Chapter 915: Visited (Chinese) (Patreon)

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The Sun forever radiated its brilliance, even when separated by thousands of miles. When its rays touched the Earth, they brought warmth and vitality.

However, if one were to closely observe this thriving star, they could feel the surging heat and the awe-inspiring natural power it possessed.

Above the Mercury Base, one could see an even larger Sun. This incandescent radiance, too intense to directly gaze upon, dimmed in the face of abilities beyond ordinary comprehension and scientific technology. From this perspective, one could witness even more mysterious and beautiful patterns.

Standing on the rooftop of the Mercury Base, Stark turned his head to look at Schiller and asked, "Who do you think is right, the Skrulls or the Kree?"

"Skrulls claim they only want to build a space of their own, that they are the ones who have sacrificed. Yet, they have received nothing in return. On the contrary, they suffered greatly during the millennia of war. The Kree are shameless thieves and traitors," Schiller replied.

"The Kree believe that Skrulls' assistance to other civilizations threatens their living space. They plunder Skrulls' science and technology only for self-preservation. Their so-called grand ideals are just excuses to satisfy their dominance," he continued.

"They each hold their own truths. What do you think, who is right?"

"Perhaps, they are both right?" Schiller also looked at the Sun and said, "Impure ideals and impure people are destined to lead to tragedy."

"The greed of Kortati and Kree for science and technology and resources, combined with Skrulls' arrogance in thinking they can determine the fate of space, all contribute to this tragedy."

Suddenly, Schiller chuckled, seeming to think of something interesting. He looked at Stark and asked, "Let me ask you, if one day, an advanced civilization like the Skrulls descended upon Earth's skies, displaying their limitless power..."

"They said to humanity, 'Join a competition, and the winner can obtain our resources and technology.' What do you think would be humanity's reaction?"

Hearing this question, Stark displayed a highly complex expression, a mixture of helplessness, absurdity, and amusement. He said, "Although such a thing hasn't happened, I can imagine the scenario."

"The first response would definitely not be about whether to participate or not. It would be skepticism."

"We would question if their science and technology is truly as powerful as they claim. What is the ultimate purpose of this competition? Is it a conspiracy? Do they have ulterior motives for humanity?"

Stark couldn't help but let out a sarcastic chuckle and continued, "Even though we are poor, extremely weak, and seemingly insignificant, we are constantly suspicious that all intelligent life wants to harm us..."

"After a wave of discussions, there would undoubtedly be proponents of participation, opponents of participation, and those who simply ignore the idea. But it's easy to imagine that members of these factions would argue, struggle, and dispute in various forms."

"If the powerful civilization sets a deadline of ten years, they would argue for ten years. If it's a hundred years, they would argue for a hundred years."

"And humans are not only suspicious but also forgetful."

"Perhaps, when these aliens arrive with great expectations to assess our progress, humanity may have already forgotten about them."

Schiller crossed his arms and said, "Is that all you can think of? Then, from your personal perspective, how would you respond to this situation?"

Stark paused for a moment and then replied, "You've touched upon the key point. If indeed a group of strange aliens arrived in Earth's skies and invited us to a competition, my first thought might not be about winning the competition or even participating."

"I would think, since their science and technology prowess is already so advanced, and they've come here with spaceships and equipment, why not keep them here instead of going through a competition? Wouldn't that be a way to obtain the resources and technology we need?"

At that moment, as if realizing something, he added, "If the Kree had a way to acquire Skrulls' warships, why didn't they do that from the beginning? Why did they choose to participate in a competition?"

After saying this, Stark paused again, rubbing his chin, and said, "Of course, this must be because of your influence from spending too much time with you. You know the saying, 'Associate with the wise, become wise; associate with fools, get in trouble.' My moral boundaries must have lowered due to you..."

"If these conclusions were influenced by me," Schiller responded, "then maybe you should reconsider your innermost answer."

Frowning, Stark began to contemplate. He said, "...My innermost answer? What else is in my innermost... Well, when you first mentioned this scenario, my initial reaction was, in fact, not this conclusion."

"When you mentioned their display of limitless power, my first thought was, 'Is that so?'"

Stark further explained, "What is this so-called limitless power? Is it vast spaceships? Advanced navigation technology? Potent starship weapons?"

"And after these questions arose, my initial thought was, 'Can't I build these things myself?'"

"Other people's resources and technology will always be theirs. They might give us a spaceship, but when it breaks down, we'll have to go back to them for repairs. They provide us with energy, but when it runs out, we'll have to ask for more."

"I'd rather be a poor man than a beggar."

