Chapter 2023: Just how big is this world?
"external?
"You mean, seeking help from other interstellar civilizations?" Zhao Chen thought of this option.
Charlotte nodded: "That's right."
Seeking external support is one option to compensate for our lack of strength.
However, this method is subject to great uncertainty.
After all, no one can be sure whether these external forces will genuinely cooperate with us.
However, if any major problems occur during the cooperation, it could cause us significant losses.
As the saying goes, "It's not the formidable opponent you should fear, but the incompetent teammate."
"Actually, there is still a way to increase our strength in a short period of time."
That is to expand our territory.
This is the path chosen by the conqueror civilization: rapidly expanding its territory through military means to acquire more resources, build more interstellar warships, and thus quickly increase its military strength.
"Before this, the Conqueror Civilization had achieved a ten-year period in which its military strength doubled," Lilith said from the side.
Zhao Chen frowned and said, "But now this has become the biggest problem for the Conqueror Civilization."
Their war machine has ceased to function, and their expansion abroad has been hampered.
Their system inherently has significant internal problems, and they have consistently relied on rapid expansion to alleviate these internal issues.
But what if rapid expansion can no longer continue?
"Then this internal problem will eventually erupt."
Zhao Chen directly addressed the problems existing in the current Conqueror Civilization.
When the three civilizations of the gods launched a joint attack on the conqueror civilization, there were already signs that the bomb inside had exploded.
Fortunately, the Xiaolong Interstellar Empire appeared as a savior.
That's how this situation was prevented from escalating.
Furthermore, the internal troubles of the Conqueror Civilization were somewhat alleviated because of the declaration of war against the Three Gods Civilization and the benefits gained from it.
But this is only a temporary relief; eventually, it will erupt again.
Unless the conqueror civilization can swallow another piece of cake, enough to satisfy the greedy wolves within them.
Otherwise, Diablo, the ruler and god of destruction, would eventually be devoured by the wolves he raised.
Diablo, the God of Destruction, was actually well aware of this.
He was standing on the edge of a cliff, facing either to continue forward or to fall into an abyss.
"Wait, wait, we were discussing how to deal with the Three Gods Civilization, how did we end up talking about other conqueror civilizations?" Charlotte hurriedly stopped the discussion, which was going off track.
"Speaking of which, how many universe clusters are we currently able to access?" Zhao Chen asked, rubbing his chin.
Lilith's secretary immediately gave a number.
"Currently, we can directly access 152 universe groups."
There are 36 more universes that we have not had direct contact with, but whose existence can be confirmed through other channels.
The total number is 188 universe groups.
Lilith, the chief secretary, already knew these numbers by heart.
“One hundred and eighty-eight universe clusters.” Zhao Chen said with a thoughtful expression.
If these 180 universe groups are ranked according to their overall strength, how many categories can they be divided into?
Secretary Lilith immediately pulled up a document that had already been created.
"Ranking by comprehensive strength is, in a sense, ranking by technological level."
However, a single technology level can actually be divided into several tiers.
We currently rank known interstellar civilizations according to their level of technological advancement.
For example, an interstellar civilization that has mastered T6 technology would be classified as a T6-interstellar civilization, a T6 interstellar civilization, or a T6+ interstellar civilization based on its overall strength.
In other words, there are at least three levels in each technology.
Beyond that, we have also specifically designated a near-T7 interstellar civilization.
We, the Three Gods Civilization and the Law Enforcer Civilization, are all quasi-T7 interstellar civilizations.
Besides the four of us, there are actually two other near-T7 interstellar civilizations.
However, because the territories of these two near-T7 interstellar civilizations are very far from us, we have never had any direct contact with one of them.
Another one we don't have diplomatic relations with, but we do have trade relations.
If we were to travel to this interstellar civilization's cosmic cluster, our calculations show it would take at least a week.
This was even with our fastest starships, and we had a smooth journey.
Seven near-T7 interstellar civilizations.
"Speaking of which, weren't these two near-T7 interstellar civilizations rejected by the order?"
In the eyes of the Order, anyone who has researched T7 technology is a thorn in their side.
Even the slightest dabble in T6 technology would be targeted by the Order, which would set up layers of barriers. Zhao Chen was somewhat surprised.
Lilith's secretary, based on the intelligence she had received, said, "According to our understanding..."
That near-T7 interstellar civilization, which we have never come into contact with, has a rather unique cosmic cluster that has been isolated from the outside world for many years.
Even with the advanced technology of the Far Voyage Society, they can only enter their universe clusters for a few days a year.
If the Holy Elf Empire of the past merely protected its own universe under the nose of order...
This near-T7 interstellar civilization completely concealed itself within the vast universe.
However, whether this is due to natural cosmic factors or technological advancements, no one knows for the time being.
This {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} near-T interstellar civilization is extremely mysterious.
Even the Three Gods Civilization rarely provokes them.
It is said that this near-T7 interstellar civilization is extremely powerful.
The other near-T7 interstellar civilization, on the other hand, maintains a "you don't provoke me, I won't provoke you" attitude.
The Triune Civilization initially had some conflicts with them, but the emergence of the Conqueror Civilization soon led them to temporarily suspend their war against this near-T7 interstellar civilization.
A side note.
The Conqueror Civilization and this near-T7 interstellar civilization have a very bad relationship. It is rumored that this is because the Conqueror Civilization once cooperated with this near-T7 interstellar civilization to fight against the Triads Civilization.
But for some unknown reason, this near-T7 interstellar civilization suddenly broke the agreement and adopted a solitary, aloof attitude.
This made the conqueror civilization extremely hostile towards this interstellar civilization, regarding them as traitors.
There are so many stories in this vast universe.
"And within the T6 level, there are currently thirty-two known T6-level interstellar civilizations."
