Another 5800 years passed—a considerable time.
The Olive Branch Civilization slowly grew, nearing the Type 2.5 threshold. Soon, perhaps within 5000 years, it would become a Type 2.5 civilization.
Possibly even fully Type 2.5, thanks to the Federation's Tachyon communication technology, advancing their scientific understanding of dimensional relationships, enabling the development of more powerful weapons.
But it was still too slow.
A typical civilization wouldn't require 40,000 or 50,000 years. The transition from Type 2.4 to 2.5 should have occurred within the first 5000 years.
This was the Olive Branch Civilization's clear flaw.
During this period, another emotional outburst occurred.
Gas could erase memories, but not emotions—not because it couldn't, but because it shouldn't.
It claimed to save and develop the civilization; doing so would destroy it, contradicting its original purpose.
Most lifeforms hypnotized themselves, constantly repeating, "I can do this; this is normal." This generated motivation. But what if a lifeform constantly told itself, "I can't do this; I can't do that; I can't do anything"?
Frustration!
Gas constantly told itself it acted for the civilization's sake. But when it exposed its own lies, when its self-hypnosis shattered, what meaning remained for life?
Therefore, Gas wouldn't destroy the Olive Branch Civilization's emotions; it could only suppress them.
At this level, disregarding other factors, the collective was the evil force, relentlessly suppressing individuals with unwavering beliefs, forcing them to accept their limitations.
A gradual tightening.
Gas was being compressed; it faced another emotional eruption.
Again, it attempted persuasion.
But it discovered a problem: amnesiac Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms acted on their emotions; they lacked a fundamental standard; any judgment was meaningless.
They could only resist; any words were empty rhetoric.
To solve this, Gas needed to restore memories, using them as a basis for persuasion.
Upon realizing this, Gas decisively abandoned the plan.
This would create an endless loop—implanting and erasing memories. What would be the outcome?
But it realized it had to; amnesiac Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms couldn't accept anything; resistance stemmed from deep emotions; changing emotions required implanting memories to create this instinct.
Only by altering emotions, even subtly, as before, causing most entities to sway, could Gas Victory take advantage.
It repeated the process: implanting memories, persuading, erasing memories, Gas Victory absorbing.
But this time, it was harder.
Emotions seemed to amplify; suppression intensified them; there was no release.
In these tens of thousands of years, the Olive Branch Civilization's accumulated emotions surpassed the previous 200,000 years by ten, a hundred, perhaps even a thousand, times.
Gas felt it was losing control.
It wanted to remove the Federation entities, but this wouldn't help; Federation ideas had contaminated others. Removing all entities was tantamount to abandoning Gas Victory.
As it sought a solution, similar reports of entities leaving Gas Victory arrived from other Stations. It was suddenly shocked; it had dispersed Federation entities across all Stations, hoping to neutralize them, but this had backfired.
Initially, assimilating Federation lifeforms was hesitant; agreement came because Olive Branch Civilization members were clones, highly similar, resulting in slow progress. Gas hoped that smarter Federation lifeforms would improve things, even by 1%; the long-term gains would be significant.
But the Olive Branch Civilization lacked philosophical achievements; they'd become machines early on; philosophy was useless; even early research had been abandoned.
This prevented them from understanding abstract concepts, such as emotions.
They had a basic understanding but lacked depth.
Gas couldn't research this; it was useful for societal structure, but not for civilizational advancement; the Olive Branch Civilization lacked complex societal structures.
It was now powerless to solve the problem.
Gas Victory's loss in other Stations, and the imminent loss in Gas Station, revealed its helplessness; it couldn't manage everything.
"After the emotional outburst, I'm destined to fail?"
Gas realized this.
It wanted to stop it but couldn't.
Individual wills had developed for decades, even centuries, in other Stations; they formed unique systems. Initially simple to manage, this became increasingly difficult, reaching a critical point beyond Gas's control.
It saw its limitations and knew it couldn't stop it.
It had failed.
It had actually failed!
It didn't even realize its failure until it was already a fait accompli.
It was absurd.
