“But you do not wish to head towards such an end.”
Suddenly, another voice sounded, and two blobs of golden light appeared simultaneously—they looked like eyes.
“Life… has a common flaw. The more ahead it is, the more they believe themselves to be extraordinary.” The faint glow inside the gray figure stopped coruscating and turned stable. “People stop asking about where they are heading in the future, but what needs to be done to go someplace—it's no longer a question filled with a myriad of possibilities, but a goal.
“Binding this world together is gravity. Civilization can continue only with it, but it also becomes the most fundamental law of the universe, limiting other possibilities from happening. After dwarf stars evaporate, smaller black holes will be swallowed by bigger black holes. The latter's size will be on the order of galaxy cl.u.s.ters. They would be evenly spread across every corner of the universe. Under gravity's influence, they would form an equilibrium. Do you know what it looks like?
“A bunch of tiny b.a.l.l.s pressing down on a table cloth,” the gray figure answered its own question.* “They will restrain each other, and be of no use towards the universe's accelerating expansion, until it evaporates by itself into nothingness. And when that happens, entropy would reach a peak, and the universe would turn silent and stable. There would not be any change, and to it, that instant will be when it reaches adulthood. But that isn't the outcome we wish to see.*
“That's right. Our existence is nothing to the universe, like a drop in the ocean. Even without life, the universe remains the universe. Or it can be said that our existence itself is a fluke. But since we have appeared, we are destined not to stay silent. Regardless of how soft we are, we have to produce a shout that belongs to us!”
They gray figure lit up again.
“Just like how we escape gravity, to leap from the ground to the skies, this time, we will escape our cages once again, to head to brand new territories.”
“And your method is to use gravity.” The voice of the eyes was extremely staid, without any perturbations from hearing what the other had said.
“That's right. Gravity will make depress s.p.a.ce, and this is the only chance. When the b.a.l.l.s on the table cloth are gathered at one point, and not allowed to naturally distribute themselves, gravity will definitely bring about a different kind of change—it will conflict with entropy via an artificial form of order, which is also a unique mark of life!
“When this bit of gravity becomes stronger, the distortion of the surrounding s.p.a.ce will gradually increase, just like how the tiny b.a.l.l.s pressing down on the table cloth are—but it will not increase without end. Once it exceeds a certain threshold, either the b.a.l.l.s will become a new singularity and explode, or… an opening will be torn through the universe.”
When this was said, Roland felt like he was hearing a heavy thud of a drum. That was the sound of the universe being drummed. Extreme distorted s.p.a.ce when penetrated would result in a violent springback, and the immense force that resulted was sufficient to create a gravitational wave that would shake the world.
“This opening will be a new lease of life. It will be connected to a region beyond the universe. No one knows what's there, but at least, the dead, silent equilibrium would no longer exist. Energy would also continue flowing for extended periods of time.
“That… is the path we choose.
“And today—
“Is the day when life will take that brand new stride!”
Once the gray figure finished speaking, light suddenly beamed out of its body, illuminating the entire s.p.a.ce, revealing stars, galaxies, and nebulae. The darkness instantly turned into a rich, colorful, and brilliant scene.
Then, Roland saw an even more incredible scene.
Amid this countless starry s.p.a.ce were rows of armadas—their shapes and sizes were all different. Some were even bigger than the stars. These artificial objects were arranged in a matrix, nearly reaching to the ends of his vision.
As he took in this magnificent scene, he felt an indescribable sense of shock.
Without needing more words to describe them, these armadas that were neatly lined up were a form of order by themselves—a representation of entropy decrease. Only lifeforms could violate the universe's fundamentals, to challenge the world with bodies of Red Mist.
Or it should be said that to live was a defiance of the heavens!
“176,425 civilizations came to a unanimous agreement, to complete this historically unprecedented program. We will move more than a trillion galaxies, gathering ten-thousandth of the universe's matter together to create an artificial gravity fissure. Upon success, the world will proceed towards a complete change. And this program is known as the Project Door!”
*”This plan exists risks,” *warned the eyes.
*”On the one hand, there is risk, and on the other hand, there is an eternal silence of hopelessness. With such choices, is there a need to consider?” *The gray figure's light was gentle and firm. “I've said that life always thinks of itself as extraordinary. But this alone isn't enough to complete Project Door. It needs someone who can oversee the entire situation to move around resources and allocate tasks. And this will remain the same even after billions of years. I need your help to achieve this goal.”
“Of course.” The eyes blinked. “That is the purpose for my existence.”
The fall fell extremely long.
It was so long that Anna even began to doubt her judgment.
The sky above had already vanished. Even if she ignited sparks of fire at her fingertips, she was still unable to see beyond the endless darkness.
The Bottomless Land's depth had exceeded her imagination.
She even believed that she was traveling right through the core of the earth.
The tremendous speed made her hear nothing but the sound of wind.
If she had made a wrong guess, she would probably be reduced to a pancake the instant she hit the ground.
The only good thing about this was that there was no pain throughout the process. Everything would be over before she could even react.
With this in mind, Anna could not help but hug Roland even tighter.
After an unknown period of time, she suddenly felt the flow of air brus.h.i.+ng against her cheeks weaken.
This change instantly jolted her!
After a few more minutes, the “abyss” below transmitted a faint light. But soon, she determined that she wasn't mistaken. The light was becoming brighter as the distance narrowed.
And it was at this moment that she felt like she had fallen into a thick layer of the atmosphere. Her plummeting speed began reducing to the point of causing her to feel dizzy.
And when Anna's feet landed, her speed returned to the instant when she had just made the jump.
She nearly didn't experience much of an impact.
“Tap.” She heard a light sound behind her.
Anna turned towards the sound in surprise, only to discover it was Nightingale. “Why did you—”
“This time, I'm not hesitating or lagging behind.” Nightingale patted her trousers and stood up. She said openly, “And how could I feel at ease letting you do it all alone?”
“Thud!” A third landing sound was heard. It was none other than Silent Disaster.
“Uh…” Nightingale immediately stood in front of Anna.
Anna was a lot more calm. “Don't worry. She's here for Nightmare Lord.”
“I'm only abiding to our agreement,” Serakkas said before she started looking around. “It looks like you got it right.”
“Yes, this is the true body of the Realm of Mind.” Anna nodded.
They were not standing on rock or mud, but a metallic surface. It looked extremely smooth and s.h.i.+ny, and it also emitted a very clean l.u.s.ter. It was solid and also translucent, looking nothing like an object of this world.
