Chapter 123: The Flow of Time in the Inner and Outer Universes

"Please look at the whiteboard behind me!"

Facing the camera, Jiang Zhe tapped on the computer in front of him.

He projected the image onto the whiteboard behind him.

The image on the computer was the vast, boundless void of the universe.

A pair of black and orange pupils quietly appeared in the boundless dark void.

Immediately after, all the basic particles in the void began moving chaotically at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Most of the basic particles collided frantically, colliding and producing energy, producing explosions; the aftermath of the explosions then triggered even more chain reactions.

Finally!

With a "bang—",

A brilliant blue-white explosion rapidly swept across the entire universe.

Soon, powerful ripples rolled out in all directions, and intense light pierced through the void, forcibly carving out space within it.

Before long, dust appeared in the void.

A little while later, the dust in the void gathered, and the first ray of light appeared.

Soon, the footage accelerated rapidly.

The first nebulae appeared!

After another several years of chain reactions taking effect.

Countless brilliant nebulae aggregated together, converging into primitive galaxies.

After waiting for "several more years," the first sun appeared, and soon, the first molten planet appeared: Earth.

The camera view switched to Earth.

At this time, Earth was filled with toxic clouds, and darkness shrouded the sky.

Time flashed by; through massive chemical effects and the passage of time, the toxic clouds dissipated, and the dark Earth welcomed its first ray of sunlight.

Finally, the sun and moon alternated, and time revolved.

Humanity, civilization, were born!

Watching this, the viewers' hearts were deeply stirred.

They could not forget it for a long time.

Jiang Zhe demonstrated to them the theoretical birth of the universe, leading up to the formation of Earth.

Although everything flashed by in an instant, they had witnessed the birth of the origin with their own eyes.

"Suddenly, it feels a bit ethereal."

"Same here, I feel that in the face of this vast origin, we humans are so insignificant."

"Whatever schemes and intrigues there are, in front of such imagery, they feel like mere trifles."

"..."

The video stopped there.

Facing the camera, Jiang Zhe continued to speak.

"Alright, we have finished watching the basic video, and we can discover—"

"Since the first intelligent consciousness descended into the internal universe, just as I previously stated, it triggered the birth of the Big Bang Theory model."

"Only after the Big Bang Theory did the subsequent series of galaxies, stars, planets, and finally the blue planet: Earth, come into existence."

"With the birth of Earth, and after Earth developed for several more years, our current civilization was formed."

He tapped the table to remind everyone, "Please substitute the [Assumed Answer: First Intelligent Consciousness] that I previously presented to you."

"Please imagine—"

"Is the place we inhabit actually inside the mind of the first intelligent creature?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the audience nodded repeatedly.

If one applies the assumed answer, the appearance of the first intelligent consciousness, then in the external space of the universe, it is indeed inside the brain of the deceased super-civilization being.

Living inside the mind of the owner of the super-civilization brain...

The experts and the audience savored this statement carefully.

Soon, everyone's eyes lit up.

"Wait, a shackle in my mind has suddenly been unlocked by something."

"What exactly was opened? I have that feeling too?"

"..."

Besides this, Professor Zhuang felt the same way.

His expression was extremely serious.

Suddenly!

His eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but smile.

"I didn't expect that he would be decrypting my [Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly] in such a varied way."

The elder sister, Zhou Qingqing, could not contain her curiosity and quickly asked, "Teacher, what do you mean by explaining it in a varied way?"

"Don't ask; just keep watching, and you will see its novelty."

Seeing that their teacher was unwilling to reveal the answer in advance, the two women did not ask again.

On the screen, Jiang Zhe looked focused and spoke again to provide a hint:

"Let me remind everyone again: the Observable Universe has undergone about 13.7 billion years of development; but is the time in the external space of the universe—the space where that brain resides and which does not belong to the internal universe—also about 13.7 billion years?"

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately caused a massive number of viewers and experts to ponder.

"Wait, what does this mean?"

"This means: is the time flow rate of the internal universe consistent with the time flow rate of the external universe?"

