81: Chapter 80 Memories of the Corridor

The milky-white corridor stretched forward, seemingly without end.

Statues and steles stood silently on both sides; their material was neither metal nor stone, feeling warm and smooth like jade to the touch, yet faintly carrying the chill of metal.

Light emanated evenly from within the material, casting the faint shadows of the four onto the smooth floor.

"Air composition analysis: The nitrogen-oxygen ratio is close to Earth's, but it's mixed with a small amount of unknown inert gas and... spiritual pivot active particles."

Medical Officer Lu Yunshan looked at the readings on his mask display.

"The temperature is a constant 22 degrees Celsius, and the air pressure is standard. Radiation levels are within the safe range, but there is a faint, rhythmic background radiation of conscious harmonics. The environment here... has been finely tuned; it's almost as if it were prepared for carbon-based intelligent life."

"It seems the builders were very thoughtful."

Elena Costa walked up to the nearest stele.

The stele was streamlined, its surface etched with complex geometric patterns and streams of incomprehensible symbols.

"These symbols... are not linear text; they are more like two-dimensional projections of three-dimensional information, containing topological relationships and dynamic changes."

She activated her portable recorder and carefully scanned it.

"I need time to analyze the structure, but my intuition tells me they don't record specific events, but rather some kind of... 'civilization state' or 'concept'."

Lin Shen stood in the center of the corridor, closed his eyes, and exerted all his effort to feel the information coming from the technology tree system.

Here, the sense of resonance was so strong it almost became tangible.

He "saw" the roots of the technology tree seemingly extending outward, forming countless intangible connections with the corridor itself and those steles.

Some dim branches began to absorb "nutrients," slowly lighting up and transmitting back fragmented pieces of knowledge: regarding material synthesis, field control, consciousness encoding...

"This place is a massive information repository in itself," he opened his eyes, "but it's not meant for looking at; it's meant for 'sensing' and 'understanding.' The technology tree system is passively absorbing and organizing it. Everyone, open your perceptions as much as possible, but stay vigilant; don't get carried away by a single stream of information."

Zhao Yan held his gun, guarding the deep, distant reaches of the corridor in front and behind.

"Team leader, which way should we go? It doesn't look like there are any side paths here, but there are no instructions either."

Lin Shen looked toward the depths of the corridor.

The faint feeling of being pulled from the technology tree system pointed in that direction.

"Forward. The trial won't just jump out at us; we might need to reach a certain location or trigger a certain condition."

The four continued forward, their footsteps echoing slightly and rhythmically in the absolutely silent corridor.

As they went deeper, the style of the statues and steles on both sides began to change noticeably.

The initial stele symbols were abstract and regular, and the statue forms tended toward simple geometric shapes.

The further they went, the more complex the symbols became, even depicting things resembling biological forms or natural scenes, and the statues began to become concrete—some resembling multi-armed humanoids, some like hybrids of plants and machinery, and some completely impossible to describe within the scope of human cognition.

"Do these... record the cultural characteristics and aesthetics of different civilizations?" Elena guessed.

"Not just that."

Lin Shen stopped in front of an exceptionally tall statue.

The statue seemed to depict a nebula-like creature disintegrating into countless points of light, its "face" area (if it could be considered a face) filled with an abstract expression of intertwined pain and relief.

"The technology tree feedback... this records the final moment of a civilization choosing 'consciousness uploading, abandoning the physical body, and merging into the cosmic background radiation.' A kind of... 'death' or 'ascension' of a civilization."

Everyone felt a chill.

This corridor was like the memory riverbed of a long river of civilizations, depositing the rise and fall, choices, and final ends of countless intelligent species.

After walking another few hundred meters, the scene ahead changed abruptly.

The corridor became wider here, forming a circular hall.

In the center of the hall floated three huge, slowly rotating, milky-white spheres of light, each about three meters in diameter, with data streams of different colors flowing over their surfaces.

And on the floor in the center surrounded by the three spheres, there was a recessed platform, on which appeared a line of clear symbols that they could understand—not text, but concepts projected directly into their consciousness:

"Hall of Choices: Please touch the mark that resonates most deeply with your civilization."

"The first trial is here," Lin Shen said in a deep voice.

"Three spheres of light... representing three types of 'civilization marks'?" Elena observed carefully.

