Is it because humans subconsciously sense the gaze of the stars and feel fear that they experience the overview effect toward Blue Star?
Ye Bai couldn't help but ask again, "Is it because of psychic energy that no civilization currently has an overview effect on Blue Star?"
"No, it's because they, like us, have become semi-transdimensional entities. In the current Era-01 universe, planets are just planets. But in Era-00, silicon-based lifeforms remained unchanged after the birth of the cosmos—no birth, no death, and their numbers were fixed at 6,895,134."
That number again...
"Then why is Blue Star the only non-silicon-based lifeform? And are all other uninhabited planets in the universe silicon-based lifeforms?"
"Uninhabited planets aren’t necessarily silicon-based lifeforms, but silicon-based lifeforms can only exist on uninhabited planets... After all, in Era-00, Blue Star was the only planet with intelligent life, and it wasn’t silicon-based. Perhaps it’s related to its coordinates, or perhaps it’s because carbon-based life had already emerged there. We don’t have an answer to this question."
"In Era-01, the genes of Blue Star’s inhabitants remain unchanged because the silicon-based civilizations also noticed Blue Star’s uniqueness. In our time, Blue Star’s coordinates had no definitive answer. The cosmic center point and Blue Star’s coordinates were only 'seen' after both we and the silicon-based civilizations ascended."
Hearing this, Ye Bai shuddered. "In Era-00, were the cosmic coordinates... also fixed? No variation across different reference frames?"
"Yes. In the four-dimensional universe, the fundamental attributes of all three-dimensional matter inherently contain information. Blue Star’s coordinate information is identical to the ultimate answer—68.951.34. When the silicon-based civilizations rebooted the universe and reconstructed Era-01, apart from the emergence of carbon-based civilizations, all matter in the cosmos remained the same as in Era-00. Not just Blue Star."
The number of silicon-based lifeforms and Blue Star’s coordinates... both are tied to the universe’s ultimate answer. Yet even now, neither the Ancients nor the stars have uncovered its true meaning.
Amidst the flood of information, Ye Bai raised the most critical question:
"Then why did the silicon-based civilizations do all this? Rebooting the universe, seeding carbon-based genetic material, Era-01... It all seems like an experiment. And what role do you, who appear to oppose the stars, play in this?"
"No, not an experiment—war."
The Ancients’ reply left Ye Bai stunned once more. "War?"
One of the Ancients explained, "Our relationship with the silicon-based civilizations isn’t just opposition. More accurately, we are at war—a 'four-dimensional war' that three-dimensional universes can scarcely perceive or observe."
"For example, the Star Network is one of our offensive measures, while their interference devices are a form of 'defensive weaponry.' As for wormholes... you could say they are the scars left behind after our battles."
The formation of wormholes was actually the aftermath of clashes between higher-dimensional civilizations... Ye Bai felt a strange mix of awe and absurdity.
So the Star Church’s mission to close wormholes could, in other words, be described as battlefield cleanup?
"The silicon-based lifeforms won’t close wormholes outside the Chaotic Star Sea to avoid disrupting the development of normal civilizations. We’ve deliberately instigated localized conflicts many times, paying a price to create wormholes for strategic purposes—activating psychic energy switches via the Star Network, transporting you from Era-00 to Era-01, or establishing this very communication channel..."
"In terms of temporal scope, the historical Era-00 is our occupied territory, while the newly opened Era-01 belongs to the silicon-based civilizations. As you can see, we—trapped in the already-destroyed Era-00—are at a disadvantage, while the silicon-based civilizations, holding Era-01, dominate the battlefield."
"If they complete their final plan, our information—our very existence—will be reset to zero, equivalent to complete annihilation on a material level."
The revelation shook Ye Bai to the core. If even the ascended Ancients were losing this dimensional war, what hope was there for other carbon-based lifeforms still bound to the three-dimensional universe?
"But... why did this war start? What was the cause?"
"And why did the silicon-based civilizations reboot Era-01? Just to establish a strategic stronghold?"
The Ancients replied, "These questions share the same answer—to seek cosmic truth."
"After ascending to four-dimensional existence, both the silicon-based civilizations and we ourselves no longer depend on material needs or survival. As long as our consciousness—our 'information'—persists, death is impossible. Thus, our sole remaining drive is the intellectual pursuit of ultimate truth."
"To explain the origin of this dimensional war, we must start from our first encounter with the silicon-based civilizations."
"When we discovered them, they had already crossed the boundaries of the universe and begun exploring dimensions. Having found no other lifeforms, we started investigating alternative forms of existence. It was through the overview effect and gravitational waves that we first detected them and established communication."
"Thrilled to encounter another form of life in the cosmos, we eagerly exchanged knowledge. Do you know how they described humanity?"
"Cruel. Selfless. Chaotic."
"Silicon-based civilizations have no hierarchy. Whether a massive planet or a minor celestial body, regardless of resource abundance, they never harm, exploit, or destroy their own kind for personal gain. Nor would they sacrifice themselves against biological instinct for emotional bonds, collective ideals, or abstract meaning."
Ye Bai was momentarily speechless, unable to deny the accuracy of the assessment. "...Did the war break out because of this?"
"No. Whether humans are cruel or selfless holds no significance to silicon-based lifeforms. Unlike carbon-based life, which evolved from fragility and chaos, they had long transcended material and survival needs even within the three-dimensional universe. Their sole purpose is the pursuit of knowledge."
"After discovering the silicon-based civilizations, we even shared a collaborative 'honeymoon phase,' exchanging insights—until we calculated the universe’s ultimate answer, ascending to four-dimensional existence shortly before and after them."
