Chapter 525: Sealing the Board

"I believe you must have already gained some understanding of the Celestial Empire's lunar base before this." The projection looked toward Harry and said slowly, "Then, let me first explain what this so-called 'Ascension' is all about. Perhaps it will be easier for you to understand if I use another term: I call it 'Cosmic Genesis'."

"This is a concept I have been researching for a long time. It was only after I finished refining the Heavenly Dao that I realized it had become feasible. Thus, I prepared and completed it in a flurry of activity. This is a summary of the events that have occurred up to this year."

"Next, I will elaborate on the concept of 【Cosmic Genesis】. Generally speaking, it means entering or even creating a newborn parallel world. This world is in an unstable state, which allows us to alter objective laws at will and mold the world completely into the shape we desire."

This was too insane. Harry was already so astonished he could not speak. He stared blankly at Master Xuanjun's projection, which continued to recount his actions in an unhurried manner.

"A relatively simple example: Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, which you are familiar with, states that Transfiguration cannot create food, or rather, Transfiguration cannot sustain secondary transformation. However, in a newly created universe, we can completely adjust this rule so that Transfigured food is perfectly edible. Of course, to avoid unknown abnormal reactions, we limit this only to 【food】, and the purpose of the food is limited only to 【replenishing the energy required by the human body】. This is the first thing I will do after going to the new world, and it can directly solve the basic survival problems for everyone."

"The changing and establishment of rules must be carefully considered, but in general, doing so is to create a more beautiful, ideal society—since objective laws dictate that a utopia cannot be established, I shall change the objective laws themselves. This is a truly great undertaking."

A look of gratification appeared on the projection's face; he was very happy to have achieved this world-shaking feat. Harry was also shocked by this line of thinking and was speechless for a moment.

After a brief silence, the projection continued: "I imagine you must be curious about what this place is. Let me tell you: this is the 'Seed Plan' left behind by the Celestial Empire. After all the local residents have completed their Ascension, the lunar base can, at its discretion, attempt to restart our civilization. In this huge circular corridor you see, all of the Celestial Empire's culture, technology, history, magical techniques, and so on, up until the Ascension, are sealed away. It is an extremely detailed grand library."

"If you are also interested in the concept of Cosmic Genesis, you can try to gradually unearth and restore our technology from within this. And generally speaking, I think Zhang Qiu, as a newly promoted lord, is the more likely candidate to do this..."

"That's not it at all!" Zhang Qiu walked up to him angrily, interrupting the conversation. "You make me feel like I've been abandoned. This is too ridiculous. I think you're taking the remaining matters far too lightly."

"These people at the lunar base are already trapped in this negative emotion of being 'abandoned.' It is impossible for them to form an effective or positive organization, let alone restore the Celestial civilization." Zhang Qiu's tone also carried a very heavy sense of pessimism. "You can't just dump this kind of thing on me... I only just got married today..."

Harry wrapped his arms around her shoulders, wanting to offer some support, but the projection dealt her another blow without hesitation: "That's right. To be honest, I did just abandon you and these people."

"Qiu, calm down and think about it. How can life ever be perfect? If you want to be with Harry, you cannot participate in our plan; and Harry has his friends and family—he is even less likely to participate in this Ascension. Therefore, leaving our technology here for you and Harry to browse and use is the best arrangement I could make for you." The projection's tone shifted from blunt to gradually becoming gentle. "If you want to live a stable life, you can certainly let everything remain as it is; if you want to pursue a broader future, this can also become a direction and an aid. What is wrong with that? Perhaps my biggest mistake was leaving without saying goodbye, but that was unavoidable: if the suddenness of this news were destroyed, it would be equivalent to deviating from the nodes of fate, and we would not have been able to leave."

That was indeed the logic. Harry nodded secretly in his heart; he was even slightly pleased that Ge Xuan had decided to leave Zhang Qiu behind.

"Moreover, the people at the lunar base have not been abandoned; they have simply experienced some setbacks." The projection began to explain the situation here, while the official who had brought them up stood silently further away. "After our first attempt at magic-assisted spaceflight, there was indeed a brief period of chaos. During that time, people were unprecedentedly fanatical, and the lunar base was built very quickly. Everyone felt the next step would be Mars, or even Alpha Centauri—but, people of insight all noticed that the intervention of magic had caused an extremely negative impact on the development of our conventional science. We could not continue like this."

