Countdown: Humanity's struggle to survive against yesterday

"If we could solve the transportation problem first, humanity would be the happiest people today..."

At the northeast corner of Dingshan Lake, a bonfire burns quietly.

Jiang Ning lay on the lawn, one hand holding a cigarette, the other under his head, quietly gazing at the starry sky and lost in thought.

"That way, I can drive there to meet Lin Wei sooner, with the memories still with me..."

As for what the "mysterious space" in the mind is?

What does it represent?

And what is its use?

Jiang Ning pondered for half the night, but still had no clue.

During the first half of the night, Jiang Ning had wildly imagined things. He wondered if the mysterious space in his mind was a "system" like those in novels, or if it was a rare and precious treasure rooted in his sea of ​​consciousness waiting to sprout. He even wondered if it was a kind of superpower that he hadn't yet developed.

But after thinking it over and over, all that's left is to think.

This feeling of just thinking about it is very uncomfortable.

For researchers, the typical thought process is to first hypothesize, then experiment, then analyze, and finally draw conclusions. However, this process is clearly not suitable for the present situation.

Leaving aside the latter three, let's just consider the assumptions.

The premise of a hypothesis is that it requires observation first, which is the starting point of all scientific thinking.

"so……"

Jiang Ning frowned upon thinking this. "So, I still need to observe it?"

During his second expedition, Jiang Ning noticed that as long as he focused, the mysterious space would appear and disappear before his eyes, with tiny dots appearing in front of him, much like he had floaters.

Suning recalled that he tried it many times after returning home.

Once you get used to it, you don't even need to focus all your attention; just a little bit of silent thought is enough to see the tiny dots and feel a subtle pulling force.

But this point...

Jiang Ning strongly opposed it, believing it to be too abrupt and lacking in scientific rigor.

Leaving aside distant examples, just the ability to see a scene through meditation alone is remarkable, and this scene is so realistic that you can even feel its form.

This is too much!

This raises another question—what is this mechanism?

Is it metaphysics or science?

Since embarking on the path of scientific research, Jiang Ning has always adhered to the belief that everything has a traceable path. If there is no trace, it can only be described in the most common way that science and technology are not advanced enough and observation is not subtle enough.

Jiang Ning recalls that he had discussed this issue with Zhang Jimin.

In the end, Zhang Jimin stood on the opposing side, stubbornly saying, "There are too many things in this world that cannot be explained. Can't there be an element of the occult?"

Jiang Ning remembers that at the time, he didn't argue, but just silently wondered what the origin of mysticism and metaphysics was.

"Fine, I'll admit I'm scared!"

Jiang Ning suddenly stopped thinking and turned to her inner self, deciding to thoroughly analyze herself.

There are still many unanswered questions surrounding Lin Wei's accidental death a year ago.

In the past, I couldn't find the reasons and blamed everything on myself, which made me weak and self-blaming.

The world is now regressing, and in order to avoid feeling guilty, I'm like a drowning person grasping at a straw, becoming extremely cautious.

Ultimately, it's just that I'm very scared!

She fears that the mutation within her might become a key that causes the world to regress, and she fears even more that she won't know how to choose after discovering it.

"If it were Lin Wei, what would she choose?"

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning stubbed out his cigarette, slowly sat up straight, and Lin Wei's face involuntarily appeared in his mind—a girl with a very sweet smile.

"She would probably say that as long as the sun rises in the east, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

After muttering to himself, Jiang Ning couldn't help but take out a cigarette from the pack, light it, and then just quietly hold it in his hand without smoking it.

After a long while, he took a deep drag, and this time he didn't cough. Only his gaze became firm in the smoke he exhaled.

"Since observation is the starting point of all scientific thinking..."

"Well then, tonight I'll take a good look at what this is all about."

Jiang Ning quickly stubbed out his cigarette, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to adjust his breathing according to the meditation method.

"call……"

"suck……"

After repeating this several times, once his mind was clear, Jiang Ning immediately saw many small dots appear in front of him. However, he knew that he was closing his eyes, so it was impossible for him to see them unless it was a hallucination. Otherwise, it meant that he was about to see the mysterious space.

This feeling is very strange, like practicing some kind of martial arts, which is very unscientific.

But the truth is, as you meditate more deeply and your attention becomes more focused, a "mysterious space" really appears before your eyes, and you can be pulled into it immediately if you want.

This time, Jiang Ning didn't resist or interrupt her concentration as usual. Instead, she chose to let her consciousness continue to sink downwards...

The next second, Jiang Ning suddenly realized that he could no longer sense the existence of the outside world. He was in a space without any physical objects. He could see that the surroundings were a hazy gray with countless gray and grayish-white dots.

There was clearly nothing under my feet, yet I was still able to stand, and importantly, I was still wearing all my clothes.

If what was once just a dream or hallucination, Jiang Ning could now clearly sense that this was a real space.

The hazy gray in front of me is not actually a cloud or fog. When it is very small, these two colors are not even distinguishable to the naked eye, but they can be magnified.

This has been tested in my dreams several times before.

However, the place here is very different from what I saw in my dream.

In his dream, Jiang Ning remembered that most of the clouds formed by these mists were purple, but now they were gray and grayish-white.

Jiang Ning waved his hand, dispelling the surrounding clouds and mist. When all the clouds and mist turned into cloud clusters and retreated thousands of meters above his head, Jiang Ning felt as if he were standing on a lone ship in the deep sea, with endless dark clouds overhead.

This visual shock made him feel short of breath, very oppressed, and as if he were about to be swallowed up.

This is also why he was unwilling to come here in the past few days unless absolutely necessary.

I'm scared, really scared!

Besides fearing that this might be the key to the world's regression, he was even more afraid that this place might be an abyss.

Jiang Ning looked up and observed back and forth. After a while, an idea struck him, and he tried to separate the gray and grayish-white on his head.

Surprisingly, this attempt actually succeeded.

Jiang Ning suppressed his excitement and pulled over a gray dot and a grayish-white dot respectively. He enlarged the two dots in his left and right hands until they were the size of eggs and became transparent beads before he stopped manipulating them.

Jiang Ning first looked at the gray bead, which showed an unfamiliar child sleeping inside. Then he looked at the grayish-white bead, which showed a foreign man eating.

"this……"

Jiang Ning was startled; this new discovery was something that had never happened before.

Jiang Ning quickly released the gray bead in his left hand, reached out and grabbed another grayish-white bead. Looking down, he saw another strange man walking by.

"What exactly is going on?"

In an instant, Jiang Ning froze, completely still, his heart filled with shock.

After a long while, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind: "Do these two colors represent sleep and wakefulness...?"

"Also, does the purple bead in the dream represent the person who is dreaming...?"

"And what about me?" Jiang Ning followed this line of thought and couldn't help but ask himself, "Am I asleep, awake, or dreaming?"

As the last question was posed, the clouds seemed to come to life and began to vibrate instantly.

"No……"

After Jiang Ning came to his senses, he felt that this was not a vibration, but more like a silent resonance.

Next, Jiang Ning witnessed another shocking scene.

Countless clouds rapidly shifted and formed a... river overhead.

Yes, this is the most direct feeling in Jiangning.

As the clouds continued to resonate, the river seemed to come alive, rippling back and forth like waves on the water's surface.

In the middle of the river, a red bead was shining brightly.

"That's me..."

For some reason, Jiang Ning instinctively thought this when he saw the red bead.

Jiang Ning reached out to try to guide it. The red bead trembled slightly, then flew naturally into his hand.

Jiang Ning looked down and saw himself reflected in the bead; the other person was also looking at him.

Their eyes met, as if they were looking in a mirror.