Chapter 242: Annihilation and History

Yu Sheng walked to the edge of the broken floating island, staring absently at the endless chaotic void outside, and at the magnificent stream of light stretching across the darkness, as if deep in thought.

Bai Liqing's voice came from behind him: “What are you thinking about?”

“Just random thoughts, mostly about Anka'Ela,” Yu Sheng admitted, his tone carrying emotion. “I know it might sound strange, but honestly, I've never really had a concrete sense of beings like the 'Dark Angels.' Anka'Ela is the first Dark Angel I've ever communicated with... The things in her memories are hard for me to let go.”

Footsteps approached, and Bai Liqing came to stand beside him: “What exactly do you mean? The disaster that struck her homeland? Or the extinction of the civilization she represents?”

“Both,” Yu Sheng scratched his head. “The dead ecosphere is heartbreaking, but the disaster in Anka'Ela's memories is even more shocking—probably because I directly experienced those 'memories,' I feel like I witnessed that disaster myself...”

Bai Liqing pressed her lips together, looking as if she wanted to speak but hesitated.

Yu Sheng felt she had made that expression more than once already. Earlier, when he mentioned certain details from Anka'Ela's memories, this female director's reaction had always been somewhat noticeable.

He couldn't help frowning: “...Do you know something I don't?”

Bai Liqing didn't answer directly but instead asked a question: “What exactly was the disaster in Anka'Ela's memories like?”

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and didn't hide anything: “There are some abstract 'impressions' that I don't know how to describe in words. As for the 'visuals,' it looked like something split the entire universe apart... Is that too exaggerated? But there really was a crack between the stars, a red crack. All celestial bodies gradually disintegrated or ignited. The refugee arks were caught by a red light, and before you could see what happened, they dissolved one by one in that light...”

As he spoke, Yu Sheng trailed off. It seemed that just recalling the scene he had witnessed in his mind made him dizzy. But after hearing his words, Bai Liqing remained silent for a few eerie seconds, then whispered: “It's not an exaggeration.”

Yu Sheng froze for two seconds before realizing the hidden meaning in Bai Liqing's low response: “...What?!”

Then he quickly added: “What do you mean? You know what that thing is? Didn't you say everything about the Dark Angels is a mystery...”

“Everything about the Dark Angels is a mystery to us, but the red light you mentioned and the sight of the universe tearing apart are not,” Bai Liqing said calmly. “When you first brought it up, I wasn't sure, but now I'm somewhat confident—that thing in Anka'Ela's memory also appeared in our world. Or more precisely, it appeared before this world was born.”

Yu Sheng stood frozen, his mind racing with information. After a long moment, he blinked and caught up with the implications of Bai Liqing's statement: “...You said 'before the world was born'—that crack and the red light appeared in this world before? Wait, that means...”

Bai Liqing looked at him, calm and serious: “This world was destroyed.”

Yu Sheng: “...What?!”

“This isn't exactly a secret, but only a few people understand it, and even fewer specialize in this field,” Bai Liqing said leisurely, as if discussing some legend far removed from reality. “It's exactly what it sounds like—the world we live in was once destroyed. Everything you see now was born after the 'Second Singularity Burst.'

“In the ancient and obscure stories of the Bamosans, it was the greatest of the Ancient Spirits who accomplished this feat. The long-established academies of Terra even record many legends about the old world. I'm not an expert in this, so my understanding of the Second Singularity Burst and the old world is limited to this. But one thing I'm certain of—what you described, what Anka'Ela experienced... is the 'Annihilation' recorded in history.”

Yu Sheng's mouth hung open. It took a while before he drew a sharp breath: “Wait a moment, that's a lot of information. Let me sort it out. I need to rebuild my worldview a bit...”

As he spoke, Yu Sheng tapped his temple, rapidly organizing the information in his mind, and finally pieced it into a coherent thread.

In the way that made most sense to him.

“Alright, I understand what you're saying. You mean our world was already destroyed once by something called 'Annihilation,' right? And then the Ancient Spirits—I've heard you mention them. I understand them as beings similar to 'gods.' The greatest among them recreated the world after the apocalypse, giving rise to the Borderlands and the entire universe beyond. Is that correct?

“Then now, a bunch of 'Dark Angels' keep 'invading' this world, and over time, more and more are coming. The latest intelligence indicates that at least one of the Dark Angels fell in because its home world also encountered 'Annihilation.' That's the whole chain of events, right?”

