Chapter 629 - 614 Energy War

David’s rhetorical question, of course, received no answer, and seeing this, he presented his conclusion:

"Let’s take a look at what happened on December 13th, the day we intercepted the first signal, gentlemen, you must remember."

The date was instantly recognizable, and Claire answered immediately:

"Nuclear bombs, two hydrogen bombs exploded."

Crack!

David snapped his fingers:

"Yes, two hydrogen bombs exploded, and on the same day, we intercepted the first signal.

Although a signal was captured again three days after the third hydrogen bomb explosion, consider that for more than a decade prior, we found nothing. The connection between hydrogen bomb explosions and the signals is the most significant; otherwise, there’s no reason why, after so many years of finding nothing, we would suddenly be able to detect something."

"By your reasoning, it should have sent such signals countless times."

Sullivan implied meaningfully that humanity had conducted several thousand nuclear tests, big and small, over the last century; if these were related, signals should have been sent frequently.

"Indeed, but at that time, we had far too few probes heading to Mars. Their operating times were very short, and their detection capabilities were insufficient. By the time the new century came around and new probes were sent, global nuclear testing had almost entirely halted, and the limited few illegal tests had very small yields."

Sullivan and Claire exchanged glances, grudgingly accepting this explanation.

The detectors from the 20th century were primitive, lacking the capacity to intercept disguised signals. The 20-plus-year gap also indeed saw no major nuclear tests, which explains why later probes couldn’t catch any signals.

There was still one doubt left about this theory: why would nuclear explosions be related to the signals?

This question didn’t stump David, and he became more solemn:

"Although we know nothing about aliens or their civilization, from a general standpoint, what should be the biggest commonality between any civilization or within one’s own civilization?

Disagreements! As long as it’s not a hive-mind type but a civilization-like ours, formed of individual intelligent beings, there will always be disagreements, and when these disputes become too great to resolve, what is the most likely outcome?"

"War!"

John blurted out. When disagreements between different groups reach a certain level, only the most violent means are left to impose one’s will.

The rest, though somber, nodded in agreement, particularly those who worked at the Pentagon, who found the statement quite convincing.

The relationship between civilizations can only be friendly or hostile, so there must exist the possibility of war—this should at least be a universal rule among the vast majority of civilizations in the universe.

David was quite pleased with everyone’s reactions and continued:

"Yes, war, war never changes; just like with humanity, from tribal spear battles to the cold steel of curved swords and armor, to the thunder of cannons in the era of firearms, war has never ceased. There’s not been a single day without war in the entire history of human civilization.

If we were to distinguish by energy, we could divide the wars of the ages into three stages: the era of cold weapons, the era of firearms, and the atomic era.

In the initial era of cold weapons, humans had very little energy at their disposal, where setting a fire was the limit.

Later in the era of firearms, gunpowder changed everything, greatly increasing the energy humans could wield in war. A single cannon shot from a battleship could level an entire football field, something unimaginable in the era of cold weapons.

In the atomic era, the energy released by the explosion of a single atomic bomb far exceeded the total energy released by all wars in human history up to that point. The most terrifying Tsar Bomba had a yield of 50 million tons—if used to clean up nuclear radiation, it could level the Island Country, and this was still not the limit of thermonuclear weapons."

"If we were to observe the development of a civilization from a great distance—I mean, distances greater than light-years—the simplest, most efficient way would be to place an energy detector. When the energy released exceeds a certain threshold, we would know roughly what stage that civilization has reached.

If such an advanced civilization existed, it could easily deploy these simple detectors everywhere to prevent emergent adversaries. Should one alert, they would check and decide how to proceed.

If human civilization were to reach a certain level, they would inevitably consider interstellar defense; and the best defense is to nip the danger in the bud!"

As David spoke, his expression grew increasingly ferocious, as if he himself were that malevolently observing alien civilization.

"The power of atomic or hydrogen bomb explosions is negligible in the universe and within the Solar System, but if detectors are sensitive enough, they can still monitor us through faint gravity fluctuations or anomalies in electromagnetic radiation.

And the distance from Earth to Mars is not too far. According to our technical experts, even humanity could achieve such technology in a few decades, let alone an alien civilization."

The seated audience widened their eyes, shocked not by the exaggeration but by the plausibility, particularly since it aligned so well with their way of thinking.

Energy theory is not new; previous classification of civilization levels was based on the scale of energy harnessed, an idea widely accepted by the scientific community.

This was a principle directly concluded by humans: the higher the scientific development, the more energy could be utilized.

And it’s only logical that the most advanced technology would be used in warfare, so the theory of war-energy is basically established.

Claire even thought further; previous worries about aliens discovering humanity through indiscriminate radio signals were unnecessary.

Not to mention the effort required to decipher mostly insignificant signals, these signals also don’t directly relate to war capability, while the basis for attitude between civilizations is the comparison of war potentials.

One only needs to ascertain the other party’s war potential to devise the most rational response strategy, for physical laws are impossible to encrypt and easiest to perceive.

"Then we should stop further nuclear testing and prevent more nuclear bombs from exploding."

The speaker was John, who instinctively did not want to be more exposed to the "enemy’s" gaze, a feeling that left one feeling passive.

"It’s already too late."

David slowly shook his head:

"There were countless nuclear tests last century, with much larger yields than now. An alien civilization must already know we’ve entered the atomic era. If they intend to intervene, their interstellar fleet might have already departed.

We don’t know when they might arrive. We should focus on developing our strength instead of burying our heads in the sand, which is meaningless. Perhaps detonating more might make them take humanity’s power more seriously... although such a notion would be laughable to a supercivilization."