Chapter 177: Means to Become Stronger

As soon as Lin Lei left, Lenna found no reason to stay in the Four-dimensional Universe and quickly returned to the Subspace as well. For existences like them, no matter how much they restrained themselves, their presence in the Four-dimensional Universe was earth-shattering.

An elephant does not seem cute to an ant just because it looks gentle. In the eyes of an ant, an elephant is still a magnificent creature.

The departure of the two Pan-dimensional Creatures one after the other made the Aostarians heave a huge sigh of relief. Yes, they possessed the Fortress Main Gun, which could deter all things.

But such an ultimate weapon came at an immense cost, even if fired just once. The Watcher Civilization, sitting on the vast stellar resources of the Galactic Center, could not afford such consumption.

Moreover, before these two Pan-dimensional Creatures could be destroyed, besides the unlucky Layite People, the Watcher Civilization would also have to sacrifice countless lives to be buried with them.

The captain of the Ao Star fleet let out a long breath and said depressingly, “How can such terrifying creatures exist in the Universe! It is no wonder the Allen Civilization from tens of millions of years ago was destroyed in an instant. Just two of them brought such pressure; if double-digit existences really came, the consequences would be unimaginable!”

On the Ao Star Super Fortress, the Elders also relaxed their tense nerves, and their tight faces softened considerably.

However, Histe reminded them inopportunely, “According to my observations, the Pan-dimensional Creature that appeared first is stronger than the latter. Based on his behavioral characteristics, he seems to have some connection with Leite. Therefore, I believe this is just a temporary retreat for him. There is a 95% possibility he will make a comeback, or more accurately, he will come to the Galaxy in a different way.”

The Elders looked at each other in dismay. Their slightly relaxed mood was immediately weighed down by a heavy stone again.

……

As soon as Lin Lei appeared in the Subspace, ignoring Lenna who entered after him, he said nothing and immediately deployed his original Forbidden Domain. His speed was nearly wild.

Lenna knew Lin Lei was not in a good mood. Being forced to retreat like that really hurt the pride of a Pan-dimensional Creature, so she remained silent and cooperated with Lin Lei to re-evolve the complex and dense Starry Sky Forbidden Domain.

Forbidden Domain, Forbidden Domain, what it forbids is not only the Rules within it but also locks the free steps of Pan-dimensional Creatures.

Its essence was the material deduction of the Will of a Pan-dimensional Creature. The entire Forbidden Domain was actually the material body of the Pan-dimensional Creature.

This Starry Sky Forbidden Domain was the same thing as the white sphere Lin Lei had assembled in the Galaxy, except there was a difference in size between the two.

You can imagine it this way: the white sphere is a highly integrated microcomputer CPU, while this Forbidden Domain is a super-large CPU macroscopically unfolded, built with the same Rules and the same number of transistors.

Their functions were the same; the only difference was the materials used, or rather, the amount of energy.

In other words, what supported this Forbidden Domain was the Will of Lin Lei and Lenna, and this Will was the most fundamental Rule!

Once the Will withdrew, the Rules maintaining the operation of the Starry Sky Forbidden Domain would be gone, and even the folded state of energy would disappear. Therefore, before, as soon as Lin Lei left, most of the matter immediately reverted to pure energy.

This time, the Forbidden Domain was rebuilt according to the inherent framework, so the speed was very fast. Only a few moments had passed since the two returned to the Subspace, and the entire Subspace was restored to the way it looked before Lin Lei left.

It seemed as if nothing had changed.

But Lenna knew that every plant and tree in this Forbidden Domain, even the most fundamental things, was brand new; the past was gone.

No, there was still something from the past, Lu Yi. This little thing had been huddled in the corner of Lenna’s Will, silently observing everything around her.

Lenna remained silent and placed this little fellow back onto her new body, while also casting a simple blessing on her.

Of course, the so-called blessing was just a Protective Force Field that provided weak protection, safeguarding Lu Yi’s life, health, and safety.

It was nothing to Lenna, but for Lu Yi, it was enough to ensure she lived a safe and worry-free life until old age. In this world where tribal warfare was the main theme of civilization, nothing was more precious than this.

“Lenna, aren’t you being too nice to her? This is just an evolution of the tips of our Will, and sooner or later she will return to us.”

Lin Lei found it hard to understand the actions of this World Tree. To him, this entire Universe was changing constantly. Holding onto the past was fine, but he had never seen anyone as persistent as the World Tree.

“Flowers are also part of the tree, but they represent the hope of the future. Lin Lei, you were not a tree before, so you don’t understand my feelings. This Lu Yi, her Will is free, and I regard her as my child. You are the same; if she passes away from old age in the future, you cannot take her Will back.”

Lenna rarely spoke to Lin Lei in such a requesting tone. Lin Lei did not lack this small addition of Will, so he just smiled and agreed.

Lenna then smiled and said, “Lei, shall we go see how this world is? You know, in the previous Forest Forbidden Domain, I would appear at the bonfire gathering every year. That kept my heart happy.”

“Then let’s go!” Since returning from the Galaxy, Lin Lei’s mood had been gloomy. Putting everything aside now to watch his own world was indeed a good way to relax.

