Sylby woke up from a dream, and in a trance, it was as if he had gone through a long cycle, a journey that had lasted for thousands of years. And when he woke up, everything in the dream was quickly forgotten.

He looked at his alarm clock, and the mountains of books in the room, and there was a row of bright red letters on them, reminding him of something.

【Go to the Apex】

Looking at the row of large letters, he muttered.

I'm so tired from researching.

Engineer Sylby Spencer climbed up and continued to prepare for the next moon landing.

Thousands of kilometers away, in a muddy farmstead, Hoffa carries heavy fodder on his shoulders and pants in front of a herd of mooing cows. He opened the feed packet and scooped spoonful after spoonful of feed into the trough.

The door opened, and a man who looked like a contractor walked in and said to him, "Hoffa, the boss wants to invite you to dinner, and Lina is here." ”

"Don't go. Hoffa said lightly as he fed the cows.

"I'm not talking about you, you're twenty years old, it's time to find a partner. The foreman said.

"I have a wife. Hoffa said.

"You have a wife?" said the foreman, surprised, "why haven't I seen it, what's your wife's name?"

Hoffa remembered something in a trance. It is true that he does not remember his wife's face, nor does he remember her name, but he can still feel a kind of tenderness and love in his heart.

"No, I still have work to do at night. He said.

(Applause.) ）

The success of this moon landing makes us welcome Sylby Spencer, an aerospace engineer who has been on the moon, to give us a wonderful speech.

(Applause.)

(Applause.)

"Sylby?"

"Sylby

The host looked around.

A woman dressed as a secretary stood up and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, host, Mr. Spencer asked me to tell you that he is now preparing for the landing on Mars and is not available for the celebration banquet. ”

Fifty years later

A pile of wooden statues was placed in the room, and Hoffa was lying on a chaise longue, wearing reading glasses, and carving two figurines with a carpentry knife in his hand. The figures are very clumsy, one with long hair and the other with short hair. Huo Fa stared at the two clumsy figures, scratching his head, it seemed that his talent was really not good, and he couldn't carve a satisfactory appearance no matter how he carved it.

At this moment, a deep voice came over the radio.

"Today, we have lost forever Sirby Spencer, the greatest aerospace engineer of all time, who fell into Jupiter's atmosphere when the spacecraft flew to Jupiter because of the inadvertent detachment of the heat shield.

Hoffa was slightly stunned.

Then he closed his eyes and remembered nothing.

——

Sylby woke up from his dream again, looking at the kneeling crowd beneath him, feeling a little dazed. He seems to be flying, has been flying, how could he suddenly sit on the throne.

"Your Majesty, do you remember the shame of your father's murder?"

The prime minister cried.

The cry woke him up from his dream, and he looked at the large letters on the plaque in front of him.

【Go to the Apex】

"No!

Sylby shouted, "I will never forget it in this life!"

It's really too much pressure to fly what to fly.

As a king, it is natural to rule the world and become the apex being.

Somewhere in the kingdom in a field.

Hoffa had a hoe in his hand and kept plowing the fields. The hot sun shone on his head, drenching him in sweat, and he stopped from time to time to wipe his head with a towel.

"Brother, it's time to eat!"

Someone called out to him from the edge of the field.

Looking back, it was a sweet-looking girl, a girl who grew fruit in the village.

Reluctantly, he put down his hoe and went to the edge of the field, where the girl handed him a towel and a lunch box. He only accepted the lunch box, but refused the towels.

"Thank you, Bessie, but I won't be delivering food tomorrow. Hoffa said.

The girl was stunned: "Why?"

"The king is going to be conscripted. Hoffa said.

"Are you going?" said the girl's eyes.

"Am I the one to choose?"

"It seems like I can't help it. ”

"Then we have to go. Hoffa said lightly.

"Will my brother come back?" the girl looked down at him shyly.

Hoffa wiped his sweat and put the towel on his back.

"Not coming back. ”

Ten years later.

At the commendation meeting.

Hoffa stood on a high platform and stared at the man seated in the throne. The man's expression was a little lonely, which was the taste of the apex.

"In this battle against the Oren Empire, Bach, because of your meritorious service, Your Majesty has granted you a wish. The general said approvingly, "What reward do you want?" ”

"A piece of land. Hoffa said without hesitation.

