Chapter 936: Loopholes in Rules |
Rules were the environment of the battlefield, and possessing the ability to control the battlefield environment would, for any civilization or army, increase one’s combat power by hundreds or thousands of times.
Take war on ancient Earth, for example. If the enemy you faced was a highly mobile cavalry force, then you would naturally be utterly defeated if the battle took place on open plains. But if you suddenly possessed the ability to change the battlefield from plains into mountains… Or suppose the enemy fought in small-unit formations and had extremely strong jungle combat experience, while you changed the battlefield into an ocean…
What an enormous advantage that would be. The war tools of a Level 8 Civilization on the universe direction might not be the strongest, but they possessed the ability to alter Rules. No matter when, the environment of the battlefield they occupied was always the one most suited to them. Their combat power there would increase, while the enemy’s combat power would decrease. Because they were a universe civilization, their specialty lay in formulating Rules. Although other kinds of Level 8 Civilizations also possessed the ability to alter Rules, on the path of Rules, what kind of civilization could be a match for a universe civilization?
It was like how Xiao Yu’s combat power was greater than the microscopic civilization’s, yet when it came to research and understanding in the microscopic domain, Xiao Yu could not even begin to compare to the microscopic civilization.
The war proceeded under just such strange circumstances. There was no denying that, at this moment, the macroscopic civilization was being completely suppressed by the huge warships of the universe civilization.
“Your curvature flight ability is stronger than our civilization’s, is it? Very well, rewrite the Rules. Change the curvature constant. Forbid any object whose energy threshold is below a certain level from entering curvature space…” The universe civilization established yet another new Rule. And once this Rule took effect, all the intelligent lifeforms of the macroscopic civilization that had entered curvature space in an attempt to evade the limitation of lightspeed were instantly forced out of curvature space. This advantage of theirs was also erased.
“Since you already know that you should not go to war with us, a universe civilization, then why not withdraw from the battlefield now? The rebels and the Spokesperson are fighting on a higher level. As long as we can destroy this galaxy within one thousand years, we will already have achieved our objective, and judging from the current situation, it will be very difficult for your macroscopic civilization to stop us from destroying the galaxy… Do not make pointless sacrifices. Our civilization has no interest in launching a life-and-death war to completely annihilate your civilization…”
“We have to admit that, on the level of Rules, you truly are powerful beyond compare. However, do the Rules you establish really have no loopholes? And as long as we find your loopholes, everything you have established will collapse. You will completely lose the ability to control Rules… Just wait, that moment will arrive soon enough…”
It was as though the universe civilization had heard the funniest joke in the universe. In a voice full of mockery, they said, “You want to find loopholes in the Rules we establish? Very well. By the time the lifespan of the universe runs out, you should be able to achieve that goal. Our civilization has been at Level 8 for more than one hundred million years. In total, we have fought thirty-seven Level 8 Civilizations. Without exception, each of those thirty-seven Level 8 Civilizations wanted to find loopholes in the Rules we established, and every one of them failed. Of course, macroscopic civilization, we think highly of you. We wish you success.”
This kind of situation could not exist, the original data was correct, the deduction process was correct, the derived result was correct, yet the derived result did not match actual observation. For example, through certain constants of microscopic mechanics, one could derive the freezing temperature of water under a certain pressure. Then, after these constants had been confirmed through actual observation to be accurate, and after the deduction process had likewise been confirmed to be correct and complete, one derived that under such pressure water should freeze at zero degrees, while actual observation showed that the freezing temperature of water was minus one degree. After ruling out all other errors, this would be a phenomenon of inconsistency between Rules. In other words, one Rule and another Rule had contradicted one another. And such a contradiction was fatal to the entire Rule system.
The Rules practiced in the main universe had spent 13.7 billion years proving themselves to be complete and self-consistent, which was why they could continue to be practiced until now. Yet the set of Rules established by the universe civilization had not undergone such long-term verification. Of course it was possible that loopholes existed in them. But judging from the universe civilization’s words, they seemed quite confident in the Rules they had established. And under the suppression at the level of Rules, and with the performance of their tools of war being severely restricted, the macroscopic civilization seemed to be trying to destroy the universe civilization’s Rule system by finding loopholes in it.
