What lies beyond the Five Continents?

Generally, this question only arises when people gaze upward at the starry sky, and the answer, as Cui Zhongcheng once mentioned... is unexplorable. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Very few people care about what lies outside this world.

Because the Five Continents are already vast enough, everyone is like a tiny grain of sand in the Deep Sea.

Bobbing up and down, managing to take care of oneself is already quite difficult.

Thus, Gu Shen, who had emerged from Wulaoshan, had always thought that only scientists or... adventurers exploring the margins were concerned with this question.

At least he used to be unconcerned.

But now, it was different.

Looking at that dark, inward-collapsing black dot.

Gu Shen murmured, "What is the world outside the Five Continents like?"

"Who knows? Who has been there?" Cui Zhongcheng spoke softly, "I don’t know. I’ve never been. But those who’ve been there say... the world outside the Five Continents is darkness, frost, biting cold, eternal night, there is nothing there."

"Life vanishes, order breaks down, logic collapses, quantum falls apart."

"If no action is taken... the Five Continents will also become like this." As Mr. Xiao Cui closed the last bronze door, the tiny black dot, no larger than a fingernail, wrapped in layers of red silver, returned to the embrace of darkness. Once the bronze door was closed, no one knew that the tenth underground level hid such a secret, nor did anyone know what fate this world was about to face.

"I still don’t quite understand..."

It took Gu Shen a long time to stabilize his thoughts again; the black dot and the collapse outside the Five Continents were indeed hard realities to accept.

"What does resisting disorder have to do with these infants?"

"The Genetic Bill was a salvation method attempted by the parliament before the birth of Deep Sea... the genes of outstanding Transcendents from the Five Continents were collected, and through artificial technology, these children in the nutrition pods were cultivated, who should inherently possess immense potential and talents surpassing ordinary people."

Cui Zhongcheng spoke slowly, "But an Extraordinary Awakening is uncontrollable... the ’excellent products’ from Transcendent gene pairing did not directly create the ideally born ’Divine’s Chosen Son.’ Moreover, as time passed, some children cultivated by parliament, in the process of growing up and awakening Extraordinary Power, became uncontrollable, and incidents of ’loss of control’ occurred one after another."

"You should know... the damages and risks out-of-control Transcendents bring to the human world are enormously high; these children are too unstable. Thus, the Genetic Bill was halted."

"The children you see now in the nutrition pods are products that ceased production ten years ago."

Cui Zhongcheng used the merciless word "products" to describe these children.

"You asked earlier... what the future holds for these infants,"

Cui Zhongcheng stood before the pods and gently began, "If the bill hadn’t been halted, some of the lucky ones among them would have opened their eyes successfully, left the nutrition pods, and found suitable families through the parliament while being monitored. If they didn’t lose control, they would never know their origins throughout their lives. But now... these children can only sleep within these pods, possibly until their consciousness erodes, their thoughts fade away. No one knows what fate awaits them; perhaps the word ’fate’ itself is non-existent for them."

"Out of humanitarianism, the nutrition pods will continue supplying the energy needed for their survival... but their consciousness is also in a period of Chaos, and their growth rate has been significantly slowed. If they die in the pods, then it’s the end of their life."

"The Genetic Act... was an attempt by the parliament to control the ’Transcendents’, unfortunately, they all failed," Cui Zhongcheng looked at Gu Shen like a detached observer, his face devoid of joy, anger, sorrow, or scorn, just calm, "Some high-ranking members of the parliament tried to use this method to find a sufficiently outstanding ’Savior’."

"...Savior?"

"Tomb Ghost previously mentioned a term... called ’Flame Power’. In ancient mythology, mankind first possessed fire, and then they had hope."

"Before Deep Sea was created, the Five Continents once possessed a ’mythological artifact’ that could contain chaotic forces."

Cui Zhongcheng said, "The ancient parliament needed to rely on the power of the ’mythological artifact’ to collect the chaotic Extraordinary Essence... Later, this ’mythological artifact’ was divided into seven parts and handed over to seven exceptional individuals capable of wielding its power. After the division, the artifact... was referred to as humanity’s hope of ’Flame Power’, and the seven exceptional individuals who held the ’Flame Power’ naturally became humanity’s Saviors."

"This isn’t really considered a major secret because once you join the Judgement Institute and serve for a certain number of years, or reach certain heights, you will know of ’their’ existence... There is a name you must have heard."

"Gu Changzhi."

"Changye reached unprecedented heights because of Gu Changzhi, and East Continent also shone brilliantly because of his guardianship," Cui Zhongcheng said, "These years, he has been in a slumber, and no one knows exactly why... but in fact, the status and influence that our East Continent holds today are largely due to this man’s existence."

"The ’Flame Power’ often exists, but those who can hold the flame are rare. The true reason for the passing of the Genetic Act is the human world’s fear of a hero shortage... Once we lose the ’Flame’, what else could we hold onto?"

Cui Zhongcheng spoke meaningfully, "Now you should understand what the real significance of the Genetic Act is."

The parliament wanted to create a Savior who could carry the Flame Power through their own means.

"Later, ’Deep Sea’ appeared and the parliament invested a vast amount of computational power in search of... a way to prevent the Five Continents from being destroyed by the collapse of order," Cui Zhongcheng said indifferently, "Thus, the ’Awakening Bill’ was born."

"Extraordinary Essence can be absorbed artificially. Once the number of Transcendents can be controlled, then the Extraordinary Essence can be controlled. Under the regulation of Deep Sea, the order of the world will return to calm... but the premise is that a large number of Transcendents must awaken spontaneously, they will become the furnaces for the Extraordinary Essence."

"And when they die..."

"New individuals are born."

"It’s a cycle."

"Yes, it is a cycle. If we do not want our civilization to collapse in a thousand years, perhaps this time could be significantly shortened, or it might be much longer than expected, but it is bound to come."

Layer upon layer of bronze doors closed.

The past of the Huazhi Underground was thus concealed.

Gu Shen gazed intently into Cui Zhongcheng’s eyes, trying to see genuine emotions, but there was nothing; Chi Huo told him that the man before him was like a hollowed-out doll, wrapped in layers upon himself.

No one knew what Cui Zhongcheng was really thinking.

"The people who see the real methods of salvation are always in the minority. Deciding the fate of humanity, such a significant matter, cannot be left to the masses," Mr. Xiao Cui suddenly smiled, "No matter what the outcome, having seen hope..."

"We always have to try, don’t we?"