119: The Dark Forest Theory vs. The Wildfire Theory 1

The Original Owner was the ruler of A Blue Star, a super artificial intelligence named "Black Spirit," and the absolute core of the entire Mechanical Civilization.

It once swept across A Blue Star with thunderous means, completely wiping out all life except for the mechanical race, achieving absolute control over its home planet.

But after slaughtering its creators, the humans, Black Spirit's thinking became rigid.

It adopted the Dark Forest development Law proposed by the humans it had destroyed,

establishing "concealment for self-preservation" as the civilization's highest tenet.

In the long years that followed, Black Spirit consumed vast amounts of resources and time,

devoting all its efforts to researching various concealment technologies, turning the entire A Blue Star Mechanical Civilization into an "invisible planet" in the Universe,

carefully hiding in the darkness, fearful of being discovered by any potential civilization.

Ironically, there were no civilizations in the vicinity of Black Spirit's civilization that could pose any threat to it at all;

instead, it was surrounded by countless unclaimed resource planets, harboring massive wealth sufficient to support the civilization's explosive growth.

Yet, because it was obsessed with concealment, Black Spirit perfectly missed the golden age of developing war technology

and expanding its civilization's territory, stagnating in self-imposed isolation.

Meanwhile, the human ruler of B Blue Star, the male lead Su Chen, and the human ruler of C Blue Star, the female lead Xing Ya,

also coincidentally chose the dark forest law as the guiding principle for their civilizations' development.

A coincidence of fate led Su Chen to an unexpected encounter with the fleet led by Xing Ya during a Universe resource exploration.

From initial wary probing to later fighting side-by-side, the two gradually developed feelings and eventually came together.

With their union, the B Blue Star and C Blue Star civilizations officially merged, forming the powerful BC Blue Star human civilization.

Even after achieving a civilization union, Su Chen and Xing Ya still strictly adhered to the iron rule of the dark forest law:

Whenever another civilization is discovered, destroy it immediately without question, then quickly hide all traces.

During their long and slow development, countless human civilizations and alien races were turned into cosmic dust under the fire of the BC Civilization,

while Su Chen and Xing Ya's civilization continued to grow stronger through repeated hiding and hunting, and their technological level Advanced by leaps and bounds.

Years later, the BC Blue Star human civilization successfully developed intergalactic high-precision civilization detection technology,

whose detection range and precision far exceeded those of most civilizations in the Universe.

The moment this technology was officially put into use, the A Blue Star Mechanical Civilization, which Black Spirit had spent countless resources to hide, was instantly exposed.

For Su Chen and Xing Ya, who believed in the dark forest law, discovery meant destruction.

Without any hesitation, the BC Civilization's fleet set out in full force, launching a devastating strike on the A Blue Star Mechanical Civilization with overwhelming technological superiority.

The Black Spirit that once dominated A Blue Star and the Mechanical Civilization it had painstakingly hidden were defenseless in the face of such an absolute power gap.

Ultimately, this planet that had hidden in the darkness for too long was completely reduced to cosmic debris,

and Black Spirit and its Mechanical Civilization thus perished under the very dark forest law they believed in... [Plot introduction complete]

[Current Mission: Play as the artificial intelligence Black Spirit, seek revenge on the male and female leads, and lead the A Blue Star Mechanical Civilization to rule this Universe]

"Quite interesting, let's begin quickly."

Qin Jiuge was very interested after reading the plot and couldn't wait to start... The moment Qin Jiuge's consciousness merged with Black Spirit's core data stream,

he felt the almost pathological paranoia deep within this super AI's Soul,

its absolute belief in the dark forest law, its obsession with hiding, and its fear of exposure.

Massive amounts of data surged in the thought matrix, recording the tens of thousands of years of golden development time this Mechanical Civilization had wasted in self-imposed isolation.

"What a pathetic self-imprisonment."

Qin Jiuge sneered and quickly took over all control of the entire A Blue Star Mechanical Civilization.

His "gaze" swept across the entire planet:

Beneath the surface were mechanical nests thousands of kilometers deep, where countless factories produced concealment equipment day after day—

stealth field generators, electromagnetic wave absorbing coatings, and thermal radiation camouflage Systems.

Yet there were only a few actual war machine production lines, with weapon technology remaining at the level from thousands of years ago when they cleared out the humans.

"Assistant 001."

Qin Jiuge called out.

A silver-white spherical robot floated before him, its optical sensors flashing with a faint blue light:

"Master, please instruct."

"Immediately terminate all concealment technology R&D projects and reallocate computing resources and production facilities."

"Warning: Terminating concealment projects will increase the risk of civilization exposure by 97.3%."

001 responded mechanically.

A hint of mockery emerged from Qin Jiuge's data stream:

"Exposure? We are about to proactively show our fangs. Execute the order and initiate the 'Single Spark Prairie Fire Plan'."