“Do not be too confident… So what if you changed all the physical formulas, derivation formulas, and mathematical formulas practiced here? We do not believe that by changing Rules so casually, every datum you altered can make the entire Rule system remain highly self-consistent. We will certainly find loopholes in your Rules, and then destroy your Rule system…” the macroscopic civilization said.
“Very well, we will wait for your result.” the universe civilization replied.
These hidden clashes did not affect the external macroscopic world. In the battle of the macroscopic world, the macroscopic civilization was still being suppressed, and the universe civilization still held the absolute upper hand.
The war was unfolding simultaneously on these two levels. And amidst all this apparent normality, it seemed that some strange fluctuations were quietly spreading in secret.
The intelligent lifeforms of the macroscopic civilization seemed to be making some adjustments in order to better adapt to the current battlefield environment. These changes were covert and extremely concealed, and the universe civilization seemed to have already become accustomed to the mindset that all Rules were under its control. It seemed to have failed to notice these changes in the macroscopic civilization.
The overall situation of the battlefield changed after the war had continued for several decades. In that instant, everything changed. The macroscopic civilization, which had been continuously suppressed, suddenly became sharp and fierce as if it had been injected with a stimulant.
In that extremely brief time, many huge warships were destroyed by the lifeforms of the macroscopic civilization. In the calculations of the universe civilization, these warships should originally have been able to evade those fatal attacks, but they did not.
The Rules were still in the control of the universe civilization. The war tools of the macroscopic civilization still had not gained any improvement in performance. Yet their combat power in that instant rose by nearly several times. This increase in combat power came from adaptation to and familiarity with the battlefield environment, not from an improvement in their own hardware.
It was like bringing a group of enemies suited to mountain warfare onto the ocean to fight a naval battle with them. Yet suddenly, you discovered that these enemies were also extremely proficient at naval warfare. They were even so abnormal that one person could kill a shark barehanded in the water. In the environment supposedly most suited to you, they were actually more suited to it than your own side.
Or it was like taking a group of enemies originally suited for plain warfare into a jungle, only to discover after bringing them into the jungle that in jungle combat they had become so nimble they could compete with monkeys for bananas…
The macroscopic civilization had, in an instant, adapted to the battlefield environment defined by the universe civilization, and adapted to it even better than the universe civilization itself. And even under restriction, the performance of their war tools was still somewhat better than those warships of the universe civilization…
The reversal of the battlefield situation occurred in that very instant.
“What is going on!” At that moment, the universe civilization finally showed a trace of panic. It immediately changed the Rules of the battlefield again, yet to its horror, it discovered that in the new Rules, the macroscopic civilization was still better adapted to the battlefield environment than its own side…
“We were never foolish enough to think that by finding loopholes in the Rules you established, we could destroy your Rule system. After all, you are a universe civilization. These things are your specialty. Yes, we merely used those claims to conceal our intentions, distract your attention, and buy enough time for us to transform and adjust ourselves… These current offensives are our true trump card.” Amid its fierce assault, the macroscopic civilization also began speaking in a tone full of ridicule. “From the moment we learned that our enemy was you, we were already gathering information about you through every means and channel. All thirty-seven Level 8 Civilizations you defeated established cooperative relationships with us. We analyzed nearly everything about you… We carried out tens of thousands of years of training in advance so that we could better adapt to every battlefield environment you might establish… Stop struggling. Unless you establish a battlefield environment that is entirely unsuited to your own combat, only then would we begin from the same starting point. But the combat talent of our civilization is greater than yours. Even from the same starting point, we are absolutely confident of victory…”
“In order to defeat you, we prepared for tens of thousands of years and consumed incalculable resources. Since it was such a version of us that defeated you, you should not feel humiliated… Get out of the Feiyuan Galaxy. Let us return your own words to you. Our civilization likewise has no interest in completely annihilating your civilization. What we want is only the Feiyuan Galaxy.”