"I don't understand at all." Raymond said helplessly.
Opal devoured the dinner on the plate. He always felt that he was very hungry recently. I don’t know if it was because of the growth of the body, or the environment of the country of arc is very good, which makes people feel calm, eat more and sleep well. .
Opal said: "It can be seen that you are not a teacher, are you still there? Let's have some more baked noodles, thank you."
Raymond thought about it and said, "But there is one question that I have thought about, and I have thought about it more than once."
Opal: "Second question?"
Raymond nodded, and Opal knew that he couldn't want it. It was the question of whether it was Raymond or Coroline. It must have troubled Raymond more than once in a period of time.
However, Opal never cared about theoretical things, and he only relied on a pure intuitive judgment on Raymond's soul.
"I think." Raymond said, "My soul existed before I opened my eyes. At that time, I didn't have any memory of Coroline, and I didn't have any special thoughts. My mind was completely blank. It's like waking up out of the dark and knowing nothing, it feels weird..."
Opal can't remember being a baby at all, no, the status of the fetus, but Raymond knows!
Raymond must remember!
"How is it? Describe it." Opal stopped eating and looked at Raymond.
Raymond said, "It's dark all around, I... feel very quiet, how can I put it, it's strange, I..."
Opal said: "Isn't this kind of time driven by survival instinct? For example, when you are thirsty, you want to drink, and when you are hungry, you want to eat..."
Raymond frowned slightly, as if thinking about his words.
"No." Raymond said, "I feel my existence first, not the outside world. It is a very hazy consciousness. I know myself first, and then wake up and feel the surrounding environment."
Opal said, "Which time?"
"For the first time," Raymond said, "while in the laboratory."
Opal said: "You know the surrounding environment before you open your eyes?"
Raymond said: "No, I know that I am a person, and I can't say that I know that I am a person, I know myself..."
Opal seized the center in an instant and said, "You are aware of your existence."
Raymond said: "Yes! That's what it means! Then I opened my eyes, and the training pod opened. I felt that when my first thought occurred, my own soul was born at that time, which may be the case. Later I Often wondered, am I part of Coroline? I think so, because the idea was created out of nothing…”
Opal was a little confused and said: "When a fetus can realize its own existence, does it have a soul? Later? When you come back to life for the second time..."
Raymond said: "The second time I felt like this, I drove the mech and rushed to Cororin's side. It was dark in front of my eyes. At that time, the surroundings quickly became dark. I moved, and the thought was that I would die. It's just a short moment, and when I open my eyes again, I see you who have become a child, and myself."
Opal caught a sentence, he fell into a brief shock, and said, "What was that sentence you said before?"
Raymond said, "When I opened my eyes..."
Opal said: "No, it's not this sentence! The front..."
Raymond: "The second feeling is..."
Opal: "Before."
Raymond said, "The idea came up all of a sudden? I thought it felt amazing, being created out of nothing..."
Opal said: "Yes, it was created from nothing, consciousness."
The two looked at each other for a long time, and Opal vaguely thought of something, but he couldn't explain it clearly. He remembered a paragraph that Cororin said to him a long time ago.
At that time, they made an emergency landing on an unknown planet. The virgin forest and the ancient lake reflected the moonlight. Coroline returned to the castle with the opal as a child and told him that the universe was created from nothingness, and Luo Gen believes that the forerunners who ignited the fuse for the universe are intelligent life that was bred in the universe-this obviously does not conform to causal inference.
There was chaos in his mind, as if through this question, he understood something, the soul was born out of nothing, even a sleeping fetus would know his existence, and the moment he realizes his existence, the survival instinct can will be excited.
Is that so? That's what Opal answered when he decided to confront the Pope, but what does it have to do with his father's quest of discovery
While he was still thinking, Raymond's communicator rang.
Opal said: "Teacher?"
Opal didn't care to eat, got up and went back to the room with Raymond, and turned on the projector.
Rickett, wearing a baseball cap, leaned halfway against the hood of a hover car and said, "Opal, Raymond, how are you doing?"
Opal described the Pope once, and Rector folded his arms, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll talk about the situation on my side first."
