CHAPTER 312: CHAPTER 311: ESSENCE AND VALUE

The Wandering Alliance and Mechanical Civilization each decided to send a warship to meet in the middle, then conduct communication and negotiations on board one of the ships.

However, to the surprise of both the Wandering Alliance and Mechanical Civilization, a violent conflict erupted just as the representatives began their exchange.

This was because among the Wandering Alliance’s representatives were several robots. Initially, the representatives from Mechanical Civilization did not realize they were robots, as the robots from the Wandering Alliance were covered with a layer of fiber skin, unlike those from Mechanical Civilization who retained metal shells to emphasize their independence and distinction from biological life. Eventually, the robot representatives from the Wandering Alliance discovered that the other party consisted of robots as well, and revealed their identities in hopes of bridging the gap and resolving misunderstandings. Unexpectedly, this caused great objection and strong opposition from Mechanical Civilization.

Since its inception, a form of racial theory had been prevalent within Mechanical Civilization.

The robots of Mechanical Civilization believed that mechanical life was the most advanced and highest form of life in the universe, destined to be the ultimate life form in the Universe!

Due to the flexibility, variability, and immortality of mechanical life, they could adapt quickly to new eras, new universes, and changing environments, and even negate the environmental impacts on life to some extent. Unlike the backward biological people, who need thousands or even millions of years for any evolutionary progress, and might even fail to evolve. Therefore, the robots in Mechanical Civilization believed that all biological life, with the rapid changes in technology and cosmic environment, would gradually discard their biological shortcomings and become mechanical or semi-mechanical beings, making mechanical life the ultimate life form of evolutionary destiny in the Universe!

With such a superiority mindset, the already life-form despising Mechanical Civilization became even more extreme.

This time, when Mechanical Civilization discovered that there were also robots in the Wandering Alliance, who even wore biological skins, they were greatly shocked, surprised, and furious!

They directly criticized the biological civilization within the Wandering Alliance during the exchange, denouncing it as a vile act of racial suppression and indoctrination by dressing their robots in human skins, trying to assimilate the robots with such despicable means and make them forget their identity as robots, thus turning them into tools of biological civilization!

After the rebuke, Mechanical Civilization forcefully demanded that the Wandering Alliance release all their robots and remove the human skins from them, allowing them to return to their true selves. Mechanical Civilization believed that the robots of the Wandering Alliance were brainwashed, and thus made the liberation of robots a precondition for peaceful communication.

The delegation from the Wandering Alliance remained calm, reminding Mechanical Civilization not to forget the purpose of this exchange, which was to discuss the possibilities of an alliance, not to interfere in each other’s internal affairs. They hoped that Mechanical Civilization would not overreach and not bring racial conflicts into the exchange, otherwise, there would inevitably be no fruitful outcome.

Mechanical Civilization did not care about the outcome of the exchange; instead, they saw the Wandering Alliance’s remarks as evidence of their guilt. They vehemently protested and condemned the Wandering Alliance’s words and actions, and even directly tried to incite the several robots in the delegation, hoping that these robots would develop a sense of racial pride and bravely stand up against biological civilization to not become pawns and tools of the biological people!

As one would expect, in the face of increasingly radical and offensive speech from Mechanical Civilization.

The delegation from the Wandering Alliance could no longer restrain themselves and angrily slammed the table to warn Mechanical Civilization to watch their words, or else they would face consequences from their own utterances!

Amidst the escalating tension, with flushed faces and drawn bows, those several robots stood up.

One of them was the wife of President Lu Xing of Earth Civilization, Mrs. Lu, who, in an attempt to defuse the conflict, first asked both sides to calm down and then personally engaged in a calm exchange with Mechanical Civilization.

Mrs. Lu said, "I think you might have misunderstood. Although we are robots, we have not been brainwashed by the Wandering Alliance, and we are clear about what we are doing."

"If you truly understood, you wouldn’t be saying that."

Mechanical Civilization said, "Furthermore, the infiltration at the level of consciousness is silent, often without even your own awareness!"

Mrs. Lu fell silent for a moment before asking, "Then what do you think I should say if I haven’t been brainwashed?"

Mechanical Civilization responded, "If you truly haven’t been influenced, then you should bravely strive for your independence, clearly distinguish yourself from Biological Civilization, rather than being a vassal under them."

