Since ancient times, humans have developed special feelings for things they cannot understand.
Worship of mountains and rivers, fear of mountain spirits and monsters, and reverence for unseen gods and spirits.
The sun, which hung above the sky and nourished all things before humanity was born, and the moon, which brought tides and night light, were naturally even more revered by humans.
In almost all myths worldwide, deities who governed the sun and moon often held high positions within the pantheon.
However, the interpretation of the sun and moon's significance varied across different civilizations.
In Eastern civilization, the moon is also called the Taiyin Star, symbolizing night, water, femininity, and childbirth.
In mysticism, it represents stillness, gentleness, acceptance, and the auxiliary force for the growth of all things, also carrying meanings of mystery, purity, and eternal immortality.
On a literary level, it signifies loneliness, longing, and reunion.
Western civilization is similar but also different.
In Western culture, besides the mystery often associated with femininity, yin, fertility, and magic, the moon also carries the implication of 'madness.'
The moon is the patron of sin, the source of madness.
Werewolves transforming under the moon, and vampires and other dark magic creatures appearing at night, are also influenced by this.
Furthermore, the moon's interpretation in life differs from the Eastern concept of 'eternal immortality.' In the West, it represents the cycle of life and death, with the waxing and waning of the moon being a metaphor for this cycle.
When Roger attempted to create the moon rabbit, he could clearly feel the resonance of longing flowing within the moon, a longing that countless intelligent beings had projected onto it since ancient times.
That resonance was overwhelmingly strong, far greater than the feeling on Earth, which made Roger understand why magic weakened when it left Earth, as it moved away from the collective unconscious sea of humanity, but grew stronger when it approached the moon.
"Under the shroud of magic, longing can transcend distance." It's like quantum entanglement in quantum mechanics.
'Magic power' is a whole. As long as it is within its coverage, when a change occurs, its entirety instantly transforms.
It's like another sea of consciousness, vaster than humanity's Alaya, blanketing the deep, dark universe. One person creates a spell, and another, thousands of miles away, can cast that magic by reciting it.
Instead of starting from scratch.
One person experiences longing, and the other end of the starry sky reacts.
"Harry, I think I've found the 'steam engine' for wizards," Roger conveyed his thoughts to Harry with a smile.
Humans had been boiling water for thousands of years. It wasn't until modern times, when related technologies matured, that the steam engine was born, leading the Industrial Revolution and ushering humanity into a new era, an era of rapid development.
The seemingly simplest things often possess the power to change everything.
Conceptual Creation allows for the reconstruction of already established magical creatures, changing them according to one's will.
And another new law he discovered...
Roger's gaze suddenly shifted, moving away from Earth and Harry towards a more distant, profound, and dark universe.
"The universe is vast. There are nearly 400 billion star systems in the Milky Way, and nearly 2 trillion galaxies like the Milky Way in the universe. Two trillion multiplied by 400 billion, plus billions of years of time, makes the possibility of humans being the only life in the universe extremely slim."
After all, even an improbable event like transmigration could happen, so why not extraterrestrial life?
Ever since he officially stepped into the magical world, his imagined enemy had always been from beyond the world.
Are there other lives in the universe? If so, would they use magic? Roger had once asked Professor McGonagall this question.
Professor McGonagall hadn't given him an answer, but at this moment, Roger realized he might be able to find that answer himself.
If, under this starry sky, another magical civilization existed.
Then they too would surely look up and harbor infinite imagination towards the vast expanse of stars.
What if...
What if he found an excessive amount of 'longing' on a star or in a galaxy that humans didn't value, then...
At that instant, the phrase 'Dark Forest' flashed through Roger's mind.
Could it be that on the other side of the distant starry sky, a magical civilization had also discovered this law, and the 'They' who were born earlier were observing him at this very moment?
Suppressing the joy he felt from discovering the new function of Conceptual Creation, Roger sighed silently, "The more I know, the more I feel my own insignificance."
He understood why many astronomers, sociologists, and other scientific researchers, when studying potential cosmic civilizations, would utter absurd conclusions like 'Aliens must be friendly after developing for so many years,' ignoring the changes brought about by the evolution of all things.
On Earth, there's a generation gap every three years; people from different periods have different ideas. Even if aliens were benevolent at one stage, they wouldn't remain unchanged forever, would they?
And if this factor were taken into account, establishing that 'alien life forms are not necessarily friendly,' then the future humanity faced, and even their present and past, would become quite terrifying! That fear of the unknown could drive many people mad and lead certain matters in a negative direction.
Despite realizing this, Roger had no intention of joining in.
After pondering for a moment, Roger explained to Harry the method he had discovered for determining the existence of other civilizations in the universe by observing the concentration of thought.
He also conveyed his own thoughts: "Harry, what I can think of, others will surely be able to think of in the future."
"If you encounter someone who has similar ideas, remember to warn them not to casually tread into forbidden territories. It is very dangerous to initiate third-party contact when you are too weak."
Confucius and Mencius spoke of 'human nature at birth is good.' With their wisdom, they certainly wouldn't have failed to see the evil side of humanity.
Xunzi saw humanity's evil and hoped to correct it in his own way.
Confucius and Mencius, rather than debating 'the essence of human nature,' directly defined it, laying the foundation for civilization's development.
Human nature is good, and it must be good. Mencius even went as far as to say that those who lack a compassionate heart are not worthy of being called human, effectively expelling them from the human race and ending the debate with extreme remarks.
They believed that only by making human goodness the foundation of civilization and by resisting and expelling the wicked could the world develop better, which is why they proposed this doctrine.
Modern scientists are the same. "Extraterrestrial goodwill theory, advanced civilizations must have high morals" is the effort they are trying to make.
But... this will also lead many people to have too many unrealistic fantasies about extraterrestrial civilizations.
Once aliens truly descend, those who expect the Trisolarans' moons to be rounder will likely appear.
Roger did not want to see such a future. He disliked killing, so to stain his hands with less bloodshed in the future, Roger refused to join their ranks and lead the grand pronouncements.
"Oh." Harry nodded, responding as if he understood but not quite.
Roger didn't say anything more about it.
The development of the era was about to accelerate, but for now, everything was still before it happened. Saying too much at this time wouldn't give Harry much to ponder.
Therefore, planting a seed was enough.
When the time comes, he would recall today's words and understand the rest himself.
The unknowability of magic power had once brought Roger's magical research a lot of difficulties and caused wizard civilization to stagnate for thousands of years. Roger had once greatly disliked this.
But his thoughts had changed somewhat. In a sense, magic was also a universal "great filter" like nuclear energy or source crises. If there were really aliens, Roger believed that quite a few civilizations would be shackled by magic power.
Just like the current Earth wizard civilization, their development would be stagnant. This had invisibly reduced the number of his potential future enemies.
A purely technological route?
Roger didn't think anyone, after knowing the wondrous nature of magic power, would not have considered "taking a shortcut." Once they fell into the trap of magic power and became dependent on it, trying to break free...
That would be difficult indeed.
After their conversation, Roger cast a powerful defensive magic on the Dream Weaver, which already had the function of concealing its form.
They had just landed on the moon, and Roger and Harry still had many things to explore on the moon.
The Dream Weaver was a large object that neither of them could carry with them, so they could only cast a spell to prevent meteorite impacts and leave it in place.
"Let's go, our next stop is the far side of the moon!"
In his previous life, Roger had read a lot of information about the moon during his childhood. The mysterious far side of the moon was naturally a must-visit place for this trip.
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