Chapter 439: The Last Lesson (End)
The God-Rank Divine Vessel Civilization had already transcended the constraints of matter and energy, and even the universal rules beyond entropy increase could not bind them.
Millions of Divine Vessel entities divided and simultaneously entered the black holes of their respective galaxies.
There, at the end of time and space,
They needed to merge with the "consciousness" of the entire universe,
They also needed to transcend the constraints of space and time,
To seek the pathways to other universes.
Once gone, if it was a departure never to return, then it was a departure never to return...
*
However, Lin Sen did not enter the black hole with the Divine Vessel Civilization.
Lin Sen alone returned to the Solar System, staring at the scene before him with mixed emotions, this once glorious and brilliant galaxy now only a broken and distorted silence.
Lin Sen had left the Solar System for three billion years, and this was his first time coming back to visit.
The star that once shined upon all things and provided warmth for life had completely extinguished, leaving behind only the cold darkness and endless emptiness, as if silently mourning its past glory.
The Solar System,
This cradle of humanity,
Witnessed the birth and growth of mankind,
And also carried that eternal nostalgia in the hearts of humans,
As well as the destination of the soul.
Lin Sen looked back at the departing Divine Vessel, and couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions:
Humanity,
Awakening from the small cradle of the world, was just about getting ready to step out.
Outside lies the vast ocean, the treacherous waves,
Every step of exploration is a tribute to the unknown,
And also a brave crossing of one's own boundaries.
They grew continuously, rising up after countless falls and moving forward.
They gradually matured, and learned to fly,
Flying farther and faster.
Now, they were about to fly out completely,
Perhaps never able to return home...
Shui Wa's voyage allows humanity's gaze to sometimes look outside!
Lin Sen's staying,
Would also ensure that no matter how far the children fly, someone would always look back, wouldn't it?
That is the eternal vigil in the depths of the soul.
This was the last thing Lin Sen could do for them!
*
Perhaps only at this moment had Lin Sen truly freed himself from the identity of a Wallfacer,
Able to let go of everything and follow his heart completely for once.
Lin Sen seemed to transform into a deity, his hand gently waving, and the space of the Solar System acted as if stirred by an invisible giant hand.
The flow of time miraculously reversed, as if a grand cosmic epic was being rewound, tracing back to three billion years ago.
With another wave of his hand, he created a canopy covering the Solar System region, upon which the scenes appeared exactly as the universe looked three billion years ago.
Time returned to the moment when Ye Wenjie received the message from Trisolaris, preparing to press the reply button.
The fingers of destiny gently flicked,
As Ye Wenjie was about to touch that decisive moment, a mysteriously sympathetic sensation subtly arose in her heart, as if sensing the faint beating of a new life.
Her hand unconsciously touched her belly,
Is this the new life?
Humanity might have hope, that hope is—
Endless continuation!
Her hands trembled...
The node of fate changed from that moment.
*
21 years later, time moved to the year 2000.
Many people and events had quietly changed.
The Trisolaris information that Ye Wenjie received that year was also discovered by her and remained unknown to Lei Zhengwei.
A few years later, Yang Weilin and Ye Wenjie left the Red Coast and seemed as if nothing had happened.
Ye Wenjie kept pondering that humanity could not suppress its own madness, but suffering and madness would eventually pass.
Perhaps she should feel fortunate. If new life had not come, she might have pressed that button, completing her ultimate revenge against humanity, but was that really what she wanted?
Looking at the laughter of her husband and daughter, let all of that pass!
Lin Yun remained as tenacious and stubborn. Although her mother was injured in the Vietnam War, she hadn't died, and Lin Yun had become less crazy and paranoid, and more gentle and rational.
Unexpectedly, she rejected the fiancé her father had arranged, Jiang Xingchen, and chose the unrestrained Ding Yi.
Ding Yi, too, was like a tethered wild horse, no longer able to be a "sextant," perhaps this was the lifestyle both of them truly yearned for.
Wang Miao and Shi Qiang's life paths had no intersection, and perhaps that was a blessing in itself.
Evans, who did not meet Ye Wenjie, poured all his passion into Earth's ecological protection after inheriting his father's business, urging humanity to reduce the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources.
Perhaps each person has a devil inside them. When Evans didn't encounter the key to controlling humanity's destiny, his inner devil was suppressed, even turning him into a respected environmental leader.
"First Emperor of Qin," "Mozi," "Aristotle"... and others, as if by fate's arrangement, became members of Evans's environmental organization. Persisting, always able to do something for this Earth.
Tyler and Rey Diaz, the two seemed to be natural rivals, always eyeing each other with implicit antagonism and competition during their encounters, like two proud roosters.
Hines always displayed an elegant demeanor, revealing his subtle haughtiness.
Everything was so familiar yet strange...
*
Lin Sen and Logic had not yet graduated, enjoying their carefree college days in Qinghua Garden.
"This afternoon, there is a public lecture on Astrophysics by Professor Ye, shall we audit it?" Logic suggested excitedly.
"Sure, we are studying astronomy, the career prospects aren't great, listening to astrophysics might indeed help us!" Lin Sen nodded, responding somewhat lazily.
"By the way, I've prepared a little surprise for you this afternoon, I'm introducing a new friend to you. You're always like an old man, as if you've experienced centuries of vicissitudes, you need to learn to change yourself too."
"You're not introducing a girlfriend to me, are you?"
In the afternoon, the sunlight dappled the paths of Qinghua Garden.
Lin Sen never imagined that Logic would introduce him to the most "lightly inked, yet vividly colored" woman from the original work, Yang Dong.
At this moment, for Lin Sen who had been 'single' for a full 3 billion years, it felt as if the entire world had come to a standstill.
His heartbeat suddenly accelerated, a never-before-felt emotion quietly surged in his heart. Was this the feeling of being smitten?
Perhaps, it wasn't the universe that was approaching reset, but rather the beginning of Lin Sen's new life.
At their first meeting, the three conversed politely and with easy camaraderie, and then they entered the classroom together, finding a suitable place to sit down.
Shortly after, the classroom gradually fell silent, the students turning their eyes toward the door, awaiting the arrival of the legendary Professor Ye Wenjie.
Professor Ye, in her prime of life, walked into the classroom with a steady gait, radiating a scholarly demeanor, dignified yet approachable.
In the silence, Professor Ye pulled a stick of chalk from the chalk box and wrote down the lesson's theme on the board — "The Three-Body Problem."
Her voice was gentle and persuasive:
"This is the last lecture I will teach, in this class, we will discuss the three-body problem.
"In this universe, triple-star systems account for one-tenth of all stellar systems, their motion patterns are extremely complex, being chaotic systems filled with uncertainty.
"The universe is vast enough that perhaps a civilization is being nurtured within the environment of a triple-star system.
"In such a world, life forms, social structures, and even scientific understandings may be completely different from ours.
"In that civilization, everything may be filled with the unknown and variables. A trivial factor, like a breeze, a speck of dust, could become the key to turning their destiny.
"And each of us, in the long river of human history, may seem as insignificant as dust.
"But sometimes, a small personal choice may rewrite the fate of humanity and even the entire universe.
"No matter how unpredictable and capricious fate is, what we need to hold onto, maybe just that endlessly reborn hope.
...
Lin Sen looked out the window, perhaps this was also the last lesson for the universe...
The end.