Chapter 1963

"Why are you looking at me?" Shiler glared at Loki and said, "I'm just an unknown psychiatrist on Earth; you're the scammer famous throughout the interstellar space."

"Then who is the reason I became a scammer?" Loki also glared at Shiler and said, "Is there any psychiatrist in this world better at soliciting clients and charging higher fees than you?"

The two stared at each other for a long time, finally deciding to shut up before the other could dig up their dark history.

Thor clearly didn't want to dwell on Loki's dark history either; he pulled the topic back to the main point.

"As I said, the so-called Hwei crystals and this fog that seals the crystal energy might all be manufactured by a high-level alien civilization. However, I don't know why other civilizations would do this either."

"That's why I hope you can state the clues you each investigated," Shiler shrugged and said. "Then I'll tell you my findings."

The two Batmen looked at each other again. Lord Batman glanced at the totem pole fragment Shiler was holding.

Then he looked around. He had just realized that everyone around him was an acquaintance of Shiler's. It seemed this Dr. Shiler was an important figure in every universe, so why hadn't he heard of him in his own universe?

Lord Batman recalled carefully, then looked at Lord Superman. Lord Superman shook his head slightly, indicating he didn't know him either.

The two exchanged glances, deciding to investigate thoroughly after returning. However, Lord Batman also wanted to know the truth of the matter, and since time was too short and the clues found were incomplete, he could only rely on exchanging information to complete the story. So he spoke first: "I found a lot of information in the research institute, but I think one is particularly noteworthy. The research topic was in medicine, studying how to extend the lifespan of the Hwei people."

"Wait, you can read their script?" Eddie asked.

"On my way to the research institute, I deciphered some commonly used ones," Batman wrote a few characters in the air with his finger, roughly explaining their meaning, and then said, "And just like human papers, the vast majority are accompanied by pictures and charts. You can guess the gist just by reading the pictures."

"The latter part of this paper is roughly about the impact of Hwei crystals on the Hwei people's bodies. There are too many professional terms, but I found a piece of extremely important information: the Hwei corpse in the illustration is red, and it has already crystallized."

As soon as this was said, everyone frowned. White Tank also frowned and said, "I discovered this too. In the few places I went, there was abnormal red dust on the ground. One patch of ground had some paint spilled on it, and the red dust left behind looked like the shape of a human torso and arms."

"But if there were a sudden crystallization disease, there would definitely be traces of panic in the city, and there would be reports in the news," Eddie said. "But I didn't see any similar pictures at the newsstand, which means the Hwei people didn't go extinct because of this."

"Have you ever thought about a question? Not all races in this world are like humans, who look the same before death and for hours after natural death. Perhaps in their view, this kind of death is normal," Shiler proposed.

"Someone once had a hypothesis: what if oxygen is toxic, and all of us will be poisoned to death within a hundred years of inhaling oxygen? Perhaps the Hwei people are exactly like this."

"They are symbiotic with the energy of Hwei crystals from the moment they are born. Food, beverages, medicine, and daily necessities all contain crystal components, and they will die if they leave the radiation of the crystals."

"In their view, turning into crystal and becoming powder is actually natural death. Every Hwei person dies this way."

The group was silent for a while. Their thoughts could roughly be summarized in one sentence: Just because it has always been this way, does that make it right?

Although there is a wealth of evidence proving that the human lifespan is reasonable and that it is normal for most people not to live past a hundred years as human evolution has developed to this point, many people still wonder if there is some necessary factor in life that has greatly shortened people's lifespans.

"I saw a photograph," Bruce began to say the information he had obtained. He said, "It seems to be a Hwei funeral. They place their fellow countrymen on the highest mountain, and their crystallized bodies turn into powder and drift toward the sky."

Everyone was stunned and looked up at the sky at the same time.

Through the hole in the ceiling, one could still see the light coming from the broken glass of the hall, but more of it was that kind of subtle mist. It was not hard to imagine that the entire sky was covered in thick fog at this time.

"Is this some kind of special religious funeral ritual?" Eddie immediately reacted, his years of experience as a reporter leading him to suggest, "To pray for blessings and protection from heaven?"

"No, I'm afraid they have no choice but to do so," Bruce continued. "I saw a report about a natural disaster. It seems there has always been a great catastrophe rampant on the Hwei planet, occurring from time to time."

White Tank, however, revealed a thoughtful expression, and then said, "As far as I know, there is a special execution day on the Hwei planet. All death row inmates and serious criminals in the world are executed on this day."

Everyone looked at him, not understanding why he brought this up. White Tank continued, "I saw the latest disaster relief files in the military district. A portion of the photos were of how they execute death row inmates."

