Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 1143 Ancient and Modern Times and the Essence of Color

(This chapter contains a lot of background information... Please subscribe at your discretion.)

The present world was actually shattered by the Source God Platform!!!

After hearing this rather shocking news, Lyon couldn't help but recall the news he heard from the Twin Directors when he first left the Primal Tablet.

According to the observations of the Gemini directors, the present world in the past seemed to be much more vast than the present world. In that once complete present world, reality and the dead world overlapped, and heaven and the abyss stood side by side.

Beneath the celestial realm, the shattered four fragmented realms float as the 'spiritual' plane, the dream realm is reflected within as a projection of the spirit, and the Holy Spirit realm hangs high outside as the sublimation of will.

Including the three minor planes such as the Tide Realm that were taken away by the Ten Descendants of the Great Court, the Moon that was occupied by the Moon People, the Beast Garden that drifted outside the present world, etc., all of them were once part of the ancient present world.

In this "Ancient World" that is more than ten times larger than the present one, almost every plane has a "break" that was once connected to other planes, except for the Source God Platform. Therefore, the Source God Platform may be the only "outsider" among the fourteen planes.

The observations made by the twin directors upon their deep dive into the Source God Platform seemed to correspond perfectly with what the mermaid beauty had just said. The once vast and complete "Ancient World" was shattered precisely because of the arrival of the Source God Platform... But there also seemed to be some discrepancies between the two.

"Wait first!"

After gesturing for a stop, Leon, while trying to absorb the secrets the mermaid woman was telling him, asked her with some skepticism:
"You mean... our human ancestors escaped from the old world and came to the present world, and then the Root No. 3 came out and smashed the present world from a complete large plane into a group of planes with one main plane and many auxiliary planes? If that's the case, why don't we have any corresponding records in our department?"

"Because of the time difference~"

As if she had anticipated Lyon's question, the mermaid beauty smiled and said:
"Have you forgotten? The timeline of the Old Land is basically chaotic, so the human ancestors and the Source God Platform that came out of the Old Land also did not leave according to the normal time."

Although you escaped from the Old Earth first, and then the Root Ones pursued you with the Source God Platform, the order of these two events was reversed because time was distorted in the Old Earth. Your ancestors arrived later than you, which is why they didn't observe the shattering of reality.

"..."

"To put it simply, before you humans escaped from the old land, the Roots had already 'chased' you out first, smashed the original, intact world, and created an environment suitable for human survival. Only after you escaped did you settle here... Do you understand?"

"..."

How could I possibly understand that?!
Feeling dizzy from the mermaid woman's overly abstract description, Leon remained silent for a moment before managing to summarize:
"You mean this sequence... isn't it similar to the structure of an ouroboros? Because our ancestors escaped and settled in the present world, the Source God Platform and the Root came after them and shattered the complete present world."

And it was precisely because the present world was shattered from a state of chaos and transformed into a material plane suitable for human survival that our ancestors ultimately chose to settle here?

That's roughly the idea.

After giving Lyon an approving look, the mermaid beauty smiled and said:
“You’ve never actually been to the Old Land, nor have you witnessed the intertwining of countless chaotic times. I thought you’d be completely confused, but I didn’t expect you to actually understand.”

"..."

No, you know I might not understand, so can't you explain it even more simply...? Never mind, just get the gist of it...

After memorizing the information in a way he could understand, Leon frowned and asked:

"So, is it possible for the shattered world to be repaired and restored to its original state?"

"It's almost impossible."

The mermaid beauty shook her head and said:
"Destruction is easy, but repair is difficult. To smash a complete bowl, you only need to be strong enough. But if you want to put the broken bowl back together, you not only need to be strong and skillful, but you also need to know the location and characteristics of all the fragments."

If this bowl were placed in the modern world, it would require someone who could traverse all fourteen planes, possess a deep understanding of the rules and conditions of each plane, and perhaps even become the corresponding 'ruler' to achieve this.

They have a deep understanding of the situation in each dimension...

