Boundary Convention

The bitter cold wind blows from the east, engulfing the snow and sand brought up from nowhere. They follow the sea level from the west, and then hit the continuous glaciers in the west, all disappearing, and the cycle repeats.

This is a star in the Phoenix star cluster about 5.7 billion light-years away from the earth. Its mass is about 53 times that of the earth. On this planet, the cold covers everything, but this year's ice age is much shorter than in previous years , is rare good news for the creatures on this planet.

Now, in the huge palace, a hollow and mechanical sound echoed, patter, patter, gently swaying down from the topmost and most honorable seat in the council hall. This is the palace of the supreme ruler of the Phoenix civilization, and it is also the tallest of all the buildings on the planet.

Sitting upright on the jade throne, she tapped her index finger lightly on the jewel-like armrest. This noble throne is made of a miraculous substance called 'entropy stone'. From any angle, you can't find the flaws in its internal atomic arrangement. Every side and even every section has exactly the same arrangement. Its structure is beyond the common crystals in the universe. Although its crystal lattice has a unique and orderly arrangement, the inner part can change with the changes of the surrounding environment and continue to exist stably, like a crystal that will continue to exist. Self-adjusting Rubik's Cube. For example, whenever light passes through its surface, it will produce a frequency doubling effect, but the interior will quickly change the structure and finally correct this frequency shift deviation. What's even more amazing is that it can adaptively filter out white noise, so it is an excellent receiving material for building a white noise communication system.

On this planet, entropy stones are extremely rare. For the Phoenix civilization that originated here, this mineral is not only a precious gemstone, but also a symbol of lofty status, even more precious than the lives of most creatures on this planet. It is a glacier, one side is sea water, and life is squeezed between the two to survive on the planet. The entropy stone has the supreme dignity. We really don't know whether the life here is too humble, or the entropy stone is too much. Precious, or both.

The person sitting on the supreme seat did not have the slightest sense of pleasure, at least it seemed so, since the queen appeared in people's sight, her face has not changed, her golden eyes are shining like stardust , and his demeanor is like the endless sea horizon on the opposite side of the land, covered with overcast clouds.

Some people may have seen the rare smile of this cold-faced person before, but those people were buried by their ordinary lifespan. There are almost no creatures on this planet that can keep up with the Queen's lifespan, except for her ancestors—— The Phoenix Queen of all dynasties. We have no way of knowing the Queen's name, but billions of years later, a brilliant geoscientist gave her the human name, Gradini.

Pat, clack.

The sound of slender fingers tapping on the seat still did not stop. This sound echoed in the empty parliament, making everyone present a little nervous and even sweating coldly.

Originally, it was just the sound of tapping fingers. On the high platform two hundred meters above the ground, the people below should not notice it, let alone the building that still looks empty after more than 4,000 people sit here. inside. But the queen is a queen after all, a king, every word is like gold. Therefore, around this young queen, there are always small and efficient miniature microphones around, so as to prevent Wang Yu from being neglected and not being executed.

"Shh-"

The rhythmic beating didn't stop, and a heavy sound came from the queen. The ordinary people in the audience lowered their bodies involuntarily.

"There are alien riots in the two parts."

She said casually, without moving her snow-white neck a bit, and without focusing her eyes on a certain person, just opening her mouth as if lazily ordering a servant by her side.

The people in the audience turned their heads in unison like an army, and fixed their eyes on the person the queen asked the question just now.

Being stared at by such three thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine pairs of eyes at the same time, the person who was questioned jumped up from his seat almost reflexively, and even staggered because of his haste, but fortunately his colleagues around him dragged him One hand, so that he will not fall down. It's hard to imagine that a man with a strong physique and a firm expression would show his embarrassed side in front of so many people. This veteran commander, who used to be calm in front of tens of thousands of soldiers under him, now only He made a fool of himself because of the last question.

"king."

He saluted upwards habitually, and answered with a loud voice in the habit of a soldier.

"This is because……"

"Because of that letter?"

Before the speaking general could finish speaking loudly, the queen interrupted him.

"Our people will be so stupid as to believe a false rumor?"