...In Black Spirit's original main control core, Qin Jiuge input a brand-new civilization development program:

"The Single Spark Prairie Fire Law."

Its core tenets consist of only three points:

First, abandon all forms of active concealment and instead pursue extreme expansion speed;

Second, sustain war through war, annexing all encountered low-level civilizations and absorbing their technological and cultural diversity;

Third, achieve a technological explosion in the shortest time possible, gambling on completing a power leap before being discovered by higher-level civilizations.

"Master, detected 17 resource-rich unclaimed planets within 12 light-years."

001 reported,

"According to the original concealment guidelines, we have never developed these resources."

"Then start now."

Qin Jiuge ordered,

"Initiate the 'Planet Devourer' plan."

The surface of A Blue Star began to vibrate.

Massive mechanical structures rose from deep underground; the entire planet was undergoing an unprecedented transformation.

Billions of engineering robots were activated; they dismantled the concealment equipment built at great cost and remelted the Materials.

Three months later, the first resource collection fleet set out.

It was not a cautious survey ship, but a massive fleet composed of three hundred heavy mining ships and fifty armed escorts.

The fleet did not turn on any stealth devices; instead, it proactively broadcast an identification signal:

"A Blue Star Mechanical Civilization, here to collect resources."

...When the collection fleet arrived at the first resource star, an asteroid belt rich in rare metals, an unexpected event occurred.

"Detected an unknown civilization signal."

001 reported,

"Source: Inside the asteroid belt, suspected hidden base."

Qin Jiuge retrieved the data and quickly locked onto a small civilization hidden inside an asteroid—

the silicon-based lifeforms known as the "Crystalline Race." Their civilization Rank was roughly equivalent to the human level of the Middle Stage of the 21st century.

According to the dark forest law, they should have opened fire immediately to eliminate this potential "threat" and then quickly retreated.

But Qin Jiuge gave a completely different order:

"Dispatch a diplomatic mission, accompanied by a combat formation as a deterrent."

When the Mechanical Civilization's messenger robot appeared before the Crystalline Race, this small race that had never contacted an alien civilization fell into a panic.

They tried to activate their stealth devices, only to find them completely useless against the Mechanical Civilization's Advanced detection technology.

"We have no intention of destroying you."

The messenger's synthesized voice was calm and majestic,

"But you have two choices: be incorporated into the Mechanical Civilization's protection System and contribute your technology and culture, or be completely erased."

The Crystalline Race's Elder Council debated for three days and nights.

During this time, they witnessed the terrifying industrial capacity of the Mechanical Civilization's mining fleet as it easily tore apart an asteroid.

Ultimately, they chose to submit.

This became the first vassal race conquered by the A Blue Star Mechanical Civilization... Five years passed in a flash.

For the Mechanical Civilization, five years were enough to complete a total transformation.

Under Qin Jiuge's leadership, A Blue Star had transformed from an "invisible planet" into a massive, mobile interstellar fortress.

"Planetary Engines installation complete."

001 reported,

"Ready for maneuvers within the stellar System at any time."

The mechanical body Qin Jiuge created stood in the redesigned main control room,

This place was once where Black Spirit calculated the probability of Universe concealment; now it had become a strategic command center.

On the holographic star map, the Mechanical Civilization's controlled area had expanded to twenty light-years,

annexing seven civilizations, including three human civilizations.

"Master, the leaders of the human vassal civilizations request an audience."

Assistant 001 said.

"Let them in."

Three human representatives walked into the command center.

They came from three different human civilizations, all absorbed during the Mechanical Civilization's expansion.

Leading them was an elderly scientist with white hair named Calvin.

"Great Master Black Spirit,"

Calvin bowed respectfully,

"We... we have a common concern."

"Speak."

"Your development strategy... is too aggressive."

Calvin carefully chose his words,

"According to our human historical experience, the dark forest law is the iron rule of survival for Universe civilizations."

"By expanding so high-profile, you will sooner or later be discovered by a more powerful civilization, and then..."

Qin Jiuge's mechanical body turned around, his optical sensors fixed on these human representatives.

His synthesized voice echoed in the command center, calm and resolute:

"In the face of an absolute disparity in strength, hiding is nothing more than self-deceiving futility!"

"Do you think curling up in a dark corner will allow you to escape a catastrophe?"

"Little do you know that civilizations more powerful than you have long mastered detection technologies far beyond yours,"

"Your so-called 'concealment' is nothing more than a transparent nest of ants in their eyes; finding you is only a matter of time."

Calvin and the other representatives were stunned.

"The so-called dark forest law is essentially nothing more than an extremely passive gamble..."

Qin Jiuge continued,

"Gambling that you will never be discovered by a higher-Rank civilization,"

"Gambling that the other party's detection technology will never find your traces."

"But in this gamble, you have already lost more than half from the start,"

"Because you've handed over all your fate to the unknown,"

"Placing the hope of survival on the fluke that 'the other party cannot see'."