"But you don't intend to reach that ending."

Suddenly, another voice sounded, accompanied by two golden specks of light—they looked like eyes.

"Life...all share a common flaw. The further it advances, the more it considers itself extraordinary." The glow inside the grey shadow ceased flickering and stabilized. "People no longer ask where to go next, but how to get there—it is no longer a question full of diverse possibilities, but a goal."

"What binds this world is gravity. Civilization owes its survival and continuation to it, but it has also become the underlying rule of the universe, limiting the emergence of other possibilities. After dwarf stars evaporate, small black holes will also be swallowed by large black holes, the latter's scale to be calculated by galaxy clusters, which are evenly distributed in every corner of the universe, forming a balance with each other under the influence of gravity. Do you know what that's like?"

"A pile of balls pressing on a tablecloth," the grey shadow answered itself. "They restrain each other, yet do nothing to accelerate the expansion of the universe, until they themselves evaporate into nothingness. And then, entropy will reach its peak, the universe calm and stable, never to change again. For it, this moment will finally be adulthood. But that is not the outcome we want to see."

"Indeed, our existence is insignificant to the universe, like a drop in the ocean. Even without life, the universe is still the universe. Or rather, our appearance is itself an accident. But since we have appeared, we are destined not to be silent, even if our voices are small, we must shout out our own cry!"

The grey shadow flickered again.

"Just as we break free from gravity and leap from the ground into the sky, this time, we must break free from the cage again and go to a completely new realm."

"And your method is to use gravity," the voice of the eyes was steady and unwavering, not affected by the other's words.

"Correct, gravity will cause space to warp, which is a unique opportunity. When the balls pressing on the tablecloth are gathered at one point, instead of letting them distribute naturally, gravity will inevitably bring about different changes—it is contrary to the increase of entropy, it is artificial order, and it is the unique mark of life!"

"As this point of gravity becomes stronger and stronger, the curvature of the surrounding space will also gradually increase, just like a tablecloth pressed down by a ball—but it will not increase infinitely. When it exceeds an extreme value, either the sphere will become a new singularity and explode, or...the universe will be torn open."

As it said this, Roland seemed to hear a dull drumbeat, the sound of the universe being struck. The extremely distorted space would spring back violently after being pierced, and its vibrations would be strong enough to form gravitational waves that could shake the world.

"This tear will become a new life force, it connects to areas outside the universe. No one knows what will be there, but at least the deathly silence will no longer exist, and energy will flow for a long time."

"This...is the path we have chosen."

"And today—"

"Is the new step taken by life!"

As the grey shadow's voice fell, light suddenly burst forth from its body, illuminating the entire space—stars, galaxies, and nebulae were all revealed—the darkness instantly became rich, colorful, and dazzling.

Then Roland saw an even more incredible sight.

Among the countless starlight, there were more fleets arranged—they varied in shape and size, some even larger than stars. These unnatural creations were arranged in a matrix, almost extending to the end of the field of vision.

Looking at this magnificent sight, he felt an unspeakable shock.

Without the need for more words to describe, this neatly arranged fleet itself was a kind of order, representing a decrease in entropy. Only living beings would defy the essence of the universe, would challenge the vicissitudes of life with the body of an ephemeral mayfly.

Or rather, to live is to defy the heavens!

"One hundred seventy-six thousand four hundred and twenty-five civilizations have reached a consensus agreement to jointly complete this unprecedented project. We will migrate trillions of galaxies, gathering one ten-thousandth of the matter in the universe to create an artificial gravitational rift. Once successful, the direction of the world will be completely changed—and this project is the Gate Plan!"

"The plan involves risks," the eyes warned.

"On one side is risk, on the other is hopeless eternal silence. Is there any need to consider which to choose?" The light emitted by the grey shadow was soft and firm. "I said that life will always consider itself extraordinary. But these alone are not enough to complete the Gate Plan. There needs to be someone who can coordinate the overall situation, allocate resources and tasks, and remain consistent even after tens of thousands of years. I need your help to achieve this goal."

"Of course," the eyes blinked. "That's why I exist."

...

The fall was incredibly long.

So long that Anna began to doubt her judgment.

The sky above had disappeared, and even when she ignited a flame at her fingertips, she could not penetrate the boundless darkness.

The depth of the bottomless realm exceeded her imagination.

Anna even felt like she was traversing the center of the earth.

The immense speed made her unable to hear anything but the sound of the wind.

If her guess was wrong, she would probably turn into a pancake the moment she hit the ground.

The only lucky thing was that the process would not involve any pain. Before she could react, it would all be over.

Thinking of this, Anna couldn't help but hug Roland tighter.

After who knows how long, she suddenly noticed that the whistling airflow beside her cheeks seemed to be weakening.

This change immediately cheered her up!

Several minutes later, faint light came from the "abyss" below. However, she quickly determined that it was not her imagination, and the light was constantly becoming clearer as the distance shortened.

At that moment, she felt as if she had fallen into a layer of viscous air, and her descent speed began to slow down rapidly, to the point where she felt dizzy.

And when Anna's feet landed, her speed just happened to return to the moment she first fell.

She barely felt much impact.

"Thump." A soft sound came from behind her.

Anna looked back in surprise and found that it was Nightingale. "Why are you—"

"This time, I won't hesitate or fall behind," Nightingale dusted off her pants and stood up frankly. "Besides, how could I let you act alone without me feeling at ease."

"Clang!" At this time, the sound of the third person landing came, it was the Silence Disaster.

"Uh..." Nightingale immediately stood in front of Anna.

Anna was much calmer. "Don't worry, she's here for Nightmare."

"I'm just following the agreement." After Sai Luosha Xi finished speaking, she looked around. "Looks like you guessed right."

"Yes, this is the true body of the realm of consciousness." Anna nodded.

The place where they were standing was not rock or soil, but a metallic ground. It looked extremely smooth and radiated circles of clean light from within, both solid and transparent, and did not seem like a creation belonging to this world at all.