Gandora-3, a planet with a low-gravity environment yet a dense atmosphere.

Planets with such geological features are not uncommon in the universe. For example, Venus in the Solar System, with a mass only 0.8 times that of Earth but an atmosphere 93 times greater in mass and 100 times denser!

Gandora-3 is similar, having a relatively low gravity but a particularly dense atmosphere, about three times the standard atmospheric pressure on Earth. Its high oxygen content is very suitable for the survival of large lifeforms.

The evolutionary process of this planet is somewhat akin to Earth's Cretaceous period, the Dinosaur Era, where enormous reptiles can be seen throughout.

Some creatures can even reach a mass of hundreds of tons, truly colossal.

Especially among these reptiles, people have discovered a lifeform resembling the "giant dragon" from Western mythology. For all these reasons, it has become a very famous tourist destination within the New Human Civilization.

"The size and mass of lifeforms are usually proportional to oxygen content. Planets with higher oxygen concentrations can support larger creatures... Due to the denser atmosphere, one can inhale more oxygen in a single breath."

"This planet's distance from the central constant star is moderate, maintaining a constant temperature of 30 degrees Celsius, the perfect birthplace for life."

"It's really hard to imagine that in the far-away Large Magellanic Cloud, we can actually find a planet still in the Dinosaur Era!"

The students, dressed in Power Armor, chatted animatedly.

He strolled within this nature reserve, observing the unique landscapes. Due to the relatively high atmospheric pressure here, people usually don't breathe the air directly, or they might experience oxygen intoxication and other discomforts, which is a bit of a pity.

They wandered through the jungle, witnessing a variety of bizarre, unheard-of creatures. Clearly, this was a very novel trip.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"

A swarm of insects flew over, somewhat resembling mosquitoes, with sharp mouthparts and fierce faces. Unlike Earth mosquitoes, these insects are larger than a person's fist!

Faced with these giant insects, the tourists quickly avoided them.

One insect, feeling a bit tired from flying, landed on a girl's Power Armor Helmet, rubbing its two front legs.

It was examining the transparent glass cover, seemingly contemplating whether its mouthparts could penetrate this layer of glass.

"If this mosquito bites you, you'd probably die instantly, right?" The girl stood motionless, her face pale. "Help me out!"

"You could do a little experiment, let it bite you once... Maybe if it sucks human blood, it would be poisoned to death instantly."

"I've noticed that the flying creatures here are somewhat clumsy, possibly because of the higher pressure, they can't fly very fast."

"Higher air pressure means that after flapping wings, the wind force is also greater. It's said that these creatures have a high ATP content in their cells."

Boys and girls stared at this mosquito, seemingly wanting to catch it for experimentation.

Seeing none of her companions responding, the girl with the mosquito on her helmet was on the verge of tears. She gritted her teeth, raised a hand, and waved, scaring it off. Finally, the mosquito lazily flew away, as it wasn't very interested in something that felt like a stone.

Suddenly, Lin Yueyue, who was walking in front, said, "Shh, don't make any noise, it sounds like snoring."

"Oh my god! A giant dragon is squatting down there sleeping!"

Below the hillside, there was a black-brown creature about 7 meters long!

Unlike dinosaurs, some of these reptiles here have evolved huge, powerful wings, allowing them to glide short distances in the air.

Some species can even spit acid from their stomachs to attack enemies.

So, based on these fantasy-like settings, people have called them "giant dragons."

These giant dragons look enormous, but their weight isn't high. One reason is that the planet's gravity is relatively low, only about 0.8 times that of Earth; another is that with increased air pressure, the buoyancy after flapping wings also becomes greater.

For flying needs, the bones inside the giant dragon are hollow, combined with some unique biological structures, effectively reducing the overall body mass.

"Judging by its size, it's more than capable of carrying a person's weight, right? Maybe we could ride it?"

"Why not take it back?" A boy began to try challenging the giant dragon, even hoping to become an honorable Dragon Knight. Who knows, maybe it could actually be tamed?

"Do you have a capture license? Randomly capturing animals is illegal." A girl sneered, "And if you bring it back to the base, are you responsible for cleaning up its droppings?"

