Chapter 804: Chapter 801: Pilgrimage of the Doomsday

Dusk had fallen, with disordered breezes blowing across the plains, whisking the fallen leaves atop the small hills into whirls that soared towards the high heavens, while the silhouette of the city at the horizon soaked in the sunlight, gradually gilded in a resplendent golden glow.

This “illusion” created by Navigator II, based on the residual information in its database, was terrifyingly realistic–so much so that even a speck of dust, a wisp of wind here was simulated to perfection. If Duncan hadn’t known beforehand that he was only conversing with this ancient AI on a conscious level, he would have been unable to distinguish the small hill from the plains from the real world.

Yet this was but an illusion after all, the perfection of its simulation being its most substantial flaw. Every speck of dust here was part of the calculation results of Navigator II. Those seemingly disordered breezes had their trajectories set within Navigator II’s computational core before they even crossed the plains–nothing could ever occur here beyond the database and calculated results, not even a “random” speck of dust blown by the wind.

The ancient kings all knew the trend toward the world’s end and the truth of the great oblivion, but only Navigator II, this mighty artificial intelligence constructed by an advanced civilization and that once crossed the starry seas, truly grasped those subtle yet fatal “differences” in the fundamental laws of the “world.”

Now, he had finally found another being capable of understanding it all.

The weary man in the white researcher’s uniform sat down on the hillside, perched on a large rock, somewhat absentmindedly gazing at the simulated dusk in the distance.

“My creators, they haven’t touched the heights that your civilization achieved, so I also can’t comprehend the nature of a 0.002-second slice of the universe or the kind of future it would create–that’s why I can’t help but worry, worried that your plan is only creating a larger ‘Endless Sea.’

“It might be vast, even capable of harboring trillions of stars; it could have a long life, even measured in billions of years like the real universe, but as long as the issue of ‘ultimately transcending boundaries’ isn’t solved, it remains a ‘Shelter.’ Civilization can’t develop beyond the blueprint’s limits; thus, the very things that once destroyed our homeland could still obliterate it…

“‘Paranoia’ is the second concept related to ‘humanity’ that I learned after the creators disappeared. This ‘paranoia’ coupled with ‘fear,’ just like source code, is deeply etched into my foundational system, keeping me constantly thinking and calculating, seeking the possibility that could allow ‘two-dimensional beings’ to ‘stand up’ on a flat surface–I refer to this possibility as a ‘supersystem event.’

“But I have failed.

“Supersystem events are not allowed in closed-loop systems. I can continue to adjust myself through countless iterations, making my logical system perfect, but the truth is, it’s non-closed-loop and supersystem characteristics that are privileges of the real universe.”

The hillside quieted down, Duncan and Navigator II together gazed into the distance. It was quite a while before he suddenly broke the silence: “…So for the Endless Sea, Sherry represents a ‘supersystem’ entity, but is it possible that it’s only because the ‘information’ I carry exceeds the framework of the Endless Sea itself–in my own 0.002-second range of the universe, this information is still part of a closed-loop system, unable to transcend itself.”

Duncan voiced this possibility quietly. He knew the conjecture wasn’t very pleasing because if it were true, it meant the situation Navigator II worried about was doomed to occur: whether in the old world or the new, “supersystem events” would never happen–civilizations are destined to perish in a cage, however vast that cage could be made.

Navigator II fell silent. After thinking for a long time, it gently shook its head.

“After meeting that girl, part of my thought processes considered this possibility, but in the end, my calculations rejected the conjecture,” it said slowly, “because you didn’t completely ‘reshape’ her. Besides your ‘influence,’ everything that constitutes Sherry is still a ‘product’ of the Shelter…

“This process could be seen as a supersystem event occurring in an originally closed-loop system. You haven’t changed the ‘total quantity of information’ of the Endless Sea Shelter in this process, in other words… the 0.002-second slice of the universe’s information is still completely encapsulated within you.

“Based on this, I judge that ‘supersystem’ itself might be your ‘trait.’ The transformation occurring within Sherry isn’t because she was added information from outside the Endless Sea Shelter, but because she has been tainted with your ‘trait.'”

Duncan frowned in contemplation, but still couldn’t resist saying, “However, your judgment might not be accurate, as you said yourself, you have the ‘limitations’ of a closed-loop system.”

“Indeed, I have the limitations of a closed-loop system, so I can’t perfectly analyze and calculate things related to you–to say ‘the new world is another Endless Sea’ is still a possibility.”

