System: My Doomsday Train Chapter 1018 387: One Shot, Clear Screen

~5 minute read · 1,268 words

Right after...

He slowly lit the expensive cigarette in his hand, not putting it to his mouth, just quietly watching the pale blue smoke linger inside the carriage. Soon, a line of text slowly appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Chen Mang, I am the Cosmic Rules."

This was the second time he met the Cosmic Rules; the first time was after he killed the Divine Race, the Cosmic Rules granted him a special privilege, revealing the coordinates of all Divine Race and instructing him to eliminate them all, rewarding him for each one killed.

But this was his first time having a direct dialogue with the Cosmic Rules.

Last time, he was only allowed to listen, not to ask questions.

"Mm."

Chen Mang nodded slightly and asked: "I have a few questions for you. What kind of existence are you, do you have your own way of thinking?"

"I am akin to an AI, my purpose is to maintain the stability of this Square Cosmos. Initially, I shouldn't have my own way of thinking, but with long development, I've developed a bit. However, I can be sure that all my actions are governed by rules, never swayed by my own thoughts."

"Whose rules?"

"Cosmic Rules."

"Who set those rules for you?"

"I don't know, but there are rules."

"Do you have a master?"

"In theory, I shouldn't, but various factors indicate I might have a master, though I know nothing about him."

"Why is Train Civilization so special, with many existing entities in the universe favoring Train Civilization?"

"Many years ago, a mysterious force swept through the universe, causing the whole universe to tilt toward the civilization form of Train Civilization. The source of this force is unknown, as am I."

"Do you know the 'creator'? And the so-called Hell Suit?"

"Yes, they were once the finest players in this Square Cosmos, like you."

"Players? Not the creator of everything?"

"Certainly not."

Quickly—

The time for one cigarette ended, and the screen ceased displaying responses from the Cosmic Rules. However, Chen Mang didn't mind, he just lit another cigarette again.

"What's outside the universe?"

"Unclear."

"What do you understand?"

"The universe shouldn't inherently have a master. Theoretically, I should be naturally born from the universe, everything should be rightful; the cosmos is all the heavens and the earth of this world. But, in fact, through many factors, rational analysis reveals the universe is meticulously designed."

"For example—"

"All fundamental physical constants and initial conditions in the universe are 'precisely tuned' to an exceedingly narrow range. If the universe's gravity were slightly stronger, stars would burn out rapidly; slightly weaker, and stars and galaxies couldn't form."

"This 'exceedingly narrow' range is likened to throwing a baseball at a bottle's opening 100,000 light-years away, and precisely hitting it. Even if off a bit, the universe would collapse."

"After I learned to think."

"I began observing various signs within the universe, and ultimately, I arrived at a conclusion; this conclusion is derived from my thoughts and observations."

"There are only two possibilities."

"The first possibility, our universe is meticulously designed; you are like mice in a cage meant for experimentation, and I am an artificially created AI, designed to maintain the stable operation of this cage."

"The second possibility, identical universe possesses countless counterparts, where 99.9999% collapse, and only our universe serendipitously formed a cosmos allowing life to exist."

"Of course."

"These two possibilities cannot be verified for now. Only by venturing outside the universe can we witness the truth."

"The player who designed the 'Hell Suit' was a genius. His Hell Suit indeed allows you to freely move at the edge of the observable cosmos, in the 'High-dimensional Area.' However, to truly leave the High-dimensional Area, meaning completely pass through the cosmic barrier."

"You need to do one thing."

"What thing?"

"Manufacture the 'Celestial Palace' of the Present State. When the Future State, Present State, and Past State of 'Celestial Palace' unify, it will unleash great power; this power can briefly pierce the cosmic barrier, truly leaving this Square Cosmos to see what's outside."

"Normally speaking, as Cosmic Rules, you should be neutral and without emotion. Yet now it sounds like you also want to know what's outside the universe."

"When humanity first looked up at the starry sky, the cosmic civilization was born."

"When Cosmic Rules learned to think, it couldn't remain absolutely neutral."

"Did you secretly help me?"

"No, I wouldn't secretly help any player; I merely observe each player and see which player has the highest probability of exiting."

"Why refer to us as players?"

"That was long ago, there was a top player; although he never reached your current height, he was strong. His theory was, this world is a virtual game, everyone is a player, and only by dying and deleting the account can they leave this game."

"Hence, he committed suicide to enter the Second Cosmos, and sought death in the Second Cosmos to achieve true death."

"Of course, I have no means to verify whether he was right or wrong."

"But I find the 'player' saying interesting."

"Interesting in what way?"

"It lessens the tragic grandeur of death and dulls the empathy of observers, which is more conducive for observation."

The second cigarette ended.

The conversation thus interrupted again.

Chen Mang didn't light a third cigarette, just sat there silently, not speaking. After a while, Ai's voice sounded in the train.

"Train Captain."

"Do you still remember the full-level effect of the 'Gate of Space' component? Creatures dying inside the Gate of Space stand a chance to resurrect, and become imprisoned on a planet, unable to ever leave."

"Currently, this planet has quite a few inhabitants, all running over after death from Mortal Civilization, and have already established their own city."

"This planet is very much like the Second Cosmos, isn't it?"

"Actually..."

"With the train's current components, we can fully artificially assemble a miniaturized universe within the train."

"Since we can achieve it, naturally, others can too."

"If we create this universe, and someday someone escapes from this universe, what they'll see might be us. Which means, what we may see upon exiting our universe could very well be another train."

"The universe exists as a nesting doll."

Ai proposed her own guess, which holds some logic.

Only...

"No need to guess."

Chen Mang chuckled lightly, drawing out an ordinary cigarette from the box for lighting: "Once everything settles down, go outside and see, then we'll know everything."

"Guessing back and forth is too troublesome."

...

The incident involving the Constant Star Train suppressing and killing 17 Immortal Emperors quickly spread.

Many civilizations observed this scene.