"Their data stream characteristics are different. The one on the left has a stable and heavy frequency, with a symbolic structure emphasizing cycles and balance; the one in the middle has violent, jumping fluctuations, full of imagery of conflict and breakthroughs; the one on the right... is soft and long, emphasizing connection and symbiosis."

"We need to choose one to 'touch'?" Zhao Yan frowned.

"What's the standard? 'Resonates most deeply with your civilization'... that's too subjective."

Topologist checked the environmental readings:

"The spiritual pivot fields and conscious harmonic radiation around the three spheres of light are all different. Touching any one of them could potentially pull our consciousness temporarily into some kind of... simulation scenario or memory flashback. We need to choose the one with the lowest risk, or the one most likely to fit our civilization's characteristics."

Lin Shen did not decide immediately.

He walked up to the three spheres of light, closed his eyes, and slowly extended his consciousness—not to touch, but to perceive.

The sphere on the left transmitted a pulse as vast as the earth and as steady as a mountain, carrying a sense of rationality and order that had been polished over long ages, almost cold.

He seemed to see a civilization that had developed efficiency and collective logic to the extreme, and might eventually fall into stagnation due to a lack of emotional variables.

The sphere on the right was like a warm neural network, with countless tiny consciousness nodes resonating harmoniously, full of selfless dedication and total interconnection.

But beneath this ultimate harmony, he faintly sensed a risk of "homogenization," a loss of individual uniqueness.

The middle sphere... was the most complex.

It was like an ocean in a storm, possessing both violent conflict and destructive energy, as well as the brilliant flashes of constant self-breakthrough and nirvana-like rebirth.

Chaos and order clashed fiercely, pain and ecstasy intertwined, full of uncertainty and... astonishing creativity.

What is the Dragon Country Civilization, or even human civilization, like?

Five thousand years of history, filled with war, division, and disaster, but also nurturing brilliant culture, an unyielding spirit, and the resilience to rise from the ruins time and again.

We advocate the "Doctrine of the Mean," but we also embrace change; we value the collective, but we also respect the individual; we help each other in the face of disaster, and we are brave in taking risks on the path of exploration.

We are not ultimate rational machines, nor are we a completely harmonious network; we are a complex collective that moves forward amidst contradictions, grows through trial and error, and seeks light in the darkness.

Lin Shen opened his eyes, his gaze fixed firmly on the middle sphere of light, full of conflict and vitality.

"It's this one," he said.

"The history of human civilization is a history of constantly facing contradictions, resolving conflicts, rebuilding from fragmentation, and evolving through challenges. Our resonance lies in this 'dynamic balance' and 'unyielding vitality'."

Zhao Yan, Elena, and Topologist looked at each other and saw approval in each other's eyes.

As a soldier, a scientist, and a doctor, their respective fields deeply embodied this spirit of innovating within constraints and forging ahead in crises.

"Agreed," the three said in unison.

"Then, I will touch it." Lin Shen walked toward the central platform.

He knew that as the team leader and holder of the technology tree, he should bear the frontline risk.

"Chief Engineer Lin, together," Elena stepped forward.

"If it's a civilization resonance, perhaps if we face it with our collective consciousness, it will better reflect who 'we' are."

Zhao Yan and Topologist also stood at the edge of the platform, their expressions resolute.

Lin Shen looked at them and nodded.

The four of them simultaneously pressed their gloved hands onto the surface of the slowly rotating sphere of light in the middle.

In an instant, the milky-white light engulfed all their senses.

Their consciousness was pulled away, stretched, and then cast into a seething "sea of memories."

What they "saw" was not a coherent story, but countless fragmented scenes, intense emotions, and difficult choices, coming from a strange yet somewhat familiar civilization:

A scientist in a laboratory, facing an energy runaway capable of destroying a city, chose to throw their body toward the control valve, using their life to buy time for data correction;

A politician, during a plague, pushed through an isolation policy against all opposition that might trigger unrest but could save more lives, was eventually overthrown by angry citizens, but saw the data showing the policy taking effect and the epidemic slowing down before they died;

An artist, during the dark ages of civilization's repression, used metaphorical works to ignite the spark of resistance, was thrown into prison, but allowed the seeds of thought to spread even further;

The entire society, in a desperate situation with exhausted resources and surrounded by powerful enemies, erupted into fierce infighting, but on the verge of mutual destruction, was awakened by a child's innocent yet core-piercing question, set aside differences, and began to search for a common way out...