Navigator II said this and paused, then shook its head after a moment.

“But it doesn’t matter. Even if that is the case, we likely don’t have a better plan. ‘Doing our utmost’–many times, that’s the only thing we can do.”

Duncan didn’t say anything more, just slightly nodded his head, and then sat there with the other on the hillside, enjoying the luxurious peace in the evening breeze, watching the shimmering ripples on the rivers of the plains.

In this simulated illusion, time could flow very slowly–and it had been a long time since Duncan had last let his mind go blank like this.

But luxury always seems brief when it finally comes to an end.

“I should leave,” Duncan suddenly said, standing up from the hillside, “The road ahead is long.”

“Yes, you still have a long journey,” Navigator II also stood, watching Duncan calmly, “You still need to meet the two of us who remain. After traversing all the nodes of the external barrier, Gomona will be waiting for your appointment–don’t keep the lady waiting too long.”

Hearing this, Duncan fell silent for a moment: “…You’re aware of my plan, aren’t you?”

“…You’re on a ‘pilgrimage’ around the external barrier. That’s the first step towards destroying this world,” Navigator II smiled, the smile tinged with a childlike purity, “I know, once you leave from Gomona’s place, the countdown to the real destruction of this world will start–after all, regardless of how the new world comes into being, the destruction of the old world is a fundamental part of this process. We have to find a way to end that ‘great oblivion’ that continues to this day.”

He raised his arm, extending a hand to Duncan, his face still adorned with that pure smile.

“I don’t know the odds of success for this, nor do I know if we can really be ‘preserved’ by you to the new world, or what new ‘posture’ we’ll meet upon actually arriving ‘there.’ But I believe you will do your utmost, so until we meet again in the new world.”

Duncan gazed at the hand extended before him and, after a brief hesitation, he clasped the other’s palm.

A faint green flame flickered silently in between their clasped fingers, then vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Till we meet again in the new world.”

Duncan’s figure gradually faded into the air–the link was severed.

The insensible breeze that once brushed across the plains and hills had imperceptibly ceased, and the golden red twilight that pervaded the skies was becoming increasingly dim, as a man in a white research uniform stood silently on the hilltop, watching the world around him slowly succumb to darkness.

The blurred memories from his homeland returned to slumber in the darkness, while he stood there for a long time, motionless, until he slowly raised his right hand.

A faint green flame still danced on the tip of his finger, yet in the blink of an eye, that greenish glow was tarnished with a hazy starlight, as if it had undergone a Transformation to reveal its original “true form.”

Pilot Unit Two raised his hand and, in the darkness, gave a gentle wave.

A vast array of interwoven lights and shadows emerged from the void, rapidly sketching a scene through a series of astonishing changes–the vast Endless Sea, the City-State engulfed in gloom, the fog encircling the world, and the nodes and barriers at the edge of the fog, visible only now and then.

This was the “surveillance” screen for the entire world.

Pilot Unit Two’s gaze swept over the projection, and at the edge of the screen, among the nodes and barriers that flickered in and out of sight, he saw a faint scattering of starlight.

That starlight spread from the node representing the “Queen of Leviathans,” passing over a quarter arc of the outer barrier and now lingering on his “Pilot’s node.”

The starlight seemed to Corrode the barrier, and even though it was just a “simulation data” scene transmitted through countless sensors, it still emitted a powerful and vast… “presence.”

And the scent of destruction.

Pilot Unit Two quietly waited, and after what felt like an eternity, he saw the starlight resting on the Pilot’s node flicker, then continue to spread toward the next node.

The starlight that spread along the barrier’s ring seemed like a “dial” for the doomsday clock of the world.

After brief contemplation, Pilot Unit Two slightly shifted his gaze, and a string of information appeared in his vision, to be sent far away:

“Source-LH02, to–King of Fire–ta is heading your way.”

In the darkness, Pilot Unit Two waited a long time for Tarrikin, who seemed never to have been so slow to reply before in his memory.

But at last, he received a response, and a message appeared before his eyes:

“Source–King of Fire–I understand, I am prepared.”

“Source-LH02–Your reply is slow, is everything alright?”

“…The fire dwindles, but I am still here.”

“…Bartok, are you still there?”

“I am.”

“Queen of Leviathans, are you there?”

“…Yeah.”

The hollow howling from the Wilderness of Death and the murmuring whispers from the deep-sea temple came through indistinctly, Pilot Unit Two breathed softly, waving away the remaining dim light in the air.