Chapter 607: Dark ForestTranslator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
At this point, Tang Muxin did think it was possible. Otherwise, there was no way to explain this.
This la.s.s finally came round. “What you said makes sense.” She drew a small circle with a finger on the coffee table in front of her. “This is what you mentioned, b.a.l.l.s-ache Aliens.” Then, she drew a big circle around the small circle. “This is the inter-s.p.a.ce network they developed.” She randomly drew another small dot outside the big circle. “This is our planet.”
At that moment, Hong Dali nodded and said, “For example, we connected this inter-s.p.a.ce virtual network. When they found out, they transmitted over… But that doesn't sound right. He doesn't look like a GM (Game Manager). He was even afraid of the tiger. I was okay with it. I can control even the animals in the virtual world. Hehe. Riding a tiger is fun!”
“You said he's afraid of the tiger?” Tang Muxin rubbed her chin. “That's not right. If they developed this virtual universe, there should be no records of it on Earth. It should have been a desolate planet. There should not be tigers or anything like that. Even if there is, he should be afraid of it. But judging from the situation, Earth corresponds with this virtual universe and it's already in existence. Just that they didn't realize it.”
Tang Muxin said something important.
If the virtual world that Earth corresponds to was developed by Deca and their planet, then this b.a.l.l.s-ache Alien, Deca, must have been aware. However, according to what Hong Dali had experienced, it didn't seem like it.
“Yes, yes. I remember now.” Hong Dali suddenly smiled. “He mentioned Planet Dollars and Galaxy Dollars. In that case, Xinxin, do you think this Planet Dollar is similar to Dali Dollar? Galaxy Dollar should be a currency stronger than Dali Dollar. The rate should be one to ten thousand? One million? And being named Galaxy Dollar, could it be—this inter-s.p.a.ce virtual network, is not developed by Deca, but by a higher civilization in the galaxy that encompa.s.ses the entire galaxy?”
“Shocked! Encompa.s.sing the entire galaxy!” Tang Muxin stared with her eyes wide open. “What kind of civilization would that be! This… sounds impossible?”
A virtual network that encompa.s.sed the entire galaxy? How much more advanced would they be compared to Earth to be able to develop such a civilization?!
“The galaxy is so huge, it's not surprising that there are other living things.” Before Hong Dali transmigrated, he had seen plenty of sci-fi movies. Almost all sci-fi movies acknowledged the existence of living things in the universe. For example, “Avatar”, “Star Wars”, “Transformers”…
“But, but…” Tang Muxin thought about it and said, “Earth has been observing for so many years, but we never discovered any other planets suitable for life!”
“There are more than 130 billion stars in the galaxy.” Hong Dali pouted. “Can they check each and every one of them?”
“That's true.” Hong Dali's words made sense. Tang Muxin could not say anything in reply. “En, alright. Even if there are really b.a.l.l.s-ache aliens, what happens if we meet them and we start fighting. Say we barely break even with our nuclear bombs or something. What do we use to come to a settlement? How do we get Galaxy Dollars?”
“Galaxy Dollar ah?” Hong Dali took out Dali beans from his pocket and gave a few to Tang Muxin. “Eat this first.”
“Orh.” Tang Muxin put one in her mouth and asked, “Why are we eating this? It's quite yummy though…”
“En, Deca said,” Hong Dali sn.i.g.g.e.red as he ate one himself. “This Dali bean can be sold for ten thousand Galaxy Dollars each. Pretty posh, right?”
“Har?!” Tang Muxin was shocked. “Ten thousand Galaxy Dollars each!? And I ate one just like that?”
“Of course, this shows how sophisticated we are.” Hong Dali grinned and nodded. “I can't eat common ones!”
This was heaven-defying!
Tang Muxin rushed to his side. “You prodigal! Stop eating. You will make Earth poor by eating!”
“Wuuwuu…” Hong Dali was being strangled. He panted and shouted, “Don't s.n.a.t.c.h my snacks from me—let go, this is proper business!”
“What proper business?” Hearing that, Tang Muxin loosened her grip—actually, she didn't bear to hurt him…
“It's such a big thing to discover b.a.l.l.s-ache aliens. How can we not tell Uncle Chief about this?”
After Tang Muxin left, Hong Dali stretched lazily and laid on the bed. He took out his smartphone and called the Bureau Chief. “Uncle Chief ah, what are you doing? Are you busy?”
“Brat,” The Bureau Chief sounded bored. “Is something up? Who stepped on your toes again?”
“Ah, none of that.” Hong Dali didn't mind. He continued, “I was thinking, if Uncle Chief is not busy, would you and Grandpa Mysterious be able to come to visit at my aircraft carrier or something. I've bought this aircraft carrier for so long but I haven't invited both of you over. Hehe.”