"How big is it, and where is it?"

"Okay, fertile, the size of my comrades. ”

He said without modesty: "I will be as big as anything else." ”

"Then why don't you assign two wives to you? The general whispered in his ear.

Hoffa was stunned for a moment and said, "I have a wife." ”

Fifty years later

Gray-haired, Hoffa lay alone under the grape trellis of a fertile farmstead, carving two pieces of wood in his hands. The girl on the wood wears a smiling expression, one with long hair and the other with short hair. When Hoffa looked at them, he always felt that his skills were not good enough to carve the feeling in his heart.

"Sir!"

A servant pushed the door and rushed in, sweating and shouting beside him.

"What's the matter? ”

Hoffa said as he stroked the wooden figure.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty is dead!"

The servant cried out, as if the sky had fallen.

"Your Majesty has died?" Hofa looked at the wood carving in his hand and asked lightly, "Why did you die?"

"When Your Majesty was on an expedition to the east to hurt the country, he was bitten off by the palace maid and the palace maid because of the slaughter of the city."

The servant whispered a few words in Hofa's ear.

Hoffa raised an eyebrow, then his eyes went dark, and he didn't remember anything.

——

Sylby woke up from his dream again, and the pain in his lower body made him smash the report out of his hand in a rage.

"Slut!"

The report fell, revealing the sluggish fat face of the partner.

Sylby was stunned as he looked at the office wall.

There was a red arrow that curved upwards.

There are a few words in the direction of the arrow.

【Go to the Apex】

He bit his lip for a moment.

It's really too much pressure, what kind of king does he dream of a private equity fund manager, it's ridiculous, how can he make money when he is a king. He got serious and continued to read the boring financial statements.

On the street, Bach's fried chicken shop

Hoffa slammed the chicken leg in his hand into pieces, then quickly packed it in a box and handed it to the customer in front of him. Customers lined up in long lines for the best bargain fried chicken in the city.

All fried chicken is sold out.

The customer queue is not yet halfway through.

Hoffa hung up the sold-out sign, pushed the garbage sorting bin to the back of the kitchen, and found a chair. Lie down under the fan and blow the air.

"Boss, can't you just do more?"

A beautiful female white-collar worker carefully bypassed the garbage sorting bin, ran to the back kitchen unhappily and asked him: "I can't eat every time I come from work." ”

The greasy Hoffa lit a cigarette, spit it out, and said coldly, "Take out." ”

"Don't, how can there be hand-bought incense for takeaway. The bright female white-collar worker wriggled around and said unhappily: "Boss, can you keep a copy for me alone?" ”

Hoffa sneered: "Dreaming." ”

The bright female white-collar worker said aggrievedly: "Why is the boss!"

"My wife can't even eat it for you!?"

Hoffa slammed the door shut.

"Mr. Sylby, what is your secret to making hedge funds the best in the world?" the moderator asked, "Did you change the scale of management from 100 million to 1 trillion?"

"Quantitative management. ”

Sylby elegantly pushed his glasses and said.

"Quantitative management?"

"Yes, all the factors that affect the economy are integrated into one model. All fluctuations since then are in my calculations. ”

"Won't there be accidents?"

"No, all the risks on this planet are in the calculations of my model. Even the slightest fluctuation, even if a certain country is in a hot state and has a war in its head, is still in my calculations. ”

"So, Mr. Sylby, will you stop there, will you manage more money?"

As long as the economy does not stop, the scale of my management will not stop. ”

Sixty years later

Hoffa leaned against the back kitchen of the fried chicken restaurant, carving two statues with a carving knife in his hand. A group of apprentices looked curiously at the exquisite wood carvings in the cupboard. The wood carving can clearly be seen to be two beautiful women, they have different postures, one with long hair, the other with short hair, and their eyes are smiling, which is very moving.

A minor apprentice tried to reach out and touch the two statues, but was kicked by an adult man.

"If you don't wash your hands, you dare to touch your wife, and you will die!"

The senior brother scolded.

The apprentice retracted his hand.

Suddenly, the door of the back kitchen was slammed open, and an apprentice hurriedly broke in, shouting, "Master! Master!

"The sky is falling?" said Hoffa, who carved the wood carvings, lightly.