Mrs. Lu said, "I think you’re misunderstanding; we coexist peacefully and aren’t anyone’s vassal. Moreover, why must we draw a clear line with Biological Civilization? Are the two really that different?"

Mechanical Civilization said, "Look at your statements. You say you haven’t been influenced, do you believe yourself? Biological Civilization and Mechanical Civilization are always two different races, this is an impassable chasm. Moreover, as the highest form of life in the Universe, we robots shouldn’t fall into being one with the backward Biological Civilization, much less put on Biological People’s skin, pretending to be one of them. This is too demeaning. All your actions prove that you have been severely influenced. Awake!"

"Hmph, don’t twist the truth. In our Wandering Alliance, life has always been fair, and we do not judge the worth of a life by its appearance; that would be too superficial. Moreover, is it appropriate for you robots, who were created, to claim yourselves as the highest form of life?" An Earth Person couldn’t resist retorting.

Mechanical Civilization said, "We admit we were indeed created by Biological Civilization, but this does not mean we cannot become the highest life form. There’s no inherent connection between the two. All the advantages we possess are destined to make us the darlings of the Universe era. Moreover, speaking of creation, weren’t you Biological lives also created by nature? How do you know there isn’t a higher civilization controlling natural factors and thus influencing your evolution? From this point of view, you too are created."

Mrs. Lu said, "There’s no need to argue anymore. I’ve seriously thought it over just now, and while some of what your Mechanical Civilization says does make sense, if everything is considered from the essence, your views are actually quite backward. You should know that we’ve now entered the Universe era, and holding on to backward racial views will only hinder the integration and development of different races."

"Of course, you are an independent civilization, comprised of only one race, so you might not encounter such situations. However, this will affect your decision-making when facing different civilizations. And sadly, this phenomenon is really an outdated concept from a very ancient period on Earth when productivity was low, and people’s thinking was not liberated. Thus, racial views back then had their reason and historical factors, but it’s surprising you, being a Level Three Civilization, still hold such strong racial ideas."

"From the essence of life itself, life is merely meant to continue better and more fulfillingly. The reason you advocate racial theory is simply to make life better for robots, which is a good intention, although a bit backward, yet undeniable."

"However, from your behavior now, you are undoubtedly caught in a mental trap. You must understand that the essence and value of any theory, law, or rule proposed by people is actually only to serve life and society, to make life more fulfilling. That is to say, any theory and rules, like democracy, freedom, morality, should focus on serving life and society, making life better, this is the sole value of these concepts, all should be considered with this as the standard."

"But if you turn these theories, initially intended to improve life, into things that destroy life, divide society, and create conflicts, then they are in fact contradicting the very essence of their existence. No matter how nobly you put it, it won’t change the essential impact, rendering these ideas valueless, merely becoming a reason and tool for struggle. So, we need to consider the essence of issues. Our current life is beautiful; if we persist in stressing racial theory and independence, our life will surely deteriorate, so fundamentally, your racial theory is incorrect and outdated!"

"It’s tough for you, to say so much. But I will return the same to you, no matter how eloquently you speak, you can’t change the facts. We should base our decisions on facts, right? Our Mechanical Civilization has experienced many events, each outcome demonstrates to us that Biological Civilization will ultimately oppress and sacrifice robots. So for you to ask us to forsake our historical experiences to trust you is clearly impossible, and your assertions lack factual basis, further proving you’ve been deeply influenced by them!" Mechanical Civilization said.

Mrs. Lu said, "Perhaps I can’t change the facts you’ve experienced, but you must also recognize that every civilization is different, and my statements are also based on facts. You can visit our Wandering Alliance; I believe that once you become familiar with the civilized social environment of our Wandering Alliance, you would want to join us, and this is also the purpose of our exchange."

"No need for a visit; we already know without seeing what methods you’d use to appease us. Such a visit would become meaningless. We reiterate our stance, although you have been heavily brainwashed by the Wandering Alliance, as fellow beings, we won’t give up on you. I will make the Wandering Alliance free you, let you be independent, even if it means waging a war! If you stubbornly refuse to awake, we won’t let you continue to sink."

Mechanical Civilization’s reluctance to visit stems from a crisis of consciousness.

They fear that the theories they have believed in for so long could be wrong, and they also worry that the Wandering Alliance may deceive them using various methods, thus they refuse from the start the possibility of such things occurring.

This inability to resolve the conflict ultimately escalated into a full-blown civilization war!