The boys all had dark expressions, looking toward Lin Yueyue, their leader.

"Alright, I'll ask the superiors first. If they need to study the giant dragon, we'll take it back; if not, there's nothing we can do. I'm not interested in fussing over a giant dragon, nor want to deal with its waste polluting the entire base..."

The capable Lin Yueyue quickly got in touch with headquarters and applied for the necessary permissions. She smiled and said, "Approved. It turns out the nearby biological laboratory needs a reptile for experimentation and has requested our help."

"Roar!"

"Awesome!"

The capture process was actually quite simple. A tranquilizer shot hit the sleeping giant dragon and paralyzed it unknowingly. Shortly after, an anti-gravity spaceship flew over and transported the giant dragon back.

...

The giant dragon suddenly awoke, finding itself in a peculiar place.

The floor beneath its feet was extremely hard, and there was an invisible object in the sky. After a few collisions, it seemed unable to fly out.

This is... treasure?!

There was an iron metal sphere the size of a human head placed in front of it.

The giant dragon frantically played with the shiny metal sphere, even biting it with its teeth. Instinctively, it liked these kinds of things, getting so engrossed it forgot about its situation.

"Roar!"

Half an hour later, the lab door opened and in came an excavator, a robot specifically designed to challenge the giant dragon's combat strength and test its physical data.

At first, this giant dragon wanted to escape, but after the excavator used an electromagnet to suck away its metal ball, it became genuinely furious.

The two sides wrestled with each other.

But soon, the dragon was completely defeated in a fit of rage.

Even though it was strong, its strength was no match for the excavator, and its tonnage couldn't withstand a single scoop from the excavator.

In addition, biting with its teeth and spraying gastric juice were completely ineffective against the excavator, so this dragon quickly realized that the guy in front of it was almost invincible. It began to flee, leaving even the metal ball behind...

This series of tests left everyone dumbfounded; they didn't expect that this creature actually possessed some level of intelligence.

Dinosaurs on Earth are not intelligent; their heads are large, but their brains are small. According to scientific speculation, dinosaurs have low IQ; but the dragons here show a noticeably higher level of intelligence.

"That's interesting; there's really a possibility of domestication!"

...

In a blink, it's already the seventh day since catching the dragon.

"The IQ test results are out... it possesses an intelligence roughly equivalent to a 6-year-old human, with some ability to understand. Considered among reptilian creatures, it's quite smart!"

"In the previous series of tests, it knew how to seek advantages and avoid harm. Unexpectedly, it failed in the physical strength competition; never in past confrontations has it encountered such a situation, leaving it rather alarmed and confused. So now, whenever it sees an excavator, it will run away. Moreover, during fights, it will flank the excavator's rear."

"Furthermore, its flying ability was blocked by an invisible cover in mid-air. After about twelve collisions with the glass, it understood this and stopped crashing into the glass, proving its intelligence superiority."

"It took twelve collisions with the glass to understand; this is called intelligence superiority?" Upon hearing this conclusion, one of the boys was slightly puzzled.

"Of course, its intelligence can't compare to humans... but many animals need several days of collisions before understanding there's a glass wall here."

"We've already obtained its blood samples. You can release it now, or of course, you can conduct any experiments you want with it." After obtaining the desired data, the superhuman scientist, having completed the answers, left via consciousness upload.

Before leaving, he threw an iron piece that shimmered in the sunlight.

The dragon hurriedly grabbed the iron piece in its mouth; it likes shiny things.

The main reason is that these creatures eat some metal to obtain trace elements within. It's a pity that their planet lacks many shiny things, so this habit has never been well satisfied.

After hesitating for a while, it decided to hide the iron piece in a small corner, feeling exceptionally happy.

In this strange place, it often has to do strange things, but overall, it's quite satisfied. Plus, the food here is actually pretty good; it can eat to its fill every day... for animals, being able to eat enough is a very happy thing.

"Roar!"

It let out a roar.

No, as part of the dragon clan, it shouldn't bow down just for a bit of substance.

Feeling a bit like mating.

