Chapter 168: The Only Hope for the Continuation of Human Civilization

Annihilation... After she fused the fragments, one of the abilities she gained was precisely annihilation.

Even opening the spatial channel to the Yellow Sand Planet used "annihilation"; she did not open a "door," but rather annihilated a hole in the space between the Yellow Sand Planet and Earth.

Dean Liu continued, "The scientific community, through analyzing fossil records from the past 250 million years on Earth, has also discovered that a relatively large-scale extinction event occurs approximately every 30 million years. They speculate that an invisible planet rotates around the center of the Milky Way along with the solar system, with an orbital period of about 30 million years.

"This unproven companion star has been named the 'Death Star.' When the Death Star approaches the solar system in its orbit, it exerts strong gravitational disturbances on the solar system, causing drastic changes in Earth's environment, such as volcanic eruptions, climate change, and rising sea levels, thereby triggering massive extinctions of Earth's life. This is another hypothesis within the scientific community regarding the phenomenon of mass biological extinction."

This time Yang Yi fell silent for a long while, finally opening her mouth to ask, "Could this 'Death Star' possibly be that Evil God?" Only after speaking did she realize her voice was dry and hoarse.

"The scientific community does have this hypothesis, but no one can prove that such a companion star exists in the solar system, nor can they prove whether this companion star is a planet or some other existence, or even prove whether this planet is 'alive.' Linking it to the so-called Evil God is still too far-fetched..." Dean Liu frowned in thought: "The fact that Evil God believers can travel from other star systems to Earth via spatial technology indicates that the Evil God possesses power far greater than what this companion star displays..."

"What if this is because the Death Star is sleeping?" Yang Yi murmured.

"Hmm... that is indeed a possibility..." Dean Liu pondered. "The Evil God believers have said that their god is sleeping, and they have been dedicated to sacrificing lives to Him in order to awaken Him..."

This was not her whimsical fancy, but rather a heart-pounding sensation that inexplicably arose in her heart when she heard the names 'Omen of Destruction' and 'Star of Annihilation.'

If this Death Star is alive and sleeping, then its power has temporarily contracted... Of course, even with contracted power, every 30 million years when it approaches the solar system in its orbit, its power would still trigger mass biological extinctions on Earth. Could these extinctions not be unconscious "sacrifices" time and again? Even if it does not consciously draw upon life sources.

It also knows "to drain the pond to catch all the fish"—or perhaps it is an instinct, knowing to leave a little life behind, letting time breed more life for it, waiting quietly for the next harvest... This is treating Earth as a pasture...

She recalled that pasture she had stolen from—back then, she had not exterminated everything either, but left behind some less harmful species to reproduce naturally. She hadn't even thought much while doing these things; she had simply acted on instinct...

Suddenly, she felt cold all over, a chill running up her back and paralyzing her upper body. She vaguely recalled a familiar yet strange vision from the past: she was clearly looking in a mirror, yet the reflection showed a strange face...

Was she fusing with the Evil God fragments, or were the Evil God fragments fusing with her?

"Splash—" The sound of pouring tea woke Yang Yi.

"Come, have some tea!" Dean Liu filled her cup, asking in a gentle tone, "It's been very stressful for the past two months, hasn't it?"

Yang Yi held the teacup with both hands, trying to draw some warmth from the cup's walls. "Mm, I'm very unaccustomed to it." Facing this knowledgeable and gentle scientist, she offered no pretense.

"With such a great responsibility suddenly falling upon you, you have done the best you could." Dean Liu's tone was sincere.

Yang Yi pressed her lips together and smiled somewhat embarrassedly. No one had ever affirmed her like this, not by the standard of a "God of Humanity," but by the standard of Yang Yi, an ordinary person.

"But in the future, you will face even more difficult situations." Dean Liu looked at her earnestly. "Yang Yi, today you opened an interdimensional channel, verifying an idea I have long held in my heart."

Yang Yi's heart skipped a beat, yet she maintained her composure on her face. "What idea?"

"I don't know what state you are in now... or perhaps you have already become a non-human existence..." Dean Liu looked at her, his eyes filled with curiosity. "The power you currently possess exceeds the limits detectable by Earth's technology. Opening space out of thin air—do you know what this means? Humanity has imagined traveling through the universe via 'space folding' technology, but this scientific hypothesis has only remained in the theoretical stage; it will likely still be unachievable even after another two hundred years, yet you have done it."

"Space folding is a concept humanity imagined by mimicking the existence of black holes; its principle is to use extremely powerful gravity to cause space to warp. Just as if we take a piece of paper, poke a hole at both parallel ends, then fold the paper in half, thus shortening the distance. But how do we know the precise coordinates of the other end? How do we create such immense gravity? How do we poke holes in these two pieces of paper? We do not know these things, yet you have done it..."

Yang Yi's lips were dry; she slowly took a sip of tea.

"... Perhaps the future of humanity will rest upon you..." Dean Liu murmured in thought. After a long pause, he suddenly asked, "Do you know how the scientific community views the Evil God?"

"Please speak." Yang Yi maintained her respectful attitude.

"You may have heard that many scientists suddenly converted to believing in a 'God' in their later years; in fact, I am also a 'theist'." Dean Liu said with a smile.

"The 'God' you speak of must not be a god in the ordinary sense." Yang Yi smiled.

Dean Liu also smiled. He picked up the mobile phone on the table and gestured toward it. "Look at this phone; how exquisite is its design. This phone certainly did not arise out of thin air, right? Then the design of this universe is even more exquisite than a phone; how could it possibly arise out of thin air or by chance? Everything most fundamental in this world seems designed: the gravitational constant, the elementary charge, the vacuum permeability, Planck's constant... The universe operates according to the rules set by this 'hand.' Time has update units; a calculator computes the state of various matter at the next time point based on existing rules, like a program written by a skilled programmer... Our work as scientists is to constantly explore the various rules set by this 'hand,' describing them with formulas one by one, and proving them through experiments one by one... The more we understand this world, the more awe we feel for this 'hand'... I believe that a Creator exists in this world. It is not some God or Buddha; moreover, in my view, so-called theology is merely anthropology, which can be categorized as a branch of sociology, while science is the true discipline for exploring the Creator... 'I do not know its name, so I forcibly call it the Dao,' and human life is so brief, yet this Dao is so infinite and endless..."

Dean Liu let out a long sigh, the sigh filled with endless regret and sorrow.

After a while, he looked at Yang Yi, the gentleness in his eyes fading for the first time, replaced by a burning brightness: "If there truly exists an Evil God in this universe, and it causes a great disaster to Earth every 30 million years, what does this cycle indicate? It indicates that this so-called Evil God is also subject to the restrictions of the rules set by the Creator! Perhaps this Evil God is simply part of the universe's operation! The reason it is so powerful is that it possesses more knowledge of the underlying logic of this universe than human civilization, and exists within this universe in its own way, while humanity has merely happened to become part of its normal activities.

"'The morning mushroom knows not the dusk and dawn; the cicada knows not the spring and autumn.' From apes to modern humans, humanity has existed for a mere two million years; modern science has been born for only a little over five hundred years. Compared to the Evil God, our human civilization is indeed as small and brief as the morning mushroom and the cicada. Facing such a terrifying existence, we seem doomed to inevitable disaster, but now we have you!

"You are an anomaly! Yang Yi, I can say this: you are the only hope for the continuation of our human civilization!"