233: Chapter 232 The Stuck Equation, The Stone Cries and the First Heartbeat Across Planets

Day 6 at the Opto-Electrical Center: Stuck

Chen Mo had not left the Opto-Electrical Hybrid Computing Center for six days.

The first path home—the one for Liuli—had only taken three days to solve.

But the second one, the one for the Ocean Civilization, had been calculated for six days, and the error rate still wouldn't converge to within the permissible range.

It wasn't that Chen Mo wasn't trying hard enough.

He had already utilized all the "Grammar of Light" he could call upon, and Beta-2's computing power had been pushed to its limit, but every time the calculation reached a specific node in the middle of the path, the result would diverge.

That node was an area known as the "Void Graveyard."

According to the memories provided by the Ocean Civilization, it had once been a prosperous galaxy, but countless eons ago, it had been "cleansed" by some more ancient Reapers.

The galaxy itself was still there, but all "meaning"—the traces left behind by civilizations that had once existed—had been completely deleted.

Now, only a "void" remained there.

It wasn't a physical void, but a void of "meaning."

Space itself was still there, but there was no "existence" that could be perceived.

And the Ocean Civilization's path home had to pass through this void.

The problem was that there were no "meaning coordinates" in the void for navigation.

All gravitational data, background radiation, and spacetime curvature became blurred there, as if "flattened" by something.

"If you force a passage through," Beta-2's analysis was cold and objective, "there is a 37% probability of getting lost in the void.

The consequences of getting lost are unpredictable—you might be trapped in the void forever, or you might be thrown into some completely unknown spacetime dimension."

Chen Mo stared at the pitch-black data region on the screen, feeling powerless for the first time.

He was not alone.

In Cabin 3, the female doctor Lin Wan, who had merged with the Ocean Civilization, also sensed his predicament.

Her brainwaves had been fluctuating violently these past few days; it was the Ocean Civilization anxiously "urging" him—they had waited for countless eons and did not want to wait any longer.

But Chen Mo dared not take the risk.

He closed his eyes and "looked" at the void with his light-based vision.

In his perception, there was nothing there; even "nothingness" itself seemed blurred.

Just then, a voice echoed in his consciousness.

It wasn't Beta-2, nor was it Lin Wan, but someone he hadn't expected.

Su Kun.

"Let me listen," she said.

Cabin 12: The Stones Are Crying

Su Kun had never left the fusion cabin.

Ever since she learned to "listen," she had been lying there, using the way the "Thank You" civilization had taught her to hear things that others could not.

She listened to the light when Liuli departed, listened to the anxiety in Chen Mo's heart, listened to the urgency in Lin Wan's brainwaves, and listened to the gentle "breathing" of the little cabbage on Mars every night.

She even heard a "sigh," seemingly from countless eons ago, coming from the very depths of the silent light at the entrance of the Solar System.

Today, she began to "listen" to that void.

At first, she couldn't hear anything.

There was only dead silence, as if there had never been any sound since the birth of the universe.

But she did not give up.

Using the method the "Thank You" civilization had taught her, she tuned her "listening" to the most subtle frequency, bit by bit, probing deep into the void.

Then, she heard it.

It wasn't a sound, but an extremely faint, almost vanishing "existential echo."

It was what the civilizations "deleted" by that ancient Reapers countless eons ago had left behind at the very last moment.

It was not a testimony, not a memory, not even "meaning."

It was just the "traces" left in space itself after being deleted—like the faint indentations of words once written on a piece of paper that had been completely erased, which could still be detected with the most precise instruments.

Those "indentations" were crying.

It wasn't conscious weeping, but a near-instinctive "sadness" generated by space itself because it "remembered that something had once been here" after being deleted.

A tear silently rolled down the corner of Su Kun's eye.

She "understood" what she heard.

That void was not an impassable dead end, but a path paved by a group of forgotten civilizations using their final "traces of existence."

