Rules-related weird stories: 4016.

Chapter 683 Fragments of Memory from the Depths of Consciousness, "The World Tree"

……

Lin Yi silently looked down at the shadowy oak tree. His will seemed unable to dive any deeper; the canopy of this enormous illusory oak tree appeared to be the limit of his will's ability to penetrate.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed into his mind.

He suddenly realized that the voices he had just heard were not only childish, but also those of the "Master of Magic" and the "Designer" Amon...

"Could it be...?!"

"The 'original apostles' hadn't yet earned their titles at this time?!"

Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat.

Immediately afterwards, the figures under the tree flashed by rapidly, as if they were on a speed of several hundred times the normal speed. However, even at that extremely high speed, it seemed that there were always a few figures permanently stationed under the tree...

One is Wei Liang, and the other... is "Master Difa".

The little girl, "Master Di," seemed to have extraordinary talent. She sensed something at a very young age and often lingered under this tree, much like Shakyamuni Buddha meditating under the Bodhi tree.

No, in terms of time, the Nile River Valley had not yet given birth to the first signs of civilization during this era, and the Buddha Shakyamuni was not even a shadow of his.

Finally, one day, the "Master of the Archmage" reached out and summoned his phantom from the oak tree...

At that moment, time seemed to slow down again, and Lin Yi stared in shock at the "himself" under the tree—in a way, the "himself" at that time was the real him.

"Old Lin!" Wei Liang exclaimed in surprise.

A group of the original young apostles gathered together.

He slowly began to speak: "Liangzi...everyone...for so many years, I have always been able to hear your voices...to feel your presence..."

"Master Craftsman" Ah Yin and "Designer" Ah Meng quickly and secretly hid the artifact forged from oak branches behind their backs, chuckling like Tom the cat with their heads down, too guilty to meet "his" gaze...

“But we are still one step away. What has awakened is only your consciousness, or rather, it is just a phantom projected from you in a certain space-time. You yourself are still in eternal slumber,” Wei Liang said.

Lin Yi then understood why the Wei Liang he saw was real, but his "self" was illusory—because ever since the "Master of Creation" deciphered some mystery and summoned him from the oak tree, and even after the "First Apostles" had fully grown up, he had always been in this state.

"Could these be my sealed memories?" Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat, and then he suddenly understood many things.

"Whether the physical body remains in eternal slumber or not is no longer important," the "he" under the oak tree said slowly. "My body is the shell that carries my consciousness in the 'real' world."

"My will cannot return to my body for the time being; this is an inevitable part of 'time.'"

"We have more important things to do now..."

"What is it?" Wei Liang asked, and the original apostles listened intently.

Lin Yi listened attentively, trying his best to fill in this part of his memory.

All I heard "he" say was: "I am lost in the flow of time... lost in the journey of all things... For countless years, I have seen the end... and traced back to the source that gave birth to the end..."

“Countless timelines… countless streams of time… which should have held infinite possibilities, but now the future has been prematurely converged to the same singularity…”

"I don't know where the source of all this lies, or if it's related to us..."

"But I saw our figures at the end of the flow of time..."

"Everything after that is blank... I don't know if it's the end or a new beginning, but the circle of fate, no matter its diameter, will never disappear once it appears..."

"I can't discern how much time this ring spans; I only see the two ends... It's like a point on a wormhole; I have no idea how much time and events are interspersed within it..."

"All I know is... we should get ready..."

"For our world, and for your world."

"In countless timelines and infinite flows of time, the birth of any intelligent life is a matter of minuscule probability that can only be touched after infinitely many cycles... and a nascent world should not perish so soon..."

Lin Yi heard "him" say a lot, things like "time," "destiny," "cycle," and "end"... He always felt something was strange about that "self," because that "self" gave him a feeling that it wasn't "him" at all, but more like a vessel of some supreme will.