“Brat, are you serious?” The Bureau Chief paused for a while and agreed. “Okay. You rest first. I'll take a fighter jet over with Big Boss over tonight. If nothing goes wrong, we should be there by 8:30 PM.” Hearing what Hong Dali said, the Bureau Chief knew it would not be a small matter.
He knew Hong Dali better than anyone else. If it were a small matter, he would be joking and laughing. But if it was something big, he would even directly invite the number one person in Heavenly State. Needless to ask, something big must have happened.
“Ah, I'll take a nap first, then.” Hong Dali laughed and hung up the phone. “Wake me up when you're here.”
“Sleep well, little rascal.”
Time pa.s.sed very quickly, it was soon 8:15 PM.
“Wei, little rascal, are you still sleeping?” The mysterious man and Bureau Chief walked into Hong Dali's room to find him sprawled on the bed snoring away. The Bureau Chief got upset all of a sudden. “Quick, wake up. You little rascal. There's no logic for Big Boss to wake you up!”
“Ah? What time is it?” Hong Dali groggily woke up and looked at the electronic clock hanging on the wall. “It's only 8:15 PM. You said you'll be here at 8:30 PM. Let me sleep a while longer… Aiya, pain! Pain!”
Seeing that Hong Dali finally woke up, the Bureau Chief let go of his ear. “Rascal, are you tired of living? Asking Big Boss to wait for you?”
“Okay, okay.” Hong Dali reluctantly said, “I knew I wouldn't have a good sleep today…”
“Dali ah,” The mysterious man didn't mind at all. “You asked me and Wu Di to come here. Did you have any new discoveries?”
“En, there is new discovery indeed.” Hong Dali took out a bunch of Dali Beans and gave them ten each. Then, he ate one himself. “Simply put, I met an alien today, I think.”
“Coughhh—!!!”
Hearing that, the mysterious man almost choked on his own saliva. “Is that true? Are you sure it's an alien?”
“Should be. Purple hair, purple eyes, he didn't dress like us. The thing is, this guy speaks our language fluently.” Hong Dali added. “Even his accent was similar to mine. I'm guessing it's a translation program.”
He met an alien?
“Are there really aliens?” The Bureau Chief was shocked.
“There are more than 130 billion stars in the galaxy. It's not surprising that there are aliens.” The mysterious man's expression was more solemn than usual. “Dali, tell me first, what happened exactly?”
“Something happened to the Holographic Game Helmet that Chuyin and I came up with. It connected to a weird network world.” Hong Dali quickly told them about the world and his meeting with Deca. He also told him about what Tang Muxin had a.n.a.lyzed and concluded with a few points—
“Firstly, it looks too close to reality. It's impossible to achieve with the technology we have on Earth. The animals look real, and the important thing is, I was able to control them.
“Secondly, Deca appeared too suddenly. He suddenly appeared there and said he created this world, and it was directly connected to my Holographic Game Helmet. But he didn't seem like a GM in the game. I've never seen a GM that was afraid of the monsters in the game…
“Thirdly, he put forward a lot of unique concepts. For example, Planet Dollar and Galaxy Dollar. According to that, he should belong to another planet on the same galaxy. That's what I think.”
When Hong Dali finished speaking, the Bureau Chief and the mysterious man were shocked silent.
According to what they heard, Deca definitely sounded like he came from another planet of the same galaxy. Otherwise, his appearance wouldn't make sense.
The first point, this virtual reality world that looked like reality, no technology on Earth would be able to create that. Since Deca was afraid of the animals inside, that meant he should not be the creator. Especially the third point, Planet Dollar and Galaxy Dollar. It was obvious that the Galaxy Dollar was the currency for the Galaxy civilization. It was the exchange rate against the currency on Earth was still unknown.
“Dark Forest, be careful of the rules of the Dark Forest!” Both of them looked at each other and mentioned the Dark Forest concept in unison!
“Dark Forest rules? What's that?” Hong Dali looked at them and asked curiously. “It sounds really scary. Can you explain it?”
“In a nutsh.e.l.l,” The Bureau Chief slowly said. “The universe is a Dark Forest. Every civilization is a hunter with a gun. It sneaks into the forest like a ghost, gently cutting obstructing branches along the way, trying not to make any noise. Not even sounds of breathing. He must be careful because there are other hunters in the forest like him. If he discovers any other signs of life, there's only one thing he can do: shoot and destroy it. In this forest, other signs of life are like h.e.l.l, it will be an eternal threat. Any life that reveals its existence will soon be destroyed. This is the image of the universe's civilization. Once it's discovered, there will always be one side destroyed!
“He never revealed that he was from another planet in the universe. Instead, he told you he's a developer of the game. His motive was to gain your trust and slowly find out the exact location of our existence! Perhaps, he has already found out and was only friendly to you so we will let down our guard!”