Chapter 1018: Breaking the Fourth Wall!

Chapter 1018 Breaking the Fourth Wall!

The air inside the laboratory was bone-dry, a stark contrast to the damp, frigid cavern outside.

Evidently, Dr. Qiu Shiye had taken ventilation into account, a realization that allowed Ye Shi, who had been worrying about a potential leak in the reactor fuel canister, to breathe a sigh of relief.

Helium itself possessed high penetrability, placing strict demands upon its storage environment.

Never mind crevices visible to the naked eye; it could seep through seamless glass and ceramics alike.

Under normal circumstances, such nuclear fuels were preserved within high-density alloy containers under cryogenic conditions.

"It must have been a nightmare for that fellow to hide the reactor this deep..." Jiang Xuezhou could not help but murmur in a low voice.

Searching the laboratory corridors with the beam of his flashlight, Ye Shi replied casually.

"But look at it from another perspective. If not for this research facility, and that fuel canister had just been left out in the forest, we probably wouldn't even have to bother looking for it."

"Are you deliberately trying to pick a fight with me..."

"How could I."

Already imagining her face flushing red like a monkey's bottom, Ye Shi whistled teasingly before redirecting his full attention to the subterranean research facility before him.

From the markings of manual excavation, it was evident that Dr. Qiu Shiye had indeed poured a great deal of heart and soul into this laboratory.

That was likely something that occurred shortly after the arrival of the Second Judgment Day in the early era of the Awakening, back when he had not yet written that poem on the bridge of the Gemini.

Ye Shi tried to view things from Dr. Qiu's perspective.

The researcher's state of mind at the time was probably much like his own when he discovered the "Tunan"—his heart bursting with pleasant surprise, grand ambitions, and even a feverish, ecstatic madness.

It was not difficult to imagine.

After all, not long before that, standing upon the shoulders of the Pan-Human Federation, he had just discovered a secret that the Federation had poured everything into yet failed to uncover—

An existence known as the "Tree of Ein Sof," which stood closer to the core essence of this planet's secrets than Gaia itself!

And furthermore, a precursor whose history stretched far longer than humanity's, and who supposedly glimpsed the "essence of the universe"!

This laboratory ought to be considered the starting point of his challenge against the fourth wall.

And by the time he realized his own insignificance and carved that poem upon the wall, his life was already drawing to its close.

"There are two sets of anti-radiation suits and an extravehicular activity exoskeleton in the cabinet at the lab entrance; they should have been salvaged from the Gemini."

Inspecting the airlock structure at the entrance of the laboratory, Ye Shi then cast a glance around his surroundings and reported concisely over the communication channel.

"Every sign indicates that Dr. Qiu Shiye lived here for about fifteen years. Factoring in the time he previously spent living with the natives, he probably passed away around the age of sixty..."

Surviving to sixty under conditions with zero medical care, Ye Shi could not quite tell whether that counted as longevity or not.

A pressing voice came through the communication channel.

"Never mind that for now, let's hurry up and find the reactor's fuel canister."

"Copy that, I'm looking for it now."

Ye Shi replied, then continued to explore deeper into the laboratory along the narrow corridor.

It did not take long. With the help of the drone operated by Jiang Xuezhou, he quickly located the reactor core by following the layout of the wiring inside the laboratory.

It was a cylindrical tank, roughly as thick as the embrace of four or five men combined, surrounded by a dense web of tangled pipes and cables that connected to power components stripped from the starship.

The appearance was as abstract as could be, to the point that the prestige of a fusion reactor instantly plummeted in Ye Shi's mind.

However, now was clearly not the time to be brooding over prestige.

The moment the flashlight's beam illuminated the reactor, an excited voice instantly erupted over the communication channel.

"Found it! It's that thing plugged into the cylindrical tank!"

"Do you mean this?"

Following the pale blue beam projected by the drone, Ye Shi found a protruding handle right in the middle of the massive cylindrical tank.

The handle was connected to a metal disc about the size of a domed basketball, embedded directly into the center of the reactor tank, appearing to be the power supply component.

Ye Shi reached out and gripped the handle, intending to pull it out from the reactor, only to find that the entire casing of the power supply component had rusted solid against the structure of the reactor.

"Let me help you!"

As she spoke, the drone operated by Jiang Xuezhou had already flown to the side of the reactor, and two mechanical cantilever arms resembling switchblades eagerly popped out from beneath its chassis.

"Buzz—"

A pale blue plume of plasma spewed from the tips of the mechanical cantilevers, behaving like a searing knife as it sliced effortlessly into the rusted crevice, making a circular cut along the junction between the tank-like reactor and the power supply component.

Accompanied by a crisp "click," Ye Shi felt the resistance in his hands drop drastically.

