Chapter 42
The file sent over by the United Star System had also been discovered by the history department’s researchers, after they had learned Earth’s archaeological methods, in the tomb of an ancient person who had arrived in the interstellar era from Earth. The area was likely a burial ground, as researchers had found many small boxes containing ashes nearby. It was from these newly discovered tombs that they learned that ancient Earth people were cremated after death, and their ashes were then placed in a box for burial.
Most of the tombs contained nothing extra. This record was discovered in the tomb of someone suspected to have been an official at the time. A small, square booklet was placed on top of a black box.
What was sent to Xia Anran was a scanned text version. The record was very long, almost like a work diary mixed with feelings of nostalgia for Earth. Besides mentioning the destruction of Earth, it also recorded many details of the early days of humanity’s arrival in the interstellar era. It was a very valuable archaeological discovery for both Earth and the United Star System.
At the beginning of the meeting, Xia Anran uploaded the compressed file and then sat obediently on the side, waiting for the leaders to finish reading. They read for over half an hour. No one spoke during the entire process, until the hot-tempered Marshal Yue suddenly slammed his hand on the table and shot up.
“It really was those bastards from Country A! They’re capable of betraying all of humanity!”
The top leader pinched the bridge of his nose, his expression also grim. The situation was even worse than they had imagined. It was bad enough to have an external enemy, but now there was a traitor within.
The diary was recorded with great clarity. In the year 2047, the mysterious veil of aliens was finally lifted. A spaceship had landed on Earth completely undetected. They called themselves the Yaxun people and claimed that the Yaxun System was near the Solar System and that they had discovered Earth’s existence hundreds of years ago. Under the premise of blocking all search signals and hiding their own position, they had been observing Earth.
But the Yaxun people were different from the interstellar inhabitants. They did not have exaggerated psychic powers, but what they did have in common was a level of technology that far surpassed that of Earth at the time. The reason the Yaxun people had revealed themselves was that they wanted to use Earth as their second base and migrate a portion of their population here. At the same time, they were developing a new type of power, but they had been unsuccessful on their home planet. Through their research, they discovered that oxygen might be a crucial element, and the Yaxun people did not rely on oxygen for survival; their home planet was a completely oxygen-free environment.
Their attitude was very aggressive, or one might even say contemptuous. In their eyes, the people of Earth were a lower life form with no threat whatsoever.
For the people of Earth, this was undoubtedly a devastating blow. If they accepted, Earth would soon be ruled by the Yaxun people, and at that time, humanity’s status would be no different from that of domesticated livestock.
As expected, the Hua nation was the first to state that they would not agree to the other party’s unreasonable demands and called for the entire Earth to unite and resist the alien invasion. At first, the Yaxun invasion of Earth did not go smoothly. Although their technology was advanced, their hands seemed to be tied by something. And since they needed Earth’s environment, many large-scale weapons of mass destruction could not be used. After a period of stalemate, the situation suddenly changed.
Country A, one of the major world powers at the time, defected.
The Yaxun people quickly withdrew from the battlefield and instead provided technological support to Country A, letting them use Earth’s methods of warfare to deal with the other nations. They also promised that after the war, Country A would become their viceroy on Earth.
With the help of the Yaxun people, Country A could even intercept nuclear missiles and conduct completely covert operations. Just as the other countries were being pushed back, the event of the asteroid impact occurred.
One could only say that fate’s arrangement was too clever. It was precisely because of the Yaxun invasion that most countries had been making last-ditch preparations to leave Earth and find a new home. Coincidentally, Country A, which had long since defected, had not prepared enough spaceships to take away all its citizens.
After the asteroid was detected rapidly approaching Earth, the battlefield on Earth quickly cooled down. The entire planet fell into a panic and began to prepare for evacuation. Because of the haste and the fact that they were evacuating from a state of war, many things were not brought onto the spaceships, which led to the current cultural and knowledge gaps in the interstellar era.
“2047… that’s not long from now,” the top leader said in a heavy voice, closing the printed-out documents.
Several professors from the Academy of Sciences also participated in the meeting. They exchanged a few words in low voices. Professor Gong said, “In that case, our previous speculation is very likely to be true. The sudden asteroid impact was most likely caused by the Yaxun people.”
“They needed Earth as their second base. Why would they suddenly want to destroy it?” the second-in-command asked, frowning in thought.
The top leader leaned back, his tone subtle. “Perhaps their own situation was not optimistic either. They didn’t have the spare capacity to rule Earth, and not wanting anyone else to benefit, they simply destroyed it.”
Xia Anran, who was attending the meeting alone in her room, heard this and suddenly understood something. “Chief, are you saying that the reason the Yaxun people chose Country A as their proxy instead of fighting themselves is because they were also in the middle of a war?”
“Yes, Little Xia is very smart,” the top leader praised her, then continued, “If they had really been observing Earth for many years as they claimed, why did they choose to appear at that time and were so eager to use Earth to develop a new energy source? Since their technology was far superior to ours, yet they never resorted to brutal methods to destroy humanity and Earth, it shows that their own situation at the time was also very precarious.”
