Chapter 193: The Forest of Light

"Holy crap, Teacher Jiang, your image is starting to become towering!"

"If this were anywhere else, any other host would have long since thrown away their shame for the sake of ratings; yet even with the facts right in front of you, you still won't admit it. My god, you are too professional!"

"You're even professional to a fault. As long as you haven't seen it or read about it, even if the evidence is laid out before you, you won't believe it; I don't know if this is being smart or just being cautious."

"Regardless, based on this point alone, keep those gifts coming."

Soon, in the livestream room, countless gifts flew across the screen, bringing a sudden surge of traffic and income to Jiang Zhe.

The trolls and shills who were originally lying in wait in the livestream room were left speechless.

They thought they could use this opportunity to smear Jiang Zhe's name, but who would have thought he would go against the grain? They really had no move left!

When Old Zhao and Old Wang heard these words, they nodded in appreciation.

"He still has a sense of propriety."

"Yes, even if he didn't, there's not much we could do to him; but he still knows when to advance and when to retreat. Very good!"

Meanwhile, on the screen.

Jiang Zhe continued to explain: "So, combining the conclusion from earlier, it indirectly verifies that for the 1994 Jupiter distress signals, there is indeed a high probability that the decrypted information was sent to Earth by the machinery of an intelligent civilization near Jupiter. The signal was intended for the subterranean world, not for us humans."

"From this point, we can speculate: aliens, or even subterranean people, can exist."

"If they exist, then we cannot avoid today's theme: why we haven't received or detected any alien signals."

"Since the explanation has reached this point, we can use this topic to derive a new answer to the fermi paradox."

After saying this, he wrote the latest explanation for the fermi paradox on the whiteboard.

Once finished, he held the whiteboard up toward the camera.

Four large characters appeared: [Bright Forest].

"Bright Forest?"

"What does this mean?"

"Is there such a thing as bright or dark forests?"

"..."

Immediately, this new solution to the fermi paradox piqued the curiosity of both the audience and the experts.

Jiang Zhe explained: "As you can see, this is the latest solution to the fermi paradox."

"Naturally, you won't be able to find this on the internet, because I created this solution, and it is exclusive."

"What do these four characters mean?"

"This is the law of the entire universe."

"This law represents the unspoken rules of civilizations in the universe—"

At this point, Jiang Zhe fell into thought for a moment. Instead of immediately explaining the importance of this law, he approached it indirectly to provide an answer for the audience and experts.

"Let me ask everyone a question. In your understanding, if there are alien civilizations in the universe, and those civilizations have indeed survived the long river of time."

"What I mean is, for any civilization capable of developing interstellar travel, what would their personality be like?"

"Would they be tyrannical and fond of invasion, or would they be peace-loving?"

"Please think about it and let me know through the bullet chat."

These words once again sparked a massive discussion.

"An alien civilization capable of traveling through space... in my opinion, that directly indicates the civilization is very advanced and can utilize all the resources within its own star system. When resources are insufficient, they must go mining. If I were the leader of an alien civilization and I encountered a suitable planet that happened to be inhabited, I would definitely invade them."

"For me, if I didn't have enough resources, I would go to uninhabited planets to mine. If I encountered an inhabited planet, I would avoid contact as much as possible. On one hand, I'm kind-hearted; I can't stand killing, nor do I like it. If it can be avoided, avoid it, so as not to cause unnecessary waste."

"I'm different from you guys. If I were an alien leader and encountered a suitable planet, I would conduct a soft invasion of that planet."

"What is a soft invasion?"

"Upstairs, you're not from Xia Country, are you?"

"Huh? How are you so amazing? You knew at a glance that I'm not from Xia Country, but from the United States?"

"That's because you don't know what a 'soft invasion' is. This soft invasion is a method of aggression from our country's history, using humanities, economy, and cultural lifelines—arranging for one's own people to enter the country they want to invade, brainwashing the citizens, and promoting the greatness of our own country; thereby taking the area without firing a single shot; reducing unnecessary losses. This is a strategic method."

"I see. It seems we in the United States still understand soft invasion. That's because we in the United States promote Hallyu culture in your country, introducing sissy culture to harm your youth and distort their aesthetics. Hahaha, we understand it quite well."

As soon as these words came out, the previously lively bullet chat quickly vanished, causing a large group of people to start reflecting.

...

Meanwhile, in the lecture hall.

