193: Chapter 193: A Level 2 Civilization Capable of Destroying a Comet with Bare Hands

"A Level 2 civilization?"

Jiang Zhe repeated this sentence, the corners of his mouth curling slightly, "This stage, called a defiant civilization, already possesses the initial qualifications to bargain with the universe."

"The core hallmark of this civilization is: achieving causal intervention and precision intervention on a global scale!"

"It's not the kind of causal intervention that brings people back from the dead; after all, bringing the dead back to life is too fantastical and doesn't conform to the scientific entropy increase. You'd need to wait until at least a Level 5 or 6 civilization to achieve that."

Xiao Yu nodded, not dwelling on this issue.

"In other words, by the time a civilization reaches this level, those so-called natural disasters that can easily destroy Level 1 and Level 0 civilizations..."

"For them, they are no longer an irresistible 'consequence,' but a process that can be calculated, analyzed, and even directly destroyed by brute force!"

Xiao Yu and countless viewers held their breath, all waiting for a concrete example.

"For example, floods!"

"A Level 2 civilization wouldn't just be satisfied with building dams and evacuating people in advance."

"Their global detection and monitoring systems might, at the very beginning of a flood's formation, use precise calculations to implement artificial rain enhancement or cloud dispersal upstream, releasing water vapor pressure in advance, while simultaneously regulating the water storage capacity of reservoirs in the middle and lower reaches, accurate to the cubic meter per second."

"They could even utilize underground drainage networks to redistribute regional water bodies."

"The final result would be: 'Heavens, go ahead and rain all you want; it doesn't affect me anyway.'"

"This is how a Level 2 civilization precisely eliminates floods into nothingness!"

Having said this, he paused for a moment and continued, "Take volcanic eruptions for another example."

"A Level 2 civilization wouldn't just monitor volcanic activity. When they predict a large-scale volcanic eruption capable of affecting the global climate, they might drill holes in specific locations years in advance to guide the Earth's tectonic plates to vent in a controlled manner."

"Here, what should be noted is—they already possess the ability to drill through the Earth's tectonic plates."

"And our human civilization can currently only dig 10,000 meters into the Earth—to reach Level 2 civilization status, one must possess all these capabilities."

Xiao Yu nodded gently.

She understood Xiaoyu's brother's words, meaning: it's not just about being able to manipulate things.

But while being able to manipulate them, can other technologies reach the Level 2 civilization standard?

If that Level 2 civilization only detected a major volcanic eruption but didn't have the corresponding technology to deal with it, it could only be considered a pseudo-Level 2!

"Also tsunamis... super earthquakes... and so on; there must be corresponding technology to deal with a whole series of things, only then can it be considered stepping into the threshold of a Level 2 civilization."

"And these!"

As Jiang Zhe changed the subject, his gaze falling into the night outside the window, "These are still just planetary-level tests. The true test, the real Great Filter, often comes from between the stars... comets!!!"

This sentence made everyone's heart tighten.

Jiang Zhe's gaze fell on Xiao Yu, "Assume an asteroid with a large enough diameter to cause species extinction is heading straight for Earth."

"What would we do?"

Xiao Yu said without thinking, "Leave it to fate!"

"Correct. Let's talk about what a Level 1 civilization would do—they would calculate the trajectory, but limited by propulsion technology, the speed of their interceptor missiles might not catch up to the target; they might launch spacecraft many years in advance, barely meeting the asteroid head-on, and then rely on explosive shockwaves to slightly deflect the asteroid's orbit."

"And then, filled with uncertainty, hope that the asteroid can deflect its orbit and not cause harm to the Earth!"

"As for the success rate, it's minuscule; most of it depends on luck, still limited by 'the Heavens'!"

At this moment, inside Qingfeng Temple, Professor Zhang Qinian's brows twitched slightly, and he commented involuntarily, "He describes it very professionally. Currently, the international astronomical community's concept for planetary defense—the mainstream solution is exactly the kind he described."

"Kinetic impact deflection!"

