Deep Sea Embers

Morris sighed.

“When those of us who dig in history try our best to come to the high wall of the Great Annihilation, spend our lives searching for cultural relics, comparing classics, and trying to get a glimpse of the scenery on the other side of that high wall, what we face It’s such a weird thing.”

The old man's face was full of fatigue and frustration, as if he was a traveler who had been traveling for most of his life. At the end of the journey, he still couldn't see the end and had to accept the reality.

"The history before the Great Annihilation is fragmented and contradictory. The records between different city-states are like bizarre stories or unrelated dreams... There is no conclusive evidence to prove that any of the records is correct or that there is a set of records. Theory can bring these contradictory things together."

Duncan didn't speak for a while, because his thoughts were undulating like waves. In these incredible "unofficial fragments" described by Morris, he seemed to be experiencing the baptism of an information storm.

As a "foreigner" who has experienced the information age and has good association skills, he can imagine or guess something from the other party's description——

The dome covering the entire continent may be some kind of artificial ecological device, an energy system with the same origin as the sun, relying on materials in seawater as fuel, and it may be fusion technology.

The giant ship sailing in the void relies on capturing dust and gas clouds in space to provide power. This may be one or several colonial starships.

As for the so-called dream of the devil...the sea water that came from the dream to reality...he could not imagine what this was for a while, but it sounded very much like a fantasy concept, which was similar to the technological atmosphere of the previous two periods of history. Something completely different.

He could find explanations or conjectures for many things, but they were impossible to piece together.

As Morris said, they are more like disconnected dreams, outlining completely different "prehistory."

It is contradictory and broken, and cannot be used to recreate the world as it was before the Great Annihilation.

"Perhaps your statement is correct. In the key event of the Great Annihilation, there is a 'horizon limit'," Morris's voice came from across the counter, interrupting Duncan's thoughts. The old man held his forehead and spoke in a low voice. "We cannot observe the 'events' across the event horizon, so the history before the Great Annihilation is a concept that we can never trace back."

Looking at Morris who was full of emotion, Duncan's thoughts still did not stop. Gradually, he came up with a rather bold idea: "Then... what if these records are all true?"

Morris raised his eyes and looked at Duncan with some surprise: "Oh?"

"What if these records are all true, and the history recorded by each city-state or each race is really what they think the 'world before the Great Annihilation' really looked like?" Duncan touched his chin and said thoughtfully. , "Perhaps our ancestors 10,000 years ago really came from completely different 'homelands' and had completely different civilizations? The Great Annihilation trapped these exiles from different worlds on this sea, and the exile The descendants of the ancestors barely recorded what they knew before the inheritance of civilization was completely cut off. Ten thousand years later, it became a 'contradictory history' that troubled scholars..."

His thoughts became active, and he paused before continuing: "Perhaps the essence of the Great Annihilation is not the end of the world, but a 'Great Teleportation'?"

Morris looked at Duncan in surprise and suddenly said: "...The conjecture of the Brock Bendis school? The theory of world drift? This is a relatively unpopular school. Is your research on ancient history so deep?"

This was a compliment, but Duncan suddenly felt a little confused: Listening to this, it turns out that someone has thought of this possibility a long time ago? !

He blinked, but did not let his surprise be exposed. He just pretended to follow the topic: "It's all scattered knowledge, but I like this conjecture very much."

"I also like this conjecture - although it is very unpopular," Morris shook his head, "but like all other conjectures, we have no evidence, so it can only be a conjecture.

"The Clark School once hypothesized that the interference of subspace in the real world distorted all historical records. The Valentim School believed that the world before the Great Annihilation was countless isolated lattices. People in the city-state of Bologna even believed that the world before the Great Annihilation was It doesn't exist at all. All records of prehistory are illusions created by the shadows in the subspace...

"To be honest, even some heretical cults have their own understanding of world history. The end-of-life preachers who worship subspace firmly believe that the end of the world has actually begun, and they are chasing and engulfing our civilization along the long river of history. , the historical records of the conflicts between various city-states are the result of the real history being gradually torn apart by the subspace. The Great Annihilation is a barrier that blocks the end of the world. After the Great Annihilation, the history will gradually be torn apart by pollution, which means that the entire world will fall. The day of entering subspace..."

The more Duncan listened, the more surprised he became. After a long time, he subconsciously shook his head: "I didn't know there were so many weird hypotheses..."

"Ordinary people will not get involved in this kind of field. Studying history is a dangerous thing in a mystical sense after all," Morris said. "But one thing is obvious: if thousands of scholars have already enlightened Having been groping for hundreds or even thousands of years in a field with no way out, they must have come up with all the hypotheses they could."

Duncan slowly understood what the old man meant.

For these people who have spent their entire lives digging into classics and cultural relics, it is very simple to come up with a hypothesis that can explain the current situation. As scholars, what they lack is never imagination and vision.

What they lack is evidence, evidence that can prove any hypothesis.

"...Is there no evidence left?" Duncan asked, "Isn't there any 'material evidence' from the history before the Great Annihilation that can prove that what some 'unofficial historians' say is true?"

"It has not been discovered so far," Morris said slowly. "Ten thousand years, coupled with periods of dark ages in between, countless city-states have risen and fallen in the boundless sea. It is too difficult for anything to be left from the ancient times... What has been handed down are either handwritten manuscripts from unreliable sources or stories passed down by word of mouth, and these things themselves may have changed in the process of circulation.”

Duncan didn't speak for a while.

In the depths of his mind, on the distant Lost Home, the waves were gently undulating, and the boundless sea covered the entire world as always.

It also covers all possible truths.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Studying ancient history is really a difficult task."

"Yes, what we have to face is not only the fragmented 'years', but also the current situation of being empty and helpless," Morris sighed. "On such a limited land as the city-state, if we could dig something out, we would have dug it long ago. If it cannot be dug out, it means that the things that can prove our history are hidden away from the reach of mortals. "

"Like the bottom of the sea?" Duncan said suddenly.

"Under the sea? Ha, it's such a shocking and bold statement," Morris laughed, "but this is really the only thought left by many historians who have reached the end of their lives and have no choice... There is evidence on the bottom of the sea, and there are mountains of evidence. There are cultural relics, cities from ancient civilizations, and ruins that can explain everything, but what’s the use? When we dive down, we can only touch the shadows. Mortals cannot touch the deepest part of this world.”

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment and then said: "However, this did lead to another conjecture... Although it is not a school, there are many people who speculate that the lost 'old world' in history is actually in the Infinite Sea. Under the sea level, it is even precisely located at a certain 'depth' between the deep sea and the spiritual world - the world before the Great Annihilation slept at that depth."

"Why do you say that?" Duncan was a little curious, and this serious but unfounded assumption aroused his interest.

Morris thought for a while and explained: "Because many broken ancient histories mentioned that the world before the Great Annihilation had a 'starry sky' covering the surrounding areas, and as we all know, the 'starry sky' was at the interface between the deep sea and the spiritual world. Come on."

Duncan almost choked himself to death with a mouthful of saliva: "Ahem...huh?"

"Are you okay?" Morris was startled by Duncan's reaction, "This shouldn't be unbelievable..."

"I'm fine, I just listened so fascinated that I choked." Duncan quickly waved his hand, "The starry sky is between the deep sea and the spiritual world. Of course I know, of course I know..."