234: Chapter 233 The Man Who Passed Through the Hollow, Forgotten Names, and the Third "See"

The Night Before Departure: The Last Breakfast

The cafeteria was quieter than usual.

It wasn't that there was no one there; everyone was present, yet no one spoke. Lin Wan sat in the corner with a bowl of "Self" noodles in front of her. The noodles had been cooked by Great Strength himself; the fried egg was cooked to perfection, the green onions were sprinkled evenly, and the broth was crystal clear.

She picked up her chopsticks and ate slowly.

Chen Mo sat opposite her. He also had a bowl of noodles in front of him, but he didn't eat; he just watched.

"Eat," Lin Wan said without looking up. "It won't taste good if it gets cold."

Only then did Chen Mo pick up his chopsticks and begin to eat. After a few bites, he suddenly asked, "Are you afraid?"

Lin Wan was silent for a moment, then nodded. "I'm afraid. But when Liuli left, were you afraid?"

Chen Mo thought about it and shook his head. "It wasn't fear. It was... not knowing what to be afraid of. It is light; it doesn't need me to accompany it. But you have to cross that void, that place where there is nothing."

Lin Wan smiled, a very faint smile. "It's not that there is nothing. Su Kun says there are 'Impressions' there. The last traces left by countless forgotten civilizations. I have to take the Ocean Civilization and walk across those 'Impressions'."

She paused, looking at the noodles in her bowl. "They have waited too long. I can't let them wait any longer."

Chen Mo said nothing more. He simply ate the noodles in his bowl, bite by bite, until they were all gone.

At the entrance, Lin Shen walked in.

He didn't sit down; he just stood behind Lin Wan, silently watching her eat. Lin Wan didn't turn around, but she knew he was there.

When she reached the last bite, she stopped. Then, she said softly:

"Wait for me to return."

Lin Shen said nothing. He simply reached out and pressed gently on Lin Wan's shoulder.

Then, he turned and left.

The touch was very light. So light it was almost imperceptible. But Lin Wan knew it was all he could give.

After the stripping away of emotions, that was the only warmth he had left.

Launch Site: The Second Gate

Four o'clock in the morning, at the Cradle Node launch site.

Lin Wan stood in the center of the launch site, with all the Inheritors, Bearers, and those who could make it behind her. Chen Mo stood at the very front, Su Kun stood beside him, and Zhou Zhe, shrouded in the all-white Poem Markings, watched quietly.

In the sky, the resonance light of the Hive was gathering, slowly opening the second "Gate of Homecoming" above the launch site.

On the other side of that gate was the home of the Ocean Civilization—a blue planet covered by oceans, dozens of light-years away, on the other side of the "Void Graveyard" that had to be traversed.

Beside Lin Wan, that warm, gentle light—like a warm current from the deep sea—the testimony of the Ocean Civilization, was fluctuating slightly. It had waited too long. Countless eons, finally waiting for this moment.

Lin Wan reached out and gently touched the ball of light.

She "heard" the final image it transmitted—not language, but a picture: a warm deep sea, countless glowing life forms swimming, weaving poetry about "home" with their tentacles.

Then, she turned to face everyone.

No one spoke. But the look in everyone's eyes said the same thing: Safe travels.

Chen Mo stepped forward and stuffed a small cloth bag into her hand. Lin Wan opened it to see a small pinch of soil—soil from the Mars potato field, mixed with the soil next to the little cabbage.

"Take it," Chen Mo said. "In case you get lost, it can help you find home."

Lin Wan smiled and tucked the cloth bag close to her body.

Then, she turned and walked toward the gate.

Reaching the entrance, she stopped and looked back.

In the crowd, there was no Lin Shen.

But she knew that somewhere, he was watching her.

She smiled, then walked into the gate.

The gate slowly closed behind her, and the sky returned to normal.

Everyone was watching the gate that had now disappeared.

Only Su Kun closed her eyes and began to "listen".

Inside the Void: Countless Voices

Lin Wan's consciousness sped through the folded space-time tunnel, following the light of the Ocean Civilization.

Everything around her became blurry. Time, space, and direction lost all meaning here. Only that light led the way, taking her toward that blue planet dozens of light-years away.

Then, they entered the "Void Graveyard".