"As he said, the variables are huge: the asteroid's own rotation, internal structure... during the asteroid's journey, it is affected by the gravitational pull of other celestial bodies."

"A series of uncertainties could all cause the deflection plan that our Earth civilization has meticulously calculated to fail."

"Sometimes, you think it will hit, but it turns on its own; sometimes you think it should turn, but it will pass straight by or even hit directly."

"As of now, a Level 1 civilization is still in the process of leaving things to fate!"

Seeing that Professor Zhang did not refute, Zheng Ming also moved his mouth. So, Xiaoyu's brother, damn it, has already received partial recognition from Professor Zhang?

Inside the big screen, in the living room.

Jiang Zhe's unhurried voice came through, "And what about a Level 2 civilization?"

"A Level 2 civilization wouldn't choose that kind of variable-filled fine-tuning. The moment the threat is confirmed."

"People of a Level 2 civilization would say: 'A mere comet, not worth mentioning!'"

"And then!"

He said vividly, "Then a Level 2 civilization would launch an unmanned space shuttle far superior to the threatening celestial body."

"Xiao Yu, can you understand an unmanned space shuttle?"

Xiao Yu bit her lip and nodded gently, "Yes, it's a suicide machine made of very special materials, targeted at specific environments; the speed sounds super fast, the kind of machine that humans couldn't withstand; although I haven't seen one, I can understand it."

"Not bad, you've gotten smarter!" Jiang Zhe raised his hand and patted Xiao Yu's head, then continued to explain, "That unmanned space shuttle would carry a payload to completely crush the threatening celestial body. They aren't trying to push the asteroid; they are going to completely destroy it before it reaches Earth!"

Speaking of this, Jiang Zhe suddenly frowned, as if he had remembered something.

Then he picked up the tablet on the table and operated it with his fingers a few times.

"Talking about it might not be intuitive enough. Xiao Yu, let me show you a piece of real footage that actually happened and can be regarded as a Level 2 civilization intervention."

"???"

Xiao Yu tilted her head, looking blank, "Brother, do you want to listen to what you're saying???"

"Real footage of a Level 2 civilization intervening with a meteorite on Earth??"

"Otherwise, of course there is!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Xiao Yu and the viewers looked surprised. WTF?

But Jiang Zhe didn't give Xiao Yu a chance to react and directly pulled up a real video.

He turned the tablet toward Xiao Yu, and Xiao Yu leaned in to browse—

The image was a bit blurry, clearly from a car dashboard camera or street surveillance perspective.

The screen showed the daytime sky.

Suddenly, an extremely dazzling fireball trailing a long smoke trail streaked across the horizon, tearing through the sky and heading straight for the city—the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteorite incident in Bear Country.

Just at the moment when the meteorite was falling at an incredible speed and was about to cause unimaginable impact casualties to the densely populated area on the ground!

Suddenly!

An unidentified object with even faster speed, a straighter trajectory, and ultra-high brightness caught up to the meteorite from behind at an inconceivable angle and speed, and instantly pierced through the meteorite!

The hit meteorite did not continue to fall, but exploded violently in the high altitude, eventually turning into countless fragments and dust. The shockwave shattered car windows on the road and a large number of windows within tens of kilometers, but the fatal direct impact was dismantled on the spot!

Just at this moment.

Jiang Zhe pointed to the frozen frame, to the light and shadow in the processed video, and said: "Look, this is the difference."

"A Level 1 civilization's plan might be to fine-tune the meteorite's trajectory in space before it enters the atmosphere, hoping it lands in an unpopulated area."

"But a Level 2 civilization's approach is to directly dispatch a cleaner that is faster and more lethal than the threat!"

"Rushing quickly to the sky above your roof and dismantling it violently with bare hands."

"They even feel disdain for going into space to deflect the meteorite's forward trajectory in advance."

"Because possessing this ability to dismantle a meteorite with bare hands itself implies that they have higher fault tolerance and more absolute control over natural disasters!"

As his series of words fell, Xiao Yu and countless viewers were stunned.

I asked you to give an example, so you give an example, but what's the deal with you showing real footage?

...

PS: True