Raymond hugged Opal, and the two sat beside the bed. E7 shot a holographic projection of Lecter. Behind him was a very beautiful city. From here, Lecter seemed to be on the mountain road and could overlook the whole city.
"Justin and I took over and came here from the ring wind, the sub-star system." Rector said: "Justin, through the pastor, was instructed by the Pope to come to test Alex's meaning. And I, as a follower Accompanying him on the move, in my contact with Alex, I read some of his thoughts, Karthus is about to abdicate, and Alex is very hopeful to become the next emperor of the empire. The power has been afraid for a long time, and they decided to unite with the Queen of the Empire, Inni, to fully support her youngest son Alex."
Sure enough, Rector can get the most important news.
Raymond asked, "Where's Ledgerson?"
"A lot of people are involved in this interest group." Recht looked a little tired and said, "There is a long list of representatives of the Alex camp, and they have their own goals. Most of you don't. Know, I'll make a long story short. Ledgerson is Alex's mentor. He has considerable influence in the Holy See. After the end of the dark age, he used his influence to cultivate a lot of cronies, including being convicted five years ago. Lorraine implants the anti-hypnotic head of the Galactic Diocese, Bishop Kane."
Opal: "No wonder! I know who the Pope is talking about!"
Raymond said: "I think of that guy. He fought with us for the star map fragment of the Eye of Igna, and fell from the air."
Rector shook his head, but did not speak for a long time.
Opal was separated by millions of light-years, as if he could feel his disappointment with Ledgerson. It shouldn't be so miserable."
Recht said: "Baroque has support from the entire Galactic Republic. They contacted him through the ambassador of the Republic, Kashtlan, and observed, Tilgat fell, and the new Speaker Geng Wen formulated peace diplomacy, jointly A new strategic goal of development, peace talks with Cororin. They believe that after Baroque takes power, he will reduce his armaments for a period of time. But Baroque lacks the support of the military, so Justin is his only reliance."
Raymond said, "Is Justin sure you support him?"
Rickett said: "Yes, after talking with Alex, I think Justin will indeed support him because Alex's philosophy is not in line with him, and the powers with Inni as a faction unite the Rotman family. , intends to weaken the influence of the Holy See and gradually expel the missionaries of the Holy See of the Stars in the Lion Galaxy."
Opal said, "Where's Kartus?"
"The attitude of the Lion King is very difficult to figure out," said Rector. "He put Justin in the army, gave him a position of power and appeal, and let Alex do what he did. No one knew he was in the army." What do you think. Sometimes no attitude is an attitude. I guess he also regards the Pope as an opponent. Both sides negotiate the terms, place chess pieces on the chessboard, and wait for the right time to play the game. Let Alex represent himself, And let Baroque represent the Pope."
Opal said: "This is so stupid... The Pope is also in charge of him, isn't it? I suspect that he has some unknown arrangement and conspiracy."
Recht said: "Don't forget, Drummon still has a lot of influence in the Empire, and even the adventurers have many stellar believers. If Caltus doesn't follow the rules, it's very likely that Drummond There will also be violent means to resolve it, and based on your description of him, he is likely to do so."
"Yes yes yes." Opal agreed: "He is indeed a little neurotic."
Raymond laughed and said, "And what about the pirates?"
Recht said: "It was the Rotman family that brought about the alliance between Star and the Greater Astronautical Society. This plan was proposed as early as Azeroth's reign, and Azeroth agreed to Rotman's proposal at that time. , plans to gradually merge Fierce Star and the Great Astronautical Association in a peaceful transition way in the next hundred years, and finally fully merge into the Empire."
Opal: "… "
Recht said: "But Cororin launched an aggression against the star, and Azeroth had to cut off the negotiations and return home immediately. I found out in the Big Astronautical Society that Rotman had started six years ago. Glory Project."
Opal said: "Actually, I think what Azeroth did is right, and the star can at least..."
