"I'm not curious."
"You!" The teacher, his face flushing red, pressed his large hand to Gu Tao's head, "Remember, we are not an aggressive civilization. Our goal is to help all non-aggressive civilizations reach greatness."
"Then... I have a question," he said, stroking his chin. "What if it were an aggressive civilization?"
"Destroy it."
"Hey, old man. Even though you're my teacher, I've started to question your way of thinking. Indeed, we are a superior civilization, but who gave us the right to destroy other civilizations, whether they are aggressive or not?"
"Is it that if I choose to participate in this planet's scientific expedition, I would be able to deeply understand whether they are an aggressive civilization?" He actually understood there were some things that couldn't be changed, like the laws of the universe, so he silently swallowed the words he wanted to say next.
"In theory, yes. But I must remind you, once you set foot on this path, dangers abound. You could lose your life at any moment, and even if you succeed, upon your return, our world would seem foreign to you."
"What does it matter? I was born to be a scientist." He looked rather charming when he smiled, his eyelashes and eyes curving upward. "I volunteer to join this civilization expedition."
"Have you thoroughly researched this planet?"
He stood up solemnly and said, "I will learn."
The teacher smiled with a hint of emotion, "Just remember your mission."
Although he wasn't curious, a sense of inexplicable duty led him to join the exploration program as a preparatory team member. After studying earthling racial classifications, physical characteristics, and cultural traits, he gave himself an Earth name—Gu Tao.
Of course, a civilization expedition was not a trip taken on a whim. Even with their technology, traversing over twenty thousand light-years required a long time. Even after employing the latest space technology, the journey still needed over a hundred years to complete.
The scientific expedition involved analyzing the social and technological progress of civilization, the degree of aggressiveness, and biodiversity surveys. Therefore, a standard scientific exploration team consisted of five people. These individuals were usually the elite among the elite selected from throughout their world.
Thus, those who joined this project were heroes with great determination. The oldest among them was a thirty-six-year-old military officer responsible for deterring space pirates and ensuring the safety of the team members, and the youngest was fifteen-year-old Gu Tao.
Now, occasionally in his sleep, he would still dream of returning to the familiar place, continuing to be the genius with a sense of superiority.
"What are our chances of getting back?"
"Without any accidents, it's one in thirty-three million. If a rescue team appears, the odds increase to one in five hundred. Also, please call me by my name, okay? I am your partner, your assistant."
"Fuck off." Gu Tao turned over: "You shitty assistant, can you make food? I'm starving."
"I'm sorry, I can't. But with your knowledge and the equipment on the Explorer, why are you in such a dire situation?"
After hearing that, Gu Tao shot up angrily, "It's easy to learn bad but hard to learn good. Correct your core logic as soon as possible. Don't you remember what we said when we set out? Explorers must not interfere with other civilizations' progress in any way!"
"Alright, you may continue to go hungry."
"Damn your grandma, I'm going to format you right now!"
After arguing with the artificial intelligence for half an hour, Gu Tao eventually calmed down. He felt helpless since the only thing that could understand his speech now was this broken program. If he really formatted it, losing years of behavioral data, this artificial intelligence, albeit the most advanced back home, would probably be only good as Siri.
"Sigh, search for all the job ads in this city, preferably those that include food and accommodation." Gu Tao sat in the driver's seat, looking at the dashboard, "Oh, and how much energy do you have left?"
"Theoretically, if we do not perform hyperspace jumps, the energy I have left could run all equipment at full load for three thousand years. Please use it without worry. Would you like me to activate the Orbital Cannon or command all Titan Mecha to enter Annihilation Mode?"
"Wow..." Gu Tao covered his face, "Where the hell is this warmongering mindset coming from! I'm begging you, I don't want the Orbital Cannon or the Titans, I want a job that can feed me. We can't go back anymore, we just can't, little sister!"
"Theoretically, we can't go back, sorry."
"Yeah, we can't go back. I need to survive, I need to live! Hurry and find me job ads."
"Would you like me to hack into the weapon systems of all the nuclear powers in this world? We could reset the order of this world."
Gau Tao stared blankly at the screen ahead, then silently used his fingerprint to unlock a black box and took out a metal plate.
"Format, yes or no?"
"I have found twelve suitable jobs for you, the closest being 12 kilometers away and the farthest, 35. Two in the catering industry, seven in construction, the rest..."
Gu Tao silently put the metal plate back, "You're just itching for a fight."