Chapter 1613: Chapter 1613: That Light (Finale)
"Entropic Walkers" have stayed on the Mother Star for many days, never leaving while the Imperial Fleet busily constructed auxiliary facilities for the Startup Terminal. Their numbers continued to grow, albeit slowly, sometimes adding only one or two Walkers to the "gathering" over an entire day, yet they kept coming together.
Dingdang used her innate powers to communicate many times with these bizarre creatures—a mix of information, virtual, and spiritual entities (though they aren’t actually called this; I simply don’t know how to describe them otherwise). Despite the Entropic Walkers lacking their own language system or any organs for communicating with other life forms, they could converse with the Life Guardians. Through this, Dingdang learned about these fascinating creatures’ habits: they reside in the far reaches of deep space (several hundred light years away), maintaining their form through free-floating space energy but relying on consuming "information" for reproduction and growth. This dependence on information explains their survival in this stagnant universe, despite their appearance resembling spiritual beings.
To us, the Entropic Walkers are quite weak, lacking any attack power in front of the Imperial Soldiers. However, for most ordinary races, these entities are perhaps strange and perilous due to their innate ability to consume information, devouring a race’s "knowledge" and "history." Even though this process is slow, ordinary races cannot defend against it, making them seem like mythological creatures. Consequently, Dingdang created a set of life form modification codes for them, ensuring the Entropic Walkers were safe and wouldn’t easily harm the external environment—as the Hometown World is about to connect with the Imperial District, we shouldn’t casually drive a species to extinction, but we also can’t let them become a threat.
The reason the Entropic Walkers came to the Mother Star coincides with previous explanations: it’s their breeding season. Every few hundred years (in Capital’s standard time scale), these Space Floating Spirits come to the Mother Star to receive "radiation," and the breeding usually lasts for several months. Near the Abyss Gate is an area where information surges frequently; the Abyss environment weakens the world barrier here, causing frequent material and information exchange. This location is one of the Hometown World’s "holes" (there are others deep in the universe left by the Great Catastrophe), and one of the few places in this stagnant universe that produces new "information." Here, the Entropic Walkers gather, celebrate, feast, using their vague consciousness to comprehend the universe. Once enough Walkers assemble, they can even develop substantial wisdom—sufficient to ponder their existence’s meaning. Dingdang was drawn to these murmurs of confusion from the entire species.
In another world, a group of such primitive and non-threatening native life forms wouldn’t attract the Imperial Army’s attention. However, here, even Lian Shandora has devoted considerable attention to the Entropic Walkers. Although Xyrin Apostle isn’t adept in matters of emotion, exceptions arise when they concern the Hometown. The Empire’s generals and emperors believe these blue-glowing Space Floating Spirits embody the Hometown World’s unyielding spirit; the blue glow they emit even evokes Ghost Energy (though Abyss Xyrin protested this notion, it was ignored; color-changing Ghost Energy has no rights). Consequently, some individuals not involved in the bridge construction began studying these creatures. Qianqian even suggested bringing some Walkers back as pets—perhaps recalling her fondness for adopting whatever she can. Ultimately, Qianqian abandoned this idea after realizing Walkers lack necks, no necks = no way to leash = no way to walk = not suitable as pets, thus abandoning the thought.
I can’t quite grasp Qianqian’s logic for how it functions.
With the "company" of the Entropic Walkers, the bridge construction advanced smoothly and efficiently to the critical stage.
Perhaps we’ve simply endured too many challenges over the years, almost every endeavor encountering amplified resistance, yet finally accumulating enough good fortune to arrive at this moment: no rebels causing disruption, no hostile races sparking conflict, no unexpected technical issues, not even the colossal Abyss Gate collapsing unexpectedly. All factors that might fail the construction have been eradicated or won’t occur, leaving nothing to stop us from completing the bridge.
The Imperial Fleet reached the Hometown World’s second month.
