They saw too much.
They saw that in a thousand simulations, Mirror Pupil chose to rebel against the Council three hundred and twenty-seven times, but those branches were all archived, judged as having a "low success rate."
They saw Elvia attempt to awaken Norton and other sages ahead of schedule eighty-one times, but each attempt was erased, judged as "interfering with the experimental process."
They saw that before the Lord of the Sky divided his authority, he had actually tried seven different plans. Three of those plans could have preserved the Federation without splitting it, but they were rejected because they "did not meet long-term observation requirements."
Every cube represented a choice that could have been different.
Every label was a cold death sentence.
Finally, they arrived at the center of this pure white void.
A black cube, ten times larger than the others, floated here.
The surface of the cube had no labels, only a single line of flowing silver code that seemed like a living thing.
The content of the code was simple, yet it sent a bone-chilling shiver through everyone who saw it:
【Main Experiment Protocol - Alpha】
【Execution Status: In Progress】
【Final °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Acceptance Countdown: 698 Standard Years】
Bai Cheng reached out her hand.
This time, her hand was trembling.
It wasn't fear; it was rage.
That anger was so deep and so pure that the earrings of the oath of starlight began to emit a sharp ringing sound.
She touched the black cube.
The cube did not unfold; instead, it transformed directly into countless silver data streams that flooded into her consciousness.
It wasn't an image or a record, but... a contract.
A contract written in cold, logical language that decided the fate of the entire sky island civilization for three thousand years.
Party A of the contract had no name, only a code name: 【Beyond the Veil · Observer Group - Seventh Sequence】
Party B was the entire membership of the Sky Federation High Council—or rather, their code names.
The terms of the contract were suffocatingly clear:
The Observer Group provides the Civilization Accelerated Evolution Field and the framework of basic physical laws.
The High Council, acting as "Primary Proxy Managers," is responsible for maintaining the civilization's evolutionary process within the experimental field.
Experimental Objective: To observe the impact of different ratios of emotional variables and rational variables on the long-term stability of god-like civilizations.
Experimental Cycle: 3000 Standard Years.
Acceptance Standard: Whether the civilization reaches the preset optimal steady state at the end of the cycle.
If acceptance is passed, the Observer Group will grant the High Council members promotion authority, allowing them to join higher-level observation plans.
If acceptance fails, the experimental field will execute Cleaning Protocols, all biological data will be recycled, and physical structures will be reset.
At the end of the contract were twelve different signatures.
Each signature corresponded to a member of the Sky Federation High Council from two thousand three hundred years ago.
Bai Cheng saw Norton's signature from his youth, Elvia's, the predecessor of Mirror Pupil's, and also... Abraham's.
But next to Abraham's signature, there was a note added in tiny font:
【Written objection submitted at the time of signing, Objection No.: OP-107-Abraham】
【Reason for Objection: The experimental design excludes free will as a core variable, which will lead to distortion of observation results】
【Objection Handling Result: Recorded, not adopted; the signer retains Observer status but has no management authority】
The data stream dissipated.
The black cube reconsolidated, but within the silver code on its surface, the line 【Execution Status: In Progress】 flickered briefly.
Bai Cheng opened her eyes.
In her silver pupils, the galaxy had completely stopped flowing, frozen into a cold winter night that seemed capable of freezing time itself.
"So," her voice was very soft, yet it made the entire pure white void tremble, "from beginning to end, we weren't even considered high-level experimental subjects."
"We are experiments created by experimental subjects."
"The Sky Federation is the primary proxy, the Observer Council is the out-of-control secondary proxy, and the true mastermind..."
She raised her hand, pointing to the code name 【Beyond the Veil · Observer Group - Seventh Sequence】 on the surface of the black cube.
"They didn't even deign to descend personally."
"They just signed a contract and then waited to see the results."
Dead silence.
In the pure white void, only those glowing cubes were still slowly rotating. Inside each cube was sealed the proof of a group of lives that had once struggled to live.
And now, those lives, those civilizations, those possibilities, were all just...
Experimental data.
"Found it."
Leng Ningxue suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.
She pulled up a sub-file separated from the black cube's data stream.
The title of the file was:
【Full Records of the Observer Council's Early Expansion Plan - Unabridged Version】
The file expanded automatically.
This time, it was no longer cold contract terms, but a detailed action plan.
It included how the Council step-by-step used rationality to infiltrate various sky islands, how they replaced traditional beliefs with optimal solution theories, how they labeled emotional variables as "defects needing optimization," and how they established the Cradle System to contain "overly emotional individuals"...
The records were extremely detailed, down to specifying the executor, time, location, and the expected adjustment range of civilization variables for every action.
And in the final part of the record, there was a line specially marked in red font:
【Note: Unplanned variable appeared in the experimental field - Lord of the Sky (Code Name: Primordial-01)】
【This variable has developed self-awareness and has begun attempting to protect the organisms within the experimental field】
【Recommended Handling Options: 1. Forced Hibernation; 2. Personality Overwrite; 3. Physical Deletion】
【Current Choice: Defer handling, observe its impact on civilization variables (New observation sub-item: The amplification effect of protective will on emotional variables)】
When Bai Cheng read this, the oath of starlight earrings at her ears suddenly burst forth with unprecedented light.
From that light came the last fragments of the Lord of the Sky's voice. It wasn't a memory, but... a real-time communication spanning two thousand years:
"Children..."
The voice was weak, yet incredibly clear.
"You have finally... seen the foundation of the truth."
"Now, the power of choice is in your hands."
"Whether to accept this contract and continue playing the role of experimental subjects until the day of acceptance—"
"Or..."
The voice paused, as if gathering its final strength.
"Tear it up."
"Use your own stories to overwrite all the preset terms."
"Just like what you did in Shandora."
"But this time..."
The voice began to dissipate.
"What you must face is not just the signatures on the contract."
"But the beings behind the signatures... those who truly set the rules."
The communication was completely cut off.
The light from the oath of starlight earrings slowly faded, but that warmth—the warmth belonging to the Lord of the Sky's final will—remained in Bai Cheng's palm.
She clenched her fist.
Then, she relaxed it.
"Take all the records," Bai Cheng turned, looking at her companions, looking at Abraham, her voice calm and firm,
"Copy everything."
"Every archived sample of possibility, every hidden record, every line of deleted data."
"We are taking them with us."
"Back to the Nest of a Thousand Mirrors, back to Shandora, back to every sky island."
"Let everyone know—"
She looked at that black cube carrying the Main Experiment Protocol.
"How we were once defined."
"And then, let them decide for themselves—"
In Bai Cheng's silver eyes, the counter-flowing galaxy began to rotate again. This time, the direction of rotation was different from any time before.
It was no longer compliance, no longer resistance.
It was... creation.
"Whether they want to continue being defined this way or not."
In the pure white void, those glowing cubes seemed to understand her meaning and began to emit a resonant light simultaneously.
Billions of beams of light intertwined, deep within this database that had been hidden for three thousand years, lighting up a...
Brand new star, one that did not belong to any experimental design.
