Chapter 311: Three Significant Events in the Siks Civilization

Chapter 311: Three Significant Events in the Siks Civilization

Standing by the glass window of the interstellar flight, Lu Heng gazed at the starry sky outside, his mind filled with various thoughts.

Humans had no official status in the Siks Civilization, and normally, they wouldn't be allowed on such a spacecraft.

However, this wasn't a significant issue for Xavier Matrix.

He had found a Siks Civilization Viscount and, as his attendant, brought Lu Heng and the other four onto the interstellar flight.

The spacecraft departed from the Second Gaia Star, heading towards the capital of the Siks Civilization—the Queen Star.

Among the team of five, everyone except Lu Heng was experiencing an interstellar flight for the first time, making them all a bit excited.

However, Yuan Yaoyao remained remarkably calm, without the expected exuberance, likely because this wasn't her first time on an interstellar flight.

Lu Heng, too, had traveled on an interstellar flight before his rebirth and had even visited the Queen Star, the capital of the Siks Civilization.

The Queen Star was the most prosperous planet in the Siks Civilization, serving as their capital.

If the Second Gaia Star was the most habitable and a tourist hotspot, then the Queen Star was the political and cultural center of the Siks Civilization.

The Queen Star was home to the oldest nobility and the largest conglomerates in the Siks Civilization, and it was also where various factions vied for power.

Compared to the Second Gaia Star, the Siks Civilization residents on the Queen Star yearned for a more peaceful life, and there were relatively fewer extremists.

Thus, the Second Gaia Star became the base for the Exile Faction.

Led by Leiana Siks, the Exile Faction enjoyed the highest support on the Second Gaia Star, which is why she mainly gave speeches there to boost the faction's popularity.

The Exile Faction was a colloquial term; in fact, the faction was officially called the Civilization Flame Continuation Initiative.

Indeed, the Exile Faction had the highest support on the Second Gaia Star, but this was a relative measure.

The total support for the Exile Faction was only around seven percent, and it couldn't increase much beyond that.

Before boarding the interstellar flight, Lu Heng had already learned about the current time in the Siks Civilization.

Due to the difference in time flow, five years had passed since the last time he was summoned to the Siks Civilization.

Over these five years, the support for the Exile Faction had remained steady at around 7%.

The last time he was summoned, the Arrival Faction's Delims III Base's cultivation of the Abyssal Tumor was exposed, causing their support to drop, even falling below 4% at one point.

The Exile Faction's support rose slightly then, but it soon dropped back to 7%.

The Arrival Faction's support fell below 4%, but their combat strength seemed to have increased.

After the Abyssal Tumor incident was exposed, it was impossible for the True Mad to continue supporting the Arrival Faction.

In other words, these 4% of Arrival Faction supporters had been purified, leaving only a few politicians who couldn't detach themselves from the faction due to personal interests, along with a bunch of crazies, lunatics, and antisocial personalities.

After this purification, the number of supporters decreased, but their purity increased.

This meant that any decree proposed by the Arrival Faction, no matter how irrational, would receive full support from this group of fanatics.

...

Over these five years, several significant events occurred in the Siks Civilization.

The first was the complete fall of the planet furthest from the Siks star, which had turned into an Abyssal World.

This planet, named Ice Plain Star, was located 5.2 billion kilometers from the Siks star, a distance roughly equivalent to that of Neptune from the Sun in the Solar System.

The surface temperature of the Ice Plain Star could reach as low as minus two degrees Celsius, hence its name.

For this reason, the Ice Plain Star was not a habitable planet.

Of course, this was only true for organic life; for a mechanical civilization, it was merely an unfavorable environment, not completely uninhabitable.

Thus, there were a small number of residents on the Ice Plain Star, all of whom were employees and family members of mining corporations, tasked with extracting the planet's resources.

Due to its distance from the capital star circle, the Ice Plain Star had limited defensive capabilities.

After the Abyss invasion, the Ice Plain Star was left virtually defenseless, and the mining companies withdrew upon invasion.

For the Siks Civilization, the cost of resisting the Abyss on the Ice Plain Star was too high, and the potential gains did not outweigh the expenditure, leading to the decision to abandon the planet.

The second significant event.

Ever since the Ice Plain Star completely fell to the Abyss, the Arrival Faction declared that by accepting the rule of the Abyss, one could settle on the Ice Plain Star and become a pioneer of the new era.

Subsequently, news and videos of Arrival Faction members submitting to the Abyss and settling on the Ice Plain Star began to circulate in the capital star circle, causing a significant stir.

The Siks Civilization's central computer then blocked all information related to the Ice Plain Star, prohibiting its spread online.

The third significant event.