Amidst a grating screech of metal friction, he finally succeeded in pulling the power supply component out from the tank.

Yet, when Ye Shi saw the full form of the power component clearly, his originally ecstatic mood instantly plunged to rock bottom.

A fist-sized hole was stamped right through the exact center of that gas storage canister!

The sturdy tank looked as though it had been blasted by a cannon, pierced straight through from the middle!

No wonder he couldn't pull it out!

"Good grief... it leaked?!" Beholding that unacceptable reality, Ye Shi swallowed hard with great difficulty.

At the same time, young Jiang's despairing voice came through the communication channel.

"How could this happen... wasn't it plugged into the reactor perfectly fine? What on earth pierced through it?!"

That was their only hope of returning home.

Without the fuel capable of opening a hyperspace lane, they would have to spend the rest of their lives in this world five light-years away...

"Don't despair just yet, there might still be spare fuel here... at least now I know what this gas canister looks like."

Staring at the empty canister in his hand, Ye Shi was equally panicked in his heart, but he still took a moment to comfort Jiang Xuezhou before resuming his search nearby.

Heaven rewards the diligent.

After searching the lab for a while, he actually discovered an identical gas storage canister beneath a folding bed!

"There's another one here!" Ye Shi cried out in pleasant surprise, then exerted force with both hands to flip the folding bed over, hauling out the gas canister pinned underneath.

Who knew what was going through that head of Dr. Qiu Shiye's, actually using this precious nuclear fuel as a stool to prop up his bed.

Was this fellow planning to rely on this method to awaken psychic powers?

But wasn't using Helium-3 as a radiation source a bit too stable...

Seeing the gas canister in Ye Shi's hands, a glimmer of hope rekindled in the eyes of Jiang Xuezhou, who was sitting on the bridge in synchronous orbit.

Operating the drone to fly next to Ye Shi, a pale blue scanning beam was soon projected onto the canister from the emitter beneath the drone's camera.

Restraining her fluctuating emotions, Jiang Xuezhou took a deep breath and spoke.

"Canister integrity... 100%."

"Remaining fuel..."

"0."

"Damn it!" Hearing that final "0," Ye Shi almost choked on his own saliva, still refusing to give up as he asked, "Could the measurement be wrong?"

Jiang Xuezhou: "Impossible... liquid helium made from helium-3 is lighter than that from helium-4. If you don't believe me, weigh it yourself."

Ye Shi fell silent.

Mainly because he couldn't calculate that sort of thing either.

After a moment, a faint sigh came through the comm channel.

"...Actually, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? If there was any fuel left, how could that Dr. Qiu Shizhi have just tossed it under the bed like trash?"

This time, the voice from the comm channel was much calmer than before.

There is no greater sorrow than a dead heart.

Though Jiang Xuezhou admitted that she had felt a flicker of excitement when she first saw that gas canister, it turned out to be nothing but an unrealistic fantasy.

She paused for a few seconds, then suddenly shifted to a tone of resignation.

"Hmm, come to think of it... spending the rest of my life on this planet with you wouldn't be so bad."

"What nonsense are you talking? We just agreed to go see the edge of the universe," Ye Shi couldn't help but retort.

Why was she suddenly using the tone of a final chapter?

He hadn't given up yet.

"Haha... yeah, what a shame."

Ye Shi could sense a hint of loneliness in that relieved voice.

It was clear she was genuinely interested in the proposal he had made, not just going along with him.

Thinking of this, a faint smile curled at the corner of Ye Shi's mouth.

"My gut tells me our story isn't over yet."

Jiang Xuezhou teased him.

"Oh? Did your psychic powers tell you that?"

"Just take it as that."

Ye Shi smiled mysteriously, then cast a confident gaze around him.

It had nothing to do with psychic powers at all—it was purely his sharp perception that gave him a strong sense of dissonance, catching his attention.

The not-so-spacious laboratory was pitch black, with only the light from his flashlight and the drone beside him as the sole sources of illumination.

But—

Even though it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, it was as clear as day in his mind.

He had memorized everything he saw from the moment he entered the lab, meticulously sorting through every clue.

And those clues he had overlooked now became crystal clear.

"There are two triangular hangers by the entrance cabinet, corresponding to the only two sets of protective suits. Both suits are in the cabinet, meaning he never left."

"..."

Silence filled the comm channel, broken only by the faint crackle of static.

Clearly, Jiang Xuezhou didn't understand what he was saying. It took her a long while to respond.

"...Are you saying he's still in the lab?"

Ye Shi analyzed calmly.

"To be precise, Dr. Qiu Shizhi spent his final moments in this world inside the lab."

Jiang Xuezhou sighed.

