Chapter 738 Keywords

Chapter 738 Keywords

The fleet was returning to the Misty Border in the direction it came from, perhaps due to the sinking of the large entity “Sacred Island”, the nearby sea did not seem very calm, the mirror-like sea was always reverberating with layers and layers of ripples as fine as fish scales, and the surrounding fog was always presenting strange and bizarre illusions! –This made many people tense their nerves.

But until halfway through the journey, no real threatening entities appeared in the mist.

The sails of the Spirit Body were hoisted high, and a slight creaking sound accompanied the change in the angle of the halyard from time to time. Mist flowed from the deck of the Lost Country, and in the thin fog, Agatha’s figure loomed up and sauntered through the mist.

She was checking the “environment” around the Lost Country, at this moment, her eyes reflected the scenery of the real dimension and the spirit world at the same time – the fog around her did not look the same as when she came, and the spirit world seemed to be vaguely a little agitated, although it seemed that this would not cause any impact on the Lost Country, she was still a little concerned. Although it didn’t seem like it would have any effect on the Lost Country, she was still a bit concerned and raised her guard.

Everyone else was gathered in the cabin at the moment: the captain was talking to his followers about the Deep Deep Sea.

In front of his trusted crew, Duncan did not hide his experiences in the Profound Deep, including the content of that exchange between him and the Holy Lord of the Profound.

Maurice sat at the long table with his pipe in his mouth, wisps of smoke drifted about, seemingly showing his not-so-peaceful mind at the moment, and only after a long time did this old scholar put his pipe down, muttering with a subtle expression, ”I’ve seen a lot of unthinkable things in my life, but this kind of situation has never really been encountered before. The creator of this world has actually invited you to take over His position ……”

Nina reached up and twisted her arm as hard as she could, seeming to wonder if she was dreaming even now, then she looked up at Duncan, “Did you really refuse?”

Duncan had a bashful look on his face, “Yes, there was something very wrong with the Profound Holy Lord’s proposal, so it was rejected.”

“Does the Asylum have no future?”…… “Lucrecia muttered to herself, as if she recalled a conversation she once had with her father, she pondered for a long time before she said softly, “I still remember the question you once asked me, you asked me Whether or not you feel that this infinite sea is narrow and cramped – but now it seems that even such a narrow and cramped shelter has reached the end of its rope …… It’s really unexpected that this is the news we get when we come here far away from the civilized world. ”

A slightly depressing atmosphere enveloped the cabin, and the area around the long table was quiet for a while, and it was only after a while that Nina came over to Shirley’s side and inquired in a slightly worried whisper, “How are you feeling right now? Any discomfort?”

“It doesn’t feel any different than usual, even her eyes and ears seem to be a lot stronger than before,” Sherry muttered, her eyes still glowing with a blood-colored shimmer, “It’s just that when I think about going into the city from now on, I have to go blindfolded or with my eyes closed… . it feels like a lot of trouble.”

“At least you came back safe and sound,” Nina couldn’t help but chime in, “I was so worried when I found out you were missing, I was going to go up to the island to look for you, but Goathead stopped me from going ……”

Listening to the whispered conversations coming from the side, Duncan’s eyes slowly swept over one of the figures at the long table, his tense expression slightly slowed down a bit, and then he gently exhaled.

“That’s all for now, this trip to the Island of the Holy Land has been very draining of energy, and everyone should get some rest before returning to the city-state.”

As the words fell, he had stood up, while waving his hand to indicate that the others did not need to get up, and then turned to leave.

The captain left – and until his figure disappeared into the doorway, a slightly oppressive silence was maintained in the cabin, until after a while, Nina muttered to break the silence, “Uncle Duncan looks tired …… He has a lot on his mind.”

“He has so much to think about,” Maurice extinguished the pipe in his hand, “Unfortunately, there are so few parts of him that we can help with.”

Lucrecia, for her part, dropped her gaze to Dog after a moment’s reflection, “Did Father say anything else after he rejected the ‘proposal’ from the Profound Holy Lord?”

Dog thought for a moment and spoke with less certainty, “He said that he has other programs, but that it’s still just an idea and that he hasn’t found the right path yet……. That’s all, and he didn’t mention anything else, much less explain it to Sherry and me.”

Listening to Dog, Lucrecia fell into deep thought ……

For his part, Duncan, who had left the cabin, didn’t go anywhere else; he went straight across the mid-deck to the door of the captain’s cabin, which was located at the stern of the ship.

In the thin fog that slowly drifted across the deck, the dark wooden door stood quietly in front of him as in the past, and the words “Gate of the Lost Ones” on the door frame were clear and sharp.

Duncan placed his hand on the knob, but stopped abruptly and simply stood still. After a brief moment of contemplation, he raised his head and stood for a long time, looking out over the side of the ship at the pale mists that were like curtains, and the chaotic light that poured down through them.

