Chapter 338: Chapter 337: Crimes Against Humanity and Peace

Wang Junpeng nodded, “Yes, it’s a deterrent. And there’s a high probability that the other party is telling the truth. That’s the most terrifying part…”

“The Badeit Civilization is likely just an ordinary interstellar civilization in the Milky Way, and yet it is far stronger than us… So what are we? Ants?”

Zhang Yuan didn’t quite agree with his point of view. “There’s no need to belittle ourselves. There are indeed many great civilizations in the universe, but that definitely doesn’t include the Badeit Civilization. Think about it, how many years have they developed? And how many years have we developed?”

“Moreover, there will always be areas to explore in the universe; that’s what’s fascinating about it. If we, the current humans, beings so flawed, could dominate and rule, then the universe itself would be rather dull.”

Just as the two were deep in conversation, the judge knocked his gavel, quieting all discussion again. He continued to inquire, “Tell us about the specific conditions of your civilization, including its political structure and cultural form.”

“We are an established merchant civilization, already at the threshold of Third-level Civilization, conducting trade with 13 interstellar civilizations of varying sizes.”

It was Prince Bart, the highest ranking of them all, who raised his head and briefly introduced the state of his civilization.

“… Our civilization is undergoing a once-in-every-ten-thousand-years competition for the throne. Whoever gains the most from interstellar trade, whoever can become the highest ruler of the entire civilization! Human civilization, I wonder, is there a possibility for us to cooperate and benefit together? According to my observations, your civilization must be very young and has a strong demand for foreign trade… You know very little about the state of the entire Milky Way.”

“Why shouldn’t we join forces? The business fleet I represent is just a minor branch of my civilization. Yes, there are more than a dozen fleets stronger than mine! Our civilization may be far stronger than you imagine…”

“Long-term exchanges have given us a wealth of branch sciences; there’s bound to be one that suits you perfectly.”

“By the way, if you can help me to be crowned king, I swear I will give you the greatest benefits… Our civilization has a very good reputation in public. Please trust me!”

The discussions in the courtroom become louder again, and there was a chorus of curses online, as many people could no longer tolerate this guy’s shamelessness.

In such a situation, he still wanted to ally, didn’t he have any brains?

“Bang!” The judge struck the gavel hard, “So, you mean to say, through commercial trade, you elect the highest ruler? And in this voyage, having gained nothing, you intended to seize our fleet; is this your motive for the crime?”

Zhang Yuan, however, fell into thought; this guy was being shameless on purpose. He had just said anything in a pickle, without any great expectations.

Essentially, this kind of shamelessness is a kind of strength too!

“Yes, I’m terribly sorry, but… You must understand, a crown prince like myself, if I don’t have enough strength, will be purged after the competition. I have no choice but to enhance my own strength! But now I also realize, I certainly can’t go back, Human civilization, please give me a chance to serve you… We possess much knowledge that you do not,”

“… Interstellar civilizations, once developed to the third level, have already formed a vast amount of technological systems. Relying on the wisdom of a single civilization, it’s hard to push forward any further, and this is an undeniable fact.”

“But once a civilization ceases to progress, it will cause a series of disastrous consequences. Why? The reason behind this thought is simple; according to our philosophers, our civilization is like a body, it’s not static, it’s constantly changing.”

“The moment the body passes its peak, aging will be inevitable. Just as it is with individuals, so it is with civilizations… Therefore, all of our members are avoiding the situation of stagnation because that will inevitably lead to decline. Numerous other planetary civilization samples have also proved this.”

“These guys indeed lack a high moral sentiment, or rather, their morals differ from ours, but they do have some insights,” a Deputy Captain said with a sneer, sitting next to Zhang Yuan, “After all, it is a third-level interstellar civilization. No matter what, it must have numerous brilliant geniuses, who push the civilization to this point… Even a scrap of this civilization’s knowledge system is a gain.”

Another Jury also nodded, “Yes, so no matter how angry or resentful we are, we should spare their lives. This is, after all, a civilization stronger than ours, with much to learn from.”

The Deputy Captain said, “The key issue is still the truthfulness of certain pieces of information… If they tell lies about key information known only to a few, it could have disastrous consequences for us. We must be wary.”

Zhang Yuan interrupted from the side, “There’s no need to worry too much about this… For this issue, I intend to use Virtual World Technology to deal with it, sending them all into Virtual Space. In that world, it will be much simpler to discern lies.”

Scientists were already preparing the corresponding Virtual World settings. A new intelligent life-form required a new living environment, and the entire setup process might take two months.

“I wonder if such intelligent beings, once uploaded to Virtual Space, could have their memories directly read… If so… ah, the difficulty would be extremely great. We’re even struggling to crack the memories of simple lab mice.”

Zhang Yuan snapped back to reality, “Oh, right! The most important thing at the moment is the pacification of the public and the repair of Kunlun Mountain… I’ll need to arrange manpower for this, working in three shifts.”

“We should depart this Star Domain as soon as possible. Who knows if there are still any Badit ships nearby; even one day’s delay is a day’s extra risk…”

The leader nodded and sighed softly.

The trial continued…

After briefing some basic facts, Prince Bart honestly admitted his crimes, and there weren’t many twists and turns in the middle.

The court still sentenced these aliens to “death with a reprieve,” on the charge of “Crimes against Humanity and Peace,” with a probation period of 5 years.

This type of reprieve was different from the death reprieve in human law; if these aliens didn’t have significant merit within 5 years, they would be sentenced to death.

Hearing this verdict, although many members of the public were still dissatisfied, they had to begrudgingly accept it.

Zhang Yuan also shook his head lightly; humans, after all, are forgetful creatures. In 5 years, whatever happened to these aliens, people wouldn’t harbor as much resentment. The court had also studied the importance of these convicts to human civilization in advance and knew that immediate death sentences would be a great loss to humanity.

The Scientific Council had even passed a law regarding aliens after several days of emergency discussions, and then the reprieve was issued according to the law. This could be said to be a sort of tacit understanding between the parties.