"The path of exploration has no end. The so-called limitless power is just a small threshold on the road of scientific exploration. They might be moving faster than me, but it doesn't mean they'll go further."
"At the beginning, if the Kree had thought like you, they wouldn't be engaged in the back-and-forth conflict with the new Skrull Empire as they are now," Schiller remarked. "In this scenario, you must have already realized that the only thing that can defeat greed is even deeper greed, and the only thing that can defeat arrogance is even greater arrogance."

"Humanity will never be satisfied. If you promise us one spaceship, we'll want ten. If you promise ten spaceships, we'll want to devour your entire fleet along with them. Humans don't think about how to win the competition; they think about how to dismantle it."

"The moment we sit down at the table, we have only one goal – to defeat all opponents, including the house. No one should expect to stand alone."

"What keeps you from accepting help from advanced civilizations is not restraint and reason but the inevitability of our arrogance surpassing theirs. As surface dwellers, we've already started to scorn the arrogance of interstellar civilizations."

"Alright, I acknowledge it," Stark nodded. "I am arrogant. So what if the Skrull scientists? What significant accomplishments have those Alengel made?"

"The so-called top Skrull Empire scientists, working in my laboratory for so long, have only produced one reasonably decent result, which is the application of Dark Elves' light-shielding technology," Stark continued. He touched the eye area of his face mask and said, "So far, this technology can only make the Sun less glaring for us. To achieve instant cooling and heat shielding, several technical challenges still need to be overcome."

"Skrull genius scientists are nothing more than that. The so-called three major Space Empires are just slightly ahead in development and progress."

"A hundred years' difference is merely me being a bit busier, a thousand years' difference is just all the genius scientists of humanity being a bit busier, and a ten-thousand-year difference... I must say, Peter has done quite well. The villainous scientists in the Multiverse and the Spider-Men have made significant contributions."

A faint smile appeared beneath Stark's face mask, and he said, "It sounds absurd, doesn't it? Now, the majority of humanity can't even leave Earth's surface, yet here I am daring to speak of catching up to, or even surpassing, the three major Empires."

"Fireflies daring to shine as brightly as the moon, simply because they don't know the moon's brilliance. But now, not only do we know the moon's brilliance, we've even brought a spaceship and crashed it right into the moon."

Stark shook his head and looked at Schiller. "You're fostering this greed and arrogance, allowing these little fireflies to prematurely grasp the means to blow up the moon, making us lose all awe..."

"But sometimes, I wonder, what exactly are you trying to achieve? If there isn't a grand enough goal, then what you're doing against these Space Empires seems redundant."

"Considering the current situation, even if there were no windfall from them, humanity is steadily progressing, and one day, we will be able to step into space and compete with these colossal entities."

"But what I want isn't a competition," Schiller replied. "To defeat them, to conquer them, to destroy them – this is a path destined for destruction."

"I am willing to provide more support for Asgard, not only because they are the masters of the Nine Realms and can provide protection for humanity, but more importantly, they have reached the end of the conquering path."

"They've already tried and erred for us. This path is not viable. Perhaps it's due to certain mysterious entities that we still don't understand, or perhaps it's the will of this Space."

"But in any case, the continual growth of power, the constant creation of wars and chaos, will only lead to destruction. With Asgard's example, humanity doesn't need to tread this path again."

"What do you want to do, then?" Stark asked.

"The Skrulls' ideals are admirable, but it seems like a destined tragedy," Schiller responded. "Exporting with limited resources without expecting anything in return will inevitably weaken oneself. But if you seek returns, human hearts will inevitably be swayed by calculations of interest, and they will forget their initial ideals."

"The more one cares about interest, the more they forget their original intentions. In the end, those who lose their way will find themselves isolated. To regain their reputation, they will only have the path of conquering and destruction."

"It sounds like a dead end, but in reality, it is based on the premise of limited resources. What if there were infinite resources?"

"But the quality of Space is fixed," Stark emphasized.

"Correct. This raises another question. After reaching the limit of productivity, with all Space resources maximally utilized, will there be enough to sustain all civilizations within Space?"

Stark shook his head and said, "Civilizations continue to emerge, and their resource needs grow. If all civilizations could develop steadily to their peaks without ever perishing, Space will eventually face a day when it can't support them all."

"You say the path of conquering and destruction is not viable, but does that mean this path is definitely feasible?"

"Not necessarily," to Stark's surprise, Schiller gave a straightforward negative answer. He then continued, "But if you don't allow me to walk this path to its end, you can never convince me that this path won't succeed."

"But then again, if I truly dare to climb to the highest peak, reach the summit, and bring together all the intelligent life in Space to find an ultimate answer for all civilizations, but still fail, I've already found a reason to console myself."

"After all, those who embark on this path have long understood, from a colossal fall, that this path is not about reaching the end. It's about trying. And sometimes, that's enough."

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 916: Been Here Before (Part 2)