Rebirth of the Super Battleship

The Home Forty One was a ship specially arranged to house the more than one hundred races that had originally pledged allegiance to Xiao Yu, the Luka Race among them. These one hundred-plus races had contributed far more to Xiao Yu than the Dwarf Race ever had, so naturally, Xiao Yu would not indulge in the fickle favoritism of favoring the new over the old. In fact, the Home Forty One was the most comfortable of all the Home ships. Beyond that, it also possessed the highest defensive power and the greatest maneuverability.

The defensive capability was, of course, for the sake of security, while the maneuverability was to prepare for the possibility that, should circumstances become untenable and abandoning the Home ships prove unavoidable, at the very least Home Forty One could be taken away.

Within Home Forty One, the interior was divided into more than three hundred layers. The Luka Race occupied nearly two hundred layers of space, with the remaining layers held by the other races. At this moment, in the Luka Race's territory, in the central district of their most prosperous City Number One, on the highest floor of the tallest building, in an exceedingly luxurious conference room, only Luka Two, Luka Three, and Luka Four sat together, discussing something.

"I don't know why, but I have an ominous feeling," Luka Two said worriedly. "Ever since arriving in this small universe, I keep feeling our experience has been too smooth, and also too strange."

Luka Three and Luka Four nodded deeply in agreement. "We feel it too. But the two of us are scientists of the Science and Technology Division. When it comes to these things, we honestly have no clear idea. Lord Two, as the leader of the Luka Race, whether for the sake of our race or for the sake of our Master, you must draw on your wisdom to uncover any dangers lurking in the dark."

Luka Two let out a sigh. "I already have an idea forming in my mind, but it's still incomplete. I still need your support, which is why I called you here to consult. I have a question I must ask you. After the extinction of a Level 6 Civilization, what is the likelihood that an intelligent program left behind would evolve into a true artificial intelligence? Or to put it more plainly, what is the probability that this Intelligent Program One possesses truly independent consciousness? I need to draw on your professional expertise to make an assessment."

"Understood, Lord Two. Please wait a moment." Luka Three and Luka Four replied in unison, each connecting to their own virtual conference rooms.

The virtual conference rooms were much like video conferencing systems from the Earth era, only more advanced. Inside the virtual conference room, no matter where the real individuals were located, so long as a link was established, all participants could interact just as if they were meeting face-to-face.

Luka Two, Luka Three, and Luka Four could be considered the three highest-ranking intelligent beings beneath Xiao Yu himself, truly senior figures. When people of this rank convened, it was naturally never a matter of simply expressing opinions or having a casual discussion.

Mechanical sciences encompassed disciplines such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, and other fields devoted to the study of all natural technologies. Life sciences mainly focused on matters related to living beings, such as genes. Of course, there was a great deal of overlap between these domains, so the two of them possessed similar knowledge structures, differing only in emphasis.

After five minutes, the assessment results were ready. Luka Three and Luka Four exchanged a look. Luka Three spoke first. "Lord Two, based on our current computer technologies, combined with information from cultural, social, and physical sciences, and the limited data we have regarding Level 6 Civilization computational science, we have concluded that Intelligent Program One has at least a forty percent chance of having developed its own independent consciousness. We surmise that the Level 6 Civilization's photon computer technology had already reached the threshold necessary to support anthropomorphic functions such as fuzzy logic and chaotic computation, which require immense processing power. Given that this virtual program was tasked with protecting their ruins and ensuring that their relics were correctly delivered to the Dwarf Race, it is certain they would have equipped it with their most advanced hardware, laying an excellent foundation for the emergence of artificial intelligence."

"That is the first point," Luka Four continued. "It is also certain that an artificial intelligence with self-aware, independent thinking would never be accepted by a biological society. But now the Trolor Civilization has perished, and this created the second favorable condition for its development: there would be no external forces to interfere with it."

"Very well." Upon hearing the two of their answers, Luka Two fell silent for a while, then consulted further with his own advisory team through the virtual conference room. Afterward, he raised a second question. "Judging by the current situation, it is very clear that the Trolor Civilization intended to set a number of trials for the Dwarf Race. Only after passing these trials would they entrust their relics to the Dwarves. So, my second question is this: assuming we were now in the Trolor Civilization's place, by what method would we test whether a civilization had sufficient potential to determine whether to hand over our relics to them?"