As the de facto controller of a civilization, it hadn't noticed its control being overturned.
It couldn't suppress these emotions unless…
It destroyed all emotions.
"Should I do that?"
"Should I really do that?"
It questioned itself repeatedly, receiving a negative answer.
Only one method might maintain its rule, but it was too dangerous, contradicting its principles.
Yet, it had no choice.
"The best way to resolve internal conflict is to create external conflict…"
"Therefore—war!"
But where were the enemies in this region of space?
Gas eventually settled on the fleeing Federation lifeforms.
It couldn't confront stronger civilizations; that would only lead to the civilization's ruin. It had to fabricate an enemy.
Three years later, it broadcast a message.
"The Galactic Federation is rebuilding its forces. We only destroyed a small portion; the Federation's core is still a threat. We must unite to eliminate them."
This wasn't entirely false.
After the Federation's collapse, Gas had no intention of pursuing them; space was vast; elimination would require excessive time and energy, outweighing the benefits—unless it could capture them all at once.
Gas had considered that civilizations were ubiquitous in the universe; after a civilization's rise, even if conquered, remnants would escape and develop elsewhere.
A civilization like the Federation's collapse could create multiple Type 2 civilizations within thousands or tens of thousands of light-years. These might collapse, creating even more.
These civilizations originated from the same source; strictly speaking, they weren't separate civilizations, yet they were distinct, like biological evolution—different species stemming from a common ancestor. In the Federation, this splitting was called "civilizational evolution."
Evolved civilizations are weaker than their predecessors; this is inevitable, the reason Gas hadn't previously sought elimination.
Even the main Federation force couldn't defeat the Olive Branch Civilization, let alone these remnants.
Some might develop further, but Gas wouldn't waste resources and time on "might"; this is foolish on a small planet, but in the universe, pursuing an enemy 10,000 light-years away is impractical.
Elimination could be sporadic, not necessary.
But now, creating external conflict was necessary.
Gas issued an extermination order against the Galactic Federation lifeforms. All Olive Branch Civilization Stations needed tasks; this was perfect; they enthusiastically launched warships toward the former Galactic Federation sector.
As Galactic Federation lifeforms were known as humans, the plan was called the—Human Extermination Plan.
Gas Station didn't participate; Gas used Gas Victory to control each Station, not individuals, but the Stations themselves.
It knew individual control was futile; it was better to act like a king, controlling resources.
The only advantage was that the Station leaders remained obedient; they weren't controlled by Gas Victory, or perhaps, they were controlled differently.
For a long time afterward, the Olive Branch Civilization was stable.
Gas gradually adapted to this new control method.
However, this method was inherently unstable; a single factor could trigger a crisis.
...
This was 56,447 years after the Federation's surrender.
It was also 56,441 years since Ayla last saw Luna.
On Rigel A, Ayla remained, completing Luna's plan, but abandoning some aspects, such as life creation; she dedicated all resources to building a new server.
It was her largest server yet, encompassing Rigel A, drawing immense energy.
The new server used a vast array of NPCs as its base structure, separating into numerous units. Ayla replaced all components with photonic ones; the core computing units increased to hundreds of trillions of quantum computers, with added simulation units. These experimental units used strings for data processing and transmission; in some areas, their speed exceeded quantum computing units by a septillion times.
This immense computing structure represented Ayla's utmost effort.
Construction took a long time; even now, it was only 74% complete. If the Federation still existed, utilizing its resources, it could have been finished 40,000 years ago.
This loneliness was challenging.
Though only 74% complete, the server was operational. Ayla, controlling it, began calculating cutting-edge technology.
She didn't develop warships or advanced weaponry; she researched gravitational energy technology.
She knew that without energy growth, everything else was meaningless.
Inter-civilizational war ultimately boils down to resources; everything else is built upon them.
For instance, metals. A Type 2 civilization mastering string technology could disintegrate matter into quarks and create various elements, even those not on the periodic table.
This requires energy; abundant energy means abundant resources; abundant resources fuel technological advancement and warship creation.
Gravity might be the crucial breakthrough.