So, the two chose to travel across the fertile Ao Star, from the wild snowplains to the blue sea, from the sky where clouds were like snow to the green forests.

Until they reached a towering and steep snow peak, Lin Lei suddenly stopped. He looked at Lenna, who had turned back in astonishment, and said, “I want to become stronger!”

Ever since Lin Lei became an interstellar life, he had been living in the shadow of the Watcher Civilization, without freedom. This situation had not changed even now, which made him hold a pent-up anger in his heart that could never be released, so he spoke these words.

Lenna asked directly, “Lin Lei, aren’t you strong enough now? Aren’t you free? Why ask for trouble? And with the deduction of this Forbidden Domain, we have been getting stronger all the time, but because the base number is too large, it is just not very obvious.”

“I know, but it’s not fast enough!”

Lenna looked straight at Lin Lei standing on the peak, his body revealing a chilling aura, and directly stated the essence of the problem, “You want to interfere with the operation of the Galaxy? You want to break through the blockade of the Watcher Civilization?”

“Yes!”

Lin Lei’s straightforward answer gave Lenna a sense of powerlessness; she did not want to do this. “For tens of millions of years, dozens of Pan-dimensional Creatures like you and me have done this. The most recent one was the Dark Saint, but you have already seen the outcome.”

“Lei, there is only one path to becoming powerful quickly, which is to devour a large number of free Wills, but you know the consequences of doing that!”

Lin Lei frowned and said, “No, I won’t do that. I insist on the balance and freedom of life. Lenna, perhaps we should seek the essence of Will! Find a way out from here.”

Will was very ethereal, and there was a “self-reference” barrier; that is, a creature could never see itself clearly, and this was true even for Pan-dimensional Creatures.

Therefore, Lin Lei could not increase his Will intensity like turning on a cheat code; he could only wait for the evolution of the Forbidden Domain to improve himself.

Put it this way, the current Lin Lei knew what to do instinctively, but he did not know how this process evolved. Improving the strength of a Pan-dimensional Creature was a completely different concept from when he first created Digital Life.

“Oh, Lei, do you already have some idea?” Lenna knew Lin Lei would not speak nonsense, and since his expression was so solemn, he must have a solution.

“Yes, I have been thinking about a problem, that is, in this Universe, there is no completely isolated existence. Everything is connected and interacts with everything else. Moreover, the existence and function of the Forbidden Domain show that energy, matter, and Will can transform into each other. This gave me inspiration.”

“The essence of everything in the Universe is the same, and under certain specific conditions, they can be unified!”

Lenna frowned, not understanding Lin Lei’s meaning, because this topic seemed to be a cliché; all Pan-dimensional Creatures, and even Earthlings, knew this.

“Listen to me continue, Lenna. I once said that the secret of God exists in infinity!”

“We trace back to the source and find that the ultimate of energy can unify all things. Then, the ultimate of matter and the ultimate of Will should have the same effect!”

Now Lenna was interested. She turned back from the air and stood beside Lin Lei, asking, “And then?”

Light radiated from Lin Lei’s eyes. The thinking speed of his Will unconsciously rose to the time scale of a Pan-dimensional Creature, completely disregarding the damage to this temporary body. This caused scalding hot steam to rise from Lin Lei’s head.

“I think the word ‘ultimate’ not only represents a high degree of Aggregation. It also represents another extreme. For example, absolute high temperature can bring unity, but absolute low temperature can also bring a certain kind of unity.”

“Like water, between 0 and 100 degrees Celsius and under standard pressure, it exists in a liquid state, mixed as one. But at the critical point of zero degrees, it is a mixture of ice and water, showing the difference in form, but their essence is still water.”

“And our current Universe, where everything is complex and different, is in an ice-water mixture period. In the distant future, when all the stars are extinguished and heat death arrives, there will be no energy exchange in the entire Universe, and everything will be averaged out. Isn’t that another kind of unity?”

Lenna did not speak, pondered for a while, and then asked Lin Lei, “What do you want to do?” Her tone was actually a bit uneasy.

Lin Lei smiled and saw Lenna’s worry. “I won’t do experiments in the Starry Sky Forbidden Domain. Only you treat this place as a treasure. There is a place in the Universe that should be close to this condition.”

“Where?” Lenna asked in surprise.

“The Land of Silence, the former glory of the Allen Civilization! There, even time has stopped flowing. And there is another benefit there; there might be the remains of a dozen or so Pan-dimensional Creatures.”

Lenna exclaimed, “How is that possible? Over the millions of years, Pan-dimensional Creatures have tried there, but all ended in failure. That place is impossible to approach; anything will be frozen!”

“Lenna, have you forgotten the origin of the System inside me? The legacy Digital Life of the Allen Civilization; perhaps I can find a way to enter.”

…Just after Lin Lei finished this sentence, his temporary body was scrapped due to brain overload and fell straight onto the snow peak.

Lin Lei then returned to his Golden Star body. For safety reasons and because Lenna cared about this Forbidden Domain, he did not plan to go there in his main body but sent out a powerful Will to go.

Of course, for this kind of expedition to a strange place, he would not go alone; Lenna naturally went with him.