Chapter 889: Cherry Tomatoes and the Great Deluge
Regardless of Bohemia"s willingness, she was ultimately dragged out of the room by Lin Sanjiu. She had become smarter and specifically asked Silas for a duckbill cap to wear. She pushed the brim down low before finally agreeing to sit with Lin Sanjiu and Silvan in the restaurant.
"This is what I"m thinking," Lin Sanjiu spoke as Silas served them various dishes one by one. She guessed that Silvan and Bohemia"s dietary preferences might be similar to those of Westerners in her home world, so she prepared some Western cuisine. Pausing for a moment, she pondered in her mind and straightforwardly said, "I hope we can form an alliance to watch out for each other."
"Oh?" Silvan responded with just one word, encouraging her to continue.
"...I"m really tired." Lin Sanjiu suddenly let out a soft sigh and swirled her wine gla.s.s. The golden-red wine s.h.i.+mmered and danced joyfully, its gleam capable of making one forget their sorrows—for no wonder Qing Jiuliu was so fascinated with what was in the cup.
"Wandering in the apocalyptic world for so long, I feel like it"s enough. I stopped keeping track of the days a long time ago. Honestly, I don"t remember how many years have pa.s.sed since I left my hometown until now," she confessed.
Perhaps her opening statement was too heavy, as neither of them touched their cutlery on the table.
"During these years, I kept meeting companions and getting separated from them. We were like involuntary scattered sand, blown wherever the wind took us... To avoid getting stuck in an irreversible place, the biggest meaning of each day was to find a visa that would make the next 14 months a bit easier to live through."
This seemed to strike a chord with the posthumans of the Twelve Worlds. Bohemia let out a soft "Mmm" and spoke in a low voice, "I haven"t found my next world yet. Recently, the visas available in the Twelve Worlds have become scarce, so the prices have skyrocketed."
It was indeed the right decision not to let her leave alone. Lin Sanjiu glanced at her and tucked a stray curl that was about to fall into Bohemia"s plate behind her shoulder.
Bohemia froze for a moment.
"I happen to have some information on that," Silvan said, lightly sipping his wine, leaving a faint red mark on his lips. He raised his eyes to meet Lin Sanjiu"s and licked his snow-white teeth before smiling. "You go ahead and speak. I can wait."
Lin Sanjiu nodded and paused for a moment. "I don"t know how you feel, but I"ve had enough of these days."
Unconsciously, she had finished her wine and softly said as she looked at the empty gla.s.s, "As a wandering human, my initial reaction when encountering another human is always suspicion, vigilance, and distrust. My reliable companions, with whom I was familiar, were scattered by an irresistible force. No matter how many battles I fought or how much blood I shed, in the end, I found myself stumbling forward alone in an endless, dark forest, filled with fear."
Lin Sanjiu was always chased by various life-and-death crises, never having the opportunity to properly consider these matters. However, once she rarely had a chance to relax, even she didn"t know where these thoughts came from—they naturally flowed out, as if she had practiced this speech many times in her mind.
"I know I may appear calm on the surface... but deep down, I am very, very angry. I want to end this situation, I want to break free from it, I want to resist it. I want to escape from this behemoth that has turned each of us into an isolated island."
Her fingers slowly closed around the wine gla.s.s.
"Before, I couldn"t see any hope, but now it"s different."
In the midst of silence, Silvan suddenly spoke softly, "The Great Deluge."
"Yes."
"What does the Great Deluge refer to?" Bohemia asked cautiously. "The Great Deluge in the Bible engulfed the whole world... but it"s impossible for this flood to destroy every planet, right? There can"t be water gus.h.i.+ng out in the universe."
"To be honest, I"m not entirely sure myself," Lin Sanjiu shook her head, her thoughts lingering on Nuwa for a few seconds. If only she could see Yu Yuan again, or if she could find more clues... "I was stunned by this news initially, especially after witnessing the pocket dimensions gaining self-awareness and preparing for the Great Deluge. I had no idea what to do."
She took a deep breath and poured herself another gla.s.s of wine. The scorching alcohol slid down her throat, entering her body and spreading warmth, soothing every tense nerve.
"Don"t laugh at me, but I only have a vague idea... I vaguely feel that the Great Deluge might be an opportunity. Nothing can be built anew without breaking something old," she smiled bitterly. "I want to use this opportunity to free myself and the people around me from this suffering."
"The Great Deluge may not necessarily be water in the literal sense—or rather, it may not be anything substantial," Silvan furrowed his brow, pondering for a moment before speaking softly. It seemed like he hadn"t had a good night"s sleep for a long time, and while his thinking remained unaffected, his throat sounded hoa.r.s.e, as if shrouded in a wisp of smoke.
