The whole deep sea seemed to fall silent for a moment—the whole dimension fell silent, the smoke and dust drifting between the floating islands also stopped, and everyone did not speak for a long time, except for the ancient god like a mountain waiting for an answer, the dim starry light slowly flickering on his body, and he seemed very patient.

It didn't take long for Shirley's voice to break the dead silence: "...... Wow......"

Duncan raised his head and looked at the "mountain" calmly: "I hope you can make it clear - what does it mean to 'take it all over'?" ”

In a soft tremor, a very human sigh seemed to come from the depths of the star-shaped mountain range, and then he spoke slowly: "Usurper, you may already know...... In the so-called 'Third Long Night', I didn't fulfill all the plans in the blueprint - the Infinite Sea was not a perfect shelter, and in a sense, my 'Genesis' failed like the attempts of the Pale Giant King and the Dream King, except that ...... This defeat was delayed for 10,000 years. ”

Standing in the deepest part of the deep sea, hearing with his own ears an ancient god who had shaped everything in the world confessing his defeat was a shocking experience for Duncan, and he couldn't help but sigh deeply after hearing the words of the Dark Lord, despite having many clues in this regard before.

After a while, he finally broke his silence: "Yes, I know, there are many clues to this. I've seen the mirrors of the city-states in the depths of the real dimension, and the 'half-finished products' that have not been formed in the deep seas, and I've come into contact with the truth about the demons—in a place called the Holy Land Island, I have seen the hall where thousands of creatures are recorded......

"There are all kinds of indications that the current age of the deep sea is ...... In fact, it is just some specious dregs of civilization that survive the apocalypse, and as a 'shelter', it is full of flaws. ”

Alice listened and muttered to the side, "Isn't that a little too polite......

"That's already very polite." Shirley also lowered her voice and muttered quietly.

Then, their whispered conversation was interrupted by a tremor from the dark mountain range: "Yes, it's full of flaws—and now this flawed shelter is reaching its limits...... How many times has the usurper, observer-effect anchor failed? ”

Duncan's eyes immediately changed slightly: "...... Twice. ”

"It is the key to ensuring the stable, balanced, and compatible existence of the many 'ashes' in the shelter, and its illumination can cause the conflicting and untranslatable fragments of the world to collapse into the same reality after the Great Annihilation, and its failure means that the defects at the beginning of the establishment of the shelter have accumulated to the limit - after it is completely extinguished, this 'ash mass' that we have forcibly kneaded together will drift away again."

“…… So, what does that have to do with letting me take over 'all this'? Duncan spoke slowly, "The shelter is on the verge of its limit, could it be that I can take over and give it a new lease of life?" ”

"In my calculations, yes."

Duncan's heart moved when he heard this, and in the swift and affirmative reply of the Dark Lord, he instantly realized one thing—this "ancient god" knew him better than he expected, the "usurper"!

His expression immediately froze, and he said solemnly: "Why? ”

“…… Because you are a more powerful and stable observer than the Observer Effect Anchor," the lights on the surface of the Dark Mountains flickered like a galaxy, and the voice of the Dark Lord echoed throughout the dimension, "If you take over all this, your power will be enough to cover all the flaws in the shelter—all imbalanced systems will be stabilized and restored to the most perfect state in which they were founded." ”

“…… You seem to know myself better than I do," after a moment of silence, Duncan still did not respond to the other party's "invitation", but said with a frown, "You, and the other so-called 'Ancient Kings', you all seem to know myself better than I do. ”

“…… We've only been speculating about your nature for a long time, but even if we've been guessing for 10,000 years, we've never been able to figure out what you are...... What," the Shadow Lord's tone became a little slow and hesitant, he seemed to hesitate and worry about something, but after a brief hesitation, he continued, "Usurper, do you really not know where you came from, and you don't know your true nature? ”

Duncan didn't speak for a moment.

The origin and essence of oneself...... By now, he had actually grasped many clues, the information that emerged in the darkness, the "message" sent by human civilization at the end of time to the distant past, and the 0.002 second universe...... are revealing the truth of the individual "Zhou Ming".

