191: Chapter 191: Causality Manipulates the Civilization Hierarchy System

"Indeed, that is the case! The universe gives all technological civilizations the same starting point."

"In the early stages of technological development, everyone struggles. Once a certain problem is overcome, technology no longer develops slowly, but explodes!"

"Just as Jiang Zhe mentioned before, the technological explosion of 2045!"

"Two: The speed that locks human civilization—the speed of light?"

"Xiao Yu, the speed of light is not a wall of speed, but a unified timer."

"It ensures that the law of causality cannot be trampled upon at will by intelligent civilizations. The speed of light creates an absolutely fair delay between [the present moment] and [the distance]—any civilization attempting to exceed the speed of light must first answer, not [how to be faster than the speed of light], but [how we can bear the cost of exceeding the speed of light and thus rewriting causality]."

Hearing this, Xiao Yu frowned slightly. It wasn't about being faster than light, but about the cost a civilization must bear to not alter the causality after exceeding the speed of light? This statement was worth savoring carefully!

Seeing the light in Xiao Yu's eyes, Jiang Zhe continued, "Three: The energy source that locks human civilization—nuclear fusion?"

"Xiao Yu, nuclear fusion is not the end, but an examination paper marked with costs."

"From the time human civilization began burning chemical bonds to starting to split atomic nuclei, every time our Earth civilization climbed a rung on the energy ladder, we were learning to leverage matter itself more efficiently!"

"Nuclear fusion is one of the reference answers provided by stars, and the next question on the exam paper that the universe gave to humanity—"

"—is likely [how to find dark energy and use it as an energy source], or perhaps [how to reverse the direction of energy diffusion]."

"If any intelligent civilization in the universe is confused by controlled nuclear fusion, then their civilization will never be able to cross interstellar space in their entire existence!"

"Humanity being trapped in the cradle is not the malice of the universe; it is because we haven't passed the exam yet."

"Controlled nuclear fusion is the first major question on this cosmic exam paper. If you can't solve it, you don't even have the qualification to step out of your own courtyard."

He looked at Xiao Yu, whose eyes were gradually brightening with understanding, and changed the subject, "Then, if we humans solve the problem?"

"At that time, we will face the next question, and the next question is how to use this limited energy and resources to start countering the absolute distance brought by the speed of light, and truly touch the stars."

"After solving the previous question, the next cosmic question will follow immediately!"

"The next question might be how to keep fragile carbon-based life forms from dying or degenerating during voyages that easily take thousands of years."

"And the next question after that... for the sake of elements in more distant interstellar space, humanity must find ways to become immortal; only then will obtaining those resources have meaning..."

"Therefore, the sea of questions is boundless; solving one will only lead to new problems."

Saying this, he nodded slightly and sighed with relief, "What's truly important is not complaining that the questions are too difficult!"

"But seeing clearly—in this ultimate exam that has lasted for hundreds of millions of years, how many questions can a civilization answer before it perishes prematurely!"

"It determines the height of a civilization and whether it can live to witness the end of the universe and become that observer."

"And the ruler that measures this height is the civilization ranking system of the universe!"

As these words fell, the barrage in the livestream room suddenly disappeared, as if everyone had fallen into deep contemplation and thought.

Professor Zhang rested his chin on his hand, his gaze very solemn—the things Jiang Zhe said were indeed one difficult problem after another that the scientific community had encountered.

Whenever a difficult problem could not be solved, a genius would always emerge and solve it.

Whenever technology fell into a bottleneck, a genius would always appear to solve it. Unfortunately, in the last few decades, it seems such geniuses no longer exist.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shake his head.

At this moment, he realized that the "trash civilization" Jiang Zhe mentioned might be us—once scientists cannot overcome this bottleneck, the final outcome will only be to be submerged in the torrent of time and space.

Ouyang Baili, Professor Wu, Li Mo, Professor Guan, and others looked at each other and nodded, expressing their agreement.

In the principal's office, Old Yu opened his mouth, wanting to speak but hesitating, while Xiao Wang, Old Wang, and Principal Fu shook their heads slowly.

In the Kyoto History Family Quarter, Professor Chen and the others fell into a long silence.

These words fermented in the livestream room with tens of millions of viewers, dizzying as if countless scientists had been struck on the head by an invisible exam question.

After a long time, Xiao Yu finally snapped out of the lingering power of Jiang Zhe's words, "Brother, what you said makes a lot of sense; but what do you mean by the civilization ranking system of the universe you just mentioned?"

Jiang Zhe grinned, "That is natural. Every civilization in the universe can be ranked, and brother just happens to know this measurement standard!"

As Jiang Zhe's words fell, the living room went instantly quiet; you could hear a pin drop.

Xiao Yu and the brains of the tens of millions of viewers in the livestream room buzzed for an instant.

Measuring civilization—this feeling, for this parallel world... was no less than someone suddenly pulling out a ruler and saying they wanted to measure how high the human soul was in the universe!

"Huh? I was listening well, why are you suddenly pulling this on me?"

"I'm stunned. Civilization ranking, is this something that can be measured? Did I hear that right?"

"Brother, you are really... After calculating the probability of aliens with formulas, are you now directly grading civilizations?"

"Who is grading the papers? Is it the Cosmic Bureau of Education?"

"..."

Apparently, these words were indeed very heavy for this backward parallel world!

At Huaqing University, in Ouyang Baili's living room.

Professor Wu had just caught his breath from the shock brought by Formula J, and then fell into the lingering power of the difficult problems the universe posed to civilizations; just as he was immersed in that lingering power, he suddenly heard the four words "measurement standard."

He immediately shook his head, his brows furrowed: "This is simply nonsense. The evolution path of a civilization is very complex—environment, opportunity, and countless accidental factors; how can they be ranked like students taking an exam?"

"Furthermore, where does the standard come from—we don't even have a single instance of an alien civilization. Isn't this standard a castle in the air, pure speculation!"

Even Ouyang Baili, Li Mo, and Guan Jingming, who had always supported Jiang Zhe, exchanged a worried look at this moment.

This step was indeed too big and too risky!

In the principal's office, Principal Fu also couldn't help but shake his head, his expression complex, "He is taking too big a risk; a mathematical model can still be debated. But civilization ranking involves astronomical knowledge and massive amounts of data for judgment. Without authoritative backing, it's very easy to be labeled a madman!"

Old Wang and Xiao Wang nodded repeatedly.

Old Yu stared at the screen and gasped, "This is really putting himself on the fire to roast!"

Inside the Kyoto History Family Quarter, the four professors, Chen, Qian, Liu, and Wang, looked at each other and shook their heads one after another.

It was certainly crazy, but wasn't this too crazy?

Inside Qingfeng Temple, Zheng Ming muttered a few words with a confused look on his face: "Formulas can still be calculated, but can this ranking also be calculated? Don't be so ridiculous; this can't be something dreamt up, right?"

Professor Zhang Qinian didn't speak, just folded his arms across his chest, his eyes staring fixedly at the screen.

He didn't dare to jump to conclusions anymore; after all, Formula J did have a tiny bit of substance for him, an expert in astronomical research.

Inside the big screen, in the living room, "Brother!" Xiao Yu's brows furrowed tightly, and she couldn't help but shake her head repeatedly, "Can civilization standards even be measured?"

"Of course they can!"

"Then, based on what standard?"

This was also what the tens of millions of viewers were curious about; they certainly didn't want Jiang Zhe to ruin his reputation.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, "Of course, whether this civilization can defy the heavens, whether it can interrupt the causality of all things, and whether it can manipulate causality is the only system for measuring civilization levels!"