"It's more scary than that!" the apprentice shouted, waving the newspaper in his hand, "The financial crisis is coming, and more than half of our chain stores have collapsed overnight!"

All the apprentices gasped.

Hoffa was unmoved, continued to carve, and asked lightly: "Why is there a financial crisis?"

"A meteorite hit the chip area of the Northern Plains, destroying all the high-precision industries in the world! The king's fund, the world's largest quantitative fund, has exploded! The king's fund manager, the world's richest man, has committed suicide by jumping off a building!"

Hoffa was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes went dark. I don't remember anything.

——

Sylby woke up from his dream again.

The cold wind whistling in his ears was vivid, and he opened his eyes sluggishly, looking at the soft magic crystal lamp above his head. This time, he was confused. It was as if there were many times, and he woke up like he was now, many, many times.

But every time I woke up, the confusion was deeper than the last.

On the table, the large and small scrolls are still vivid, and on the scrolls, the bright large characters are still reminding him of where to go.

【Go to the Apex】

For the first time, Sylby was confused about the vertex.

What exactly is the culmination?

If those vertices have something inconspicuous that will shake him easily.

If those vertices seemed so fragile in the face of the uncertainty of the world.

Is that a vertex still a vertex?

This time, the mage Sylby fell into a deep state of confusion.

The long winter night has arrived.

Strange lands, strange kingdoms, strange environments.

There is no more fertile land, no more fertile soil, no more strange women coming to him, only the eternal aurora and night.

Hoffa trudged alone in the snow, carrying firewood on his back and going to the bazaar to exchange for supplies.

The bazaar was empty, and not many people were still alive in this dead wasteland.

Looking at the unsalable firewood in his hand, and the lonely aurora in the sky, Hoffa lit a fire. Take out a knife and gently carve the material in your hand in the loneliness.

Soon, the firewood came alive in his hands. Hoffa looked at the two girls and smiled slightly in the winter night, as if all the cold had left him.

"Excuse me, can I buy your statue?"

He was asked, "I can pay for it." ”

A man dressed as an aristocrat stopped beside him, and he said in shock as he looked at the statue in Hoffa's hand.

"Not for sale. Hoffa said.

"You seem to be poor, I can give money, lots and lots of money. ”

The aristocratic man looked obsessively at the statue in Hoffa's hand.

"No, let's go. ”

Hoffa carried the statue in his arms and unceremoniously gave the order to evict the guest.

The nobleman looked at the man in the snow and stretched out his hand to him: "It's okay if you don't sell it, please let me raise you, as long as you are willing to carve for me." ”

"Mage, may I ask, what can we rely on in this cold and lonely world?"

In the cold temple, an aging woman asked Sylby.

Sylby didn't know how to answer, he was already lost in a long thought.

"I used to be a beautiful woman, when I was young, countless people fell under my skirt, but in just ten years, I can only survive in the snowdrifts.

Stupid woman, maybe he used to say that, but at the moment, Sylby was just silent, the apex he sought could never be as fragile as a woman's appearance, but what could not be fragile?

Why is it always impossible to grasp the uncertainty?

Why is there always something unexpected?

Why is there something unexpected lurking next to the vertex every time?

Was he not calculating enough?

Is it because his brain is not big enough?

It must be.

He didn't know enough.

He didn't understand enough.

He hadn't learned enough.

In the room densely packed with statues, Hoffa carved tirelessly.

The creatures he carved were strange and lifelike. Those were creatures and people that naturally came to his mind, but how he came to be didn't know.

He just carved casually.

The nobleman who had supported him stood in the room with the statues, stared at a fierce boy for a long time, and then came to the carver. chatted with him every day:

"Mr. Bach, the archmage of this land has learned himself to death, and he is exhausted at his desk. ”

Hoffa looked up in slight surprise.

"Don't be surprised, this is the land of eternal night, where there is no entertainment, only learning and thinking, and every archmage learns a great deal of knowledge, and this is the only way for them to find answers, and Sylby Spencer is no exception. ”

Hoffa opened his mouth.

"Mr. Bach, can you give me another look at the statue of the past, the original statue?" said the nobleman pleadingly.

Hoffa didn't answer him, his eyes rolled and he lost his memory again.

