Void Jigsaw Puzzle

Ever since his sudden realization on the grass just now, Zhong Chenmu still let himself float in the void with mixed feelings.

He was completely unable to exist in a physical form - at least not now, because he was completely powerless and his body was out of his control. He could be killed instantly at any time by those Carbon Clan members who had turned into attackers.

He was aware of everything that happened on the top of Tianqian Peak, but he didn't want to pay attention to it. On the one hand, he believed that his teammates could handle it with their ability of both reality and illusion, not to mention Heli B was there to support them. More importantly, he had to concentrate all his energy to accomplish one thing.

This was something only he could accomplish, something he must accomplish. If he didn't do it, half the universe would likely be devastated. At the very least, the Hydrogen and Helium Clan would undoubtedly be overthrown, and there was even a good chance they would follow the Lithium Clan's footsteps and become part of cosmic history. And whether it was Wuming City or Kunlun City, these two civilizations, representing their origins, happened to rely on the Hydrogen and Helium Clan for their very existence. If they couldn't be saved, how would the Jigsaw Team achieve their original aspirations? And how would Zhong Chenmu achieve his long-held goal? The broken civilizations had to be pieced together, the broken ones had to be reunited. These processes had only just begun, and had entered a positive trajectory. How could they be brought to a sudden halt?

When he finally realized this, he felt extremely complicated, even having a sense of powerless fate.

Ever since that 'singularity moment' in Nameless City, he'd realized he was one with a system, a fact that made him unique. He gradually unlocked this system, his understanding evolving from its initial binary presentation to its intersection with the real world, and finally to full digital capabilities and the ability to function in both virtual and real forms. He finally realized he was merely a patch, a patch applied by his ancestors during their escape from a distant, ancient Earth civilization. This patch was intended to remedy the vulnerability of the digital signals of human civilization, broadcast into the universe through the "Dandelion Project," after they were fortunately reproduced.

Human civilization needs to continue, and it will certainly continue, no matter how long it lasts, how far it spans, or how weak it becomes. But as long as a few fragments remain, it will certainly be able to be pieced back together.

The designers of this plan and its patch were very determined to make this point.

Even his name, Zhongchenmu, comes from an ancient saying, "Morning bells and evening drums." Originally referring to the morning and evening bells and drums in a temple, it most directly describes the life of monks, but is often used metaphorically to evoke words of caution and enlightenment, and has been further extended to describe the passage of time. Just like another ancient saying: "The Master, standing by a river, said, 'Time passes by like this flowing water.'"

But no matter how time passes, the main line cannot be broken and will not be broken. This is the meaning of Zhong Chenmu's existence.

Now seems to be the time to make him useful again.

Back then, in Nameless City, when the "Return to One" game spiraled into a white-hot state, he obliged, leaping from the summit of Ma'anshan Mountain to the source of a great river. He thereby achieved a direct dialogue with the leader of the Hydrogen Clan, Hydrogen Memory, and activated his patching ability for the first time. He remembered that time, having clearly used this ability to swiftly wipe out the Silicon Clan in Nameless City, fulfilling his promise to Hydrogen Memory and earning his trust, thus swiftly ending the "Return to One" game and opening up the rest of Taibai Star and the wider universe to Nameless City.

But why, not long after, did the Silicon Clan invade the Hydrogen Clan? This directly led to the series of events that followed, right up to the present moment?

How did they invade?

Zhong Chenmu had been pondering this question, a vague suspicion deep in his heart that he hadn't dared to confront, nor to discuss with the leaders and senior officials of the Hydrogen and Helium Clans. Many times, he tried to completely forget this suspicion, like flushing excrement down the toilet, but it always reappeared inadvertently, at the most unexpected moment, like accidentally stepping on something he thought he had flushed down the toilet.

If cosmic civilization truly existed in three stages, then each transition between stages would be the perfect opportunity for the Silicon Clan to become extremely active and instantly invade the cosmic race. This was the conjecture he had been trying to forget. Whether they were cosmic hooligans or cuckolds, these were merely derogatory terms used by the cosmic races, including himself, towards the Silicon Clan. However, simply despising or cursing them would do them no harm, nor would it alter their established laws.

In other words, although he made a promise to Hydrogen Memory to clear out the Silicon Clan in Nameless City, because he also enabled Nameless City to have the ability to master the "duality of virtuality and reality", it meant that the civilization of Nameless City had reached the state of leaping from the first stage to the second stage. Therefore, these Silicon Clan who were "cleared" by him instantly invaded the Hydrogen Clan under the nose of Hydrogen Memory, when no one realized it.

