Chapter 801 Looking to the Future
After hearing what Pilot 2 said, Duncan's expression immediately became serious. He stared into the eyes of the person opposite and said in a deep voice: "A bigger 'Infinite Sea'? Why do you think so?"
Pilot 2 thought for a moment, and after briefly sorting out his thoughts, he suddenly asked a seemingly irrelevant question: "In the world you were born in, the civilization that created you, have they reached the 'last step'?"
"The last step?" Duncan frowned upon hearing this, "What do you mean..."
"Master all the truths within the world you live in, know all the mysteries and the beginning and future of the universe, and have the ability to make changes to the universe itself - the laws of nature become a 'tool' that can be readjusted and reset, Rather than an iron law that must be passively adapted.”
Pilot Two said, with a hint of emotion and nostalgia in his expression. After appearing in this posture, even his "emotional" changes seemed to be much closer to human beings.
"My creators gave this stage of civilization a name. They called it 'transcendental criticality' - although they themselves did not reach this stage in the end, they also touched its threshold and continued to do so. This summarizes the conditions required to reach this stage, and their highest achievement... is to create a 'time capsule' during the construction of New Hope, and use this to fight for a hundred years when the end of the world arrives. time.
"The Fire Usurpers, although my creators have never truly reached the 'transcendent criticality', they have concluded through huge calculations: 'Mortals' can indeed reach this height through the power of civilization, the mathematical cornerstone of the universe. It can be pried.”
Pilot Two stared closely into Duncan's eyes, as if heavy pressure was condensed in his eyes.
"Fire Usurper, I have observed you for a long time and made careful calculations. The civilization behind you has gone further than my creators. What I want to know is whether they have really arrived. That 'last step'? My creators, are they right about the end of truth?"
Facing the burning gaze of Pilot Two, Duncan finally nodded slightly.
"Yes, they achieved it."
This may be the answer that Pilot 2 has been waiting for for such a long time, but the moment he really heard the answer, his eyes suddenly became confused. He stood blankly, and after several seconds, he suddenly Reaction: "This stage really exists... so civilization can really 'finally cross the line'... the system is open..."
Duncan frowned and was about to ask something, but Navigator 2 suddenly woke up and spoke quickly: "Then your civilization must have realized the observation of the outside of the universe? Do they know the existence of other universes and have begun to think about it? How to get through that 'barrier'?"
Duncan was slightly startled, and then, he recalled in his mind the "message" he heard from human civilization in that bright starlight——
An event beyond cognitive models, occurring “outside the universe.”
After thinking briefly, Duncan spoke: "I'm not sure if they have started thinking about other universes, and I'm not sure what the 'barrier' you mentioned is, but they did clearly observe events 'outside the universe' ——The first and last 'extraterrestrial event' they observed was the 'Great Annihilation' that had not invaded the real dimension at that time, or strictly speaking... it was other worlds that were colliding with each other. "
"Yes, that's it! A clear observation of external events in the universe! This is the first step - the 'first step' that exists only in theory. My creators want to verify that this thing can be realized in the end. ……This is it!"
Pilot Number 2 said quickly, he was excited. This was the first time he had been so excited since the meeting. This man in a white robe, imitating a long-dead mortal, with a tired face, was pacing excitedly. , circled the hill several times, and then suddenly stopped in front of Duncan, his eyes seemed to be burning.
The wind blew over the hills, the vast plains in the distance were filled with grass waves, and the rivers sparkled.
"The Fire Usurper, the 'outside of the universe', this is the key. The universe has an 'outside', and the world is not unique. The essence of the Great Annihilation is the collision of multiple universes. In other words - in this kind of 'Great Annihilation' In the face of a disaster of the same level, if you do not have the ability to jump out of the world, then no matter how high a civilization develops, no matter how huge and solid a shelter we build, it will be meaningless, even if it is as big as a star system. It’s the size of a supercluster of galaxies, and when another world crashes in with a bang—”
Pilot Two opened his hands and gestured in a somewhat exaggerated gesture - he seemed to have not only imitated the appearance of one of his creators, but also imitated a living personality data, which made him behave like a Ordinary mortals:
"Pop, like a soap bubble, it shattered."
