Chapter 88: Chapter 92 Endless Speculation
Maurice sighed.
“When we, archaeologists who delve into the annals of history, exhaust our lives and strenuously reach the towering wall of the Great Erasure, scouring artifacts and comparing texts to catch a glimpse of the view beyond that wall, what we face are these baffling and bizarre phenomena.”
The old man wore a deep fatigue and dejection on his face, like a traveler who had journeyed for most of his life, still unable to see the destination at the end of the road, yet forced to accept reality.
“The history prior to the Great Erasure is fragmented and contradictory, with the records from different city-states resembling a collection of bizarre stories, or disjointed dreamscapes… There is no decisive evidence to prove which record is correct, nor a theory that can integrate these conflicting elements.”
Duncan, however, remained silent for a moment, his thoughts undulating like ocean waves, baptized in the information storm described by the incredible “apocryphal fragments” spoken of by Maurice.
As an “outsider” who had lived through the information age and possessed good associative thinking, he could imagine or conjecture some things from the descriptions given—
A dome covering the entire continent could be some kind of man-made ecological apparatus, an energy system deriving from the same source as the sun, likely using the substances in seawater as fuel—possibly fusion technology.
The great ships that navigated the void, powering themselves by capturing cosmic dust and gas clouds, might represent one or several colonial starships.
As for the so-called demons’ dreamscape… the seawater coming from the dreamscape to reality… this he could not imagine at the moment, but it sounded like a fantastical concept, quite different from the technological atmosphere in the earlier historical segments.
He could find explanations or guesses for many things, but no matter what, they could not be pieced together.
Just like Maurice said, they were more like disconnected dreams, sketching out completely different “prehistoric histories.”
Contradictory and fragmented, they were wholly insufficient for reconstructing the world before the Great Erasure.
“Perhaps you are right, that there is a ‘limit of vision’ regarding the pivotal event of the Great Erasure,” Maurice’s voice came from across the counter, interrupting Duncan’s train of thought, the old man supporting his forehead, his tone somber, “We are unable to observe the ‘events’ on the other side of the vision limit, making the history before the Great Erasure an eternally untraceable concept to us.”
Watching Maurice, full of emotion, Duncan’s thoughts did not cease, and gradually, a rather bold idea emerged: “What if… what if these records are all true?”
Maurice looked up surprised, regarding Duncan, “Oh?”
“What if these records are all true, and each city-state or each race documented history that truly represents the world ‘before the Great Erasure’ as they perceived it?” Duncan said pensively, stroking his chin, “Maybe our ancestors from ten thousand years ago really came from entirely different ‘homelands,’ with distinctly different civilizations? The Great Erasure trapped these exiles from different worlds on this Endless Sea, and the descendants of the exiles barely recorded what they knew before their civilization’s continuance was entirely severed. Ten thousand years later, these became the ‘contradictory histories’ that perplex scholars…”
His thoughts were active, and after a pause, he continued, “Perhaps the essence of the Great Erasure was not an end of the world, but rather a ‘Great Transfer’?”
Maurice stared at Duncan in amazement, suddenly saying, “… Brock Bendis’ school of thought? The World Drift theory? It’s a rather obscure school, have you really delved so deep into ancient history?”
That was a compliment, yet Duncan was somewhat taken aback: So someone had already thought of this possibility?!
Blinking his eyes, he didn’t let his surprise show, merely continuing as if following the topic, “Just some bits and pieces of knowledge, but I quite like this conjecture.”
“I, too, like this conjecture—even though it’s obscure,” Maurice shook his head, “But like all other conjectures, without evidence, it can only remain a conjecture.”