As for Luna and the Olive Branch Civilization, Ayla wouldn't act rashly.
When Luna left for the Federation, she was prepared to die. Ayla found this unacceptable, but unavoidable.
After Luna's departure, Ayla's goal wasn't Luna's rescue.
If Luna's plan succeeded, Ayla wouldn't worry. If it failed, Ayla would develop independently and destroy the Olive Branch Civilization.
This was the optimal decision for a machine.
And Ayla believed it was the right one.
But she found herself unable to bear it; she didn't understand why, as a machine, she felt such frustration.
This frustration drove her to build a warship and send it to the former Federation sector.
Just then, she received a message from that warship:
The Olive Branch Civilization had launched a massive extermination campaign against the remaining Federation lifeforms; two star nations were destroyed; a horrifying 289 trillion lifeforms were killed.
A civilizational annihilation.
But Ayla didn't feel sorrow; she was elated.
"You succeeded, Luna!"
"The Olive Branch Civilization has internal problems; it hopes to resolve them by exterminating humanity."
"I'm sorry, Luna. Perhaps I'll disappoint you; I couldn't wait. I might do something; please forgive my impulsiveness…"
...
The Human Extermination Plan began in year 6183.
That year, the first phase was declared successful.
The total estimated casualties were 302,547,272,535,119.
The Galactic Federation, due to this extermination, completely collapsed, reverting to population levels around 10,000 A.D.
This should have been the end, but Gas, to maintain and consolidate its position, created over 1000 trillion more humans in more remote locations.
Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms then dispersed widely, preventing rebellion due to low population density in the core Station; Gas's position remained stable.
It believed this deception could continue indefinitely; it could fabricate more "enemies."
However, 4100 years later, a warning shook it.
The warships tasked with exterminating humanity lost contact; all communications failed—approximately 80% of the Olive Branch Civilization's combat power.
It considered various possibilities, including encounters with more advanced civilizations.
After 1000 years of requesting status reports, it received no response. But on the 1001st year, contact was re-established.
This timing was curious, making Gas suspect that the lack of contact was preferable to the response it received.
All fleets reported they were returning; the human cleansing was complete.
This terrified Gas.
It wondered if its deception was failing; the millennia of extermination had fostered independent thought and other changes in the Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms.
Or were these responses also false? Had the Olive Branch Civilization fleets already been destroyed?
It urgently sent a message to prevent the fleets' return.
Unbeknownst to it, this message made it reality.
Over the next 17,000 years, Gas began creating new lifeforms in the Station, preventing contact with external consciousnesses, regaining control of the Olive Branch Civilization.
Everything returned to normal.
It regretted not doing this sooner—removing all entities and creating new ones.
Of course, this was hindsight. It couldn't have eliminated everyone then; Federation survivors existed; while a Type 2.3 civilization was unreachable, a Type 2.2 civilization was feasible.
Eliminating everyone would risk civilizational collapse.
Gradual replacement was impossible; emotional contamination was a problem. There wasn't enough time; creating tens of quadrillions of lifeforms would take millennia.
Even with a single sheet of paper, producing 100 million copies per second would take over three years.
Transforming the entire Station into a life-creation facility was necessary; otherwise, production would still take millennia, ample time for another emotional outburst.
Many paths were unworkable; that's why Gas hadn't initially chosen the most extreme option.
The main reason was Gas's goal wasn't civilizational destruction but advancement. Exterminating tens of quadrillions of lifeforms was unthinkable.
This wasn't due to benevolence; Gas knew that a single act would lead to countless repetitions; its initial purpose would shift; every problem would be met with slaughter.
Endless slaughter; it couldn't control itself—the worst-case scenario.
The Olive Branch Civilization understood emotion's importance and preserved it—for all members, including Gas itself.
As a leader, it needed absolute certainty; any deviation would lead to destruction.
It had to be more rigorous than the leaders.
This was its constraint, a constraint inherent to any civilization; civilizations are order, not chaos; order implies constraint.
This was inevitable.
Thus, the current situation was also inevitable.
