She didn't want to continue on the subject, so she mumbled a brief thank you, and then returned the microphone to the emcee.

The professor smiled knowingly. It was clear that this wasn't the first time he had witnessed such a reaction. He brushed it off as youthful naivete and did not take it to heart.

But the director had other plans. There had been two consecutive questions about alien life forms, and he had kept tab of the audience's reception to the topic.

“The current vibe is excellent. If you ask something beyond this subject, it might ruin the program's momentum."

He lowered his voice and told the show's other guests, "You know what I'm saying, right? Keep those alien-related questions coming."

Beuford and Vivian nodded in earnest, while Maria and Darren did not respond.

Another one of the professors glanced at the back row.

His eyesight was so good that he didn't even need glasses to clearly see their faces.

And so, without a second's hesitation, he chose Beuford, who also happened to be seated far away from Maria.

“Hello, Professor. My question is, are humans ready to discover an alien civilization?"

“Good question," the professor nodded.

“As such, I will answer it with the utmost sincerity."

It was a rare recognition, and Beuford beamed as he basked in his tiny victory.

As far as he was concerned, his question was Leagues better than those of his two colleagues.

“Firstly, we need to perceive the circumstances under which humans can meet aliens.

What would that be Like?

Let us take a moment to consider the current state of our space technology, which, really, is no different from standing in the middle of your living room and looking out the window. In other words, we are not even capable of venturing outside the Earth. We can simply send out probes to look into the outer space. Whatever valiant astronauts travel beyond the Earth's surface cannot even stay there for long. And yet, despite decades of research and development, we have never found a single trace of extraterrestrial civilization. Is that a good thing? Maybe.

If we ever come into contact with aliens, it will be because their communication signals finally reach us, or they themselves will arrive at Earth.

It is worth noting that either way, the pretext is that the aliens have a much-advanced technology than we can ever hope for.

And, what happens when an advanced civilization comes across a weak and regressive one? You should know the answer. We discussed it just a moment ago."

The weak would be plundered!

Everyone had the same thought.

The professor gave them a faint, bitter smile before continuing, "As a man of science, I believe it won't be appropriate for me to use the word ‘pray’. But I feel that it is necessary.

We should all pray that humans find the aliens first, and not the other way around. Otherwise, we might find ourselves unprepared to receive them to our home."