Lin Wan immediately felt the difference. The surrounding void was no longer just "empty," but a deeper, heart-trembling "nothingness"—even "emptiness" itself had been erased.

But right within this "nothingness," she began to "hear" things.

Not actual sounds, but the "existential echoes" Su Kun had described. The "Impressions" left by civilizations deleted by the ancient Reapers at their final moments—like faint traces of writing on a piece of paper that had been completely erased, detectable only with the most precise instruments.

Those "Impressions" began to speak.

Not with language, but in a deeper way—they made Lin Wan "feel" what they once were.

The final moment of one civilization was a mother holding her child, humming a lullaby softly in the ruins. The melody of that lullaby was remembered by the "Impression".

The final moment of another civilization was an old man standing at the highest point of a city about to be destroyed, watching the sunset for the last time. The color of that sunset was remembered by the "Impression".

And the final moment of another civilization was a pair of lovers embracing tightly, saying "I love you" to each other before disappearing in the light. The warmth of those words was remembered by the "Impression".

Countless moments, countless emotions, countless proofs of having "existed," were all compressed into these faint "Impressions," waiting in this void for countless eons.

They had no consciousness, no memory, and didn't even know what they once were. But they had one thing—the "instinct" that remained after being forgotten: the hope of being remembered.

Lin Wan's tears fell silently.

She suddenly understood that the Ocean Civilization chose to cross this void not because it was the only path, but because they wanted to "see" these forgotten existences. They wanted to remember something for them.

The light of the Ocean Civilization fluctuated slightly in the void, as if paying tribute to those "Impressions."

Then, they continued forward.

Cradle: Su Kun's Listening

In Fusion Pod No. 12, Su Kun's brainwaves were fluctuating violently.

She was "listening" to Lin Wan's process of crossing the void. She "heard" the calls of those "Impressions," heard the fragments left by countless forgotten civilizations in their final moments. She "heard" the lullaby, the color of the sunset, the warmth of "I love you."

Then, she "heard" a voice from the deepest depths.

That voice was weaker than all the "Impressions," yet clearer than all of them. It said only one sentence:

"We... have names."

Su Kun opened her eyes abruptly.

Those forgotten civilizations didn't lack names. They had just forgotten. In the waiting of countless eons, they had forgotten who they were, where they came from, and why they were waiting. But they remembered one thing: they "have names."

And that name was in the deepest part of the void, inscribed in a place that could not be erased, using the last of their strength before they were deleted.

Su Kun transmitted everything she "heard" to Chen Mo.

Chen Mo was stunned. "Names? What names?"

Su Kun shook her head. "I don't know. But it's there. Lin Wan must find it. Otherwise, those civilizations will truly be forgotten."

Deep in the Void: The Last "Impression"

Lin Wan's journey had been going on for who knows how long.

In the folded space-time tunnel, time had no meaning. She could only follow that light, moving forward, forward.

The "Impressions" around her were becoming denser and fainter. She knew she was about to leave the void.

But right then, the light of the Ocean Civilization suddenly stopped.

It hovered in the deepest part of the void; not far ahead, there was an "existence" weaker than all the "Impressions" but more special than all of them—not a fragment, not a moment, but a complete, final "Impression."

Lin Wan approached it.

Then, she "heard" it.

It was a civilization, in its final moment, using all its remaining strength to do one thing—not to cry, not to despair, but to "inscribe their own name."

The name was written in a language Lin Wan could not understand. But she could "feel" its meaning:

"We are—(an untranslatable ancient syllable)—we existed. If anyone hears this, please remember, this is our name."

The light of the Ocean Civilization fluctuated violently. Then, it did something Lin Wan hadn't expected—it separated a thread of light, extremely faint, like a gossamer, and connected it to that "Impression."

It was "remembering" that name.

Lin Wan understood. The Ocean Civilization crossed the void not just to go home. They were also "taking away" the final names of those forgotten civilizations for them.

She reached out and touched that "Impression."

In an instant, countless images flooded her consciousness—everything that civilization once had: their cities, their poetry, their love, their children, their final day.

She remembered.

Then, she said softly:

"I have remembered you. You are called—"

She spoke the name.

Although the pronunciation was inaccurate, and the language was not understood, the "Impression" glowed slightly the moment it heard the name.

Then, it slowly dissipated.

Not erased, but "after being remembered," it could finally leave in peace.

