Duncan felt that his plan might indeed be a bit crazy – Hei Taiyang (Black Sun) probably had to make a sanity check after hearing what he just said...

But he was serious. After Hei Taiyang's "Ah," his expression was even more serious than before, and he calmly repeated, "I want to detonate the World-Wound—of course, 'detonate' is a figure of speech. Strictly speaking, I want to borrow its power, or rather, the portion of its power that wasn't fully released during the Great Annihilation."

The surface of that blazing, false sun rose and fell, its radiant corona surging like a stormy sea, while countless pale, eerie tentacles writhed in the fire. After a long while, Hei Taiyang calmed down, its deep, layered, trembling voice now tinged with noise: "...When was this plan decided?"

"Before coming here to see you," Duncan said calmly. "Although at the time, it was just a vague direction, and the idea wasn't so firm."

He paused, then continued, "I've always had a... 'feeling.' This feeling may stem from the 'knowledge' left behind by the civilization that created me. I don't understand the internal principles of many things, but instinct tells me what to do or where the direction lies. Driven by this instinct, I believe the World-Wound may help me solve a major problem I'm currently facing—the problem of the First Cause.

"But it wasn't until I met you here, and saw the 'letter' you brought me, that I confirmed the correctness of this direction, or rather... this letter itself is very likely a reminder, reminding me where the correct direction lies."

The uneasy writhing on the surface of Hei Taiyang subsided slightly. Realizing that this wasn't a mindless, crazy idea, but a truly calm and rational plan, it finally became serious: "What do you mean by the 'problem of the First Cause' you mentioned earlier?"

"Simply put, it's a 'big bang' that triggered the birth of the world," Duncan explained. "It's a figurative way of speaking. You can think of it as a simultaneous explosion of information, matter, and energy. If we regard the entire world as a vast and complex mathematical machine, then the first roar of this machine was that 'explosion' that marked the origin of all things.

"In the Ash Sea on the Border of Order, I conducted preliminary tests. These tests verified the conjecture that information is indestructible, and confirmed that things can indeed be reshaped in the chaotic sea of information through 'assignment.' But I also discovered a problem: this 'mathematical machine' of the world possesses 'integrity.' All of its information parameters must mesh with each other. I can't rebuild the world brick by brick, step by step—before this work begins, I may have endless time to prepare, but once the process starts, all work must be completed simultaneously.

"Therefore, I need such an explosion, to complete the synchronous assignment and 'activation' of all information in an infinitely short and infinitely long 'instant.' If this condition cannot be met, the new world will be torn apart and gradually reset to zero—like the boundless sea as it is now.

"And this requires immense energy, very, very immense energy... even Great Annihilation-level energy."

Duncan looked up, gazing earnestly at the huge, pale eye surrounded by flesh: "You see, this is a quite reasonable and well-considered plan..."

"...I'm starting to get a little scared when you mention the word 'reasonable'," the tentacles around Hei Taiyang twitched. "But alright, at least I understand the necessity of this plan. Indeed... only the World-Wound can provide such immense energy. But how will you ensure that this process... really happens the way you want it to? Or to put it bluntly, how will the World-Wound be detonated? How will it be guided? How can you ensure that this process doesn't get out of control?"

The ancient god threw out a series of questions, clearly harboring great concern about Duncan's plan—and this concern was perfectly normal.

Because it was too close to the World-Wound. No "one" in this world understood the essence and terror of that rift better than it did. For ten thousand years, it had gazed at that doomsday frozen in the sky—making it difficult to associate that doomsday with a "new world."

Duncan had obviously thought about these questions as well. Facing Hei Taiyang's questions, he didn't waver at all, simply organized his words and calmly said, "All things are information."

Hei Taiyang remained silent, waiting for Duncan to continue his explanation.

"The World-Wound is the same," Duncan continued.

The flames around Hei Taiyang swelled slightly. It seemed to have thought of something.