All facilities surrounding the Startup Terminal have long operated at full capacity, transforming the once scattered work zone into a densely packed group of artificial celestial bodies. This celestial cluster has a radius of 0.3 astronomical units, forming an irregular ring consisting of numerous factories and computation cores. Countless work spaceships (eighty percent of them newly manufactured here, praise be to the Empire’s superior battlefield deployment technology) navigate between them, making this enormous ring a bustling, vibrant hub. The work zone is a considerable distance from the Startup Terminal and doesn’t directly connect with it but serves as a "logistical facility" for providing excess computational power and energy transfer to the Startup Terminal. They interlink through numerous space gates and rapidly returning spaceships.
At a greater distance from the work zone is the crucial—Energy Station.
Everyone remembers the terrifying energy demand of the Startup Terminal. Our scramble with the New Army over the Terminal was aided by its incredibly long recharge time—thanks to this, the Imperial Army succeeded at the last moment, thwarting the New Army. Faced with the inadequacy of conventional Ghost Energy Wells, the New Army even insanely detonated their own star universe, yet this didn’t succeed in activating the Terminal immediately, exposing its insatiable energy consumption.
Therefore, upon arrival, the most critical task we undertook was constructing large-scale Ghost Energy Wells. From the moment the first work station launched over the Abyss Gate, a thousand Ghost Energy Wells commenced synchronized construction. The Imperial Fleet was prepared beforehand with builders and prefabrication modules; the mass-produced mainframes diverted much of their computational capacity to oversee construction (given the Startup Terminal hasn’t been activated, the Mass-produced Bubbles have the leisure). Under full operation, the largest energy array in New Empire’s history was thus assembled.
This comprised a thousand Ghost Energy Wells, three Ghost Energy Abysses, and countless Ghost Energy Reactors creating a vast complex. The principle of these Ghost Energy facilities is well understood, with their main units situated in the Void Critical Layer, extracting decaying energy from the void to transmit to the real world. The external interfaces of the Ghost Energy Reactors are connected, forming an extensive complex resembling floating islands in space, while the output ends of the Wells appear as massive cylinder-like space station structures. The Endless Ghost Energy Abyss is a newly mastered Old Technology from New Empire, the most powerful ultimate reactor, capable of destroying the entire universe if mishandled—it appears like a massive tombstone, gray and plain, unadorned, rectangular... well, it resembles a coffin, though I’m reluctant to describe it as such...
This complex floats over a hundred astronomical units away from the Abyss Gate, deliberately distanced to prevent unpredictable accidents from occurring due to the overwhelming energy surge stimulating the gate. The massive energy it generates transmits to the Startup Terminal through superspace devices and conversion and focusing apparatuses on the work zone, forming an efficient energy transmission system.
Surging Ghost Energy fills these devices, illuminating the dark universe, casting the Energy Station in a shroud of blue mist, resembling a city in the clouds. As each building in the Energy Station completes, it immediately goes into operation, effectively fueling the Terminal for the past month. The latter is now revealing its familiar magnificent form: a glorious ball of white light.
The famed towering white light beam seen in the past appears again, piercing through the entire Hometown World, scrambling up the universe’s optical phenomena—it’s only temporary, supposedly reverting once the Startup Terminal initiates regularly.
The white beam of light continues to grow, gradually engulfing the Startup Terminal, and eventually, it will temporarily disappear from our sight, leaving only a glow illuminating outer space. That signifies the nearing end of the charging process. And when the Startup Terminal is fully activated, this process will reverse; the white beam will slowly contract, and the mass of white light will reappear, reminiscent of the scene during the grand battle at the Peace Core.
Hmm, although recalling it isn’t particularly pleasant, I am now eager for it to start—seemingly very soon.
On the upper platform of the Imperial Admiral, the Abyss Xyrin and we are observing the magnificent beam of light in space. It runs parallel to the Abyss Great Rift, appearing like a radiant long bridge stretching from the dawn of the universe to its end, truly spectacular.
"In the final step of bridge building, the Startup Terminal, at its peak state, will be released and then merged with this Abyss Gate," said the Abyss Xyrin unhurriedly, "At that point, we won’t need to intervene. If the data and calculations are correct... the Long Bridge will be established, and the two sides of the virtual void will be permanently linked. The bridge itself will become a stable structure proprietary to the void, unless there’s an unknown major disaster, which theoretically isn’t possible."
