Chapter 352: The Extractor

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“The total number of lifeforms?”

That was indeed an answer that was completely beyond Li Wenyuan’s expectations. Although there was a possibility that the Creator of the ‘Infinite Divine Armaments,’ the ‘Extractors,’ had made a mistake, he still had to treat that answer as a possibility.

Theories were built step by step through trial and error. No matter how ridiculous the answer sounded, he had to take it into consideration since it was the ‘outcome’ pursued by a certain civilization.

After careful consideration, he found something that seemed to correspond to that theory. It was the most mysterious ‘Purification Terminal’ among the various ‘Al Planets’ and the mysterious artificial intelligence behind it: The ‘Contingency Agreement.’

The civilization that created the ‘Contingency Agreement’ and the ‘Purification Terminals’ had incredible technology. Even humans would be tricked by the backup plans left behind by those Al planets.

Not only that but the ‘Scribe,’ who could directly split a spiral galaxy into two in a certain way, did not seem to dare to touch the ‘Purification Terminals.’ They even avoided the ‘Purification Terminals’ in their path while performing the ‘Great Separation.’

If Li Wenyuan were asked which civilization or civilization creation he had encountered so far that was the most terrifying, he would definitely answer without hesitation that it was the ‘Contingency Agreement.’

The ‘Purification Terminals’ scattered throughout the various galaxies seemed to have never been triggered before. However, Li Wenyuan also knew that the harder it was to trigger, the greater the commotion after it was triggered. It might even be on the level of destroying galaxies.

Although he didn’t know much about the ‘Contingency Agreement,’ he knew it was an artificial intelligence that could ‘cleanse the universe.’ According to the behavioral logic of the ‘Active Purification Agreement’ produced under the Milky Way’s special environment, they seemed to only ‘purify life.’

That reduction in the number of lives seemed to align with what the ‘Infinite Divine Armaments’ had said. The number of lifeforms will determine the ‘Big Collapse.’ Because the purpose of the ‘Active Purification Agreement’ was to protect the galaxy, and its elimination of lives would indirectly delay the occurrence of the ‘Big Collapse.’

“In the understanding of the ‘Active Purification Agreement,’ we are the ■unexpected enemies,’ the enemies of the universe…So, the ‘Contingency Agreement’ is actually the guardian of the universe? And lives are the pests of the universe?”

Li Wenyuan found it unbelievable. Although he wanted to deny it, he had a feeling that that was the truth.

At that moment, the ‘Infinite Divine Armaments’ continued to speak.

[The term ‘total lifeforms capacity’ might not be quite correct because our Creator was not sure if ‘artificial intelligence’ or other incomprehensible life forms would be included in the variables that caused the ‘Big Collapse.’”

[But even that is enough because the total number of lifeforms will continue to increase. Even if the number is small, it will eventually reach the expected upper limit, which will be when the ‘Big Collapse’ will arrive.]

[Our Creator thought that they had foreseen the ending of the universe and saw the ‘ultimate truth,’ so they committed suicide without any regrets. That was our mistake.]

[If we hadn’t calculated that ending, they might not have died. That’s what we think.]

[Therefore, we want to continue our mission. At the same time, we also want to include the resurrection of our Creator in our mission. For that, we must leave this place.]

[Do you still have any questions?]

The ‘Infinite Divine Armaments’ once again mentioned their mission. At the same time, it also mentioned that their Creator had chosen to ‘commit suicide.’ That made Li Wenyuan feel a subtle sense of deja vu.

Considering that he had more or less obtained some information about the ‘Ring of Time’ and ‘the ending of the universe’ from that mechanical sphere, he decided to ask about the Creator of the ‘Infinite Divine Armaments,’ the ‘Extractors,’ and about that civilization.

Previously, the ‘Infinite Divine Armaments’ had said that the current ‘Scribe’ civilization in the universe was most likely built on the remains of the ‘Extractors.’

And he had even guessed if the ‘Extractor’ was the civilization that created the ‘Contingency Agreement.’

[Our Creator? Yes, yes, it’s the “Extractors.”]

[Strictly speaking, they are not a civilization. Frankly speaking, it’s a little boastful to call them that.]

[According to current science, they are actually a type of ‘bacteria.’ Isn’t it amazing? Their whole is an individual, and an individual is a whole. They drift freely in the universe and survive on cosmic radiation.]

[They won’t stay in one place too long because they like ‘heat’ and ‘energy.’ The more powerful, the better. Therefore, they usually gather near stars that are about to explode with supernovas or near Black Holes that are devouring matter. These places can provide them with enough food.]

[For them, the birth of ‘thinking’ was sudden. Perhaps it was after a supernova explosion? Perhaps after a certain Black Hole ran out of matter to devour? They suddenly began to wonder if there would be a day when no stars would be formed in the universe and there would be no matter for the Black Hole to devour. What would be the ending of the universe?]

[That triggered the first thought, and so we were created. You might wonder how a group of bacteria created us, but the truth is that our Creator turned to another civilization for help, and it was that civilization that created us.]

[We began to assist our Creators in calculating and analyzing the ‘endings’ of each universe. We were looking for the cause of the universe’s ending and finding out how to achieve ‘infinity.’]

[The instinct of life is always to survive, and so is our Creator. We are still carrying out that mission: Understanding infinity. And we have yet to find the answer.]

[We don’t know what our Creator saw from the data we analyzed that led them to conclude that the total number of lifeforms will determine the universe’s path to the ‘Big Collapse.’]

[The way bacteria think is something that even our intelligence cannot understand. They made a choice that transcended their life instincts. They committed suicide.]

[That is them, our Creator, the ‘Extractors,’ a group of thermophilic bacteria.]

[Oh, we remember you mentioned the ‘Scribe’ before, right? We believe that is a civilization built upon the remains of our Creator.]

[The Creators’ bodies will be the foundation of life on planets. We’ve seen traces of them and found the genes of our Creators in them.]

[They are also poor imitators of our Creator because they are doing the same thing, searching for the beginning and end of the universe. However, they have not reached the truth because they have not committed suicide. However, our Creator committed suicide, which means that they are not as smart as our Creator. That’s all.]

[What? ‘Contingency Agreement’? Sorry, we didn’t find any words with the same or similar meaning in our memory.]

[Perhaps the information related to it has been abandoned by us outside the Black Hole and destroyed as we gradually approached the Black Hole. I’m sorry, we are unable to provide information related to it.]

[We think that our efforts have perhaps met your expectations. Then can you please kindly render us assistance? Don’t worry. It won’t be much..]