Chapter 175: Stellar Civilizations and Galactic Civilizations

Inside the monitoring room, Old Wang was observing the traffic while watching the livestream on his phone.

At this moment, the television station's viewership had surpassed 12 million, and the livestream room had also exceeded 12 million people.

He glanced at it casually, then continued watching the stream.

"Xiao Li, do you also think that the country should first understand the human body thoroughly and let humanity achieve immortality before continuing to research other things?"

"If that were the case, what should we do about the military threats from other countries?"

He hadn't read many books and didn't understand much.

Only his apprentice, Xiao Li, could provide him with some answers.

Xiao Li shook his head. "That is why Teacher Jiang is talking about an 'Ideal' situation; but reality is not ideal. This can only happen after global unification, allowing us to focus on a single technological direction."

"In reality, it's not practical."

"However, Teacher is right; we really should research immortality first. By passing knowledge on to more people and discovering more talent, we can advance technology."

"Nowadays, national education has improved a lot. For example, some genius students who are severely lopsided in their subjects—perhaps they only excel in physics—might be specially admitted into relevant universities to continue their research."

"Compared to decades ago, when a group of geniuses were buried, things look much better now."

"But if you ask me, 'Physical Education' is a subject that has absolutely no need to exist. They say it's about exploring the limits of humanity, but what use is that limit? In the end, it's used for comparison at the Olympics, and that comparison doesn't reflect the strength of a nation. It's just a global entertainment industry."

Listening to Xiao Li's rambling, Old Wang was speechless for a moment.

"I just asked one question, and you gave me so many answers. Just how dissatisfied are you with physical education!"

"Of course I'm dissatisfied, I was the one eliminated! Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to a regular university for a media major!!!"

"This... I think I'll just stay silent."

At this time, inside the teacher's dormitory building at Tsinghua University.

The older sister, Zhou Qing, asked: "Teacher, has our technology tree really gone astray?"

Professor Zhuang responded thoughtfully: "This topic involves a culture that is too ancient, but it has indeed gone astray!"

The younger sister, Zhou Qingqing, asked curiously: "Don't stop there, Teacher, tell us more; why is that?"

"Alright!"

Unable to resist his apprentices' persistent questioning, Professor Zhuang said simply: "Because of the 'Imperial System'."

"You both know that ancient China was an era of feudal dynasties."

"Land issues, war issues—a bunch of problems remained unsolved."

"Take the Mohists, Mohist mechanism arts, and Mo Di. He was the founder of the Mohist school during the Pre-Qin period. In the 'Mo Jing', he proposed the concept of 'Duan'."

"He believed that when matter reaches a certain degree, it cannot be divided further, which is similar to the modern concept of an atom."

"If it hadn't been a feudal dynasty back then, but rather a modern society, then Mo Di and the students he led could have made significant contributions to the 'Chemical Industry'."

"Modern chemistry was born around the 17th or 18th century, and back then it was called 'Alchemy'."

"You two can completely assume that the origins of many disciplines are in our great China."

"But hindered by the feudal dynasties of that time, too many talents who were at the origin were buried."

"If the emperors of that time had focused on 'Ge Wu' and pursued 'Ge Wu', I can pat my chest and guarantee that the steam engine would have appeared around the Han Dynasty in our country, and the technological era would have entered a period of rapid development at that time."

Speaking of this, Professor Zhuangzi suddenly couldn't help but sigh: "I feel like I'm not a modern person; I feel like I'm a person from the Pre-Qin period and the Warring States period."

Zhou Qing asked: "Teacher, why do you say that? Is the modern era not good?"

"Because I am not suited for modern society; I am suited for ancient society. In my industry today, there isn't a single person who can compete; I really want to make a name for myself in that era where a hundred schools of thought contended."

Once these words were spoken, the two women's faces darkened, and they were speechless.

At this moment, the sound of Jiang Zhe from the phone screen brought Professor Zhuang back to his senses.

"Level 1 Civilization is finished, now we enter Level 2 Civilization: 'Stellar Civilization'."

"A reminder: What a Level 2 Civilization can achieve is the ability to build cities and transit stations on any planet within the Solar System; this is the hallmark of a Level 2 Civilization."

"Entering the Level 2 Civilization technology category, a Level 2 Civilization can fly beyond the Solar System and enter the Milky Way Galaxy to explore a wider world!"

"The energy option for a Level 2 Civilization is to utilize all the energy within the Solar System without letting a single bit go to waste. This energy is inexhaustible and limitless."

"Does everyone know which energy source a Level 2 Civilization should utilize?"