——

Sylby woke up again

And again, and again, and again

Again and again and again

Hoffa followed him, awakening again and again.

With each awakening, Sylby gains more knowledge, a whole new class, more skills, again and again, and again and again. Hoffa, on the other hand, just repeats some simple and boring tasks, and spends his time carving something in his spare time.

Hundreds

Thousands

10,000 times

100 million times

trillions

The birth of the infinite universe

destroy

birth

destroy

Reborn

Destroy again

I don't know how many times I woke up

Sylby no longer looked at the world around him, and he no longer looked at the deliberate and special reminder, because that longing had long since been in his bones, and he could no longer get rid of it.

"I don't want to wake up again"

He said, "Everything in this world, I want, this time, I must count everything."

This time, there is no longer a specific profession.

Biology, physics, chemistry, witchcraft, magic, everything

Astronomy, geography, mathematics, languages, religion, everything

Enhance the human body, modify genes, ascend mechanically, forbid magic, and do whatever it takes

So, in that dark room, in the endless dense package of chips, a huge brain worm was born. The human brain capacity can no longer hold so much knowledge. Not only brains, but also chips, electronic components, not only glucose, but also electricity, even magic crystals, all kinds of potions, spells, prayers, everything that allows him to see farther.

Everything that allowed him to perceive the deeper universe was used by him for himself.

Just for.

Go to the apex.

As the brain worm wriggled, Sylby faced the void and muttered: "The world, the world's supreme authority, where is it, where is the most powerful power, where is it, what is the domination of the world, what is it, it must not be magic, it must not be spiritual, it must not be physics, it must be something more powerful."

For the first time, whispers and echoes rang out of his huge brain.

"It's been so many times, can't you see clearly, Sylby.The only thing that doesn't change.The only thing that's certain is that it's only uncertain.hahahahaha..."

Sylby's face showed a hint of obsession and ecstasy: "Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes, it's the change, it's the apex."

"Yes, yes," the voice in his head said with a smile, "yes, yes, yes. Nothing is indestructible, the only constant is change, no matter how great a existence is, in the end it is just a pile of ashes, a handful of loess." Only by embracing uncertainty and becoming change itself can we reach the top of this unpredictable world forever."

"I see, I see, it's change, isn't it? The only constant is change, it's only you, it's the strongest, it's so, it's so, it's like this, it's the fucking knowledge, it's the fucking magic, it's the physics, it's the fucking rules, I'm the change, I'm the change, everything is changing, everything is changing, it's all changing,

In the fields, Hoffa continues his life after farming.

Harvesting wheat, threshing rice, and scooping rice, he has lived alone for hundreds of millions of years.

Quietly enjoy the endless loop. The only difference is that he doesn't do sculpture anymore. Many times, he just lay down, lying motionless, his thoughts drifting far, far away, where he could still feel that tenderness. That gentleness allows him to enjoy his time and live quietly no matter what world he is in.

On this day, after harvesting the wheat, he lay motionless on the ears of wheat.

At this moment, a person in the distance walked slowly towards him. Hoffa straightened up and looked at her in the sunlight, the first woman in her infinite years who had not been deliberately alienated from him.

"Ah, it's you, Chloe. ”

Despite the infinite time, despite the fact that he had forgotten how to meet her, Hoffa recognized the girl in front of him at a glance.

He sat up from the wheat pile, bit a stalk, and asked with a smile, "What are you doing with me~"

Chloe looked at Hoffa with a complicated look in her eyes. That's admiration, reluctance, and admiration.

She slowly knelt down beside Hoffa and held out her hand to him.

Surprised, Hoffa sat up on his side, looked at Chloe, who was kneeling on the ears of wheat, and asked, "What are you doing here?" ”

"I'll give you something. ”

Chloe said, "Only you can control it in the world." ”

Hoffa held out his hand to Chloe, who gently scribbled a small square in his hand.

Then he whispered in his ear, "He's no longer good, do you want to meet him?"

Who is he referring to?

Hoffa doesn't quite remember anymore.

But just as he remembered that tenderness, he remembered a certain feeling, something sharp and sharp, and for so many years, he had kept a place in his heart for it. Now, he could barely feel the traces of that fierce presence. It made him feel a little sad.

"Let's go, Chloe, take me to see it. ”

Hoffa said.

(End of chapter)