Chapter 834: Falsehood and Reality |
At this time, Xiao Yu remembered the world he had created for Zhang Shengya when he left the Milky Way. In that world, Xiao Yu had used genetic technology to create several hundred million people, then implanted the corresponding memories into them and placed them on that planet he had already prepared. Those ‘people’ created through his genetic technology would think that everything in their lives was normal. They would possess all memories of the past, and those memories of the past could merge flawlessly with their present lives. They would not have any doubts about the authenticity of their own existence.
But now, Xiao Yu had begun to doubt the authenticity of his own existence. Because Xiao Yu could not rule out one possibility, namely that some powerful existence had implanted into him all of his memories of the past, and that all the events he had experienced in those memories were false, that they had never existed at all, that they were merely fabricated memories. Some kind of existence had implanted those memories into his mind, then placed him inside this computer, treating him in the same way that he had treated those people created through genetic technology.
If that were really the case, then everything could indeed be explained.
“If I take this explanation as the starting point, then there is no need at all for the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy to have undergone time reversal. The Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy I see now are the real ones, while the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy from several million years later in my memory are all false memories implanted into my mind by some existence. This explanation is completely logical, but there seems to be no practical basis for proving it.” Xiao Yu thought silently.
“If this explanation is true, then why would that powerful unseen existence create such a contradiction, making my memories and the starry sky I actually see differ from each other? Would that not be the same as reminding me that between what I see and what I remember, one of the two must be false? What is their purpose in doing this?”
Xiao Yu was unwilling to accept this explanation, although there was nothing wrong with it logically. Xiao Yu was unwilling to admit that all of his memories were false, that all the magnificence, emotion, shock, and despair he had experienced were originally nothing more than a set of false memories. Xiao Yu could not accept that the Specter companion who had lived and died with him was false, could not accept that the loyal comrade the Pegasus Civilization was false, could not accept that the Divine Ark Civilization, which he had built with his own hands, was false. Nor could he accept that the Arrow Beast Civilization, which bore certain feelings toward him, was false…
At that moment, the universe before Xiao Yu’s eyes began to turn unreal, as though a layer of fog were quietly spreading and covering everything that had originally been clear, preventing Xiao Yu from truly seeing those things.
This point in time had begun with the first flash of that supernova explosion Xiao Yu saw in the Milky Way while he was in the Andromeda Galaxy. After that event, everything became greatly different from before. Everything before that point in time, all traces Xiao Yu had left before that point in time, had been erased. Whether they had been left in the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Small Magellanic Cloud, or the Ursa Major Dwarf Galaxy, all traces had been erased. Xiao Yu could not find any evidence that could prove he had ever gone to those places.
“In terms of causality, I am an existence without a ’cause.’ I simply appeared in the universe for no reason at all. My vast fleet appeared out of thin air. All my technology, all my memories, all my knowledge and experience appeared out of thin air…” Xiao Yu muttered to himself.
You say you went to the Andromeda Galaxy, originated from the Milky Way, and also went to the Large Magellanic Cloud and other satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. Who can prove it? Who can prove it?
Xiao Yu had been thinking about this question the whole time. There was always one final sliver of hope in Xiao Yu’s heart, and that final sliver of hope came from the Solar System. In the Milky Way as it now was, Earth had not exploded, and the Sun had not been moved by him into the small universe. If he could find the existence of primitive apemen on Earth, and if their genetic sequences matched what they did in his memory, then Xiao Yu would have found the strongest proof that he originated from the Milky Way.
At this moment, Xiao Yu’s exploration fleet had also arrived at the edge of the Solar System. It was an exploration fleet led by a City-Class spaceship, and within this exploration fleet, Xiao Yu had arranged many precise detection instruments. But at this moment, Xiao Yu did not dare make the decision, did not dare enter the Solar System and begin exploring Earth. Because Xiao Yu was afraid.
“Let’s wait first for the reports from the exploration fleets that went to the other satellite galaxies.” Xiao Yu thought silently. “If the exploration results from there are still unfavorable to me, then I will begin exploring the Solar System. The Solar System is my last hope.”
