Silent Crown

Crack, crack, crack, crack…

Ye Qingxuan heard crisp sounds echo in the nothingness.

Rainbow-colored streams of light flowed, like countless mirrors colliding with each other. They shattered, reflecting scattered neon lights. The heavens and the earth seemed to have become a kaleidoscope, and it was so dazzlingly beautiful that one couldn’t look straight at it.

Yet it was so lonely that it was unnerving.

“You’re awake?” He heard a calm voice.

He raised his head confusedly and could only see a vague figure, hidden in the scattered lights. “Where is this place?”

“A division of the central core, independent from the Three Wise Men. It is the original silicon crystal server created by humans, and its name is the Neanderthal, which means the boundary between man and beast.”

The man turned back, looked at him, and smiled. “You are Lanzhou’s child? I recognize you, and you should know me as well.”

Ye Qingxuan had seen the face countless times.

When he pushed the door of musicians open.

When he ignited the scepter of House Ye.

In his dreams.

Ye Qingxuan realized the answer. “You are… Ye Xuan?”

“I guess you can say so.” The figure responded ambiguously, got up, and walked toward Ye Qingxuan.

As if there was little distance between them, with just a few steps, he appeared in front of Ye Qingxuan.

It was Ye Xuan alright.

Just like the man in Ye Qingxuan’s memory, he was dressed in black, his silver hair resembling snow, with a familiar silhouette and an… indelible loneliness.

He held an odd item in his hand. It looked like a lock consisting of three nested loops, and it constantly rotated as his fingers moved.

“You are still alive?” Ye Qingxuan looked at him, then furrowed his brows. “No, you turned yourself into a catastrophe?”

“Um… you mean, create a fixed acoustic field to program aether and upload one’s consciousness?” Ye Xuan thought for a long time, then shook his head. “You can think of it as a compromising method.”

He said, “I replicated my memory in the database of the Neanderthal, then compressed a model of my personality, and implanted it into my blood as a cue… When the two coincide, I can wake up temporarily. Or rather, I will be created temporarily. It is probably the only privilege of the reserve captain?”

“Have you also opted to escape death, using such a tasteless method?” asked Ye Qingxuan.

“I merely chose to wait.” Ye Xuan’s response was calm, and he did not attempt to explain anything.

In the silence, only the sound of him turning the lock with his head down could be heard.

Crack, crack, crack, crack…

Ye Qingxuan frowned. “What are you doing?”

“I’m doing something futile.” Ye Xuan released his hand, looked at the lock, which reset stubbornly in his hand, and couldn’t help but shake his head. “Sure enough, no matter how it comes to an emergency stop, it will not respond.

“No matter how calculative and cautious human beings are regarding the use of artificial intelligence, once they are free of the central system and become catastrophes, they will no longer be restrained by any regulations.”

As the rumble sounded, the sky of the kaleidoscope broke, revealing a ominous crack.

As if an invisible behemoth was pressing down and countless knives and axes were chipping away at it, cracks appeared on the firewall of the Neanderthal. The broken pieces of the mirror fell onto the ground, giving off crisp sounds, and blended into the rainbow lights in the end.

Behind the crack, a vague sign emerged. Like an eye, it looked towards where they were.

As compared to the tiny consciousness of human beings, the behemoth, stacked up with countless rules of logic, was like an irrefutable god. At the moment, as the firewall shattered, it brought a suffocating sense of despair.

“What… is that?” Ye Qingxuan asked.

“Tung Wang Kung.” Ye Xuan threw away the lock that no longer had any meaning in his hand, letting it dissipate in the halo. “If my guess is correct, Bai Heng should be cutting off the connection between Tung Wang Kung and the Empress.

“Tung Wang Kung has no turning back now, and he can only try to occupy the central core forcefully before Bai Heng succeeds, then transform the Originator… Don’t worry, He is just passing by.

“The Neanderthal has always been a closed system created to prevent the Three Wise Men from getting out of control, and He is unable to enter. ”

Ye Qingxuan was stunned.

He totally had not expected that, in the outside world, Bai Heng, that fella, could force Tung Wang Kung into such a corner, as a mere prisoner.

And even though things have deteriorated to such an extent, He still refuses to give up…

Despite it being a last, desperate effort.

“What exactly does He want to do?” Ye Qingxuan asked.

“It’s very simple, He wants to preserve humanity,” Ye Xuan said after thinking about it. “If you use the cliche of dystopian fiction as an example, then He is like the kind of villainous artificial intelligence that will try to make human beings better even if it meant removing all the white matter from the brains of all humans?

“Even though he has free will, He is still unwilling to make changes. Even though it is clear that the mission no longer has any meaning, He is still loyal to the mission.”

He sighed softly. “No wonder Hermes hated him. If you compare the two, they are two extremes.”

“What actually happened?” Ye Qingxuan looked at him. “Why did humans become what they are now?”

“A lot of things happened, for example, war.” Ye Xuan shrugged. “As a result, human beings obtained the land and a future, as they wished, but the price was that they lost their past and the sky.

“It’s very funny, right? Despite having an infinite universe for humans to demonstrate the free will that they are so proud of, in the end, human beings still chose to make their way into a box that could give them peace of mind.”

Having said so, he took his eyes off the sky and extended a hand towards Ye Qingxuan. “Do you have any cigarettes?”

