13 Pioneer probes were launched in search of extraterrestrial civilizations!

Such a large amount of information left Brian and Bauer dumbfounded.

"But, for... Why? Bauer, who didn't react, stammered a little.

"Why?" Auston stared at Bauer for a moment and asked, "What is the greatest fear of mankind?" Is it a disaster? Disease? Death? - No, it's neither! In the process of human evolution from ape to man, disasters, diseases, and death have never been far away, but human needs and desires have helped us overcome everything and make us invincible. Human beings establish religion and explore the universe out of curiosity on the one hand, and fear of the unknown and darkness on the other, which is our greatest fear. Now, we know that there is some kind of creature that is absolutely beyond us and is watching over us, but who are they? What are their intentions? What will happen to us? We don't know anything! Friend! The enemy is not terrible, the terrible thing is that you don't even know where the enemy is! ”

"Did you find it?" Brian seemed to be touched.

"No, we've explored Mars, and we've explored Jupiter, its moons, and Saturn's rings with Voyager 1, and we've found nothing until Voyager flies out of the solar system. After all these years, we still have not found anything, and this matter is gradually being forgotten. Those in the authorities, who only care about votes, are naturally reluctant to invest more money in such things that cannot be made public. But just yesterday, there was another large-scale outbreak of crop circles, and six identical and huge crop circles appeared at the same time in six places so far apart! It's just as shocking as the discovery of crop circles on the moon, so we can't stop looking! And now there are no two more capable people on the planet than in front of them. Dear brothers! Maybe only you can save the planet! ”

Until he heard the word "money", Bauer lifted his fat double chin and immersed himself in Alston's generous statement, "money"! This seductive and terrifying word quickly brought Bauer back to his "sane" state: That's why I'm here – invest! Bauer straightened up, removed the pillow that had rested under half of his buttocks, and sat down again, placing a large, bloated pink hand on his knee. "Funds" is really a good thing, it actually makes the rotten chrysanthemums that have hurt for a few days not hurt, Bauer sighed in his heart.

"It's been 350 years since the first crop circle, or even earlier, so early that we don't know. They have always been there, probably observing us, but they have never been in contact with us, they have interfered with us, they have been our enemies. So how can you deduce that they will be our enemies? Brian asked.

"I don't know, maybe, maybe what are they waiting for?" Auston peered through the glass window of his office at the near-dawn sky. "God forbid, they are not hostile, otherwise-"

"Then we'll just have to indulge in these 'last moments,' because nothing can stop them." Ball followed Auston's words, and the knees kept colliding with each other. "Two, would you like to hear from me, an absolutely rational speculative businessman, to analyze this matter?"

There was silence in the office, so Bauer continued: "There are only three kinds of situations: foe, friend, friend or foe, right? ”

Brian and Alston both nodded.

"The first scenario is the worst: the enemy. I've heard of something called: the Law of the Dark Jungle of the Universe. This is ridiculous, why do civilizations in the universe have to destroy each other? When a person is an enemy of another person, it is impossible to be born to see him unaccustomed, there must be a certain reason, because there is a cost to be an enemy of another person, and this is called the cost of war. This theory can be extrapolated from the individual to the whole organism. I'm curious, why are they making enemies of us? What do you like about us? Is it for the delicious meat of our body? That's—they're so pathetic that they need to run so much for three meals a day. This statement is ridiculous, a species that has not even solved the problem of eating, what kind of transgalactic invasion is extravagant? This assumption is basically untenable, right? ”

Brian and Auston nodded again, and Ball continued his rambling.

"So for the mines buried deep in the earth? If so, the species should have become extinct long ago. Bauer paused meaningfully, "Why?" Excuse me, will the lion go eat ants? No, right? Because the lion is very smart, he calculates the cost of expenses, and it is not cost-effective to invest time and energy in the little energy that is ingested by the ants. Wouldn't an extraterrestrial civilization capable of space travel not even have developed this economics? As far as I know, it takes a lot of energy to make an interstellar voyage, and even if they can travel faster than the speed of light and through wormholes, it won't be cheap. The universe is made of the same elements, and even what we consider to be rare metals, including water, is common on many comets and asteroids. So, why not take local materials, why do you have to 'import'? ”

Bauer took a sip of coffee, moistened his throat, and continued: "Or maybe they have a crush on the Earth, which has been almost polluted by us?" Want to take its place and occupy the dove's nest? Then I'm curious, why are they so slow to do it? After all, they have long been on Earth. In the same way, if we are not able to solve the problem of living in it, how can we develop a civilization that can travel through the universe? It's as ridiculous as saying that a person has to fly to Las Vegas to live in a five-star hotel because his home is too dilapidated to shelter from the wind and rain. Didn't you discover a Dyson planet called 'Taby'? It can directly collect the energy of the stars, what else do you want us to do on this little earth?! ”

Brian pondered, "Perhaps, what we have been ignoring all along, but which is actually very precious? ”

"What could it be?" Bauer asked.

Bauer waited, but both were silent. Bauer's cockfighting eyes twitched between the two, and he became excited, feeling that he was so talented, that such a complex cosmic problem could be analyzed by himself so head-on, that the two masters of such height were speechless. Finally, he broke the silence: "Since they won't be enemies of us, are they friends?" But after all these years, why didn't they get in touch with us? ”

"There's only one possibility," Bauer asked, "and that's that in their eyes, we're just a bunch of ants, nothing at all, just a bunch of curious babies who want to see how weird we really are." So,—— so they are neither friends nor enemies, neither friend nor foe. And we don't need to distinguish between friend and foe, because no matter what we do, it's all in vain. ”

Before Bauer could finish, it became clear to Auston that his plan to count on Bauer's investment would be ruined for the time being, "a cunning and short-sighted speculative businessman!" He cursed inwardly. As for Brian, he looked at Brian expectantly and beggingly, but he was greeted with a defensive, suspicious look. Also, Brian has not had any good feelings for the U.S. government since he left the U.S. 18 years ago, and it would have been impossible to expect him to work with him for so many years if it weren't for his castle. What's more, his satellite tower was blown up today, and it is probably not realistic to talk to him about anything at this moment.

Auston reluctantly walked to the window and pushed it open, and the Texas morning was surprisingly quiet, and on the endless plains, the sun and moon shone together in the mist, and only the gradually accumulating castle clouds signaled the coming storm. This scene has been playing out on this planet for 5 billion years, so will it be different tomorrow?

"But," Auston said to himself, looking out the window, as if to himself, "the history of mankind is only 2,000 years old, the first astronomical telescope has only been 400 years, the emergence of modern cosmology has only been more than 100 years, and the universe has existed for 13.8 billion years." Our exploration of the universe and life has only just begun. What is life? What is the value of life? What is the universe? What is the most precious thing in the universe? We can say that we don't know anything, since those extraterrestrial civilizations have come to our world, there must be something here that they are interested in, as for what? We may not know today, but by the time we do, will it be too late? ”

Auston's face was heavy and melancholy, and he emphasized: "Today, I am here to sound the alarm, a storm is coming! A storm is coming! ”