Did the world end today?

Chapter 422 Crossing the Sea of Stars

Chapter 422 Crossing the Sea of Stars
Lin Xu floated in the void, his gaze following the "Stardust Paths" to infinity.

He could feel himself moving along with the stardust.

But he didn't know what lay at the end of that road.

To go or not to go?

This is a problem.

At this point, he had completely broken free from the "passive" state, and everything in the higher-dimensional space was under his control.

He clearly felt that he could move forward or backward.

He can manipulate time at will and allow himself to drift freely within space.

After a moment's thought, he did not immediately embark on the "Stardust Path," but instead drifted toward its side, toward those shorter, narrower "paths."

As his body completely merged into the stardust, countless fragments flashed past his eyes.

He saw a figure wearing a somewhat rudimentary protective suit, with eyes tightly closed and lips trembling slightly.

A muffled sound reached Lin Xu's ears; he heard the person silently counting.

"245958, 245959, 01000000"

Lin Xu gently glided out of the stardust, his figure disappearing into another patch of stardust.

There, a young, terrified girl struggled, waving her arms like a drowning person.

She spoke in a language Lin Xu couldn't understand, and when her gaze turned to Lin Xu, she lunged at him as if grasping at a lifeline.

Lin Xu couldn't dodge in time, but the girl's image vanished the moment she hit him.

Looking back in the direction the girl was moving, there was a man with outstretched arms and a deceptively "loving" expression on his face, heading towards her.

"Inertia" caused Lin Xu to once again detach from this stardust.

Then he saw an elderly man who was very old and coughing constantly, a middle-aged man with a crazy but determined expression on his face and a hurried demeanor, and a student with short hair, a cold expression, and eyes that stared fearlessly at the "Zhurong" probe in the distance.
The stardust they form is extremely short-lived, and some are even closed loops like a Möbius strip.

Lin Xu had already realized that these stardust particles were the traces left behind by those who had experienced higher dimensions.
-
That's right.

Not only butterflies leave traces in higher-dimensional channels, but all those who have experienced higher dimensions leave their own traces.

However, their drifting was aimless, and most of them returned to their starting point.

Only the butterfly, only itself, leaves a mark that truly points to another world!

Lin Xu took a deep breath.

He turned back to look at the four streaks of stardust, paused briefly, and then cast his gaze at one of them without hesitation.

Before his eyes, black and white alternated, and starlight kept flashing.

When the flickering stops, when the light becomes brighter
He saw countless doors.

Or rather, it wasn't a door at all.

Instead, it's the anthills that have been breached one after another along the border.

He immediately realized that this was the real "high-dimensional channel".

This is a high-dimensional channel that can be seen from a high-dimensional perspective.

These passages number in the thousands, like countless random doors.

And behind each of the open doors, the scene he sees is never the same.

Through the door in front of him, he saw Mars.

The desolate, crimson Mars hung alone in the universe, almost filling his entire field of vision.

This passage is located very close to Mars in the three-dimensional world, seemingly near the satellite's orbit.

Lin Xu adjusted his position left and right, trying to see more.

However, it is clear that this door is not subject to the principles of perspective; no matter which angle he looks from, the scene in front of him is exactly the same.

Lin Xu shook his head, intending to turn and leave.

But at that moment, a huge spaceship suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

The spaceship was approaching at breakneck speed, reaching the edge of the passage almost instantly.

Lin Xu subconsciously stepped back, but as the spaceship rushed into the passage, it immediately turned into stardust and then extended towards another passage.

Lin Xu followed the stardust closely and, through another channel it connected to, saw a fleet disintegrating in outer space.

The gravity in that part of the universe is uneven, and the spatial rules are also uneven.

The explosion occurred instantly, and this familiar scene immediately reminded Lin Xu of the spaceship's name.

Zhuque-1.

He instinctively reached out his hand, wanting to tell the people on the spaceship to leave immediately.

But he quickly realized what he had seen.
It is actually history.

Behind each door lies a "fragment" of that world.

Having witnessed the moment Suzaku-1 fell, one can naturally see many more different scenes.

He looked at them one by one, like a child seeing only a part of the whole picture.

This took him a lot of time—of course, only the time he perceived.

He witnessed the moment when the high-dimensional channel first descended upon this world, the magnificent spectacle of the near-Earth orbit accelerator exploding, and the many bewildered people curiously entering the channel.