Bai Liqing listened and slowly nodded: “I think so.”

Yu Sheng pressed his fist against his forehead, applying pressure.

He felt things were big, very big.

“So, can we interpret the meaning behind the continuous invasion of the Dark Angels in one sentence? From the perspective of our 'world,' it's—'Damn, Annihilation is still chasing us'?”

Bai Liqing's eyelid visibly twitched, but her expression quickly tightened again.

“That's the worst possibility, but it's unlikely,” after a moment of deliberation, the female director shook her head cautiously. “At least based on the guidance transmitted by the Ancient Spirits, the 'Annihilation' has indeed ended. Even the destruction of the old world was a long time ago. Anka'Ela's memories also confirm this: she drifted for a very, very long time, until even the red light that devoured the other arks disappeared from her detectors. So personally, I don't think we need to worry about the return of so-called 'Annihilation.'”

“But more and more Dark Angels are indeed 'invading' this world,” Yu Sheng said in a low voice. “In the past, we could say they came fiercely, but now I can't help feeling they are being 'driven' here by something, and that 'something' is getting closer.”

Bai Liqing's expression clearly became solemn. In all the time he had known her, Yu Sheng had never seen such a noticeable change on the face of this steel-faced, expressionless sister.

Yu Sheng was silent for another long while, then suddenly asked: “Those 'Ancient Spirits' you mentioned—have they always been in contact with the mortal world? It sounds like they still transmit 'guidance'... Can we contact them now and ask about the situation?”

“It's not easy,” Bai Liqing slowly shook her head. “A long time ago, the contact between the Ancient Spirits and the mortal world was frequent, but after the Second Singularity Burst, the universe gradually stabilized, and their contact with the mortal world has been decreasing. The Bamosans say this is because the scope of the Ancient Spirits' activities is gradually shifting to the edge of the observable universe—they have a more important mission. They patrol the borders of the starry veil there to maintain the stability of the real universe.

“Only occasionally does one of them return from there to have limited communication with the 'chosen' ones. But even that kind of communication—the last time was more than ten years ago.”

Yu Sheng frowned, digesting this information and thinking. After a moment, he asked again: “These 'Bamosans' you keep mentioning—what exactly do they do? Are they closely connected to the Ancient Spirits?”

“They are also mortals, just an older race in the universe. Their entire race is obsessed with digging up history and searching for 'truth,' so they know many ancient secrets. The most famous among them are their 'prophets.' The Bamosans are rich in prophets, who are said to be keenly perceptive of the direction of events, even able to briefly foresee the future and gaze upon the essence of all things. Their supreme leader is the greatest and oldest of all prophets,” Bai Liqing explained patiently. “As for being closely connected to the Ancient Spirits... actually, the Bamosans are about the same as other races. They just know a bit more.”

“Oh,” Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully, but his brow remained furrowed. “The last communication was more than ten years ago... Don't they show up when the Dark Angels invade?”

Bai Liqing didn't speak. She just spread her hands.

Yu Sheng didn't press further on that question.

But thoughts churned in his mind.

Those beings called the “Ancient Spirits” are real. And since they are real intelligent individuals who communicate with mortals, their actions must be rational and have reasons.

The Dark Angels are invading reality, yet the Ancient Spirits haven't come back to help directly. There must be a reason for that.

What could that reason be?

Yu Sheng pondered silently for a long time but could only arrive at two answers—either these “Spirits” that have been protecting the world don't really care about mortal life, or else...

The situation at the edge of the observable universe is even more serious than the Dark Angel invasion here.

Bad news, and worse news.

Yu Sheng shook his head. He was sure Bai Liqing must have thought of this too, and probably long ago—many others like her also thought of it.

“...Life has to go on,” he sighed softly.

“Yes, life has to go on,” Bai Liqing said, a faint, almost imperceptible smile at the corner of her eye.

But at that moment, a pleasant ringtone suddenly sounded, interrupting her.

Bai Liqing picked up her phone, glanced at it, and casually answered, holding it to her ear.

Yu Sheng blinked. He wasn't sure if he had seen it wrong—he felt that after listening to a couple of sentences on the phone, Bai Liqing's face clearly showed the expression of “Looks like this life really can't go on after all...”

(This chapter ends.)