Chapter 70: Discordant Notes
Time passed, minute by minute.
The exchange of knowledge gradually came to an end.
Throughout this process, both the Mycroft people and the Knowledge Seizers had gained a brand-new understanding of each other.
Previously, due to some of the Great Khan's viewpoints and the general consensus of most civilizations in the Multiverse Star River, Joshua and the others believed that the Knowledge Seizers were a vile existence that would stop at nothing to collect knowledge, even destroying civilizations to plunder it from others. It was precisely for this reason that they were called a Calamity Civilization, and why the Mycroft Civilization had initially approached them with a certain degree of hostility.
But after the exchange—although it was impossible to verify truth or falsehood—at least after the exchange, Joshua and the others learned of another explanation.
Indeed, the Knowledge Seizers would actively seek out various civilizations to exchange knowledge, and this sometimes involved coercive measures. However, unless the other side attacked first, the Knowledge Seizers would not initiate combat. Just like this standoff between the joint fleet and the Knowledge Seizers, because neither side made a move, it never escalated into a fight.
Moreover, compared to peaceful and stable civilizations, the Knowledge Seizers would prioritize seeking out those civilizations on the verge of self-destruction, or those about to erupt into massive conflicts that would lead to the loss of knowledge. Using Earth as an example: if an Earth in the era of great harmony and an Earth during the Cold War were at similar distances, the Knowledge Seizers would first contact the Cold War Earth to exchange knowledge. After that, whether the Earthlings threw nuclear bombs at each other and perished, or compromised and moved toward peace, it was none of the Knowledge Seizers' concern.
That was the explanation, but from an outsider's perspective, it looked different. In their eyes, whenever the Knowledge Seizers went to a place to exchange knowledge with a civilization, that civilization had a high probability of being destroyed shortly thereafter. Whether it was self-destruction or something else—how would others know? So, over the long years, the Knowledge Seizers' reputation became extremely terrifying, even earning them a place among the Calamity Civilizations.
Of course, the Knowledge Seizers were a special case. Among the Calamity Civilizations, the vast majority were extremely xenophobic, or even beings whose very essence was destruction and devouring. In fact, the Star Shepherds also had a poor reputation, generally seen as terrifying plunderers roaming the Multiverse Star River—though, according to the Great Khan, the world wasn't colonized by you, nor did you have a fleet guarding it. How could building a void base there make it your territory? I'm just eating a meal with my people in an unclaimed zone—how does that bother you?
The Multiverse and the World Star River were both too vast and too narrow. Matters like this couldn't easily be judged as right or wrong. After all, the Great Khan had a point: at least their eight-legged fungi wouldn't choose worlds with intelligent life as food for Void Behemoths.
As for the Knowledge Seizers, they had discovered an extremely rare "True Transcendent Civilization."
In the Multiverse Star River, the vast majority of civilizations with Transcendents would naturally see those Transcendents become the ruling class. Most of them would then choose to restrict access to Transcendent cultivation materials to maintain their ruling position.
Transcendent power was the highest authority for these ruling classes, surpassing "military power," "political power," and "religious interpretive power." Moreover, for civilizations that hadn't reached the "biological modification" level, this power was highly dependent on bloodline and talent, easily leading to class or even racial differentiation—the strong growing stronger, the weak weaker.
The vast majority of civilizations fortunate enough to obtain Transcendent power—one hundred out of one hundred—would fall into this quagmire, eventually entering an eternal age of ignorance. Transcendent experts capable of traveling through the void would rule over peasants stuck at a medieval level, safe and comfortable. Those who could break out of this cycle were few and far between—perhaps not even one in a hundred thousand.
Because of Transcendent power, the upper class with knowledge could enjoy the pleasures of a high-level civilization without the desire to develop technology. The lower class, with the desire to develop, lacked knowledge and found it difficult to rise. Even if they did rise, they were easily assimilated by Transcendent power. This caused such civilizations to develop technology extremely slowly.
This kind of Transcendent civilization—with a single path, slow development, minimal potential, and nothing but stability to recommend it—was a "Pseudo-Transcendent Civilization." In reality, only the top 1% of such a civilization could be considered citizens; the other 99% were base livestock or bureaucratic tools for governance.