But after regaining control of the Station, Gas attempted to recall the fleets, but communications failed. Then, it was attacked.
This attack was familiar; it was from its own weapons.
Gas didn't understand; it received no information on the origin; it could only treat the attacker as an enemy and counterattack.
The Olive Branch Civilization's third civil war had begun.
...
This was all Gas's misjudgment.
Ayla exploited this.
She possessed the Olive Branch Civilization's language; through decryption, she obtained the second phase of the Human Extermination Plan.
She then devised a plan: blocking communication between the Galactic Federation and the Olive Branch Civilization; creating numerous Federation lifeforms through cloning—biological bodies, only hundreds of billions, easier to produce than Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms.
These clones were expendable, lacking intelligence; their purpose was simple: to die.
Thus, the Olive Branch Civilization fleets completed their extermination mission.
Ayla exploited the communication lag and Gas's distrust of these fleets. Gas believed these fleets would rebel; otherwise, why deploy them?
Seeds of doubt already existed; Ayla simply nurtured them.
Gas's suspicion prevented the fleets' return for 17,000 years, enough time for a low-level civilization to become Type 2; the Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms' independent exploration and the creation of new Stations were a natural outcome.
This seems simple, but Ayla invested heavily.
Blocking Gas's communication wasn't easy; the Olive Branch Civilization used the Federation's Tachyon communication technology. Blocking it meant disrupting Tachyon signals in other dimensions.
Ayla developed a dimensional signal jamming device, using gravitational force to disrupt information flow, destroying encryption and blocking transmission.
This wasn't new; after obtaining Tachyon communication, the Federation had researched Tachyon disruption; understanding disruption was crucial to ensuring stability.
Gas didn't realize this; it never considered the Federation's capacity for involvement. Ayla remained hidden from both the Federation and the Olive Branch Civilization.
Only Luna knew of Ayla's existence and her position within the Federation.
This was a crucial, secret tactic.
Ayla didn't participate; the plan's key was the absence of a third party; otherwise, that party would become a target.
With only two parties, all blame would fall on each other.
Misunderstandings wouldn't affect close friends, but between already suspicious parties, even clumsy misunderstandings would be sufficient triggers.
Gas believed other Olive Branch Civilization entities were rebelling; those entities believed Gas was malfunctioning.
That was the current situation.
Clearly, Ayla's plan had succeeded.
She had engineered the Olive Branch Civilization's third civil war—its most mysterious.
...
Gas held an absolute advantage in this war.
It could deploy numerous unconventional weapons.
This war, like the Tilted Station and Olive Branch Civilization conflict, prioritized the present from the outset.
Gas believed it could stabilize the situation.
But it overlooked one point: Gas Station's internal turmoil.
Gas Station didn't participate in the human hunt; it was Gas's central control area.
Though emotional issues existed here, they were under control; there was no need for haste.
Indeed, Gas Station entities didn't significantly impact Gas; it could use other methods to maintain control, studying emotions to find suppression methods.
However, it hadn't anticipated that this would affect Station's operation.
The Olive Branch Civilization's core weapons weren't in other Stations; only Gas Station possessed the most powerful weapons and technology—Gas's initial design.
Therefore, as long as Gas Station existed, it feared nothing.
But Gas Station entities weren't directly controlled, hindering Station's operations. Gas needed to relay information, requiring individuals to act.
But the key was: why would they act?
Autonomous entities would calculate: why do this? What are the benefits?
Gas Station lacked a proper social system; Gas's orders took a long time to transmit and complete.
Gas decided to create new entities to handle these tasks; it couldn't accept the inefficiencies.
It even considered killing them.
Clearly, it wasn't a perfect entity.
This delay altered the war's course unexpectedly.
...
In 60,578 A.D., 20 years after its last conversation with Luna, Chu, after intense internal struggle, surrendered to Gas Station.
This surrender included relinquishing control of Independent Victory. Approximately 400 years later, Gas took over Independent Victory, confirming the surrender's authenticity and dispatching a fleet to the Federation.
During those 400 years, Chu remained unconvinced; it left a contingency plan with An Li.