"this……"

The general rolled his eyes, and glanced at his colleague sitting next to him. It was the minister in charge of intelligence regulation. To put it bluntly, anyway, there is nothing that can be hidden from the queen in the end.

"That incident... spread to the common people... some aliens made a little change, uh, you know, the treaty of extraterrestrial civilizations used radio broadcasts, so..."

"How did they decipher it?"

"Regarding this, the alien civilization that sent this broadcast may have considered these issues a long time ago. Although I don't know how it was done, this broadcast is very consistent with the language characteristics of our mother tongue...even in some ancient languages. , the dialect can also be perfectly deciphered, so it is very easy to spread, so..."

The queen's mask-like face changed slightly, she frowned slightly, put her fingers under her lips for a while, and asked lightly.

"What are the areas that are marching now?"

"Brown 3, Brown 12, 21, Qi 5, there are only these areas at present."

As the general said, he opened his hands, and a phantom appeared in the hall, showing the situation of various places. But before it could be used, the queen waved her hand high and high, signaling that the general didn't need it.

"So be it."

she said.

"There's no need to look."

"So... how should we deal with these disturbances?"

"Just do it the old way."

"This year's maximum ice age is very short, which is a good thing, but the people are dissatisfied with our reduction in the supply of living materials. My suggestion is to carry out a reasonable distribution of materials, and then shorten the working hours of the people. The last time we suppressed It has already caused some problems, if this time..."

"Although this year is much warmer than previous years, but..."

The general stammered halfway through his words, then stopped consciously, and was glanced lightly by the Queen's squinting eyes. He felt as if his soul was about to be blown away, and a large area of ​​his back was wet immediately. The gray military uniform was suddenly as sloppy as a refugee. So he returned a salute again, said "Yes, King" mechanically, and then sat back in his seat resentfully.

In the huge council hall, there were clicks, clicks, and finger knocking sounds again. The queen was silent for a while on the throne, not sure if she was maintaining her laziness as a king, or was thinking deeply about the last question.

After a while, as if she suddenly remembered something, she raised her head a few degrees, turned her eyes and glanced at the four thousand people sitting sparsely at her feet.

"It can't solve the root of the problem. Any superficial measures are wasting our energy. Where is she?"

"I'm here."

Someone answered immediately below.

A white shadow suddenly rose from the gray crowd below the stage, and a young girl stood up in the crowd.

"king."

This girl is different from the general who spoke just now, she speaks decently, neither humble nor overbearing. Like the queen, she has a rosy and healthy complexion, spotless white hair, and a pair of sharp golden pupils. Some of the gray-robed people present may not know her, but no one was surprised by her presumptuous tone or unhurried attitude, because she was dressed in white just like the queen. On this planet, white is considered a color with a special meaning. Although the severe cold of white makes the place white everywhere, and white fabrics are not difficult to obtain, as a symbol of the queen and her family, white clothes can only be worn. It can be seen that the queen and her blood relatives can only wear it.

"How are you doing with that planet?"

"Well, it has been dealt with according to the predetermined plan."

Saying so, the girl stepped on the back of the seat of the person sitting in front, kicked hard, jumped into the air under the eyes of everyone, and then disappeared in midair like a ghost. When people found her trace again, they suddenly found that she was already standing in mid-air, only twenty or thirty steps away from the Queen's throne.

The queen remained expressionless, did not make any comments on the behavior in front of her, and did not feel a little annoyed by her behavior.

"Have I allowed you to come forward?"

"Then... should I go back to my seat?"

The girl shrugged and smiled at the king in front of her.

"No problem."

The queen closed her eyes and lifted her head slightly.

"Don't waste time, report your results."

"yes."

The girl said, holding her hands together like the general. In an instant, a huge holographic image appeared between the queen's throne and everyone in the audience.

The image is a sphere that looks like a planet, but it is colorful.

"Let me introduce it to you. Through astronomical exploration, we have discovered a planet that may be habitable. After my field investigation, I have confirmed that this place can be the destination of our interstellar immigration."