"I think it's a bit far-fetched to draw that conclusion just because both suits are in the cabinet. What if he just didn't wear a hazmat suit?"

It was true that no remains had been found at the Gemini wreck, but that didn't prove anything—he could still have died anywhere in these forests and valleys.

Besides—

What was the point of knowing where that guy died?

The key was the nuclear fuel.

That was what they really needed.

Ye Shi smiled faintly and continued.

"If he went out, he would definitely wear one... As for why, you'd know if you came down to the surface and saw it yourself."

The local natives' records about the "Progenitors" all seemed inseparable from "power armor."

Actually, thinking about it, what the natives saw might not necessarily be "power armor"—it could have been a combination of exoskeletons and protective suits.

But one thing was certain:

Almost all "Progenitors" never showed their true faces; whenever they went out, they always wore full-body clothing or armor.

As for the reason, it was actually quite simple...

"This forest is full of all kinds of poisonous insects. Didn't we see them right after we landed?"

Jiang Xuezhou was stunned.

"Ah... but wouldn't wearing such thick protective suits be hot?"

Ye Shi smiled lightly.

"The suits have built-in cooling and ventilation modules. It's a bit of a hassle, but still better than getting bitten—or even killed—by poisonous bugs."

The local natives might not be affected by the bugs, having lived here for generations and probably grown accustomed to them.

But for the Gemini crew from Earth, even if those bugs weren't lethal, they were annoying enough.

"...But even if we know this clue, what use is it to us?" Jiang Xuezhou muttered softly.

Ye Shi glanced around the dark surroundings and spoke in a gentle tone.

"How could it be useless? This is clearly a remarkable clue."

"We have solid evidence that Dr. Qiu Shizhi spent his final moments in the lab, yet we can't find his remains anywhere in the lab."

"So the question is..."

"Where did he go?"

The air was dead silent.

After a long while, a sound of swallowing came through the comm channel.

"The way you say that... gives me the creeps down my spine."

"You're up in the sky, how can you feel a chill down your spine?"

Ye Shi retorted irritably, then walked over to a desk and a whiteboard.

The whiteboard was covered in scribbled and revised formulas, probably rough drafts Dr. Qiu Shizhi had jotted down.

He couldn't understand what those formulas meant, so he just took a photo with his combat recorder, then turned his attention to the stack of papers on the desk.

After years of weathering, those papers had all turned yellow.

Even so, Ye Shi could still barely make out the notes left on those tattered, incomplete pages.

He immersed his attention entirely in those fragmentary lines of clues.

And just then, the ability granted by his psychic power worked a miracle once again.

In the void that no gaze could penetrate, Dr. Qiu Shiye seemed to come alive, standing beside him, picking up the dust-covered pen…

That face was etched with devotion.

Even across a span of a hundred years, Ye Shi could still see that face clearly.

In an instant, he sat at the desk, writing meticulously in the experimental notebook.

"They all say I'm mad… but I think they're the ones truly mad. We've never been closer to the gate of truth, and someone has already found it for us!"

"All we need to do is open the box that's been opened once before… I've even found it—it's right beneath our feet!"

His lips muttered incessantly.

Standing behind him, Ye Shi repeated his murmurs in a steady stream.

Watching from the side, Jiang Xuezhou was utterly bewildered.

Operating the drone, she couldn't see what Ye Shi saw.

The scene in her eyes was entirely different—through the drone's lens, Ye Shi seemed possessed, muttering endlessly over a few torn pages.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm reciting what he left in the notebook…"

Ye Shi replied casually, then refocused his full attention on the experimental notes on the table, while the phantom across time, seated before him, continued writing furiously.

That was not the state of a failure, but rather a seeker who had reached the end of the maze.

Completely different from what he had imagined!

After discovering "Him" and realizing he was merely a painting on the wall, Dr. Qiu Shiye did not collapse; instead, he threw himself even more obsessively into the unfinished work!

Even though he now understood that behind the fourth wall was not what he had envisioned.

Even though he had grasped that meeting the Creator did not mean becoming the Creator…

Ye Shi suddenly thought of Dora, the temple handmaiden of the Doma tribe.

And in that instant, he finally fully understood Dr. Qiu Shiye's state of mind.

To hear the truth in the morning and die content that evening!

He had ultimately stepped out of the painting that trapped him and become the clouds in the sky!

"I've done it! I've found it! Hahaha…" The old man hunched over the desk suddenly burst into laughter, then rose energetically from the experimental table.

He was as excited as a child, humming a tuneless ditty as he groped his way to the reactor by the lab.

That was a reactor he had cobbled together from materials stripped off a starship—and it was more than just a reactor.

Ye Shi mimicked his movements, even his every expression, even that tuneless little song.

