Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 785

Chapter 785: Chapter 782: Residue and Inertia Chapter 785: Chapter 782: Residue and Inertia The fine sands within the hourglass continued to flow downward as if they could last for a great while longer. Duncan carefully held the hourglass in his hands while conversing with the ancient “deities.”

The gods were rotting–he had heard this statement more than once already. The pontiffs of the Four Gods had told him as much, and they said that the stench of the gods' decay was slowly creeping into the mortal world, eating away at this world alongside the apocalypse.

But this was the first time he had heard such a statement from one of the “gods” themselves and realized that the current situation was the result of their efforts to postpone this process as much as possible.

“This hastily established Shelter is fraught with too many defects… Everything is ephemeral, the curtain, the 'sun,' the keystones of the archipelagos, and we ourselves–before the first long night began, we had already seen our own end.”

In the monochromatic Spirit Realm composed of black, white, and gray tones, the ancient Leviathan Queen spoke softly, this monstrous behemoth possessing a gentle voice, as if a Dreamscape floating in deep waters, slowly recounting the past to Duncan–
“It took us a very long time to realize our own 'death,' and then another long time for Bartok to figure out what exactly had happened from our state of 'death without cessation.'
“We are the 'inertia' of the old world.”

“The inertia of the old world?” Duncan immediately frowned, speculating in his mind.

“You should already know what destroyed our world, the many worlds–that you must also know, the Annihilation of All Things did not completely destroy everything in those worlds. There are always some 'remnants' that were preserved during the collision of worlds, and we, those called 'gods,' are part of those remnants.

“But these remnants are called remnants precisely because they are no longer whole. When dust peels away from a boulder, it simply becomes sand, not a boulder. The same applies to us–the impact of the Annihilation of All Things permanently changed our essence. Strictly speaking, from that day on, we too became part of that scorching 'ash'… But unlike ash, we retained 'Self-Will.'
“We know what we once were–this 'awareness' allowed us to rise again from the ashes, and even Reshape part of the remaining ash into what we 'remembered.'
“At first, this led us to believe there was a chance to Reshape all worlds, to restore all ashes, but it didn't take long before we realized the 'limits' of this Reshaping and recognized our own weakening…

“We are not truly alive; we are mere obsessions lingering within corpses. Our 'awareness' of self and 'memories' of the old world are the only reasons we can continue to act, and this 'awareness' and 'memories'… are eroding with the passage of time.

Bartok, one of us who understands 'death' best, calls this phenomenon 'the inertia of the old world.' He believes we did not survive on account of Self-Will or individual strength, but because the 'world did not wish to die.' The old worlds were destroyed in the Annihilation of All Things, but the fact that they once existed turned into the 'inertia' after the apocalypse, becoming various remnants that survived the Annihilation of All Things–becoming us.”

“Awareness of self” and “memories of the old world”…” Duncan pondered, one hand supporting the hourglass, the other stroking his chin, “So, is this the foundation of the 'Shelter'?”

“Yes,” the gentle voice told him, “We used our memories and awareness to Reshape the initial 'keystones' from the ashes, which is why there are many ambiguous 'records' pointing to the Annihilation of All Things remaining in the mortal world, yet we never find any true 'evidence' that could prove the Annihilation, because there was never any 'evidence' from the start. Even the entire Endless Sea is built from the remnants we collected from the ashes…

“But even those remnants decay as our 'awareness' and 'memories' wear down… The 'lifespan limit' originally designed for the Shelter stems from this.”

Duncan listened intently to Gomona's narrative, from time to time lost in thought, and then as if talking to himself, he said, “Inertia ultimately fades… So, the End-Time Survey Team was bound to encounter that 'limit,' regardless of how perfectly they fulfilled their mission, the 'end of the world' had been predetermined on the day the world was born…”

He suddenly recalled the words “Critus” had told him:
“Continuing the Shelter is meaningless…”

“Yes, continuing the Shelter is meaningless,” the Leviathan Queen repeated softly, “but there is a higher interpretation to this statement–continuing to 'postpone' that apocalypse is meaningless.”

Duncan's gaze shifted slightly, and he raised his head to look at the pale limbs sprawling at the edge of the pool, watching them gradually rise, eye after eye slowly opening on its surface.

