Wasteland Development Diary

"Since you're a Streamtracer, you should know how the Great Maelstrom is created, right?"

Zhou Yi raised his long-standing question.

The Dead Light created the Dead Sea, but he had no idea how this phenomenon descended upon Earth.

"The outbreak of the Great Maelstrom is a world-destroying calamity. We don't know how it was born, nor have we found its source."

Xiaofu remained in the posture of a captured criminal with his hands on his head, continuing, "We only know that it uses Light-Bearing Stars as channels, using light as a medium for transmission and diffusion. This high-energy radiation combines with gases, solids, or liquids to form moving turbulent flows, and the phenomenon that manifests is the Great Maelstrom."

"Faced with the Great Maelstrom, even many mid- to high-level civilizations can only flee, otherwise they will be annihilated and destroyed. However, detecting the outbreak of the Great Maelstrom in advance requires a civilization to have a high level of comprehensive ability. It needs to be discovered early and have the corresponding cognitive foundation and technological reserves. In reality, most destructions happen suddenly..."

Zhou Yi interrupted, "Light-Bearing Stars, are those celestial bodies that radiate light and heat outward?"

"You could say that. Although their internal types are diverse and their colors vary, their basic external characteristics are like that."

The other party described some cases it knew.

After some confirmation, the fog in Zhou Yi's mind cleared a bit.

Light-Bearing Stars refer to stars.

The Dead Light spreads and radiates through stars like the sun, so it can instantly complete full coverage of Earth, allowing the Dead Sea to appear out of nowhere. It combines with the Earth's atmosphere to form the Outer Sea, and with the surface's air currents, water, and dust to build the Inner Sea.

"However, the Great Maelstrom is not all pure destruction. At least as Streamtracers, we believe it also has a positive side."

Xiaofu said, "Because such dramatic changes also bring new opportunities, especially for most civilized worlds. The energy and information in the Great Maelstrom are almost endless. If you can utilize even a small portion of it, you may be able to break through the existing stage in a short period and push civilization to a very high level."

Zhou Yi said coldly, "How many civilizations have you seen that have done that?"

The other party was momentarily stumped, and could only force himself to say, "In theory, in theory it can be done. I've heard other Streamtracers say it."

"So you haven't seen any."

"..."

Theory and reality are sometimes different.

Zhou Yi thought, I also think that as long as there are enough people in this place, we can farm. If it weren't for the farming machinery brothers, I'm afraid even the seedlings wouldn't be able to come out now.

His suspicion of the Streamtracers further increased: "It seems that you enter different worlds through the Great Maelstrom, but you know very little about it."

Xiaofu was a little unconvinced: "Although I don't know what kind of higher life form you are, no one understands the Great Maelstrom better than the Streamtracers."

"The value of the Great Maelstrom is there, and it doesn't change based on the will to understand it. If you can use it, it's a powerful resource; if you can't use it, then of course it's a world-destroying disaster."

"Although lacking evidence, we also have a speculation. The Great Streamtracers believe that the Great Maelstrom outbreak is due to the destruction of high-dimensional civilizations."

Zhou Yi immediately listened attentively.

Shadow Xiaofu paused for a moment before saying, "When high-dimensional civilizations are destroyed, they ignite all the Light-Bearing Stars they hold, and a large number of Light-Bearing Stars simultaneously explode, creating energy that can illuminate billions of worlds, thereby driving the existing Great Maelstrom to erupt violently, reaching and submerging many new worlds through light."

It sounded a bit like the artificial waves in the sea park.

Except these waves use stars as fuel.

Zhou Yi was puzzled: "Why do they do this?"

"Cannot be determined."

Xiaofu said, "High-dimensional civilizations themselves cannot be contacted, and their actions are difficult to understand from our perspective, but this theory also has supporting points."

"For example, the information flow contained in the Great Maelstrom sometimes becomes very large, but it is not evenly distributed, which has obvious traces of artificial interference."

"Another is the pores in the Great Maelstrom. These pores should not exist in the first place. But they happen to appear in a form we cannot understand and connect different worlds covered by the Great Maelstrom. They are very peculiar space bubbles."

This pore is the Dark Domain used by the Boundary Breakers.

The Streamtracer continued to elaborate: "Behind those pores, there are things moving and connecting that cannot be observed."

