Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 161 The Swelling Corpse

Because of the existence of the [Knowledge Sealing Rule], the risk remover deliberately omitted many important contents, such as the 11-dimensional universe [Pastoral Era] with almost infinite light speed. He directly embedded the background of the story into the current three-dimensional macroscopic universe.

Shortly after the emergence of the Risk Remover civilization, individual Risk Removers quickly discovered sporadic stellar activity in the universe. The Risk Removers described this in human language and using human thought processes:

While roaming the universe, the young risk explorers discovered a chance phenomenon: trillions of stars in the universe frequently erupt with certain regular macroscopic galactic events such as stellar helium flashes and supernova explosions.

The universe is like a bubble filled with trillions of fireflies. These fireflies live peacefully for most of their lifespan, but there will always be a first firefly that lights up, which is a stellar helium flash or a supernova explosion.

The light of the fireflies is passed from one to the next like a game of musical chairs, forming a luminous line as the light spreads.

Countless similar lines intertwined to form a shimmering network of light in the dark universe. Within this cosmic network of light, the young risk hunters established the "Stellar Fissure Transmission Model," though at that time they were unaware of what their "Stellar Fissure Transmission Model" meant.

The young risk-takers believed that the transmission of stellar flickering was a common and normal phenomenon in the universe, but soon some risk-takers raised questions: How do stars, which are mostly separated by vast distances, interfere with each other?

Moreover, many stars on the path of the [stellar scintillation propagation model] are healthy young stars. Why would these healthy stars suddenly experience macroscopic stellar activities such as helium flashes or supernova explosions that are usually seen in older stars?
These skeptical young risk-taker began to delve into the true reasons behind the [stellar scintillation transmission model]. They built observation devices that spanned almost the entire universe, and after an incredibly long period of time, they finally arrived at preliminary conclusions.
—The stellar flare transmission model in the universe is regular. Each occurrence of stellar flare transmission is very similar to the signal transmission between 'brain neurons' of the Risk Mitigator civilization before it became purely energy-based.

One risk-taker proposed a bold hypothesis: the [stellar scintillation transmission model] is essentially a neuronal activity, but belonging to the neuronal activity of the universe. These scintillation stars form the basic units of neurons, and each stellar scintillation transmission is a thought process.

In other words: the universe is conscious.

This conclusion was refuted by other risk-takers. They argued that the universe is simply a combination of space and time, and therefore, how could it possibly contain consciousness? If the universe truly possesses consciousness, then what is its purpose?
What is the purpose of the universe? This question, once conceived, has plagued the Risk Taker civilization for its entire life.

Although the theory of cosmic consciousness was not initially accepted by risk-takers, with the refinement of the stellar scintillation transmission model and the increasingly frequent stellar scintillation events, later risk-takers had to admit a fact: the universe may indeed have consciousness.

The stellar flicker transmission model has been upgraded to a [cosmic thinking model].
The purpose of the universe has become the ultimate question that the Risk Mitigator civilization seeks to answer.

Stars are the basic units, and the links between these stars are achieved through gravitational or other interaction forces, which facilitate the transmission of scintillation. Galaxies are like neurons, and each transmission of scintillation between galaxies signifies a simple thought process. As these scintillations travel at the speed of light towards other stars, the thought processes also change and shift accordingly.

One risk-taker has proposed the following assertion: the evolution of the initial universe and the laws governing the distribution of matter are macroscopic manifestations of consciousness as neuronal activity, and these characteristics or laws are the result of the interaction of various celestial bodies in the universe.

Just as the computational power of a binary computer, generated by combining a massive number of 0s and 1s, arises from the simple yet immense twinkling of stars, developing consciousness with each flicker.

These cosmic stars, moving about like a game of musical chairs, are the result of the universe's contemplation.

Through the exploration of young risk-takers, they have established a 'brain model' of the universe's dazzling stars. In the abyss of the universe, hundreds of billions of star systems and trillions of stars will become the carriers of cosmic consciousness.

However, this theory had a fatal flaw, which risk-takers quickly discovered.

A young risk-taker said: Even in the current three-dimensional macroscopic universe, the universe is expanding, and the expansion speed exceeds the speed of light. In this expanding universe, the neuronal signals that propagate at the speed of light can never reach the end.

This means that the universe cannot complete a single thought process.

This means that trying to understand the universe is fundamentally impossible, because this thought process is simply incapable of being completed.

This is also why the risk-taker could not answer Hawking's question. This astrophysicist, through his intuition or thinking, inadvertently raised the deepest question about the universe.

Shortly after the risk-taker finished telling the story

Luo Qing pressed on, "Doesn't that mean that if the universe truly has life, then it will never be able to experience a complete sensation or a complete consciousness?"

