Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 287 The Species That Ascend to the Throne

The center of the Milky Way.

Ninety percent of the matter in the entire Milky Way galaxy is located at its center, where tens of millions of stars converge. Ultra-dense nebulae of dust are compressed together, and then, under immense pressure, they coalesce into stars, spontaneously generating nuclear fusion reactions.

Stars are constantly being lit up, but they are also constantly devouring each other and eventually collapsing into black holes.

Looking here from anywhere in the Milky Way, all you will see is an incredibly bright cluster of light at the center of the galaxy, where thousands, tens of thousands, even billions of stars converge, their light eclipsing the entire Milky Way.

But in the brightest, deepest part, darkness is faintly visible.

Numerous invisible black holes are interspersed among millions of stars, occasionally devouring those massive stars. These greedy black holes devour them with insatiable hunger.

This is the arena for stars, and also the dining table for black holes.

This is not a place where intelligent civilizations can survive. Insects, monsters, demons, AI... no one dares to come here. This is a world of stars and black holes, a battleground between the most magnificent things in the universe.

On the snail's left antenna is a country called Chu Shi, and on its right antenna is a country called Man Shi. The two countries fought over land, resulting in the deaths of millions on both sides. But how did this appear to humans?
Compared to these most magnificent things that clash and contend, those so-called evil gods, monsters, AIs, and humans who stir up wars throughout the galaxy and intend to control it are nothing more than engaging in petty squabbles.

...that's how it should be.

However, this stable pattern is being disrupted by a force emanating from the galaxy.

……

Deep within the chaotic nebula, in a thick accretion disk, numerous nebula dust particles swirl around a black hole.

Within the accretion disk, a massive star that was accidentally captured is rotating counterclockwise. With each rotation, the black hole's gravity tears off large amounts of stellar material from its body, sending it hurtling towards the black hole.

This star, hundreds of times larger than the sun, is powerless against the gravity of the black hole. It can no longer escape and can only wait in vain for its final fate of being swallowed up.

The black hole slowly devoured everything, while the rays escaping from the top and bottom of the event horizon formed two strange pillars of light, a magnificent sight that could leave anyone mesmerized.

Outside that accretion disk, however, a magnificent object, even larger than a star, was swaying, completely unaffected by the black hole's gravity. This incredibly enormous serpent, its long and majestic body moving within the accretion disk, made the massive "black hole" formed by the disk appear small in comparison.

The giant serpent opened its abyssal maw and effortlessly devoured the thick accretion disk. The accretion disk, composed of nebula dust, meteorites and other materials, was nothing more than a cake delivered to its door.

Each time, it devours a massive amount of mass comparable to a star, but that is still not enough for this black hole.

But these are just appetizers and desserts; the real main course is yet to come.

In the starry sky, the giant serpent, while opening its mouth to devour, dragged its long tail as it swam towards the event horizon of the black hole. The further it went, the more terrifying the powerful gravity became, tearing at the serpent's body.

On the giant serpent's body, some scales were torn off by gravity, but they quickly regenerated, and with each reshaping, the next scale was even more resilient. But the serpent was indifferent to all of this; they were all trivial matters.

Once you cross the event horizon of a black hole, you fall completely into what mortals perceive as fate.

Here, even light cannot escape, and no matter can ever break free. Not even the giant serpent can, because it cannot arbitrarily exceed the speed of light; this is a strange rule of this universe.

Here, a moment becomes eternity, and time has completely stopped flowing.

This is the "event horizon of a black hole," and this is the "fate of the light cone."

But why try to break free?

In the frozen spacetime, the giant serpent continued to move forward, facing the infinitely small singularity. Instead of swallowing the black hole directly, the serpent circled around the singularity.

Nothing can be seen within the event horizon of a black hole, because even light cannot escape it. However, the serpent's strange senses allow it to know that the black hole is right in front of it. Looking down at that infinitesimally small singularity, the serpent's vertical pupils are cold and indifferent.

"Strange things."

The giant snake vaguely remembered hearing about black holes during its human days, but it didn't understand them.

But now, facing this black hole directly, it only felt that the black hole was very similar to itself, extremely similar, as if the god had created a corresponding thing in this physical universe based on itself.

If I hadn't been able to resist that force at the beginning of this universe, perhaps my final fate would have been to become a giant supermassive black hole in the reshaped history.

However, in addition to this, Orochi also vaguely realized that this imitation seemed to be the understanding of himself by the once omniscient and omnipotent god. This imitation and understanding vaguely revealed something more interesting, perhaps an essence that even Orochi himself had not yet realized.

