Hearing the words of Pilot II, Duncan's expression immediately became a little solemn, he stared into the eyes of the person opposite, and said in a deep voice: "A bigger 'boundless sea'? Why do you think so? ”

Pilot 2 thought for a moment, and after briefly sorting out his thoughts, he suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question: "In the world you were born into, the civilization that created you, have they reached the 'last step'?" ”

"The last step?" Duncan frowned when he heard this, "What do you mean ......"

"To grasp all the truths of the world in which you live, to know all the mysteries and the beginning and future of the universe, and to have the ability to change the universe itself—the laws of nature become a 'tool' that can be readjusted and set, rather than an iron law that must be passively adapted."

Pilot No. 2 said, with a hint of emotion and nostalgia in his expression, after appearing in this posture, he seems to be much closer to the change in "mood" to humans.

"My creators have given this stage of civilization a name they call 'Transcendental Criticality' - and although they themselves have not been able to reach this stage until the end, they have touched its threshold and have concluded what it takes to reach it, and their crowning achievement...... It was in the process of building New Hope that a 'time pod' was created, and in this way, a hundred years of time were bought when the end of the world came.

"Usurpers, although my creators have not really reached the 'transcendent threshold', they have come to the conclusion through huge calculations: 'mortals' can indeed reach this height, and through the power of civilization, the mathematical foundation of the universe can be leveraged."

Pilot 2 stared into Duncan's eyes, and there seemed to be a heavy pressure in those gazes.

"Usurper, I have observed your long years, and after careful calculations, the civilization behind you has gone farther than my creators, and I wonder if they have really reached that 'last step'? My Creator, their judgment of the end of truth...... Is it correct? ”

Facing the burning gaze of Pilot Two, Duncan finally nodded slightly.

"Yes, they did."

This may be the answer that Pilot 2 has been looking forward to for such a long time, but the moment he really heard this answer, his eyes suddenly became a little dazed, he stood dumbfounded, and it took several seconds before he suddenly reacted: "There really is this stage...... So civilization can really 'eventually cross the line'...... The system is open ......"

Duncan frowned, and was about to open his mouth to ask something, but Pilot 2 seemed to suddenly wake up and quickly spoke: "Then your civilization must have realized the observation of the outer universe?" Are they aware of the existence of other universes and have begun to think about how to get through that 'barrier'? ”

Duncan was slightly stunned, and then, in his mind, he recalled the "message" from human civilization that he had heard in the bright starlight-

An event beyond the cognitive model, taking place "beyond the universe".

After a brief thought, Duncan spoke: "I'm not sure if they've started thinking about other universes, and I'm not sure what you're talking about by 'barrier', but they did clearly observe events 'outside the universe' - the first and last 'extra-bounds event' they observed, the 'Great Annihilation' that hadn't yet invaded the dimension of reality, or strictly speaking...... It's other worlds that are crashing into it. ”

"Yes, that's it! Unequivocal observations of events outside the universe! This is the first step—the 'first step' that exists only in theory, and my creators want to see if it can be achieved at the end of the day...... That's it! ”

Pilot II said quickly, he was excited, it was the first time he had been so excited since they met—the tired-looking man in the white robe, imitating some mortal who had long since died, paced excitedly around the small hill, and then he suddenly stopped, stopped in front of Duncan, and his eyes seemed to burn.

The wind blew through the hills, and the endless plains in the distance were covered with grass waves, and the rivers were sparkling.

"Usurper, 'outside the universe', this is the key, the universe has an 'outside', the world is not unique, the essence of the Great Annihilation is the collision of multiple universes, in other words - in the face of a disaster of the level of 'Great Annihilation', if you do not have the ability to jump out of the world, then no matter how high a civilization develops, no matter how huge and solid the shelter we build, it is meaningless, even if it is as big as a star system and as big as a supercluster, When another world crashes in—"

Pilot 2 stretched out his hands and gestured in a somewhat exaggerated gesture - he seemed to imitate not only the appearance of one of his own creators, but also a living personality data, which made him behave like an ordinary mortal at the moment:

"Smack, like a soap bubble, shattered."

