"If it’s the fourth possibility, then the current situation is very dire indeed."

Bai Haozheng said with a wry smile, "After discovering these suspected Star Gates leading to otherworldly realms, various official organizations quickly reached a consensus to blockade the areas where the Star Gates on different continents are located.

Entry is prohibited for anyone.

Unlike the gateways controlled by players,

most of the otherworldly Star Gates are not very stable, expanding and contracting intermittently, just like when players intermittently supply a small amount of spiritual energy to control the Star Gates, making traversal impossible—

This could be because the distance is too great, the ’signal’ is unstable, or the spiritual energy requirement is too high.

So far, the only Star Gate that remains stable is the one near the Mayotte Archipelago.

Therefore, military vessels from various countries have blockaded the sea area near the Madagascar Islands,

and are conducting gradual exploration of the Star Gate at the Mayotte Archipelago."

Bai Haozheng spread his palms and said, "Once it was confirmed that the Star Gate could connect in both directions, the official organizations had to consider whether what lies behind the Star Gate are potential enemies,

or friendly entities with whom we can communicate, negotiate, and possibly even form alliances.

Just like the many times this question has been discussed on the player forum,

when two civilizations with vastly different geographical conditions, climatic environments, ethnicities, cultures, developmental histories, and technological trees suddenly encounter each other, the possibility of conflict is quite high.

The misperceptions each side holds about the other,

could be even greater than those held by the Native Americans about the Spanish colonists during the Age of Discovery.

Not to mention, both sides might be manipulated by the game of slaughter, already moving toward an era of nationwide militarization and frenzied resource plundering.

Even if not for resource plundering, contacting an unknown civilization is extremely dangerous.

The disparities between civilizations with different technological trees are staggering,

fanatical idealists might never comprehend what materialism is.

Moreover, when civilizations with differing technological trees make contact, there is a law that says the party that acts first will gain a huge advantage.

Take, for example, a spiritual energy civilization. If tens of thousands of rigorously trained psychics infiltrate Earth,

even if their level is not high, just mid-tier,

they could freely infiltrate and replace mid to high-level decision-makers in our civilization, creating unprecedented chaos.

And if we make the first move by deploying GPS satellites through the Star Gate and then, while they’re unprepared, launch thousands of nuclear missiles to nuke the entire planet’s surface,

then even if on that planet, everyone is a soldier, and even if everyone is a Lv5, Lv10 player, or even Lv30, capable of crushing Earth in conventional warfare,

they might still be unable to avoid the fate of a nuclear winter after a nuclear bombardment.

The first-move advantage generated by civilization conflict further fosters distrust between civilizations,

and through the Star Gate, both sides must consider whether the other side will suddenly employ destructive measures to wipe out living forces and erase the threat.

The more you consider this possibility, the stronger the suspicion becomes, spiraling into suspicion that the other suspects you of suspecting them, a never-ending loop."

Which is commonly referred to as a chain of suspicion."

Bai Haozheng’s mouth was dry and parched, so he used telekinesis to pick up a glass of water from the table and took a sip, "We, namely Earth’s official organizations, do not wish to rush into an otherworldly war,

at present, Earth’s resources are sufficient for our development for a long time.

But what if, on the other side, it’s a barren world like the one with Desolated Lion and Magic Sunflower?

Desolated Lion and their people could, for survival, willingly domesticate their own people, raising and using them like livestock from birth to death, exhausting all means to sustain civilization.

For the sake of survival, if they can act against their own people, naturally, they can also launch a proactive war against the otherworlds beyond the Star Gate that possess limitless resources, or even go all out to obliterate any obstacles.

Considering this point, official organizations agreed to deploy some strategic weapons in the area surrounding the Star Gate,

and giant square boxes made of special alloy containing transcendent power have been layered around the Star Gate, blocking all probing methods from the other side.

Any scientist observing the Star Gate has to pass over a hundred psychological and physical checks every time they pass through the protective doors of the square boxes,

and their families must also be monitored 24/7."

Bai Haozheng grimaced, "This information is actually the most classified and confidential at the moment. It’s only recently that I and a few others in the office have been granted access to it.

Scientists within the restricted area have very limited capabilities, each wearing fully armed protective suits, staying in the third and fourth layers of the square boxes from the end,

using remote control on rudimentary unmanned robots from the last century to observe the Star Gate.

They’re allowed to personally enter the smallest square box, but they’re not allowed to manipulate the robot to touch the Star Gate, speak, or bring high-end electronic devices—

In the 1970s, NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft carried a golden record, filled with various sounds and images from Earth’s cultures and life, including human silhouettes.

Now, looking back, this was actually an extremely dangerous act,

If an otherworldly civilization learns about Earth’s civilization, understands Earth’s technological tree and level of technological development, and becomes knowledgeable about the physiological characteristics of Earth humans,

they can gather enough information to conduct a rational assessment, speculate on Earth’s current combat capabilities, and decide whether to fight or make peace.

The possibility of peacefully coexisting is relatively low,

even among Earth’s own civilizations, there is still hostility from wars, with mutual slaughter spanning millennia,

furthermore, trying to coexist peacefully with aliens who look vastly different and have significant cultural discrepancies would be even more challenging.

They might think the same way.

And if it comes to war,

an otherworldly civilization with enough information could easily employ targeted strategies at minimal cost,

such as deploying Magic Sunflower seeds that consume energy;

or releasing irradiated substances that pollute seawater;

waiting several years, or even decades, until Earth’s ecology collapses, and civilization gets disrupted, before leisurely crossing the Star Gate to complete the harvest—just like they did to the Magic Sunflower world.

Precisely because of this consideration, we let the scientists in the restricted area,

use outdated robots from the last century, which despite being inefficient, are the least likely to reveal our information to observe the Star Gate.

However..."

From his expression, Li Ang could read the sense of helplessness, and he said, "Let me guess, the other side thinks the same way?"

"...Yes." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Bai Haozheng grimaced slightly and said, "The last incident at the Mayotte Archipelago, we suspect it was a transcendent from that otherworldly side trying to expand the Star Gate to a complete state, and due to an operational error, it triggered a tsunami.

Later, the Star Gate calmed down, and we completed the blockade.

There has been no activity from us, nor any activity from the other side of the Star Gate.

No papers have been sent, no poisons delivered, and no messengers dispatched.

It’s like both sides are hunters in a dark jungle, suspicious that the other may pose a threat, and neither wants to be the first to make a sound, revealing any information.

Until an hour ago, on the other side of the Star Gate, there was finally some activity.

They threw something over."

Bai Haozheng pressed the projector button, and a new three-dimensional projection immediately appeared in mid-air.

Li Ang looked at the object presented by the three-dimensional projection and furrowed his brow, "Is this... a pebble?"