“Do you remember? The world's apocalypse brought by the Annihilation of All Things did not end; it has always been proceeding slowly at the very basic logic of all things. The conflict of rules and the erosion of chaos are just its manifestations; essentially, it is the struggle between 'inertia' and 'apocalypse'–as long as we, this 'inertia,' still exist, as long as the Shelter exists, the Annihilation of All Things will never cease. It must go on until everything in the world is ground to mush. At that time… the end of the world will truly be over.”

The pale limbs dangled slightly, and the eyes that were not human yet seemed to be imbued with the brilliance of humanity and intelligence also hung low.

“Yes, Usurper of Flame,” it is precisely because the 'world' refuses to die that the end of the world refuses to stop; it is because we still exist that the Annihilation of All Things continues to this day, even up to this very moment… it still hangs over the heads of all beings.”

“It hangs over the head until the end of life…” Duncan instantly reacted, “You're referring to the Creation of the World?!”

“…That rift is how it appears in the eyes of the Observer; it is essentially an 'outcome,' a 'focal point' that guides all the possibilities of all worlds towards the same 'collapsed fact'–it is the 'end' of the Endless Sea.”

Gomona's voice paused, and Duncan remained silent for a long time before he finally spoke in a murmur as if talking to himself, “So, on the day this 'world' was born, its 'end' was already hanging overhead.”

After a while, he looked again toward Gomona's “eyes” and broke the silence, “So, whatever solution we ultimately use, we must first deal with that 'never-ending doomsday,' we must first find a way to end the Annihilation of All Things–but the only way to end it is…”

He paused for a moment, but Gomona's soft voice supplied the answer, “To let the end of the world 'complete'.”

The temple fell quiet, silent as the annihilation of the cosmos.

After a long time, Duncan exhaled softly, “This can't be the 'conclusion' you ultimately wanted to tell me–there's something else, something you haven't told me yet.”

“Yes, there's something else–there are many ways to make the end of the world 'complete,' but within our cognitive and capability boundaries, the 'Annihilation of All Things' is the final outcome of all paths. But as I said, this is only the conclusion 'within our cognitive and capability boundaries'…”

The pale limbs dropped again, and then, suddenly, a hazy figure emerged in front of them–a girl in a long dress, wearing a veil, standing in front of a pond, deeply bowing to Duncan.

Many, many years ago, she learned to communicate with her “land friends” in this form and only appeared in this manner on very solemn occasions.

“Usurper of Flame, you are not within our cognitive and capability boundaries, and strictly speaking, you are not even within the scope of the Annihilation of All Things–even though you were the first among us to arrive, even though you have always slept in the earliest ashes, you…you are not 'residue.'
“We cannot understand what you truly are, but the calculations of Navigator II indicate that you are the only 'healthy' individual among us–perhaps, you have a way to protect the shadows of the old worlds when that 'end' happens.”

Duncan did not speak; he just furrowed his brows tightly, his expression more tense than ever before.

Suddenly, he thought of something–those “collections” that appeared in his room!

He heard the voice of the “Dreamscape Girl” continue to resonate in his ear:
“…Observation and cognition, memory and information, these seem to be the cornerstone of the world's existence. Navigator II once told me it came from a brilliant and advanced civilization, whose creators had almost touched the basic laws of the universe right before the doomsday, and at the pinnacle of their most profound research, a scholar had put forth a speculation.

“This speculation is the most memorable part of Navigator II's memory bank–
“'Information is everything; everything is an expression of information.'”
“Information is everything…everything is an expression of information…” Duncan subconsciously repeated the phrase, and in a daze, he seemed to hear a “roar” coming from deep within himself, as if suddenly understanding many things. The scene before his eyes shook, with diffusing starlight spreading on the edge of his vision, then these illusions gradually dissipated–the voice of the “Dreamscape Girl” came to his ears, that voice was hazy, as if suddenly separated by a thick veil:
“…Navigator II still ponders that phrase today; its creators seem to have touched the threshold of truth but only had time to throw out this speculation, and with the resources controlled by us 'residues,' with the conditions currently available in the Shelter, Navigator II believes it might never be able to turn this speculation into a usable theory and 'means.' But your existence…made it realize one thing.

“Perhaps there was a civilization, one more advanced than the creators of Navigator II, that has already stepped over that threshold.”

Chapter end

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