347: The last words of the monument keeper and "reverse eavesdropping"

The voice coming from the boundary stele plunged the entire research tent into an eerie silence.

Even Zhao Iron Pillar held his breath, eyes wide, as if doubting whether he was hallucinating.

"Fleet Commander?" Wen Youyi suppressed the stormy waves in his heart and responded with as calm a thought as possible, "A... reclamation fleet commander from thirty thousand years ago? You are still... alive?"

"Alive?" The old voice seemed to smile bitterly, "No... my Physical Body has long since decayed. What remains here is just a wisp of... obsession, attached to the core Formation of the boundary stele, waiting to... complete the final mission."

Obsession? Wen Youyi thought of Profound Mechanism Master. Was this another Soul trapped by the System, unable to find liberation?

"What is your mission?" he asked.

"Warning," the Monument Keeper's voice was filled with deep exhaustion, "Warning latecomers to stay away from this Star Domain. This... is an extension of the 'Forgotten Corridor', and beneath the ground sleeps... something that should not be awakened."

Everyone in the tent exchanged glances. As expected, the Creation Heavenly Court Fleet from thirty thousand years ago must have encountered something, which is why they fled in such a panic.

"Can you explain in detail?" Wen Youyi pressed, "What did you encounter back then?"

A brief silence, as if the distant consciousness were sorting through dusty memories.

Then, a fragmented yet coherent image was projected into mid-air via the crystal ball of the boundary stele—this time, it was clearer and more complete than what Silver Thorn had extracted.

In the image, the surface environment of the New Homeland (which didn't have a name back then) was not much different from now, only the forests were denser and the animals more diverse.

After that golden-glittering reclamation fleet landed, the Heavenly Soldiers began their work in an orderly fashion: establishing camps, surveying mineral veins, collecting biological samples, analyzing atmospheric components...

Everything seemed to go smoothly, even somewhat mundanely. Until the seventh day, when an accident occurred.

A young Heavenly Soldier, while surveying the earth veins, inadvertently triggered a stone slab buried deep underground, covered in strange runes.

The moment the slab shattered, an invisible ripple spread out. Then, something terrible happened.

The first to be affected were the Heavenly Soldiers responsible for "psychic energy collection"—the early harvesting System of the Creation Heavenly Court was not yet perfect and required live subjects to collect emotional energy.

These Heavenly Soldiers suddenly started babbling, some laughing uncontrollably, some howling in grief, others standing still, their eyes hollow.

"Their memories... are being read," the commander's (the current Monument Keeper) panicked voice came from outside the image, "Not just read, they are being... extracted! Something is following the psychic energy collection circuit, reverse-invading their consciousness!"

Immediately following this, all equipment connected to the spirit net (then called the "Heavenly Net") began to malfunction.

Energy readings became chaotic, communications were interrupted, and even the starship's shield generators began to destabilize.

"Retreat! Retreat immediately!" the commander ordered.

But it was too late. Those Heavenly Soldiers whose consciousnesses had been invaded began to attack their companions.

Their method of attack was extremely eerie—not with Spells or weapons, but with... memories.

The Heavenly Soldiers who were hit would suddenly freeze, then expressions not their own would appear on their faces, and they would speak in strange tongues, as if another person's experiences had been forcibly poured into them.

"It's 'memory pollution'!" the accompanying Formation Master exclaimed, "Beneath this land... sleeps the entire memory of some ancient civilization! They have awakened! They are looking for... a new carrier!"

The image shifted to a chaotic flight.

The Heavenly Soldiers scrambled back to the starships, not even having time to recover the surveying equipment.

Three starships lifted off in a rush, one of which collided with invisible asteroid fragments in the panic, tearing the hull apart, the explosion's fire illuminating the entire sky.

After escaping the orbit of the New Homeland, the commander ordered the planting of the boundary stele—not to mark territory, but to leave a warning.

"Record everything that happened here," the commander in the image had a haggard face but determined eyes, "Bury the boundary stele and set it to send out warning signals periodically. If any latecomers—whether they be colleagues from the Heavenly Court or other civilizations that stumble upon this place—receive the signal, they will know to stay away immediately."

He paused, his voice low: "Additionally... I left a wisp of Divine Sense in the boundary stele. If there are 'rebels' among the latecomers, those with the courage to question the order of the Heavenly Court... perhaps they will be able to hear this message."

The image ended.

The tent was quiet enough to hear each other's breathing.

"So this stele..." Senior Brother Zhang muttered, "It's not an invasion marker, it's... a warning beacon?"