"After coming into contact with that chaotic 'sea of information,' I gained a true understanding of the theory that 'all things are information'," Duncan didn't try to be mysterious. After confirming that Hei Taiyang could follow his line of thought, he continued to explain, "The World-Wound is the solidified 'doomsday' itself, but doomsday is also an expression of information. From the most basic logic, the World-Wound is actually no different from anything else in this world.

"And for me, as long as it's still something supported by 'information,' there's no such thing as 'out of control.' It exists, therefore it is controllable. If it is uncontrollable... then its 'loss of control' must also be controllable, unless the theory that 'all things are information' doesn't hold true for it."

"You sound very confident," Hei Taiyang's tentacles stretched out, its deep, gentle tremor filled with emotion. "And very firm."

Duncan didn't speak, simply nodding slightly.

He truly believed it: nothing could stop the World-Wound from becoming the dawn of the new world—not even the World-Wound itself.

"Moreover, something else is also strengthening my confidence," he suddenly said.

Hei Taiyang quickly reacted: "You mean... the appearance of that cube?"

"It passed through the World-Wound rift and arrived on 'this side'," Duncan nodded slightly. "A letter, no matter how exquisite its manufacturing technology or how complete its protective measures, being able to cross the barrier between the new world and the old world and be delivered to 'this side' is almost impossible in itself. So its 'delivery window' must have been carefully selected. This delivery window must be located in the place where the two worlds are most closely 'connected'..."

Duncan slowly stopped. His gaze looked into the distance, as if piercing through Hei Taiyang's brilliant and false corona, staring at some more distant space-time—

The myriad things of the old world collapsed, all information ultimately converging at a "terminal point";

The new world was born in a great explosion, all information erupting from a "starting point."

Convergence and eruption, born relative to each other, were like the two ends of an hourglass. And at their connection, the place that was both a terminal point and a starting point—was the place left for the "reverse singularity."

It was also the place left for the World-Wound.

People of the distant future sent a letter through that only "aperture" to the other end of the hourglass. That letter was a homecoming message, and also a guiding light in the night voyage.

"I will come find you," Duncan said slowly. He retracted his gaze from the distance, refocusing his vision on Hei Taiyang. "I will fulfill the agreement to incinerate you, reserve a place for you in the new world, and then—it will be done."

Hei Taiyang's corona slowly undulated, and from within that layered flesh, a gentle, deep trembling voice echoed: "I will light a lighthouse for you. In the night sky, you must sail towards the brightest direction."

"Good, see you then."

"See you then."

…

The night was eternal, a thin mist enveloped the city-state, and the solidified clouds hung low, seemingly within reach. Cold permeated the world, and the neatly arranged gas lamps along the roadside still emitted a bright light, but the flames in the lampshades were frozen, no longer emitting a single trace of heat.

Heidi wrapped her coat tightly around herself—although she wasn't quite sure why she needed to put on such heavy clothes, the instinct in her heart still made her decide to "keep warm," even though she barely remembered what "cold" was.

She hurried through the street illuminated by the streetlights, showed her pass at the constable's post, and continued walking towards home.

She could see sparse pedestrians on the road. Some were going to the factory, others were out shopping. Compared to the days when the long night had just begun, there were obviously more people out and about now—it seemed that as time went on, the people in the city-state had gradually adapted to this night.

But even so, compared to those days when "everything was normal," the city was still far too deserted.

Heidi ignored the passersby slowly walking in the mist, simply hurrying along with her head down. Occasionally, she would hear some chaotic noises from the street or the next block, sounding like someone was fighting or screaming in fear. Sometimes she would even see fully armed church guards and some panicked-looking passersby clashing in the mist, but she would quickly avert her gaze and ignore these things.

As she passed a streetlight, Heidi looked up. She caught a glimpse of a flyer pasted on the lamppost. The flyer had a few simple words written on it—

"Waves, death, the temperature of fire—if you see and understand these words, please immediately go to the shelter at xx district or xx district for help. Do not panic, remain calm, there are still people protecting you."

Heidi frowned, looking at the crooked, unrecognizable symbols.

She vaguely felt that she had recently been seeing such graffiti near her home.

But there was nothing worth paying attention to.

She turned her head, passed through the cold mist, and continued towards home.