After an unknown amount of time, he withdrew his gaze and pushed the door open.

Passing through the familiar door, stepping on the familiar floor, and walking into the familiar room, Zhou Ming gently exhaled and strolled through the living room.

Everything in the bachelor apartment was as remembered, as if it would never change, as if it was always the same not just for the past few years, ten years, or even the past thousand years or ten thousand years.

Everything here was imprinted in Zhou Ming’s mind like deep engravings, and he walked through the home furnishings that were too familiar to be familiar with, stepping to the window, his gaze looking out through the window that had never been opened before.

The pale white fog was like layers of curtains, and in the fog, there was no way to distinguish any scenery that should have been a “street”, except for the chaotic light of the sky that poured down from above and filled in the fog.

Zhou Ming hesitated for a moment, and slowly reached out to the window and pressed his hand on the glass.

A cold, hard touch came to him, but the window remained as motionless as ever, as if it had solidified with the space.

He gently inhaled, then slowly blinked his eyes.

In the moment his eyelids closed, in that initial 0.002 seconds of darkness descending, he …… saw nothing.

There was no window, no fog outside the window, and no so-called “real side” in his field of vision.

In front of his eyes, there is only a boundless darkness, which is the ultimate nothingness like the demise of everything.

Zhou Ming slowly took two steps backward, calming his breathing.

He remembered the changes that had happened to him, remembered that when he was on the “other side” of the door, every time he blinked his eyes, he was able to see some “real scenery” hidden underneath the dimensions of reality in a brief moment of 0.002 seconds, but why was it that here he only had a darkness formed by extreme nothingness in front of him? But why is it that here he sees only a darkness formed by the ultimate nothingness?

Because he was “Zhou Ming” and not “Duncan”? Because this room was some kind of higher level of existence? Or is it because there is really …… nothing here?

Zhou Ming stood in the living room in deep thought, and then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a bright light in the room.

…… That was his computer, the computer that had been unplugged was humming and running, the monitor automatically playing the constantly looping wallpaper screen as always.

Zhou Ming frowned, seemingly thinking of something, and quickly walked over to the computer and sat down.

He shook the mouse a little, closing the wallpaper, then opened the browser, and began to type in the search bar – it seemed that because he hadn’t used it for a long time, his operation was a little rusty, and he made several typing errors, before slowly regaining his touch.

He also remembered that the computer’s browser had responded to one of his actions – it had shown him the word “moon”, and that response had in a way answered his question about the “truth” of the world. The answer did somehow tell him the “truth” about the world.

Would it respond to anything else?
With a soft click of the keyboard, he typed “0.002 seconds” into the search box, then hit enter.

He watched the rotating cursor and the slow-moving progress bar with anxiety, and at the same time, his mind was filled with thoughts –

Pilot One told him that at the beginning of the great annihilation, he had already come to this world, the ancient kings around him, saw a chaotic cocoon of light floating in the center of the ashes …… that cocoon of light, is it his “bachelor pad”?
If so, what do all the furnishings and appliances in this bachelor pad …… represent?
What does this computer represent? What does the shelf at the end of the room represent? What about the “models” that were transformed here after being burned by the flames? What do they symbolize?
The cursor flickered for a moment, the progress bar at the bottom of the screen suddenly emptied, and the browser’s error message appeared in Zhou Ming’s field of vision.

But he was not surprised.

After a brief moment of thought, he typed in new information into the search box: the Great Annihilation.

The browser reported an error and the search failed.

Zhou Ming was not discouraged, and after a moment’s thought, he typed in another keyword: End of Time.

Then came the new error message, and then, more keywords –

“Cosmic Collision”, “Red Shift”, “Asylum”, “Ancient Kings”, “Deep Sea Age”, “Swarming Stars” ……

Trying one keyword after another, the error message on the screen remained constant.

After trying for an unknown number of times, Zhou Ming finally frowned, and as the last keyword “Zhou Ming” was replaced with a new error message, he sighed softly, a sense of loss rising in his heart.

“It” didn’t respond to him, didn’t give any answer.

Unable to say whether it was frustration or emptiness, Zhou Ming shook his head and leaned back on the backrest of the chair, his eyes tiredly looking at the screen in front of him.

The tiny cursor was still blinking in the search bar, as if it was still waiting for him to type in a new keyword, or it was just sending out a silent taunt.

Zhou Ming sat quietly like this for ten minutes or so, but all of a sudden, as he stared intently at the tiny blinking cursor, something seemed to snap to mind.

He sat up straight all of a sudden, once again placing his hands on the keyboard and typing in another keyword-

“Inverse Singularity.”

The instant he pressed enter, an illusory boom suddenly broke into Zhou Ming’s mind, followed by the screen in front of him falling into darkness.

(End of Chapter)