Void Jigsaw Puzzle

When Zhong Chenmu arrived at the Linjiang Building, most of the people in the conference hall on the third floor had been arranged into 12 meeting rooms surrounding the hall, under the pretext of "group discussion and exchange."

He took a look and saw that the conference hall was empty. The doors of every conference room were closed, but the sounds of heated discussions could still be heard from the occasional open doors.

In just a few minutes, he saw Pierce's twelve apostles coming in and out of different meeting rooms.

"It seems like each of the twelve of them is responsible for a conference room..."

However, he had no intention of participating in the group discussions, but walked straight into the empty conference hall.

The chairs in the hall were still neatly arranged, but now there were only a few people sitting sparsely.

There is a slogan posted on the wall behind the stage in the center front.

"Get rid of the broken civilization and find a new world."

One can imagine that Pierce was standing in front of these twelve words and delivering his passionate speech.

Zhong Chenmu shifted his gaze to the right corner of the stage, where there was also a row of chairs.

It was supposed to be for staff members before, but now there are only two people sitting there, a man and a woman.

The two saw Zhong Chenmu from afar. The woman stood up and waved, while the man just snorted softly.

When Zhong Chenmu approached, Fan Ting was still standing there. She smiled and said, "Xiao Zhong, I just realized that you are quite handsome. If I weren't more than ten years older than you, I would probably chase you."

Guo Ling suddenly asked, "Aren't you thinking about your first love now?"

Fan Ting turned her head and said, "I'm trying to help him build up his confidence so that he can be better prepared to enter into his first relationship."

"Even though you're more than ten years older than me, you can still pursue me." Zhong Chenmu blinked and said to Fan Ting.

"..."

"Okay, uncle and sis, I'm not kidding you guys anymore. Why don't you go to the discussion meeting next door?"

"Hey! Why is she the sister and I am the uncle?" Guo Ling then stood up to protest.

Fan Ting ignored her and answered Zhong Chenmu's question directly: "We are not too interested. Isn't this waiting for you to tell you."

"That's great. I want to hear it too. I just saw those two sentences behind the stage and they seemed a little strange to me. They seemed different from what I heard last time at the City God Temple."

Zhong Chenmu did not tell about his experience on Jingqi Road last night. In fact, based on what happened last night, he already understood these two sentences. However, he wanted to hear what Pierce said in public today.

Fan Ting spread her hands and said, "City God Temple? I wasn't there. I was on the hill behind, about to hang myself."

At this time, her tone seemed as if she was talking about something irrelevant.

"..."

"Let me tell you..." Guo Ling said, "To put it simply, I was the first one to join the Prophet Society. What attracted me to them was the old man's theory of 'incomplete civilization' and his promise to lead us to find our lost relatives and loved ones. The second time I participated in an event, I met Xiao Zhong. He had also joined the Prophet Society for the same reason. Moreover, the old man seemed to have a special liking for him. He even chatted with him for a long time that day..."

Having said that, Guo Ling looked at Zhong Chenmu meaningfully.

He knew some of the boy's secrets, but of course, he wouldn't make them public. However, when he talked about this, he couldn't help but wonder, "The old man pays special attention to him. Could it be because he also knows that he has that kind of superpower?"

Zhong Chenmu did not notice Guo Ling's little thoughts, but continued to listen to him attentively.

"...Today is my third time participating in a Prophet Society event—the most among the three of us, I guess. However, the atmosphere has changed somewhat today. First, the number of people has noticeably increased. I estimated that while not the thousands the old man claimed, there are definitely several hundred. Then there's his approach. If the main focus before was searching for lost relatives and loved ones, this time it seems to have shifted to 'Look forward, there's something better out there, there's a wider world to explore.'"

Guo Ling frowned slightly.

Zhong Chenmu nodded and said, "There's nothing wrong with this sentence, including the slogan on the wall, but it's obviously not what he originally stated at the time."

"Well, after changing to the current approach, it seems to have attracted more people to join. I felt on the scene that the people who came today are not just people like us, but also many who are unhappy with their lives and are very dissatisfied with the current situation."

"You've been laid off, but are you still living a happy life?" Zhong Chenmu asked suddenly.

"..."

Fan Ting covered her mouth and laughed.

After hearing this, Zhong Chenmu pieced together the picture in his mind more completely. Although there were still some details to be filled in, it was already clear.

He pursed his lips, sorted out his words in his mind, and said, "Actually... I've made quite a few discoveries, and I'd like to share them with you now."

Guo Ling and Fan Ting immediately perked up. They both came over, eyes wide open, and said in unison, "Young man, you're young, but you're quite cunning. Come on, tell me!"

"Well, first of all, the theory of incomplete civilizations wasn't invented by Pierce. He was just a porter. Of course, he was able to keenly realize this and verify it, which is already very impressive."

Hearing this, the two were stunned. Guo Ling was the first to react and asked, "How did you know?"

