Chapter 1677: Chapter 655: Manipulated by Zero, Time Reversed

"They found the escape ship before the radioactive reserve batteries of the escape ship were exhausted and provided new energy sources. At that time, only a small portion of the millions of frozen hibernation chambers failed due to lack of power. They thawed a small portion of people first. Among them was me."

"They called themselves the Philosopher Aliens and were unapologetic about destroying human civilization on Earth. They explained to me and others who awoke around the same time their reasons for destroying humanity. Although we were angry, we lacked the thought and courage to accuse them."

"If the roles were reversed, and humanity had just experienced such an extinction event, discovering another potential threat, we would likely choose to strike first if we had the capability. It’s similar to the war between humans and epidemics in history. If viruses had wisdom, then the vaccines and antibiotics humans developed were weapons to destroy another species through dimensional reduction attacks. Humans eradicated smallpox with their own weapons, which is a practical example. The mutation and escape of viruses are ways of resistance for virus civilizations. In a sense, although the Philosopher Aliens destroyed humanity, they left a spark for humanity by saving the escape ship, which was already merciful. At least, that was how we viewed it at the time."

The City Lord continued, "In the end, we chose to trust the Philosopher Aliens."

"But actually, you didn’t have a choice, except to trust and obey," the young girl interrupted, "The power disparity was entirely unequal."

The young girl seemed to be correcting, but she also seemed somewhat convinced by the City Lord’s story.

The City Lord acknowledged, "Yes. And many years later, I realized that from the beginning, the Philosopher Aliens were manipulating and deceiving us. We once thought the term ’Philosopher Aliens’ had a special meaning in their language, but later we learned it was derived from an ancient language once popular on Earth, and that ’Philosopher Aliens’ actually meant zero, embodying two meanings: one being ’meaningless’, and the other perhaps representing the highest level of technology held by the Philosopher Aliens — Zeroing.’

The young girl: "What is Zeroing?"

The City Lord: "Let me narrate in sequence."

The young girl: "Okay, sorry. Please continue."

The City Lord: "When we first awakened, the Philosopher Aliens did not disclose their plans for humanity. My companions and I lived in constant fear. We knew we were humanity’s last survivors."

"Over billions of years, Earth went through countless disasters, and numerous species underwent complex evolutions, eventually leading to the formation of the primate human race, this intelligent species. We were so lucky and so resilient. We had the chance to leave a significant mark in the universe, but ultimately were forced to face a fate of extinction. Yet all of this was at the whim of the Philosopher Aliens. We were both terrified and unwilling to accept this."

Listening to the City Lord narrate the past in a plain tone, the young girl and Tai Hong involuntarily immersed themselves into that scenario, unsure how to perceive it.

"After much deliberation, we decided to take proactive action. Regardless, we couldn’t let Earth’s humanity perish just like that, even if it meant living without dignity, we had to live. Only by living, there would be hope. Therefore, we chose to surrender, completely surrender. We gave up our personalities and even forgot our names. We offered our most sincere loyalty to the Philosopher Aliens, actively asking them, ’Is there anything humans can help with? As long as you let us live, we are willing to do it.’"

"But this was exactly what the Philosopher Aliens wanted. Our racial emotions were completely seen through. By proactively proposing, the bottom line was set lower. This was the wisdom I only comprehended later. At the time, driven by fear, we made this huge mistake. We did not realize that since the Philosopher Aliens chose to save the escape ship, they must have required something from Earth’s humanity. We should have used an attitude of mutual destruction to negotiate for a slightly better situation for humanity. In short, I want to say sorry to you. We failed to seize the opportunity, causing the entire human race to pay the price. You two are actually victims of our mistake."

Tai Hong and the young girl gradually fell silent. The two increasingly realized that the City Lord’s story might be real. The City Lord’s apologies were also genuine.

"After that, the Philosopher Aliens told us not to worry, to continue accepting cryogenics, and simply wait patiently. They promised to find a new home for humanity."

"When we woke up again, we had already crossed at least a billion light years and arrived at the Ancient Disk Galaxy in the Sloan Great Wall. At that time, I thought the Philosopher Aliens had randomly chosen an elliptical star system as humanity’s new home. Later, I understood it was a most sinister calculation. The Ancient Disk Galaxy, closest to the Milky Way, is the perfect breeding ground that matches the Philosopher Aliens’ requirements in size, structure, gravitational environment, planetary distribution, and stellar features. By that time, their Zeroing could only perfectly encompass a small elliptical star system like the Ancient Disk Galaxy."

"Then, the Philosopher Aliens awoke the remaining survivors. Over 200,000 frozen hibernation chambers failed to thaw due to various reasons, but the Philosopher Aliens considered this minor. The remaining population of nearly 800,000 was enough to help humanity regenerate into a complete civilization. The Philosopher Aliens didn’t immediately allow us to settle on Source Star; instead, they chose a nearby star system. They gave us the naming rights for the star cluster. After some discussion, I named it Nanxiang Star Cluster, inspired by the plight of the Southern Song Dynasty’s secluded existence, but also to remind us not to forget our homeland. Then, I started naming the various planetary systems within the Nanxiang Star Cluster according to the ancient star system naming conventions."

"Finally, near the c-planet of South Nine Star System, the Philosopher Aliens established a small-sized celestial body equipped with a Gravity Engine. To create this asteroid, they extracted massive amounts of material from South Nine C, transforming it into an olive shape. We witnessed from the spaceship how the Philosopher Aliens used a force field to extract planetary material and then establish the small asteroid."

"Afterward, humanity began to flourish on the surface of this small asteroid. After ten generations, approximately two to three hundred years, Earth’s human population returned to 30 million. The Philosopher Aliens told us it was time to go to Source Star and become a true civilization. Yet, the Philosopher Aliens also said they were curious about Earth’s human evolutionary process, wanting to watch humans start from scratch."

"I didn’t dare to oppose, only asking the Philosopher Aliens how to proceed. They showed me a group of apemen. I don’t know how they did it, but the result was they altered human genes, reversing the human evolutionary process, and within just ten generations, a group of people regressed to the appearance of apemen in ancient times. These apemen were almost identical to the human ancestors recorded in ancient texts, as if... time had flowed backward."

"The Philosopher Aliens told me I could only take this group of apemen to Source Star, while the others would remain frozen, hostage until the new humans starting from apemen completed their scientific experiment, only then they would have true freedom."

"I still had no choice, just let it be."

The young girl: "Then you went to Source Star with the apemen?"

The City Lord: "Not just me, but also dozens of my companions at the time, those who were first thawed among the small group. Our duties were all as administrators. Before departure, we tentatively negotiated a deal with the Philosopher Aliens, and succeeded. It turned out the Philosopher Aliens greatly needed humanity. They highly valued human emotions. Buried within those emotions were the treasures the Philosopher Aliens needed. Sadly, it was a truth I only comprehended later."

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