As soon as the voice fell, the audience suddenly became noisy, and everyone began to whisper and discuss. And the topic of discussion is nothing more than the new era, the future, colonization and other topics. The queen listens to these discourses and keeps silent, because the people below obviously don't know the meaning of this livable planet.

"At least partially habitable."

The girl cleared her throat and continued.

"First of all, the ecological environment of this planet is very complicated. Compared with the single climate of our home planet, there is a basis for ecological diversity there.

However, from the perspective of our planet formation, this planet is still in the early stages of evolution, and the ocean occupies the main body. Except for a small original continent, the rest is the original ocean with higher temperature. "

"In other words, the amount of land that can be used is very small?"

Someone from the audience asked.

"Yes, very limited, but the current planet's ocean area is 450 million square kilometers, accounting for 85% of the total area.

Having said that, the girl smiled.

"Fortunately, there won't be so many soon."

The queen frowned, as if she had sensed something from the girl's words, so she asked softly.

"what have you done?"

The girl didn't answer the queen's words directly, but raised her right hand to the holographic sphere floating in the air, as if she was about to crush something, she clenched her hand tightly, and suddenly, the whole planet began to slowly solidify, approaching Glaciers have begun to form at the two poles, and it can be seen that this planet is undergoing a sharp drop in temperature until it becomes almost as monotonous as the Phoenix mother planet.

"Who asked you to use the four entropy stones?"

asked the Queen, with a rare hint of displeasure in her words. Some sensitive ministers in the audience have already noticed the subtle emotions in this tone, and they are quite restless. And the girl who was in high spirits naturally didn't realize what was hidden in it, or maybe she didn't care at all.

"My lord, I used the four entropy stones to guide and strengthen the planet's stellar radiation, so that the radiation can directly penetrate the atmosphere and destroy the ozone layer. As a result, the algae and plankton in the planet's oceans are killed, and the bottom of the ecology destroyed, and within a short period of time, the large predators would be extinct due to the loss of food."

The girl triumphantly let go of her clenched hands, completely oblivious to the fact that behind her, the Queen was staring at her with a terrifying expression. She excitedly demonstrated the process of transforming the entire planet and was intoxicated by it. Expression, as if he is a god, creating the world and creating things.

"Next, we can reshape the ecological circle here. The accumulation of carbon dioxide will cover the sky and lose the light and heat of the stars. At this time, we will throw our local biological genes into the sea. At that time, the planet will be almost impossible to survive. Avoid the slow white star, and the lower creatures will become the cornerstone of our future..."

"enough!"

A sentence came from the Jade Throne. This may be the first time in a long time that the queen has expressed such clear emotion, but it was so loud that it made the entire council hall tremble slightly. Maybe the people here did not pay attention, but in the council hall On the surface of the sea with ice floes floating beside it, cracks also appeared on the ice surface, but they were quickly frozen by the incoming snow wind.

The expression on the queen's face was also the same. The moment of anger was only a flash in the pan, but it made all the lighting equipment in the council hall invalid, and the projection in the girl's hand stopped abruptly.

Two or three seconds later, the gloomy lights of the council flickered and restarted, but the planet that had just been completely changed in the girl's hands never resurfaced. In the end, the queen only spit out a slightly perfunctory sentence, and returned to calm again.

"it is ready."

She looked at the stunned girl in front of her and said. The girl's shock came from confusion, she didn't understand why the queen was dissatisfied. She was clearly doing the right thing.

"It's already done, let's back down."

"……king……"

The queen did not repeat her words, which means she does not intend to change her order. Generally speaking, people will retreat obediently when encountering such a situation. But the girl didn't move, although relying on her clan's status, she can be informal. But in this situation where the other party has clearly shown anger, no one will be proud of being favored.

She turned around slowly, facing the queen, the doubts on her face suddenly disappeared, and turned into a weird firmness.

"...Then, before I leave, can I ask a question?" the girl whispered.

"Um."

"My sister doesn't really think she can win this battle, does she?"

This question immediately touched the Queen's heartstrings. She hesitated for a while, then returned to her original expression. No answer, which means she refuses to answer the question.

But finally, after a long silence, she spoke.

"After victory, I will put you in an ice prison and let you reflect on it."