Those words, to give an analogy, are more like the so-called "will of heaven" in fantasy novels, descending to prevent the destruction of the world, and then starting to issue tasks like a top-tier NPC...

Wei Liang frowned slightly upon hearing this.

Finally, he slowly spoke: "Old Lin?"

"Huh?" He was taken aback.

"I have a question to ask you that concerns the very survival of all humanity." Wei Liang's expression was very serious.

So much so that even the young, original apostles around him held their breath in concentration.

He said, "You speak."

Then Wei Liang asked the so-called "question concerning the survival of all mankind": "Does Mai Shiranui's legs or her hands shake when she fights?"

He paused for a moment, then replied in a strange tone, "What I'm thinking is 'snow white,' right?"

Wei Liang breathed a sigh of relief, while muttering to himself, "Damn it, it really is Old Lin..."

Lin Yi listened with a wry smile. Wei Liang never forgot to verify his identity. But then again, those strange terms and the dialogue that was almost like that of an NPC really didn't sound like something you'd hear from a normal person.

"So... what important relationship does this 'snow white' have with the life and death of humanity?" the Butcher asked seriously.

“Uh…” Wei Liang was speechless for a moment, “I was just testing Lao Lin’s authenticity, don’t take it too seriously… it’s better for you kids not to know too much about this kind of thing.”

“If it’s Uncle Liangzi, I probably know what it is,” the “Master Craftsman” said with a grin.

"Go away!" Wei Liang was about to kick him again.

The crowd burst into laughter.

Only "Master Di" cautiously looked at his small body, which hadn't shown any signs of development over the years, and then subtly muttered something.

"So... it seems we need to reconsider many things..." Wei Liang said quietly.

Soon, the flow of time in the scene accelerated again. Whether it was because the relevant memories had become somewhat blurred or for some other reason, Lin Yi could hear fewer and fewer sound fragments.

“Perhaps… one can perceive the extraordinary through this tree…” That was “his” voice. “The flow of time has passed through me, but it has also made me a medium connecting the dimensions of time and space… Some kind of extraordinary and unknown power flows within me like a stream, manifesting itself in this tree.”

“How interesting. Time, space, layers, latitude... countless forces related to the world are intertwined on it. Brother Lin Yi, how about we call it... ‘World Tree’?” This was the voice of “Master Di”.

"Hey, hey, hey... You call him 'brother' and me 'uncle,' isn't that a bit confusing about seniority?" Wei Liang's voice was somewhat speechless.

“You lecherous old man, just admit it. You were like this when my grandfather passed away, and you're still like this now. It's already a favor that I haven't called you grandfather.” One of the original apostles joked. “Butcher, spank him!” Wei Liang shouted.

“Okay, you lecherous old man!” “Butcher” replied with a smile.

"Damn it, after you beat him up, beat up your own! Punish yourself!"

"Okay, okay, you lecherous old man."

"Hahahahaha..."

……

"Old Lin's World Tree is really interesting 'World Tree'... I seem to see nine extraordinary characteristics and nine countries in it..." This is the voice of "Designer" Amon.

"Let me see, let me see..." This time, a gentle female voice with curiosity appeared.

"How is it?" the voice of "Master Craftsman" A Yin rang out.

The gentle female voice seemed to rise a few notches: "Stars! Heavens! The mysteries of the endless starry sky! I think I've seen something... I think I understand something..."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't go! Are you just going to turn around and leave like that?" "Designer" Amon tried to call out to her, but her voice had already faded into the distance.

"I'll tell you when I've figured it out!"

……

"The 'Ark' is almost finished... We should prepare for our first voyage."

This time, Wei Liang and the "original apostles" gathered together to discuss matters related to setting sail.

"Everything is difficult at the beginning. This time, we'll only send half of us out. The other half will stay with the 'Mist Nightmare Hunters' so we can look out for each other."

"I'm going!"

"I also need to go!"

"I also need to go!!"

