The flame penetrated the crystals, spreading rapidly among the hair-like, dazzlingly complex three-dimensional structures inside the crystals. As the flames were injected, Duncan's consciousness gradually began to sink.
He felt that he had entered an empty, quiet, cold and silent place.
It was as if he was in a corner that had been forgotten for endless years. An inexplicable sense of isolation and loneliness was almost instantly transmitted along the flame, and then he felt light appear in his field of vision—a strong, almost indistinguishable, cold light.
He opened his eyes and found himself standing on a huge black stone floating in the void, and a terrifying golden sun was burning quietly in front of him. The flames on the surface of the sun were surging, and the astonishing prominence structure rose in the void and slowly fell in silence.
However, the scorching sun did not generate any heat - even though the distance was so close, Duncan did not feel the terrifying high temperature that should have been brought by the sunlight shining on his body. It just burned silently and coldly, as if it was just a scene that was simply recorded... an image.
Is it the Black Sun? Did I see Him again
Duncan frowned slightly and thought so subconsciously, but then he discovered that the heatless golden sun was different from the "black sun" he had seen before - there were no strange and terrifying tentacle structures deep in its shell, nor was there the dying pale eyeball, and more importantly... this "sun" did not try to call for help.
It is a photographic record of a real star!
Duncan reacted quickly, and then his gaze finally shifted away from the cold and scorching sun and began to pay attention to the "black boulder" under his feet.
This is a huge man-made creation!
Its surface is smooth, but you can see grooves and carvings that are obviously artificially processed. The seemingly stone-like material has a faint metallic luster. At certain "nodes" of those grooves, you can see raised structures of unknown purpose, as if they were made of strange crystals.
Duncan's gaze extended outward along the edge of the boulder, and then looked at the vast and boundless dark void surrounding the golden sun.
He saw more "monoliths" - countless huge black man-made objects like "stone tablets" floating around the golden sun, floating in the endless darkness, arranged in a neat array like a wall. From this perspective, he finally saw more details of the side facing the sun - the precisely cut crystal surface reflected the sunlight on one side of the monolith, and there seemed to be a sophisticated mechanical device under the crystal, which seemed to be used to adjust the angle of the crystal array. The whole structure looked... as if it was designed to collect the energy released by the sun? !
Duncan stared blankly at the array of "monoliths" floating around the sun, watching them form a large and loose spherical shell in the darkness, surrounding the star in the center. Then he noticed the faint distorted light between each floating device, like some kind of force field. Outside this amazing "spherical shell" structure, in the depths of the boundless darkness, there seemed to be more hazy shadows, but they could not be seen clearly due to the distance and interference from the sunlight.
what is that
Is it a distant planet? A habitable station in space? A giant spaceship? Or...
A control center used to maintain and control this amazing Dyson sphere
It was unknown how long it took Duncan to withdraw his gaze from the huge spherical shell array in space. After realizing what he was seeing, it took him a long time to come back to his senses.
…The crystal device left behind by the Children of the Sun does not store any dark forbidden truths or corrupted knowledge of the ancient gods, but… an ancient Dyson sphere structure.
Duncan narrowed his eyes slightly.
No, these are the truths of the dark taboos and the corrupted knowledge of the ancient gods. For the deep sea era, for the debris left over from other universes, and for all things established under other mathematical systems, a Dyson sphere supported and built by the parameters of an alien universe is the ultimate corruption and pollution.
After recovering from his shock, Duncan walked towards the edge of the black "rock" under his feet, while recalling the "New Hope" that crashed in this world.
Did that ship also become a "pollution" to this world? After it crashed... what did it become
He stood at the edge of the stellar energy focusing device and looked down.
The cliff-like mechanical shell and the endless darkness in the distance came into his sight.
Duncan knew that there was actually no distinction between "up and down" here. If he had to explain, the gravity released by the distant star pointed to the only "down" here. But his senses still told him that the black device under his feet was down. Standing on the outer shell of this device, he felt down to earth as if he was standing on the ground - he would neither fall into the endless universe nor be captured or sucked away by the gravity of the sun.
This misalignment between intellectual knowledge and actual feeling helps him to constantly remind himself that this is just an illusion recorded inside a "blasphemous prototype".
