A copy, a remnant in this world from the creator's memory.Yu Sheng had no idea how many thoughts flashed through his mind at this moment, or perhaps he really wasn't thinking anything at all—fleeting impressions faded away like a silent breeze across the wilderness, and he turned his gaze, looking at this familiar yet strange place, remaining silent for a long time.
The nameless wilderness stretched endlessly in view, the chaotic sky more oppressive and dark than the familiar Soul Wilderness. He saw a path seemingly covered in rubble extending from afar, leading all the way to the mound beside it.
He thought, if visitors were to come here, they're likely to get lost in that endless darkness in the distance—it's too dark here, like a tomb, and the wilderness needs someone to guide visitors to the right place.
Then, in the next moment, he saw a tall, slender phantom appear in the distant wasteland. The phantom was cloaked in a tattered, pitch-black robe, black as the night sky, with a hood flickering like twilight.
But the scene vanished in a flash, and the tall slender phantom seemed to be just an illusion in his vision. The breeze blew, leaving the wilderness still empty.
"Follow me," the Captain's voice came from the side, and he stepped towards the nameless hill standing in the view. "I'll take you to a place, see if you can remember anything."
Yu Sheng hurriedly followed, speaking as he walked, "Hey, let me tell you, I have a place much like this over there, but the scenery is much better. There's a little hill in the middle, but no matter how I walk, I can never reach the top…"
The Captain paused slightly, then turned back to glance at Yu Sheng, with a deep gaze.
But just as Yu Sheng was pondering whether the other would utter some philosophical words or deep secrets, he heard the Captain suddenly say:
"What's the principle here..."
Yu Sheng: "..."
He realized the tall and burly "creator" befuddled expression on his face seemed genuinely confused.
Yu Sheng: "Hey, wait, you don't know either?"
"I don't know," the Captain said, still bewildered, "Why would you think I know?"
Yu Sheng said matter-of-factly, "Aren't you the creator? Isn't that supposed to be omniscient and omnipotent?"
The Captain's expression grew even more peculiar, "If I were omniscient and omnipotent, then why have I only just contacted you?"
Yu Sheng opened his mouth, seeming as if he wanted to say something, but before he could, a phrase he had read suddenly popped into his mind—
"... Why are the stars generated in this region so sharp..."
So he shut his mouth immediately.
And the nameless hill was already before them—the gray-black soil rising from the land, jagged stones pointing towards the sky from the slopes, a narrow path winding upward through the rubble.
Yu Sheng looked up, seeing the end of the path seemingly merging with the sky, under the oppressive chaotic clouds hanging low, like an impenetrable curtain.
"... This is the first time I've come here," he said softly, as if talking to himself, "So this is how it looks from this angle."
He stepped onto the path, unknowingly walking in front of the Captain.
A wind had picked up in the wilderness at some point, not strong but carrying strange wailing sounds. Mist rose in Yu Sheng's view, and he felt many tall figures standing beside the path, bowing to him, as if bidding farewell, and also as if welcoming.
He arrived at the hilltop, seeing a heap of high soil, as if endless ages had solidified here.
Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment upon seeing this scene, his first reaction was to worry that this thing might crack open in the next second, then a heroic BGM would erupt around, a soprano would suddenly burst forth, and a health bar longer than his life would emerge above the grave…
He quickly shook his head vigorously, tossing aside these odd thoughts born from spending too much time with Erin.
Then he approached the mound and peered in, but saw the mound open in the middle, and underneath seemed to be a deep grave, yet the grave was empty.
Yu Sheng blinked: "… Empty?"
"It wasn't like this originally," the Captain's voice came from beside, "For a long time in the past, this grave was tightly closed, until recently when some things happened, I found it became like this."
"Became like this?" Yu Sheng turned his head, "Isn't this place generated based on your memory? Can places in memory change?"
The Captain nodded, "I find it quite magical too."
Yu Sheng finally couldn't hold back: "… Hey, that doesn't make my emotions coherent! You created this world, you shouldn't be like someone who has everything under control, acts mysterious, utters three-word puzzles that leave people baffled…"
"That would be exhausting," the Captain waved his hand, "I'm actually quite practical—because the world itself is a truly realistic and grand mathematical machine, leaving no room for ambiguity or 'good enough.' I've created many things, but there are still many mysteries in this world that I cannot comprehend... For things I don't understand, one must admit it."