"After becoming four-dimensional beings, we realized this wasn't the 'peak' we had imagined. The true meaning of 6895134 isn't the coordinates of Blue Star, nor is it the fixed quantity of silicon-based life. There might be a connection, but that's not it."
"At this stage, whether it's us or the silicon-based civilization, the only remaining need is to find that answer."
"Then, at a sudden moment, the silicon-based civilization launched a war against us, whose information depth was slightly lower—in other words, the weaker ones—devouring our information."
Ye Bai was puzzled: "But haven't four-dimensional beings already achieved liberation in survival?"
"At first, we didn’t understand why either. We even thought it was a war caused by ideological differences. Only after paying a heavy price in the war did we discover that everything stemmed from a weakness in the silicon-based civilization."
"What weakness?"
"They cannot 'make mistakes.'"
This answer took Ye Bai completely by surprise. How is not making mistakes a weakness?!
Gu explained: "Or to put it another way, the silicon-based civilization lacks creativity… The consciousness and thinking of silicon-based life are rooted in perfect logical chains. If even a single link in the chain is flawed, their thought process collapses."
"In the past, they relied on this flawless, orderly logical computation to stay ahead of us. But after reaching the four-dimensional universe, they became trapped in their own perfection, unable to break through the limits of their thinking. Their species had hit its ceiling."
"Carbon-based civilizations are different. We often make mistakes in our progress. You could say the development of carbon-based civilizations is built on making mistakes and correcting them. Sometimes, we even stumble upon shortcuts by accident—this is what we call 'mistakes,' or in other words, creativity."
"It’s foreseeable that as we continue to evolve, even though we’ll keep making mistakes, it’s precisely because of this that we might truly see the 'endpoint' that the silicon-based civilization cannot."
The silicon-based civilization’s strength was also its limitation… Ye Bai asked: "So, did the silicon-based civilization develop a competitive mindset toward you?"
"No. That kind of 'chaos' doesn’t exist for them, nor would they ever consider cooperating with or relying on us. In their consciousness, encountering a problem means solving it."
"Once they realized their own weakness—that they might never reach the endpoint on their own—they, who had advanced further in the four-dimensional universe than us, decided to take our creativity."
"Aside from plundering our information in the four-dimensional universe, they also restarted the cosmos, creating the current Epoch 01. They aimed to construct an 'entropy-decreasing universe' opposite to the entropy-increasing universe of Epoch 00. While the entropy-increasing universe moves toward uncertainty and chaos, the entropy-decreasing universe moves from disorder to order, where everything has a predetermined answer."
"When the entropy of this universe drops to zero, all matter, life, and time in Epoch 01 will become fully extractable information—including all the 'mistakes' made by three-dimensional and four-dimensional carbon-based life, which is to say, creativity."
"To put it simply, it’s like encasing this universe in a 'dimensional wall,' turning it into a story, a game, or a movie."
Ye Bai’s mind reeled—this was the true horror of 'dimensional reduction'!
Gu continued: "In fact, spiritual energy is just another form of creative energy."
"We couldn’t stop them in the four-dimensional universe, so we sent the Starnet here in advance to activate this 'switch.' We hoped the carbon-based life in this epoch could break through the gradually forming blockade. But as you know, this is a war. We took action, and of course, they retaliated. Apart from you—a 'stowaway' we brought from Epoch 00—no other carbon-based life in this universe can break through A-rank spiritual energy."
Thinking of this, Ye Bai asked: "If the Starnet is the 'switch,' then why is it only 'Infinite Worlds' among the Starnet games that has a noticeable effect on boosting spiritual energy?"
"No, the other games on the Starnet are just cover—to conceal 'Infinite Worlds.' From the four-dimensional perspective, you’re like a unique drop of water in the ocean. We needed more unique drops to mask your presence. 'Infinite Worlds' is inseparable from your consciousness. To be precise, it came with you."
The Starnet, wormholes, smuggling Ye Bai over… These were all measures taken by the Gu faction in this war. And the efforts and sacrifices they made revolved mostly around Ye Bai.
"So… why me?"
At the end of this long, synchronized exchange, Ye Bai asked the ultimate question.
In response, Gu countered: "Do you think the NPCs in 'Infinite Worlds' are real lives?"
Ye Bai’s mind flashed with images of her divine subordinates—Nao, Autofis, Kraken—and later encounters in 'Infinite Worlds' like Carrie, Lucy, and Felix. She knew all too well that they had started as mere data, but that didn’t stop her from answering without hesitation: "Of course they are."
"Do you remember how the code that formed them initially came into being?"
Ye Bai paused, then a realization struck her, connecting everything: "It was… mistakes."
"Exactly. They are intelligent lifeforms you created, and like us humans, they possess the potential to break through dimensions. Even though they exist in a lower dimension now, that potential remains."
"In Epoch 00, after we ascended but before we returned to Blue Star, your physical body had already perished. It was only after becoming semi-transcendent beings that we found you—a unique information entity—within the historical records of Epoch 00 at the four-dimensional scale."
"The key to reversing an entropy-decreasing universe back to entropy-increasing lies in that 'wall.' And this wall doesn’t just exist between this entropy-decreasing universe and the silicon-based civilization—it also stands between 'Infinite Worlds' and you."
"You are the hope we found by looking back through human history. Because you are the only one who has ever broken through dimensions. If you can shatter the wall between 'Infinite Worlds' and this universe, you’ll also destroy the wall the silicon-based civilization has built around it."
