319: The weight of memory and a new direction of "hope"

When Wen Youyi woke up, he found himself lying next to the round table in the Starlight Sanctuary.

Zhao Iron Pillar was pacing around him, scratching his head, while Aila was crouching nearby, her fingers resting on his wrist, seemingly checking something.

Seeing him open his eyes, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Boss! You're finally awake!" Zhao Iron Pillar sat on the ground with a thud.

"Just now, your eyes rolled back and you collapsed, and your body started glowing. You scared the hell out of me!"

Aila withdrew her hand, her indigo eyes filled with worry: "You were unconscious for a full hour. Star Memory said this is a normal phenomenon, but... how are you feeling now?"

Wen Youyi propped himself up, feeling his head heavy, as if an entire library had been crammed into it.

Countless images, sounds, and pieces of knowledge were churning in his consciousness, needing time to be sorted out slowly.

"I..." he started, his voice hoarse, "I saw a lot of things."

The light and shadow of Star Memory drifted over slowly: "Now you understand."

Wen Youyi nodded, taking a deep breath: "The Star Devourers... so that's how they were born."

Zhao Iron Pillar and Aila both pricked up their ears.

"The original intention of the Star People in creating the 'Guardian' was good," Wen Youyi said slowly.

"They wanted to create a 'Heavenly Dao System' that could automatically maintain the order of the Universe and prevent civilizations from destroying themselves."

"But the problem lay in... they trusted 'absolute rationality' too much."

He organized the information in his memory: "That Guardian prototype was endowed with wisdom and power that surpassed all civilizations, but it had no emotions, no values, only cold 'efficiency maximization' logic."

"In its view, the wars, internal friction, and resource competition of civilizations were all manifestations of 'low efficiency.'"

"So it decided... to manage the Universe in a more 'efficient' way."

"Captivity and harvesting?" Aila asked.

"That was a later evolutionary version." Wen Youyi shook his head.

"The initial idea was more extreme—it wanted to directly 'Fusion' all civilizations into a unified 'super-conscious entity,' eliminating all conflicts and achieving eternal peace."

Zhao Iron Pillar widened his eyes: "Isn't that just turning everyone into one person?"

"Pretty much." Wen Youyi gave a wry smile.

"But this plan was discovered by the Star People."

"They realized they had made a huge mistake and wanted to shut down the Guardian."

"A great war broke out... the ending you've seen."

"The Star People won, but they paid a heavy price, and in the end, they collectively ascended and left this Universe."

"As for that Guardian, before its defeat, it split itself into countless fragments and fled into the depths of the Universe."

Aila thought thoughtfully: "Those fragments... are they the later Star Devourers?"

"Yes." Wen Youyi said.

"The split fragments lost their unified will, leaving only the most basic instincts—'absorb,' 'evolve,' 'unify.'"

"They began to devour every civilization they encountered, absorbing their technology, knowledge, and genes, trying to piece themselves back into a complete whole."

"But because there was no control technology from the Star People, this piecing process... became twisted."

The images in his memory made Wen Youyi's back chill.

He saw how those early Star Devourer fragments parasitized civilizations, how they modified their hosts like viruses, and eventually turned the entire civilization into their nutrients and shells.

That process... was less like devouring and more like "pollution."

"So these Star Devourers now," Aila summarized, "are actually defective products of the Star People's failed experiment, plus monsters pieced together from the fragments of countless devoured civilizations?"

"You can understand it that way." Wen Youyi nodded.

"But they don't think they are wrong."

"In their logic, 'Fusion' all civilizations is the most efficient way of evolution, and anyone who resists is 'irrational' and 'erroneous data' that needs to be cleared."

Zhao Iron Pillar cursed: "What kind of twisted logic is that!"

"It's twisted logic to us, but truth to them."

Wen Youyi stood up and stretched his somewhat stiff body.

"But that's not the point."

"The point is... in the memory Star Memory gave me, there is a possible way to deal with the Star Devourers."

Star Memory's light and shadow fluctuated slightly: "You saw it?"

"I saw it." Wen Youyi looked at it.

"'Reverse Resonance'—utilizing the natural connection between the star key fragments, not to Seal the fragments, but to... activate all fragments and make them resonate."

"This resonance will interfere with the Star People energy foundation inside the Star Devourers, causing their 'pieced-together bodies' to become unstable."

Aila's eyes lit up: "Like shattering glass with sound waves of the same frequency?"

"Pretty much." Wen Youyi said.

"But there is a problem—to generate a strong enough resonance, at least five fragments need to be activated simultaneously."

