Chapter 35 A Bird?

Duncan had indeed been thinking about where to begin explaining the truth about the Great Annihilation and the current state of the Deep Sea Era. After all, the collision and "incompatibility" of worlds was such an abstract concept that not everyone could grasp it in a short time. But he hadn't expected Rune to start the discussion with a seemingly ordinary little bird.

He looked up and noticed that Maurice, standing beside him, had a thoughtful expression when he saw the "mad bird."

Rune, under the curious gazes of everyone, placed the bird on the table in front of him. His voice was calm and clear, like a patient instructor in a classroom, explaining the ultimate truth of this world to the bishops present:

"The black-feathered auk, possibly one of the oldest and most widespread bird species in the world, lives on the secure coasts of city-states, on the perilous remote islands of the distant sea, and even in some 'anomaly'-classified terrifying waters, explorers have found traces of these little birds... But from a purely physiological and behavioral perspective, the black-feathered auk has no special characteristics at all. It is merely a resilient bird, nothing more.

"Until 1723, scholars suddenly proposed an interesting, or rather, creative idea—what do animals, who live in this world with humans but have different sensory perceptions, see as 'all things'?

"The first person to propose this idea was Hai Pa-Stronm, a famous scholar from the Academy of Truth. He had this thought while playing with his pet dog at home—he stared at the dog's eyes and suddenly thought of the animal's different eye and brain structure from humans. He realized that such a special set of senses must recognize and understand the surrounding environment in a wonderful way, different from humans. When this curiosity became overwhelmingly strong, he designed the famous 'Hai Pa Experiment'—

"Using a series of complex occult methods, he connected his senses with an animal. The initial test was conducted between him and his pet dog.

"The first experiment failed, and the dog almost died in the experiment. Subsequent examination showed that the dog suffered tremendous mental stress at the moment the connection was established, which was far beyond the animal's tolerance.

"So Hai Pa-Stronm designed a second test. This time, he decided to choose a slightly 'lower' creature with a simpler brain structure—he only needed to share the creature's perception and did not want it to die in the experiment due to an overly complex brain that could not withstand the pressure. The final choice... was the black-feathered auk.

"On an afternoon in August 1726, Hai Pa-Stronm completed all the preparations. He placed the little bird in a special cage so that it could see the sky outside, while he lay on the experimental bed next to the cage—the ritual began.

"One hour later, Hai Pa-Stronm died. A terrifying scream and a strange rumble shattered all the windows of the laboratory. The scholar's collapsing soul caused a spiritual界啸叫 (Lingjie Xiaojiao, spiritual world wail), and twelve assistants and apprentices suffered trauma in this wail.

"Compared to many experimental accidents or supernatural disasters that have caused more serious consequences, the personnel damage caused by the 'Hai Pa Incident' was not severe. However, some chilling 'facts' revealed in this experimental accident left a lasting shadow on the academic community, so that after that experiment, all attempts to establish sensory sharing between different species were classified as absolutely forbidden—

"This is the 'fact' revealed in that experimental accident."

As Rune spoke, he reached into his robe and took out something—it seemed to be just a folded, ordinary-looking piece of paper.

He opened the paper—dense patterns appeared in Duncan's eyes.

"People found a torn record beside Hai Pa's body. The corpse was severely distorted when it was discovered, and the flesh had been grotesquely mutated into a terrifying form as if it had been contaminated by an ancient god. This record was clenched tightly in the scholar's only right hand that still retained a human form—investigators judged that this should be something the scholar hastily depicted with his last sanity while rapidly descending into madness...

"Rest assured, this is just a 'copy' copied from the data. The contaminating parts have been removed, and everyone can watch safely."

Rune held up the paper, showing it to everyone in the venue.

What was on it? What did Hai Pa-Stronm see before his death?

Frankly speaking, even Duncan couldn't associate those abstract and chaotic lines with the "Hai Pa Experiment" Rune mentioned. He only saw a large pile of curved lines that seemed to be frantically twitching, trembling shadows covering a series of inexplicable geometric patterns, and countless structures resembling eyes or strange hollows all over the paper. The first impression it gave was... bizarre and chaotic.

