"Year is a unit of time.

"Light-years, a unit of distance, represent the total length of a year traveled by light at the speed of light.

"Assuming that the speed of light is immutable, the length of 1 light-year is constant.

"Something happened at point A. Point B1, which is 1 light-year away from point A, will observe the process of the event at point A 1 year after the event.

In the same way, points B2, B3, and B4, which are 2 light-years, 3 light-years, and 4 light-years away from point A, will also be observed two years later, three years later, and four years later.

"The farther away from point A, the more history we can see from point A.

"With this theory, we can observe the past, but not predict the future.

"But just to help us look into the past, that's enough.

"Because the question we want to know most is, where did life come from, what was the origin of all things, what was the beginning of the universe.

All these questions can be boiled down to one sentence:

"Where did the first light in the universe come from?

"Without light, we can't see things, we don't have the concept of the speed of light and light years.

"Without light, our scales of time and space are blurred.

"Without light, we wouldn't be able to use space-folding technology to travel trillions of light-years away and see what the universe looked like at the beginning of its existence.

"It's an honor to tell you that the exploration team sent by Dilan Land arrived at the edge of the universe yesterday, observed the past history of the entire universe, and discovered the source of the first rays of light."

The place called Dilan Paradise sits on a territory of hundreds of billions of light-years.

It is best known for its spatial folding technology.

In the field of transportation and logistics, space folding technology is also known as "leap technology".

It forms a folded and compressed transition space between the start and end points, allowing any object to travel a distance of several light years at once to reach its destination in an instant.

In the field of planet construction, space folding technology is often called "planet compression technology".

It can compress planets with a diameter of more than 10,000 kilometers, boiling and burning stars, neutron stars that rotate at high speeds, and even black holes that absorb everything into glass balls at your fingertips.

By compressing building materials, construction teams, and residents into nano-level existences through space folding technology, and then placing them on planets that are also compressed by tens of thousands of times, these planets that have been compressed into glass beads can be transformed from the microscopic level.

In the field of asset management, space folding technology represents absolute control, absolute domination, and absolute possession.

The planet has been hollowed out of its resources, leaving only old mining facilities and badly damaged robots?

Crush it.

Is there a vicious epidemic on the planet, or is there a global natural disaster?

Crush it.

Are there saboteurs on the planet spreading rumors and trying to fight for control of the planet, but they can't find these saboteurs themselves?

Crush it.

After mastering the space folding technology, every big man in Dilan Paradise will not lack planets.

They can spend a day turning a star in a galaxy into their own glass beads, or they can spend a day crushing a planet and watching it turn into cosmic dust.

This is the dominant relationship after the advent of spatial folding technology.

And the reason why these big people can become big shots is that there is only one criterion:

As long as I can compress you with spatial folding technology, and you can't compress me with spatial folding technology, then I am your master.

Only creatures that cannot be compressed by spatial folding technology can sit on an equal footing and jointly build a cosmic paradise called "Dilan".

At this time, in a space area without any planets, thousands of huge individuals with glass beads around them were "standing" around the illusory screen in the center.

The unreal screen is the host of this meeting, and it is also the existence that just announced the good news to the participants present.

Along with its words, the unreal screen takes on the edge of the universe.

Ahead was a rich deep black, without the slightest light.

Behind are colorful images, and every ray of light, every flickering point of light, represents a piece of history.

The exploration team of Dilan Paradise is located at the junction of the universe and the outer universe at this time.

The deep dark space ahead is extracosmic time, where there is no light except darkness.

The light emanating from the universe is the pioneer of the universe.

On the one hand, they carry the history of various parts of the universe, and on the other hand, they also illuminate the dark space outside the universe and expand the boundaries of the universe.

However, what the exploration team and the people of Dilan Land saw was based on the fact that the universe was still expanding outward.

