Barnard's Star was a red dwarf with a very small mass.
It was located near Beta Ophiuchus and was roughly 6.2 light-years away from Earth.
Although this star system was very close to the solar system, for some reason, humans in the 21st century didn't care much about it.
They didn't even know how many planets Barnard's Star System had.
Five hours later, when Chen Yu's spacecraft entered the eight satellites 37, 38, and 59, the isotope analyzer and circular polarization life scanner simultaneously displayed the "civilization" response.
"Sure enough, there are aliens. Moreover, they're so close to Earth..."
Slowly flying above the gaseous planet, Chen Yu looked down at the countless satellites orbiting below him. Filled with interest, he said, "This really is a barren star system. It only has one red dwarf and one gaseous planet.
Civilizations thrived on satellites, so their living conditions must be very unstable.
I'm a little curious about their social composition. "
Buzz … Buzz …
At this time, the spacecraft's signal receiving module suddenly received a quantum signal.
"It seems they've discovered me."
Turning around and facing the camera, Chen Yu couldn't help but laugh out loud. "What goes around comes around. This time, it's our turn to show off."
After saying so, Chen Yu tidied his hair and connected the quantum communication.
Whoosh!
Immediately, a virtual screen appeared inside the spacecraft.
On the other side of the screen, hundreds of alien creatures were currently hovering.
It was as if all of them were stuck in a metal shell, and only two fleshy, triangular visual organs were exposed in the middle of the shell.
"Greetings, powerful human civilization.
I am the emperor of the Core of Consciousness Empire. "
"You know about the fleet?" Chen Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Yes."
The leading alien turned its metal shell black and said, "In the vast scale of the universe, any interstellar civilization must complete telepathic communication, which is also known as quantum communication.
Hence, the empire has seen everything that happened in System NP05. "
"That's quite convenient. It saves me the trouble of explaining."
"It's just that we didn't expect you to arrive at 5,000 times the speed of light.
This kind of technology is amazing. It is as great as the Crown of Will. "
"Not bad, not bad." Chen Yu accepted the praise righteously. "Are you silicon-based life forms?
Why do you look like robots? "
"Like you, we are also carbon-based life forms.
According to your understanding, these metal shells are considered clothes. "
The leading alien rose half a meter. "But these 'clothes' are connected to our will. They can also be understood as our skin.
The Empire was about to pass a bill to complete the self-destruction of the entire population.
Everything will be clear when we study the technology we left behind. "
"Wait a minute." Stunned, Chen Yu asked, "You said you want to self-destruct?
Suicide? "
"Yes."
"Suicide of the entire civilization?"
"Yes."
"Are you sick?"
"The gap between civilizations is insurmountable.
Death by reason is the only honor left for the loser. "
Hearing such words for the third time undoubtedly gave Chen Yu an even stronger impact. "I cannot understand your way of thinking.
Wouldn't that make the enemy very happy? "
"Personal emotions are not important. Resources and costs are the most important.
Any conflict will result in the wastage of resources, so measuring each other's strength and reducing losses is the way for a civilization to survive. "The emperor's eyes lit up with a blue light, and a human face appeared in front of him.
"According to our data, human facial expressions are an important part of communication, so in order to facilitate smooth communication, let's use this human avatar again."
Nodding, Chen Yu said, "Okay. I feel much better now.
However, I still cannot understand your way of thinking. "
"Because..." Revealing a bitter smile, the human face said, "You are reproducing in the rich solar system..."
Hearing this, Chen Yu was taken aback.
Continuing, the emperor said, "As you can see, there is only a red dwarf and our crown — a gaseous planet.
Their resources are singular, and the cost of collecting them is also very high. Most of our resources are mined from the many small moons.
"However, the combined mass of these small moons is still inferior to the solar system's Mars. Hence, since the birth of civilization, we have been bound by poverty.
"Every piece of iron, copper, and rare earth elements is a treasure more important than life.
Many times, one gram of resources can be exchanged for ten lives.
For millions of years, the importance of resources has been deeply engraved in the will of every living individual.
"The fleet you easily destroyed is already the empire's entire accumulation of metals over millions of years. Unless we make another breakthrough in materials science, we will never be able to build such a massive fleet again."
After saying so, the emperor paused for a moment and shook his head. "Perhaps in your opinion, our cost-saving method is foolish.
However, without this foolish method, our entire civilization wouldn't have reached this point today.
As early as the atomic age, our resources were consumed in various conflicts and wars. "
"So..." Hesitantly, Chen Yu asked, "Your wars are a competition of strength?"
"Yes.
The resources left behind by the losers will be given to the victors to use, allowing the victors' resources and lives to be consumed in more meaningful development. "
"I more or less understand."
"The empire is already a loser, and its future no longer exists.
I hope you humans cherish the resources we left behind.
Although these resources are insignificant in the eyes of rich humans, not even comparable to the light energy released by the sun, they are everything to us. "
Chen Yu: "..."
"Finally, as the emperor of the empire, I wish to praise the solar system on behalf of the people," the human face said, revealing a fanatical expression. "What a magical crown!
There were stable main-sequence stars, great light energy, hundreds of millions of asteroid belts, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Saturn, Jupiter … light and heavy elements, springboard space, resources and conditions needed for the development of civilization, and everything else was there.
As long as there is no internal friction and squandering, humanity will definitely become the lucky one of the brightest stars in the galaxy!
I praise you. You are the incarnation of the Crown of Will... "
Standing inside the spacecraft, Chen Yu felt complicated as he looked at the aliens on the other side of the screen. For a time, he was at a loss for words.
[I feel ashamed.]
[Ditto.]
"Different living environments have created two different civilizations.
However, no matter how you look at it, this empire's civilization is great.]
[Geniuses are on the left, and lunatics are on the right.
Previously, they looked like rational lunatics. Now, however, I feel they are more like emotional geniuses.]
[Can we eat them after cracking open the shell?]
[Eat, eat, eat!
All I can think about is eating!
Do you think the metal shell is easy to remove?
It should be good to boil it and drink soup.]
[Huh? Have you forgotten your main purpose, UP?
Aren't you here to seek "help"?]
"Human, the bill has been passed. The empire will begin self-destruction immediately."
After removing the human face's portrait, the emperor hovered before Chen Yu and said, "Please remember that we are the core civilization of consciousness. We have also been to this magnificent universe before.
Goodbye. "
"I... Crap! W-Wait a minute!" Chen Yu exclaimed as he snapped out of his daze.
Clang.
However, it was already too late.
On the other side of the screen, all the extraterrestrial creatures turned into boxes as they fell to the ground, making loud clanking noises.
"I-They're all dead?" Chen Yu found this unbelievable.
The metal shell: "..."
"What the hell are you guys in such a hurry for?!
Are you trying to save some electricity bills?! "
The metal shell: "..."