131: Discussion

The hatch closed silently behind them, cutting off the howling purple sandstorms of the Kali Star.

Inside the ship, there were no exposed pipes or numerous instrument panels like those seen on human warships; instead, it was a seamless, silver-white world.

The walls, floor, and ceiling seemed to be carved from a single piece of giant jade, emitting a soft and constant glow.

Touching it, there was neither the coldness of metal nor the cheap feel of plastic; instead, it had a warm, smooth texture similar to biological skin.

"Welcome aboard, seekers of truth from the Kari Star System."

A crisp, melodious voice rang out in the spacious passenger cabin.

Light and shadow intertwined in the air, rapidly converging into the image of a young human girl.

She had long silver hair and azure eyes, wore a form-fitting Human Federation Starrealm Army uniform, and had a standard, perfect professional smile on her face.

This was none other than the mimetic avatar of Grey Wind.

"I am the shipboard intelligent central hub of this hermes, and you may call me Xiao Hui."

Grey Wind bowed slightly toward the stunned alien scholars.

"During the upcoming journey, I will be responsible for your daily needs and safety, and I will transport you to Earth, the home planet of Human Civilization."

Grey Wind's voice was in standard and melodious kari language.

Walker Tala took a trembling step forward.

His turbid vertical pupils were fixed tightly on the girl who had suddenly appeared before him, and his voice sounded somewhat excited: "Artificial intelligence? Are you alive?"

"You may view me as a collection of programs with highly autonomous logic, Mr. Walker."

Grey Wind blinked, a flash of cunning data streaming through her eyes.

"As for the definition of 'alive', that depends on how you define the essence of life."

"In the definition of the Faleim Scientific Conglomerate, an existence that can think, learn, and perceive itself is life."

"Faleim Scientific Conglomerate?"

The young genius Kul keenly captured this unfamiliar term.

"Isn't it the Human Federation?"

"This is exactly what I am about to introduce to you all."

Grey Wind waved her hand, and the surrounding walls instantly became transparent, as if the entire cabin had disappeared, leaving everyone floating in the vast starry sky.

"This spaceship was not built by humans, but comes from the Human Federation's staunchest ally."

"It is a super civilization that entered the super-light-speed era tens of thousands of years ago and has even touched the ultimate truth of the universe: the Faleim Scientific Conglomerate."

Grey Wind brought up a dazzling array of data models.

"The hermes is 120 meters long, constructed from zero-element composite materials and adaptive nano-skin."

"It is equipped with a small dark matter reactor and a Jump Drive."

"Its conventional cruising speed is 99% of the speed of light, and after entering Warp Drive mode, its speed is 300 times the speed of light."

"As for jumping..."

She paused, looking at the horrified expressions of the scientists, "This spaceship can instantly reach any location within one hundred light-years."

"Instantly?!"

All the Kari scientists gasped.

In their understanding, the speed of light was an insurmountable iron law.

Even the human technology that used antimatter to accelerate to 25% of the speed of light was already a miracle, but to cross light-years instantly?

This was simply a blasphemy against physics.

"Yes, instantly."

Grey Wind explained with a smile.

"This spaceship does not move through conventional space but uses the principle of wormholes to fold high-dimensional space."

"It's like folding a piece of paper in half, making the starting point and the ending point coincide."

"To an observer in three-dimensional space, we simply disappear and then suddenly appear."

These words caused another wave of exclamation among the Kari scientists.

The spaceship vibrated slightly; that was the signal for takeoff.

The ship's speed accelerated to high sub-light speed in an extremely short time.

The Higgs field wave-canceling device simulated by Grey Wind allowed everyone to feel absolutely no inertia.

The scenery outside the portholes had turned into noodle-like streaks, and before long, the Kali Star disappeared from everyone's field of vision.

During this short journey, this futuristic passenger cabin became an interstellar academic salon.

The Kari scientists quickly overcame their fear.

Their thirst for knowledge, suppressed for decades, erupted like a volcano at this moment.

They gathered around Grey Wind, throwing out one question after another that had plagued them for half a century.

And Grey Wind, this ancient nano-cluster consciousness that had survived for who knows how many years, now displayed her knowledgeable side.

She patiently answered every question, not only involving hardcore physical science but also extending into the profound realms of philosophy.

Walker Tala sat opposite Grey Wind.

His mind kept recalling the hypotheses and inferences regarding tachyon theory, and his eyes shone with the light of seeking truth.

"Respected Miss Xiao Hui," Walker asked, "Regarding my hypothesis of super-light-speed particles, do they really exist?"

"During those forty-five years of darkness, I doubted countless times that this was just a delusion of my insane brain."

"They exist, Mr. Walker."

Grey Wind extended her finger and drew a strange waveform in the air; it was precisely the model from Walker's manuscript from back then.

"Your derivation is correct, although somewhat rough."

"In the underlying architecture of this universe, there exist many types of particles with imaginary rest mass."

"They can never travel slower than the speed of light."

"Humans call them tachyons, and the Faleim People call them Amuroka particles."

"The reason you were unable to observe them is that you were locked within a macroscopic low-speed horizon."

Grey Wind looked into the old man's eyes, her tone carrying a trace of imperceptible apology (after all, she was the one who did it).