He seemed to have gone mad too, returning to that reactor and slamming the depleted gas canister forcefully into the cylindrical metal tank.

"Click—"

A faint sound came, and the canister fit seamlessly into the patchwork reactor.

"What are you doing?" Watching Ye Shi, who seemed possessed, Jiang Xuezhou asked nervously.

Ye Shi didn't answer, just reached out and fiddled with the instrument panel on the side of the metal tank, as if some unseen force was guiding his hands.

Finally, he reset the last button, took a deep breath, removed his power armor, and set his feet on the cold rock floor.

"We've all misunderstood… Dr. Qiu Shiye's research didn't stop here."

"What are you saying? I… I'm getting more confused?" came Jiang Xuezhou's puzzled voice over the comm.

Ye Shi knew that her confusion was the same confusion Dr. Qiu Shiye had faced in his early research—the confusion any normal person would have.

If she had awakened her psychic power, perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to understand.

"This reactor isn't just for powering the lab, or at least not only that."

"Then what is it?!" Jiang Xuezhou asked, unable to comprehend.

Ye Shi spoke in a tone of assured certainty.

"It's a miracle."

Jiang Xuezhou stared blankly at the screen.

"A… miracle?"

Ye Shi nodded.

"This is a… perforator, a miracle forged by 'mortals' through the will of the 'Divine,' together with the Divine. It can pierce the void, through the 'Window of the Horizon,' or the 'fourth wall.'"

Jiang Xuezhou's mind went blank; she stood dumbfounded before the holographic screen.

"Breaking… the fourth wall?!"

Ye Shi nodded gently, a complex, meaningful expression crossing his face.

"His goodwill toward this world led Him to ultimately take him away, just as we took Dora. Whether or not it was what she truly wanted from her heart, we had to give her a choice… I think the echo He left in this universe felt the same."

The information exchanged through psychic power must be mutually acknowledged by both parties.

And at this moment, he finally truly understood the words He had left behind—

"You've succeeded before, haven't you?"

As he spoke, Ye Shi removed the nuclear battery from his power armor, guiding the terrifying current released from the cell pinched between his fingers.

Scorching energy coalesced into crackling arcs in the air, their blinding light impossible to meet directly.

Though this energy was a mere drop in the ocean compared to what was needed to open a hyperspace lane, it was more than enough to drive this "miniature" perforator!

All he needed was a hole the size of a hair—he had no intention of destroying this planet.

Restless static electricity made every hair on his body stand on end.

The drone hovering nearby crashed to the ground out of control, and the comm channel filled with fragmented cries.

"What… are you… doing?!"

Guiding the terrifying current back into the reactor, Ye Shi spoke in a gentle tone.

"I'm showing you…"

"This perforator can not only fold the mass and energy of this universe into light from another universe, but also unfold light from another universe into energy or mass… like unfolding a folded paper airplane."

He wasn't joking.

Under his guidance, this perforator, built a century ago, had successfully activated and smoothly drilled a tiny hole through the absolutely unbreakable fourth wall, letting light from another universe seep through.

In that other universe, it was just a faint beam of light, too small for the naked eye to catch, too small to illuminate even a speck of dust.

Yet when it fell into this universe, that dust-like light instantly became a giant, unleashing terrifying energy enough to ignite an entire planet!

But fortunately, where it landed, a suitable container was quietly waiting.

The battery, inserted into the reactor and utterly impossible to charge, was suddenly full in an instant...

The dazzling light slowly faded.

The drone, which had crashed to the ground out of control, floated back up, wobbling as it flew to the front of the reactor.

The pale blue scanning beam once again illuminated the metal shell of the gas tank.

And this time, Jiang Xuezhou was utterly stunned.

"Helium-3... How... is this possible?!"

Helium-4 combined with protons from nowhere, turning back into helium-3...

How the hell is that possible?!

Her head felt as if struck by a club; she stood frozen like a wooden chicken, mouth opening and closing, unable to utter a word.

The universe had undergone entropy reduction, moving from disorder to order; physics had once again vanished before her eyes...

Perhaps a single diplomat with psychic powers wasn't enough—they'd have to go to Earth and kidnap a few physicists onto the ship.

Listening to the murmurs on the other end of the comm channel, Ye Shi gently pulled the fully charged gas tank from the "Horizon Perforator."

"In short, we have fuel to go home... and theoretically, as much as we want. The only risk is that frequently borrowing energy from another world might attract whatever's stuck in the wall, so it's better to use it sparingly."

How Dr. Qiu Shiye had completed this device remained a mystery.

Even with His help, being able to accomplish such a thing was astonishing enough.

After a pause, Ye Shi continued.

"As for how this was done... I think this subject might take us a century to study."