As soon as the small question was asked, the bullet comments immediately gave replies.

"The Sun!"

"It's using the Sun, right? Collecting all the Sun's light and using it for us humans."

"But that's not realistic. The Sun's light radiates in all directions; we can only capture a single portion. As Teacher said before, the sunlight we use is very, very little!"

"That's right, how should we use it?"

"..."

To utilize the Sun is an almost impossible problem for astronomers to solve.

They can only watch helplessly as the sunlight goes to waste, with no means to recover it.

It was at this moment that Jiang Zhe suddenly proposed another possibility.

"Is there a possibility that when our technology is sufficiently advanced, because the resources on Earth are completely insufficient for human consumption..."

"...at that time, we will need to direct our energy needs to the outside."

"The only target in the outside world is the star: 'The Sun'."

"We will leave this question to be analyzed in detail when we decode it later; now let us take stock of Level 3 Civilization."

Once these words were spoken, the corners of the audience's mouths couldn't stop twitching.

"I just took off my pants, and you're telling me to wait a while?"

"Good grief, you really know how to keep us in suspense. But having said that, I roughly understand Level 2 Civilization: it's utilizing all the energy within the local star system, building cities, and flying out of the Solar System to explore nearby areas."

"According to this deduction, shouldn't Level 3 Civilization be about exploring the Milky Way Galaxy?"

"Very likely!"

"..."

As they expected, Jiang Zhe gave the answer directly:

"Next is Level 3 Civilization: Level 3 Civilization is also called Galactic Civilization."

"The classification of Galactic Civilization is similar to the method of obtaining energy for Stellar Civilization; both are classified according to the energy within the galaxy."

"The target for energy acquisition for people of a Level 3 Civilization has also changed from a star to the entire galaxy."

"After all, the energy of one star system, such as the Sun, cannot support everything required by the energy needs of an advanced civilization, so it must explore outward."

"Naturally, the spacecraft of a Level 3 Civilization can also fly across most places within the 'Milky Way Galaxy'."

"Just like the 'Warp Drive' in the sci-fi movies everyone loves to watch, it is one of the hallmarks of a Level 3 Civilization."

"Warp speed classification: Level 1 Warp = 1 times the speed of light."

"Level 1 Warp Drive: This is the lowest level of warp drive, with a speed of only a few times the speed of light."

"Level 2 Warp Drive, reaching 10 times the speed of light."

"Level 3 Warp Drive: Can reach 38 times the speed of light."

"Next, it increases exponentially!"

"Level 9.9 Warp Drive: Speed can reach more than 3,000 times the speed of light."

"And Level 9.99 Warp Drive: The fastest speed can reach nearly 10,000 times the speed of light."

"Let me explain: Warp speed does not violate the 'Theory of Relativity' by Albert Einstein regarding the impossibility of exceeding the speed of light. The operating method of this engine is that the spacecraft stays in place, distorting the surrounding space, thereby letting spacetime push the spacecraft forward. The more severely space is distorted, the faster the speed will be relatively!"

"You could say: the higher a civilization's technology, the more it depends on how they can manipulate the universe."

After such an explanation, more and more viewers' eyes lit up.

For those who were not sci-fi enthusiasts, this was indeed the first time they had heard about 'Warp Drive'.

Thus, they listened on with even more curiosity!

"So, a low-end warp drive is the hallmark of a Level 3 Civilization, even if that civilization has only made one Level 1 Warp Drive, while a high-end warp drive has almost no upper limit for the corresponding civilization level."

"Naturally, the energy hallmark of a Level 3 Civilization is utilizing the stars and planets of the entire 'Milky Way Galaxy'."

As the series of words fell, the smart experts and audience members found the pattern in Jiang Zhe's classification of civilization levels.

Jiang Zhe was ranking them according to energy utilization rate.

Technology can be ignored; as long as human civilization can reach this level, technology will naturally come along with it.

It can be completely assumed that the amount of energy mastered is what allows technology to be born along with it; it is not that a powerful technology must be born for the civilization level to rise.

For the experts, this concept proposed by Jiang Zhe is one of the most reliable methods, and it is indeed how humanity will act in the future.

"Very professional, extremely professional!"

"Then for the next one, Level 4 Civilization, won't it be soaring to the 'Observable Universe'?"

"It is very likely, and perhaps for people of a Level 4 Civilization, traversing the Observable Universe is as simple as eating and drinking water?"

"Holy crap, then the subsequent Level 5, 6, and 7—I simply dare not imagine it!"