Recht said: "It's hard to say who's right and who's wrong. The late mercenary king had his own considerations. On the one hand, the mercenaries can be washed ashore collectively and no longer need to be lawbreakers in the universe. On the other hand, they will lose His own position, after joining the Great Astronautics Association, the strong star must abide by the imperial law and will no longer retain its original characteristics. If Azeroth also has ambitions, I guess he may have thought about letting the strong star annex the big aerospace Association, rather than simply handing over the kingdom of mercenaries to the empire."
"I always thought that Sauron's appearance was at the behest of Cororin, but now it seems that this matter has nothing to do with Cororin." Recht said: "Sauron interfered with the star through the youngest son of a fallen pirate family. , As for whether he colluded with Baroque, further investigation is needed. It's your turn."
"We just arrived one afternoon and the Pope gave me three questions," Opal said.
He put the question to Lecter, who answered him only after a brief thought.
Rector: "The Pope's first question, which Nolan once raised, is that the greenhouse represents the four-dimensional space, and the world outside the greenhouse represents a higher dimension. Nolan believes that this is one of the choices that natural population evolution must face. 1. Proto-life evolved into animals, animals evolved into intelligent animals, intelligent animals evolved into intelligent life, and intelligent life after a long evolution, began to find a new way out.”
"The current situation, and the situation after leaving the greenhouse, represents the life and death of human beings," Recht said. "The short-lived life is a confined area within the greenhouse, and the long death represents the borderless outside the greenhouse. Space."
When Opal heard this question, the shock in his heart was indescribable.
Lecter said: "What is life? What is death? Nolan found the answer in their parallel universe. The destruction of the human body is the process of the soul's transition to a higher-dimensional world, and leaves our universe after death. , can't come back, so you can't tell whether the world of death is good or not, and you can't get the situation of another world, you don't even know whether that world exists. This is the worry of the monkeys."
Opal said: "So the phantom people from the five-dimensional world... God, the information I saw mentioned that the break between the ivory tower and the scientific research organization... was after Nolan's father's... report meeting?"
Rickett said: "Perhaps the phantoms brought the answer to this ultimate question. Nolan didn't mention the details to me because I didn't understand it at the time. Of course, I still don't understand it now."
Raymond said: "This is too outrageous. It means that if you want to explore the five-dimensional space, everyone will have to commit suicide?"
Rector said: "Suicide is the only serious philosophical question, but I don't think he meant that. Maybe the Pope will give you another answer. Disciples, the teacher has limited time, and I told Justin I was just going out. He was Tifeng's favorite student, I don't want to let him know too early that I am in touch with the Pope. Opal, you need to convey a very important thing to the Pope, the situation may not be completely under his control, as Natasha Her friend will provide her with some assistance when appropriate, but it is not necessarily on the side of the Pope. We all need to rethink and reposition the differences in our relationship with Coroline. It can only be put on hold for the time being.”
"What about the second and third questions, teacher?" Opal realized that he would still have a chance to contact Lecter in the future, so he switched voluntarily.
"I don't know about the second one, and I haven't been exposed to this aspect." Rector shook his head and said, "As for the third one, I think, perhaps the rules themselves are the creators that restrict everything? Justin?"
Justin's voice came over there, and his voice was polite, saying, "Sir..."
Rector cut off communications.
Opal lay on the bed, seemed to understand something, and seemed even more confused.
Raymond said, "Have you figured out the first two questions?"
Opal said: "The Pope asked me not to use the teacher's answer. I don't know how to answer him. Go to sleep first, maybe you will have a new idea tomorrow."
Arc Star fell into the night, Raymond simply packed his things, and Opal didn't go back. He simply lay on Raymond's bed, and the two fell asleep with their arms around each other.
Opal was very sleepy on the first day he came to the Holy See. He had not slept well before, and soon fell asleep in a daze.
In the darkness, he felt Raymond touch his forehead, and when he opened it, he instantly found that he was slowly getting smaller!
When he was twelve years old, he was a little overwhelmed, he lifted the quilt and got up.
"Long time no see, Opal." Raymond's voice sounded. When Opal looked up, he saw that in the dormitory room of the Holy See, Raymond folded his arms, half sitting in front of the desk.
