Chapter Fourteen: The Birth of Tianming
14. The Birth of the Fourth Civilization
“The administrators... I can make the changes right away, I’ll go fix it immediately!” Norris Barry said anxiously, his voice tinged with fear.
At that moment, he saw a squad of marines escort the rest of the Social Culture Department personnel to this place. Seeing the fully armed marines, Barry’s fear deepened.
“No, your work was excellent. Originally, I considered whether to awaken a master-level sociologist to assist you in completing this task, but you managed it yourselves. This has reinforced my understanding that the so-called class divisions are merely a reflection of one's achievements upon boarding this ship. Ordinary people can also reach the level of masters,” Tang Xiao said calmly, a smile playing on his face that was impossible to read.
Barry was so frightened he could barely speak. In truth, he didn’t know how to respond to Tang Xiao’s praise.
“But…” Tang Xiao’s tone shifted, “You will be dismissed from the Social Culture Department. I will awaken the appropriate people to lead and staff the department anew. As for you, you will vanish from all records; no one will ever know you existed.”
With a sudden thud, Barry knelt down. “Administrator, we haven’t committed any mistakes!”
“Of course you haven’t. On the contrary, you have created a perfect history, and you must bear the heavy burden of that history. You will become the ‘Guardians of History,’ tasked with creating and preserving our history. In return, you will have everything you desire, enjoying all material and spiritual pleasures,” Tang Xiao said, casting a glance at the stunned group.
He continued, “However, you will never contact anyone else for the rest of your lives. Anyone who interacts with you will be permanently confined or even killed. I will build a secret residence for you, as luxurious as I can make it, and you will spend the rest of your days there.”
Norris Barry sighed deeply. “I understand. We will become your greatest secret, the bearers of this history.”
“Exactly. This is the weight of history.” Tang Xiao stood and embraced Barry, then the other ten members of the Social Culture Department. Finally, standing before them, he bowed deeply. “I entrust this to you.”
“It is our honor, Administrator,” Barry and the ten others bowed back heavily. “We are privileged to witness the birth of the Fourth Civilization. It is our greatest glory.”
As the eleven ‘Guardians of History’ were escorted away by the marines, Tang Xiao took a deep breath and his gaze sharpened.
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The Fourth Civilization was the mark Tang Xiao had set for himself and everyone aboard this mothership — a belief. Barry was right: a nation’s history shapes its values and way of thinking, and in the war-torn universe of Star Wars, such values certainly cannot be peaceful!
Hence, the Fourth Civilization was born.
He intended to implant in everyone a profound, bone-deep sense of crisis.
In the fabricated history, Earth’s civilization endured three catastrophes—Void Demons, the Purge Accord, and the Zerg invasion. The survivors followed the mothership to this place.
They would rebuild civilization, recreate its glory. Moreover, the painful experience of three disasters destroying civilization filled their hearts with anguish and longing. They wished to survive and develop more splendidly than before and to avoid a fourth catastrophe.
And the way to avoid destruction by disaster…
Was to become the disaster itself.
Yes, they now regarded themselves as the Fourth Catastrophe, the Fourth Civilization that survived death itself. Survival and development were the only paths; conquest and hegemony were their goals. Nothing could stop them!
Though this was a fictional story, to ordinary people, a story is just a story — at most, a novel to earn some pocket money.
But Tang Xiao had the power to turn this story into history, to let it truly influence the thoughts and values of everyone under his rule. That was the power of authority. He also possessed technologies and ships from various civilizations, perhaps even heroes from different worlds. This was the best proof of this fabricated history’s authenticity.
He would weave a grand and tragic dream for every person here, a dream that would lead them to another war — the Clone Wars of Star Wars.
From today onward, they were the Fourth Civilization from Earth.
“Mainframe, input this document into the database as the official history for all of us. Initiate sleep suggestions for all hibernating residents to guide their acceptance of this history. Remember, fragment the historical content so that each person can only recall small pieces,” Tang Xiao instructed.
---
“Understood. Executing immediately,” the mainframe replied.
“Then… reestablish the Social Culture Department,” Tang Xiao said. He selected an elite educator and an elite sociologist from the hibernating residents list, along with several teachers, and awakened them. They would begin preparing historical teaching materials. This was what the department was truly meant to do.
After a while, Daphne Clement approached him. “Dubrak Quinto wishes to speak with you, Administrator.”
Tang Xiao stood. “Bring him here. It’s about time. I want to talk with him too.”
Soon, Dubrak Quinto and Mars Ferasi entered. They wore clean, neat clothes provided here, looking far healthier and more refreshed than their previously weathered explorer appearance.
The two hesitated before sitting across from Tang Xiao, waiting for his signal.
Quinto spoke cautiously, “Respected Administrator, I do not know your origins, nor do I seek to investigate. But I wish to say that we came to the Endor system because of a mission. Now that the time is nearly up, might you show mercy and allow us to return?”
During these days, Quinto and the others had grown fearful of Tang Xiao’s power. This enormous supermassive ship, tens of thousands of meters long, was no ordinary force’s possession. They also had a well-trained military and professionals in various fields.
From every angle, this was no ordinary faction but one of great significance.
“And what is your mission?” Tang Xiao asked.
“You know, we worked for the Hutt clan on Tatooine, running smuggling jobs. Our current cargo is furs, gems, and some Ewok jerky from Endor… or rather, the Bright Star planet,” Quinto said, having learned that Tang Xiao had renamed Endor as Bright Star.