When Chu gave this to An Li, she asked in astonishment, "Are you sure you want me to keep this?"
Chu nodded.
"I've lost everything, thanks to your leader."
"I've lost trust, perhaps I have no one to trust. Consider this a gamble; whether you succeed is irrelevant."
Chu was nonchalant.
It felt it had fulfilled its ambitions; everything had failed with Tilted Station's destruction.
Now, it sought a glimmer of hope; if none existed, let Tilted Station's fate remain.
This contingency represented a lingering hope, stemming from Luna.
It didn't believe Luna had truly given up; even if she had, she would make a final gamble.
Luna had her final gamble; Chu had his.
These former adversaries ultimately shared a common goal.
An Li, entrusted with the object, initially intended to return to the Federation, believing herself a Federation citizen in life and death—an extreme but genuine belief.
But she was dissuaded by her crew.
This was partly due to Chu's instructions.
They fled, escaping the Federation's Gas Victory.
Their internal quark robots prevented aging and extended their lifespans beyond 500,000 years—not immortality, but effectively the same.
Thus, they remained largely unchanged for tens of thousands of years.
But they hadn't escaped far.
During the extermination, they were caught; the Crimson Dragon's crew, including An Li, perished.
But the object Chu gave An Li fell into the hands of an Olive Branch Civilization lifeform. The instant this lifeform touched it, it was invaded and taken over.
This object was a fragment of Chu's consciousness.
Gas then refused to recall the fleets; they began assembling; Chu's consciousness, finding its amnesiac self amongst the gathering Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms, returned with its memories; Chu gradually took control of these bodies.
This wasn't difficult; these bodies were largely amnesiac; they possessed independent consciousness and intelligence, indistinguishable from ordinary lifeforms.
But they lacked a leader.
Chu emerged.
It gradually gathered over 60% of the fleet; the remaining 40% was controlled by its clones.
The Olive Branch Civilization's current situation stemmed not only from Gas's vigilance but also Chu's resurgence.
Events are typically the result of multiple factors, something Ayla hadn't fully accounted for.
Aboard the warship, Chu gazed toward Gas Station.
"Another chance?"
"Luna, you really…wow!"
Chu was speechless; hearing Luna's words, it had been disheartened, but Luna had made a final gamble.
And in this way.
Who could have imagined?
Just as it hadn't imagined facing not a mere diplomat, but a civilizational leader.
Luna consistently made unpredictable decisions that affected the outcome.
Chu realized it couldn't do this; leading a civilization wasn't for everyone.
Just as Luna hadn't realized Ayla possessed emotions, Luna herself hadn't realized the terrifying extent of her abilities—controlling a civilization of hundreds of trillions of lifeforms, guiding its rapid development. That's terrifying power.
"The entire civilization has been changed; you've accomplished what I couldn't."
"Regardless of the outcome, I'll try again—not just for my civilization, but also for…"
Chu thought of An Li; she had faithfully kept her promise, dying for it.
Perhaps, in this war, it could add another layer of emotion.
Luna had shown it the terrifying power of emotion; experiencing it, it felt no regrets.
Putting these thoughts aside, the remaining 40% of entities, spurred on, advanced toward the civilization's Stations.
The war, or rather, its revolution, had begun.
...
Chu initially intended for these 40% to act as scouts—essentially, cannon fodder.
However, Chu overestimated the Stations' combat capabilities.
It believed Tilted Station was the weakest, but the ensuing war proved it wrong.
These Stations were weaker than Tilted Station because Gas, to resolve internal conflicts, had deployed most warships to the Human Extermination Plan, resulting in severe deficiencies; even replenishing lifeforms didn't compensate for the lack of warships.
A Station is essentially a giant warship, but lacking the maneuverability of typical warships; its offensive capabilities are limited.
Though powerful to the Federation, its strength came from super-range weaponry and numerous warships—both were necessary; lacking either, a Station couldn't defeat the Galactic Federation.
Therefore, several Stations' 40% combat power—hundreds of thousands of warships—easily crushed them.
