Chapter 133 Red Light, Moon, IE

Now, regarding that red light, Duncan had two pieces of information:

First, before the Great Annihilation, before the doomsday descended upon those "Old Worlds," a deep red like dark blood would first appear in the sky—its "main body" was reflected in the depths of space, but the way it spread did not conform to the laws of optics. At any location on the planet, it could be seen appearing in a specific position in the sky, and this position would not change with the rotation of the planet, as if directly reflected in the observer's vision or mind.

Second, that red light did not seem to exhibit any direct "destructive" properties. It was more like a "phenomenon" or "characteristic" produced by the universe itself during the doomsday stage, a sign of collapse rather than the collapse itself.

Third, the doomsday did not happen and end instantaneously. The entire process of destruction would last for a certain period. The progression of doomsday was accompanied by an increasing number of bizarre phenomena and the continuous twisting and mutation of "rules," until the underlying laws of the world could no longer withstand such distortion. Therefore, the warrior and his companions had the last chance to begin a journey, and the spaceship named New Hope had the last chance to take off and set sail.

For Duncan, this third point was particularly crucial.

The doomsday did not happen instantaneously, which meant that people before the doomsday had enough time to observe the appearance of that "red light"—but in his memory, he had never seen that deep red.

He was trapped in that "bachelor apartment" overnight. Before that, he had never seen any strange red light or supernatural phenomena, and after that, he had not seen it appear outside the window...

Bachelor apartment?

Duncan's memory suddenly stalled. After a moment, his brows furrowed slightly.

What exactly *was* his "bachelor apartment?"

All along, he had believed that the other side of the Gate of the Forsaken was his hometown. Outside his bachelor apartment, in the depths of the thick fog, were still the bustling crowds of Earth and the ordinary, peaceful daily life. He was just trapped in a room, separated from his hometown by a wall—but with the appearance of the "Moon" and the gradual verification of the "World Aggregation Theory," this possibility had actually approached zero infinitely.

If he had a premonition of this before, then this premonition had now obviously been verified—he knew he could not go back.

But until now, he suddenly thought of another question: if the other side of the Gate of the Forsaken was not his hometown, then what was the essence of his remaining "bachelor apartment?"

Whenever he "went back"... where exactly did he "go?"

Duncan frowned tightly. In the faint "sunlight" that permeated outside the window, that long sword suddenly appeared in his mind, as well as that mass of living metal that was once a "human"...

"Another piece of the world fragment..." he seemed to realize, but his expression became more complicated. "What is the essence of the world fragments...?"

Thoughts swirled in his mind, and memories and guesses rose and fell in his heart like continuous broken waves. Duncan slowly paced around the room, using this method to calm and sort out his thoughts. Then he returned to the table, casually pulled a piece of paper from the side, and absentmindedly sketched patterns on it—he didn't think about what to write or draw, just repeatedly sketching lines and smearing patterns on it.

Then, he suddenly stopped.

He looked at what he had unconsciously drawn on the paper... a moon outlined by messy lines.

It was as if he was looking at a hometown that was close at hand but could never be returned to.

Alice said that if the symbol of a hometown appeared in a place, then that place was the hometown... Though not very smart, she could occasionally point directly to the core of the problem with the simplest and purest thinking. In a sense, what she said was actually correct.

The hometown was here, but it was neither the entirety nor the familiar appearance that Duncan knew. It was just a small fragment, and like that "warrior" who had turned into living metal—it had already become something difficult to understand.

Duncan subconsciously reached out his finger, touching the "moon" on the paper, as if asking someone, and murmured to himself, "Yes, what else could be left..."

The sound of flapping wings suddenly came from the side, interrupting Duncan's absentmindedness. The fat white pigeon landed from the top of the nearby wardrobe. It wobbled to Duncan, tilted its head, and then lowered its head, pecking at the moon drawn on the paper with its beak.

It pecked a hole in the "moon," looked up, and chattered: "Lifting my head, I gaze at the bright moon, lifting my head, I gaze at the bright moon, lifting my head..."

It suddenly stopped and continued to tilt its head, looking at Duncan.

Duncan also stared blankly at it, looking at this pigeon that had inexplicably "mutated" from the compass, looking at this silly bird that followed him for no reason and was particularly obedient and affectionate.