I, holding Little Baobao, with Little Dingdang atop my head, carrying the little doll, with Pandora on my left and Visca on my right (the two generals are certainly not cut out for research; they’ve been more idle than Qianqian these days), as usual, sat there looking magnificent and busy. Hearing Abyss Xyrin’s words, I peeked through the gaps between the naughty kids, "What if the Long Bridge is harmful—just in case, is there no way to dismantle it?"
"Of course, it’s not that easily dismantled, otherwise the New Army wouldn’t have treated it as a crucial asset and seized it at all costs," Abyss Xyrin glanced at me, "Of course, nothing is absolute; if the void encompasses all possibilities, then theoretically the Long Bridge could be destroyed, although it might require five Void Creatures to charge and explode together. Who knows, I’m not concerned about these things; it’s meaningless to speculate on unquantifiable matters, at least for me. Also, Father, could you refrain from being so inappropriate? Having these royal family members of the army draped over you is highly improper."
I struggled to maintain balance and chuckled at Abyss Xyrin, "Jealous? You can hang on too, theoretically you’re also one of my troublesome kids. Dingdang took some getting used to, but now I’m really embracing this setting, and I find it quite fascinating."
A strange gleam passed through Abyss Xyrin’s eyes, and she then turned to the large box beside her, almost as if preparing to smash it on my shoulder: "Father, are you serious?"
I immediately wilted at the sight: "Alright, alright, you can be as troublesome as Xiao Xue when you want to be."
At this moment, Harlan suddenly arrived on the platform. Seeing the lively scene with me, he showed no surprise; he merely smiled, acknowledging the familiar scene, and then nodded at me: "Chen, everything is ready on the other side, their Startup Terminal is fully charged, just waiting for our ignition signal."
"This side... should be ready in two or three days," I looked back at the beam of light in space, "If only we could drag the Ghost Energy Death Star over here, it would work better than any reactor."
"But it would take you half a year to drag it over from the Imperial District," Harlan shrugged, "Be content, it’s no small feat for such a massive project to proceed peacefully to its final stages."
Hearing this, I also sighed with some emotion: "Yes, indeed, it’s not been easy. Everything... is finally about to settle."
Three days later, the Startup Terminal completed charging.
The towering, grand beam of light is now converging, ready to be fully channeled into the Startup Terminal with just one command, and at the center of the beam, a blinding white ball of light expands and contracts like breathing.
All preparations are complete; the Startup Terminal is fully charged, and the outer calculation arrays have ample load capacity. The safety measures and system controls have undergone hundreds of tests to ensure absolute reliability. Abyss Xyrin conducted extensive checks based on her data on the Startup Terminal, Energy Station, and external calculation arrays, confirming that everything is functioning according to the design specifications.
And more importantly, our communication with the other side is smooth, the relay stations at the Abyss Critical Layer are functioning well, and the Star Ring Federation even launched two more manned relay stations at a hefty cost over the past few days to ensure the bridge building proceeds smoothly.
If bridge building were to fail, the personnel in the manned relay stations might not survive, and the Star Ring Federation’s deep-diving ships would struggle to survive long in the depths of the Abyss and make two crossings of the Discontinuous Belt—showing the extent of determination on the other side.
It must succeed, failure is not an option.
The activation control terminal for the bridge is on the officer platform of the Imperial Admiral. In the command hall, the giant holographic projection is expanded to its maximum size, allowing us to see the startup terminal almost as if we’re there. The auxiliary facilities surrounding the latter have all been dismantled, and now there’s only the white light ball in the center, with a few anchor force field generators still operating around it.
Everything is ready; we just need to activate the system. This is done using a row of crystal plates. I, Sandora, my sister, Harlan, Bellavilla, Abyss Xyrin, Ivan Sein — regardless of whether they’re former emperors, current emperor or peculiar beings (specifically referring to Abyss Xyrin) — everyone necessary has a controller in front of them. Once these crystal plates are activated simultaneously, the long bridge will be established.
