidents. Their hovercars are all controlled by artificial intelligence. And since the cars fly above the ground, they don’t intersect with pedestrians at all, eliminating any chance of accidents."

Ba Liming recalled, then added, "They’ve moved beyond their home planet and fully developed the other planets in their star system. Even their star has been enclosed in a Dyson sphere to continuously draw energy from it."

"Their reproduction method has also changed. It’s no longer traditional pregnancy, but involves cultivating fertilized eggs in incubators..."

"Reportedly, their total population now exceeds forty billion!"

"Although their world doesn’t have secret realms to help humans grow stronger, they’ve invented many personal tech devices and astonishing mechanical prosthetics, allowing ordinary people to rapidly gain powerful destructive capability."

"I saw a warrior-class expert from their world—only the head was still human, the entire body was mechanical. His combat strength was incredible. Even I couldn’t be sure of subduing him."

"Not to mention, above warrior-class, there are war-god-class powerhouses..."

"...Saying their technology is hundreds of years ahead of ours is no exaggeration."

That final sentence carried a sigh in Ba Liming’s tone.

Clearly, the trip to the alternate world had left him deeply shaken.

Chen Ye’s eyes lit up as he listened, full of yearning for the sights of that world.

As a young man, he naturally loved the convenience brought by high-tech.

But soon, Chen Ye frowned.

"If they’re so powerful, why did they come asking for our help?" Chen Ye asked in confusion. "If they can’t solve the problem, what help could a civilization hundreds of years behind them possibly offer?"

Ba Liming explained, "They’re not expecting us to help them defeat the enemy. What they’re seeking is for us to allocate a portion of land, so they can send some of their people to migrate here—as a seed bank."

"If they fail to resist the enemy, they’ll try to destroy the portal. With some of their people here, their civilization won’t go entirely extinct."

Upon hearing this...

Chen Ye immediately understood why the authorities were so eager to get his opinion.

If it were another civilization of comparable level, allowing a partial migration wouldn’t be a problem.

If conflict arose later, they could simply rely on numbers to absorb the migrants.

This civilization was different.

Their level of technology was simply too advanced.

Once technology surpasses an era, the resulting advantage becomes an overwhelming, crushing force—one that manpower cannot resist.

Let alone the fact that their technology was several centuries ahead of Blue Star’s.

If not for Chen Ye and Qin Muyin, a single interstellar warship from that world might be enough to defeat all of Blue Star’s humanity.

"What is their enemy? I heard it’s some kind of colossal entity? What kind of behemoth could threaten such an advanced technological civilization? And how are they sure that its arrival is hostile?"

Chen Ye fired off a series of questions.

Ba Liming replied, "It’s a cosmic behemoth known as the ’Aqua Demon’."

"This type of cosmic beast feeds on water resources, specifically consuming water from across the universe. Although the Aqua Demon bears no malice toward humanity, every life-bearing planet it passes becomes a dead world."

"Even though their civilization is vastly superior to Blue Star, they still haven’t escaped dependence on water resources."

"If we were to classify by universal levels, our neighbor is currently a level-four technological civilization. But the Aqua Demon is a level-six cosmic creature—two levels higher. If a battle breaks out, their chances of winning are negligible."

Chen Ye was shocked and couldn’t help but ask, "Haven’t they already developed interstellar ships and can travel through space? Why not just abandon their homeworld and migrate to another star system?"

Ba Liming said, "According to their explanation, the Aqua Demon has an extremely sensitive detection ability for water resources. Once it appears, the entire Milky Way is at risk. What’s more, the Aqua Demon’s flight speed in space is nearly at the speed of light... unless their ships can reach light speed or escape the galaxy entirely, they simply can’t outrun it."

"Don’t they have any stronger technological civilizations in their galaxy?"

"We asked that too."

Ba Liming explained, "They claim that the conditions for life to emerge in the universe are extremely harsh. The cosmos is filled with dangers—during the growth of any lifeform, even a tiny meteorite can wipe out all life on a planet. The odds of a level-four technological civilization arising in the universe are about one in a billion."