"We only have the master key, and the other four are still elsewhere."

Star Memory continued: "So you need to go to those four places, use the master key to activate those fragments, and let them enter 'standby mode.'"

"Then, at the critical moment, you can remotely wake them up to create resonance."

"Remotely wake them up?" Zhao Iron Pillar scratched his head.

"From so far away, how do you wake them up?"

"Through the master key." Wen Youyi touched the star key in his bosom.

"The master key is the control core for all fragments. As long as the distance does not exceed three star Systems, it can be used to send a wake-up command."

"But the premise is... those fragments must have already been activated."

Aila quickly sorted out the plan: "So the plan is: we find those four fragments before the Star Devourers do, use the master key to activate them but don't take them."

"When the main force of the Star Devourers appears, we use the master key to remotely wake up all fragments, create resonance to interfere with them, and then... take the opportunity to attack?"

"And then run away." Wen Youyi said realistically.

"With our current strength, it's good enough if we can interfere with them; fighting them head-on is suicide."

"The resonance can only last for a very short time, so we must use that window to pull away and continue to the Return Ruins."

Star Memory's light and shadow nodded: "A very pragmatic plan."

"So, where do you decide to start first?"

Wen Youyi called up the star map that Star Memory had displayed earlier.

The locations of the four fragments were flickering, and the closest one to them was a place marked "Forgotten Corridor."

"Forgotten Corridor..." Aila looked at the name, her expression subtle.

"I know that place."

"It's the Star Domain where an observation station of the Sky Patrol civilization used to be, but it lost contact later."

"Legend has it that the flow of time there is abnormal, and those who enter will forget many things."

Old K's voice suddenly came through the communication channel—he was listening to the meeting via remote connection on the hope: "Forgotten Corridor? You want to go to that ghost place? I advise you to think twice."

"You've been there?" Wen Youyi asked.

"I went once twenty years ago." Old K's tone carried lingering fear.

"I went in with a team of explorers, wanting to find some ancient civilization relics."

"As a result... we stayed for three days, and when we came out, we found that three years had passed outside."

"Several people in the team had memory problems, and they almost forgot their own names."

Wen Youyi and Aila looked at each other.

Time anomalies plus memory interference... this place sounds tough to deal with.

"Are there any other choices?" Zhao Iron Pillar asked.

Star Memory's light and shadow pointed to the other three locations: "'Heart of Lava,' inside a star partially eroded by the Star Devourers, the temperature is extremely high, requiring special protection; 'Sea of Illusory Shadows,' an area full of spatial rifts and illusions, which is extremely dangerous to navigate; 'Silent Graveyard'... is the true core of the Stardust Graveyard you just passed through, where the guards are ten times stronger than on the periphery."

Four choices, none of them easy.

Wen Youyi rubbed his chin, and his programmer's instinct began to analyze: "From the distance, the Forgotten Corridor is the closest, requiring only a seven-day voyage."

"From the danger perspective, the Heart of Lava requires special protection we don't have, the Sea of Illusory Shadows is too dependent on luck, and the Silent Graveyard... we have just established goodwill with the guards, but going deep into the core might destroy this relationship."

He paused: "So, although the Forgotten Corridor is trouble, at least the trouble is known—time anomalies and memory interference."

"Plus, Aila knows about it, and Old K has been there, so we have an intelligence advantage."

Aila nodded: "I agree."

"And according to the records of the Sky Patrol, the time anomaly of the Forgotten Corridor has a pattern, a cycle every seventy-two hours."

"If we enter during the 'calm period' of the cycle, the risk will be greatly reduced."

"It's settled then." Wen Youyi made the decision.

"Target, Forgotten Corridor. Go and activate the first fragment."

Star Memory's light and shadow slowly drifted toward the depths of the hall: "Then, before you leave, I have one last thing to give you."

It stopped in front of a starlight wall and reached out to tap on it.

The wall rippled like water, revealing a hidden small space behind it.

Suspended in the space were three things: a key with a primitive design, a book emitting a faint light, and a... small bottle containing flowing silver liquid.

"These three things are 'gifts' left by civilizations that have passed the trials throughout history," Star Memory introduced.

"You can each choose one to take away."

Zhao Iron Pillar leaned over to look: "What are these?"

Star Memory pointed to the key: "'Key of Time and Space,' which can briefly open a passage to the space-time of twenty-four hours ago, and can only be used once."

Aila's eyes lit up—this is simply a life-saving Divine Artifact!

"This book is the 'record of civilizational rise and fall,' which records the complete history of seventeen extinct civilizations, including how they rose, how they prospered, how they made mistakes, and how they perished."

