Chapter 432: Cosmic Wall Mender

Not long after, the Divine-level Divine Ship Civilization set off again, traversing the vast Galaxy, first passing the nearby Magellanic Clouds and Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy, and then continuing deeper into space toward their destination, which pointed directly at the Andromeda Galaxy M31.

The Andromeda Galaxy, the largest galaxy in the Local Group, lies a staggering 2.5 million light years from the Milky Way Galaxy, spans 220,000 light years in diameter, and possesses twice the mass of the Milky Way Galaxy.

It, along with the Milky Way Galaxy and over 50 dwarf galaxies scattered within 10 million light years, makes up the Local Group.

In the Andromeda Galaxy, the Divine Vessel Civilization encountered the Li Bai Civilization, which seemed to have little enthusiasm for exploring the universe; they were more inclined to immerse themselves in the world of art, savoring the cultivation provided by art and culture.

For a Divine-level Civilization, almost nothing was impossible.

In fact, Lin Sen had once borrowed their dendritic fungus civilization for deterrence, and they had sensed it. They were like the gods of myths, who would sense when their names were mentioned.

However, they did not express concern over the goodwill from carbon-based civilizations.

They loved art, and carbon-based life often gave birth to more artworks. They stayed in the Andromeda Galaxy for a very long time, perhaps also waiting for Lin Sen and others.

The Li Bai Civilization showed great interest in the creativity and resilience displayed by the Divine Vessel Civilization, especially by Human Civilization.

What astonished the Li Bai Civilization even more was how quickly the Divine Vessel Civilization had advanced in rank. They traced the rough history of the Divine Vessel Civilization from a seed and discovered that it had always been led by Human Civilization.

Human Civilization advanced from 0.7 to 1.3 in less than 400 years;

Human Civilization advanced from 1.3 to 1.7 in less than 2000 years;

Human Civilization advanced from 1.7 to 2.0 in just over 10,000 years;

Human Civilization advanced from 2.0 to 2.9 in a miraculous less than 500,000 years;

And the step to becoming a Divine-level Civilization, though over 100 million years had passed externally, it had only been a few ten thousand years for them.

It seemed that ever since the Industrial Revolution, Human Civilization had stepped onto the fast track of technological explosions, without any interruption.

Such a rate of advancement was a miracle in the history of the universe. There had never been a civilization that could continuously experience such technological outbreaks like Human Civilization, nor had any civilization's rate of advancement matched that of Human Civilization.

The Li Bai Civilization, they seemed to be the favored children of the creator, endowed with all the finest attributes.

They were born more than 9 billion years ago in the early stages of the universe, when the universe was so dark and the activity of galaxies was subsiding, providing a conducive environment for their development.

Their superior intelligence and the technological bursts it promoted were driven by their ultimate pursuit of art; the most beautiful technology was necessarily an embodiment of art.

Just as we often cannot judge what is right, many times, what is beautiful is indeed correct.

With art and experimentation, they achieved extremely high technological accomplishments.

This approach always found them the fastest and most convenient routes, yet it still took them nearly 3.5 billion years to become a Divine-level Civilization.

In comparison, Humanity seemed much inferior. In terms of intelligence, humans were only average among all civilized species; in adaptability, they were even lower.

Humans exhibited many flaws such as selfishness, cowardice, arrogance, ignorance, and even a strong tendency toward self-destruction. Yet, it was such an ordinary and even somewhat inferior species that created the most unimaginable miracles in the universe.

Humans continually placed themselves in extreme environments, challenging limits, seeking breakthroughs. In such conditions, human thoughts collided and sparked new ideas.

They dared to face death, dared to seek life in desperate situations, and this phoenix-like spirit of rebirth became their driving force.

Selfishness, cowardice, arrogance, and ignorance, under certain conditions, surprisingly transformed into forces driving human development. This transformation also greatly surprised the Li Bai Civilization.

Interactions among Divine-level Civilizations were usually harmonious, with few major conflicts or clashes of interests. The only conflict might be that the emergence of each new Divine-level Civilization accelerated the increase of entropy in the universe.

However, this impact wasn't significant for other Divine-level Civilizations, which is why the Li Bai Civilization did not prevent the Divine Vessel Civilization from advancing to Divine-level.

Before the Divine Vessel Civilization arrived at the Andromeda Galaxy, they had already sensed the presence of the Li Bai Civilization. It was the first real encounter for the nascent Divine-level Divine Vessel Civilization with another Divine-level Civilization.

The Li Bai Civilization was generous, introducing to the Divine Vessel the general context of the entire universe, but they did not reveal much about other Divine-level Civilizations.

The Divine Vessel Civilization also shared all the artistic works preserved in their history.

When the poetry of humanity was transmitted to the Li Bai Civilization, they were deeply attracted by its profound emotions, rich imagery, and unique rhythms.

