Chapter 1901: The Essence of the Red Star

"...[Recognition]?" Chen Ling's brows locked together.

The young man nodded and continued:

"The reason the Nine Lords could become the Nine Lords is because they absorbed the energy of the Red Star... And this energy can turn the things one 'recognizes' in their heart into reality... whether it be matter, thought, or... cognition."

"Don't you find it strange? Why are the powers of the Nine Lords all in their respective fields of research?"

"In the final analysis, it is because the Red Star's energy materialized the 'science' they recognized..."

"Su Zhiwei, who spent her whole life researching string theory, turned an unproven theory into reality; Lu Xun, who imbued astrophysics with romanticism, had an ability not of cold mechanical calculation, but of communicating with the stars; Wu Tongyuan didn't create any formula directly, but specifically built a non-existent 'coefficient weapon' for himself..."

"In the former Gray World, a beast skinned alive by humans blinded by greed, after fusing with the Red Star's energy, became a monster stitched together from countless skins, wanting to become human;"

"A sunflower growing in a polluted forest, after fusing with the Red Star's energy, grew into the shape of a Buddha according to its own distorted cognition;"

"A deep-sea behemoth used for experiments could travel through space; that was the ability it wanted to escape human capture;"

"A pterosaur skeleton dug up by archaeologists soared in the sky again; that was its obsession with living another life;"

"Even a thought without a physical entity could transcend the shackles of the flesh, truly achieving the 'infinity' of thought..."

"As for you..."

The young man paused for a moment.

"...you should know best where your power comes from."

Chen Ling's body trembled, and he fell into silence.

The core ability of Mockery Disaster... was 'negation'.

The pure evil that wanted to negate all things, born from the resentment and unwillingness of those unfortunate humans who died under the Red Star's impact, was the source of his power.

Whether it was the Nine Lords or the world's destruction, everything, in the final analysis, was because some power 'recognized' their existence.

This was quite similar to Chen Ling's conjecture. He had long called the Red Star's energy "aspiration power," and the two meanings had the same effect.

"Then what must be done to completely solve the Red Star?" Chen Ling asked the most critical question.

The First Generation had left words on the memorial tablet, saying the method to solve the Red Star might lie on the Red Star itself... Now Chen Ling had arrived on the Red Star, and the Second Generation had been here for a long time. Perhaps the method to solve the Red Star had already been found.

But who knew the young man would shake his head: "...There is no way."

Chen Ling was stunned.

"What did you say?"

"The Red Star is indestructible." The young man repeated.

"The Red Star's power can materialize the recognition of organisms. Similarly, the recognition of other organisms toward the Red Star will also be materialized..."

"This is why the core of the Red Star can never be destroyed. Because as long as someone knows of the Red Star's existence, it can infinitely regenerate based on the outside world's 'recognition' of it."

"In the words of quantum mechanics, as long as someone is observing the Red Star, it will exist. Even if destroyed, it will recover."

Hearing this, Chen Ling stopped walking... A look of absurdity appeared in his eyes.

"...Are you kidding me?"

As long as someone knows of the Red Star, its core can infinitely recover?

Just like how as long as one has seen Thought Disaster, Thought Disaster can directly extend its tentacles of thought into the other's mind?

One had to know, the Red Kings of past generations had paid such a huge price, and he had simulated the future so many times in the Akashic Tower, exhausting everything to reach today, to destroy the Red Star to this extent... But now he was told that the edge of victory they had struggled so hard to touch was just a dream bubble that could never be attained?

According to this, no matter what humans did, no matter how hard they tried, they could never truly defeat the Red Star...

Then what did their persistence and sacrifice for so long count for??

Chen Ling was about to say something more,

when suddenly, a dull sound of drums seemed to cross space, ringing out from the void!

Boom—boom—boom...

Each drumbeat felt as if it were striking Chen Ling's heart, shaking his consciousness, which had already fallen into self-doubt, with intense pain.

At this moment, Chen Ling felt as if he were about to split apart. The psychological grief and intense pain overlapped, nearly causing him to collapse to the ground...

"What's wrong with you?" The young man was stunned. He supported Chen Ling and asked in confusion.

"The drumbeats..." Chen Ling gritted his teeth. "Can't you hear them? Where are those drumbeats coming from?!"

"Drumbeats?"

The young man narrowed his eyes.

After a moment, he comforted him softly:

"It must be the Red Star playing tricks... ignore it. Take a deep breath; it should pass soon."

The dull drumbeats nearly drove Chen Ling mad. He was forced to constantly calm himself down, trying not to care about the existence of the drumbeats. Gradually, the sound indeed weakened, and finally disappeared without a trace.

He leaned against the crimson wall beside him in a disheveled state, finally letting out a long breath...

Damn it.

What exactly were those drumbeats?

Why did they make him feel somewhat familiar?

Chen Ling stared fixedly at a certain direction in the void, wondering what he was thinking.

"In any case, no one can truly destroy the Red Star... at least not in our world." The young man walked in front of Chen Ling, blocking his gaze, and spoke calmly.

"Not in our world... what does that mean?" Chen Ling keenly captured the key point.

"Follow me, we're almost there."

The young man continued to walk toward the end of the corridor.

Chen Ling adjusted his state and followed closely.

After about two minutes, the young man arrived at the door of a room.

Compared to other rooms, this one seemed larger. The door was currently open. Behind the door was not a small room containing satellite or nuclear submarine models, but rather something like an independent alien world...

Gray mist drifted on the ground, and the sky was dark and lightless. Chen Ling looked inside from the door, thinking he had walked to the entrance of the Gray World.

"In the Red Star's consciousness... there's actually a place like this?" Chen Ling frowned.

The young man walked into the room, and Chen Ling followed. The moment he stepped one foot into the door, it felt as if something had grabbed his other ankle, nearly causing him to fall to the ground.

"Hmm?"

Chen Ling looked back,

only to see a pale palm growing from the side of the door like a mushroom. An eye was weirdly growing in the center of the palm, and at this moment, the eye was staring fixedly at Chen Ling, shaking crazily from side to side.

Chen Ling was startled. When he blinked again, the pale palm had already vanished.

……

……

Countdown to the end: 10 days