The next morning, when Boss Bai, A Boxing Champion, Long Yangjun, and the other experts gathered for discussion again, they discovered that Li Yao had already arrived. Also, the meeting room had been redecorated by him, and the atmosphere was completely different.
Flowers and fruits were on the table. Xiaoming and Wenwen were standing at the door, shouting "welcome" at them rigidly. A red banner was floating on the top of the meeting room, on which was written "Forum of the High-end Eccentrics of the Pangu Universe".
Boss Bai, A Boxing Champion, and Long Yangjun looked at each other in bewilderment, lost for words. It was not until a long time later that Boss Bai asked on their behalf, "Li Yao, what's the meaning of this?"
"This is a theme that I've come up with for this meeting!"
Li Yao greeted them with a smile and explained, "The so-called 'Pangu Universe' refers to the three thousand Sectors that are covered by the infinite black wall. 'Three thousand Sectors' is too narrow and misleading. The civilization of Cultivators has three thousand Sectors. Chances are that the wizardly civilization is made of many Sectors, too. 'Pangu Universe' is much more accurate. I suggest that we call our home with this term from now on."
"Pangu Universe doesn't matter, but what are 'eccentrics'?"
Boss Bai glared at him. "You are the one who is eccentric!"
"Compared to … the regular residents of the Pangu Universe, I am indeed somewhat eccentric."
Li Yao said casually, or rather shamelessly, "Not only am I eccentric, but you are all eccentric too. That's why we're gathered here and the focus of today's meeting!
"Come, come, come. Everyone, please take a seat. Let's cut the crap. Let's talk about it now. Last night, I went to talk to each of you in depth. I believe that everyone understands the importance of being honest with each other.
"First of all, no matter how … abnormal we are, the strength of an individual is always insignificant in the face of the vast universe. Even if we bury our secrets deep in our hearts and become a hundred times stronger on our own, I'm afraid that we will not be able to compete with the dark and cold universe or realize our dreams.
"I, 'Vulture Li Yao', need your help. I believe that every one of you will need my help sometimes.
"Besides, we are all smart people. The computational ability of both the human brain and the crystal processor is impressive. Even if a certain brother does not say it himself, do you think other people can't guess it? Well, didn't Boss Bai guess A Boxing Champion's identity? And didn't A Boxing Champion guess that we are from a country of cultivators outside of the Imperium? Fortunately, the two of you are rational enough to not break out into a real conflict. However, it is unavoidable to have a trace of doubt and vigilance buried in the depths of your hearts, right? As time goes by and the situation changes, will the doubt and vigilance expand into real cracks that lead to a real fight?
"Boss Bai, Long Yangjun, you escaped from the Federation one after another. Your identities have long been exposed. There is no reason why you would keep it a secret from the … eccentrics who are in the same boat as you when everybody in the Federation knows it, right?
"It's the same for me. I grew from a nameless scavenger in a magical equipment graveyard to an invincible superhero admired by billions of people today. How can you not be suspicious of my abnormal performance? Am I right? "
"Enough."
Boss Bai said coldly, "Why do I need to hide my actions from anybody? Don't think that I'm such a coward!"
"Agreed."
A Boxing Champion also said calmly, "Regarding your proposal, I deduced hundreds of times yesterday. It is true that exposing one's secrets will bring certain risks, but considering the benefits of closer cooperation, the risks are still worth taking."
"That's great. Then, let's reintroduce ourselves!"
Li Yao grabbed an apple and took a bite, with the juice splashing out. Looking at the broken hole on the apple, he finally made up his mind and said, "I, Vulture Li Yao, as you know, from Floating Spear City of the Xing Yao Federation — A Boxing Champion. It used to be a secret shared by all of us, but it is now your secret, too. I hope that you can understand our trust in you.
"You know most of my experiences, but the secret that I've never told a third person except for my wife is that I've been having a weird dream about Earth since I was little. It was a dream about 'magic' and 'ABCD'. The dream was perhaps the source of my strength!"
Li Yao briefly described the uncanny dream about Earth. In the end, he said, "I'm not sure what happened exactly. Did a certain 'earthling' time-travel to the Xing Yao Federation and possess the body of a dying baby of the Federation, or was it just a certain … information wave from Earth that traveled through time and space and was received by a baby of the Federation?
"Everyone, please enlighten me on this."