"Since it is about potential, it should have nothing to do with their current level of technology," Luka Three said after thinking for a moment. "When we speak of potential… I believe it refers to the degree of brain development, in other words, the level of intelligence."

It was obvious: the higher a civilization's intelligence, the faster its technological progress would be.

"No, I disagree with that." Luka Four objected. "With the advancement of life sciences, a civilization can discover numerous ways to enhance the biological intelligence of its own species. Take the Dwarf Race, for instance, haven't they been getting smarter and smarter under our Master's gene optimization programs?"

"In other words, the higher the civilization level, the higher their intelligence tends to be, and the higher their intelligence, the more it will in turn accelerate the civilization's development." Luka Two summarized. "Therefore, a civilization's potential should have nothing to do with its current civilization level or biological intelligence. So, then, how exactly should one evaluate a species' developmental potential?"

"Spirit." Luka Three said after pondering for a while, offering an answer.

"Social environment." Luka Four also gave his answer.

"And factors such as sense of crisis, sense of honor, how seriously they value things, and so on."

The three of them discussed for a while and reached a conclusion.

"So in other words, if we were the Trolor Civilization and wanted to assess whether the Dwarf Race had sufficient potential, we would have to consider those factors. But since we entered this small universe, what have the trials we've faced actually been? Why are they so frivolous?" Luka Two stood up, spread his hands, and finally voiced his thoughts. "The first trial could still be understood as a test of the Dwarves' intelligence. That explanation is barely acceptable. But the second trial? Engaging in battle against thirty thousand Level 4 Civilization warships? If you win, you pass. If you lose, you fail? Can any of you tell me, what exactly does this trial test? Combat skills? Capacity for warfare?"

"Are these things in any way related to a civilization's developmental potential? Don't tell me it is to test a species' innate talent for war. In the universe, there can be no such thing as a purely pacifist enthusiast, nor a purely warlike enthusiast, everything is for practical interests. Without interests at stake, who would wage war? Besides, when intelligence levels are similar, does 'combat talent' have any significance? An individual can have combat talent, but a species cannot. Perhaps Alien Beast Civilizations or Mechanical Civilizations might be exceptions to this rule, but Technological Civilizations are not. Even the most 'naturally gifted at war' Level 4 Civilization, can it defeat a Level 5 Civilization? Ultimately, it is technology that is the decisive factor. The potential for technological development is what truly matters."

"So I cannot understand why the Trolor Civilization's trial would be a battle."

This was indeed rather bizarre. Luka Two's statements stirred deep contemplation in Luka Three and Luka Four.

"In any case, we cannot explain these things. But what we can be sure of is that, if the Trolor Civilization truly wanted to test the Dwarf Race, it would never have devised such a simplistic trial question. There is something suspicious about this trial." Luka Two said.

"What is your opinion?" Luka Three asked cautiously.

"Connecting this with your assessment of whether Intelligent Program One truly possesses independent consciousness," Luka Two said, "is it possible that this is actually a trap? That it has unilaterally altered the trial's parameters with the purpose of luring our Master into making a fatal mistake?"

"What could be the purpose? For what reason would it do this?"

The three of them sank once again into thought. As they deliberated, each of them reconnected with their respective virtual conference rooms, beginning discussions with all their elite scientists.

Luka Two, Three, and Four represented the most elite technological power beneath Xiao Yu himself. Once the virtual conference rooms were engaged, their conversation was no longer just an exchange among three individuals, it became a collision of the collective thoughts of all their scientists. Tens of thousands of scientists were each voicing their opinions in sub-conference rooms. After an initial stage of compiling and summarizing, each sub-conference room's perspective was forwarded to the relevant participants in the higher-level conference rooms. The higher-level rooms then discussed, refined, and continued to report upward…

Layer by layer of filtering, layer by layer of refinement, until finally the synthesized findings were delivered to Luka Two, Luka Three, and Luka Four. The three of them would then deliberate one final time to arrive at the ultimate conclusion.

The discussion was still continuing.