"I really didn’t expect it to go so smoothly to this point," Sandora gazed at the crystal plate displaying "Ready," with a tone of emotion, "Do we really need such symbolic but impractical steps?"
"A historical moment, you need to give those historians something to record, right?" I grinned, watching the countdown slowly approach zero. Actually, this countdown is not very necessary — we have a full hour of error tolerance time, which is the limit of the long bridge’s two startup terminals supporting the system independently. So long as we and the other side activate the system within an hour, everything’s fine.
The countdown continues, and the historic moment is about to arrive. My sister has already placed her hand on the controller, smiling as she said, "At least it looks solemn, Qianqian is unhappy not having a chance to touch it."
The countdown has entered thirty seconds. I, like everyone else, put my hand on the crystal plate: "Let history roll forward — this line could be a highlight in future Imperial College exams. Now listen to my countdown: Five, four, three, two, one, zero, activ... hey, Harlan, why did you press it early?"
The system issued a warning sound for operational failure, while Harlan raised his hand innocently: "I thought pressing at zero was enough; I didn’t know you had an ’activate’ command."
I was momentarily dumbfounded and waved vigorously: "Let’s do it again, three, two, one, zero, activate! Hey, sis, why didn’t you press?"
"Wasn’t the countdown from five just now? Why did it start from three?"
"Don’t worry about the details, okay!" I pointed at the countdown timer, which has already passed zero and is now counting at -1, -2, -3, "We’re racing against time; this is serious business!"
"Let me count, let me count," Abyss Xyrin clamored, "Three, two, one, zero... hey, why didn’t any of you move!"
Everyone said in unison: "Why didn’t you shout ’activate’!?"
I broke into a cold sweat so profuse it was visibly filling a shoe: "Forget it, forget it, this is unreliable, let’s use a spiritual connection; its sync rate is..."
"My spiritual connection has a delay," Abyss Xyrin raised a hand, "Don’t look at me like that, my network isn’t compatible with yours; it needs translating."
"I feel like I don’t need to participate in this either," my sister raised her hand, "I’ve retired seven million years ago."
"Harlan, what’s up with you?"
"Just reminding you guys the countdown is already negative one hundred thirty-something seconds."
"Hey, forget about it, everyone press together!"
"Ivan Sein, why did you press quietly?"
"Weren’t we told to forget about it?"
"Stop!!"
In the end, Sandora couldn’t stand it anymore. Her Majesty the Queen assertively pushed everyone aside, aggressively tore off the temporarily retrofitted joint controller in front of her, revealing the only startup crystal plate beneath it. She slapped it while venting angrily, "I always knew Qianqian’s ideas are never reliable!"
In the distant outer space, a cluster of white light suddenly expanded into an unprecedentedly large door.
The system emitted a pleasant chime indicating successful activation, and I muttered to myself with a stiff expression, "This historical moment... this historical moment that hard-won... how did it end up like this?"
Bingdisi, having been displeased for a long while beside me, finally found satisfaction and sarcastically threw out a taunt:
"Ha, at least this time historians truly have something to write about!"
(Hmm, that’s enough writing, everyone can start celebrating)
— Even the PS of our ending is special
Lastly, the world structure of the Xyrin is destined to be a story that can continue indefinitely or could end at any pause point. After much deliberation, I decided to satisfy my OCD by concluding it on the last day of June = .=
The story of Xyrin isn’t over yet (since it inherently cannot end), as for future developments... allow me some time to think.
There might be side stories, possibly some updates to the 2.0 story, maybe revisions to earlier Chapters, and certainly the possibility of continuing to build the Xyrin universe in other ways. Not just from Holy Dad’s perspective, but building multiple routes to form a grand system. In short, there are many plans. Please continue to stay tuned here; something will be released.
A new book is expected to be published about a month later, but I’ll need a break before that — I’m so tired.
Lastly: Everyone enthusiastically support physical books and peripheral projects, they’re all coming out next month! Keep an eye out here for surprises! (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