"Since you are dissatisfied with everything I have done, why do you reject the agreement? Have you really considered for us, for all the people living on this planet?"

"Since ancient times, when we were still naked and devouring raw meat on the snowy field, we have never been conquered. As a civilization that has lasted for hundreds of epochs, we face any invasion, any use of force Blackmailed..."

"knew."

This was the first time that the queen's words were interrupted. Down below, the gray-clothed people were frightened one after another, but no one dared to make an uproar, because everyone present felt that there was an atmosphere between the two that did not allow any noise to intervene.

The queen didn't speak, just looked at her sister silently, listening to her continue.

"Endless repression, endless slavery and oppression, these irreversible contradictions...a civilization that has lasted for hundreds of epochs, but is no match for a letter?"

The girl was panting heavily, with tears in the corners of her eyes, as if she had yelled out all the words she had kept in her heart for a long time, and her fair skin was flushed unnaturally.

"If we can't change it, it's better to let others change it for us..."

The last sentence, the girl said very lightly, it sounded like it was just a common complaint.

But it was the lightest statement that evoked the biggest reaction.

What exactly was that sound?

When the people in the audience heard the voice, they didn't understand it. The crisp sound came from mid-air, splashed down, and echoed between the thick pillars. They just looked up blankly, watching what happened nearly two hundred meters above the sky.

And all they see is the result, because the process is so incredible that they would rather deny it.

On the jade throne, the queen's even breathing became disordered. She tremblingly looked at her hands that were raised in the air after leaving the armrest, and her body trembled slightly. Twenty steps away, the girl held her swollen cheeks without saying a word.

"The meeting is over."

Dropped the last sentence lifelessly.

The queen's throne was empty.

Only wisps of green smoke like ice mist remained, and then disappeared.

In the room, the Queen looked at her right hand.

For the first time in her life, the queen had the urge to commit suicide. It was this hand that hurt her only relative in the world just now.

"younger sister."

She was too young, as the queen's sister, the maiden was nearly several epochs younger than the queen. The gap of these epochs allows her to pursue her goals without being influenced by the outside world, and walk in a straight line, no matter how many difficulties and obstacles there are on this straight road, whether the end point is a cliff or not.

Due to special geographical factors, all the buildings on the planet are built toward the sky, and the queen's bedroom is at the highest point of the entire palace. This is the commanding height of the entire ring continent, and the farthest glacier can be seen from the window , is also the most special section. Under the refraction of atmospheric light, most glaciers look blue, but only this section is always pure white, which is also a symbol of the Queen's family. One side is a glacier, and the other side is seawater. This is caused by the unique binary star system of the Phoenix mother star. One is a cold brown dwarf star, and the other is a red star with a higher temperature. The creatures on the mother planet live where the glaciers meet the ocean, which is the continent that surrounds the entire planet. Such a regular shape, of course, cannot be formed naturally. The queen touched her chest subconsciously. She recalled her ancestors. Today, this unnatural land has also been artificially transformed, and that change almost caused the extinction of the Phoenix civilization. My younger sister doesn't know how dangerous it is to wantonly transform nature. From ancient times to the present, people who regard themselves as gods on this planet have ended up in vain, and their souls will be frozen in the glacier forever, penetrated There is no escape from the cold.

"Good night, Her Majesty."

The voice of some kind of creature came from the boudoir where the queen was supposed to be alone.

Following the sound, there is a darker shadow hidden in the shadow of the corner of the room, like shapeless ooze, and like a spreading black mist.

"You're still here."

The queen said that she seemed to be used to this indescribable object appearing in her room.

"I'm an emissary, and I can't leave until I get your reply... You don't seem to be in a good mood."

"Did you see what happened in Parliament?"

"No, not seeing, as you see, I have no means of seeing, because I have no organ of vision."

"Then you should know my answer."

"No, not yet. I am an envoy and a lobbyist. Although I don't really like stalking, I still have to try a little harder."

In an instant, the black mist in the shadow suddenly disappeared, and then appeared from the shadow under the queen's feet without anyone noticing, wrapping the queen gently like a hug.

"Especially, you also have this kind of wonderful thing, which will cause more unnecessary troubles for the signing of the convention."