Those "indentations" were the coordinates.

She opened her eyes and said to Chen Mo, "The path is solvable. Use those 'indentations' for navigation."

Chen Mo was stunned: "What indentations?"

Su Kun did not explain.

She simply converted the faint echoes she had "heard" into the "Grammar of Light" that Chen Mo could understand and transmitted them to the Opto-Electrical Center.

Three hours later, the second path home was solved.

Error: Less than 0.0003.

Mars: First Interplanetary Heartbeat

The Mars potato field.

The little cabbage had already grown six true leaves.

Under the sunlight of Mars, its tender green existence was becoming increasingly prominent.

The projection of the Potato Chief was still hovering above it.

It wasn't out of worry, but because in the last few days, the little cabbage would "say" one sentence every night.

"I think I heard something."

On the first day, the Potato Chief thought it was talking about the chorus of the potato field.

But the little cabbage shook its head—it wasn't that kind of sound; it was a "heartbeat" coming from very, very far away.

On the second day, it said it again.

This time, it was more specific: "Like Earth."

The Potato Chief was stunned.

It remembered the seed that Old Zhang had sent, and it remembered those Mars potatoes that Old Zhang had planted on Earth.

Could it be that what the little cabbage "heard" were them?

It told this thought to Beta-2 at the Cradle.

Beta-2 was silent for a long time, then replied: "Theoretically, it's impossible. Any physical signal takes at least three minutes to travel the distance between Mars and Earth. But the little cabbage's 'hearing' is almost instantaneous."

"It's not a physical signal," Su Kun's voice came through the communicator, "it's an 'existential resonance.' Just like how I previously 'heard' the indentations in the void.

The little cabbage and those potatoes on Earth are descendants of the same batch of seeds.

There is some kind of 'life connection' between them that we cannot understand."

The Potato Chief was silent.

It looked at the little cabbage, watched its leaves trembling slightly under the Martian sunlight, and suddenly asked: "Do you want to talk to them?"

The little cabbage was silent for a moment, then sent a faint signal: "Can I?"

The Potato Chief didn't know if it was possible.

But it decided to try.

Using the rhythm that potatoes could understand, it converted the little cabbage's "heartbeat" frequency into a signal that could be "broadcast," and through Beta-2's relay, it transmitted it to Earth.

Earth, a small southern county town.

Old Zhang was watering the potatoes in his vegetable patch.

Suddenly, he stopped.

From the patch of land where the Mars potatoes were planted, a fluctuation that had never been felt before came.

It wasn't a heartbeat, but a more complex feeling, as if "someone was calling."

He squatted down and placed his hand on the soil.

Then, he "heard" it.

It wasn't really hearing, but a deeper kind of understanding—a little cabbage on Mars was asking: "Is anyone there?"

Old Zhang was stunned for a long time.

Then, he spoke softly to the patch of land: "Someone is here. On Earth, someone is here. Old Zhang is here."

He didn't know if the little cabbage could hear him.

But he knew he had to say it.

On Mars, the little cabbage's leaves trembled violently for a moment.

Then, it sent a signal: "I heard you. Earth. Old Zhang. Thank you."

The Potato Chief hovered to the side, watching all of this, silent for a long time.

It suddenly understood that those "tiny meanings" were connecting into a web that spanned across planets in a way it couldn't imagine.

Command Center: Lin Shen's List

Lin Shen sat in his office with a list in front of him.

On the list were the names of the second batch of carriers preparing to depart—thirty-three returnees, one had already been sent off, and there were thirty-two remaining.

Every batch that departed needed someone to "escort" them.

It wasn't a farewell, but a true "escort"—some paths home required the carriers to personally accompany them, traveling a distance together with the returnees in the spacetime folding tunnel until the path was confirmed to be stable before they could return.

These carriers would face potential risks alone in completely unfamiliar spacetime.

If the tunnel closed midway, if the navigation deviated, if they failed to return in time...