But it doesn't matter, why bother pursuing the truth?

Ordinary people pursue the truth because they yearn to become stronger and more perfect, but also because they fear the unknown, worrying about failure or even death in the face of it. By acquiring what they don't know, they cease to be in the unknown and learn how to overcome those difficulties.

But what need is there for a monster that is already perfect and infinite to pursue anything else? What in this world is there that it would specifically seek out?

After all, in the end, you are the one who wins, aren't you?

The arrogant serpent gazed with interest at the black hole before it, at this entity modeled after itself, then coiled up, opened its massive maw, and swallowed the infinitesimally small black hole whole. It possessed an incredibly powerful and terrifying force, so much so that even the serpent, after swallowing these black holes, clearly felt its stomach struggling to digest them.

Although it seemed small, the satisfaction it brought to the giant serpent far exceeded that of those stars. It even made the giant serpent feel full for a moment, but the next moment, this vague feeling of fullness disappeared, replaced by more and stronger hunger.

Not enough, not enough, far from enough!
I need more, much more... Stars aren't enough, black holes aren't enough, the entire Milky Way isn't enough, only this universe can satisfy me.

Feeling the emptiness and hunger, the increasingly hungry serpent raised its head and let out a deep roar. The insatiable monster looked around, greedily gazing at the vast universe.

Once the black hole is swallowed, the surrounding event horizon gradually disappears.

While the giant serpent still largely conforms to the physical universe in most places—its scales and flesh generally follow the rules of the universe—it is not so at a deeper level. It is a world dominated by strange forces, a world controlled by the will of the giant serpent.

When the black hole was swallowed by the giant serpent, its powerful gravity disappeared. Inside the monster's belly, there was no rule that greater mass meant greater gravity.

But just as the event horizon of the black hole disappeared, the serpent looked around and its pupils widened slightly in surprise.

Hmm, were there really that few stars just now?

In the brief moment between entering and exiting the event horizon of the black hole, the number of stars in the sky suddenly seemed to drop by an order of magnitude.

Before this, the sky was filled with countless stars. In the center of the Milky Way, stars were as dense as sand, surrounded by countless shining stars. But after returning from the event horizon of the black hole, those shining stars suddenly became sparse.

Although there are still quite a few, they are far fewer than before.

I felt a little strange.

In this universe, time within the event horizon of a black hole remains constant. Therefore, even the giant serpent itself is not entirely sure how many years have passed outside each time it devours a black hole, though it doesn't care.

A thousand years? Ten thousand years? A million years?
do not know.

Everything is possible.

Did I linger too long in that black hole event horizon and have already entered heat death?

According to human calculations, one day in the future the universe will fall into heat death, all the stars will burn up, and the universe will fall into a state of death. However, this time is estimated to be trillions of years.

If that were the case, it would be such a shame, like a delicious meal that has only been eaten a couple of times and has already turned into ice crystals.

The giant serpent felt no emotion, only a deep sense of regret.

For it, even if the universe were to enter heat death, it would simply become less palatable; at the end of that time, it would swallow the entire universe whole. But before that, it could have leisurely savored the satisfaction brought by these delicacies.

But suddenly, the giant snake's gaze turned to another place.

……

Inside that abandoned Crystal Palace, nestled in the cosmic crevice.

Everything should have ended by now, leaving only a few traces. But now, the once desolate Crystal Palace has changed.

The once pure white world of light has now been replaced by machinery, with intricate circuits and cold metal exuding a minimalist technological aesthetic. Countless beings reside within the hall, whether they possess flesh and blood, mechanical AI, ethereal field life forms, or even deformed monsters… every life form in the universe exists here.

No, it's not just all life in the universe, including life forms that have been extinct for a long time, but also all species that were born and died on various planets, all of which sit here.

Past, future, and present, all living beings gather together to listen to the teachings of the new God.

At the very top of all living beings, on the throne that only gods can sit upon, there is now another being.

It is about two meters tall and has a well-proportioned shape.

The new god was calm and composed, exuding an invisible charm with every gesture, slowly explaining rationality to all living beings in the universe.

The throne of God has been vacant for far too long.

After countless years, the Throne of God finally welcomed a new master.

As if sensing the serpent's gaze, the new god raised its head and stared at it.

As the new god moved, countless beings turned their gaze toward the serpent; throughout the universe, all beings looked toward the serpent; beings of the past, future, and present all looked toward the serpent.

In all times and spaces, in all regions, all living beings speak the same sentence in different voices and languages.

"We have been waiting for you for a long time, great serpent."

(End of this chapter)