Joshua had pondered similar issues not long ago. In fact, both the Era of Radiance and the Era of Falling Stars had seen similar phenomena. But one was due to the Sage, and the other due to the covert guidance of the Seven Gods, which led both civilizations to quickly escape this misconception. Coupled with the excellent conditions brought by the Great Magic Tide, they entered a "True Transcendent Era" where everyone had the opportunity to obtain Transcendent power.
Perhaps the convenience brought by the popularization of Transcendent power might slow down purely technological progress in such civilizations, but their high-end experts would be far more numerous than in ordinary civilizations.
"So, this exchange can be declared concluded."
Now, a week had passed. Over this rather lengthy period, the Mycroft people and the Knowledge Seizers had nearly exchanged all their precious databases, especially the cultivation materials related to Holy Light. Because the Sage had departed too quickly and hadn't spread his teachings across the Multiverse, there were very few Holy Light traditions throughout the entire Multiverse. Most were individual cases of innate awakening of some Holy Light talent—like being born able to heal wounds or purify water. But such talents couldn't be taught to others. Only the Mycroft people had a complete cultivation process.
This was extremely precious data for the entire Multiverse. But for the Mycroft Civilization, it felt like a sofa cushion they used daily was a rare commodity worth its weight in gold in other worlds... After all, any believer knew a few Holy Light mantras, right? As long as one was pure of heart, anyone could awaken Holy Light. What? Other worlds don't have Holy Light? How pitiful...
Now, both sides were organizing their gains. Joshua and the others wore expressions of delight—the most complete star charts of the Multiverse Star River, various novel warship designs, and the unique concepts and cultivation materials of various civilizations for different Transcendent powers were all highly valuable references for the Mycroft Civilization. With these materials, they could develop and grow stronger more quickly, avoiding many detours.
The Knowledge Seizers naturally felt greatly relieved as well, perhaps even excited to the point of being a bit excessive—after all, aside from the Sage of Demons' message, they had also obtained the Sage of Light's materials. This was arguably the greatest harvest their entire civilization had achieved in 770,000 years. As for the materials on the Evil Gods and Chaos that the Mycroft people had encountered, as well as the possible existence of powerful Evil Gods like Plenty and Death, those were secondary matters.
There was no reluctance to part, no lengthy farewells. Once the decision to leave was made, both sides naturally began preparing to disengage from the boarding state. They also agreed to notify each other if they obtained any information about the Evil Gods or other Sages.
However, just before the formal separation, Joshua, as the leader of this exchange, pressed the communication button one last time.
"I want to ask a question."
The warrior spoke thus, curiously addressing the device that converted his voice into magical fluctuations. "It has nothing to do with civilizations, nor is it any important news. It's just a personal question of mine."
"Please, ask."
On the other side, the Knowledge Seizers' tone was calm. The gains from this exchange were enough to benefit their entire civilization greatly. As one of the Sage's inheritors, answering a question for Joshua was neither a bad thing nor a difficult task. Moreover, it could increase mutual trust.
Then, Joshua asked directly: "I want to know how you deal with the 'discordant notes' within your civilization."
Hearing this, the other seven Legendary experts, who had instinctively looked away, not wanting to overhear some secretive issue, immediately raised their heads and stared at Joshua with shocked expressions.
Discordant notes within the civilization... What did Joshua want to do? Was he finally planning to eliminate dissidents and establish a dictatorship?
Of course, this speculation was only fleeting. Everyone present knew Joshua's character well. Compared to being a dictator, he was more like someone who specifically opposed dictators. Rather than ruling the world, the warrior preferred a situation where a strong ruler unified the world, and then he would go challenge that ruler.
If it were Israel asking this question, no one would find it strange—whether in his identity as the Imperial Emperor or as the God of Might and Justice, asking such a question was not unusual. But precisely because it was Joshua asking, it drew particular attention.
However, the Knowledge Seizers didn't know Joshua, so they only asked calmly: "This question is a bit broad—may we ask what kind of 'discord' you mean by 'discordant notes within the civilization'? What is the conflict between the two sides? And why do you want to eliminate them? Without understanding these premises, we cannot answer your question."