“They were in a hurry to rely on Earth to develop a new energy source to win their war, so they couldn’t forcibly destroy the planet. That’s why we were able to drag it out. Similarly, their own front lines must have been in retreat without this new energy. Later, they simply pulled out, having no time to bother with Earth. The final choice to destroy Earth with an asteroid impact is highly likely because the Yaxun people lost to that unknown star system. They saw Earth as their own property; if they couldn’t have it, they certainly wouldn’t let the other side have it.”
The second-in-command also nodded in agreement. “Analyzed this way, it does make sense.”
The hot-tempered Marshal Yue was getting more and more restless. “Whether it’s the Yaxun people or that unknown planet that’s even stronger than them, their technology is far superior to ours. It’s true that if you’re behind, you’ll be beaten. It’s so frustrating!”
“Don’t be anxious, Old Yue. Don’t we have Little Xia now?” the top leader said with a smile.
Suddenly being called upon, Xia Anran felt a glorious sense of responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation and immediately began to solemnly express her patriotic feelings. “Rest assured, Chiefs! I will definitely work hard!”
Her serious demeanor made the leaders all laugh, which also lightened the solemn atmosphere considerably.
There was no good solution to this matter for now. In the end, it still came down to technological development to strengthen their own position. And so, the key point once again fell back to Xia Anran’s livestream.
After this topic was finished, she reported on the second event of the day: Ye Yuxing had contacted her individually. The leadership in the Hua nation was also optimistic about this news, and they were all in agreement that it was a good thing. They also stated that Xia Anran could have more autonomy over the livestream app in the future and didn’t need to seek their opinion on every little thing. After all, the app was her private property, and the state had never thought of confiscating it. The state’s relationship with her was defined more as an equal partnership.
Xia Anran scratched her head, a little embarrassed. There were some things that she didn’t feel at ease with if the leaders didn’t know, afraid that she would mess up something important. But since they had given her so much freedom, she planned to slowly adapt and explore the app more.
…
After the meeting, Xia Anran opened the app’s earnings page. Unexpectedly, this time it wasn’t frozen!
After today’s stream, there had been so much information that she had forgotten to check her earnings. And this thing had been inexplicably frozen for several days. She never thought she would have any earnings today. But compared to before, it was a lot less. It had gone from taking everything to leaving her some scraps. She went to the shop and found that with these scraps, she couldn’t afford anything.
“Stealing my earnings, are you? Is there anyone who can do something about this?!” she said, viciously poking the screen. Especially now that she knew about the future alien invasion, she was even more anxious to buy more things from the shop. “Is there a complaint function? I’m so angry!”
The moment she finished speaking, the app, as if it had detected a certain keyword, quickly closed itself and also caused her phone to go black. The “plugging your ears while stealing a bell” vibe was practically bursting out of the screen.
Xia Anran: “…” I knew this thing was conscious! It must have eaten my earnings! Judging by its reaction, there must be a complaint mechanism.
She turned the screen back on and said deliberately, “Still crashing, are you? You’re done for. Just wait for my complaint!”
Then, the screen flashed, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then decisively shut down her phone.
“…”
And no matter how she tried to restart it, it wouldn’t turn on, as if it were in a standoff with her. As long as she still wanted to complain, it wouldn’t let her turn it on. …She was speechless. One had to say, although it was shameless, it did seem to be effective.
“I won’t complain anymore, alright?” she said, poking it again. “You’re conscious, right? Come out and say something!” It could clearly guide her, yet it made her figure things out on her own and even stole her earnings!
The system struggled for a moment and finally resigned itself. A big-eyed smiling emoji appeared on the screen, trying to act cute as a greeting.
“That’s it?” Xia Anran’s face darkened. “Spit out my earnings!”
[Earnings are needed for upgrades. Don’t be so stingy (T＿T)]
[If the system doesn’t upgrade, where would you get the shop! Where would you get so many functions!]
She was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized. “Isn’t the system upgrade a reward for reaching a certain level of earnings? You’re trying to fool me!” She still remembered that the system upgrade clearly stated it was a reward for reaching a certain level of earnings!
“So where did my earnings go?” she asked with a stern face.
[(？﹏？)]
“I’m complaining.”
[Don’t!]
[Alright, alright. I did misappropriate some of your earnings to restore my consciousness.]
Restore its consciousness?
Seeing her silence, the system pressed on.
[Um… there was a problem during the system transmission. I was forced into a dormant state after I arrived here. Many functions need money to be repaired. I’ve only just woken up now and can only communicate.]
Xia Anran: “So you spent so much of my money and all you can do now is be a chat buddy?”
[Don’t be anxious. If you let me eat a little more, I can soon be a sleep buddy too!]
Xia Anran shut off her phone with a blank face.
Is it too late to ask for a refund?!