Everybody listened quietly. To this moment, none of them said anything, deep in thought.
It was not that possession or information transmission was anything unusual. After all, this was a world of Cultivators, where bizarre things such as possession, reincarnation, memory overlap, and so on were all possible. Even Boss Bai himself was sort of possessed and reborn.
Li Yao had become one of the best experts at the edge of the Pangu universe in only a hundred years. Naturally, he had his own luck.
However, the so-called 'Earth', the center of multiple civilizations, and the 'Vulture Plan' that Li Yao intended to destroy Earth, were too mysterious and imaginative.
It was especially so when Earth and the Flood were combined. Even A Boxing Champion, Xiaoming, and Wenwen's computational ability could not support such complicated deductions.
"Let's not complicate a simple problem. Let's just assume that … Earth is in a certain dimension beyond the Pangu universe, and a powerful life form in that dimension named 'Earth Li Yao' parsed, separated, compressed, and packaged all the information that made up his life in a way similar to 'extraterrestrial devil disintegration' before he died. He then sent the information to the Pangu universe and received it by your young brain."
Boss Bai pondered for a moment and said, "Since the high-dimensional space named Earth is the center of multiple civilizations, it is very likely to be a shelter where multiple civilizations can avoid the Flood together. It makes sense that there are both Cultivators and magic in that place."
"No."
A Boxing Champion said, "If Earth is truly a shelter to avoid the Flood, why does it have to be a 'high-dimensional space' instead of a 'low-dimensional space'?
"Imagine a two-dimensional life form that has no thickness. As long as it is perpendicular to our eyes, we cannot see it at all, and it will hide perfectly.
"In other words, when a high-dimensional life form observes a low-dimensional life form, there will be an observation blind zone. Then, assuming that the survivors of multiple civilizations are trying to avoid the Flood by lowering their dimensions and hiding themselves in the observation blind zone of the Flood, it will be safer, won't it?
"It means that, by the standard of the three-dimensional universe that we are in, Earth is very likely to be a two-dimensional world of a lower dimension. Evidence? The evidence is that the earthlings cannot use Cultivation or magic. Perhaps, their abilities are all restricted when they lower their dimensions, and they can only recall the feeling of those abilities with fantasies. "
"That's not right, either."
Fascinated, Long Yangjun couldn't help but join the discussion. "If Earth is just a 'two-dimensional shelter', it cannot explain Li Yao's Vulture Plan. Why did he destroy Earth?
"As mentioned in the uncanny dream, countless civilizations have been 'imprisoned' on Earth, caught in some sort of infinite loop where generation after generation reincarnates meaninglessly. What does that mean?"
"Stop. Let's stop for a moment."
Li Yao hurried to change the topic. "Until we have more intelligence and evidence, it is useless to discuss such groundless topics. Let's continue the topic just now. I'm done. Who's next?"
"I'll do it. I have nothing to hide. If you don't like me, let's have a fight!"
With a gloomy face, Boss Bai said, "My name is Bai Xingjian. I'm — I'm made of the remaining souls of two people. One of them is Bai Xinghe, and the other is Yan Xingjian. No. Maybe there are rats too. Plus the souls of five hundred or a thousand rats. Here is my story …"
Boss Bai told his whole life.
At first, he talked about how shameless Yan Xingjian was, how he struggled in pain, how he commanded the army of space pirates to crush the fleet of the Cultivators, and how he was cursed by his wife when he was trying to break into the Divinity Transformation Stage. He even turned into five hundred rats and suffered half the torture of his life.
Then, he talked about how Bai Xinghe watched Xiao Xuance, the 'leader of all Cultivators', kill his parents, how he was stranded on Spider Den, how he was forced to explore the dark, perilous underground fortress by the space pirates, how he rose step by step in fury and hatred, and how he eventually turned around and died together with the enemy for his son, Bai Kaixin.
In the end, he talked about how the two most heinous remaining souls met in the darkness below the ground. After years of fermenting and condensing, they finally broke out of the ground and found the body of Mouse Bai, a child who had just died. They reincarnated in his body and began the journey of the new Boss Bai!
"Of course, I'm not a good person. I'm a ferocious bandit according to the standards of the federation and the Imperium. Therefore, even if someone wants to take revenge on me or cut off my head for a reward, it's perfectly justified."
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