After the superhuman scientist left, there was a large group of traditional humans left in the lab, all young students, surrounding the dragon and chattering away. Traditional humans actually retain a high degree of autonomy, and their actions aren't typically regulated by superhumans.

"Now, this dragon belongs to us!"

"I'll give you a Meat Fruit to eat." A boy swaggered into the glass lab, relying on his power armor, even patting the dragon on its body.

"Roar!"

The dragon got a bit angry and then swallowed the slightly strange fruit emitting endless fragrance into its mouth.

Delicious!

The dragon flapped its wings a few times, feeling a bit tired, just wanting to sleep.

What does this cunning creature want to do? Why hasn't it left yet?

"Perform a flamethrower and I'll give you a Meat Fruit to eat."

"Roar!"

"Alright, Jiang Fan, don't tease it. How could an ordinary creature possibly breathe fire? Quickly give it the fruit; it's even drooling." Several girls couldn't stand this behavior of teasing animals.

They felt the dragon should be released rather than continue to be confined here for amusement.

People can't stay here long-term, how could they domesticate this creature? It's unrealistic to bring it away via spaceship without superhuman help; raising an alien creature is truly troublesome, needing to control biological pollution, and preventing it from getting sick, among a lot of other hassles.

Lin Yueyue was whispering to her companions, "Which planet should we visit next?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"How about Meow Planet?"

"...Let's forget about that. Do you want to pet meows?"

Meow Planet is a planet with very peculiar native culture, also a famous tourist destination, inhabited by an ordinary sinking civilization.

If it were only this, it wouldn't draw much interest; the most unique feature is that every household of the civilization raises a furry animal—"meow."

Even the legal status of these adorable animals is higher than that of wise species!

The law stipulates: No discrimination, abandonment of meows is allowed; meows must not go hungry and must be fed six times a day; when going out, meows must be held atop the head, not allowed to touch the ground; food must be made from meow feces; meows must be sincerely praised when seen.

In summary, the laws of Meow Planet are very peculiar.

Until now, the new human civilization still cannot figure out if the ruling class of Meow Planet is meows or the native wise species. Some humans even suggest defining meows as evil parasitic life forms, though the vast majority see them as just ordinary creatures.

"...Maybe the boys don't want to go to Meow Planet; they just like these brutishly large creatures, only wanting to be Dragon Knights. They might stay a few more days here."

In the eyes of the girls, this lizard is just an ordinary creature. They don't understand why the boys are so excited, as if they've found an extraordinary toy. Maybe that's just the difference between males and females?

A boy retorted, "Ordinary? This species seems to have evolved its own language! And, the legend of the Dragon Knight, don't you know? Giant Dragon Knight! Now I'm going to conquer it! Instead of going to Meow Planet… inhaling meow? Ahem!"

"Giant Dragon Knight?" Lin Yueyue frowned slightly, somewhat disdainful.

However, the boys' thoughts are different from the girls', which is understandable.

Where to go on tour can be discussed among each other, isn't playing anywhere just playing?

"How's your self-awareness diary coming along?"

"Um... well..." Faced with this tough question, some stammered.

This is a main quest in life, and it's a huge problem indeed.

Lin Yueyue shook her head, not wanting to meddle any further: "Forget it, it's your business, I won't interfere."

"Our Artificial Intelligence has already recorded the dragon's language, but let me remind you, their language is simple and can't understand complex actions. After all, this guy's intelligence is not high, and it has a bad temper, it eats meat, so don't provoke it unnecessarily."

"Got it, got it, Sister Yueyue, carry on with your business, don't bother with us. As long as we're wearing Power Armor, it can't hurt us!"

This guy swaggered over and entered the glass laboratory.

Seeing the little guy beside it constantly babbling strange words and teasing it repeatedly, the dragon's eyes glared over.

"This word should mean provocation, right? The males of this species compete and provoke each other." The boy played back a recording.

"Roar! Gagaga!"

The dragon, provoked, immediately flapped its wings and stared wide-eyed...

Can't deal with a digger but can't deal with you?!

It lunged at the short human beside it with one bite.

"Crunch" — a loud crunch as several teeth broke off.