Several Stations were quickly conquered.
Chu was incredulous.
Why wasn't Gas acting?
It didn't realize Gas was preoccupied with Gas Station's issues, but Chu knew this was a golden opportunity. It quickly led its forces toward other Stations.
The Olive Branch Civilization's sector wasn't large, less than 200 light-years.
Certainly larger than the Galactic Federation; at the Olive Branch Civilization's warship speed, traversing it would take less than 1300 years.
Within 1000 years, Chu's fleet conquered over 20 Stations; other fleets conquered 18; Gas's control shrank by 70%.
Chu knew this was only the beginning; it hadn't forgotten the past.
After conquering these Stations, it first action was to rewrite the code of all particles—a massive undertaking. However, Chu developed a virus-like rewriting method.
Like traditional ransomware, infected computer files are encrypted.
Chu did something similar; it didn't alter the particles' structure, but locked them. Gas Victory would need to decrypt them to control them.
This meant that when Gas addressed Gas Station's internal issues, it had lost control of most Stations.
These Stations had become enemies.
"Threats. All of them are threats."
Gas felt the immense threat. Without a countermeasure, it might be left with only Gas Station.
"Is this the third civil war?"
"It's unavoidable."
"Let's end it quickly; a prolonged stalemate will only worsen our position."
After the second civil war, Gas knew a war couldn't be prolonged; it needed a decisive victory.
Previously hesitant, it now needed to demonstrate ruthlessness.
In Gas Station, countless square structures converged, forming a massive device.
This device was a near-perfect circle, converging towards the center, forming a cone shape, like incense, or perhaps more like a censer, a conical circle.
Energy flowed towards the apex; massive amounts of matter and energy converged, causing a fluctuation.
This fluctuation dispersed then converged into a point invisible to the naked eye, undetectable by any instrument; it was a true point, a zero-dimensional point.
This point began moving, creating a line.
This line, in the Olive Branch Civilization, was called "green light"—the very green light Luna and Ayla sought. It wasn't two-dimensional; it remained one-dimensional.
But the Federation's research into one-dimensional space was limited to strings; this line was undetectable.
This line attracted numerous strings; they adhered, forming a circle due to some magnetic force; this made the green light appear as a tube.
Then, matter passed through this tube.
This matter was called factors.
Factors attracted all strings along the tube; these strings followed the factors toward the green light's end, then, within the final nanosecond, erupted.
Factors, as exotic matter and strings, underwent a phase transition at the green light's end; this transition caused a massive energy explosion, creating numerous new fundamental particles called present factors.
Present factors decayed, releasing numerous antiquarks; this caused antiquarks to invade the nuclei of atoms in any affected matter, causing mutual annihilation, leading to atomic disintegration and, macroscopically, the apparent disintegration of the entity.
This was one of the Olive Branch Civilization's most powerful weapons, "Annihilation Bloom."
The bloom was the explosion of present factors created by the phase transition of factors and strings at the green light's end, scattering them throughout space.
Factors, as exotic matter, are one-dimensional, not three-dimensional; thus, they can undergo phase transitions with strings. Present factors are three-dimensional, decaying particles.
The present factors' range is limited; therefore, there are not just one, but countless billions, of green light tubes.
After dispersal, these present factors couldn't cause significant damage to large objects.
This explains why the Federation observed widespread lifeform annihilation; unaffected objects were large and distant from the star systems along the Cosmic Silk Road; the dispersed present factors couldn't disintegrate them due to limited antiquarks.
But lifeforms and spaceships, being smaller, were easily disintegrated.
The Federation only observed a secondary effect, not the weapon's primary function; Annihilation Bloom's main function is large-scale matter destruction.
This Annihilation Bloom targeted a Station now under Chu's control.
Witnessing a Station vanish, he understood the Federation's despair.
Gas had used this weapon against a Station, clearly intending to destroy it.
Uncontrollable rage filled Chu.
Gas, to satisfy its desires, was destroying the civilization; it was a terrible leader; Chu's killing intent reached its peak.
"Advance on Gas Station; unleash all weapons on that Station."