Chapter 800: Gazing into the Future

Chapter 800: Gazing into the Future

Upon hearing Navigator Two’s statement, Duncan’s face turned serious. He looked intently into the eyes of the individual before him and spoke with gravity, “A bigger ‘Boundless Sea’? What leads you to think this way?”

Navigator Two took a brief moment to gather his thoughts. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he posed a question that appeared to be unrelated, “In the place where you originated, the civilization responsible for your creation, did they achieve the ‘ultimate stage’?”

“The ultimate stage?” Duncan’s brow furrowed at the question. “Do you mean...”

“To master all known truths within their world, to unravel all its mysteries including the universe’s origins and its eventual fate, and to possess the capability to alter the universe itself—turning the laws of nature into ‘tools’ that can be manipulated and redefined, rather than unchangeable laws to which one must conform.”

As Navigator Two expressed these thoughts, his demeanor showed a trace of emotion and nostalgia. Since making his appearance, his emotional expressions seemed to have grown more aligned with those of humans.

“My creators referred to this phase of civilization as ‘Transcendental Criticality’—though they never fully reached this stage, they had grazed its brink and thus outlined the prerequisites for achieving it. Their greatest accomplishment was the creation of a ‘Time Capsule’ during the erection of the New Hope, safeguarding a century’s worth of knowledge as the end of their world loomed near.”

“Flame Usurper, while my creators never actually attained ‘Transcendental Criticality,’ they deduced through comprehensive analysis that it was possible for ‘mortals’ to achieve such a state, and that through the might of civilization, the mathematical principles of the universe could be harnessed.”

Navigator Two maintained his intense stare into Duncan’s eyes, loading his gaze with a palpable pressure.

“Flame Usurper, having observed your civilization for countless years, and after rigorous calculations, I have come to believe that the civilization standing behind you has surpassed my creators. I am eager to know, have they truly reached that ‘ultimate stage’? Were my creators’ theories on the zenith of truth accurate?”

Confronted with Navigator Two’s penetrating stare, Duncan eventually nodded slightly.

“Yes, they have reached it.”

This might have been the confirmation Navigator Two had long awaited, but upon receiving it, his eyes momentarily lost focus. He stood frozen for several seconds before abruptly snapping back to reality: “So this phase really exists... Hence, civilizations can genuinely ‘transcend boundaries’. The system is not closed...”

Duncan, perplexed, was about to inquire further when Navigator Two, as if jolted awake, hastily continued: “Then, your civilization must have already mastered observations beyond our universe? Are they aware of other universes and have begun to ponder over how to traverse that ‘barrier’?”

Duncan paused to reflect, then remembered the “message” conveyed by human civilization among the myriad stars – an event that defied their understanding, that occurred “outside the universe.”

After pondering briefly, he responded: “I can’t confirm if they’ve begun to consider the existence of other universes or the ‘barrier’ you speak of, but they have indeed observed an event ‘outside the universe’—the first and unique ‘extra-universal event’ they witnessed was the ‘Great Annihilation’, which had not yet breached our dimension of reality, or more accurately... the collision with another universe.”

“What is the ultimate development stage a civilization can achieve, and what level must it attain to effectively withstand all calamities and thrive amidst them?”

“It might be that there is no definitive end, but from my perspective, ‘transcending the confines of our world’ emerges as a pivotal milestone.”

Breaking the silence, Duncan responded, “...So, essentially, you are concerned about two aspects: firstly, whether it’s possible for mortal civilization to grow to the capability of ‘transcending the world,’ and secondly, regarding the ‘new world’ I have conceived—assuming it truly exists—whether it can nurture such an evolution of civilization.”

Navigator Two offered a slight nod before posing a question, “Flame Usurper, are you aware of the fundamental distinction between a genuine ‘world’ and a ‘sanctuary’ like the Boundless Sea?”

Duncan remained silent, prompting Navigator Two to provide the answer himself.

“While ‘possibility’ is a term that comes to mind, it doesn’t quite capture the essence accurately. In my view, the most significant difference lies in ‘randomness’. A fully functioning and healthy universe is characterized by the emergence of ‘true randomness’,” Navigator Two elaborated, “whereas within a sanctuary, we encounter only ‘false randomness.'”

Duncan quickly grasped the implication of these words.

“Therefore, nothing that surpasses the ‘information threshold’ of the sanctuary could ever manifest within it,” he articulated promptly, “Similar to a figure on a two-dimensional plane, no matter the speed at which it moves, or even if it masters instantaneous travel within that plane, it can never ‘ascend’—only a system that permits ‘true randomness’ can facilitate the occurrence of ‘supercritical’ events that transcend the system itself!”

“My creators referred to such phenomena as ‘Ultimate Transcendence’, believing it to be the potential zenith in the evolution of mortal civilization... at that point, we would be truly safe.”

Navigator Two’s voice softened, and he slowly lifted his gaze towards the void above where the New Hope could never arrive at the final destination.

Duncan finally comprehended the message Navigator One had conveyed to him amidst the profound depths of the sea –

“Indeed, from the very onset of our journey, Navigator Two had already deduced the eventual outcome.”

The destination that remains unreachable for the New Hope symbolizes a chasm in the progression of civilization, before which, a spaceship propelled by a jump engine and constructed from neutron star material, and a steel longsword hurled skyward with force by a warrior, stand on equal footing.

For when confronted with “external events”, all constructs within our universe are inherently fragile.