Almost at the very moment when the exploration team sent back the image of the edge of the universe to the people of the park, a bad news came from the exploration team, causing unease for everyone in the park.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have received reliable information. Our exploration team found that the speed of light at the edge of the universe was slowing down. To be precise, the closer you get to the edge of the universe, the slower the speed of light. This phenomenon is exacerbated by the exploration team after they reach the edge of the universe.

"In the most pessimistic prediction, we will see the light at the edge of the universe stop moving forward in 30 minutes. At that point, the light may coincide at the edge of the universe, or perhaps the light may dissipate at the edge of the universe.

"In either case, it means that our universe is about to stop expanding outward, or even begin to collapse inward."

There was a lot of talk in the park, and everyone was expressing themselves in their own way.

There are "people" who crush several planets casually to relieve the uneasiness in their hearts.

A "human" threw a glass bead and smashed it into the illusory screen in the center of the venue, as if to express anger at the park's move to send an exploration team. In their view, it is precisely because of the emergence of the exploration team that the universe is about to stop expanding outward.

There are also "people" who have maintained their basic composure and joined the discussion:

"What happens when the universe collapses inward?"

"Can we see the collapse of the universe as a compression of our space?"

"Can a planet that has been compressed by us once be compressed again in the process of the collapse of the universe?"

"We should probably move to the end of the collapse of the universe, so that we can buy more time to save ourselves in the process of the collapse of the universe."

"So, where is the end of the collapse of the universe? Or where was the last place to be affected by the collapse of the universe? ”

"We can think differently. I feel like leaving this universe is also an option. We should have the exploration team pass through the edge of the universe and into extracosmic space. ”

This passage resonated in Paradise.

The "people" asked the host to order the exploration team to divide a part of the "people" into the outer universe.

The bad news came back quickly.

The members of the exploration team who entered the extracosmic space were not heard from and did not return to the universe, as if they were completely lost in a zone with no concept of time and space.

In addition, the exploration team found that the light at the edge of the universe had completely stagnated because someone had left the universe or for some other reason.

Moreover, these lights, which have stopped moving outward, are collectively regressing.

They form a shell of light that surrounds the entire universe.

As the light that stopped moving increased, so did the thickness of the shell of light.

It didn't take long for the rays of light from different parts of the universe that took trillions of years to reach the edge of the universe completely coincided.

The Shell of Light quickly evolved into a barrier filled with information about the history of the universe.

The exploration team is now in this barrier.

Their detection devices are looping back to them the historical information they have gathered.

From the birth of one planet, to the shattering of another planet by meteors, to the blooming of living civilizations on planets, then to the extinction of stars, the dissipation of the light of star fields, the formation of black holes, and so on.

Countless pieces of historical information completely overwhelmed the exploration team and their equipment.

The unreal screen flickered violently, and finally returned to a scene of colorful stripes intertwining horizontally, and the exploration team lost contact.

"Everybody's seen it, right? The edge of the universe forms a wall of authentic historical information. It has engulfed our exploration team and is now approaching us at a rate of at least tens of thousands of light-years per second...

Before the host finished speaking, the scene erupted in a ghost crying wolf-like voice.

"No, I've just reaped eternal life, and I don't want to die yet."

"We need to get to the end of the universe's collapse! Perhaps when the process of the collapse of the universe reaches a certain point in time, the collapse will be transformed back into expansion! ”

"Where is the end of the collapse of the universe? Damn, who can tell me the answer?! ”

The host changed a ball of light on his illusory screen and announced loudly:

"Look here. This light should be the end of the collapse of the universe. It is the first light in the universe and the source of all light. ”

"It looks like a star in its prime."

"It doesn't seem to be anything special, why do you say it's the first light of the universe?"

In the face of doubts, the host said confidently:

"When the expedition reached the very edge of the universe, they saw the beginning of the universe. Everything in the universe we live in now is projected from this light source. They follow the light and spread outward, and this is how our universe is formed. ”

The unreal screen shows the original appearance of the universe as seen by the exploration team.

In the eternal darkness, the light was only the size of a hand, but it was so dazzling.

It has always maintained a bright posture and has never been swallowed up by the darkness of the universe.

