The living room fell into an inexplicable silence. Ren Zhu didn't continue speaking, while Yi Xiao and the otaku, Zhang Qu, sitting across from him, wore serious expressions, lost in thought. Suddenly, a loud alarm sounded from Zhang Qu's side, jolting him back to reality. "The Federation Research Institute has detected my trace. I must withdraw quickly and won't talk to you for now. But if I make any new discoveries, I'll inform you. I'll go hide my tracks first."
The holographic video communication was cut off. Ren Zhu turned to Yi Xiao and noticed something strange about his demeanor. Thinking of what he might be pondering, Ren Zhu sighed softly and reached out to hold Yi Xiao's hand. "Don't be upset."
It took Yi Xiao a while to slowly inhale deeply upon hearing this. He scoffed lightly, "What do I have to be upset about? At this point, can my sadness bring my parents back to life or make everyone in the Federation repent? Obviously not, so what do I have to be upset about?"
Ren Zhu looked at him steadily, thinking, If your expression weren't so ferocious, I might believe what you're saying. But now, it's impossible for anyone to remain calm. If their speculation is correct, then the sacrifices of each generation of the Yi family seem somewhat ironic and bitter.
Clearly, this should have been discovered earlier, right?
Meanwhile, the Federation Grand Commander, generals, and representatives of prominent families had arrived at the center of the Federation Research Institute. Professor Wang, the head of the institute, was standing in front of a huge screen, frowning as he spoke to the Grand Commander and others.
"... Today, we detected strong fluctuations in the size range of the black hole, a phenomenon unseen in the past ten years. Despite our various investigations and hypotheses, we've cup with ten possible answers. But personally, I lean towards this one." Professor Wang gestured, and a white mass appeared in front of the Grand Commander and the generals.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"What is this?" a general asked. "It looks like a mass of mist."
The Grand Commander looked at the white mass and said, "If its color changes, I feel it would resemble the black mist from inside the Abyss Black Hole."
After the Grand Commander spoke, the generals and family representatives around him gasped in astonishment, staring at the mass of white mist with suspicion and shock. They soon realized, just as the Grand Commander had suggested, that if the mass of mist were a bit larger and its color turned pitch black, it would indeed resemble the Abyss Black Mist brought out by the eldest sons of the Yi family from the black hole.
Professor Wang smiled bitterly and placed a hand over his chest. "Should I say 'indeed worthy of the Grand Commander'? You've grasped the key so quickly. It wasn't until three hours ago that I thought of this, and then I felt that I and the researchers of the institute in previous generations were utterly wrong. We've been heading in the wrong direction from the start. If not for today's clear indication, perhaps we would have caused more innocent lives to perish due to the Abyss Black Hole."
"In fact, when the Abyss Black Hole appeared, or rather, during the Century War, there were many signs indicating the true nature of the black hole. However, because it appeared so abruptly and blatantly in front of us, all of us failed to see its most likely true nature." Professor Wang waved his hand towards the white mist, and everyone present could clearly see the white mist gradually turning black, eventually becoming completely black.
"This white mist is extracted from human consciousness using a small tool," Professor Wang said with a somewhat eerie expression when mentioning the tool. It was obvious that there was something peculiar about this tool, but he didn't elaborate further. "Usually, people's thoughts and ideas are white, representing ordinary thoughts without strong good or evil emotions."
"Then, after discovering this possibility, we conducted several small experiments in the shortest possible time, and roughly confirmed that the color of human thoughts can indeed change."
"Can the color of human thoughts also be divided into the rainbow colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet?" A representative from one of the prominent families chuckled twice, but no one else spoke up to join in.
Professor Wang answered him, "There aren't that many colors. Basically, there are only three colors for thoughts: gold, white, and black. Perhaps there are other colors that we haven't tested yet, but due to the brief duration of our experiments, more tests are needed to confirm. However, these three colors are sufficient to explain the origin of the Abyss Black Hole. I believe most of you can already guess it, right?"
The Grand Commander furrowed his brow slightly and then spoke after a moment, "Good thoughts are gold, and evil thoughts are black."