"Yes," the Monument Keeper's voice sounded again, "Unfortunately, it has been thirty thousand years, and you are the first group... to decipher this information. Several other civilizations have passed by, but they either didn't find the boundary stele, or they found it but couldn't crack the encryption layer. The Creation Heavenly Court... has likely long since listed this area as 'Explored - High Risk - Abandoned', not even bothering with routine inspections."

Wen Youyi digested this information, and suddenly thought of a question: "You said you were waiting for 'rebels'. Why? What do you want us to do?"

"It is not what I want you to do," the Monument Keeper's voice became ethereal, "But rather... those 'memories' underground might need you."

"What do you mean?"

"After we escaped back then, I left behind several secret detection Magical Artifacts to monitor the movements underground," the Monument Keeper said, "Over these thirty thousand years, the memory aggregate underground has been... changing. It no longer just absorbs and pollutes chaotically; it has begun to show... organization. It's as if it is... learning, imitating."

He paused, stating a shocking speculation: "I suspect that after coming into contact with too many memory fragments from different civilizations, it is developing... a certain primitive 'consciousness'. Not wisdom, but more like a... 'desire for existence' based on the instinct of memory."

A chill went up Wen Youyi's spine. A "consciousness" formed by the aggregation of countless civilization memory fragments that desires existence? That sounded even more eerie than the Star Devourers.

"You want us to... communicate with it?" he asked.

"Not communicate, but... guide," the Monument Keeper said, "Give it a direction, a direction that won't endanger the Universe. Otherwise, once it fully awakens and begins to actively seek 'carriers' to experience existence... that will be another catastrophe."

The tent fell into silence again. This mission sounded even more absurd than shielding the stele's signal.

"Why should we trust you?" Blood Fiend Old Demon asked sinisterly, "What if you are a trap left by the Creation Heavenly Court to trick us into our deaths?"

"Whether you believe it or not is up to you," the Monument Keeper's voice was very calm, "My Divine Sense is about to be exhausted, and after this awakening, it will dissipate completely. The boundary stele's warning signal will still be sent in twenty-seven days—that is a death order set by my Physical Body back then, which I cannot change. You must either find a way to shield it before then, or... try to understand the existence underground; perhaps... it can help."

The voice grew weaker and weaker, like a candle in the wind.

"Wait!" Wen Youyi asked hurriedly, "How do we shield the signal? Or... how do we contact the memory aggregate underground?"

The last wisp of thought came through, faint but clear:

"Signal shielding... requires severing the causal chain between the boundary stele and the 'Heavenly Court Main Shadow'. The method may be... underground. The core of the memory aggregate... is three hundred meters directly below your camp. There is a... 'memory crystal' there, which is the convergence point of all fragments. Contact it... but be careful... do not get lost..."

The voice disappeared completely.

The runes on the boundary stele dimmed, and the dark golden energy in the crystal ball resumed its slow rotation, as if nothing had happened.

In the tent, everyone looked at each other.

"So now," Zhao Iron Pillar summarized, "We either dig a three-hundred-meter-deep hole within twenty-seven days to chat with a bunch of dead people's memories; or we wait for the Creation Heavenly Court to receive the signal and send a large army to wipe us out like a bug?"

"That's about the size of it." Wen Youyi smiled bitterly.

"I choose to dig," Sword Maniac suddenly spoke up, eyes shining, "Fighting with dead people's memories is more interesting than fighting with a living fleet."

"Senior, that might not be 'fighting'..." Wen Youyi tried to correct him.

"It's all the same," Sword Maniac waved his hand, "Either way, it's going to be a real test. When do we start digging?"

Wen Youyi looked at Senior Brother Zhang: "Is there any technical difficulty?"

"Digging is not difficult; we have construction machinery and Cultivators with earth-type Spells," Senior Brother Zhang pushed his glasses up, "The difficulty is that the geological conditions three hundred meters down are unknown, and being close to that 'memory aggregate' might trigger unknown reactions. Plus... time is very tight."

"Then start immediately," Wen Youyi made the decision, "Senior Brother Zhang, you are responsible for designing the excavation plan and safety measures. Iron Pillar, you take the engineering team. Aila, Silver Thorn, you continue to study the stele and see if you can squeeze out any more useful information. Everyone else... keep doing what you're doing, don't cause a panic."

With the order given, the camp entered a tense but orderly busy state again.

The excavation work was chosen to be in the very center of the camp—this was a certain distance from the residential area, so if something happened, it wouldn't immediately affect everyone.