Pain, sacrifice, betrayal, stupidity, light, courage, wisdom, forgiveness... countless contradictory elements collided fiercely.

The history of this civilization was full of scars, but also covered in medals.

It fell time and again, beaten until bruised and bleeding, yet struggled to get back up, licked its wounds, and became stronger and more clear-headed.

This was not a perfect civilization; one could even say it was full of flaws.

But it had a kind of almost stubborn "vitality" and "learning ability."

The consciousness of Lin Shen and the other three was immersed in it, feeling the weight of every choice, the price of every mistake, and the preciousness of every awakening.

They were both bystanders and, at certain critical nodes, seemed to be thrown into the role of decision-makers, needing to make choices that affected the lives and deaths of countless people in an extremely short time, relying on limited and even mutually contradictory information.

Some choices they made had tragic consequences; some choices they hesitated on, and the opportunity was fleeting; some choices they made better judgments on than the original history, relying on the collective wisdom and experience of human civilization.

This was not a knowledge test, nor was it a test of strength.

This was a deep, immersive evaluation of a civilization's "mentality" and "character": When facing suffering, are you numb or empathetic? When facing mistakes, do you shirk responsibility or take accountability? When facing differences, do you suppress or communicate? When facing a desperate situation, do you give up or search for that faint possibility?

I don't know how long it had been, but the seething sea of memories gradually calmed down.

The four found themselves back in the "Hall of Choices," their hands still pressed on the sphere of light.

The light of the sphere had become soft, its rotation speed slowed down, and it finally stabilized.

The data streams on its surface reorganized, turning into a new line of consciousness projection:

"Evaluation: Civilization type 'Conflict-Symbiosis - Dynamic Evolution Type'. Resilience Index: High. Learning Curve: Steep then stabilizes. Moral Choice Tendency: Individual sacrifice and collective rationality coexist, with significant emotional variables and error tolerance. Overall Evaluation: Possesses basic potential as a 'sower Inheritor'. First stage trial passed."

The sphere of light slowly sank and merged into the floor.

In the center of the hall, a small, glowing pillar rose, with a prismatic, translucent crystal resting on its top, inside which was sealed a small, constantly color-changing nebula-like substance.

"Is this... a reward?" Elena was surprised.

Lin Shen stepped forward and cautiously touched the crystal.

A stream of information flooded in: This was not a technical blueprint, but a "protocol license"—allowing them limited access to some primary knowledge bases in the "Cradle" related to "crisis social management," "technology explosion risk control," and "group consciousness bias correction."

At the same time, the crystal itself was a "beacon"; holding it would grant more permissions in subsequent areas of the "Chamber of Inheritance."

More importantly, he felt that in the technology tree system, a brand new main branch representing "civilization sociology" and "collective consciousness decision-making models" had its initial node lit up.

"It's not just a reward; it's the 'key' and 'study material' for the next stage." Lin Shen carefully removed the crystal.

"It has recognized our 'civilizational foundation' and believes we have the value to continue learning in depth."

The four breathed a sigh of relief, but their hearts were even heavier.

This was only the first stage, and the trial already went straight to the depths of their souls.

What else was waiting for them ahead?

"External communication request detected, signal extremely weak, intermittent!" Elena suddenly shouted, calling up her portable device.

"It's forwarded by the 'Kunlun' station, a highest-priority encrypted message from Earth's spiritual pivot!"

The message was decrypted, consisting of only one short sentence, but it made the hearts of the four sink to the bottom instantly:

"'Star Ring' bait suspected of being partially seen through. Multiple 'Pruning Faction' high-speed infiltration units detected in the outer Solar System changing course. Feature analysis... target: Moon. Estimated earliest contact window: 48 to 72 hours. Rear is dealing with it with full effort, must speed up progress. Take care."

The reaction of the "Pruning Faction" was faster and more direct than expected.

The time they had left for humanity was not much.

Lin Shen gripped the prismatic crystal in his hand tightly and looked into the darkness deeper in the corridor.

"Continue forward." His voice echoed in the silent corridor, carrying an unwavering determination, "We must get the 'weapon' we need before the scissors fall."