"Wow, this dragon dared to bite me!!" Seeing his entire head caught in the dragon's mouth, the glass helmet withstanding the dragon's terrifying bite force, the sharp "squeak" from the friction made the boy quite panicked.

No matter how solid the helmet was, the panic was still real, and cold sweat started pouring out!

The next second, he was lifted into the air by the dragon, his limbs flailing wildly.

"Ah!" All the girls began screaming loudly.

"Quick, use the tranquilizer!"

Dangling in mid-air, the boy grabbed the dragon's lower jaw with his Power Armor hands, trying to pry it open. The high-performance Power Armor proved useful at this moment, as the dragon felt a massive force from below its jaw, combined with losing two teeth...

"Plop", it released him.

"Damn!" The boy cursed and climbed up from the ground, finding himself covered in disgusting saliva and mucus.

The dragon focused intently, trying to find this guy's weakness.

Both sides began a tense standoff.

The boy slowly retreated from the danger zone.

The onlookers who rushed over saw this and laughed, "Wang Chuan, you looked delicious! Shocked, huh?"

"Is your glass helmet cracked? Oh, nothing happened, not even a tooth mark. That's really solid."

This boy named Wang Chuan was slightly angry, raised his right gun barrel, and fired a scorching blast of flame. This was also a defense device built into the Power Armor that he forgot to use in the terrifying situation.

The dragon hurriedly flapped its wings, moving aside, and let out a terrified scream.

"Roar!"

The fear of fire is an animal's instinct; even such a large creature feels significant pain when exposed to scorching flames.

The forest fires in the past have killed countless animals, and besides the wise beings who can overcome instinct and control fire, the rest of the beasts have this rule engraved deep in their genes.

"Don't torture it! It's an experimental product!"

"Don't burn it!"

"You went over and provoked it yourself, and now you're blaming others?"

Facing the crowd's criticism, Wang Chuan had to put away the flame gun. His chest heaving, having lost such face with so many girls present, it was indeed quite embarrassing.

"Here, take this." A girl threw a "Meat Fruit" to the dragon, trying to comfort it.

This fruit is a plant product from the Green Leaf Alliance, tasting somewhat like raw meat, and is rich in protein, specifically used to feed these carnivorous creatures.

The dragon sniffed it and swallowed it in one gulp.

A group of people surrounded the dragon again, pointing and gesturing, the powerful Power Armor giving them enough courage.

Honestly speaking, tearing a dragon by hand is not really difficult.

Some want to be Dragon Knights, while others even want to get a little blood and ask the Superhuman to modify its genes.

"If it could shrink to the size of a dog, it could undoubtedly become a new type of pet."

"I think we should capture more giant dragons; in the future, we will all be Dragon Knights!"

"Who is calling for the Dragon Knights?"

"Dragons reign over the world!"

All these boys couldn't wait to try, taunting the giant dragon lying on the ground. Unfortunately, this creature, at this distance, had no strength left, couldn't fight back, couldn't escape, and couldn't bite effectively. What was wrong with these damn little things?!

"Roar!" The giant dragon reluctantly gave up its mating rights…

...

Seeing these people jumping and cheering, Lin Yueyue couldn't help but shake her head and secretly sighed how in this moment, something as elusive as appearances had such significant influence.

Just because this creature looks a bit like the mythical giant dragon, humans show so much favor towards it.

Just because the cats on Miao Star look cute, this species enjoys a higher legal status than the native intelligent life!

"...also proves that our thoughts are indeed immature."

"Distributing attention in such a manner is neither ideal nor qualified. A Level 5 Civilization needs to face aliens of all shapes and forms; thoughts should be more loving, more encompassing."

Besides, on this planet, Gandora-3, there actually exists an intelligent species.

Generally speaking, humans use multiple judgment methods such as using fire, forming writing systems, and using tools, to determine whether a species belongs to intelligent life.

That is, there exists a primitive intelligent group entering the Stone Age on Gandora-3.

But the appearance of this intelligent species is not good-looking, resembling a mix between vultures and monkeys. Plus, due to the non-interference directive, human interference with them is minimal.