"I also……"

"Damn it, stop messing around! If everyone goes, who's going to stay behind and look after us?" Wei Liang was speechless. "How about this, A Jin, Xiao Bai, Xi'er, and Xing'er, all four of you come with me on the ship. The rest of you can draw lots to decide whether to go or stay!"

“Alright.” The original apostles all agreed.

Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat.

Wei Liang rattled off four names, but he couldn't make out who answered, so he had no idea who was who. He also seemed to hear the voice of "Master Di" among them…

"So, is the name of the Dharma one of these?"

The image sped up again and became extremely blurry.

It's worth mentioning that he couldn't clearly see the scene under the tree, but when there were few people, he could vaguely judge their identities by their silhouettes or the sound of their voices.

For example, there's the very unique little girl-like sorcerer, Wei Liang, the burly "Butcher," and the gaunt "Master Craftsman." As for the others, they are somewhat difficult to distinguish.

……

Soon, sound came from the screen again...

"It's too much trouble for us to handle everything on our own. I need to create some intelligent units that we can deploy!" The voice of "Designer" Amon rang out.

“You’re an expert in this kind of thing, so you handle it,” Wei Liang decided. “Just don’t create anything that’s from the underworld.”

"I discovered something magical in the fragments of branches and leaves I plucked from the old forest trees. Perhaps I can mix them with other materials to create some humanoid puppets... And then I can collect some of the undying will of the 'Mist Nightmare Hunters' after their deaths, place them in the 'Hall of Heroes' to slowly nurture them, and turn them into a powerful weapon of war!"

"Damn! You're making corpses?!" Wei Liang exclaimed in shock.

"You're the necrophiliac! Who would like a corpse, you bastard!" Even the "designer" Amon couldn't hold back anymore.

"It's not the 'love' of romance, it's the 'refinement' of refining! You're refining corpses!" Wei Liang was speechless.

"Say whatever you want. I merely gave the 'Mist Nightmare Hunters' a chance to continue fighting. Their will is so strong; wouldn't it be a waste if it just dissipated like that?"

“I think Amon’s idea is very creative, why not give it a try?” A calm male voice rang out. “For ethical reasons, we can screen volunteers. Those who have this idea can enter the puppets designed by Amon and continue fighting. In essence, it’s all about fighting for the continuation of humanity, isn’t it?”

“Alright then.” Wei Liang wasn’t indecisive at all; he spoke up as soon as the calm male voice appeared. “But the term ‘puppet’ sounds really lame. Do you have a more sophisticated one?”

“I’ve already decided, it’ll be called ‘Mourner’!” “Designer” Amon laughed.

"Damn it, you really planned this all along!" Wei Liang shouted.

“If we’re going to design something, let’s design the whole thing!” said “Designer” Amon. “Otherwise, it’s a waste to use our ‘Hall of Heroes’ just to condense extraordinary power. Let’s use it to cultivate ‘Mourners’ as well, that would be perfect!”

"Alright, alright, all I need to see are the results... Ah Jin, 'Butcher,' you two are in charge of oversight. Don't let Ah Meng and Ah Yin cause any trouble." Wei Liang made the final decision.

"Row."

……

The scene shifts again and again...

The sounds in the video are becoming increasingly mixed...

Suddenly, just as Lin Yi was about to gather as much information as possible, the oak tree became hazy, as if a chaotic mist had risen around it.

The fog quickly enveloped everything, and the whole world began to disappear. At the same time, he felt his consciousness rising.

He felt he hadn't seen enough, but the depths of his consciousness seemed to no longer hold him.

Soon, a bluish-gray aura began to appear in the surrounding chaotic mist, and this aura quickly spread around him, covering everything.

Within this bluish-gray aura, he sensed an incomparably violent power.

In a daze, he seemed to see the figure of the "butcher"...

And then his voice began to ring in his ears...

"How about this... I'll also bestow my characteristics upon Old Lin... If only he could use the power of the time flow to spread this method..."

(End of this chapter)