Psychics don't die from gunfire

Chapter 882 Morning Dreams
Song Shi shifted his gaze from the book back to the hockey display.

Those crisscrossing ravines and wide gaps all belong to a certain sea area of ​​Terra. Its creators have meticulously crafted these parts, and even with a microscope, you cannot find any place that is poorly made.

If there's one drawback, it's that the land portion is quite rudimentary, as if it just went up into the atmosphere to look down, left an impression, and casually sketched a rough outline.

"No wonder the final fortress was at the bottom of the abyss."

Song understood this perfectly.

"You were afraid that if you placed it too shallow, it would be accidentally retrieved and wasted; you were also afraid that if you placed it too deep, it would drift away with the current and disappear without a trace. That's why you created the icy cliffs and forcibly fixed it here."

“The deep sea. Seventeen thousand meters.” Lapis Lazuli said slowly, “In his vision, the person who can reach this place and still has the leisure to search around must be someone who has feelings for the ‘ocean’.”

“The three-dimensional topography of the entire waters of Terra,” Song Shi raised his index finger and gently tapped the hockey device: “Just thinking about it is a huge project. You really have a lot of patience.”

Although it is called "ice", it has not shown any signs of melting after being exposed to the air for so long. This is of course due to the extremely low temperature in the Arctic - but that is not the only reason.

Song Shi could sense the tenacious spiritual energy hidden deep within the ice ball device, its icy chill extremely suppressed. It could withstand being thrown into a boiling volcano for a while.

It is this spiritual energy that sustains the hockey device, preventing it from melting or dissolving, and keeping it unchanged even after thousands of years.

“A great obsession,” Song Shi said softly.

Psychic energy originates from the self, is unmoved by external things, and vanishes upon death.

This is also why some scholars have proposed the "psychic factor theory," believing that psychic energy is composed of some invisible, indivisible, and difficult-to-observe "psychic factors," just as molecules and atoms together constitute matter, and different properties are brought about by changes in microscopic structure. This theory has been scorned by many people.

If one insists on saying there is any residue left after death and the dissipation of one's cultivation, then it is only "zero-element crystals". There are often rumors in the Eastern Continent that in the desolate mountains, an enlightened immortal who has washed away the mortal world will pass away in a day, and the world will change, and strange phenomena will arise, such as a radiant glow or a mountain full of pear blossoms blooming overnight.

Accompanying these phenomena are often scattered "zero-element crystals," solidified forms of psychic energy. Psychics can use these to pass on psychic skills, and artisans can incorporate them into weapons and equipment, making them easier for psychics to use.

From Song Shi's current perspective, the "zero-element crystal" is no longer meaningful. For him, no, it should be said that it is of little use to any psychic who has walked their own path.

—In a sense, this ice ball device, which records the entire ocean of Terra, is also a crystal of zero element.

A crystal with zero inclusions, sculpted millions of times.

It was a creation born from the life's work of a fourth-ring [Great Source], a vessel for decades of dreams. The former psychic was long dead, but its spirit still lingered in every crevices.

So, four thousand five hundred years later, the hockey machine remained unchanged.

So, four thousand five hundred years later, the ice hockey machine was retrieved by someone.

"—Have you finished memorizing?"

Song Shiwen.

"Scanned to nanometer precision, uploaded to the database," Lapis Lazuli replied.

A small hole on its body flashed, emitting a blue light that projected a planetarium.

But it's not a 3D model of a hockey globe; it's a planetarium representing modern "Terra," the kind of globe that would be displayed in a craft shop window, with a smooth surface and a flat map of Terra depicted on it.

"Six oceans." Lapis Lazuli stared at the hockey machine, his tone steady. "But now..." "Seven oceans." Song Shi replied, "I haven't forgotten the basic geography I learned in elementary school."

"Two large oceans have been lost, but three new ones have been added."

Dry air swept in from the end of the ice floes and the ocean tide, and the ice hockey device and the planetarium stood side by side, reflected in the young man's eyes.

But creations that should have been identical have long since gone their separate ways. Song Shi tried to find commonalities between them: the long coastlines, the outlines of the seas, the distance between the ocean and the continent. He found them; with the assistance of the [Liuli Temple], it was quite simple.

But many more parts are no longer possible to find.

Lapis Lazuli said, "Over the past four thousand five hundred years, the changes in the sea have exceeded those of normal geological activity. The information he recorded..." The AI ​​paused for a moment, then uttered those words: "It's expired."

"I remember you androids built several underwater bases, right?"

Song Shi gazed at the swaying ice floes for a few seconds, then suddenly spoke up.

"Correct."

“I don’t know much about this. Could you help me pick a place with good feng shui, clear some space inside, and build a museum?” Song Shi pointed to the hockey machine: “It’s yours.”

“Hmm.” Lapis Lazuli thought for a moment and said, “It still has some reference value. We can use it to study the changes in the Terra Sea over the last four thousand years.”

I don't think so.

The horizon gradually brightened, a thin white light. After all this turmoil, the Arctic finally ushered in the only time when the polar night might be a little brighter: midday.

Bathed in the dim light, Song Shi stretched and said slowly, "It's been several thousand years. There's probably more than one critical parameter that could be fatal. If we had 'chaotic probability calculation,' that would be one thing, but you don't, so you're just calculating the accuracy by brute force."

He turned his head to the side: "I find it quite worrying."

“That’s enough to publish at least one paper,” Lapis Lazuli replied flawlessly. “I can also go to the science ethics committee and ask them to help me get it published in a top journal.”

Song Shi burst into laughter.

In an effort to showcase its financial power, the giant corporation Time Travel did indeed raise the banner of building an underwater city, allowing people to live a free and unrestrained life and enter a new era. However, that underwater city, named "Zhongshui Station," was destroyed in a corporate war more than 20 years ago.

The once magnificent spectacle collapsed in a chain reaction.

Later, various scavengers worked diligently, and now, anything of value has been salvaged, leaving only desolate ruins soaked and rusted in the rushing seawater.

Nobody wanted to take over this mess.

Undersea City
Song Shi shook his head.

Since the end of the Seven Earth Wars, even the virtual and ethereal network has degenerated into an abyss; how could the once vibrant and vast ocean be any exception? Within the scarred landscape, only those treacherous and dangerous remnants remain.

No one is willing to invest unnecessary resources to build a meaningless underwater city. Even if there are occasional signs of activity, getting close will only reveal intelligent machines that are mining underwater day after day according to a program.

The ocean is no longer suitable for survival.

(End of this chapter)