After learning of the Pain Dominator's existence, for Guan Tong, the scarlet power manifested in his left eye was like a time bomb that could detonate at any moment, ready to blow up at any second.
"Doesn't the existence of an organization like the Star Sea Court provide a certain degree of protection for lower civilizations?"
The question Guan Tong asked was also one of the reasons people had been endlessly debating since the rules were previously announced.
Among those who weren't afraid of Tianshui Star's location being exposed, one of their core arguments was that the Star Sea Court wouldn't stand idly by while powerful civilizations destroyed weaker ones, and that there must exist a cosmic version of rules and regulations.
Just like on Tianshui Star, if major nations could freely invade smaller nations, the smaller nations would have been wiped out long ago, and international coordination organizations would have no reason to exist.
On a cosmic scale, if powerful civilizations could freely destroy weaker ones, then what would be the point of an organization like the Star Sea Court?
Facing Guan Tong's inquiry, the administrator's gaze toward him carried something indescribable—surprise, and also a hint of "so it really was like this" realization.
"Being able to ask this question means you come from a newly born first-level civilization. I actually guessed as much before, but I wasn't entirely certain since I didn't expect a new first-level civilization to emerge when the universe's twilight is nearly over."
As the administrator finished speaking, a book flew into Guan Tong's hands.
"Take a look. There might be the answer you're looking for inside," the administrator said.
Guan Tong opened the pages, and a dense yet clearly organized stream of information surged into his mind, like an explanatory scroll unfurling before his eyes.
[Star Sea Court Civilization Convention]
[Introduction: This convention is a common agreement automatically signed by all registered civilizations within the Star Sea Court's jurisdiction. The following is a summary of core content accessible within the authority scope of first-level civilizations.]
[Article One: Civilization Classification]
[The Star Sea Court divides all civilizations within its jurisdiction into ten levels and four tiers. Levels 1-3 are low-level civilizations, levels 4-6 are mid-level civilizations, levels 7-9 are high-level civilizations, and level 10 is an arbitration civilization.
The evaluation standards, authority scope, and obligations for each level are determined by the Star Sea Court's Chief Justice, with review conducted once every thousand standard years.]
[Article Two: Basic Principles]
[All civilizations registered under the Star Sea Court, regardless of level, must abide by the following three basic principles:
No civilization may destroy the mother planet ecosystem of another registered civilization by any means. No civilization may plunder the sovereign Authority of another registered civilization by any means (dormant Authorities of extinct civilizations are not subject to this restriction). All major cross-civilization events (including but not limited to interstellar migration, civilization exchanges, and resource star claims) must be filed with the Star Sea Court within 100 standard hours of occurrence.
Violators of the above principles will be punished by the Star Sea Court according to the severity of the situation, including but not limited to "permanent freeze of cross-civilization contact authority" and "civilization demotion."]
[Article Three: Civilization Contact Principles]
[When first contact occurs between civilizations of different levels, the following regulations shall be observed:
Mid-level and high-level civilizations must provide the content of this principle to the low-level civilization and state their contact intent and expected duration. Low-level civilizations possess the right of refusal. After being refused, mid-level and high-level civilizations must withdraw all physical entities from within the low-level civilization's territory within 20 standard hours. Trade between civilizations must be conducted through legal channels certified by the Star Sea Court. Those using illegal channels for trade will be subject to penalties several times the value of the traded goods. Registered civilizations are prohibited from engaging in any cross-galaxy conflict without mediation by the Star Sea Court. The party that actively initiates conflict will receive mild sanctions from the Court.]
[Article Seven: Civilization Ascension Mechanism]
[When an original civilization possesses Authority (source unrestricted—may be self-created by the original civilization or inherited from other civilizations), it may ascend to a 1st-level civilization and formally register with the Star Sea Court.
When a 1st-level civilization can mobilize the resources of various planets within its home star system, it may apply to ascend to a 2nd-level civilization.
When a 2nd-level civilization can fully utilize the stellar energy of its home star system, it may apply to ascend to a 3rd-level civilization.
When a 3rd-level civilization can independently construct spatial folding facilities and complete one cross-galaxy teleportation, it may apply to ascend to a 4th-level mid-level civilization.
The ascension conditions for mid-level civilizations and above will only be made available to civilizations that have reached that level. Those who have not reached it will not be informed.]
[Article Five: Civilization Exit Mechanism]
[Any original civilization within the Star Sea Court's jurisdiction will be automatically registered after ascending to a 1st-level civilization.
Registered civilizations may submit an application to the Star Sea Court for deregistration. Upon approval, the civilization will lose all privileges, access authorities, and convention protections recognized by the Star Sea Court, returning to an unregistered state.]
[Article Six: No Viewing Authority]
[Articles Six and above are not open for viewing access by low-level civilizations.]
After reading through these articles of the convention, the sheer volume of information required Guan Tong a moment to sort through.
Every single article shattered his worldview—no, now he should call it his cosmic view.
Especially the civilization ascension requirements. Going from level 1 to level 2 required mobilizing resources from various planets within the star system. If applied to Earth, that meant humanity would need to be able to utilize resources from Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars.
And going from level 2 to level 3 was even more absurd—it required fully utilizing stellar energy, meaning mastering all of the sun's energy. For humanity, which could currently only use solar panels, this was simply too exaggerated. Who knew how many years it would take to achieve.
Moreover, as he sorted through the information, he noticed an omission. Among the five articles he had permission to view, only the prohibition on registered civilizations casually initiating conflicts with each other was mentioned.
But nowhere did it state whether the Star Sea Court would provide protection to an attacked civilization if a hostile foreign civilization launched an assault on a registered one!
This was the thing Guan Tong cared about most, and yet the treaty didn't mention it at all.
He was just about to ask for clarification when he suddenly discovered that the information stream composing the treaty's contents was now reorganizing itself within his mind.
A completely new piece of information was being generated!
Guan Tong's heart raced. Could it be... that his ability to see the hidden rules of the Doomsday Rules was actually working on the Star Sea Court's convention?!
How was that possible? The Star Sea Court Convention and the Doomsday Rules were completely different things, weren't they?
Or was there some connection between them that he didn't know about? Otherwise, how could this be happening...
Amid Guan Tong's confusion and disbelief, the data reorganization was quickly completed, and the new information unfolded in his mind as a new article of the convention.
[Article Zero: Core Protocol]
[1. This protocol is a precondition treaty established before the official founding of the Star Sea Court. It is not listed under any article, not included in any index, not open to any civilization below level 10, and can only be cited and activated under specific conditions.
This protocol is established based on the established fact that "the current cycle of the universe is approaching its end, and all level-10 civilizations must ensure the next restart cycle proceeds normally." From the date of this protocol's completion, all level-10 civilizations must sequentially initiate civilization termination procedures according to the cosmic star chart, allowing Authorities to return to the "True Tree," ensuring the restart time is precisely accurate. (Blotted Out) All the above content is nullified. An unknown civilization has forged an Authority of (Blotted Out). The cosmic cycle has been broken. The Death God is accelerating its approach. Our time is running out. The content of this protocol is officially amended to: Seek out the Authority left in this universe by the unknown civilization—the one born from beyond the "True Tree."]