The hall fell silent. The "Hai Pa Incident" was not a secret, but not everyone knew as much about these professional matters as the scholars did. Many bishops from the Deep Sea, Death, and Torchbearer churches were indeed hearing these details for the first time, and the bizarre and suspicious parts of this incident made everyone thoughtful.

"This is the scene Hai Pa-Stronm saw through 'shared senses' at the moment of his death," Rune's voice sounded in the silent hall. "What you see is the 'world' in the eyes of a black-feathered auk—the cluster of curves on the edge that seems to be trembling and piled up is Hai Pa-Stronm himself."

A buzzing discussion immediately arose around them. The bishops sitting on the edge of the hall talked in low voices, and some looked at the black sea bird, still seemingly ordinary, that was placed on the table with stunned or thoughtful expressions.

The "mad bird" seemed frightened. It jumped and flapped its wings in the cage, making a series of clear and shrill calls.

Rune put the black cloth back on the cage.

"This is what has happened in our world and what is still happening in the 'underlying essence' of all things," he raised his head and calmly glanced across the hall. "The essence of 'contamination' stems from the 'incompatibility' of all things. A thing in our perspective is, in another perspective, or rather, under another set of 'rules', a fatal contamination and erosion..."

In the following period, Rune slowly recounted everything he had seen in the deepest part of the Dream of the Nameless.

About the essence of the Great Annihilation, about the truth of the world collision, about the reasons behind the various pollution and erosion phenomena in the current Deep Sea Era, and those "eternal conflicts" that still remain in the underlying laws of the world.

"...On the day the Great Annihilation occurred, many worlds 'collided' with each other. We still don't know the reason for this collision, but the result... was a 'Hai Pa Incident' spanning many civilizations, races, and worlds. In this collision, every world was each other's 'mad bird', each other's 'Hai Pa-Stronm'. In the perspective of the 'basic rules of the world', unspeakable pollution eroded and twisted all things, all the old order disappeared, and the survivors..."

Rune stopped, slowly stood up, and looked around at everyone here.

"We, and everything around us, and even the entire Deep Sea Era, are the scream of 'Hai Pa-Stronm' at the moment of his death. This scream is still echoing to this day, but it is nearing its end."

The old man breathed a sigh of relief and slowly sat back in his seat.

"I'm done. Is there anyone else who needs to add anything?"

As he spoke, his eyes fell on Duncan opposite him.

"You've said it very completely," Duncan said. "Regarding the Great Annihilation, this is what we know so far. Next, let's talk about the gods, the conjecture about the essence of the gods, and what you have been doing recently. This is what I am most concerned about."

The surrounding bishops seemed to be slightly agitated again. The four popes sitting across the table exchanged glances briefly after Duncan finished speaking. Soon, the agitation subsided, and the "Torchbearer Pope," who was wearing simple robes, had skin as gray as rock, and was exceptionally tall, nodded gently.

"Based on the existing clues, what the gods represent should be the powerful or special individuals remaining after the various worlds were destroyed in the Great Annihilation—like 'charred cores' after burning, bearing the... afterglow of a world."

Frem spoke in a low voice, while raising his hand and outlining the Torchbearer's emblem on his chest, as if repenting for his offensive act of "judging the gods" at this moment, but he continued—

"...The Great Annihilation destroyed everything in the old world. Strictly speaking, the gods also failed to survive that disaster, and about this... we had already noticed it a long time ago."

Hearing Frem's words, Duncan instantly widened his eyes slightly, "You had already noticed it before this?"

At the same time, he also noticed the expressions of astonishment that instantly appeared on the faces of Maurice and Vanna beside him—obviously, even they, as saints, were hearing this kind of thing from the pope for the first time.

This was a "secret" limited to the "Pilgrim's Ark"!

Frem nodded gently.

"Yes, we had already noticed—but only now do we know the reason for all this.

"The gods are dead and have begun to enter the 'decay stage'... But only a few senior church officials who patrol the border with the Pilgrim's Ark know this truth, and another truth is..."

Frem paused slightly, he raised his head and looked into Duncan's eyes.

"The birth of the Pilgrim's Ark is to delay the 'rot' of the gods—and to this day, this 'delay' has basically reached its limit.

"The 'turbidity' produced by the corruption of the gods... is about to seep into the mortal world."

(End of chapter)