The entire deep sea seemed to quiet down at this moment - the entire dimension fell into deathly silence, the smoke and dust floating between the floating islands also stopped, and no one spoke for a long time. Only the ancient god who was like a mountain range was waiting for a reply, and the dim lights like stars flickered slowly on His body, appearing to be extremely patient.
After an unknown amount of time, Shirley's voice broke the silence: "... Wow..."
Duncan raised his head and looked at the "mountain" calmly: "I hope you can explain it more clearly - 'take over this', what does this mean?"
Amid the gentle tremors, a very human sigh seemed to come from the depths of the star-shaped mountain range, and then it slowly spoke: "Fire Usurper, you may already know... In the so-called 'Third Long Night', I did not realize all the plans in the blueprint - the Infinite Sea is not a perfect shelter. In a sense, my 'Genesis' failed just like the attempts of the King of the Pale Giants and the King of Dreams, but... this failure was delayed by 10,000 years."
Standing in the deepest part of the abyss, and hearing with one's own ears an ancient god who once shaped everything in the world admit his failure, this was a very shocking experience even for Duncan. Although he had grasped many clues in this regard before, he could not help but sigh deeply after hearing the words of the Lord of the Deep.
After a while, he finally broke his silence: "Yes, I know, there are many clues pointing to this. I have seen the mirror images of the city-states in the deep sea of the real dimension, as well as the unfinished products in the deep sea. I also came into contact with the truth of the deep demons - in a place called the Holy Island, I saw the hall, which recorded thousands of biological data...
"All signs indicate that today's deep sea era... is actually just some specious remnants of civilization lingering after the apocalypse. As a 'shelter', it is full of flaws."
Alice listened and murmured quietly: "Isn't that a bit too impolite..."
"That's already very polite." Shirley also lowered her voice and muttered softly.
Then, their whispered conversation was interrupted by the tremors coming from the dark mountains: "Yes, it is full of flaws - and now this flawed shelter is gradually reaching its limit... Fire Usurper, how many times has the observer effect stabilization anchor failed?"
Duncan's expression changed slightly immediately: "... twice already."
"It is the key to ensure that the many 'ashes' in the shelter can exist stably, balanced, and compatible. Its illumination can make the conflicting and incomprehensible fragments of the world after the Great Annihilation collapse into the same reality. Its failure means that the defects at the beginning of the establishment of the shelter have accumulated to the limit. After it is completely extinguished, this group of 'ashes' that we forcibly squeezed together will be scattered again."
"… So, what does this have to do with me taking over 'all this'?" Duncan said slowly, "The shelter is already on the verge of breaking point. Can I give it a new lease of life by taking it over?"
"In my calculations, yes."
Duncan's heart moved when he heard this. From the quick and affirmative reply from the Saint of the Deep, he instantly realized one thing - this "ancient god" understood him, the "fire usurper", better than he expected!
His expression immediately froze, and he asked seriously, "Why?"
"… Because you are a more powerful and stable observer than the observer effect anchor," the lights on the surface of the dark mountains flickered like stars, and the voice of the Deep Lord echoed throughout the dimension, "If you take over all of this, your power will be enough to cover all the defects in the shelter - all unbalanced systems will regain stability and return to the most perfect state when they were first established."
"... You seem to know me better than I do myself." After a moment of silence, Duncan still did not respond to the other party's "invitation". Instead, he frowned and said, "You, and the other so-called 'Ancient Kings', you all seem to know me better than I do."
"... We have only been guessing your nature through long-term observation, but even after 10,000 years of guessing, we still haven't been able to figure out what you are..." The tone of the Deep Lord became a little slow and hesitant. He seemed to be hesitating and worried about something, but after a brief hesitation, He continued, "Fire Usurper, do you really not know where you came from, and do you not know your own nature?"
Duncan didn't say anything for a moment.
His origin and essence... To date, he has actually grasped many clues. The information emerging from the darkness, the "message" sent by human civilization at the end of time to the distant past, and the 0.002-second universe... are all revealing the truth about the individual "Zhou Ming".