So what's deeper in this record? Is there something else
Duncan sensed his own flames, and he manipulated them to spread deeper into the crystal, allowing his consciousness to sink further.
The brilliant golden sun and the amazing Dyson sphere structure disappeared.
Boundless darkness spread from all directions and filled his vision.
Contrary to expectations, he did not see the demise of the civilization that created the Dyson sphere, nor did he see another world collision - he seemed to have skipped this process and came to the dark chaos after the extinction of all things.
After being stuck in this dark chaos for an unknown amount of time, just when Duncan was about to doubt that there was really no more information in this crystal, a faint light suddenly appeared in his field of vision!
Several rays of light appeared, and there seemed to be vague shapes in the dim light, some were huge, some were strange, and some were twisted and shapeless. He couldn't see the true outlines of those glimmers at all, but he heard... "voice".
Those voices rang directly in his mind—
"… The compatibility is seriously lower than expected, and the 'Dream King' has also failed… We must adjust the plan…"
"It is impossible for the shelter to protect everyone... The survival conditions of some entities are too stringent, and it is too difficult to protect them while ensuring the survival of other entities."
"… draw up a list, and those outside the list…"
"Who makes this decision? How are the criteria for the list formulated?"
"…First determine the compatibility threshold, then simulate… LH-01 calculates a plan to create a stable anchor that can maximize the guarantee… But it still needs to give up some… "
After that, there was a chaotic noise, and it seemed that the corresponding records were missing. Duncan was dizzy from the noise, but soon he heard clear information in the noise -
“… the entities on this list are difficult to transform and the cost of preservation is too high… they can only be abandoned.”
"…there is still 3% redundancy, which can be adjusted…"
"… They must survive in a specific stellar environment, and their sunlight is extremely toxic to other entities… LH-01's solution cannot meet this requirement… Time is running out.
“…give them up.”
boom!
An illusory roar shattered all sounds and the boundless darkness. Duncan felt that he had touched the bottom layer of the information - no more information emerged. Amid the roar and dizziness, his consciousness was quickly pulled out from the depths of the crystal.
He opened his eyes and saw the familiar cabin in front of him. The pale golden crystal was lying in the palm of his hand, and it quickly turned into a pile of ashes under the burning of the dark green flame.
The information contained in the crystal has been drained, and this "blasphemous prototype" that should not exist in the real dimension has also lost its stability.
Duncan rubbed his hands, and the last bit of ash remaining in his palms immediately melted into the air.
He raised his head and met the goat-head's gaze.
"What did you see?" asked the Goat Head a little nervously.
“… The process of their abandonment was once again confirmed by the contents of the Blasphemous Book.”
Duncan did not hide anything. He told the Goat Head in front of him everything he had seen and heard deep in the crystal.
Of course, he did not explain in detail the details of the "Dyson sphere" and the like - this part cannot be explained in a short time.
After he finished speaking, there was silence in the captain's room for a long time.
After an unknown amount of time, the goat head suddenly moved, and its tone was a bit complicated: "... It is recorded in the Book of Blasphemy that during the Third Long Night, a 'Clan' was exiled into the darkness..."
Duncan nodded slightly. He certainly remembered this part of the description: "It also records that the clans exiled to the darkness did not die - they gradually twisted during the long exile and turned into... something more dangerous."
The goat-head thought for a while, and suddenly asked: "What do you think of this matter? Do you think the current actions of the descendants of the sun are... excusable?"
"It's meaningless to discuss right and wrong in this matter," Duncan shook his head. "The world is not created by justice. I don't know what state the world was in after the Great Annihilation and before the beginning of the Deep Sea Age. I don't know how many plans the 'kings' who tried to build the shelter had and how many trade-offs they made. It is foolish and short-sighted to comment on the choices made by our predecessors when paving the way in a stable era, especially from our current position... Any form of 'sympathy' is neither reasonable nor necessary."
“… You are right.” The goat head was silent for a moment and said softly.
Duncan didn't say anything else, he just nodded slightly, and then his eyes fell on the small "sun" that Vanna got from the giant.
(End of this chapter)