"Consequently, the imperial court suspended subsequent spaceflight plans, but we did not dismantle or ignore this base, which had been built by cheating with magic. We simply perfected it and then began building the Seed Plan. However, for those who had wild fantasies and decided to gamble their entire future lives on a new field, this indeed formed a blow. They found it hard to accept their transformation from pioneers to clock-punching employees. Complaints of this nature were endless, which is normal. I don't think there is anything unfair about it." The projection's tone was slightly cold when discussing this matter. "When you manage the base, you can refer to this past and look after their emotions. Or, I think this past is more meaningful as a warning to every person in power who walks on the edge of the Statute of Secrecy... though it's useless; people always have to make mistakes themselves before they can learn their lessons."

Harry easily thought of Yanayev. He could feel that Master Xuanjun did not actually have deep hostility toward Yanayev, but was full of contempt.

"Perhaps this is the pattern of the future world. The Red Empire will be triumphant for a long time, but it will ultimately be unable to be triumphant forever." The projection said meaningfully. "And among the English-speaking countries, who holds more say—that will be another very interesting topic. Perhaps you haven't noticed just how interesting it will be, ha!"

"Ah, right!" Harry couldn't help but ask, "I would like to ask, did you create the Red Shore Base simply to play a prank on Tang Nade? Or was there some deeper intention?"

"There were some intentions." The projection was happy to answer this question. "Don't you think that a billionaire who does nothing all day and puts all his thoughts into affairs between men and women is not only stupid and unhelpful to society, but sometimes even harmful?"

Harry nodded with deep understanding.

"Therefore, I wanted to find him something to do, and fabricating an alien threat was undoubtedly a very effective move. In order to fight the imaginary aliens, he had to invest his time and resources into technological research, and it could also consume his excessive energy." The projection's gaze drifted. "I deceived him with a story from the future, a very clever scam. Of course, perhaps one day he will discover that the reference answer left for him was right by his side, or perhaps he will never discover it. Alas, one of the few confidants I have in this world... even though he is stupid, now that we have finally parted, I do miss him a little."

"In other words, there is actually no such thing as aliens?" Harry asked with some trepidation.

"Ah, I understand that you are fearful of such unknown threats. However, to be honest, although I did not deliberately summon or manifest aliens, there is no evidence to say they definitely don't exist, either." The projection said with a half-smile. "So, staying vigilant is correct."

Harry suspected he said this just to find something for himself to do, just as he had prepared to find something for Tang Nade to do.

Another silence followed. Then, the projection smiled with relief and said finally: "It seems you no longer have questions or confusion. Actually, apart from this explosive news, you will notice that the departure of the Great Ming will not have much impact on this world. We were isolated to begin with, and from now on, everything in this world will have no impact on the Great Ming. That is, for me, at least—after all, I am only a thought left behind by the main body. I still have to rely on the magical artifact here to reside, and I will occasionally feel lonely—as long as you remember to come and visit occasionally, that will be enough."

After the projection stopped speaking, it still took Harry quite a while to digest the massive amount of information. Zhang Qiu was still leaning in his arms, seemingly with no intention of getting up, while the Celestial official not far away seemed very eager to invite them to other parts of the base.

Harry narrowed his eyes, scanning the deep grand corridor below. The corridor extended downward continuously, and the end still emitted a faint, ghostly blue light. He could not see the bottom, so he raised his gaze all the way up, swept past the platform in front of him, and looked up at the dim night sky and the twinkling stars. What was Ge Xuan concerned about? Harry thought naturally. Was he hoping that Zhang Qiu would rebuild the Celestial civilization here? Or was he hoping even more that we would one day continue to lead humanity in exploring the unknown deep space?

But this was not just a question of whether one could understand or had the determination. Harry also clearly felt that whether it was the legacy of an ancient empire or the journey to the sea of stars, these things were far removed from him. After all, these things did not belong to him in the first place.

"We should get ready to go back," he said softly.

"Yes, we haven't even slept in the newly decorated bridal chamber yet," the person in his arms replied just as softly. ===== CHAPTER 526 =====