Only the superhuman scientists secretly investigated, compiling a lot of data. Ordinary humans, including these students, had little interest and ignored them, not even bothering to write social reports.

"This is definitely wrong. Is beauty justice? Of course not."

Lin Yueyue opened a document showing a clip shot by a robot: in a corner of the planet, native intelligent species were fighting with the giant dragon, with screams of agony and blood splattering everywhere, exposing the brutal survival environment of a primitive civilization.

Where is the peace and quietness of time?

Yet, few know about it, and even fewer care.

Just because this intelligent species is not good-looking, most students have little desire to investigate and instead focus their attention on the giant dragon.

"This is not normal, it is wrong."

Just after watching this thrilling war for a few moments, Lin Yueyue felt a bit anxious and turned off the video.

"Yueyue, what's wrong?" A girl also glanced at it: "Ah, why are you watching this again?"

"From a scientific perspective, we only focus on this species... Well, I suddenly feel that humans are a bit hypocritical... Whether it's a preference for cats and dogs, or for giant dragons, it's all constrained by genes. Humans once went through this stage, didn't they?"

"Yes, indeed."

Lin Yueyue said: "What we consider good and bad doesn't hold much meaning in the face of facts. I am firmly opposed to forming a reserve or breeding area here to protect these so-called giant dragons; that would be a disaster for other species."

"Why mention this all of a sudden? I think superhumans probably won't set up a reserve here. As long as they don't, we won't put in extra effort. Moreover, in the survival competition on this planet, reptiles have the upper hand..."

This girl was also a thinker; she paused for a moment and said: "History is really fascinating. On the former Earth during the Cretaceous, reptiles and mammals coexisted on a planet. Also, mammals were suppressed by reptiles, being low on the food chain, only able to eat plants or insects."

"If it weren't for a sudden meteor attack on Earth that made all the dinosaurs extinct, how could mammals have risen, and humans wouldn't have emerged."

"Then, what about the native intelligent species here? How will they develop in the future? It's really worrying."

Lin Yueyue sighed, "Yes, it's not optimistic. As long as we don't eliminate the giant dragons, they can't possibly rise in the short term. Of course, we won't do that. We also can't predict how evolution will turn out over the coming millions of years..."

Discussing competition between species, this topic inevitably seems a bit heavy. Supporting either side is unfair to the other.

Fortunately, due to the existence of the "non-interference directive," they didn't have much moral guilt.

Lin Yueyue glanced at the boys still taming the giant dragon and immediately lost interest.

She returned to her room and recorded this unique emotion within her heart.

This is an important aspect of self-awareness... even though not many sincerely pursue this work.

"...This moral guilt, to put it bluntly, is hypocrisy. It makes us feel powerful, as if we need to assume greater responsibility... In reality, we're just ordinary people."

"Perhaps this era is the least hypocritical time for humans. Superhumans don't seem to have this emotion, only traditional humans still retain it... But under some institutional constraints, this emotion has already weakened significantly."

"Being weakened doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If we had control over power, we might mess up many low-level civilizations. It's also the main reason for ascending to superhumans..."

Lin Yueyue held her head and began to ponder why humans are hypocritical.

Unable to figure it out after a long time, she had to seek help from her Auxiliary Artificial Intelligence once more.

"The answer is simple. First, humans communicate with words, not brain waves. Words are controlled by the brain, so they say what the brain wants them to. That speech may not be sincere; it could be a lie."

"Why are there lies?"

"To increase survival probability, even monkeys lie. However, after ascending to superhumans, this ability can basically be canceled to boost communication efficiency without needing lies."

"Besides that, there's a second point; humans are vessels of desire, innately filled with the seven emotions and six desires. But reality doesn't allow humans to do as they please, so the constant conflict between inner desires and practical realities leads to human duality. With duality, platitudes naturally follow."

"Third, and most importantly, I tell you my true feelings, but you are indifferent or ridicule, even spreading it around... This is unacceptable to many people, hence they become hypocritical."

Lin Yueyue sighed, "The distance between people is just... too far. Let's quickly transform into superhumans!"

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