Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

Chapter 118 The Holy Power of Stagnation

"We have lost our judge."

The consciousness within the throne room spoke thus.

Here, the gravitational system formed by the binary black holes maintains near-perpetual stability. The two rotating black holes have had their orbits artificially corrected, circling each other in a perfect double helix structure. It is so quiet that it is as if this star field has been completely stripped from the background of the universe, leaving only the whisper of gravity itself.

This is the home star system of the Tut Think Tank Empire, and also the most mysterious forbidden area in the entire supercluster. Countless civilizations have risen and fallen in the sea of ​​stars, but few have been able to glimpse the true face of this lost empire. There are only scattered legends about this "hermit" and endless awe for this ancient empire.

The throne room is suspended inside the binary black hole system. It has no fixed physical form and is more like a constantly flowing space composed of pure information.

The think tank's chief mentors seemed out of place. Unlike the robot servants who attended them, these power holders were still organic beings. They were enveloped in a flowing, silvery-white light membrane, allowing them direct access to the empire's information network and integration with the entire think tank's computing power.

The Grand Masters communicate with each other using stream of consciousness, appearing like eternally solemn statues. Their communication is precise and efficient, perhaps proving the creed of their empire: the essence of the universe is quantifiable information, and logic and data determine all changes.

The emperor of the Tut Think Tank Empire, an ancient being who has lived for countless ages, expressed his regret over the loss of the "Judge".

The data stream revealed the current state of the Judgement. The ancient behemoth, larger than the entire Heng galaxy, was now huddled deep in subspace. Nearly half of its hull structure had been incinerated by the black and red flames, and the core information state transformation matrix had suffered irreversible damage. The information field, which could originally cover the entire supercluster, was now struggling to even maintain its own physical stability.

"The main structure is more than 64% damaged, and the information conversion engine is not working," the Grand Master's consciousness reported to the Emperor. "Based on the current think tank's technological reserves, repairs cannot be completed."

This conclusion caused no ripples in the throne room, as if all the Grand Masters had already foreseen this outcome. The Tute Think Tank Empire had been stagnant in the universe for far too long, so long that they had long forgotten how long ago it was before they last built an ancient megastructure of this magnitude.

The construction techniques engraved in the information matrix, like the countless pieces of knowledge sealed in the Great Library, cannot be reproduced. Just as a child with blueprints can never replicate the toy in his parents' hands.

The decline of the empire was etched into its very bones. They guarded the largest treasure trove of knowledge in the universe, yet they themselves trapped themselves, slowly decaying and stagnating over endless years, leaving only a mechanical adherence to ancient doctrines and a fanaticism for certain ideas.

"The damage was worth it."

The Emperor spoke slowly, "As long as the erasure agreement is successfully activated, the 'Judge' has completed its mission."

The Grand Master immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Existence Erasure Protocol has completed its information coverage across the entire universe. All information regarding the existence of the target entity, 'Undead Celestial Dragon,' has been erased."

"Throughout the entire universe, except for the special environment of subspace, there is no remaining information about the target entity, and the real universe no longer recognizes the legitimacy of its existence."

The chief mentor's report eased the atmosphere in the throne room slightly, and even the emperor's usually gloomy eyes showed a hint of relief.

When they saw the black and red flame that could bring about the end of everything, the highest levels of the entire Tut Think Tank Empire were plunged into unprecedented panic.

Among countless secret histories, the records about that "empire" always attracted the most attention. It listed the fire of death as a taboo, and even without any explanation or reason, the Tut Think Tank Empire, which discovered this taboo and brought it to light, would do everything in its power to extinguish it.

For countless ages, they have been like a silent gardener, quietly monitoring all civilizations in the cosmic garden.

Once a civilization crosses their red line by researching dangerous technologies that could distort the laws of reality, they will not hesitate to take action. Many civilizations that were once thriving in interstellar society have disappeared overnight.

When they sent out an expedition fleet to witness the river system hollow that had been wiped clean by the fires of death, they realized that the existence of this being, which the lesser civilizations called the Undead Dragon, was more dangerous than all the anomalies they had cleared combined.

As it turns out, this flame is indeed a desecration of the rules of the real universe, capable of directly destroying the very existence of things, reducing an entire galaxy to nothingness, leaving not even the most basic traces of information behind.

This force is no longer a simple distortion of the laws of reality, but rather an act of editing the universe of reality, which is the most severe challenge to the dogmas they uphold.

The chief guru added that the stream of consciousness carried an undisguised fear: "Our informational attack directly erased all information about Him in the universe, but His soul still exists."

This statement plunged the throne room into dead silence once again. This was the deepest sore spot of the TUT think tank empire, and one of the reasons for its decline and stagnation.

They were once the most pioneering civilization in the universe, with their technology extending to every corner of the cosmos. However, one problem remained unsolved: the true existence of the soul.

They can replicate consciousness, upload memories, and replicate all the thought patterns and personality traits of an organism, but they can never create a soul from nothing.

When original life is uploaded into a machine, the soul can still exist. However, synthetic mechanical bodies assembled directly from consciousness data can never find a place for the soul to reside.

They firmly believed that everything in the universe could be deconstructed by information, but the existence of the soul was like a chasm that could not be filled by formulas, standing in their way.

Since then, the TUT Think Tank Empire has completely abandoned its consciousness uploading plan and the path of completely transforming itself into inorganic matter. They still use robots as servants and form all their land forces with mechanical legions, letting those soulless steel bodies complete all the dangerous and tedious tasks, but they themselves always adhere to the form of organic matter.

After countless years, when they became conservative, paranoid, and closed-minded, they stopped exploring the outside world and the boundaries of science and technology, and instead focused all their energy on controlling and preserving knowledge.

Perhaps after they have touched the mysteries of all knowledge, they will be even more afraid of encountering things like the soul that make them unable to confidently say they fully understand, and afraid that the omniscient dogma they uphold will once again be shattered by reality.

They guarded their vast treasure trove of knowledge like misers guarding a mountain of gold, slowly descending into decadence and stagnation.

The flow of information in the throne room gradually dissipated, and the Grand Masters withdrew from the space one by one, leaving only the Emperor sitting alone on the throne, gazing at this declining empire.

He remained silent for a long time before heading to another planet within his territory, a planet called the "Great Archives".

The planet's surface was enveloped by a transparent barrier, obscuring any surface features. Only countless silvery-white beams of light could be seen extending upwards from the planet's surface, forming a dense, columnar matrix forest.

These columnar matrices are the knowledge carriers of the TUT Think Tank Empire. Each matrix records countless pieces of knowledge from the universe, which rise and fall like waves above the planets, flowing with a dazzling stream of information.

However, most of the knowledge in this treasure trove is now beyond the comprehension of the empire's scholars. They can only look at the theories and blueprints as if they were looking at a wordless book, and can no longer transform them into practical technology.

This precious knowledge was thus sealed away in the matrix, like dust forgotten in time, never to be touched again.

The emperor arrived without any entourage. His figure descended into the depths of the Great Archives planet, the highest point on its surface. A colossal stone pillar, larger than any matrix combined, stood silently there, its surface engraved with an ancient symbol:

Three interlocking rings, with a regular grid pattern behind them.

The light emanating from the emperor fluctuated violently, revealing his aged and withered face. He slowly knelt before the stone pillar, his cloudy eyes staring at the symbol with a look of utter confusion.