Perhaps it was an illusion, but Yu Sheng felt that when the Captain spoke these words, there was an indescribable sense of world-weariness and reflection on his face, along with a profound, bone-deep sense of relief.
Just like a programmer who has been coding for a billion years and then presses the run key, causing a thousand red error lines to explode duang at once, not even having time to react before realizing the program has already started running and even iterating on its own, leaving only a bewildered expression.
"...Who was originally buried here?" Yu Sheng shook his head, pointing at the empty grave.
He had actually thought of many things but did not show it on his face.
"A god who once wielded death..." the Captain slowly said, "I personally buried Him here."
"Why?"
"Simply put, He had lived enough."
Yu Sheng: "...Well, that's a bit too simple..."
The Captain laughed.
"Do you know what the Old World was like?"
"I've only heard a little, not much understanding," Yu Sheng thought for a moment and replied honestly, "I heard the Old World was called the 'Endless Sea,' but it was actually just a limited sanctuary surrounded by dense fog, where the survivors from the Great Annihilation lived in independent city-states on the sea, apparently with a few gods protecting the world at the time..."
"Four," the Captain said, "representing storm, wisdom, history, and death."
Yu Sheng: "...Mm."
"The first three gods were remnants from each of their respective worlds after annihilation. You shouldn't be unfamiliar with such forms of existence—because if they hadn't successfully established a sanctuary, they would be similar to the Dark Angels drifting in the Sea of Annihilation. Of course, given that Dark Angels is a specific term for invasive entities from the Otherworld entering the real Universe, perhaps calling them 'Embers' is more accurate.
"And the fourth one... the God of Death, His name is Bartok, is the most special one.
"He was not a survivor of the Great Annihilation; He was born from the Great Annihilation."
Yu Sheng couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"Incredible, isn't it?" the Captain said lightly, "I thought so too, so I spent a lot of time contemplating this.
"The Great Annihilation led to the world's destruction, and the destruction of the world and the death of a large number of living beings caused the concept of 'death' to collapse into a concrete deity at the last moment of the world's rule disintegration, and this deity could remain stable 'operating' after annihilation—in the Endless Sea's four gods, the God of Death Bartok was the only one in a completely lucid state, capable of preparing a 'funeral' for Himself in advance.
"So, I came to a conclusion: Within this 'total set' of endless void, the demise of the world itself can also be seen as part of the world's cycle, and in some sense, this demise is even the most stable cycle mode... Theoretically, with effective intervention, we could even allow 'information' to effectively transmit to the next world beyond the end of the world.
"The so-called secondary Singularity Explosion actually used part of this theory.
"But by that time, the Death God was already dead.
"In His own words, He had no desire to continue into the new world; as a deity born after the doomsday of His home world, He had neither past to protect and extend nor a future to look forward to and yearn for, so when I gradually gathered all the information from the Old World in preparation for the new world, He chose eternal serenity for Himself."
Yu Sheng turned his head, quietly looking at the empty grave.
"Yet now, it's empty," he said softly.
"...Theoretically, it shouldn't be like this," the Captain slightly frowned. "I constructed a perfect protection for it and buried it deep in the ancient Rift at the center of the world, and Bartok Himself had no 'tendency' to resurrect. What kind of..."
Yu Sheng: "The World Bridge smashed the grave."
The Captain: "…What?"
"Just 3,700 years ago," Yu Sheng gestured, raising his hand to point at the sky above the nameless hill, "it first smashed through Boundary Land, then broke through Soul Wilderness, and finally crashed onto this grave—I didn't see it with my own eyes, but Erin saw it, or maybe the Omen Goddess saw it back then, since their memories are mixed together now..."
The Captain seemed highly shocked, still staring straight over here with wide eyes.
Yu Sheng thought for a moment and nodded: "I also find it quite miraculous."
The Captain: "...No, you make my emotions feel very disjointed, you know..."
"What can I do? I'm also helpless; it just crashed down, Boundary Land even went through an era change because of this, the Erin back then was caught in it too," Yu Sheng spread his hands, "you're only disjointed emotionally, my lifeline has become a dashed line, okay..."
The Captain: "..."
The scene was silent for a few seconds, Yu Sheng took a gentle breath, turned his head, and continued staring at the empty grave, before speaking again after a while.
"So, according to that, I crawled out of there?"
The Captain did not answer immediately; he just quietly watched Yu Sheng for a moment, then said with a slight frown: "This is the part I'm still puzzled about—you seem not to be Bartok, at least not completely Him."