This was the first time he had such a clear and real understanding of the "high-dimensional channel".

At the same time, a question also popped into his mind.

If at this moment, I were to walk into the passage, then
What will happen?
Will I, like Zhang Liming, descend into this "world that has already been experienced" in material form?
Or will I escape from the higher dimension due to the momentary disturbance when crossing the boundary and return to my own world?
The latter is acceptable, but if it is the "descendance of material form", the problems one will face will become quite complicated.

Firstly, one's absence in the Destiny Stone's main world will inevitably cause the main world to lose its guidance, resulting in a significant reduction in the effectiveness of previous efforts and accumulations.

Secondly, after its arrival, the disturbances caused by the new matter and the impact of the information collection on the world itself will also trigger paradoxes in the timeline.

If a new "tree-like world" forms, similar to the worlds of the Alliance era, that would be fine. But if this world fails to branch out and instead is directly annihilated...
and many more.

This world has, in fact, already been destroyed.

The fact that one can witness the explosion of the near-Earth orbit accelerator proves that a multidimensional disaster has already occurred in this world.

From the perspective of linear time, can a world that has already been destroyed still be affected by time paradoxes?
No.

Logically speaking, it shouldn't be like that.

It represents a purely external set of information and does not conflict with the information set that already exists in this world.

And if conflict exists, it will only exist at the moment one's consciousness enters this world.

That is.
The last hour before the end of the world.

Was this also within your expectations?!
Lin Xu vaguely sensed that there were many meticulous considerations in the design of the bracelet, and all of these considerations pointed to the same "ultimate goal".

That is, to enable humans to enter another world in material form under specific conditions.

Such capabilities will completely alter the landscape of the entire low-dimensional civilization.

Once implemented, each world will no longer be an independent, isolated island, but will be connected, unleashing greater power.

Of course, aside from the world of Destinystone, all other worlds may still be destroyed before the end of the world.

But at least, I should give it a try.

Where to start?
Lin Xu's gaze swept across the countless entrances to the passages once again, and finally, his eyes settled on the one that looked the most stable.

This entrance will last for more than six minutes, and that six minutes is enough time to verify Lin Xu's own speculation.

Will the world be destroyed immediately, or will it be destroyed an hour before the end of the world?

There was no time to hesitate.

Lin Xu gently slid towards the entrance, then gently reached out his hand.

His body moved in the direction of his finger, and in just a moment, he disappeared into the passage.

next second.

"boom!"

A soft sonic boom was heard.

Lin Xu's internal organs were trembling, and he even temporarily lost his five senses due to the violent explosion.

Immediately afterwards, a sense of reality, completely different from "floating in a higher dimension," swept over me.

He instantly realized that he had indeed arrived in the new world in "material form"!
The explosion just now was a sonic boom generated when my body appeared in the lower-dimensional world and instantly displaced the air.

This was still considered lucky—because the higher-dimensional channel behind him was still there; otherwise, the rest mass energy carried by his "human body" would have instantly produced a terrifying nuclear explosion.

You might instantly turn into a fireball, and then into tens of square kilometers of land.

Verifying one's own guesses will become completely impossible.

The intense dizziness gradually subsided, and as Lin Xu's vision began to return, he finally saw the scene before him clearly.
-
Just like what I saw through that "door" in a higher dimension, I was currently on the roof of an abandoned factory.

The bright moon hangs high in the sky, and looking up, you can see the city lights in the distance.

Lin Xu didn't know where he was, but he was absolutely certain that this was Earth, the world he was familiar with.

Because he could clearly see the landmark building in the distance.

here it is.
Shanghai.

Lin Xu was in good health; even his mechanical wristwatch was running normally. He pressed the timer button and set the alarm for two minutes later.

Without hesitation, he rushed toward the fire escape stairs not far away.

The slightly rusty stairs creaked under his weight as Lin Xu cautiously advanced, ready to retreat back to the entrance of the higher-dimensional passage at any moment.

The factory building has only three floors, and it took him 40 seconds to reach the perimeter of the factory.

As he ran out, he activated the communication device on his chest.

At that moment, his biggest regret was not having included a cell phone in his list of devices he carried with him.

But thinking about it, even if you join, it might not actually be effective.

After all, the communication protocol in his world might not be the same as the communication protocol in this world.

Even if you have a mobile phone, you can't connect to the communication network here.

The only option is to go find someone.