After listening to the mermaid woman's words, Leon seemed to have thought of something, and opened the badge panel to look at the slightly shimmering [Materialism] badge.

[Materialist Soul (Crimson): As a staunch believer... matter is the foundation of objective existence... things that cannot be understood stem from one's own insufficient and inaccurate understanding of the world...]

[Wearing effect: ...]

[Advanced Path: Reached... No further advancement possible]

[Hidden Feature: Whenever your understanding of a world's core rules reaches a certain level, you will gain the ability to modify them to a corresponding degree.]

当前解析进度（按照理解程度高低排列）：海渊界（63.9%）、死界（49.9%）、深渊（44.5%）、天堂山（41.1%）、现世（33.6%）、梦界（18.2%）、潮汐界（11.3）……旧土（1.1%）星界（0.1%）】

So how deep is "very deep"? Is it like the Death Realm, reaching 49.9%?
"Leon, while reuniting the fourteen planes would indeed greatly enhance the foundation of the present world, it's better if you don't spend your time on it."

Glancing at Leon, who was deep in thought, and vaguely guessing his plans, the mermaid beauty blinked and offered a reminder:

"Even if you spend many years traveling to all fourteen planes, you can only find these 'fragments', not put them back together."

To achieve this, not only is there a requirement for the 'quantity' of the root cause, but also a very high requirement for its 'quality'. Even at my peak, I couldn't achieve this.

That's it...

Lyon pondered for a moment upon hearing this, then vaguely grasped something and asked in return with some curiosity:

"If even you can't do this, then how do you know the conditions for repairing this shattered world? Have you ever seen someone else do it?"

"Well……"

Upon hearing this, the mermaid beauty frowned slightly, then nodded with a somewhat unpleasant expression.

"It should be... Although I'm not sure if it's true or not, in my memory, Number 1 once did something like gluing together broken planes, but he only repaired two small planes that had just broken, which wasn't as difficult as repairing the present world."

Number 1...

Lyon raised an eyebrow and pressed on with the question:

"How did he do it?" "That involves his level of understanding of the root cause."

After a slight hesitation, the mermaid beauty opened her palm towards Lyon, and a faint, primal glow slowly emerged from her fair palm.

"This is the most basic source that you and the three generations of directors of the Cleanup Bureau once entered the source and witnessed the operation of the source, and thus became tainted by it."

For true gods, even pillar gods, the presence of the primordial color is incredibly strong; merely covering a point on their hands or eyes is enough to directly confront authority and even tear apart truth.

Her soft, delicate hands cradled the Origin Color, and with a gentle sweep across the void, leaving a misty, colorful trail, the mermaid beauty softly blew away the trace left by the Origin Color, then spoke to explain:

"But for the world as a whole, the color of origin is still very 'light' and not stable enough in nature. The changes it makes to the world are not even as lasting as the power of the true god."

As the world continues to turn, these inherently unstable colors will gradually be diluted by the flow of the world, and the traces they left in the world will gradually recover, restoring it to its original state.

"Like fog?"

"Yes."

Seeing that Leon understood immediately, the mermaid beauty nodded in satisfaction. Then she clenched her fist tightly, shaping the rich source color that had somehow filled her palm into a small, iridescent droplet.

"Once your immersion value exceeds eighty points and you have a deeper understanding of the meaning of the root, you will gradually learn how to condense the color of the root, making it a more intense and concentrated flower of the root. Because of its more stable nature, the flower of the root can do more things."

For example, what I did before, when the Abyss Realm was on the verge of collapse, I forcibly maintained the rules that were slipping away from the Abyss Realm, or sent you back to the past and then back again, while also maintaining the stability of time within you. These are all effects of the Root Flower.

I see……

Looking at the rainbow-colored droplets in the mermaid's palm, Leon imitated her, tentatively opening his palm and clenching it tightly, trying to condense the essence of origin, but he failed, only making the color of origin in his hand a little more intense.

"I probably understand."