"What do you mean?" Bohemia blocked her view with the brim of her hat and spoke more fluently. "Do you have any ideas?"
"From what you"ve told me, I"ve noticed... let"s call it a commonality," his voice was both hoa.r.s.e and gentle, like wisps of smoke lingering around one"s ears, capable of luring someone into a trance. Bohemia listened for a few more sentences, then immediately lifted her gla.s.s and gulped down her own drink.
"What"s the commonality?"
"Whether it"s the abnormal time limit during teleportation, the visas sending people to the wrong place, or pocket dimensions breaking free and slaughtering humans..." Silvan paused, leaning back in his chair and exhaling. His Adam"s apple slid slightly as he did so. "All of these incidents fundamentally involve "the breakdown of rules.""
Indeed... Lin Sanjiu nodded.
"If the Great Deluge refers to some sort of natural or man-made disaster in the literal sense, it shouldn"t affect the rules," Silvan tilted his head and pondered, a strand of golden hair sliding down his cheek. "For example, if it were a flood like the one in the Bible, it would only destroy visible and tangible things, but it wouldn"t explain why these rules no longer apply—do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand," Lin Sanjiu furrowed her brow and contemplated for a moment, absentmindedly skewering a small tomato with her fork, playing with it back and forth. "So, what do you think it is?"
Silvan looked at her fork, suddenly smiled, and reached out to pluck the tomato from her. Although there were several on his own plate, he naturally placed it between his lips. His snowy white teeth bit into the vibrant red, and the sound of the juice bursting was so intense that it made one tremble involuntarily.
Why was this person always—always like this—
Lin Sanjiu stared at him for a few seconds, unsure of what to call him. It wasn"t until Bohemia reached out her hand and picked up a tomato from Silvan"s plate, placing it in Lin Sanjiu"s plate, that she pressed her hand against the brim of her hat and urged, "Hurry up and speak, don"t just take people"s food!"
She was probably the least qualified person to say such a thing.
Silvan exhaled as if laughing, "I believe that the "Great Deluge" might refer to the "collapse of order" itself."
He lifted his head and asked, "Xiao Jiu, what kind of person is this Nuwa you mentioned?"
Having briefly mentioned Nuwa while explaining the situation, Lin Sanjiu now recounted how she met Nuwa and the events that occurred at that time. It felt like reliving her past, and even after many years, she didn"t expect her memories of Nuwa to be so vivid. The most distinct and profound impression was Nuwa"s absolute and powerful self-confidence, standing atop all living beings.
"To her, the existence of humanity is evil," Lin Sanjiu explained. "For her, it is an oracle, a belief, a mission, an unshakable truth in the universe."
Bohemia murmured after she finished speaking, clumsily attempting to cut the Wellington beef on her plate—it was evident that she wasn"t familiar with Western cuisine. "Well, this sounds like someone anti-human. How do I eat this d.a.m.n thing?"
"While it"s not impossible," Lin Sanjiu cut the beef for her, "I find it hard to imagine that she possesses such... incomprehensible power."
Silvan lowered his head, and the interplay of light and shadow accentuated the contours of his forehead, eyebrows, and nose. After a slight flicker of his golden lashes, he raised his eyes and said, "If Nuwa is such a person, then I"m even more confident in my conjecture."
"How so?" Lin Sanjiu asked.
"We have to start with the destruction of the world," Silvan took a sip of his drink. "Although by the time I was born, the world I was in had long been desolate... I am aware of the imagery surrounding a typical apocalypse. Almost every apocalyptic world is dominated by a mature, functioning human society that, due to various reasons, experiences the collapse of that society at a particular point in time, right?"
"Yes... but what does that imply?"
"Think about it. Although we still don"t know what force caused the 14th month teleportation and the awakening and evolution of abilities... it"s not difficult to see that it protects humanity and pa.s.ses on the flame of this race."
The light fell on the wine gla.s.s, casting a crystalline sheen, reflected in his unnervingly green eyes.
"But don"t misunderstand me." Silvan suddenly laughed, adopting a more casual att.i.tude, perhaps due to the effects of alcohol. "The cause of this phenomenon may simply be a random factor during the initial collapse process, rather than some clandestine protector of humanity."
"Initial collapse?" Lin Sanjiu asked.
"Yes," Silvan lowered his voice slightly. "Have you seen an avalanche? The tens of thousands of tons of thick snow piled up on a thousand-meter snow cliff often doesn"t come cras.h.i.+ng down all at once. I never thought the apocalypse would be the same... We narrowly escaped with our lives during the first collapse of the material world, forming a new adaptive order."
He paused, and the restaurant fell into complete silence.
"Now, it"s time for the collapse of order."