The pitch-black space was barely lit by faint golden glows. The light beams were blurry, resembling winding branches, countless in number, each one with brighter specks of light scattered along them.
But when Ryan zoomed in, each light beam and speck of light seemed infinite.
It was mysterious and full of unknown, dazzling beauty. Even though the four smartest humans in the room were present, they could only marvel at the scene before them without any deeper thoughts.
It was impossible to understand, let alone explain. But one thing was certain: this wasn't the universe in the astronomical sense.
Distance seemed so pale and powerless. Even if humans built the most advanced spacecraft, they couldn't get anywhere close to this space, not even a single step.
Human space exploration may not be very advanced, but going to the moon and exploring Mars are within reach. They can even use telescopes to observe stars light-years away.
Yet, the image shown by the Second Divine Keys was like a mirage—a sight visible but eternally unreachable.
This wasn't a matter of proximity. It felt like it was right there, yet it was also as distant as the ends of the earth.
Ryan gaze grew distant. He was sure this was the scene from his dreams, and the memories long buried began to resurface. What he was seeing wasn't just this amazing space, but also the knowledge within the memories and images.
The Imaginary tree, the center of the multi-dimensional universe.
"This is a dimensional gap, a place that can never be touched by human bodies."
Mei spoke lightly, a strange expression on her face—tired yet excited.
Two years ago, she could only use a particle collider to create a tiny hole, and now she could actually observe it.
"Are those light points stars?" Vil-V couldn't help but ask. She felt that "cool" didn't even begin to describe what they were seeing.
"No, I'd prefer to call them 'leaves,' leaves soaked in infinite virtual energy," Mei said, picking up a yellowing leaf and gently running her finger along its edge. "Ryan, do you remember the theory we discussed back at Chiyu Academy?"
Ryan snapped back to attention, realizing his earlier instinctive reaction had revealed a lot of information, but this wasn't the time for a battle of wits with Mei. He nodded immediately.
"Yeah, the leaf represents our world, and the omnipresent air is the virtual energy. Logically, this terrifying energy shouldn't interfere with reality, or no living organism could survive."
"Exactly. Just observing it requires the Second Divine Keys, and its core source is obvious to you all," Meei continued, glancing around the room.
The Herrscher of Void—whose authority was space itself.
Everyone nodded, and Vil-V asked again, "So where does this energy come from?"
"Real-world organisms must be isolated from the virtual energy to survive. We can imagine the edges of the leaf as a barrier, keeping our world from descending into death. But—" Mei stretched out her hand and gently pointed to the leaf's stem.
"This barrier has a hole, and infinite energy has seeped in. This infiltration is controllable; otherwise, we wouldn't be sitting here talking."
The explanation was very thorough. If that energy had flowed in like a dam breaking, they would all be dead by now. No matter how high the adaptability, it would have been impossible to resist this energy.
"So you think the Honkai is a man-made disaster?" Möbius leaned back slightly and asked, "This has theological implications. No wonder you made it top secret."
If these assumptions got out, the world's charlatans would go wild because it would prove the existence of a higher power.
"Not necessarily a god, and not necessarily humans. But there must be some mechanism within the virtual space, right, Ryan?"
Seeing three heads turn towards him, Ryan lips twitched.
I'm not a Honkai theorist. How would I know? Isn't it better to just watch Valkyries getting cozy and study the storylines? What's the big deal with that?
Ryan wasn't deeply involved in this type of research, but having lived for over twenty years, combined with his past memories, he understood some things.
"Of course, virtual space operates according to certain rules, and these rules are neither harmful nor beneficial to us. Corruption is one of those rules," he thought for a moment, remembering two people.
One was the pure love archbishop, and the other the Aeon. At least these two truly transcended the three realms and weren't bound by the five elements. That's why the Imaginary tree is so close to everyone.
Of course, it included himself. But how one would float in virtual space or survive it—Ryan had no clue.
"Heh, you're saying this is a test from the gods?" Möbius chuckled, her voice was strangely similar to those of the con artists.
"Not necessarily a test. It's just a rule. Energy comes from motion, and virtual energy must have a source. Otherwise, it would just be theology."
"Are you saying that the development of human civilization accelerated this movement?"Mei, no longer smiling, was as serious as ice.
"It should. When Honkai appears, this development can no longer stop. The more violently we move, the more virtual energy floods in. It's like doing relative motion," Ryan licked his lips, his mind a little chaotic. After a few seconds, he explained.
"Like a tap, it continuously pours virtual energy into the world. To free ourselves, we must master it."