As he said that, a small ball of black mud formed a hand, and gently dug in the queen's heart, like scooping water, and lifted a stone from the queen's heart.

"And unnecessary sacrifices."

"Uh, you like my rock so much, you can kill me and take it away if you want it?" The Queen let out a light gasp.

"No, that won't work."

Heini held the stone and played with it for a while, as if fascinated by the stone in his hand.

"I'm a messenger and a lobbyist, but I'm not a killer. Besides, you know, I can't take away the stone, let alone kill you."

Like putting something into the water, he stuffed the stone back into the queen's heart, then left the queen far away, and returned to the shadows again.

"It's also worth mentioning that I'm also an observer. What do you call this stone... Ah, yes, four entropy stones, this is an interesting thing."

I saw the black mud churning, and a somewhat mottled stone slab was sent out from the sticky body. This simple object seemed incompatible with the heresy and indescribable things in front of me. In this way, the black mud condensed into a 'needle' and carved a few strokes on the slate.

"I'm very interested in your stone, can you tell me more?"

"The way you record civilization is ancient compared to your technology."

"Dear Queen, I think you have misunderstood us. 'Gravity Civilization' has never relied on so-called technology. By the way, this is the first time I have seen such wonderful properties in a naturally produced substance. Let me tell you what you have. This rock?"

"Okay, let's exchange."

"exchange?"

"Secrets are things that can be shared, and I want to know about the Pact."

"Of course you can. Anyway, no matter what you know, you can't change your ending. Whether you accept the agreement or deny it, the result is the same."

"Then let's start with you."

The queen said, and sat down on the seat beside her.

"You and your people, what is the purpose of promoting the agreement?"

"Me? As you can feel, we are electromagnetic beings, originating from a long-lasting gravitational wave radiation. In the vast ripples, we were born. Our existence is very complicated, which is absolutely incomprehensible to you. , you can't use your logic to kill me."

"Then what is the purpose of your promotion of the convention?"

"No, that's not right. It's not the convention we promote. I'm just serving our allies. We are not qualified to make any comments on the convention."

"ally?"

The queen frowned.

"What kind of civilization are they?"

"It's very complicated, our allies... well, in your terms, they should be considered gods."

"That's not an ally, it's your master."

Hearing what the queen said, the black mud let out a sharp and ear-piercing cry, which sounded like a roar, but the queen could understand that it was just a contemptuous laugh.

"Maybe, but our civilization, our wisdom comes from them, they civilized us."

"But in my opinion, your civilization doesn't seem to be called civilization, it's just an executioner being used by others."

"Dear Your Majesty, the universe is roughly divided into two types of civilizations, the civilization of flowers and the civilization of axes. The former has brilliant achievements in its culture, religion, and science that can transcend civilizations, and it is very likely that it will be the civilization of civilization. "Conscience" is bred in the evolution process of the whole civilization, and the latter is the exhaustive force of the whole civilization, which uses expansion, plunder, and annexation as the means of survival, and "war" as the law of survival, and positions the ultimate production goal of the whole civilization as the improvement of force , clearly we belong to the latter."

"I have lived for a long time, a very long time. I have seen the two civilizations you mentioned. I am sure of your summary and evaluation of them, but I really don't agree with your own positioning. In my opinion, you really Not really a civilization, just a biome."

"Dear Your Majesty, sometimes your so-called 'civilization' can become a stumbling block to survival."

"The next question, so far, you should have been to other planets, how about the civilizations that accepted the convention?"

"Some still exist, and some should have perished."

"It doesn't seem to be the same as what you said in your letter."

"The convention did not promise any protection, but only promised to eliminate the possibility of mutual contact between civilizations. In the pre-order universe, many civilizations have reached the technological level that can realize interstellar navigation through their own development. The collision between a large number of civilizations not only It not only brought war, but also communication and integration, so gods suffered unnecessary interruptions. You know, every civilization has its own technological bottleneck. When the bottleneck is reached, it takes an opportunity to break through it. The communication between civilizations is likely to be this opportunity. The convention is equivalent to eliminating this possibility. While eliminating war, it also eliminates the possibility of breaking through technological bottlenecks. Therefore, some civilizations cannot survive the drastic changes in the climate of the parent planet or other Disasters, and in the end they all perish.”

