"Don't, don't, don't, I'm really eager to join the organization!"
Zhang Daniu said in a hurry. "Of course I'll cooperate. However, if I really go to the Apocalypse Organization and meet our 'prophet', he won't cut me into pieces and study me cruelly, will he?"
"You worry too much, Mr. Niu."
The hunter said, "First of all, the prophet's ability is not as simple as high-molecular layer by layer scanning. He doesn't need to cut you into pieces to get the information in the depths of your soul.
"Second, you'll soon understand that in the World of Samsara, it's not a big deal even if you're cut into pieces and studied in this life."
"No —"
Daniel Zhang screamed, "What do you mean by 'it's not a big deal to be cut into pieces and studied in this life'? I don't understand!"
"Calm down. In order to make you cooperate as much as possible, I've been given a certain amount of authority to tell you some of the truth about this world."
The hunter muttered, "Anyway, the rats and bugs of the Ark Foundation haven't arrived yet. I can briefly introduce the World of Samsara to you."
Li Yao was eavesdropping under the overpass. When he heard this, he couldn't help but feel shocked.
It turned out that the hunter had long expected the people of the Ark Foundation to come here. This was probably a trap set by the hunter, and Daniel Zhang was really the bait. The hunter wanted to catch the "ten Deep Explorers and two Final Explorers" of the Ark Foundation in one fell swoop.
On the other hand, the hunter had thrown out a brand-new concept of the World of Samsara. It sounded like the main point was coming!
"Teacher Niu, you should now believe in the existence of people with superpowers, the awakened ones, right?"
The hunter said calmly, "Aren't you curious about the so-called awakened? And what's the fundamental contradiction between the two major awakened organizations — the Ark and the Apocalypse?"
"I, I haven't thought about it. It's better not to think about such dangerous things."
Zhang Daniu said, "However, I've seen some superhero movies before. The superhumans in those movies are also divided into two factions. One faction insists on helping human beings, controlling their own abilities, and integrating themselves into the system of the country and society. The other faction believes that they should be above human beings and even everything else and become the master of the world. I believe that your 'Apocalypse' and 'Ark' are similar, aren't they?"
"Then you're wrong. Our differences are far more than that."
The hunter said, "As I said just now, the Apocalypse Organization has indeed erased many novelists, cartoonists, movie and game makers, and even physicists and astronomers. In the process, we have hurt hundreds of innocent people, too. However, we still insist that what we have done is not 'immoral' or 'inhumane'. Do you want to know why?"
"Why?"
Daniel Zhang could not help but ask.
This question was also what Li Yao wanted to ask.
"If we only have one life, and the dead cannot be resurrected, then depriving others of their lives is indeed an unforgivable evil," the hunter said.
"However, think about it. If a person has a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, or even infinite lives, and as long as the time is up, no matter how miserable his death is, he can be resurrected and return to his childhood or even the embryo stage. Then, what's the big deal about depriving him of one of his infinite lives?"
"Well …"
Daniel Zhang was stunned for a long time. "I don't understand. What do you mean by 'infinite lives'? What do you mean by 'resurrecting the dead and returning to their childhood or embryonic stage'?"
"This question is very troublesome to explain. It's a bit like the ravings of a madman. Fortunately, there have been many 'observers' who have perceived bits and pieces of the truth from different angles and presented the general idea of the 'World of Samsara' in their artistic creations."
The hunter said, "Mr. Niu, I don't know if you've seen a type of novel or movie where the protagonists are imprisoned on the same day in the river of time. Assuming that today is April 1st, every day that the protagonist spends is April 1st. He falls asleep on the night of April 1st and wakes up abruptly on the morning of April 1st. Except for himself, everyone and everything around him has happened countless times. This cycle repeats itself. If you can't find the key, you'll never be able to break the cycle of time and live on April 1st forever."
"I've seen that before."
Daniel Zhang said, "Such a 'time cycle' is a relatively common theme in science fiction, isn't it? Right, I've also seen a movie called 'The Day of the Mole', which is more or less the same. Oh, there are also some movies, such as' Edge of Tomorrow ',' Source Code ',' Horror Cruise ',' Happy Death Anniversary ', and so on. The details are somewhat strange, but they are all about the time cycle. The protagonists in the movies are like playing a super difficult game that keeps loading files. One moment of carelessness, and they will fail. Thankfully, after every failure, they can' read the record 'and return to the beginning of the time and start over again.
"Wait. What do you mean? Are you saying that the novels and movies are not made up but, to some extent, reflect the truth of our world?"