"I didn't find any video records, but judging from the pictures, they used some kind of instrument to amplify the light of the Hwei crystals. Those executed criminals crystallized at an extremely fast speed, and then turned into powder and drifted toward the sky."

"Disaster relief is done by executing criminals?" Stark said, looking slightly surprised. Then he suddenly recalled and said, "I saw photos of fog observations in a meteorological report before. In the photos over several consecutive days, the fog was pressing lower and lower."

"What was the date of the last photo?" Bruce asked.

Stark raised a hand and drew the characters shown where the date was marked. Bruce also drew the same symbol, and then they discovered that the day the fog was lowest was the same day the great catastrophe began.

"I understand," Eddie suddenly spoke up. "Hwei people die, the crystallized powder drifts to the sky, and the fog rises. And if the number of deaths is insufficient, the fog descends."

"And this fog used to intercept Hwei crystal energy is clearly fatal to the Hwei people. Once a certain area is invaded by the lowered fog, it leads to the so-called great catastrophe."

"And if you view Hwei crystals, Hwei people, and the fog as all being left behind by a high-level alien civilization, then isn't aliens first using Hwei crystal energy to raise Hwei people, and then using fog to harvest the powder the Hwei people turn into, a production process?"

The group was speechless for a moment.

"But if the other party has the ability to farm a planet and then harvest it, why not just turn the crystals into powder directly?" Eddie asked.

"Unless the Hwei people's bodies also carry another element," Bruce said, sighing as if he had understood everything. "You can view the entire planet as a large test tube. Hwei crystal is one element, Hwei people are another, and the fog is the catalyst."

"Hwei crystal is a mineral possessed by a high-level civilization, and Hwei people are another element container manufactured by the high-level civilization. The aliens put them on a planet, then use fog to pressure them, collecting the powder the dead Hwei people turn into."

"Hwei crystal is one element, and there is another element inside the Hwei people. The two elements react inside the Hwei people's bodies. When they die, the powder their bodies turn into is something else, which might be useful to the high-level civilization. The fog brings it to the aliens."

Stark suddenly grasped the key and said, "How long is the Hwei people's lifespan?"

Batman sighed and said, "About four thousand days and nights."

As the words fell, everyone was silent, because they knew the above speculation might be correct.

According to their own feelings, the length of day and night on this planet was slightly longer than Earth's, but about the same. A duration of four thousand days and nights was only about ten years. This was clearly not a lifespan that humanoid carbon-based organisms could naturally evolve; even cats and dogs could live longer than that.

"It's like a fast-growing forest," Lord Batman's slightly low voice sounded. "Only by dying faster can they provide resources faster. And once resources are insufficient, the fog will also urge them to kill more of their own kind."

"They don't even know they are just wheat," Eddie said with a hint of emotion. "They still want to extend their lifespan or go out and see. But there is no wider world outside; perhaps there are only test tube walls."

"But this effort is not meaningless after all," Stark said. "A generation only has a lifespan of ten years, yet they still established cities and even developed a civilization more advanced than humans. Although this took millions of years, progress is always good."

"The Hwei people's progress is probably even greater than you imagine," Shiler suddenly spoke up.

Everyone looked at him, but Shiler took out the three totem pole fragments he had already collected.

"This race has never stopped exploring the sky. They used all kinds of methods to break through the limitations of the fog. The vast majority failed, and some triggered disasters."

"But it was in one accidental disaster that they found the ruins left by the ancient Hwei people. They mentioned in those ancient texts that Hwei crystals have an original growth place."

The others were stunned. Stark frowned and said, "You mean the Ancestor Ruins? Oh, I came up with that name because I couldn't read their script, but there is indeed such a place."

"Hwei crystal energy will be exhausted," Shiler proposed. "Some Hwei people observed that the growth cycle of a crystal is about a hundred years. Crystals that lose energy turn white and change into powder, and there will be new crystals growing from the ground."

"Since we all know this crystal is deployed by a high-level civilization, they must have a deployment site. And since the crystals emerge from underground, it means the deployment site is underground."

"Then there must be monitoring stations and regular inspection personnel," Bruce immediately spoke up. "No matter how unimportant a project is, there must be a camera that can see the deployment situation. And judging from the frequency of the great catastrophes, this is definitely a very important production site. They need that powder very much, so the deployment site must be strictly monitored."

"In other words, can we contact that high-level civilization through the equipment at the deployment site?"

Just then, a teleportation gate opened around them. Eddie reacted and said, "Oh, no need. It doesn't matter what the plot behind this is; we can go back directly. The game ended just now."

Shiler smiled and said, "Did it really end?"