Ye Qingxuan spread his hands, and they were empty. He wasn’t even sure whether the place was in his own brain or in the central core, so naturally, it was impossible for him to bring in a pack of cigarettes.

“You just have to imagine it.” Ye Xuan asked, “Which brand do you usually smoke?”

Snap. An iron case appeared out of thin air in Ye Qingxuan’s hand.

Ye Xuan smiled. “Thanks a lot.”

And so, he took the case from Ye Qingxuan’s hand, opened it eagerly, lit one, took a deep breath, and smiled bitterly. “After such a long time, have I forgotten how cigarettes smell? Or rather, I may have remembered it wrong, this smells rather weird to me.

“Anyway, even though I’m already dead, I still find it hard to part with nicotine, it’s rather tragic, right?

“By the way, you know Hermes very well, no?”

Ye Xuan flicked the ashes and suddenly asked, “Was his death painful?”

“No, he died smiling.” Ye Qingxuan replied, “He smiled in a very enviable manner.”

“Is that so?” Ye Xuan sighed and shrugged. “After they all became catastrophes, that guy could be said to be the most deviant one. Before I was uploaded, I saw him once, and I was completely shocked. I couldn’t recognize him at all.

“He flatly rejected everything from the past, then started a new life according to what he called aesthetics. His individualistic attitude… was just like a human.

“Despite both of them becoming humans, he was so happy, yet Peter was in so much pain. I must have really neglected some aspects.”

Ye Qingxuan was silent.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look so troubled?” As if he could perceive Ye Qingxuan’s anxiousness and uneasiness, Ye Xuan flicked off the ashes and whispered, “Is there anything that you want to say? Don’t worry, I will not be angry, regardless of whether you want to question me or complain to me.

“After all, it is justified for my descendants to harbor complaints towards such an irresponsible ancestor like me. Rest assured, as compensation, I will answer any questions of yours.”

In the silence, Ye Qingxuan shook his head. “I should go.” He took a step back and looked at Ye Xuan in front of him. “Sorry, I know this is the last legacy of the Devas or something, but I can’t stay here any longer.”

He said, “I still have something very important to do.”

Ye Xuan was stunned. As a faint stream of light flashed across his eyes, his expression became one of realization.

“No wonder.” He nodded. “I see.”

As he said so, Ye Xuan pointed at something behind Ye Qingxuan. Where he pointed, the outline of a door suddenly emerged.

“But before that, Ye Qingxuan, I need to remind you of one thing.” Ye Xuan lit a cigarette, his smile cheerful, as if he could feel like a real human once more by repeating such a meaningless motion in the empty world.

Or rather, his smile was rather gloating, like he was watching someone run into misfortune.

His smile was so familiar.

Ye Xuan said, “Although this place looks like the real world, it is a virtual sandbox. In other words, you are essentially a piece of code running in the data layer of the central core.

“After passing through it, you will be able to enter the actual logic layer of the central core. At the moment, the central core and the Originator are connected together. Bai Xi’s consciousness should be there.

“However, Tung Wang Kung’s speed is faster than yours. To get there before him, you can only take a shortcut.

“The shortcut is not safe.

“I don’t know how much computing power and authority Tung Wang Kung has regained. If the firewall has been lost as well, the autonomous program may see you as a virus and kill you the very moment you enter.

“At the same time, all your brain cells will be forcefully formatted, your brain will be cooked like a pot of porridge.”

He looked at Ye Qingxuan, his gaze watchful. “Do you still plan to find Bai Xi back?”

Ye Qingxuan smiled and pointed at his own head. “Since you can read my memory, don’t ask any more meaningless questions.”

“Good.” Ye Xuan smoked his cigarette and began laughing softly. “You have accomplished your mission very outstandingly, Ye Qingxuan. After all, the mission of each generation of House Ye is just to come in and chat with me.”

As he said so, he took something off from his neck and threw it at Ye Qingxuan.

“Go.” He said, “Go and do what you should do.”

Ye Qingxuan subconsciously caught it, saw the thing in his hand, and was momentarily stunned. Then he turned around and ran towards the door.

But just as he pushed the door open, he hesitated and turned back to look at Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan was still standing there.

He stood with his back towards Ye Qingxuan, looking up at the flowing sky quietly. For centuries, he had been staying here, waiting for the heir of each generation to come in and then leave. It was like he must continue waiting until the end of time and future.

From the beginning to the end, he was all alone.

He seemed so lonely, like the whole world had abandoned him.

“Hey, Ye Xuan!” Ye Qingxuan stopped and shouted at the figure. “How did things turn out for you and Changsun in the end?”

It was his only question.

It was not about what happened back then, nor was it about past history, but about the quiet woman in a corner of the grand repertoire of the past, the person who had pushed him into the cabin, disregarding her own safety in the process.

She liked you, and you knew it.

But where did she go?

Why are you staying here alone?

What on earth happened?

“Nothing happened, Ye Qingxuan.” Ye Xuan still stood with his back to him, hiding his expression where Ye Qingxuan couldn’t see, and just lowered his head. “I was seriously injured when the colony ship fell from the sky, and I was in a coma for 40 years.”

He said, “She waited for me for a long time, but she did not make it.”

Ye Qingxuan was silent.

He took a final look at Ye Xuan and remembered his lonely figure.

The door closed.

In the silent world, Ye Xuan looked up and sighed softly. “Go, Ye Qingxuan, don’t let her wait for too long.

“Don’t be like me…”