After listening to this passage, the queen smiled and looked at the black mud.

"Since my family came to the throne, it has gone through countless interstellar wars to unify this galaxy, but because of the stupid leadership of the previous generation of queens, only our mother star in this galaxy has survived until now, and this is our last base camp .As you can see, the resources of the entire planet are in the service of science and the military. Every member of my tribe is both a scholar and a soldier. Our children have to learn how to use gravity bombs and rail guns from an early age. Before you Under the endless ocean, there are countless interstellar warships. When war comes, they will break out of the water like fish and fly to their enemies. In our country, fish can fly Yes. And under the glacier behind you are countless nuclear fusion reactors, which provide a steady stream of energy for these 'fishes', and these 'fishes' are filled with countless gravitational collapse cannons, and they can kill all invaders The battleships turned into dust... This is the civilization policy I formulated, and it has been implemented for more than 10 epochs. Some lower civilizations in the universe that have interacted with us call us the Kingdom of Science. Now we have set our sights on Throwing into the farther depths of the universe, into the distant solar system, we have the ability to reproduce our civilization to a new home and continue to multiply there, and you are just one of the many distant visitors, I am in awe of the vastness of the universe and the unknown, we are in awe of every life in it, but we are no strangers to war.”

"Thank you for your kind reminder, I respect your civilization, science and military power very much, no, I respect everything you have done, but your highness can rest assured that we have conquered tens of thousands of planets, and they do not have a leader It is meaningless to us to use war means, on the contrary it is a disgrace, so I promise you will not either. Fend for yourself, sustainable peace is our creed."

"Your master really has the confidence to put us in a cage?"

"No, your civilization is already in a cage, we just put a lock on the door."

"Your master doesn't belong to this universe?"

"I've finished speaking, now it's your turn."

"OK"

The Queen responded with a smile, walked leisurely to the terrace, cleared her throat, and began to chant.

The beginning of all things, Si extraordinary things.

There is nothing but consciousness.

My emperor watches for a long time, and the glacier is always constant.

Born with a stone in his arms, he will be king for generations.

The waves were silent, and the ice was shocked.

The kings bow their knees, and all living beings submit.

"That's all I know about the four entropy stones. If I had an instrument, I might be able to sing it to you while playing it."

"You are not only a respectable queen, but also a wise man. I have heard this poem outside before, and it refers to the four entropy stones. The first half of this poem tells the origin of the stone, and the middle part is about its The function, the second half, is to praise the holder of the stone... Although there is no explanation of the nature of the stone itself, it still has the value of narrative."

"About the four entropy stones, I can't help you. If I can figure out the nature of this stone, maybe I will first consider how to make it invalid."

"Invalid? What do you mean?"

"Long life, powerful strength, and witnessing countless joys and sorrows, I used to think that these would make me invulnerable to all poisons, but now I realize that it's not my own, and I can't empathize with it. I'm different from you .”

"Don't you want to have endless life? You can grow old with the universe and be the gravekeeper of all things."

"The more you know its vastness, the more you understand that you are just a drop in the ocean. Instead of spending hundreds of millions of years being a tomb keeper, it is better to be a mortal who cherishes the moment in front of you." The Queen smiled and looked at Hei Ni.

"oh?"

Hei Mu let out that sharp laugh again.

"You are not only a wise man, but also very humorous. I have to say, I really want to witness your end."

"My ending?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, everything in the universe has its own ending, whether it is a speck of dust or a whole nebula. I am also in awe of the universe, and I am also in awe of you and your group. I am obsessed with witnessing the ending of every civilization."

"Then I sincerely hope that you can live longer than me."

"I understand, let's go through a procedure, and I will ask you one last time, do you accept the agreement peacefully?"

"of course not."

"When the boundary comes, may you be overwhelmed by its beauty."

As Hei Ni spoke, he slowly disappeared from the shadow in the corner of the wall, leaving only one thought-provoking sentence behind.

"You have been abandoned."