"Teacher?" Opal recognized Cororin almost instantly, and now found that Cororin has many small details that are exactly the same as Rickett, perhaps a habit that has been developed for thousands of years.
"The Pope sent me a communication." Coroline said in the dark: "You came to the carina?"
"Is this a dream?" Opal looked around, snapped his fingers, and the blue light of the stars lit up the room: "Well, I saw the Pope and asked him to collect information about my father. What about you? Where are you? place?"
"I'm in the female Luoxing, tracing the whereabouts of Kyle Ray." Coroline said: "Sauron and him are a group, and Sauron is the old lover of the mother of a prince in the empire..."
Opal said: "Baroque?"
Coroline was a little surprised, and then smiled: "You are also investigating this matter?"
Opal nodded, he wanted to ask something else, but was distracted by one thing, saying: "Sauron is very old..."
"You think he should have genetic surgery? After all, not every old man is as attractive as a teacher," said Corolin.
Opal laughed, and Coroline said solemnly: "The trouble with the Pope is coming soon, and Kartes is planning to deal with him. Now I give you a task. If something happens, I suggest you take away Drummon's Valuable belongings, run away quickly, I will reclaim the collection of the Stellar Cathedral from you at the auction price..."
"Oh teacher." Opal said: "You are too inhuman, his apprentice is still in your hands."
Coroline was silent for a moment, as if thinking. Opal suddenly remembered that in the dream, their communication was completely arbitrary, and they could read each other's thoughts, so they directly read Coroline's consciousness.
In his mind is the ruined country of the Arc, and the enthronement of the monks led by the shepherds.
"Is it so serious?!" Opal said: "But the teacher's inference is... He thinks Karthus will follow the rules and let Alex represent himself and Baroque represent the Pope in the game, because Karthus dare not Openly challenge the authority of the Pope…”
"No." Coroline shook his head and said, "If I were Kartus, I would not have done this. After all, he has been bullied by the Pope for too long, and this is the only chance to turn around."
Opal said: "But both are his sons. No matter who wins, the empire will continue."
"No no." Cororin said: "Teacher, he thinks too simply, he underestimates the role of a person, this person is very important."
"Who?" Opal asked.
Coroline was silent, and Opal went to read his heart, but the thought was fleeting, and it had already flashed past.
Coroline said: "Just thinking about it, what else did the psychiatric pope say to you?"
Opal laughed, and Corinthian said: "Now you have your wish, and I have become a team with Teacher Rector. You have to explain the information clearly, otherwise I think Natasha may take a fork to the empire to stab people, she Very angry now."
"I haven't asked the Pope these things, he seems to be under surveillance and only asked me three questions," Opal said.
Cororin frowned and said, "Spyed? Impossible, who can monitor him? His consciousness is not in his body at all. As long as he wants to, no one in the Holy See can know what he is thinking."
Opal said: "What?!"
Cororin seemed to have a headache how to explain this problem to Opal, and then directly pressed his palm on his forehead, transmitting an image of a person.
It was a girl holding a black cat.
Opal recognizes her, she is the prophet on the Crimson Star!
Cororin released his palm and said, "Dramon and the old witch exist in the same way. You can't understand it now, you just need to remember."
Opal nodded slowly, and Corinthian said, "What three questions?"
Opal said those three questions.
Cororin was silent for a long time, and finally said: "The first question is Nolan's answer, but I don't quite agree with his idea. Mr. Recht never questioned Nolan's point of view, because he felt that Nolan was better than us. Higher creatures, and I think there is still some common factor between us and the phantoms, do you remember the 'common knowledge' form I mentioned to you in the source of floodlight?"
Opal: "Remember, in the entire civilized society, you can read my heart, and I can also know what you are thinking. There is no conspiracy, no frame-up, and no desire for conquest and power. I always feel that there is something in it. wrong."
Corolin said: "Yes, there is no sensibility, only rationality. Sensibility is born from physical experience and the pursuit of pleasure, and rational civilization is the final destination of the human spirit after breaking away from the body, transcending the limitations of the body and leaving the four-dimensional world, just like Like the phantom group, they are looking for a new way of life. This is a trial, and the trial is coming. The first trial was stopped by Nolan, and now Nolan is dead, the Wheel of Time is missing, and the ivory tower says that mankind has no future, Do you believe it, Opal?"