Go find someone who lives here and has integrated into this society.

I must get his phone back, because I need to make a very important call.

One minute had passed when Lin Xu rushed to the factory gate.

He saw that the security room outside the factory was lit up.

Under the lamplight, a security guard, over fifty years old with gray hair, was leisurely eating a late-night snack.

1 minutes 10 seconds.

Lin Xu rushed forward and slammed open the door to the security room.

The security guard inside was so frightened by him that he jumped to his feet, his eyes filled with terror, as if he had seen a ghost.

There's no way around it, my current state is truly frightening.

With limited time, there wasn't much time to spare.

"cell phone!"

Lin Xu shouted loudly to the security guard:
Give me your phone!

The security guard pointed shakily to the table. Lin Xu grabbed his phone, and while asking the guard to unlock it, he quickly explained:

"I'm a police officer, and I lost track of a suspect while trying to apprehend him."

"Go ahead and call the police, but you'll have to wait until I finish my call first."

"I don't want anything from you, and I won't hurt you, don't worry!"

"well"

The security guard nodded repeatedly, and by then, the phone had already been unlocked.

Lin Xu glanced at the date on it.

2028年6月15日，凌晨1点40分。

He had a fleeting illusion of "returning to the world of the League era".

But everything he saw through the higher-dimensional channel made him absolutely certain that he was now in the world of the "Starship Age".

The Starship Age of 2028.

It was a world I had never seen before.

Many things are different, but similarly, some things are unlikely to change.

After all, it's only been 3 years since 2025 started.

Lin Xu's fingers quickly entered that incredibly familiar number.

It's not Jiang Xingye.

That was his own number.

"Beep—beep—"

The call was put through.

Lin Xu looked down at his watch; it was 1 minute and 50 seconds.

He needs to return as soon as possible.

Because it takes much longer to go upstairs than downstairs.
"Come with me."

The call ended automatically because no one answered. Lin Xu grabbed the security guard and ran towards the roof of the factory building.

The security guard followed behind him with slight hesitation. Lin Xu spoke again:
"If you don't want to go up, stay here and wait for the police to arrive before going upstairs to get your phone!"

"I'm waiting for you here."

Having received the security guard's answer, Lin Xu didn't waste any more words.

He had redialed the number, and this time, after two rings, the call was answered.

"Hey?"

The voice on the other end of the phone had a slightly muffled quality.

At this time, I should have been awakened from my sleep.

Lin Xu took a slight breath.

Then, he asked:
"Lin Xu?"

"It's me. Who are you?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Xu hung up the phone.

He already got the answer he wanted.

In this world, "Lin Xu" still exists.

And his arrival did not immediately trigger a paradox, nor did it lead to the destruction of the world.

Then many of the things I've envisioned might become a reality.

He returned to the dial pad and dialed another phone number.

This time, the call was answered quickly.

"Hello. Who is this?"

Jiang Xingye's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Lin Xu paused for a moment, then spoke:
"I am Lin Xu, I am ZEROTH, and I am a butterfly."

"I traveled to your world in physical form, but I don't have much time, and I must return as soon as possible."

"I'm making this call just to leave you a message."

"Next, we, from another world, may launch cross-dimensional support for you."

"Please make sure you are well prepared."

"Lin Xu!?"

On the other end of the phone, Jiang Xingye's voice instantly rose a few decibels.

Lin Xu glanced at the time, then climbed back upstairs, which took him two minutes and thirty seconds.

There is not much time left for yourself.

"That's too late."

"As far as I remember, the support should arrive within a year of your world's timeline."

"You need to take control of the killer bees as soon as possible, while preventing the formation of the Western Alliance, implementing the Reverse Current Plan, and ending the higher-dimensional theocracy."

"You will receive more high-dimensional information."

"Don't be afraid, don't resist."

"Remember, that was my guidance for you!"

As the words were spoken, the time had already come to an end.

Lin Xu stepped across the passage and disappeared from this world.

Ten minutes later, security guards arrived at the scene with police.

When they arrived at the rooftop, it was completely empty, except for a cell phone that was still on a call.

The officer in charge picked up his phone and said "hello." A man's voice immediately came from the other end of the line.

"Hello, this is the Nanjing National Security Bureau."

"Support teams are en route to the scene."

"Please stay where you are, seal off the area, and take control of all suspicious persons."

"Further orders will be sent to your police mobile terminal."