After an unknown amount of time, the light swelled and agitated like life.

When its size swelled to a certain extent, countless bands of light visible to the naked eye erupted from it, mixed with untold amounts of matter.

The density of these substances is extremely astonishing, and they fly in all directions with the bands of light, quickly lighting up large areas of darkness like pioneers in the staking field, forming a brilliant galaxy.

Seeing this scene, the "people" gradually believed that the light cluster was the beginning of this universe and the end point of the collapse of the universe.

But new problems arise.

When will the collapse of the universe end?

Does all the matter ejected from the light cluster have to return to the light cluster in order to stop the collapse of the universe?

If so, how did the "people" in the room survive?

The moderator put forward his own opinion:

"I suggest that all of us 'people' use the spatial folding technique to compress ourselves and hide in that light. Perhaps, with the blessing of this light, we can not only avoid the collapse of the universe, but also follow the re-expansion of the universe into the next cosmic space. ”

"That's a good way to do it."

"Space folding technology can not only compress our own size, but also use high density to form an indestructible shell to protect our body."

"The next time the universe expands outward, we come out of that fire. At that time, we will be the gods of the new universe. We will stand directly at the end of material technology and use space folding technology to open up our universe. ”

One "person" proposed:

"I think we have to give this fire a name, it's our mother in a sense."

The moderator said:

"How about calling it 'Dylan Fire'?"

"'Saint' should be added, and it should be called 'Saint Dilan's Fire', so that it is solemn enough."

The name "Flame of St. Dilan" was approved by everyone on the scene.

From this day on, the many beings of Dilan Paradise began to compress themselves, compress and compress again, so that they could enter the palm-sized ball of light.

Time passed, and the moment when the universe collapsed to the end came.

The barrier of light, which was mixed with all the historical information of the universe in this round, struck and attached to the fire of Saint Dilan like an eggshell, sealing all the members of the paradise who had been compressed to the extreme in the light cluster.

In the space beyond the light, the darkness seemed to freeze.

Within the light cluster, the members of the park fell into a deep sleep.

"Click..."

In the sound of cracking, the barrier of light that enveloped the light cluster broke, scattering light as if a chick had broken out of its shell.

As the light escaped, the members of the park shot out of the light.

They have managed to avoid the last round of cosmic collapse, ushered in a new universe, and mastered advanced technology that ordinary beings cannot look up to.

However, in the long years of waiting for the arrival of the new universe, they have forgotten their origins, only knowing that the flame that gave birth to all things in the universe is called the "Flame of Saint Dilan", and only remembering that their mission is to explore the space outside the universe.

A large part of them instinctively assemble at the edge of the universe to collect information on the history of the entire universe and harvest the inner beings of the universe that they believe will be useful for exploring the outer universe.

This kind of existence that occupies the edge of the universe has a new term, and that is the eternal universe.

The ecological environment they form at the edge of the universe is called the "fracture dimension" by the creatures in the universe.

And those members of Paradise who have forgotten that their mission is to explore the outer universe have wandered the universe and have been given a new name, the core of the plane.

…

…

Li Nuo, whose eyes were closed, lay flat on the soft bed.

He wanted to try to open his eyes and get rid of the illusion that had spanned an unknown number of years.

The illusion was so real that it was as if he had experienced the entire process of the collapse of the universe from the perspective of a bystander.

Just as Li Nuo gradually regained control of his body and was about to open his eyes, a voice sounded in the darkness:

"The members of Dilan Paradise from the previous round of the universe have lived to the current universe at the cost of forgetting themselves. So how should the primordial beings of this round of cosmic reincarnation choose their own path?

"Is it to follow the members of Dylan Land to explore the outer universe?

"Or take control of that flame and manipulate the members of Dilanland, who are known as the core of the plane?

"Or do you want to destroy these remnants of Dilan Paradise who should have died in the last round of cosmic reincarnation, and start a new era of your own?

"What choice will you make?" (End of chapter)