He maintained this posture, with a complicated expression on his face. He seemed to be trying to force a smile, but it looked like he was about to cry.
"In the face of 'external events', all structures within the universe have no strength and cannot hold anything, just like the shell of New Hope... We even used neutron star material to make its shell, but that was like It was broken like paper..."
Duncan slowly opened his eyes. Suddenly, he seemed to understand what this ancient "artificial intelligence" wanted to say to him.
"...So, a civilization must ensure that it has the ability to 'jump out of the world' in order to be truly 'safe'," he said in a deep voice, "But now none of us have reached this level. Even the civilization behind me was only We see the threshold of 'jumping out of the world' at the height of 'transcendence criticality', so we take the next best step and ensure that there is the possibility of 'jumping out of the world' in the 'new world', or in other words..."
"The 'latecomers' born in the 'New World' must have the opportunity to develop to that height," Pilot 2 raised its head and said solemnly, "The New World must allow this possibility and be able to 'accommodate' This possibility.”
Duncan didn't speak for a while.
He felt an unspeakable...shock.
Pilot 2, this ancient "artificial intelligence", has such long-term considerations that it has even surpassed all other "ancient kings". When everyone is still thinking about whether this shelter can be saved, , what he was thinking about... was already the destruction of the new world.
Because destruction is bound to happen, it may be another great annihilation, or it may be something else.
"Fear, this is the first 'emotion' I have learned," the voice of Pilot 2 came, very smooth and low, "The things I worry about...may seem too far away, but in tens of thousands of external After the sensor described to me the 'feeling' of the universe collapsing, this 'fear' has become a part of my underlying logic. I know that such an event will happen again sooner or later.
"Fire Usurper, I don't feel safe. In fact, so do several others - the 'mortals' in the shelter call us 'gods', but what they don't know is that their 'gods' are from morning to night We are all immersed in huge fear. As long as we still remember that there is a catastrophe on the scale of the 'Great Annihilation', and as long as we have not found a way to fight it, then this fear will never disappear, and this sense of security 'The urgent desire has kept me thinking about a question...
“To what stage can civilization develop? To what stage does it need to develop to truly resist all disasters and survive them?
"Perhaps this will never end, but at least within the scope that I can understand, 'Out of the World' will be a crucial node."
Duncan broke the silence: "...and what you were worried about at one time was actually two things. The first one is whether it is possible for mortal civilization to develop to the level of 'jumping out of the world'. The second thing is the 'new world' I created." '--if it really exists--can it 'accommodate' such a development of civilization?"
Pilot Two nodded slightly and asked a question: "Fire Usurper, do you know what is the biggest difference between the real 'world' and a 'sanctuary' like the Infinite Sea?"
Duncan didn't answer, and Pilot 2 already gave the answer on its own -
"The word 'possibility' is intuitive but not accurate enough. In my opinion, the biggest difference between the two is 'random'."
Duncan subconsciously repeated: "Random?"
"A complete and healthy real universe allows for the emergence of 'true randomness'," Pilot 2 said slowly, "but in the sanctuary, there is only 'pseudo-randomness'."
Duncan understood the meaning of the other person's words almost immediately.
"So, there will never be anything inside the shelter that exceeds the 'information limit' of the shelter," he said quickly, "just like a little person on a two-dimensional plane, no matter how fast he runs, even if he has mastered teleportation on the plane It will never be able to 'stand up' - only a system that allows 'true randomness' can allow 'supercritical' events that jump out of the system!"
"My creators call this event the 'Final Transgression,' and they believe that this may be the final stage of the development of mortal civilization... Once there, we will be safe."
Pilot Two said softly, slowly raising his head and staring at the empty sky.
There seems to be an endpoint that New Hope can never reach.
Duncan finally understood the meaning of what Pilot One said to him when he was in the deep sea——
"In fact, Pilot 2 had already calculated the outcome of this journey as early as the moment it set off."
The end point that New Hope can never reach is a chasm that stands in front of the civilization stage. In front of this chasm, there is a spacecraft driven by a jump engine and a shell made of neutron star materials, and a weapon that is thrown into the sky by warriors. There is no difference between the steel sword.
Because in the face of "external events", all structures within the universe lack strength.