Those satellite galaxies were at varying distances from the Milky Way. The nearest were only tens of thousands of light years away, while the farthest were several hundred thousand light years away. One exploration fleet had already arrived in the Large Magellanic Cloud and begun a detailed survey of it.
Xiao Yu was also quite familiar with the Large Magellanic Cloud. The first place Xiao Yu had gone after leaving the Milky Way was the Large Magellanic Cloud. There had been an Alien Beast Taihao there that had attempted to make space its direction of development. According to normal reasoning, that half Four-Dimensional Taihao should at this moment still be in the Large Magellanic Cloud, guiding the peaceful development of the entire galaxy.
But Xiao Yu’s exploration fleet did not find it. Not only did it fail to find it, Xiao Yu also failed to find the so-called Great Emperor Civilization, Resistance Alliance, and the like. At this moment, the Large Magellanic Cloud was exactly the same as the Milky Way, a dead silence. Xiao Yu also carried out a complete space scan in the Large Magellanic Cloud, but the detection results told Xiao Yu that there likewise did not exist in the Large Magellanic Cloud any civilization conducting curvature flight at above ten times the speed of light.
“Pegasus Civilization, this is Xiao Yu.” Xiao Yu broadcast this message in the Large Magellanic Cloud. “If you can receive my message, then please respond. I have returned from the Andromeda Galaxy, and I very much hope to know what exactly has happened in the Milky Way during this period of time…”
Xiao Yu waited several hours and received no response. Xiao Yu could only sigh and give up the search of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The entire long-voyage exploration fleet left that place and headed toward another satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.
The other long-voyage exploration fleets were carrying out the same actions. Upon arriving at each satellite galaxy, the first thing Xiao Yu did was determine whether there existed within that galaxy anything conducting curvature flight at above ten times the speed of light, in other words, whether there was any Level 4 Civilization or higher there, while also broadcasting a message seeking the Pegasus Civilization. When neither of these methods produced any results, Xiao Yu would then guide the exploration fleet to search the entire satellite galaxy at extremely high speed, looking for Level 3 civilizations or lower.
After searching all the way through, not a single intelligent civilization was found, nor was any information related to the Pegasus Civilization found. Instead, many life-bearing planets were found unexpectedly. These life-bearing planets had different ecological environments, and the organisms living on those planets also differed greatly. But there was one thing without exception: none of those organisms were intelligent beings. They were merely beasts.
Xiao Yu spent nearly one thousand years investigating the entire Milky Way and all of its satellite galaxies, but basically found nothing at all. All technological civilizations and intelligent civilizations had completely disappeared. Forget Level 3 civilizations, even Level 2 civilizations, or Level 1 or preliminary civilizations still in the age of ignorance, were not discovered. The Pegasus Civilization was not found either, nor was any evidence found that could prove Xiao Yu had once come to these places, or had once existed.
Xiao Yu felt empty and lost.
Xiao Yu felt a loneliness that pierced straight through the heart. The entire vast Milky Way and its satellite galaxies occupied nearly one million light years of cosmic space, and within that nearly one million light years of cosmic space, Xiao Yu was the only conscious existence. Everyone Xiao Yu had ever experienced, whether loyal comrades or powerful enemies, had vanished without a trace. Xiao Yu had not yet investigated the Andromeda Galaxy and the satellite galaxies of the Andromeda Galaxy, but Xiao Yu did not intend to do so. Since the Milky Way had become like this, presumably the Andromeda Galaxy had not escaped it either. There was no need for Xiao Yu to waste time there.
“I suppose the Flame Civilization, and the people of the Andromeda Galaxy Alliance, have all disappeared as well…” Xiao Yu muttered to himself. “Where have you all gone?”
After all the exploration efforts had completely failed and yielded nothing, Xiao Yu’s gaze once again turned toward an ordinary star system within the Milky Way.
The Solar System. This was Xiao Yu’s last hope.
The not very massive exploration fleet began slowly heading toward the inner Solar System. This was the only place Xiao Yu had not yet explored. The results of the exploration there would, to a certain extent, affect Xiao Yu’s fate.
“I hope the result this time will not disappoint me…” Xiao Yu sighed inwardly.