"Aie, A-ie, A—" the pigeon flapped its wings, making a very loud and strange sound, "Aie—"

Duncan suddenly widened his eyes and grabbed Aie's body, but then quickly relaxed a little, as if afraid of accidentally crushing this small "creature" to death. He felt his breathing become rapid, his heart pounding, and the pigeon in his palm tilted its head, looking over with an expression that seemed very dull.

Duncan finally opened his mouth; "...Aie?"

The pigeon nodded: "Goo."

Duncan hesitated, and changed to a more accurate pronunciation: "...ie?"

The pigeon nodded quickly: "Goo."

Duncan took a light breath: "...?"

The pigeon vigorously pulled out its wings and flapped them even harder. At this moment, it seemed more excited than ever before, and seemed to have countless more exciting words to say.

However, after flapping its wings hard for a long time, it only made a loud, meaningless "goo" sound.

Duncan gently released his hand, watching this fat pigeon happily walking around on the table, stopping from time to time to tilt its head and curiously observe its "master," the green bean eyes seemingly forever flashing with the light of network disconnection and process unresponsiveness—for a long time, he finally sighed softly, a complex smile appearing on his face.

So the answer was written on the question from the very beginning.

This silly bird was another tiny fragment left behind by his suddenly extinguished hometown.

He couldn't go back. He really couldn't go back.

Duncan sat quietly in the chair, like a stone statue, without any movement, any expression, or any sound for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, he blinked as if suddenly "coming to life," and then began to think—or rather, forced himself to continue thinking:

If Aie really was Internet Explorer, then what exactly should its corresponding "source" be? Was it those codes? Was it the vast amount of accumulated data? Was it the countless hardware that once supported Internet Explorer's operation? Or was it the abstract description behind this word?

Or... symbolizing a brief spark in the development of a certain civilization. Perhaps world fragments do not necessarily correspond to a certain "entity." It may even be a vast concept—a concept abstracted from reality.

Then does this conjecture also hold true in reverse?

Would the entities that once truly existed in those "Old Worlds" survive in the Deep Sea Era in the form of "abstract concepts?" What were those countless anomalies on this boundless sea today, and the countless invisible things and forbidden knowledge born around those anomalies... what were they once?

And most importantly—what is the principle behind these changes? What is the essence of the Great Annihilation and that red light?

New answers brought new questions, one after another, seemingly never reaching the end of the truth. Duncan felt that his thinking seemed to have entered a dead end. Before more clues appeared, he could no longer find a direction to continue delving deeper.

And just then, a gentle knock suddenly came from behind, interrupting his increasingly deep and difficult thoughts.

Duncan quickly came back to his senses. He sensed the aura outside the door, so he took a light breath and gradually calmed down his mood: "Come in, Alice."

The door opened, and the doll girl walked in, holding a large plate in her hands, with Duncan's missed dinner on it.

"Captain," Alice's tone was a little worried, "you didn't eat dinner."

For some reason, just seeing Alice's expression that seemed to never have any impurities made Duncan feel that his chaotic thoughts had calmed down a lot.

He showed a smile: "Thank you, put it on the table."

"Oh," Alice casually put down the plate, and then quickly added, "Don't worry, these are all normal foods, according to the taste of ordinary people—Nina said that the 'traditional cuisine' here is not for human consumption..."

As she spoke, she looked up and observed Duncan's expression: "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now," Duncan took a long breath. He sorted out the questions he had just figured out, and a smile gradually appeared on his face, "Indeed, with so many gains... I should be happy."

"Oh," Alice listened half-understandingly, but she did feel that the captain's mood seemed to have really improved a lot, so she felt relieved, "They were a little worried about you, so they asked me to come up and take a look. It's good that you're okay."

Duncan nodded gently, but suddenly felt a little emotional in his heart.

In this big house, there were indeed many people who were always worried about his "state," and these worries were diverse. Perhaps only this doll, who usually looked silly... her worries about him were never mixed with any impurities.

If he had to say, Nina might be another one.

Feeling emotional in his heart, Duncan smiled and shook his head, and then suddenly thought of another thing.

"Alice," he turned his gaze and looked into the eyes of the gothic doll, "I need your help with something."

Alice didn't even think: "Ah? Okay!"

Duncan nodded, reached into his pocket, and took out the brass key that he had been carrying with him.

"Alice, I want to use this key again."

"Okay!"