However, due to some special circumstances, it is not easy to classify them, but this number is roughly the correct one.
Take, for example, the Venerable Civilization Alliance.
They can be considered an alliance, but they can also be seen as independent entities.
However, some interstellar civilizations among them possess T6-level interstellar warships and technology, but the problem is that they do not control these interstellar warships and technology themselves.
Rather, it comes from the civilization of the Four Venerable Ones.
Therefore, we can group their alliance together as one.
Furthermore, some interstellar clusters may have T6-level interstellar civilizations, but they may not have fully mastered the cluster, instead managing it together with other interstellar civilizations.
The same situation applies to some universe groups.
The development status of each universe group is also different.
Actually, among those 188 universe groups...
Our Xiaolong universe cluster is at a medium level in terms of resources, but its resource development level has far surpassed that of other interstellar civilizations.
Apart from a slight lack of historical foundation, its overall development level in all other aspects is already quite high.
Compared to T6 level interstellar civilizations.
There are quite a few interstellar civilizations at the T5 level, but their overall strength varies.
The total number of T5+ interstellar civilizations is around 180.
There are over five hundred interstellar civilizations in T5.
The number of interstellar civilizations in the T5- range exceeds ten thousand.
As for interstellar civilizations below the T4 level, apart from a few with distinctive characteristics, most of them are not recorded by us.
Because the number is simply too large.
Some T4-level interstellar civilizations may possess several universes, while others may only have a few star system territories.
Therefore, the differences in overall strength are quite large, and the calculation is also very complicated.
After hearing what Lilith had to say about the situation...
Zhao Chen asked another question: "From the development of our Xiaolong Interstellar Empire to the present day..."
The spatial concepts we are dealing with are gradually expanding.
From a single universe at the beginning, to a cluster of universes.
There are now multiple universe groups.
"So, beyond these multiple universe groups, are there other levels of spatial concepts?" Zhao Chen posed a thought-provoking question.
Charlotte thought for a moment and said, "Above the universe are universe clusters, and above those universe clusters are multiple universe clusters."
By that logic, there must be even higher dimensions existing above multiple universe groups.
Perhaps... it's something like order?
To transform their interstellar civilization into something beyond technological civilization.
Zhao Chen remained silent, because while this could be considered science, it also touched upon the realm of theology.
The reason he brought up this issue was because he was thinking about his own unimaginable experience.
At that time, when facing the Dark Legion fleet under the command of Order.
He was transported to a past era due to a massive explosion.
At the same time, I also learned a lot about the'system' I had at the time.
And during that era, he met another 'Zhao Chen'.
Furthermore, they had already found the Primordial Universe and possessed the technological foundation to develop T7 technology.
Logically speaking, by now...
The interstellar civilization that Zhao Chen belongs to must have grown to a very large extent.
However, Zhao Chen did not receive any information during this era.
That leaves only two possibilities.
That is, in the long timeline, the Star Alliance that Zhao Chen belonged to was defeated for some reason.
Frankly, the possibility of this is very low.
Because an interstellar civilization kingdom that was about to enter the T7 technological field was destroyed and defeated.
It's absolutely impossible that no rumors have survived.
However, Zhao Chen did not manage to obtain any useful information.
The remaining possibility is then highly probable.
That is the Star Alliance that Zhao Chen established; it does exist.
However, it does not exist in the many universes where Zhao Chen exists.
That would mean that there are other worlds existing outside of the multiple universe groups.
This is like discovering a new continent during the Age of Exploration in the Earth Age.
However, given the current technological capabilities of the Dragon Star Empire, it is impossible to explore worlds beyond this.
It is very difficult.
Zhao Chen didn't spend too much energy on this matter.
"Are you trying to say something?"
We still haven't found Mili'er; she disappeared after that.
They were sent to other worlds or universes.
"It's not among these universe clusters we inhabit." Secretary Lilith immediately saw through Zhao Chen's thoughts.
The search for Mili has been ongoing.
The reputation of the Dragon Star Empire is growing, coupled with the incredibly generous terms it is offering.
This has consistently been the highest bounty, both officially and on the black market.
But they still couldn't find Mili'er's whereabouts, and instead, all sorts of false rumors kept circulating.
Now, Zhao Chen's conjecture actually makes sense in explaining this possibility.
Zhao Chen nodded, but then said, "I know that possibility exists."
I know that if our current Dragon Star Empire wants to invest in this area, it will require a lot of time, energy, and financial resources. We haven't even finished dealing with our own problems yet.
There's simply no energy left to deal with these things.
Okay, these are just some things I came up with on the spot.
Let's get back to our previous topic.
How to subdue the Three Gods' Civilization in the shortest possible time.
Zhao Chen steered the conversation back on track.
But this still planted a seed in the hearts of the three.
During the discussion between Zhao Chen and the other two.
The plan to proceed in sync was finally finalized.
On the one hand, we must continue to accelerate the improvement of the industrial capabilities of the Xiaolong Interstellar Empire, and on the other hand, we must strengthen the improvement of the industrial capabilities of those subordinate civilizations.
This allows their contract manufacturers to undertake more construction tasks for the industrial parts needed by the Dragon Star Empire.
On the other hand, they are trying to find ways to infiltrate the will of the JF-17 into other interstellar civilizations.
This is the expansion plan Charlotte just mentioned. What she wants is not military expansion, but this kind of non-military expansion.
Although this may take longer, it poses the least risk to the Dragon Star Empire.
Charlotte even proposed establishing a larger interstellar organization that could unite other interstellar civilizations to enter it.
Just like the Star Alliance that the Dragon Star Empire has now established within the Dragon Universe Cluster.
Zhao Chen and the other two unanimously agreed to these points, but how to actually implement them still needs to wait for the secretariat to formulate a relevant plan.