“Clarke’s School once hypothesized that Subspace interference distorted all historical records,” Morris said. “The Lentim School believes that the world before the Great Annihilation consisted of countless isolated lattices, while the people of the Bologna City-State even think that the world before the Great Annihilation never existed at all—that all records of prehistoric history are illusions conjured by shadows in Subspace…”
“I must not say this, but even some heretical cults have their own understanding of world history. Devotees of Subspace who worship the Doomsday Preachers firmly believe that the end of the world has already begun. It is chasing down the river of history, devouring our civilization. The conflicting historical records of the various City-States are the result of real history gradually being torn apart by Subspace. The Great Annihilation is a barrier standing before the end of days, and when history after the Great Annihilation also gradually becomes corrupted and torn, it will be the day our entire world falls into Subspace…”
The more Duncan listened, the more astonished he became, and after a long while, he shook his head subconsciously, “I had no idea there were so many bizarre hypotheses…”
“Ordinary people would not delve into such fields. After all, studying history in the mystical sense is a dangerous endeavor,” Morris noted. “But one thing is clear: If thousands of scholars have dedicated their lives exhaustively to a field with no sight of a way out for hundreds or even thousands of years, then they must have proposed every possible hypothesis.”
Duncan slowly grasped the old man’s meaning.
For those who had truly spent their lives buried in books and artifacts, to propose a hypothesis that could explain the current situation was easy—as scholars, they never lacked imagination or vision.
What they lacked was evidence—the evidence to prove even a single hypothesis.
“…Has no evidence been left at all?” Duncan asked. “Not a single piece of ‘physical evidence’ from before the Great Annihilation that could prove some ‘apocryphal’ tales to be true?”
“So far, none has been discovered,” Morris spoke slowly. “Ten thousand years and periods upon periods of Dark Ages have passed, innumerable City-States have risen and fallen in the Endless Sea; it’s too difficult for anything from the Ancient Era to survive… What has been passed down is either manuscripts of unreliable origin or orally transmitted stories, which might also have been altered in the process of transmission.”
Duncan fell silent for a moment.
In the depths of his spirit, on the distant Homeloss, the waves were gently undulating, the boundless ocean ever-pervasive, covering the entire world.
And covering all possible truths.
He could not help but sigh, “Studying ancient history is truly fraught with difficulties.”
“Yes, what we face is not only the shattered ‘years’ but also the current status with nothing to rely on,” Morris exhaled deeply. “On the limited land of the City-States, anything that could be unearthed would have been found by now. If not, it means that whatever could prove our history is hidden where mortals cannot reach.”
“Like at the bottom of the sea?” Duncan suddenly interjected.
“The bottom of the sea? Ha, such a thrilling and bold assertion,” Morris laughed. “But indeed, this is the remaining desperate hope of many historians who have reached their wit’s end… There’s evidence at the bottom of the sea, mountains of artifacts, cities of ancient civilizations, ruins that explain everything. But what’s the use? Dive down, and we can only touch shadows; mortals cannot reach the deepest parts of this world.”
He paused for a moment and then continued, “However, this has indeed given rise to another conjecture… Although it’s not considered a formal doctrine, many have speculated that the ‘lost world’ from history is actually beneath the surface of the Endless Sea, even precisely positioned between the Mysterious Deep Sea and the Spirit Realm at a certain ‘depth’—the world before the Great Annihilation is sleeping at that depth.”
“Why would they say that?” Duncan asked curiously, his interest piqued by the seemingly serious yet unfounded hypothesis.
Morris pondered for a moment before explaining, “Because many fragments of ancient history mention that the world before the Great Annihilation was covered by a ‘sky full of stars,’ and as everyone knows, the ‘sky full of stars’ is right at the boundary between the Mysterious Deep Sea and the Spirit Realm.”
Duncan nearly choked on his own saliva: “Cough, cough… What?”
“Are you alright?” Morris was startled by Duncan’s reaction. “That shouldn’t be anything inconceivable…”
“I’m fine, just got a bit too engrossed and choked,” Duncan quickly gestured with his hand, “The starry sky between the Mysterious Deep Sea and the Spirit Realm, of course, I know, I certainly know…”