Opal said: "Wait... I don't quite understand, what kind of way?"
Cororin said: "The way to evolve from four-dimensional life to five-dimensional life, and then continue to evolve in dimensions, and finally..."
He stopped talking with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Opal asked, "What happened in the end?"
Cororin said: "No one knows, because there is no precedent. If it succeeds and replaces the existence of the highest dimension, then perhaps all dimensions will collapse layer by layer, disintegrate, and generate a new big world, or maybe everything will return to zero and disappear. , from 'there' to 'nothing' again, or maybe a new dimension is opened up, and the push is added to the eleventh dimension..."
Coroline pressed Opal's forehead with his palm again.
It was dark all around, and there was a spot of light in the distance, and in the next second, it circled in place, and Opal saw the white shining stars burst out, then turned into countless faces, and then unfolded into a body, Countless individuals were created layer by layer, transforming into a magnificent and magnificent world.
"After four-dimensional beings evolve to five-dimensional," Coroline said, "they will exist in all parallel universes at the same time, and each soul will dominate the projection of its own body in all worlds. But they fail, which proves this No way, the Pope was the second person to get the news. That's my answer to the first question."
"Why did you fail?" Opal said: "Is this what you believe in? Judgment, what does it mean?"
Cororin thought for a while, looked at him seriously, and said: "These popes will tell you, but now Opal, I also want to ask you a question. If you don't understand, you might as well ask the pope, see Let's see how he responds."
Opal nodded, and Coroline said: "Suppose there is a 'you' in total darkness, you have no contact with the outside world, no five senses, no sight, no hearing, no touch...even no 'environment' and ' The concept of the world, can you realize your own existence at this time?"
Opal thought for a while and said, "Yes, maybe. Because my past memories are still there."
"What if you're just a fetus? The memories of past experiences have not yet formed in your mind, a solitary brain that has grown enough to think, with a blank space in it, with no memory added," said Corolin. Existing in the endless void, can you realize the existence of 'I'?"
Opal thought about it for a long time and said, "Yes, I think I can."
"What if you don't have a brain?"
Opal said: "It's too hard to imagine, teacher, I haven't experienced it at all..."
Coroline said: "This is my answer to the second question. The third question, Raymond has already answered you."
Opal said: "What?"
Corollin said: "The world is a soul, a consciousness, it was created from 'nothing'. You can think of the world including all dimensions as a consciousness that is completely different from our human form, an intelligent life ascending dimension. The process is a journey that is infinitely close to this great consciousness. If our world is a greenhouse where monkeys live, then this greenhouse may only occupy 4/11 of the world. The intelligent life is constantly evolving, and the purpose is to strive to integrate itself into the complete world. , or make yourself a complete world."
Opal said: "I... don't understand, what will happen after evolution?"
Corolin said: "For example, I exist in the four-dimensional world. If you decompose the four-dimensional universe, then you will find me in every moment of the three-dimensional universe. I also exist in the three-dimensional world of yesterday and the three-dimensional world of the day before yesterday. , the three-dimensional universe of the day before yesterday..."
"When you rotate and decompose these three-dimensional worlds into plane slices across the entire universe according to an axis passing through my body, you will find that there is a part of me in each slice... Similarly, when you are in my slice A circle center is set in the inner center, and this plane is decomposed into countless radial lines. You will also find that there is a part of me in each line - I am everywhere after step-by-step dimensionality reduction. But this is only limited to four-dimensional, three-dimensional, two-dimensional Dimension, the descending order of the lines sorts the world."
"And we don't exist in the fifth dimension, only creatures that exist in the fifth-dimensional world—let's put it this way, if there is a living being, this kind of creature will exist in every dimension below the fifth dimension. The same is true. , the existence of the six dimensions is also inclusive layer by layer - up to the highest dimension, which is the root of the world. The existence and designer of all rules."