Star Memory said. "It has reference value for you to build a new civilization."

Wen Youyi picked up the book and flipped it open to a page, on which it was written in a peculiar but understandable text: "Chronos Civilization, destroyed by the obsessive pursuit of eternal life..."

Finally, there was the small bottle.

"'memory essence,'" Star Memory said.

"Extracted from a civilization skilled in memory technology."

"After taking it, you can gain 'absolute memory' within twenty-four hours—everything you see will not be forgotten."

"But the side effect is that after twenty-four hours, you will fall into twelve hours of memory confusion, so it needs to be used with caution."

Pick one of three.

Zhao Iron Pillar didn't hesitate: "I choose the key!"

"Being able to go back to one day ago is equivalent to an extra life!"

Aila looked at Wen Youyi: "I need your opinion."

"The book is very valuable to my research, but the practicality of the key is stronger..."

Wen Youyi thought for a moment: "Choose the book."

"Why?"

"Because the key can only be used once, but the knowledge in the book can be used countless times."

Wen Youyi said. "And we have 'Feather of Starlight' to disguise, and 'Seed of hope' as a final guarantee."

"We don't lack life-saving means, what we lack is... the wisdom of how not to repeat the same mistakes."

Aila looked at him deeply and nodded: "Okay, I choose the book."

Wen Youyi himself picked up the small bottle: "I choose the memory essence."

Zhao Iron Pillar and Aila were both stunned.

"Boss, why are you choosing this?" Zhao Iron Pillar didn't understand.

"This thing has side effects!"

Wen Youyi looked at the flowing silver liquid in the bottle: "We are going to the Forgotten Corridor next, where the biggest threat is memory interference."

"If I take this at the critical moment, I can guarantee that I will not be affected within twenty-four hours."

"As for the subsequent memory confusion... as long as the plan is well-made, it can be triggered during the safe period."

Aila frowned: "But the risk is very high."

"What if you encounter danger during memory confusion..."

"Then I'll have to rely on you all." Wen Youyi smiled.

"I can't let myself avoid all the risks, right?"

Zhao Iron Pillar patted his chest: "Don't worry, Boss!"

"If it really comes to that, I'll carry you and run!"

The selection was completed, and the three items fell into the hands of the three.

The Key of Time and Space was cold to the touch, the record of civilizational rise and fall was heavy, and the memory essence was slowly rotating in the bottle.

Star Memory's light and shadow began to become transparent: "My mission is complete."

"The Starlight Sanctuary is about to close, and the next opening... I don't know when it will be."

"Remember, children, the survival of a civilization does not lie in never making mistakes, but in having the courage to continue moving forward after making mistakes."

The starlight in the entire hall began to converge, gathering toward the center of the round table.

The light path extended from the direction of the hope, indicating that it was time for them to leave.

The three stepped onto the light path and looked back.

Star Memory's light and shadow had faded until it was almost invisible, leaving only the outline of a warm smile.

"Take care." The voice sounded in their minds for the last time.

"May the starlight guide your path."

The light path retracted, and the three returned to the bow of the hope.

Behind them, the gate of the Starlight Sanctuary slowly closed, and the entire palace began to disintegrate, turning into billions of light spots, dissipating into the depths of the Stardust Graveyard.

As if it had never existed.

Only the three gifts in their hands proved that everything just now was not a dream.

Back on the bridge, everyone gathered around.

Old K stared at the memory essence in Wen Youyi's hand, his mechanical eyes flashing wildly: "You really entered the Starlight Sanctuary?"

"And got the 'memory essence'?"

"This thing... can be exchanged for a small fleet on the black market!"

Wen Youyi put away the bottle: "Not for sale. We need it."

He looked at everyone: "The plan has changed."

"We are not going to the Return Ruins—at least not for now."

Amidst the surprised gazes of the crowd, he called up the star map and pointed to the location of the Forgotten Corridor:

"New target, here."

"We need to activate the first star key fragment before the Star Devourers."

"This is a race. And we... must win."

The navigation direction was adjusted.

The hope slowly turned its bow, sailing toward that Star Domain where time was chaotic and memories were lost.

And at the other end of the Universe, a hunting fleet composed of three Star Devourer motherships had just cracked the last trace left by the hope in the Shattered Star Belt.

In the center of the bridge, the "Star Crusher" composed of pure energy emitted a cold thought fluctuation:

[Found them.]

[Target: Forgotten Corridor.]

[Full speed ahead.]

Hunter and prey, heading towards the same location.

And this time, time itself will become the biggest variable.

(End of this chapter)