NOVEL WEB Chapter 311 The Three Major Events of the Sikes Civilization
On the route of the second planet within the Capital Star Circle of the Sikes Civilization.
Lu Heng stood in front of the glass window on the interstellar flight, gazing at the starry sky outside, and many thoughts arose in his mind.
Humans had no official status in the Sikes Civilization and normally couldn't board the spaceship.
However, this wasn't much of a problem for the Xavier Matrix.
He found a viscount of the Sikes Civilization and took Lu Heng and four others aboard the interstellar flight in the guise of attendants.
This interstellar flight departed from Second Gaia Star, heading towards the capital of the Sikes Civilization—Queen Star.
Among the four people in the team, besides Lu Heng, the other three were taking an interstellar spaceship for the first time, so they were somewhat excited.
Yuan Yaoyao, on the other hand, appeared quite composed, lacking the anticipated excitement, probably not her first time aboard an interstellar spaceship.
Lu Heng had also been on an interstellar spaceship before, had traveled before his rebirth, and had even visited Queen Star, the capital of the Sikes Civilization.
Queen Star is the most prosperous planet of the Sikes Civilization and also their capital star.
If Second Gaia Star is the most livable planet, a pilgrimage destination of the Sikes Civilization, then Queen Star is the political and cultural center of the Sikes Civilization.
Queen Star houses the oldest nobility and the largest conglomerates of the Sikes Civilization and is also a battleground for major factions.
Relatively speaking, Sikes people residing on Second Gaia Star yearn for a tranquil life, with fewer extremists.
Thus, Second Gaia Star is the stronghold of the Escape Faction.
The Escape Faction, commanded by Yeliana Sikes, received the highest support on Second Gaia Star, hence she primarily delivered speeches there to boost the faction's support.
"Escape Faction" is an informal name; officially, the faction is called the Civilization Continuation Plan.
Indeed, the Escape Faction received the highest support on Second Gaia Star, but this was relative.
The total support rate for the Escape Faction was only about 7% and couldn't go much higher.
Before boarding the interstellar spaceship, Lu Heng had already learned about the current timeline of the Sikes Civilization.
Due to the difference in time flow, five years had passed since he was last conscripted to the Sikes Civilization.
During these five years, the support rate for the Escape Faction had consistently hovered around 7%.
During the last conscription, the exposure of the Abyss Meat Tumor cultivation at Descent Faction's Delrims 3 base led to a drop in the Descent Faction's support, at one point falling below 4%.
At that time, the support rate for the Escape Faction had increased slightly, but it later dropped back to 7%.
The support rate for the Descent Faction had fallen below 4%, but the faction's combat capability had actually strengthened.
After the Abyss Meat Tumor incident was exposed, only the truly insane could continue to support the Descent Faction.
This means that this 4% of Descent Faction supporters had been purified, except for a few politicians who could not break away from the faction due to benefits, what remained were all lunatics, psychopaths, and antisocial personalities.
After purification, although the number of supporters decreased, the purity increased.
This resulted in any policy proposed by the Descent Faction, no matter how nonsensical, receiving full support from this group of lunatics.
...
During these five years, several major events occurred in the Sikes Civilization.
The first was that the planet farthest from the Sikes Star completely fell into the Abyss World.
This planet, named Ice Plateau Star, is 5.2 billion kilometers from the Sikes Star, roughly equivalent to Neptune in the Solar System.
The surface temperature of Ice Plateau Star can reach minus two hundred degrees, hence its name.
Also, for this reason, Ice Plateau Star is not a habitable planet.
Of course, this is only unsuitable for organic life; for mechanical civilizations, the environment is not ideal, but not entirely uninhabitable.
Therefore, there are a few residents on Ice Plateau Star, all Sikes residents who are employees and families of mining groups, responsible for extracting resources from Ice Plateau Star.
Due to its distance from the Capital Star Circle, the defense force on Ice Plateau Star is sparse.
After the Abyss invasion, Ice Plateau Star was virtually defenseless; the mining company was invaded and immediately withdrew.
For the Sikes Civilization, resisting the Abyss on Ice Plateau Star was too costly, the returns did not justify the expenditure, leaving no choice but to abandon it.
The second major event.
Since Ice Plateau Star completely succumbed to the Abyss World, the Descent Faction claimed that as long as one embraced the rule of the Abyss, one could settle on Ice Plateau Star, becoming a pioneer of the era of change.
Subsequently, videos and news of Descent Faction adherents submitting to the Abyss and settling on Ice Plateau Star began circulating back to the Capital Star Circle, causing a significant stir.
Afterward, the Sikes Civilization officials banned all information regarding Ice Plateau Star, prohibiting its spread online.
If the central computer of the Sikes Civilization detected any relevant information being shared, it would immediately block the network communication and send mechanical guards to apprehend the distributors.
The third major event.
Two years ago, multiple planets within the Capital Star Circle of the Sikes Civilization witnessed outbreaks of Abyss Meat Tumors.