But after a few seconds of hesitation, he didn't choose to directly answer the "ancient god" he met for the first time in front of him, but asked rhetorically: "I want to know, what do you mean by 'long observation' you just mentioned?" You, and the other 'Ancient Kings', when did you find me? ”

“…… In the first wave of impact after the collision of dozens or hundreds of worlds, we saw you—you were the first of us, the Usurper. ”

The expression on Duncan's face changed slightly, but the next moment he was calm again.

He was one of the first ...... Long before the beginning of the Deep Sea Age, years longer than 10,000 years, he had come to this world.

It's not the year 1900 of the new city-state calendar, it's not the day when the Lost Country returns to the dimension of reality, it's not the day he pushes open the door as "Zhou Ming......

He just woke up that day.

It's one thing to know what you know in your heart, but it's another thing to hear it with your own ears and confirm it in person.

However, Duncan just stood there calmly, as if all the emotional changes had been settled in the deepest part of this shell, and then he nodded lightly: "...... Go on. ”

“…… We still don't know how the impact happened, the only thing we know for sure is that there were only a handful of ...... 'survivors' of the impact, and those who were lucky or unfortunate were the so-called 'Ancient Kings'.

"Our survival is the result of accidents and distortions, our very nature...... The earth changed after that impact, when time was in chaos, space was squeezed and torn apart, and we rose from the scorching and chaotic ashes that followed the Great Annihilation, almost another catastrophe when we first confirmed each other's existence - many of them died from pollution in the 'first contact', and those who were not strong enough and those who were not lucky enough soon became new ashes in the ash heap, and then only a dozen figures remained, among ...... Just a few names you know.

"And you, who have been there since the beginning, sleeping in the depths of some kind of ...... 'cocoon' that we cannot comprehend, you have never woken up, not even a body, in our observations...... You are an amorphous light, and as if independent of everything around you, you do not react to the outside world—three long nights, countless meetings, countless changes that would reshape the world, have not interfered with your existence.

"In fact, if it weren't for the fact that you suddenly started moving recently, I would have thought that you would have been asleep like that forever, maintaining that invisible glow forever, until the world that had been destroyed was destroyed again......

"And 'our' 'observation' of you is carried out without any response in this way...... Tarykin was the first to understand your name, he called you 'The Usurper', but he was silent about the origin of the name, and Pilot-2 understood your powers or 'characteristics' to some extent, the Pale Giants...... He watched you seventy-seven times in the center of the ashes, leaving only one sentence - he said he would see you again, and he didn't say a word again until he died in the first long night. ”

The low tremor of the ancient gods echoed in the deep sea, and the eternal dim starlight sprinkled from the sky, looking inexplicably cold.

"Usurper—we still can't understand what you really are, but for the long years before you woke up, we had been watching your sleeping 'cocoon', and those invisible glows revealed different truths and futures to each of us, and now, it's my turn to be the first to make contact with you."

Duncan didn't speak for a long time.

He needed to take his time—his overly chaotic thoughts needed to be sorted out.

An incomprehensible "cocoon", an invisible thing that sleeps in the depths of the "cocoon...... This is what he has always looked like in the eyes of the "Ancient Kings"?!

And those "kings" who survived the impact of the world of annihilation have been observing themselves like this...... And also got a lot of "enlightenment" from this long "observation"?

A strange feeling filled his heart, and after a long while, Duncan frowned and said, "What about you?" What 'inspiration' did you get from your long-term observations? Is it for me to 'take over' this 'shelter' you have created today? ”

Under the dim starlight, the magnificent and solemn star-shaped mountain range fell into darkness for a short time, and then, all the lights on its surface suddenly lit up, and each dark blue stream of light gradually filled, and a low roar sounded from the depths of the mountain range, and then in the stunned gaze of Shirley and others, the center of the mountain range "Peak" slowly opened, and a flickering dark red core rose from its deepest part, like a huge one-eye, calmly watching Duncan.

"No," the dark red core spoke, with a stiff, cold mechanical texture, "I have been inspired by the fact that you will ignite the entire world—all the timelines, all the historical processes, the remaining lights of civilization in each world, will be bound in an unprecedented 'cremation'. ”

(End of chapter)