After checking his current contamination level, which was stuck at 79.9, Leon flicked his hand, dispelling the primal color in his palm, and thoughtfully concluded:
"Using water as an example, the color of the source is gaseous fog, while the essence of the source is liquid water, which is more condensed and more stable... So, going further up, are there even more stable solids?"

"It's exactly what you think."

After giving Leon a particularly appreciative glance, the mermaid beauty nodded slightly and said:

"If you go further up from the source of the essence, you can extract an even more stable source of the essence, which, in your words, is like solid ice. Once the source reaches this stage, its influence on the world will be fixed semi-permanently."

"Back then, Number One only managed to reconnect two nearly broken sub-dimensions by extracting a small amount of Origin Essence. He probably gained my trust through this, which gave him the opportunity to invade the Abyss Realm… But let's not talk about that."

After letting out a sigh, the mermaid beauty raised her hand to stop before Leon could speak, and earnestly refused:
"Don't ask me how to refine the essence of the source, I won't tell you, even if you're willing to have children with me..."

"To become something like a god among humans? And then to completely rule, exploit, and even... sacrifice the race you were born from? Is that right?"

"?!!!"

I knew it...

Seeing the mermaid beauty who was startled by his words and looked over in shock, Leon couldn't help but close his eyes and sigh sincerely along with her.

According to Evangeline, the origins have been "traced" along with human ancestors and are therefore bound to the human race. Thus, the way to completely understand the origins is most likely inseparable from humanity itself.

Furthermore, Evangeline doesn't care about many things. If we think about whether her situation is harmful to her people or to the humans she comes from, then it's pretty much the truth.

Besides, William and Evangeline, these "roots descendants," share a very significant common trait... they like to climb the social ladder.

This commonality seems to be engraved in their genes, making them born with an extraordinary enthusiasm for seizing higher status and power. However, for them, whose individual strength is unparalleled, these things should not mean much.

Just like the board members of the Cleanup Bureau, once they have the power to wipe out a city in minutes and have seen the wider world, even the most power-hungry person should lose interest in this.

But those who were born to control the source were not "set" to be the type to pursue power. Instead, they had an extremely strong interest in status and power. And it wasn't just William who was an isolated case. In the memories of the Ivangeline people, she also showed similar traits.

This means that gaining power and status within the group they were born into was of great importance to them, which is why this trait has been "preserved" in a general sense.

So... if we consider the three conditions—related to humanity, harmful to the race, and requiring the acquisition of power and status—and expand our thinking a little further, the method for extracting the essence of the root is not hard to guess.

"You really have a wild idea... to actually guess it based on such far-fetched conditions..."

After listening to Leon's reasoning, the mermaid beauty couldn't help but say helplessly:

"If it weren't for some minor errors, I would have really thought that your guide was right and that you had been comforting me all along... The method of extracting the essence of the source is indeed similar to what you guessed, but the specific method is not extraction or sacrifice, but a more thorough absorption."

"absorb?!"

"It means directly 'devouring' the race you were born from at the level of existence."

Since Leon had already guessed this, it seemed there was little difference whether he kept it a secret or not. The mermaid beauty sighed and explained:
"This kind of absorption at the level of existence, although it does not digest the body and soul of the person being 'eaten,' will slowly 'overwhelm' the will of each individual."

Once this process is fully completed, your will will gradually become everyone's will, and your thoughts will gradually become everyone's thoughts, slowly eroding all other possibilities.

Although you are still you, your people are still your people, and you still have your own lives, your own joys and sorrows, you are no longer just yourself, but have become part of a 'greater' you.

"As for the essence of the origin... the origin is simply too vast. No matter how strong an individual's will is, it is still too insignificant compared to the origin. And a point cannot compress a sphere, so naturally it cannot compress the essence of the origin into the color of the origin."

But once you have completed this absorption, your will will become the will of many more people, spreading across space, and your will will be inherited by others, flowing into the future over time.

At this point, you've transformed from a single point into a plane, gaining the right to truly grasp the root in your hands and compress it while 'mastering' it, thus extracting the essence of the root that can bind the world together.

　Two-in-one, haha... Or2
　　
　
(End of this chapter)