The light of the Ocean Civilization, carrying that newly added "thread of names," continued forward, toward the exit of the void.

Lin Wan looked back at the void that was now completely "empty."

She knew those "Impressions" were still there. But they were no longer just "Impressions"—because someone had remembered them.

Exit: Blue Planet

Don't know how long it had been, but suddenly there was a bright light before Lin Wan's eyes.

The exit of the void had arrived.

Ahead was a blue planet covered by oceans, rotating quietly in the starry sky. That was the home of the Ocean Civilization, the "home" they had waited countless eons for.

The light fluctuated violently, then a thread separated from the light and shone on Lin Wan.

The light was warm, like a deep-sea warm current, like a mother's hand.

The final image it transmitted was:

"Thank you for taking us home. Thank you for remembering those names. We will always remember that there was a civilization called 'Humanity' that did the most important thing for us, for those who were forgotten."

Then, the light drifted toward that blue planet.

Lin Wan stood at the exit of the tunnel, watching it get smaller and smaller, further and further away, until finally, it merged into the light of that planet.

She knew it had returned home.

And her mission was complete.

Cradle: The Moment of Return

Above the launch site, the gate that had been closed for three days suddenly opened again.

Lin Wan's figure stepped out from the gate.

She was pale and exhausted, but her eyes were startlingly bright.

Chen Mo was the first to rush up and hug her tightly.

"You're back!" his voice trembled. "You damn well finally came back!"

Lin Wan smiled, patting his back gently. "Yeah, I'm back."

The crowd gathered around, asking questions all at once. She said nothing, just took out the cloth bag Chen Mo had given her from where she kept it close to her, opened it—the pinch of soil from the Mars potato field was still there.

She smiled and put the cloth bag away.

Then, she looked up toward the very back of the crowd.

Lin Shen stood there, watching her from afar.

His gaze remained calm, with no expression on his face. But his hands, where no one could see, were clenched into fists.

Lin Wan looked at him, smiled, and then nodded gently.

She said nothing, but she knew she was saying: I'm back.

Lin Shen said nothing. He simply turned and left the launch site.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

Then, facing the void, he said softly in a voice only he could hear:

"I waited for you."

Solar System Entrance: The Third Word

That light, which had been silent all along, trembled for the third time the moment Lin Wan returned.

This time, the trembling lasted for a full three seconds. Then, it sent the third signal in the direction of the Cradle.

"Look."

Zhou Zhe captured this signal within the all-white Poem Markings.

He was stunned. The first time was "Look." The second time was "Wait." The third time was "Look" again.

Look at what? Look at Lin Wan's return? Look at the Ocean Civilization going home? Look at those forgotten names being remembered?

He didn't know.

But he suddenly understood that the Reapers were not "commanding" humanity. They were "witnessing."

Witnessing how a civilization faces choices. Witnessing how a civilization treats the forgotten. Witnessing whether a civilization, before it becomes "after," is still willing to say a "thank you."

They had waited too long. They had watched for too long.

Now, they were still watching.

Night: The Silence of Three People

Late at night, in the cafeteria.

Lin Wan sat in the corner with a bowl of "Self" noodles in front of her. She hadn't eaten for three days, but at this moment, she just wanted to finish this bowl of noodles slowly.

Chen Mo sat opposite her, keeping her company.

Su Kun sat beside her, eyes closed, as if "listening" to something.

The three of them said nothing.

But they all understood.

Lin Wan finished the last bite, put down her chopsticks, and said softly:

"I have remembered those names. Although I cannot pronounce them, I know they existed."

Su Kun opened her eyes and nodded. "They know."

Chen Mo was silent for a moment, then asked: "That's the third one. There are thirty more."

Lin Wan smiled, a very faint smile. "One by one. They will all be delivered eventually."

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, a blue planet had just welcomed a returnee who had waited for countless eons.

A void had just had a batch of forgotten names remembered.

A person named Lin Wan had just finished a bowl of noodles.

Then, she stood up and walked toward the door.

Reaching the door, she turned back and glanced at the wall in the cafeteria covered in notes.

On that wall, there was Old Zhang's "The land is still there," the child's "Ice cream is very sweet," and the "proof of existence" of countless ordinary people.

She smiled and turned to leave.

Tomorrow, there were thirty more returnees waiting for her.