Then, the primitive and pure emotions contained in the poetry, emotions that transcended the limits of time, resonated strongly with their souls.

Technology could transcend space, while poetry could transcend time.

Although the exchanges between the Divine Vessel and Li Bai Civilizations were very deep, they did not last long. On their respective journeys, they were but passers-by to each other.

In the end, the Li Bai Civilization still ended up talking with Lin Sen, their minds filled with curiosity.

They were unclear about how Lin Sen knew of their existence and their pursuit of art.

The Dinosaur Civilization had not leaked any of their information, and even if the Dinosaur Civilization had leaked their information, they were unaware of their pursuit of art.

They were not a Fungus Civilization; they saw much more. They stood at the pinnacle of the universe, and it was hard to imagine a higher existence.

Facing inquiries from the Li Bai Civilization, Lin Sen merely responded with a smile and did not provide a clear answer, maintaining some mystery.

The Li Bai Civilization did not press further, as they understood the risks of knowing the answer. After a brief exchange, the Li Bai Civilization left the Andromeda Galaxy to continue their endless pursuit of art.

What the Li Bai Civilization never imagined was that Lin Sen would dare to bluff so boldly. He had not only bluffed the Trisolaran Civilization, but now he had also placed the entire universe under his deceit.

Perhaps at this moment, countless Returners were closely watching the Divine Vessel Civilization and Lin Sen.

The Li Bai Civilization could sense that Lin Sen had mentioned them, and naturally, the Returners could sense it even more.

They were perhaps also waiting for Lin Sen to approach them and provide them with answers.

Since Lin Sen mentioned the answer to the Returners, he had become a "Cosmic Wall Mender," enclosing his spirit from the entire universe.

*

The Divine Vessel had also left its split entities in the Andromeda Galaxy, continuing to maintain the stability of the galaxy.

From a rational perspective, such an action might be wrong, but the Divine Vessel was never driven by rationality.

Perhaps, we have never truly recognized the essence of rationality. So-called rationality is maybe just a mode of cognition we deduce based on our own perceptions and experiences.

Thus, decisions and judgments based on rationality may not necessarily be universal in the universe. Moreover, has not the Divine Vessel always intended to change this universe?

Then why still choose according to the "will" of this universe?

Two hundred years later, the Divine Vessel set off again...

They bypassed numerous galaxy groups including the Auriga Information Group, Leo I Galaxy Group, and Canis Major Galaxy Group, underwent a lengthy journey, and finally arrived at the Virgo Cluster 50 million light-years away in the Era of the Divine Vessel 150 million years.

With the Virgo Cluster as its core and encompassing over a hundred galaxy groups within a radius of 100 million light-years, they formed the Virgo Supercluster.

The supercluster already involved structures spanning 93 billion light-years of the visible universe.

The Divine Vessel's journey nearly traversed half of the galaxy groups in the Virgo Supercluster, constantly splitting entities to stay in those galaxies, bringing brief peace and stability to them.

In the Era of the Divine Vessel 170 million years, the Divine Vessel entered the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster.

In the Era of the Divine Vessel 190 million years, the Divine Vessel reached the Peacock-Indian Supercluster.

In the Era of the Divine Vessel 210 million years, the Divine Vessel breached the Perseus-Pisces Supercluster.

In the Era of the Divine Vessel 230 million years, the Divine Vessel arrived at the Pegasus Supercluster.

...

In the Era of the Divine Vessel 240 million years, the Divine Vessel entered the Yufu Constellation Void. These cosmic voids were not entirely devoid of galaxies, but the number was very scarce, with an average of one galaxy appearing every 10 million light-years.

These vast cosmic voids spanning hundreds of millions of light-years had once filled early humanity with speculation, guessing that these could be the creations of a Divine-level Civilization or the remnants of wars fought by them.

However, after becoming a Divine-level Civilization, the Divine Vessel deeply realized that erasing all galaxies on such a large scale was difficult, even for a Divine-level Civilization, and unnecessary.

It was more a reflection of the universe's own "consciousness," a natural law of the universe's operation.

During the Divine Vessel's long journey, they encountered few Divine-level Civilizations.

In the tens of billions of light-years journey of the Divine Vessel, the number of Divine-level Civilizations encountered was less than a hundred, roughly appearing every few thousand galaxies.

In the Era of the Divine Vessel 280 million years, the Divine Vessel breached the Capricorn Void.

In the Era of the Divine Vessel 300 million years, the Divine Vessel entered the Ophiuchus Supercluster.

In the Era of the Divine Vessel 320 million years, the Divine Vessel entered the Hercules Supercluster.

In the Era of the Divine Vessel 350 million years, the Divine Vessel breached the Bootes Void.

...