Chapter 156 - 155: Strong Core Civilization

Just a moment’s thought was enough for Li Qingsong to come up with several possibilities.

For instance, they could package real scientific problems as games or options, requiring players to solve puzzles like mazes. They could also package strategic military decisions into virtual combat games, letting the captured intelligent lifeforms make choices. Then, through similar algorithms, the correct answer could be filtered out from the multiple options.

The intelligent lifeforms might not even know what they were doing. Unwittingly, they would contribute their intelligence, helping the AI system solve difficult problems that it couldn’t handle on its own and could only be solved by the wisdom of living beings.

Once this foundation was established, the existence of the so-called "Intelligent Mechanical Calamity" that developed from it became plausible.

But... would a civilization really fall so far that it couldn’t even be bothered to advance its own technology or make decisions concerning its own destiny, instead handing it all over to an AI?

The secretary continued, "Inertia is an unavoidable part of intelligent life’s nature.

Ever since the advent of AI technology, every intelligent civilization and every intelligent being has been constantly tempted to hand everything over to AIs while they sit back and reap the rewards.

In a civilization’s ambitious phase, this model can greatly increase efficiency.

But once that ambition is lost, this same model becomes the devil’s bait.

The change always happens little by little, not all at once. The fall of a conventional intelligent civilization into an Intelligent Mechanical Calamity doesn’t happen overnight either.

At first, they might only hand over unimportant matters to the AI. Then come things of secondary importance, and then more important ones. Once they perceive the limits of the AI’s capabilities, they will try to compensate for its shortcomings by capturing intelligent life from other civilizations, ultimately falling step by step into the abyss of an Intelligent Mechanical Calamity.

During this process, there is usually internal struggle. People of insight will stand up and appeal to reason, but... the decline of the whole cannot be stopped by individuals.

Once they are trapped in the beautiful paradise created by the AI, it’s nearly impossible for them to climb back out on their own.

And why would they want to climb out? They have endless resources and inexhaustible forms of entertainment. They don’t have to bear any responsibility, put in any effort, or even think or learn. The AI constantly innovates, developing all sorts of newer, more exciting, and more wonderful ways for them to indulge themselves...

The decision-making power always remains in the hands of the intelligent beings. The AI doesn’t go out of control; the intelligent beings voluntarily hand over control to the AI.

If they ever wanted to take that power back, they could do so at any time. But they never will.

Even if someone occasionally tries to reclaim that power and restore the civilization’s autonomy, the resistance from within the civilization itself will take care of them."

Li Qingsong asked in a low voice, "After becoming an Intelligent Mechanical Calamity, what is the usual fate of the host civilization? Can they truly continue to advance their technology?"

"Perhaps," the secretary said. "But even if technology can be developed this way, the pace is extremely slow.

And even if they do develop new technology, does it truly belong to the host civilization?

Don’t forget, the intelligent beings of a completely fallen host civilization have lost even the ability to solve simple equations.

In essence, they have become pigs reared in pens by the AI. The only difference is that these pigs are treated very well.

They spend their days immersed in hedonistic stupors, wandering through the Cosmos under the AI’s protection. They constantly search for new external civilizations, continuously capturing their intelligent lifeforms as fuel. If they’re lucky, this can go on indefinitely. If they’re not, they might be wiped out one day.

After all, the Cosmos is not a peaceful place."

Li Qingsong asked, "What was the technological level of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity you encountered?"

"It should have reached the Strong Core Civilization level."

Seeing that Li Qingsong didn’t seem to understand, the secretary quickly explained, "There are four fundamental forces in the Cosmos: the electromagnetic force, Gravity, the Strong Core Force, and the weak nuclear force.

A conventional intelligent civilization usually develops along the following path, from easiest to hardest: First, they unify electricity and magnetism into the electromagnetic force. Upon reaching this step, they can be called an electromagnetic civilization.

Civilizations before the unification of electricity and magnetism are collectively known as primitive civilizations.

Next, they unify the electromagnetic force and the weak nuclear force into the Electroweak Force and have some application of the Strong Core Force. This is a more advanced Electroweak Civilization.

Your civilization and our Blutuk Civilization are both clearly at the Electroweak Civilization stage. One is just slightly further along than the other, but the general framework is the same."

Li Qingsong understood. ’The so-called application of the Strong Core Force is nothing more than nuclear reactions.’

Whether it was nuclear fission or fusion, the essence was releasing the energy stored within atoms.

And the force that governs the structure of atoms is the Strong Core Force.

The atomic bomb, the Hydrogen Bomb, controlled nuclear fission, and the controlled nuclear fusion that Li Qingsong had yet to master—all were, in essence, applications of the Strong Core Force.

’According to this system, I really am part of an Electroweak Civilization right now.’

"If one can also unify the Strong Core Force and master the Grand Unified Theory, they can become a Strong Core Civilization.

We don’t know much about the fourth level of civilization after the Strong Core Civilization, but according to this system, it should be a civilization that has also unified Gravity and mastered a universal theory.

This level of civilization can probably be called a Gravity Civilization, or a Universal Civilization.

As for how they develop after that, we have no idea."

"What kind of capabilities did the Strong Core Level Intelligent Mechanical Calamity you encountered possess?"

A trace of fear appeared on the secretary’s face, and his tone grew heavy. "To be honest, we don’t know much. We just happened to discover an alien spaceship while exploring the edge of our Star System.

This alien ship was extremely maneuverable, its defenses were incredibly strong, and its offensive power was immense. It even had shield technology that we couldn’t comprehend at all. We mobilized a large force and paid a terrible price to destroy it. Afterward, we captured a few of its crew members.

We originally thought these crew members were intelligent beings from that alien civilization, but through interrogation, we learned they were merely captives of the AI. They thought they were just playing a game, but in reality, they were piloting this very ship into our Star System...

An Intelligent Mechanical Calamity has locked onto us. If we don’t escape as soon as possible while it’s still far away, and use the distance to erase our trail so it can’t track us, everyone in our civilization will be caught. We will suffer the same fate as those prisoners, becoming captives of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity, fuel to aid its decision-making.

We had no choice but to flee. We originally thought the environment of the Solar System would allow us to accumulate resources faster to continue the next stage of our escape. After all, the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity has targeted us, and it is highly likely they will pursue us to the Solar System. We must escape as soon as possible.

But we never expected that upon arriving in the Solar System... sigh."