"This... there is no way we can know that!"

"Right, we are inside the system, so how could we possibly know the flow rate of the external universe? After all, that is the [world] where their brain lives, right?"

"..."

This is equivalent to—

How could an NPC living inside a computer know the time flow rate of the real world?

When a gaming enthusiast plays a single-player game, the time within the game world can naturally be fast or slow.

The gaming enthusiast controls the protagonist to enter an inn, takes a nap, and several hours pass.

If the gaming enthusiast controls the protagonist to wander in the wilderness, the time is still completely inconsistent with the time flow rate of the real world!

NPCs in a single-player game have no concept of time in the world where the person playing the game resides.

Perhaps a smart NPC could realize that they are inside some unknown creation, but what exactly exists outside that unknown creation—no one knows.

Humans are just like NPCs in a single-player or online game, unable to explore beyond their boundaries; unless the person playing the game descends to perform a miracle within the game world!

Perhaps the audience could not deeply understand what Jiang Zhe was saying, but the experts were heatedly discussing it.

At this moment, inside the lecture hall of the Kyoto University of Science.

"I understand what Jiang Zhe means. His initial assumed answer is: our universe is the brain of the deceased super-civilization outside the universe; he means to ask whether our time is consistent with the time outside the universe."

"Whether time is consistent... how could that possibly be understood clearly? There are black holes in our world, and the time flow rate inside a black hole is not consistent with that outside of one; even if we live in their brain-world, we have no knowledge of what is happening outside!"

"If that's the case, could all of us, to that super-civilization's brain, just be a fleeting image?"

"Time is essentially the speed of particle motion. In some parts of our universe, particles move very slowly, while in most parts, they move very fast; our internal time is not even consistent, so the external time must definitely be inconsistent with our internal time; as a physicist, I cannot give a precise answer regarding the specific ratio of the difference."

Similar thoughts arose in the minds of scholars across the country.

They only knew that the time flow rates were inconsistent, but no one knew the extent of that inconsistency.

At this time, on the podium, Professor Hua Yunfeng spoke with a serious expression:

"Perhaps I know what he means."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the experts looked at the stage with regret.

Just as Professor Hua Yunfeng was about to explain, Jiang Zhe on the big screen beat him to it.

Professor Hua Yunfeng looked at the big screen and forced a smile, "Countless times, he has deprived me of the opportunity to speak."

Old Feng smiled and patted Professor Hua Yunfeng, "It's the same no matter who says it, keep watching."

Inside the big screen.

Jiang Zhe continued to explain:

"It is indeed as the comments guessed; it is actually like this—"

"I first assumed the answer: our internal universe is the brain of the deceased super-civilization in the external universe."

"That first consciousness naturally becomes the ruler of this [internal universe] within this [internal universe]; it is the first [person] to awaken."

"Its awakening brought all things, revived all things, and it gave our universe meaning."

"As previously stated, the [observer] of this brain observed all the evolutionary order, existence, and extinction within the internal space of the universe."

"In other words: the existence of our universe is based on the will of the owner of that brain."

"What does this mean?"

He frowned and pondered as he explained, "This is a pseudo-macro matter; now, in order to explore whether the internal and external time are consistent, let us first switch away from this unsolved problem of time flow rate."

"Since the time flow rate between the internal universe and external space is not very certain."

"Then, can we simplify this problem into—"

"Is the time flow rate for us humans consistent when we are asleep versus when we are in a normal state?"

These words were extremely simple.

Since the time between the pseudo-macro internal universe and the external universe is uncertain.

He naturally put the question aside, then put the matter of the super-civilization brain's owner aside.

Switching it to an individual human, consequently, more and more people understood!

After these explanations, those who understood immediately had their eyes light up, and the comments flew by.

"Damn, I finally know what you are talking about."

"That's right, it turns out you were asking whether our time flow rate is consistent when we are sleeping versus when we are not."

"Can someone tell me if the time is consistent?"

"I feel like it's not consistent, right?"

"..."