The plan designed by Senior Brother Zhang was clever: not to dig vertically straight down, but to first dig a spiral tunnel slanting downwards, which was both stable and allowed for evacuation at any time.

The engineering team was mainly composed of earth-type Cultivators and Yao Race powerhouses, equipped with several small excavators dismantled from "hope" (energy-driven, low noise).

Zhao Iron Pillar was responsible for supervising the work, a job he liked, yelling around the construction site all day: "Hey you! The support frame isn't secure! Want to be buried alive?" "Over here! The soil layer is loose! Reinforce it before digging!"

For safety, Wen Youyi had Mu Wanqing set up a temporary medical station next to the construction site, stocked with various Medicinal Pills for detoxification, Soul stabilization, and mind clearing—Heaven knows what they would encounter down below.

Excavation progress was smoother than expected. The geological structure of the New Homeland was very stable, and they didn't encounter hard rock layers. But as the depth increased, eerie things began to occur.

When they reached one hundred meters, some Cultivators reported hearing "voices," very vague, as if many people were whispering at the same time.

After checking, Mu Wanqing confirmed it wasn't an illusion, but some kind of mental fluctuation seeping into the rock layer.

When they reached one hundred and fifty meters, several crystal lamps responsible for lighting suddenly flickered simultaneously, and the projected light and shadows formed strange patterns on the tunnel walls—like human faces, and also like some kind of text, but fleeting.

When they reached two hundred meters, the most troublesome situation appeared: some Cultivators began to experience "memory confusion."

A young Cultivator suddenly hugged his head and squatted on the ground, crying and saying he remembered his "past life" being bitten to death by a Yao Beast—but he had never encountered a Yao Beast in this life.

Another Cultivator giggled, saying he had an "Epiphany" of some peerless sword technique, and wanted to demonstrate it on the spot, almost cutting a companion.

"memory pollution is starting to leak out," Mu Wanqing's face was grave, "The deeper we go, the more dangerous it is. I suggest all personnel going down the well take a 'Clear Heart Pill' every hour, and work in pairs to monitor each other. If any abnormality is found, pull them up immediately."

Wen Youyi approved. At the same time, he had Aila and Silver Thorn set up a mental shielding force field at the wellhead—the effect was limited, but better than nothing.

Countdown: Twenty days.

Excavation depth: Two hundred and eighty meters.

Just as they were about to reach the target depth, an accident occurred.

A violent vibration suddenly came from deep within the tunnel, followed by Zhao Iron Pillar's roar: "Stop! Everyone stop! There's... light ahead!"

Wen Youyi immediately led people to rush down. At the end of the spiral tunnel, the excavation machinery broke through a rock wall, revealing a huge, naturally formed underground cave behind it.

There was no light source in the cave, yet it was as bright as day—the light came from a giant crystal suspended in the center of the cave.

The crystal was an irregular polyhedron, over ten meters in diameter, transparent throughout, but inside it seemed to have countless tiny points of light sealed within, those points of light constantly flowing, colliding, merging, and splitting, like an eternal miniature Universe evolution.

What was most shocking was that countless... image fragments were floating around the crystal.

There were primitive tribes dancing around a bonfire, interstellar fleets engaging in battle, strange-looking creatures breeding, glorious cities collapsing... all were fragmented, silent, looping segments of civilization.

"This is... the memory crystal?" Senior Brother Zhang muttered.

Wen Youyi stepped into the cave cautiously. There was a peculiar "texture" in the air, as if every breath he took, he inhaled the joys and sorrows of countless people.

He walked to the crystal and reached out—not to touch it, but to slowly bring the master key closer.

The moment the master key came into contact with the crystal, the entire cave "came alive."

All the image fragments suddenly accelerated their flow, converging toward the crystal.

The points of light inside the crystal flickered frantically, finally condensing into a... human figure?

It was a human form made of pure light, with an unclear face, but one could feel a vast and ancient aura.

It (He? She?) "looked" at Wen Youyi, and a calm voice resounded directly in everyone's minds:

"Newcomer... memory carrier. You have brought... new stories."

Wen Youyi took a deep breath and responded with his consciousness: "We are not here to deliver 'stories' to you. We want to... make a deal with you."

"A deal?" The memory aggregate's voice carried curiosity, "I only have memories, no physical goods."

"We help you... find the meaning of existence," Wen Youyi said, "In exchange, you help us... shield a signal."

A brief silence. Then, the memory aggregate said:

"Interesting. But first... let me see if your 'stories' are worth this price."

As soon as the words fell, Wen Youyi felt his vision blur, and he was dragged into a... torrent of memories.

(End of Chapter)