Chapter 276: The Worries of the Perfectionist Zebra
Prince 2
Translator: 549690339
The Dragonfly Fighter and Black Hole Bomb were thoroughly analyzed and quickly summarized into a collection of papers, which were projected onto Harrison Clark’s retina to be forcibly memorized.
In the future, as long as there was no major technological regression, he would be able to find an appropriate opportunity to utilize this knowledge.
Next time, as long as the future generations didn’t annihilate themselves, humanity really wouldn’t lose.
After winning, Harrison envisioned himself living a sincere life in the future and enjoying it to the fullest.
How blissful it would be if he could spend a lifetime learning about technology and becoming a person like Bernal Connor, who amalgamated the strengths of many, or like Martha Owen, who was unrivaled in a particular field.
If he could really master a subject and bring it back to the 21st century, what would the future be like?
Just by briefly imagining this scenario, Harrison found his thoughts beginning to race.
He shook his head, hastily pulling himself out of this worthless fantasy and refocusing on the matter at hand.
How could humanity achieve a more perfect victory?
Harrison slightly tilted his head and looked at the white security guard who was also sneaking glances at him with adoration.
He recalled the even more fervent adoration in the eyes of people like Mr. Green and Lawrence when they looked at him.
Ah, it would save so much trouble if he could support some great leaders remotely from the 30th century.
Last time, “Master Harrison” had laid the initial groundwork for the ideology of “the Prophet,” but it was not strong enough. It did not have enough influence over five hundred years to deeply affect humanity’s motivations and actions, nor create a powerful enough constraint that would rally people around his will and establish a completely benign competitive landscape.
In the end, it evolved into the 389-year long Spokesperson Wars and became the final push for Regia’s radicalization, ushering in the more brutal Hundred Years’ War.
Luckily, his existence was able to merge Regia’s achievements with those of the Freedom Front, ensuring that those hundreds of years weren’t wasted.
In such non-benign competition, major world powers and Regia did accelerate technological development due to the arms race, but Harrison subconsciously believed that if there were a few great leaders to succeed, they could guide malignant competition into benign competition between 2700 and 3000. Maintaining the intensity of competition while also controlling it within a certain range, without letting real wars take place-how great would that be? However, he couldn’t think of any way to cross time and precisely control the ideology of future generations to such an extent.
It’s just too difficult!
He scratched his head frantically.
In the end, Harrison begrudgingly concluded that all he could do was try to pass on his own posthumous ideology, generation after generation, amidst the countless variables of the timeline.
He prayed that his belief would be strong enough to transcend hundreds of years, projecting onto one or a group of perfect successors who were both exceptionally talented and of noble character, spurring them to step forward, develop their potential, and take on the responsibility of leading civilization. Perfectionists are prone to finding trouble for themselves. Harrison wasn’t originally a perfectionist but was pushed into it by the weight of countless lives at stake.
This time, he was truly stuck and couldn’t get out of it.
After a long while, he gave himself a light slap.
I’m not going to think about it!
Let’s think of something happy!
What to do after winning?
But soon, another question he didn’t want to face but couldn’t avoid started creeping up in his heart.
Would destroying the Spherical Warship really mean victory?
This battleship had a history of 500,000 years, which meant it was built by the other party 500,000 years ago.
Before and after that, hadn’t the Compound-Eyed Observer created anything else?
Would such a powerful Compound-Eyed Observer civilization have only one warship?
Common sense told him that was impossible.
Perhaps this Spherical Warship was just a reconnaissance unit on the frontlines in the Compound-Eyed Observer’s military system.
Then that would be quite despairing.
It was like climbing a mountain-people had to push through the thorns and brambles to get over one mountain peak, only then could they see the scenery behind it.
The scenery behind the peak might be magnificent, but behind it could very well be another towering and perilous cliff.
For a long time, Harrison’s goal was very simple: destroy the enemy, the Spherical Warship.
He wasn’t qualified nor did he intentionally think about what would happen after that.
But now, the probability of defeating the Spherical Warship had increased from 0% to at least 70%. He couldn’t help but add new anxieties.
In the end, there were two most likely outcomes.First, the Spherical Battleship is the enemy’s core combat unit, a powerful force. If humans destroy the Spherical Battleship, annihilating or capturing all the Compound-Eyed Observers inside, Earth’s civilization will successfully demonstrate its military strength, reaching a peace treaty. Humanity will officially connect with the universe’s civilizations, entering the Milky Way Era and smoothly integrating into the cosmos’ societal system.
Second, the Spherical Warship is merely a reconnaissance unit. To utterly exterminate humanity, the invaders will continue to maintain the Solar System Barner and mobilize their real army to carry out a crushing annihilation of civilization.
Emotion made Harrison Clark hope for the first outcome, but reason told him it could be just wishful thinking.
The second outcome would bring him even greater despair, but its probability was indeed the highest.
Or, even if it were the first case, the Compound-Eyed Observers might choose to continue to wage full-scale war.
Up to this point, Harrison had never spoken a word with the invaders, but some intuitive judgments could be understood with just one look.
While wearing the Divine Eagle Armor and seeing the Observer before its death, Harrison noticed its eyes filled with indifference, hesitation, and fear.
In this world, there’s no groundless hatred or love, nor is there groundless fear. If Earth’s civilization were that insignificant, how could they be afraid?
They would just crush it emotionlessly.
Therefore, Harrison understood that Earth’s humans had much greater potential than the enemy, and the enemy must have also realized this.
Harrison had found the exact motivation for the enemy to wage war.
The answer made him both happy and upset.
An old saying from the UK goes like this.
When the tree stands out from the forest, the wind will surely destroy it.
An innocent man, blamed for holding the jade.
Weaker Earth’s civilization possesses immense potential that, once exposed, determines its demise.
This was an objective fact that could not be shifted by anyone’s will.
Harrison began to scratch his head again.
Collecting a thousand strands of Carrie Thomas’ hair might be difficult. At this rate, in a few days, he might have collected his own hair first.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Carrie Thomas passing the small square, excitedly running to the mini supermarket to buy two ice cream cones, and approaching him.
Carrie Thomas didn’t disturb him, just stood beside him and quietly watched the man’s face change expressions like a madman-sometimes smiling, sometimes worried, sometimes angry, sometimes confused.
But one thing that didn’t change was the persistent gloom in his eyes.
He even slapped himself.
With a loud smack, it was particularly resounding.
He looked crazy, somewhat frenzied.
Being extremely sensitive to emotions, Carrie Thomas clearly knew that this was the expression of a person’s inner pressure reaching its limit.
She couldn’t help but feel heartache and discomfort.
She could feel that for a very, very long time, Harrison had never been truly happy or relaxed in his heart.
Perhaps before the two became friends, when he was still a clueless, low-level apartment manager attempting to strike up a conversation with her, he lived a more carefree life than now.
Harrison, what agony are you experiencing?
Unconsciously, Carrie Thomas also became lost in thought, her eyes gradually moistening.
She didn’t notice the ice cream in her hands beginning to melt until the cold cheese cream dripped onto her fingers, startling her awake.
She gasped involuntarily, reaching for a tissue only to realize both her hands held ice cream cones.
She froze.
For a moment, she didn’t know what to do.
Harrison was awakened by the gasp, looking up and seeing her in a helpless state.
He quickly got up and approached her.
Carrie Thomas immediately handed over the ice cream, “Hold this for me, please.”
As Harrison took the ice cream cones from her, he saw her blushing, teary-eyed face.
While she was wiping her hands with tissues, Harrison asked, “What’s wrong?” Carrie Thomas shook her head gently, “Nothing..”