"It's great that you can understand that," the hunter said unhurriedly.
The hunter said unhurriedly, "Then, what if I tell you that our world — the blue planet under our feet and the spirits of all things living on this planet — are trapped in a certain segment of the timeline, just like the protagonists in the works you mentioned just now, and they are pathetic prisoners in an infinite 'time prison'? I'm sure you won't be too surprised, will you?"
"What!"
Daniel Zhang blurted out, "That's impossible!"
Li Yao, who was under the overpass, was also dumbfounded. He could not come back to himself for a long time.
However, certain ripples that were bouncing deep inside his brain unlocked more memory fragments. The scenes of his previous life, the life before that, and the life before that were clearly presented in front of him.
The world was a maze of reincarnation and a cage of time.
They were all divergent paths in the maze and condemned prisoners in the cage.
"I can understand your reaction, Mr. Niu. It is indeed a hundred times more difficult to accept that the lovely Earth under our feet is a prison of time with infinite reincarnation than it is to accept 'ordinary' superpowers such as fireballs and electric arcs. Believe it or not, I'm just carrying out the Prophet's orders and telling you everything simply," the hunter said casually.
Hunter said casually, "Of course, it's different from the science fiction novels and movies that focus on time cycles. In those works, the protagonists are often trapped on the same day and can only cycle for one or two months at most. But on our Earth, roughly from the end of the twentieth century to the middle of the twenty-first century, fifty to sixty years, sixty to seventy years, and no more than a hundred years at most, endless cycles are carried out again and again. As for the specific length of time, it depends on the performance of all the people on Earth in this cycle.
"To make it easier for you to understand, you can simply imagine that the 'time starting point' of our world is 1980. All the initial conditions are inputted in 1980 and run according to a certain logic and law. It runs for about fifty to a hundred years. Gradually, a lot of logic traps, law errors, and data overflows appear. In the end, when the information errors exceed the critical range, with a bang, the entire world will go through a 'restart'. Of course, it can also be called 'reincarnation'. It will return to 1980 and repeat everything."
Zhang Daniu was in a daze.
Li Yao squatted under the overpass, too. He was so shocked that he could not breathe for a long time.
"Although it sounds unbelievable, you should've noticed some clues, shouldn't you? Didn't the college student named 'Li Yao' tell you about some weird dreams, or did he master some skills that he could never master in his' life '?"
The hunter said, "Including the entire Internet, there are a lot of 'Awakened' who don't know it. They talk about the strange things that happened to them without any warning. They even talk about the 'bugs' in this world. Since you and Li Yao talked about the 'Ark Foundation', it's impossible that you don't know anything about these discussions, right?
"Why does someone feel so familiar when they come to a strange place? Why does someone suddenly speak a foreign language that they have never learned after a car accident? Why does someone really remember something that happened, but it did not happen in 'this life'? Why does someone naturally feel a sense of familiarity when they come into contact with a skill or course for the first time and become a 'genius' in a certain field?
"The answer to all of this is the cycle of time, an endless cycle. Every one of us has been reincarnated in this endless prison a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times. In countless reincarnations, we have played various roles, experienced a rich and colorful life, and naturally learned different languages and skills. In most cases, when a 'reboot' or 'reincarnation' begins, we should forget everything about our previous life, but mistakes and mistakes always exist. There will always be people who vaguely remember their previous life, or even … some things from a long, long time ago, some things that might not be very pleasant."
"But, huff, huff, I don't know whether to believe it or not. But, let's put the truth aside for the moment. Why?!"
Daniel Zhang shouted, "Why is there such a thing as' the cycle of time, the endless reincarnation '? Such a ridiculous thing. What's the point of being trapped in a few decades or a hundred years?"
"In ancient Greek mythology, Sisyphus offended the gods. To punish Sisyphus, the gods asked him to push a huge rock to the top of the mountain. But because the rock was too heavy, it rolled down the mountain before it reached the top, and all his previous efforts were in vain. So he did it again and again, and again, and again, and again, and again."
Hunter asked in return, "What's the meaning of Sisyphus' huge rock?"
-----
This chapter is dedicated to the memory of the science fiction writer, Teacher Liu Wenyang, who died young. His work, One Day Prisoner, was one of Laoniu's, no, Xiaoniu's, inspirations. I sincerely recommend it to everyone. His works and the Science Fiction World of his era really brought endless fun and fantasy to Xiaoniu when I was a teenager and a young man. Unfortunately, God was jealous of outstanding talents!
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