"Original consciousness is everywhere, and the world of all dimensions has its projections. As the ancient philosopher said, gods exist everywhere, and we can only exist in the fourth dimension at the highest. Intelligent life must be integrated or replaced, layer by layer. If you go up to fuse it, you will be repelled by it. This is the fate of the magic star, goodbye, Opal, I have to go, the water is boiling. The beautiful chairman of the Plant Promotion Association is waiting for me to drink green leaf coffee with her. "
Opal: "Wait, teacher, I seem to understand a little... Isn't the chairman Caesar's lover? How did you steal Caesar's... Don't go!"
Coroline smiled at him and said, "We'll meet again."
Opal said: "Finally! One more thing! I won't be a child when I wake up!"
"You have grown up and left me." Coroline left Opal's dream, and the last words still echoed in his mind: "Only in my dreams and memories, you are a child."
Opal opened his eyes, and Raymond whispered, "What's wrong?"
Opal stared at Raymond in a daze. Raymond leaned over to kiss him. Opal felt a strange feeling. He pulled Raymond's head and watched for a long time.
Raymond whispered: "What did you dream about? Are you okay, wife, you have been smoking from time to time in your sleep recently, are you growing up?"
Opal laughed, nodded, put his arms around Raymond's neck, and kissed him with confidence.
The next day, Opal still hadn't figured out many things, but he knew it wasn't important, and the Pope would definitely tell him something. After all, Drummon asked him to come here because he needed an assistant.
Raymond still sent Opal outside the Pope's study. When Opal pushed the door in, he found that there seemed to be something more invisible in the room.
Gleibney didn't look at the opal, and said to the air, "I agree to this condition, but I'm running out of time, you'd better hurry up."
In an instant, there was a slight change in the study, and the three phantoms showed their bodies. Opal froze in his heart, and found that it was the body shape of the phantoms - the core with the arc and the blue light lingering around it.
He felt that the three phantoms were paying attention to him.
"This is Wagner, the great lord of the phantom star, and this is Cororin's disciple, Opal." Gleibney said.
Opal bowed slightly, and Wagner shook in the minds of the two directly by means of conscious communication: "Goodbye, Drummond."
The three phantoms disappeared, and Opal knew that the abilities of these higher creatures were extraordinary, and they couldn't read Gleibney's mind
"Sit down." Gleibney said, "Are you still drinking coffee today?"
Opal said: "I'll do it myself, do you have to drink medicine every day?"
Glebney nodded, made coffee by the opal windowsill, watched the fish swimming in the spherical goldfish tank, and heard Glebney's voice say behind his back: "I always had a strange idea when I was a child. "
"Huh?" Opal said casually.
"I wonder if everyone around me can read minds, everyone can read the mind of anyone in the world, and I'm the only one born without that ability," Gleibney said. So even though everyone knew what I was thinking all the time, no one exposed me, acted every day to cooperate with me, and pretended that everyone did not have this ability, so the whole world was unreal."
Opal smiled and said: "So the person who occasionally leaks this ability is the Star Knight? Everyone is also acting with the Star Knight?"
Gleibney nodded and said, "But I finally got it, do you want to try reading my mind?"
Opal's heart skipped a beat, thinking of yesterday's analysis with Coroline and Rector.
"I don't read people's minds very often," Opal said. "Except when my life is at stake with my friends."
"Ah, no problem," Gleibney said. "Come on, try to read my mind, I allow you to read it, and you can see me through and see what the hell is going on under my unsmiling surface. …”
Opal: "… "
Gleibney urged again and again: "Come on, try."
Opal then bluntly invaded Gleibney's mind with the force of faith, and read a blank.
This was the first time he had encountered the power of belief in his life. The beliefs of the strong were like iron walls, and it was difficult to penetrate their hearts, but their thoughts still existed.
But Drummond has no soul!
His consciousness is not there at all, so what is going on? !
Opal said: "What about your consciousness? You have no consciousness at all, you..."
Gleibney gave him a shush gesture with a smile, and said mysteriously, "Of course I have a soul, just not here. I'm actually hiding somewhere you can't see."