Although they were ultimately eradicated, this left the people of the Sikes Civilization feeling uneasy.
Before boarding the spaceship, Xavier Matrix had mentioned this matter; he speculated that someone was researching the Abyss Meat Tumors and spreading them intentionally, with the Descent Faction being the most suspicious.
As of now, however, no evidence had been found.
Abyss Meat Tumors were a terrifying thing; if left to grow unchecked, they could even cover an entire planet.
...
Three major events, each capable of influencing the course of civilization and its fate.
Lu Heng had known from the start that the planets of the Sikes Civilization would gradually fall.
He had relevant memories before his rebirth, but knowing these historical trajectories could not change anything.
Not to mention a human, even the warnings issued by Lakrini Sikes couldn't make the Sikes Civilization change anything.
Lakrini Sikes was truly one of the three greatest scientists of the Sikes Civilization in his time; if even he couldn't achieve it, what use was a warning issued by a human?
Often, the fate of a civilization and the innate characteristics of the main body of that civilization were related.
The foundation of a civilization allows great individuals to be born within the civilization, and only these great individuals have the ability to change the fate of the civilization. But one is not enough, there needs to be a continuous emergence of contrarians.
Having lived two lifetimes, Lu Heng deeply understood one thing: the wisdom of a group is fixed and cannot change in a short time.
The progress of a civilization needs giants to carry the weight.
These great people are like stars in the night sky; when there is only one star shining in a civilization's night sky, that civilization is not far from eternal darkness.
If the night sky of this civilization is dotted with stars, then the civilization still has a future.
Lakrini Sikes was such a star, but unfortunately, this star had already fallen.
How many shining stars did the Sikes Civilization have left?
Lu Heng didn't know, but five years had passed, and the Sikes Civilization hadn't undergone any significant changes, while the Abyss invasion became more intense.
Perhaps there were not many stars left in the night sky of the Sikes Civilization...
...
After a day and night of interstellar travel, they finally arrived at the Capital Star of the Sikes Civilization—Queen Star.
This bustling planet had a stronger technological aura than Second Gaia Star; steel buildings stood everywhere, and anti-gravity cars shuttled back and forth in the sky, a sight none of them had ever seen before.
Lu Heng and his companions exited the terminal with their information verified by Yuan Yaoyao's Black Feather Spirit and called an autonomous car to head to Mitchell Street to meet Yeliana Sikes.
Although Second Gaia Star was the main base of the Escape Faction, Queen Star was the political and cultural center of the Sikes Civilization.
As the leader of the Escape Faction, Yeliana Sikes had a lot of work to complete on Queen Star.
She was currently in her private villa on Mitchell Street.
When the group arrived at the door, the villa's main gate opened automatically. A robotic butler stepped forward to greet them and led them into the living room.
"Welcome, Professor Xavier had sent me a message ahead of time, mentioning that you would be coming," Yeliana Sikes came out of the study and walked into the living room, inviting everyone to sit down.
The robotic butler brought over a few cups of pure water, and the electronic cups displayed the composition of the water, which was almost entirely pure with only a trace amount of negligible elements.
Lu Heng raised an eyebrow and said, "It seems that Miss Sikes and the professor have reconciled."
The last time he had been summoned here, Lu Heng had facilitated a meeting between Xavier Matrix and Yeliana Sikes.
For the Sikes Civilization, "meeting" could have a broad meaning, as long as information communication had taken place, it could be described this way.
Originally, Yeliana Sikes harbored resentment toward Xavier Matrix, but now that they were maintaining communication, it indicated that their relationship must have eased.
Yeliana Sikes said in a serious tone, "You had better not mention Xavier Matrix too often; it's better for both you and him."
Lu Heng certainly understood this, as Xavier Matrix was still wanted by the Sikes Civilization Army.
A scientist who could move freely on a bustling planet despite being wanted by the Sikes Civilization Army was indeed a thorny issue for the army.
Thus, anyone and any mechanical unit associated with Xavier Matrix could potentially be arrested.
Naturally, this included Yeliana Sikes.
If it became known that she was in contact with Xavier Matrix, it could even affect her standing within the Escape Faction.
The thinking of the Sikes Civilization was mechanical, so they did not experience the kind of emotions associated with organic lifeforms reuniting after a long separation.
So Lu Heng went straight to the point, saying, "We've come here to understand the situation of humans summoned to Queen Star, and I believe you would be willing to help."
Yeliana Sikes did not think so, "Helping you does not benefit me."
Lu Heng shook his finger, reminding, "You should be well aware that humans being summoned here indicates an Abyss contamination incident on Queen Star.
"You are responsible for providing information, and I am responsible for understanding the cause of the incident and then handling it appropriately.
"If another incident like what happened at Delrims Base 3 occurs, you can also be prepared, just in case your faction gets involved too."
Yeliana Sikes was quickly persuaded and agreed, "All right, what would you like me to do?"
Lu Heng thought for a moment and said, "Invite a few human Superpower Users over, and find out what their Main Quest is."