"In simple terms, before the Aqua Demon appeared, they were the rulers of their galaxy."

Chen Ye grew even more curious. "Then how did they even learn about the Aqua Demon?"

"From an ancient tome."

Ba Liming said, "It’s said that in ancient times, an unknown alien civilization visited their planet and left behind a classical tome. This tome not only recorded vast amounts of scientific knowledge but also included warnings about universal dangers—like the existence of the Aqua Demon."

"It’s thanks to this tome that they managed to grow into a level-four civilization within just a few thousand years. Even their current language and writing system evolved from it."

"I see!"

Chen Ye nodded in sudden realization, then asked again, "Shibo, how much of their story do you believe?"

Ba Liming thought for a moment and said, "At least seventy percent believable."

Chen Ye paused in contemplation, then asked, "Do they know about me?"

"They probably don’t—yet," Ba Liming replied. "All contact has taken place around Portal No. 2. That area is surrounded by military forces from various countries, under tight surveillance, to prevent the other side from slipping into our world undetected."

Chen Ye nodded, quite satisfied with the human leadership’s response.

Even if the other civilization harbored no current hostility, extreme caution was warranted against a civilization hundreds of years more advanced.

With technology that powerful, they could be impossible to defend against.

For all anyone knew, a single AI from their side could paralyze Blue Star’s entire global network...

"Shibo, do you have any advice?"

"I suggest you make a decision quickly."

Ba Liming said, "The Aqua Demon is expected to reach their star system very soon. Their time is running out. If we keep delaying, they may grow desperate and forcibly breach our world."

"I understand." Chen Ye nodded, rose to his feet, and said, "Shibo, I’ll go take a look first. I’ll visit you another day."

"Alright, go ahead."

...

After bidding Ba Liming farewell,

Chen Ye shot into the sky.

In the blink of an eye,

he flew across the Pacific Ocean and arrived in Mokuo.

The No. 2 portal to the alternate world was located on the border between Mokuo and the Beautiful Nation.

At the same time—

Inside a tent at the portal’s entrance, a heated argument was underway.

"Mr. Mo, please calm down..."

The speaker was the representative from the Xia Nation, with other national representatives seated nearby.

Across from them stood a single individual.

Aside from his slightly reddish skin, he looked nearly identical to a human in appearance.

"Calm down? Our entire species is on the verge of extinction, and you want me to stay calm? It’s been so long—why haven’t you made a decision yet? What exactly are you waiting for?"

These words were shouted in rage by the man called Mr. Mo.

He was, of course, speaking in another language, but with high-grade translators in place, communication between both parties posed no issue.

Facing his outburst, the Xia Nation’s representative merely smiled lightly. "We’re waiting for the uncrowned king of Blue Star to make a decision."

"Uncrowned king?" Mr. Mo froze, frowning. "Isn’t your planet divided into multiple nations? Without a unified regime, how could there be an uncrowned king?"

What he said wasn’t wrong. A world divided into nations meant no single race or faction held dominance over all, making it impossible for an absolute authority to emerge and unify everything.

Just as he finished speaking, a sudden, thunderous boom echoed outside!

"Boom!"

Mr. Mo instantly recognized it—it was a sonic boom from high-speed flight.

But...

The explosive sound was even more intense than when their own flagship Hatsune traveled at full speed.

"What just happened outside? Something’s flying over?" Mr. Mo asked in shock.

The Xia Nation’s representative immediately stood up, speaking casually, "That should be our uncrowned king arriving. I’ll go greet him. Excuse me for now."

With that, the representative exited the tent.

The other national envoys followed right after.

Soon,

only Mr. Mo and a few human soldiers remained inside.

Mr. Mo frowned deeply.

There was really an uncrowned king on Blue Star?

He had to report this to the Supreme Commander immediately...

Moments later,

the flap of the tent was lifted.

Those representatives re-entered, escorting a seemingly ordinary bald young man.

Mr. Mo was visibly startled.

This bald guy was the uncrowned king? How could he be so young?

After all, their own Supreme Commander had already been over three hundred years old when he ascended to power.

(End of Chapter)