But after a few seconds of hesitation, he did not choose to directly answer the "Ancient God" in front of him whom he met for the first time, but asked back: "I want to know, what do you mean by 'long-term observation'? You, and the other 'Ancient Kings', when did you discover me?"
"… We saw you in the first wave of impact after dozens or hundreds of worlds collided - you were the first of us, the Fire Usurper."
The expression on Duncan's face changed slightly, but returned to calm the next moment.
He was the first one... He had come into this world long before the Deep Sea Age began, more than ten thousand years ago.
It was not the year 1900 in the New City-State calendar, it was not the day when the Lost Hometown returned to the real dimension, it was not the day when he opened the door as "Zhou Ming"...
He just woke up that day.
It is one thing to have expected it in your mind, but it is another thing entirely to hear it with your own ears and confirm it with your own eyes.
However, Duncan just stood there calmly, as if all the emotional changes had settled in the deepest part of this body, and then he nodded gently: "...Go on."
"… We still don't understand why the impact occurred. The only thing we know for sure is that there were only a very small number of… 'survivors' of the impact. Those lucky or unlucky survivors are the so-called 'Ancient Kings'.
“Our survival is the result of accidents and distortions. Our nature… underwent earth-shaking changes after the impact. At that time, time was in chaos, space was squeezed and torn apart, and we rose from the scorching and chaotic ashes after the great annihilation. When we first confirmed each other’s existence, it was almost another disaster. Many people died of contamination during the ‘first contact’. Those who were not strong enough or lucky enough soon became new ashes in the ashes. Only a dozen figures were left, including… several names you know.
"And you, have been there since the beginning, sleeping in some kind of... 'cocoon' that we cannot understand. You have never woken up, and you don't even have a form. In our observation... You are an amorphous ball of light, and it seems that you are independent of everything around you, and you don't respond to the outside world in any way. Three long nights, countless gatherings, and countless changes that can reshape the world have not interfered with your existence.
"In fact, if you hadn't suddenly started to move recently, I would have thought that you would have remained asleep forever, forever maintaining that invisible glow, until this world after destruction was destroyed again...
"And 'our' observation' of you was carried out in such a situation without any response... Tarekin was the first to understand your name. He called you 'Fire Usurper', but he kept silent about the origin of this name. Pilot No. 2 understood your power or 'characteristics' to a certain extent. The King of the Pale Giants... He watched you for seventy-seven clock cycles in the center of the ashes, leaving only one sentence - he said he would see you again, and then he did not speak another word until he died in the first long night."
The ancient god's low tremors echoed in the deep sea, and the eternal and dim starlight sprinkled down from the sky, appearing inexplicably cold.
"Fire Usurper - we still don't understand what you are, but in the long years before you woke up, we have been watching your sleeping 'cocoon'. Those invisible glows revealed different truths and futures to each of us, and now, it is my turn to be the first to contact you."
Duncan was silent for a long time.
He needed to slow down - his overly chaotic thoughts needed to be sorted out.
An incomprehensible "cocoon", an invisible being sleeping deep inside the "cocoon"... Is this how I have always looked in the eyes of the "Ancient Kings"? !
And those "kings" who survived the great annihilation of the world's impact have been observing themselves like this... and have also gained a lot of "revelations" from this long "observation"
A strange feeling filled his heart. After a long while, Duncan frowned and spoke: "What about you? What kind of 'enlightenment' did you get from your long observation? Do you want me to 'take over' this 'shelter' you created today?"
Under the dim starlight, the majestic star-shaped mountain fell into darkness briefly, and then all the lights on its surface suddenly lit up, and each dark blue light stream gradually filled up. A low roar sounded from the depths of the mountain range, and then, as Shirley and others stared in amazement, the central "peak" of the mountain range slowly opened, and a flickering dark red core rose from its deepest part, like a giant single eye, calmly staring at Duncan.
“No,” the dark red core spoke with a stiff, cold mechanical texture. “The revelation I received is that you will ignite the entire world—all timelines, all historical processes, and the remaining lights of civilization in every world will be brought together in an unprecedented ‘cremation.’”
(End of this chapter)