He spoke with certainty, and Professor Wang nodded with a wry smile beside him. "Yes, when we think of something good and pleasing, the extracted thoughts are white with a hint of gold. But when someone is thinking of something bad, their thoughts turn somewhat gray. We happen to have a heinous criminal coming in for organ surgery soon, so I had Xiao Wang conduct a test on him. The result: his thoughts were... pure black."
Professor Wang casually tapped the screen again, and the next moment, the screen disappeared, replaced by a black mist composed of faint strands, enveloped by a transparent energy shield, suspended in the air.
It looked exactly like the black mist brought out from the black hole by the members of the Yi family.
"My goodness."
"This... is truly unbelievable."
"Instead of being surprised, shouldn't we be worried? If the Abyss Black Hole is indeed a manifestation of human evil thoughts, how can we ever completely eliminate it?! We can never fully control our thoughts and ideas. In a world where there is light, there is shadow. There can never be complete purity. What are we supposed to do about this?"
Not a single person present was foolish. Even as the leaders of prominent families, their minds were quicker than anyone else's. So they quickly thought of the almost insoluble problem represented by the Abyss Black Hole. After he finished speaking, the faces of everyone in the room turned grim.
Even the usually confident Grand Commander, for the first time, revealed a helpless wry smile as he looked up at the black evil thoughts in front of him.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThis was truly a huge problem, a massive slap in the face, as if telling him that everything he had done before, everything he thought he had done to turn the tide and was absolutely right, was just wishful thinking and wrong.
"... Are there no other options?" The Grand Commander's voice was hoarse, and he looked as if he had suddenly aged.
Professor Wang sighed and, looking at his nephew, who had always aimed to solve the Abyss Black Hole issue, finally voiced his own idea, "Regardless of methods, I have my own idea. If the Abyss Black Hole indeed represents the evil thoughts of the entire federation's ten major races and countless minor races, then, as Teacher Soya just mentioned, where there is light, there is shadow. How can there only be good thoughts and no evil ones? This means that from the moment of our birth, we grow with differences, sgood and sbad. But why wasn't there an Abyss Black Hole back then?"
Everyone's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, as if they had thought of something. The Grand Commander also suddenly raised his head and looked at Professor Wang.
"The Abyss Black Hole suddenly appeared during the 'Nightmare War Period' over eight hundred years ago. So, can we consider that the formation of the Abyss Black Hole is directly related to the 'Nightmare War Period? If we can confirm this, perhaps we can find the answer to the formation of the Abyss Black Hole in the history and events of the 'Nightmare War Period,' and ultimately find a way to resolve it."
Professor Wang looked at the people present and expressed his final thoughts.
Including over twenty top forces of the federation, they all fell into contemplation after hearing his words. After a long time, the representative of the Soya family slowly spoke, "Then, I will go back and organize all the information about the 'Nightmare War Period' from eight hundred years ago that our Soya family possesses. Who should I hand it over to?" This statement clearly acknowledged Professor Wang's idea, and as soon as he spoke, other heads of families with longer histories also began to speak.
The Grand Commander took a deep breath. At least now they had a vague goal, didn't they? Even if the Abyss Black Hole had slapped him hard, he still had gains. "Give it to Aunt Wang. I believe in her strength and wisdom." Professor Wang sighed, "Well, she does indeed have stalented individuals over there."
"But, Grand Commander, will the passage to the Abyss Black Hole still be open in twenty days? Will the selection of warriors continue?"
Professor Wang asked this crucial question, and the Grand Commander did not immediately respond. At this moment, Yi Zhongding, the head of the Yi family, spoke up, "Why not continue? It's precisely because of such an event and opportunity that we can uncover the true face of the Abyss Black Hole. And most importantly, it's because of those warriors that the Abyss Black Hole has shown drastic fluctuations and even shrunk. I even feel that if we push this selection of warriors to its peak, guiding everyone in the federation to believe that 'we can definitely eliminate the Abyss Black Hole,' we might not even need to worry about the 'Nightmare War Period."
As Yi Zhongding spoke, his expression becincreasingly excited. "This is an opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetopportunity, and perhaps even a chance to end it all once and for all!"