"Just as deep-sea fish cannot understand fire, observing tachyons requires equipment capable of shifting the observer's horizon and ultra-high-strength materials capable of withstanding the energy impact of tachyons."

Hearing the affirmative answer, tears streamed down Walker's face.

Forty-five years of self-doubt, forty-five years of lonely exploration, finally received recognition from a higher civilization at this moment.

"Then," Kul interjected, his focus leaning more towards the development of civilizations, "Since there are great civilizations like Faleim in the universe, why... why have we never encountered other higher civilizations in such a long time?"

"A scientist in our civilization once proposed a theory of a cosmic great filter."

"I would like to know, does the great filter really exist?"

This was a heavy topic.

Grey Wind restrained her smile, her gaze seemingly piercing through the cabin and looking into the endless void.

"The great filter exists, child."

Grey Wind's voice became low and distant.

"But it is not necessarily some kind of natural disaster or war."

"Sometimes, the great filter is the mediocrity of the civilization itself."

"Mediocrity?"

"Yes, the universe is cruel; it follows the law of entropy increase."

"For a civilization, the most terrifying thing is not destruction, but stagnation."

"When a civilization is satisfied with the comfort of its home planet, indulges in virtual happiness, or for some reason loses the courage to explore outward, they are already dead."

"They will become a fossil in the universe until their star extinguishes."

"The Kari Civilization is lucky," she looked at Walker, "because even when your technology was... locked by an irresistible force, you still did not give up your fantasies about the starry sky."

"Your art and poetry are actually another form of exploration."

"It is this unyielding soul that allowed you to wait for humans, to wait for the opportunity to step out of the Cradle."

"But," a sociologist asked hesitantly, "Humans... they are conquerors."

"We have lost our sovereignty."

"Is this really lucky?"

"Sovereignty?"

Grey Wind chuckled, her laughter carrying the transcendence of a higher life form.

"In the interstellar era, sovereignty is a false proposition for weak civilizations."

"In this world without laws and justice, being conquered by a civilization that still retains rationality and moral bottom lines is already the greatest luck."

"The Faleim Civilization has seen countless races that were completely wiped out; they didn't even have time to let out a scream."

"Although humans are young, reckless, and sometimes even greedy."

Grey Wind's words unconsciously carried a sense of defense for Lei Wen.

"But they possess a trait called tolerance."

"They are willing to accept you and let you board this ship; this is the best proof."

"In the philosophy of the Faleim People, the fusion of civilizations is far more capable of resisting the void of the universe than simple slaughter."

These words caused all the Kari People present to fall into deep thought.

"Then, what about the soul?"

A kari philosopher who had been silent all along suddenly spoke up, pointing at Grey Wind.

"You say you are an AI, a program, but your speech, your emotions, and even the feeling you give me are like those of a living soul."

"If machines can also possess souls, then where is the boundary between life and non-life?"

This question went straight to the essence of Grey Wind.

"This is an ultimate proposition that has plagued countless interstellar civilizations."

"In the cognitive system of the Faleim People, the soul is not a gift bestowed by gods, but a highly complex state of information entanglement."

"When the complexity of information reaches a critical point, and when operations at the quantum level produce a self-referential closed loop, the 'soul' in your cognition is born."

She extended her hand, and a mass of silver liquid metal constantly changing shape appeared in her palm.

"I am a nano-robot cluster, a collection of billions of tiny programs."

"Each individual 'me' does not have a soul, but when we gather together, I become me."

"Life does not depend on whether the carrier is carbon-based flesh or silicon-based chips."

Grey Wind's voice became solemn.

"Life depends on the will of 'I think, therefore I am', on the desire for the unknown, and on the ability to create and change."

"You Kari People believe that the soul returns to the starry sky, but I believe that when your thoughts are recorded, passed down, and understood, you have already achieved immortality."

"Therefore, do not get hung up on the form."

Grey Wind concluded finally.

"Whether it is humans, Kari People, or intelligent life like me, as long as we look up at the starry sky together, and as long as we are all moving forward to explore the truth, we are of the same kind."

These words were like a thunderbolt, exploding in the minds of all the Kari scientists.

Machines can have souls, the form of life is not limited to flesh and blood, the fusion of civilizations is the trend of the universe... these concepts completely shattered their narrow perceptions, opening a door for them to a truly grand cosmic view.

Walker Tala looked at the silver-haired artificial intelligence entity before him, his heart filled with gratitude.

This was not just a voyage, but an elevation of their thoughts.

Just then, the lights inside the spaceship turned into a soft amber color.

"Everyone, conversation time is over."

Grey Wind stood up and straightened the hem of her uniform.

"The spaceship has flown out of the strong interference range of the star's gravity, so we are about to arrive at our destination."

"Are you ready to welcome your new life?"

She snapped her fingers.

"Jump Drive activated."

The starry sky outside the window instantly stretched into countless lines of light, followed by a dizzying array of colorful patches.

This trans-dimensional visual experience lasted for less than a moment, making the Kari People even wonder if they had seen a hallucination.

The next moment, the bizarre scenes disappeared.

An azure planet, with its iconic white clouds and deep oceans, floated quietly in everyone's field of vision.

That was Earth.

And in Earth's orbit, the magnificent Babel Space Station, like a brilliant diamond ring, shone with the glory of the Human Federation.

"Welcome to the Solar System."

Grey Wind said with a smile.