Two years ago, multiple planets in the capital star circle of the Siks Civilization developed Abyssal Tumors.

Although they were eventually eradicated, this incident left the Siks Civilization in a state of panic.

Before boarding the spacecraft, Xavier Matrix mentioned this incident, speculating that someone was researching the Abyssal Tumors and intentionally spreading them, with the most suspicious party being the Arrival Faction.

However, no evidence has been found so far.

The Abyssal Tumor is a terrifying entity, capable of infinite growth to the point of engulfing an entire planet if left unchecked.

...

Three significant events, each with the potential to shape the destiny of a civilization.

Lu Heng was well aware from the start that the planets of the Siks Civilization would gradually fall.

He had memories of this in his previous life, but knowing the historical trajectory didn't change anything.

Not only did the warnings from a human fail to make any difference, but even those from Raklani Siks, one of the three greatest scientists of the Siks Civilization, couldn't bring about any change.

Often, the fate of a civilization is intrinsically tied to the innate characteristics of its dominant species.

The depth of a civilization gives rise to great individuals who have the power to alter its destiny. However, one such individual is not enough; a continuous emergence of Reverse Walkers is necessary.

Having lived two lives, Lu Heng deeply understood that the collective wisdom of a group is fixed and cannot be altered in a short time.

The progress of civilization requires giants to bear the burden and forge ahead.

These great individuals are like stars in the night sky; when only one star shines in a civilization's night sky, it's a sign that the civilization is not far from an eternal night.

If a civilization's night sky is filled with countless stars, then it still has a future.

Raklani Siks was one such star, but unfortunately, this star has fallen.

How many more shining stars does the Siks Civilization have left? Lu Heng didn't know, but after five years, the Siks Civilization hadn't changed much, and the Abyssal invasion was intensifying.

Perhaps the night sky of the Siks Civilization was running out of stars...

...

After a day and a night of interstellar travel, the starship arrived at the capital of the Siks Civilization—Queen Star.

This bustling planet exuded an even stronger technological aura than Second Gaia, with towering steel buildings and antigravity cars crisscrossing the sky, a sight none of them had ever seen before.

Using Yuan Yaoyao's Black Feather Spirit to verify their information, Lu Heng and his group exited the terminal and hailed an autonomous car to take them to Michelle Avenue, where they were to meet Leiana Siks.

Although Second Gaia was the stronghold of the Exile Faction, Queen Star was the political and cultural center of the Siks Civilization.

As the leader of the Exile Faction, Leiana Siks had numerous tasks to attend to on Queen Star.

She was currently in a private villa on Michelle Avenue.

When Lu Heng and his group arrived at the villa, the gates automatically opened, and a robot butler greeted them, leading them into the living room.

"Welcome. Professor Xavier Matrix has already informed me of your arrival," Leiana Siks said as she emerged from her study and invited everyone to sit down in the living room.

The robot butler served them purified water, and the electronic cups displayed the water's composition, which was almost pure with only trace amounts of negligible elements.

Lu Heng raised an eyebrow and said, "It seems that Ms. Siks and Professor Matrix have reconciled."

The last time he was summoned, Lu Heng had facilitated a meeting between Xavier Matrix and Leiana Siks.

For the Siks Civilization, the concept of "meeting" could be quite broad, and any form of information exchange could be described as such.

Initially, Leiana Siks had harbored resentment towards Xavier Matrix, but now that they were in communication, it seemed their relationship had improved.

Leiana Siks spoke with a serious tone, "It's best to mention Professor Matrix as little as possible. It's for the benefit of both of you."

Lu Heng understood this well, as Xavier Matrix was still a wanted fugitive by the Siks military.

A scientist who could move freely on a bustling planet despite being wanted by the Siks military was indeed a tricky situation.

Therefore, anyone or any mechanical unit associated with Xavier Matrix was at risk of arrest.

This included Leiana Siks.

If her connection with Xavier Matrix were exposed, it might even affect her standing within the Exile Faction.

The Siks Civilization had a mechanized mindset, so there was no room for the emotional reunions that organic life might experience.

Lu Heng got straight to the point, "We've come to learn about the humans summoned to Queen Star. I believe you'd be willing to help."

Leiana Siks disagreed, "Helping you won't benefit me."

Lu Heng shook his finger and reminded her, "You should know that the presence of summoned humans indicates an Abyssal contamination incident on Queen Star.

"You provide the information, and I'll investigate the matter and handle it accordingly.

"If something similar to the Delims III Base incident happens again, you'll be prepared, in case your faction gets involved."

Leiana Siks was quickly convinced and agreed, "Alright, what do you want me to do?"

After a moment of consideration, Lu Heng said, "Invite a few human Ability Users, and ask them about their main missions."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end