The risk remover stared ahead, his voice filled with sorrow: "That's right, the universe is a corpse expanding at the speed of light. It's a brain-dead patient whose thoughts can never be known by us. We will never know what the universe is thinking, and we will never know, even though the meaningless twinkling of these stars continues."

Luo Qing suddenly felt a wave of dizziness. He suddenly thought of MOSS's lie about the solar helium flash. At that time, he was certain that in his divine mind, the sun was in a perfectly healthy, mature stage of stardom, and it was impossible for a helium flash to occur.

But now, if this universe is still undergoing the stellar flickering transmission, wouldn't that mean... "Risk Eliminator, has the universe not completely died yet? Has the frequency of stellar flickering transmission decreased?"

Risk Alert: "Many short-sighted civilizations are accelerating the death of the universe in various ways, vacuum decay being one of them. But the true death of the universe will only come after heat death. As long as healthy stars exist, stellar flickering still has a chance of occurring, but compared to billions of years ago, the probability of stellar flickering propagation models occurring has decreased significantly... Are you... are you worried about humanity?"
Luo Qing nodded.

With a wave of his hand, the hazard remover enveloped the two of them again with an invisible energy membrane. Luo Qing also added a protective array, completely covering the two of them.

Tomoko tried to rush in, but was driven out by the two of them.

The risk-taker spoke to Luo Qing.

"You can easily tear through energy, and although you appear to be struggling, I can see your ease. You also seem to have concealed the information bodies of those scientists, although I don't know what the significance of this is. But both methods indicate that you have the ability to become pure energy and information bodies. May I consider you as part of an advanced civilization? This is a necessary premise for discussing subsequent matters with you beyond the [Knowledge Sealing Rule]."

"Okay." Luo Qing nodded slightly.

The risk remover completely transformed into an ideal black body, but its shape remained that of a perfect humanoid. This humanoid, composed of the ideal black body, reached out its hand to Luo Qing.

"Let's get to know the Hazard Eliminator working sensor again, employee number 299792458."

"The one facing the wall is Luo Qing, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator."

Luo Qing grasped its pure black hand and felt a warm touch, similar to that of a human.

The risk mitigater said, "I've calculated that there's a very small probability that the next [stellar scintillation transmission model] will pass through both the solar system and the Trisolaran system simultaneously. The solar system has a chance of experiencing a helium flash, and the Trisolaran system has a chance of experiencing a supernova explosion. But I don't know the exact timing; it could be hundreds of millions of years from now, or it could be tens of thousands of years from now, because thought is unpredictable. However, signs of the emergence of thought have indeed appeared in the Milky Way, and the Orion Arm is probably unavoidable. Of course, if the expanding, dead universe changes its 'thought,' then the Orion Arm might escape unscathed, but who can say for sure?"

Luo Qing was truly numb.

So the solar helium flash in MOSS wasn't a lie, but a premonition, right?

"We need to prepare for the worst. I know about the solar helium flash, but what will the supernova explosion in the Trisolaran system lead to?"

The risk mitigater said, "A supernova explosion 50 light-years away will not have a significant impact on the solar system, but the Trisolaran system is indeed too close to you. First, the Trisolaran civilization will be completely destroyed. The supernova explosion pulse four years later may have the potential to disrupt the human gene chain, causing adults and older to die in a short period of time. Perhaps only children with strong regenerative abilities can survive."

Luo Qing's vision went black.

“But you don’t need to worry too much.” The risk avoider reassured Luo Qing: “Civilizations that have reached a certain stage of development are basically capable of preventing the transmission of stellar flashes. The speed of light is too slow. Perhaps by the time the universe’s thoughts are transmitted to the solar system and the Trisolaran system, the solar system civilization will already be able to avoid all of this.”

"Are you referring to human civilization when you say solar system civilization?"

"No, in the future war in the solar system, whoever survives among humans, the Trisolarans, and the dinosaurs will become the next stage of solar system civilization."

Luo Qing silently wiped his sword.

"Stop talking about civilization, it's all boring and tedious. Come watch the sunrise with me," the risk remover said.

"You've been near Earth for 3 million years and witnessed over 1000 billion sunrises. Aren't you tired of it?" Luo Qing asked.

"I'm just a sensor," the risk-taker remarked. "That's really my only source of enjoyment."

As dawn broke in the east, the stars began to dim. During this day-and-night pilgrimage, two figures stood beneath the ruins of the altar of truth built of yellow sand, their gazes burning as they waited for that radiant "brain cell" to leap out of the horizon once more.

(End of this chapter)