Chapter 857: Entropy

zm「Perfect ones? 」

Repeating once more, the illusory blurred skull that had been conjured up gave a low laugh as if savoring something.

"Perfect ones are one of the hopes born when each race experiences the Apocalypse."

"You should be well aware that, among the countless Apocalypses in the endless planes, most civilizations will be destroyed."

"But some civilizations can endure repeated disasters."

"On what basis?"

"It is the existence similar to perfect ones!"

The voice sighed, as if falling into memories:

"Just like grass in a stubborn stone, humanity's struggle in the face of death. Civilizations also have a macroscopic 'thought'."

"When a civilization realizes it is about to perish, the civilization as a whole will pour most of its information, resources, and everything unknown into a certain individual."

"In this way, to make a desperate last stand."

"While speaking, the illusory skull fluctuated:"

"In the carrier memories you have absorbed, you should have seen human history."

"Civilization, life, history... are a living existence, wonderful and splendid."

"Just as in human history of this world, after every disaster comes a burst of technology and the birth of geniuses."

"These individuals, or the emergence of technology, will greatly propel the progress of the entire civilization or race."

Listening to the narration from beyond the gate, Chen Yangtian felt some doubt.

Such information is not something a being of his level could know.

Perhaps it was the perfect ones' intelligence that added considerable points in the eyes of the high-level being beyond the gate, making the other willing to say something.

In his hesitation, he couldn't help but ask again:

"That... sir."

"What is the reason? And what is the essence behind it?"

"Do we have our own perfect ones?"

Nervous, uneasy.

As a member of the world beyond the gate, his life is devoted solely to the continuation of civilization; logically, he should not have his own doubts.

But after swallowing part of Chen Yangtian's memories, he gradually acquired human emotions.

But he does not know how these words relate to the perfect ones.

Silently looking over, the illusory black shadow gave him a meaningful glance:

"Whether we have perfect ones or not, you are not qualified to know."

"But as for why civilizations burst forth with infinite potential in dire straits, we do have a hypothesis."

He paused for a moment.

"That is... entropy (shang) increase."

"Huh!?"

Chen Yangtian's eyes widened in shock; he completely failed to understand why the high-level being beyond the gate would say such things.

He knew the concept of entropy increase, but never imagined any connection between them.

【Entropy increase】, it refers to any ordered thing or environment becoming disordered over time.

Just like a healthy young person will, with the passage of time, gradually age and fall ill.

Bones will age, cells will die, and eyes will grow cloudy.

All of this stems from orderly dividing cells that gradually begin to malfunction, making errors.

A clean house will become dirty and messy.

As long as there is no external input (cleaning), even the cleanest room will gradually become covered in dust until it collapses.

But at the final moment of life, life instinctively resists entropy increase, a final flicker before death.

To view the large through the small.

If we regard the whole world as a human body, the world too will slowly age and die.

The 'entropy' added by disorder gradually disturbs the original order.

And order will struggle against disorder.

Seeing Chen Yangtian's doubt, the being beyond the gate casually began to explain:

"If there is no external interference, everything will fall into chaos."

"Civilizations are like this, individuals are like this, the universe is like this."

"But in this irreversible march toward chaotic disorder, any civilization, like life, will make a desperate last stand on the road to destruction."

"Stars resist death by ejecting large amounts of material, becoming red giants; red giants resist death by ejecting material, becoming white dwarfs... if they fail, they are directly destroyed into nebulae."

"A very simple example."

"If we say human civilization as a whole possesses ten units of strength, divided evenly among a hundred people, each person has 0.1 unit of strength."

"This 0.1 unit of strength is insufficient to counter a sudden increase in entropy (the Apocalypse)."

"But if a large number of humans die in a short time, with ninety people dead, the remaining human individuals will each gain one point of strength."

"This one point could possibly counter entropy (the Apocalypse), allowing entry into the next stage and the continuation of civilization."

"Therefore, in the human history of this world, each war causes massive population deaths; the strength contained in the dead humans is then absorbed by civilization itself, and at the moment of extremity, it spontaneously flows toward certain specific individuals."

"The result is obvious."

"In this world's humanity, after each world war or massive population extinction, in an extremely short time thereafter, they will 'burst forth' so-called top scientists, sages, thinkers, guiding civilization to struggle and survive."

"Essentially, it is concentrating the strength of ten thousand, a hundred thousand, or a million people into a single individual."

"This is the spontaneous expression of any life resisting entropy."

"And civilization is precisely also a form of life."

"The Perfect Ones are a vessel through which civilization struggles when facing death; they are the embodiment of concentrated power."

"If the Perfect Ones live, civilization lives."

"Explaining this, Chen Yangtian's eyes were filled with shock."

"He understood the description of the Perfect Ones."

"That is to say, Lin An exhibits such tremendous strength and boundless potential because..."

"In essence, it is the ultimate microcosm of the entire human civilization, embodied by the deceased population of tens of billions."

"This is the struggle of the entire civilization."

"And while life can struggle, the number of such outbursts is limited."

"Each stage allows only one attempt; passing means life, failure means death."

"Killing the Perfect Ones is tantamount to strangling a civilization's vessel of struggle, cutting off the hope of the vast living entity."

"But the energy gathered in the Perfect Ones is irreversible, like a star ejecting matter; that very act is the price of resisting death."

"Just as in the human history he has seen, some ancient civilizations, when facing foreign invasion, burst forth with their final brilliance."

"But when the 'Perfect Ones' who rose in rebellion die, those civilizations vanish into historical dust."

"No wonder the exalted beings beyond the gate place such importance on the Perfect Ones..."

"In a daze, the dark shadow on the bronze wall, rich with meaning, gradually faded away."

"After a long while, Chen Yangtian gazed at the empty wall and suddenly felt an inexplicable absurdity and ridicule."

"After occupying Chen Yangtian's body, he naturally knew how humanity viewed Lin An."

"Do they treat their own kind, even the hope of their civilization, as an enemy?"

"If Lin An is the Perfect One within the gate, his own world would undoubtedly, without hesitation, sacrifice most of its people to desperately protect his growth."

"Even beings of the Fourth Stage, or Fifth Stage, would silently guard him."

"Just as recorded in the legends of old."

"Relief, mockery."

"Chen Yangtian unconsciously looked up; that was the core where the Capital Military Region resides."

"Heh.."

"The cognitive gap has decided that humanity has no hope left."

"If Lin An is killed, this civilization would likely be unable to coalesce another Perfect One."

"At the very least, it would cut off most of their hope."

"After all, this world is fair."

"\"General Chen, are you heading out on a mission? \""

"Capital Military Region, the direction of the outer city."

"Chen Yangtian presented his command token without changing expression; behind him, four silently standing Awakened Ones followed closely, like statues."

"He casually nodded:"

"\"That's right. \""

"\"I've received a special mission; I must go out of the Capital Defense Circle once. \""

"As he spoke, he gazed deeply toward the south, where Long'an Base lies."