"So, we need to turn it off?" Mei, with a serious expression, absentmindedly tapped the table. "But this faucet can't be in the real dimension. Could someone actually go beyond the world?"
Top Aeons might be able to, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Ryan thought carefully and replied, "Theoretically, it's impossible. But the other leaves might be able to do it. There's some reference value, and the Second Divine Keys can complete such observations."
Observing parallel worlds?
Except for Vil-V, everyone else fell silent. Ryan murmured to himself, but there was another way. Even though the flow of water might be violent, there's a limit. If you surpass that limit, you can throw a brick through it.
After all, Honkai doesn't mean the Imaginary tree itself. If a Star God came, they could definitely clear the way.
"Okay, I'll put this on the agenda. But observing other worlds through Mei is not easy. The immense amount of information could make an ordinary person's mind collapse with just one glance."
"That's fine. After all, the Second Divine Keys is still unfinished. The candidate can be decided slowly." Ryan adjusted his glasses and sighed deeply.
Another path has appeared ahead of schedule, even triggering his fantasy of what would happen after defeating Honkai. Fate has already decided Ryan can't stop to enjoy life; he will keep pushing forward into the unknown.
By proposing an important hypothesis, Möbius had found a new direction for exploration. At least she took Ryan speculations seriously and was willing to experiment.
If they could turn off this 'faucet'—no, even just understanding its essence—there would be immense benefits for humanity.
She quickly began typing on the keyboard, recording a lengthy passage, and proposed several preliminary experiments.
While she was busy, Ryan glanced at Vil-V, who was also working at the conference table, wondering what she was doing. He then turned his attention back to the big screen, which was showing the image captured by the Second Divine Keys.
I was there before? No wonder it's a soul transfer. There's no way my physical body could have survived. According to logic, even my soul should have been annihilated.
This doesn't make sense. The pure love archbishop struggled to break free from the world, but the sitting alliance leader went to another leaf?
Hmm, it seems Otto and Welt Yang are fundamentally different. The former made direct contact with the Imaginary tree, while the latter just traversed between the leaves. As for prestige, Otto definitely has the higher ground.
Ryan gazed at the void space, feeling like he understood something, and proposed several new hypotheses.
Is a parallel world a leaf adjacent to another on the same branch? Did Welt Yang travel to a completely different universe, with a greater distance between them? Does the Sea Of Quanta have uniqueness or correspondence?
Countless questions swirled in his mind, eventually transforming into the purest desire.
I really want to see it. I really want to touch the Imaginary tree.
Ryan eyes gleamed, far beyond the desires he knew, then suddenly, he felt a strange sensation.
A soft stocking brushed against his calf, agile toes gently massaged his ankle, and then he felt a warm breath against his ear, accompanied by lazy words.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?"
Ryan turned his head, finding Möbius had somehow come up beside him, her curves pressing against his arm. Her snake-like eyes gleamed with seduction, filled with boundless desire.
For a moment, Ryan thought sharing this knowledge wouldn't be so bad. But soon, he snapped back to attention.
It's not that it wouldn't be okay, but I want to keep you on edge.
"I'm thinking about a profound question."
"Quick, tell me!" Möbius's eyes lit up, almost ready to pull out a notebook to take notes.
"Parallel world theory—does each leaf represent a world or a universe? We humans aren't so arrogant as to use just one Earth to represent the entire galaxy, so are aliens in the world, or outside of it?"
A series of questions stunned Möbius into silence. Who could know? It's like not understanding what would happen to the world if Corruption wiped out civilization.
Shattered stars? Or would Earth descend into desolation?
"How would I know? Don't you have any guesses?"
"Yeah, seven guesses, but saying them wouldn't be meaningful. Such a difficult topic, exploring it together is the only way to make it meaningful." Ryan casually shrugged, enjoying the process of exploration. He also wanted to confirm one thing:
Am I unique?
He wouldn't speak it out loud, but depending on the outcome, it would lead to some very interesting results.
"Stop daydreaming. Looking at the stars is important, but we need to deal with the things at hand." Ryan lightly tapped the table, pulling his wandering thoughts back. He stood up, took the remote from Möbius, and switched the big screen back to the 'Skynet' detection mode.
The dense red dots flickered, some disappearing in an instant. The Honkai Energy concentration around the globe was still rising. Having just seen the mind-boggling virtual space, switching back to this brutal mode felt like eating something foul.
"You guys say, how many Herrschers and pseudo-Herrschers are hiding right now?"