Zero? Impossible. For a long time, Zhong Chenmu blindly believed this. However, when he and He Yi discussed the issue of "zero" in Houkun City's buried central water supply system, he finally realized that he was the source of all the problems that had occurred today. The reason the leaders and senior leaders of both the Hydrogen and Helium tribes hadn't realized this was because they had been in the third stage for too long, and had never even experienced a morphological transition themselves. How could they have anticipated such a loophole that occurred almost instantly?

The infected Hydrogen Ao, Hydrogen Sa, Hydrogen Nian and Helium Qian, the Hydrogen Chen who was silently imprisoned, the people of Kunlun City who were massacred by Sanjay, and almost all the protesters of Central Road who were buried underground in Houkun City... All of this originated from the Silicon Clan's invasion of the Hydrogen Clan, and this incident was caused by him.

Therefore, following this line of thought, Zhong Chenmu already fully understood what Carbon Crown was currently doing.

As the leader of the Carbon Clan, Tan Guan possesses the ability to recreate digital signals from distant Earth civilization as Fengyao City civilization. Naturally, he will eventually lead the Carbon Clan from the first stage to the second. However, the Carbon Clan's territory—the entire Andromeda Galaxy—is far too vast. For him, achieving this long-cherished wish is unlikely to be accomplished in his lifetime.

No matter how many stains he has, he is unambiguous about leading the Carbon Clan into a new stage of civilization. This characteristic is exactly what the traitorous Carbon Jia and the Hydrogen Ao who have been infected by the Silicon Clan take advantage of.

Faced with the proposal of relying on stimulants and sedatives to achieve the transition of the carbon family from the first stage to the second stage, or even to the third stage in a short period of time, and becoming a purely virtual civilization like the hydrogen family and the helium family, the oldest families in the universe, it is difficult for Carbon Crown not to be tempted.

If he succeeded, the entire history of the Carbon Clan would be written with his name, or even just mentioned by his name.

By choosing to complete such a ceremony at Tianqian Peak, Carbon Crown is working towards this goal.

However, the Carbon Clan's territory was too vast, and even with the constant acceleration of stimulants and the timely "cooling" of sedatives, Carbon Crown could not achieve this goal overnight. Therefore, his body could only gradually become transparent and transform into a virtual form.

And when his body completely disappeared from the top of Tianqian Peak, it was the moment when the entire Carbon Clan leaped to the third stage.

But that was also a catastrophic moment for half the universe.

Because the silicon family will quickly invade the hydrogen family, helium family and carbon family, just like the opportunity they took when Zhong Chenmu completed the stage jump in Wuming City.

For the Silicon Clan, simply infecting the Carbon Clan has never been their goal. Even if they infected the entire Carbon Clan, they would still be just one group and one territory in the universe. The Andromeda Galaxy, though vast, is still just a drop in the ocean within the vastness of the universe.

Moreover, the Carbon Clan is only in the first stage with only a physical form. It would take a huge amount of time and energy to completely infect it, and it does not have the ability to expand outward.

However, if hydrogen, helium and the carbon group that has become a virtual form are all infected, the situation will be completely different.

If all this could be achieved, for the laws of the universe, perhaps a short-term balance would have been achieved, and the silicon race would also "have their birds flown away and their bows hidden", and the universe would enter a period of rapid development of the races. But that would only be beneficial to the universe, and would be meaningless to him, Zhong Chenmu, to the puzzle team, and to this group of incomplete people.

Therefore, Zhong Chenmu wanted to stop all this from happening. He wanted to block the silicon clan, no, the turtle clan, in the carbon clan, so that they could not step into the territory of the hydrogen clan and the helium clan.

His thoughts became clearer and his attention became more focused.

He rushed towards Carbon Crown, who was left with only a pair of tightly closed eyes.

Before he rushed towards the carbon crown with all his strength and merged with it, he looked longingly at his teammates who were discussing countermeasures with confusion and anxiety on their faces.

Guo Ling and Fan Ting have known each other for a long time. Guo Ling once said that he would drink alcohol by himself when he turned 18, but he has not yet fulfilled his promise. Fan Ting also said that she would help him choose a girlfriend from the entire universe, but she has not yet made any real move.

He had rescued both of them from the brink of death long ago, relying on a rudimentary system. Despite his inexperience, despite being only eighteen, he could sense the deep, indelible bond that had long since blossomed between them. However, each had their own obsessions. Now, Guo Ling had let go of his obsession, but Fan Ting still couldn't forget him.

Then there were Zhang Chuyu and Tan Ping, whom he had just met. Zhang Chuyu, always happy to avenge her enemies, had truly relished those dozens of slaps! He still didn't quite understand Tan Ping; perhaps this woman was more complex than she appeared.

Anyway, goodbye, everyone, please be sure to complete the puzzle, a family should be together.