Tao Yuda's words echoed in the command center.
Lu Yongchang frowned, pondered for a moment, and then spoke.
"you mean……"
"Is the other side just a level one or two civilization, like us?"
“That’s right, we can’t rule out that possibility.” Tao Yuda nodded and said in a deep voice.
"No, that's not right."
A dissenting voice came from the side: "Academician Tao, according to your logic, what is the meaning of the second sentence?"
Why did they call us "little guys"?
"Doesn't this contradict the previous statement?"
Tao Yuda smiled slightly and said softly, "In my opinion, this is a smokescreen deliberately set up by the other party."
"The purpose is to confuse our judgment."
"But how can you be sure that the first sentence isn't a smokescreen?"
Without any hesitation, He Bilin directly asked in return.
Tao Yuda's expression suddenly froze.
This is indeed a problem.
Lu Yongchang, who was in the first position, sighed slightly and waved his hand helplessly to interrupt the argument between the two.
This is a chain of suspicion...
Just two short sentences can spark a series of endless questions.
"Alright, in this regard, I suggest that we temporarily consider the other side to be a civilization whose strength is only slightly greater than ours."
"Furthermore, for some reason, the enemy's war-making capabilities should be greatly reduced."
"In other words, it is a flawed level three or four civilization."
Lü Yongchang's conclusion immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Faced with the questioning looks from the crowd, he explained softly.
"Everyone should understand what Tao Yuda and He Bilin said."
"There is a great contradiction between these two terms."
"From the two forms of address, we can see the other party's cautious and civilized manner."
"on the other hand."
"From their second sentence, we can see that they noticed our attempt to attack Ross 154 immediately."
"And we have yet to discover any trace of their civilization."
"The interplanetary probe next to Ross 154 also found nothing unusual."
"Based on the above two points, we can roughly draw a conclusion."
"The other party should be an advanced civilization whose strength has been greatly damaged due to unknown factors."
"This so-called unknown factor could be war or internal strife."
A look of realization dawned on everyone's faces, and they all nodded in agreement.
Fang Xu, who was standing to the side, frowned and suddenly said, "Yongchang, if we're going to consider how to address someone, shouldn't we also pay attention to how they address themselves?"
"The other party referred to themselves as 'I' instead of 'we'."
"Could this mean that the other party is an individual from an advanced civilization?"
"If they are merely individuals from an advanced civilization, could we..."
As he said this, a cold glint flashed in Fang Xu's eyes.
Lü Yongchang instantly understood the meaning behind Fang Xu's words.
At that moment, his heart skipped a few beats.
If what Fang Xu said is true, and the other side is merely an individual from an advanced civilization, then humanity, with its massive fleet, might actually be able to…
But he quickly suppressed the trembling in his heart and slowly shook his head.
"No, I don't recommend doing that until the other party has fully revealed their malice."
"If the opponent is just an individual from a level three civilization, we might still have a fighting chance."
"But if it's individuals from level four or even level five civilizations... I don't think we can win by sheer numbers."
"Think about our starships now, and then think about the starships of the Proxima Centauri civilization."
"Even the difference between a Level 1 and a Level 2 civilization is so great."
Fang Xu nodded silently, a hint of regret in his eyes.
If we could sink or capture a starship from an advanced civilization, the speed of human civilization's development would surely increase dramatically.
"Now, the second question."
Lu Yongchang shrugged and spoke again.
How should we interpret their claim of having no malicious intent?
"We can't trust them!" Fang Xu said immediately. "Think about what happened to our solar system and Proxima Centauri. I don't think a strange, advanced civilization could be friendly to us."
Lu Yongchang pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly: "Then how should we respond to this exchange initiated by an advanced civilization?"
"Ignore it?"
"Or... should we respond positively?"
The moment the question was posed, everyone present was momentarily stunned.
The first to speak was Academician Cao Liangcai.
"I think we are not able to respond to the other person's communication."
"This will bring us some unpredictable consequences."
"Such consequences could be fatal for human civilization."
Fang Xu's voice followed: "Since the other side has chosen to communicate with us, we should take this opportunity to learn about their information."
"We know far too little about the universe."
The moment Fang Xu finished speaking, Lü Yongchang's eyes flickered slightly.
That's not wrong.
Human civilization's current understanding of the universe is far too superficial.
If we could take this opportunity to learn some basic information about various civilizations in the universe...
This will likely be of great help to the subsequent development of human civilization.
Thinking of this, Lü Yongchang reached out and pressed down in the air: "Everyone, please be quiet."
The arguing in the command center quickly subsided.
"Try to get in touch with them first."
Lu Yongchang said calmly, "In any case, we need an opportunity to understand civilizations in the universe."
"Otherwise, the situation of human civilization will only become more and more difficult in the future."
His remarks brought this debate to a close.
Even Cao Liangcai nodded silently after hearing the reasons given by Lü Yongchang, agreeing to the proposal.
...
An hour later.
A message was sent from the Earth and flew straight toward Ross 154, 5.8 million kilometers away.
The information is very simple.
【Hello】
It contains only two words and no punctuation.
Lu Yongchang stood on the command platform, his eyes fixed on the holographic projection in front of him.
The holographic projection displays real-time images from the Ross 154 interplanetary probe.
19.33 seconds later.
Looking at the image in front of him that hadn't changed at all, Lü Yongchang immediately frowned.
"Judging by the time, the other party should have already received the signal."
Why is there no reaction?
Time passed by, second by second.
Twenty seconds later, a piercing alarm sounded in the command center.
"Professor, a signal at 1420 MHz has been received from Ross 154."
Lü Yongchang took a deep breath.
It's here!
The other party responded!
Hello little ones, I've been following you for a long time.
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