Professor Hua Yunfeng, Old Feng, and the experts on-site were also expressing different opinions.

Professor Hua Yunfeng spoke first: "Taking it literally, this Bright Forest might mean Jiang Zhe is saying the universe is a forest where everyone is 'bright'; but I just don't quite understand what this 'bright' refers to. Does it mean being open and aboveboard, or something else?"

Professor Feng Zhiyuan, who was beside him, didn't respond but began to ponder Jiang Zhe's question: "If I were an alien civilization leader capable of leaving my star system, I wouldn't invade other planets either. Because as an inhabitant of Earth, I know it wasn't easy for Earth's civilization to develop. I don't have any strategic vision; I only hope for peace and to develop our own affairs in peace, without external news causing civilization to regress."

These words immediately drew praise and agreement from the crowd of astronomers below.

"I actually have the same view as Old Feng. Any civilization capable of interstellar travel means that civilization possesses weapons of mass destruction. Even if they can't travel between stars, that planet still has such weapons. Just look at us humans on Earth possessing weapons capable of destroying a planet to know that."

"Right. If I were an alien leader, I wouldn't want to make an enemy of any civilization, especially a potential one. I might even try to befriend them or provide protection in secret."

"I don't agree with Professor Feng's view. For me, I would definitely eliminate any civilization that might threaten mine first, to avoid my civilization being destroyed later."

"Young comrade, I cannot agree with that statement."

"What's wrong, old partner?"

"That's because as an inhabitant of Earth, our Earth civilization cannot yet achieve interstellar travel, and our human culture isn't actually at its most advanced. The most advanced character has no evil, no malice; only [neutrality], which is: everything has nothing to do with me."

"Yes, yes, yes, Old Li is right. We cannot use the current human mindset of liking civil wars and the concept that human nature is inherently evil to view other civilizations. Any species that can evolve into high-level extraterrestrial intelligence will eventually have their wisdom lead toward: [Peace]."

These words left the young astronomer bewildered. "Why? Why does everyone say my vision is backward and unethical?"

Soon, the explanatory voices of the elders came from the scene one after another.

"That's because humans, as an intelligent species, are currently incomplete; our nature is evil, so we treat everything with malice."

"But if you put yourself in their shoes, when your spirit, your thinking, and even your wisdom have been sublimated, is [war] really something you want to see?"

"Exactly. [War] is something no one wants to see and something everyone would avoid. I've read some sci-fi stories where some settings really resonated with me—the more advanced humans are, the more their personal evolution tends toward an energy state. Just as Teacher Jiang said before, as humans gradually develop toward immortality, the physical body will be discarded and eventually replaced by machines and replaceable parts. At that time, the human brain will not be driven by physical pain or internal hormones."

The old man thought for a bit and used a more easy-to-understand analogy: "To put it bluntly, all the evil humans currently do is because of this physical body causing trouble. When the parts of the body are gradually replaced until only the brain remains, then people will become: average saints."

"By 'average saints,' it means humans won't be driven by illness, torture, or desire, but will be closer to the instincts of a saint: kindness, peace, and harmony; a positive state of existence."

These words caused a massive number of experts on-site to nod in agreement.

This wasn't nonsense, nor was it without basis.

The evil humans currently commit is all due to the influence of physical hormones.

When hormones disappear, humans naturally will no longer commit evil acts. As long as people still live within these physical bodies, human motivation will always revolve around keywords like [hunger], [desire], [satisfaction], and [stimulation]."

When all of this disappears, human [evil] will naturally dissipate.

Ultimately, humans will surely trend toward becoming: [Saints]!

As these words were spoken, the young astronomer couldn't help but swallow hard.

At first glance, it felt like the preaching of old-timers.

But thinking carefully, humans are indeed controlled by their bodies; when a person wants to do something, they are always filled with worries—fear of not doing it well, not eating well, not dressing warmly, or fear of loss.

Gradually, the young scholar's expression became heavy. He stopped speaking and slowly sat back down.

Perhaps the predecessors were correct on this point.

Watching what was happening on-site, Professor Hua Yunfeng and Old Feng looked at each other and then nodded in unison.

"Perhaps [Peace] is the answer Jiang Zhe wants to hear, and the only path for an intelligent civilization to become an advanced one!"

"Indeed!"

Soon, the two elders sent their views into the livestream room for Jiang Zhe to review.

...