"Because he often went to the library where I worked, not only reading in the reading room but also borrowing books. I checked his borrowing records and then, following the clue, I found this clue in a book he had borrowed."

"what book?"

"A novel called 'Through the Vastness', also known as 'The Dandelion Project', but the date of its creation is no longer traceable."

"Isn't it too ridiculous to invent theories through novels?"

"I thought so at first, but soon discovered that this was the book he spent the most time reading."

"You can't equate borrowing time with reading time. I often borrow a book for several months and return it to the library without even turning the last page."

"He not only borrowed the paper version, but also the electronic version, and the online time can be seen in the electronic version records."

Fan Ting interrupted their conversation: "Why are you always fussing over the borrowing record of this book? What exactly does the book say?"

Zhong Chenmu touched the back of his head. "Oh, the book mentions a world in some unknown corner, but it's definitely not our Wuming City. That world is on a planet called 'Earth', and the people living there rely on a star called 'Sun' for light and heat. However, the two need to maintain a reasonable distance. The sun cannot be too far from the earth, nor too close..."

"It's true that only women and villains are difficult to raise. If you get close to them, they will be disrespectful. If you keep them far away, they will complain." Guo Ling muttered.

Fan Ting glared at him: "You deserve it that your wife ran away!"

Guo Ling's face turned red and white.

He did not tell Fan Ting the details of his wife's disappearance. Only Zhong Chenmu knew about this, and he believed that Zhong Chenmu would not gossip about it to Fan Ting.

Therefore, it seems that Fan Ting did not mean to mock him, but just wanted to express the meaning of "missing". However, to him, it sounded like rubbing salt into the wound.

Zhong Chenmu looked at the two of them and asked, "Are you still going to listen?"

"listen!"

The answers were quite consistent.

"Well, the book later explains that the sun and earth have always maintained a reasonable distance. Although the distance between them hasn't changed, solar radiation—the source of light and heat for the earth—suddenly increases and enters an irreversible channel of continuous growth. Therefore, the earth is no longer suitable for human habitation, and they race against time to escape before the earth is scorched into hell..."

Guo Ling and Fan Ting stopped arguing and listened attentively.

"...The book doesn't explicitly state whether they successfully escaped, leaving it in suspense. However, they launched the 'Dandelion Project', digitizing all of human civilization, compressing and encrypting it, and broadcasting it to the entire universe via radio signals, hoping that a civilization could understand and receive them and reproduce them. It's like they were originally a whole puzzle, but in order to escape, they had to break it into many pieces and throw them in all directions..."

Having said that, the three of them looked at each other, their eyes filled with uncontrollable excitement.

"Do you think we could be a piece of this puzzle?" Zhong Chenmu asked this question.

Just now in the library, he had been holding this question in his mouth until now, and finally spit it out.

carefree.

Fan Ting murmured, "So are we those Earthlings? Or their descendants?"

Guo Ling then asked, "This is just a fiction in a novel. Besides, is this book a unique copy?"

"A unique copy?" Zhong Chenmu was puzzled.

"Except for this book, no other book in the library mentions this incident."

"I can't guarantee it, but at least in the books that Pierce has read and the books that I have read myself, I have not seen any description of this incident."

Fan Ting said, "Didn't Guo Ling just say it was just a novel? If it's a novel, the content is entirely possible to be fictional."

Guo Ling didn't say anything, but just supported his chin with his right hand and thought.

Zhong Chenmu was quite confident: "Even if it is fictional, the 'incomplete civilization' theory it deduces makes perfect sense. If we are indeed connected to that Earth civilization, then that civilization, as a whole, or a complete picture, became fragmented pieces like a jigsaw puzzle when it escaped Earth. Only by piecing them back together can it be restored to a whole."

"No..." Guo Ling interrupted him. "I think both your description and this assumption are flawed. If Earth civilization were fully digitized, then when it was broadcast, it certainly wouldn't be 'chopping it into pieces.' Instead, the content broadcast in every direction would be the complete collection of civilization. There wouldn't be a situation where a single picture is intentionally broken down into many pieces."

After listening to this, Zhong Chenmu lowered his head slightly and thought for a while, then raised his head with a smile on his face: "You are right, uncle, but what changes is only the process, not the result."

"Oh?"

"Because no one can guarantee that the entire civilization broadcast in every direction will be received and preserved by other civilizations in the universe. Some parts may be unlucky and forever lost in the universe, never to be reproduced. Others may encounter problems while being received and never be restored. This result will still leave civilization incomplete. And if the fragmented civilizations in various parts of the universe cannot be pieced together, it will be a permanent loss for human civilization."

Guo Ling looked into Zhong Chenmu's eyes and had to admit that the young man in front of him was right.

He glanced at Fan Ting again, and there was admiration in the woman's eyes.

Zhong Chenmu's face turned red with excitement.

“So, Pierce did find a real problem, but gave a false answer!”