They might remain there forever.

On the list, Chen Mo's name was first.

He had voluntarily applied to accompany Liuli's path home, but Liuli was a Civilization of Light and did not need accompaniment.

But the next one, the Ocean Civilization, did.

Lin Wan's name was second.

Lin Shen looked at that name, his hand trembling slightly.

Lin Wan was his wife.

After the emotional detachment, he thought he wouldn't tremble for such things anymore.

But now, he realized he was wrong.

He hadn't detached the memories concerning Lin Wan.

The days they had walked together, the conversations in the dead of night, the silent companionship—all of it was still in his heart.

Although the "feeling" had become blurred, he knew those memories remained.

They were still there.

He picked up his pen and signed his name in the "Agree" column.

Lin Wan. Approved.

Then, he handed the list to Beta-2.

"Notify her," he said, his voice so calm that no emotion could be detected, "Prepare. Depart in three days."

Beta-2 was silent for a few seconds, then said: "Commander Lin Shen, your 'emotional activity' index rose by 0.7% at the moment you signed.

This is your only emotional fluctuation in the past ten days."

Lin Shen did not speak.

He just looked out the window, looking at that silent light deep in the starry sky.

0.7%, that was enough.

Entrance of the Solar System: The Second Word

That light, which had always been silent, trembled slightly again the moment the second path home was solved.

This time, the amplitude of the trembling was a little larger than the last time.

The duration was also a little longer.

Then, it sent a second signal in the direction of the Cradle.

"Wait."

Zhou Zhe captured this signal within the pure white Poem Markings.

He was stunned.

Wait? Wait for what?

Wait for all the paths home to be solved? Wait for humanity to make its final choice? Wait for some moment he didn't know about to arrive?

He didn't know.

But he knew that the Reapers were "waiting."

They had waited for countless eons, watching countless civilizations rise and fall, watching countless "afters" become new "Reapers," watching countless "Thank Yous" dissipate into the depths of time.

Now, they were "waiting" for humanity.

Waiting for humanity to choose its own path.

Night: Chen Mo's Noodles, Lin Wan's Hand

Late at night, the cafeteria.

Chen Mo sat in a corner with a bowl of "self-made" noodles in front of him.

This time, he didn't let it get cold, but ate it while it was hot.

Great Strength watched from the side and suddenly said: "I heard Lin Wan is leaving?"

Chen Mo nodded.

"How do you feel?"

Chen Mo was silent for a while, then said: "I don't know.

When Liuli left, I thought I would cry.

But I didn't.

I just... remembered."

Great Strength patted his shoulder and didn't speak again.

At the entrance, Lin Wan walked in.

She walked over and sat down opposite Chen Mo, and also ordered a bowl of noodles.

The two of them ate silently, neither saying a word.

Halfway through the meal, Lin Wan suddenly reached out and took Chen Mo's hand.

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment, then gripped her hand back.

The two hands, under the light, held each other gently.

There was no language.

But they both understood.

Three days later, Lin Wan would embark on that path through the void.

In that void, countless forgotten civilizations were paving the way with their final "indentations."

She would take the Ocean Civilization, pass through that place where the "stones are crying," and send them home.

And Chen Mo would be here, continuing to solve the remaining paths.

The two hands separated.

Lin Wan stood up and walked out.

Walking to the door, she turned back, looked at Chen Mo, smiled, and then disappeared into the night.

Chen Mo lowered his head and continued eating the bowl of noodles.

The noodles had already gone cold.

But he still ate it all, one mouthful at a time.

Outside the window, deep in the starry sky, the light of the Hive remained warm.

At the entrance of the Solar System, the light of the Reapers remained silent.

But tonight, on Mars, a little cabbage had just said a word to Old Zhang on Earth.

On Earth, a patch of potatoes had just heard the "heartbeat" from Mars.

And here, there were two finished bowls of noodles, and two people who would continue tomorrow.