He held this position, a complicated expression on his face, as if he was squeezing out a smile, but it was like crying.

"In the face of 'external events', all the internal structures of the universe have no strength and cannot bear anything, just like the shell of New Hope...... We even used neutron star matter to make its shell, but it was broken like paper......"

Duncan's eyes widened slowly, and suddenly, he seemed to understand what the ancient "artificial intelligence" was trying to say to him.

“…… Therefore, a civilization must ensure that it has the ability to 'jump out of the world' in order to be truly 'safe'," he said in a deep voice, "and now we have not reached this height, even the civilization behind me only saw the threshold of 'jumping out of the world' at the height of 'transcendent criticality', so we must make sure that there is the possibility of 'jumping out of the world' in the 'new world', or in other words......"

"The 'latecomers' born in the 'New World', they must have the opportunity to develop to that height," Pilot 2 raised his head and said with a solemn expression, "The New World must allow this possibility, and be able to 'accommodate' this possibility." ”

Duncan didn't speak for a moment.

He felt an indescribable ...... Shock.

Pilot II, the ancient "artificial intelligence", he thinks about things so long-term, even more than all the other "ancient kings", and he is thinking about it when everyone is still thinking about whether this shelter can be saved...... But it is already the destruction of the new world.

Because destruction is bound to happen, maybe it's another annihilation, or maybe something else.

"Fear, this is the first 'emotion' I've learned," Pilot's voice came out, very calm and low, "what I'm worried about...... It may seem too far away, but after tens of thousands of external sensors depicted to me the 'feeling' of the collapse of the universe, this 'fear' has become a part of my underlying logic, and I know that sooner or later, such an event will happen again.

"Usurper, I don't feel safe, and so do the others - the 'mortals' in the shelter call us 'gods', but what they don't know is that their 'gods' are immersed in great fear from morning till night, and as long as we remember that there is a cataclysm of the scale of 'annihilation', and as long as we have not found a way to fight it, then this fear will never go away, and this desperate desire for 'security' has kept me thinking about a question......

"Civilization can develop to what stage, and what stage must it develop, in order to truly resist all disasters and continue in disasters.

"There may never be an end to it, but at least to the extent that I can understand it, 'jumping out of the world' will be one of the crucial nodes."

Duncan broke the silence: "...... The first is whether it is possible for mortal civilization to develop to the level of 'jumping out of the world', and the second is whether the 'new world' that I have created, if it really exists, will be able to 'accommodate' the development of civilization in this way. ”

Pilot II nodded lightly and asked a question, "Do you know what the biggest difference is between the real 'world' and a 'shelter' like the Infinite Sea, usurper?" ”

Duncan didn't answer, and Pilot 2 had already given the answer on its own-

"The word 'probability' is intuitive but inaccurate, and in my opinion, the biggest difference between the two is 'random'."

Duncan subconsciously repeated: "Random? ”

"True randomness is allowed in a complete and healthy real universe," Pilot II said slowly, "and in the shelter, there is only 'pseudo-randomness.'" ”

Duncan understood the meaning of the other man's words almost immediately.

"Therefore, there will never be anything inside the shelter that exceeds the 'information ceiling' of the shelter," he said quickly, "just like a villain on a two-dimensional plane, no matter how fast he runs, even if he has the ability to teleport on the plane, he will never be able to 'stand' up - only a 'truly random' system can be allowed to have a 'supercritical' event that jumps out of the system!" ”

"My creators, who call this event the 'Final Crossing of the Line,' believe that this may be the final stage in the development of mortal civilization...... Once there, we'll be safe. ”

Pilot 2 whispered, slowly raising its head and staring at the empty sky.

It was as if there was an end point that the New Hope would never reach.

Duncan finally understood what he meant when he was in the deep sea, and what the Navigator One said to himself meant-

"In fact, as early as the moment of departure, Pilot 2 had already calculated the outcome of this journey."

The end of New Hope, which will never be reached, is a moat that lies in front of the stage of civilization, in front of which a spaceship powered by a jump engine and a shell made of neutron star materials is no different from a steel sword thrown into the sky by a warrior.

Because in the face of "external events", all the internal structures of the universe have no strength.

(End of chapter)