"Those unobservable substances or energies play a role in stabilizing coordinate connections. They become temporarily unusable during the strong cycle of the Great Maelstrom, and they are most stable during the weak cycle of the Great Maelstrom."

"If they are not naturally formed space bubbles, but bridges that are created, it would be easy to understand, right?"

"Before the high-dimensional civilizations were destroyed, they secretly transferred some of their civilization's heritage, whether it be spiritual, material, or preserved life information, to other worlds through the Great Maelstrom."

"During the strong cycle of the Great Maelstrom, they use space bubbles to travel between various worlds. During the weak cycle of the Great Maelstrom, they stop using them for safety, so they become natural tools that Boundary Breakers can temporarily use."

"Those huge information flows that occasionally appear in the Great Maelstrom appear quickly and disappear quickly because they are radiating outward and partially leaking due to the use of space bubbles."

Xiaofu's statement made Zhou Yi suddenly see the light.

Boundary Breakers only appear in winter, because the space bubbles are in an idle state at this time.

The Streamtracer emphasized, "The Great Streamtracers once tracked down space bubbles and information flows all the way, and finally found definitive evidence of the presence of high-dimensional civilizations. Following them, it entered a space bubble and directly entered a bizarre bubble world. No matter which space bubble it entered, it was spinning in place, and it took many years to escape. This is already a very direct warning."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but say with a strange expression: "You followed behind people, looking for where they hid their good things. Not killing you already counts as leniency."

Xiaofu was speechless for a while, and then said, "...In short, although this theory lacks direct evidence of facing high-dimensional beings, it is also a highly credible conclusion. We Streamtracers may be mediocre in creation or the like, but when it comes to research in the field of the Great Maelstrom, you can't get around us, because we live in the Great Maelstrom!"

Zhou Yi also expressed his respect: "Streamtracers do have a high level of expertise in this area. I take back what I said earlier. You do have a deep understanding and rich experience."

"It's good to clear up the misunderstanding."

Xiaofu's tone was not so tense anymore.

It values the honor of the Streamtracers very much.

Zhou Yi looked at the shadow in front of him.

The Streamtracer has a human form, but no facial features or clear contours, like a wisp of black smoke slowly rising.

Zhou Yi asked: "Now that we've talked about the Great Maelstrom, it's time to talk about your business. What are you doing on the Sea God?"

This time, the other party said with confidence: "Streamtracers need to be based on local life. The environmental composition of each world is different, so they need different bodies."

"I need a body. Too weak is not easy to act, and too strong is difficult to obtain, so I chose this life form. However, when I found it, its consciousness structure was severely damaged, and only one in ten consciousness keys remained. Without me, its body would quickly be destroyed."

"So I inherited and collected its identity. It and I are actually one. My name also has the 'Sea God' part."

Xiaofu couldn't help but say: "But... you can greatly modify your consciousness keys and directly introduce external life consciousness. Won't this really cause the consciousness structure to be unstable and collapse?"

"No."

Zhou Yi has been using consciousness synchronization almost every day in recent years, and he doesn't feel any discomfort. On the contrary, the more he uses it, the smoother it becomes, highlighting a skill makes perfect.

This time, in the chase and confrontation with Xiaofu, he entered the spiral space of consciousness for the first time.

Zhou Yi immediately asked for advice.

"Don't you know?" The Streamtracer was a little dazed instead: "This is the 'Memory Kernel' mainly built by 'Consciousness Keys', which is the information concrete space of consciousness."

"It is divided into 'Inner Orbit' and 'Outer Orbit'. The Inner Orbit represents the extension and movement of self-consciousness, and the Outer Orbit represents the recording of external information that is not transferred by self-consciousness—which is also in motion and change under normal circumstances."

"Self-consciousness always operates faster on the Inner Orbit. Entering the Outer Orbit to receive external information will become very slow and sluggish, and even go into the wrong consciousness key path. So your Inner Orbit is the Outer Orbit to me, and my Inner Orbit is your Outer Orbit. We operate on different trajectories."

"A large number of consciousness keys will connect the Inner and Outer Orbits, thereby forming the interaction of consciousness and information, forming a complete consciousness body that is in constant motion and correction."

Zhou Yi nodded: "Then it makes sense that it's okay for me to let other consciousnesses in, since this is my Memory Kernel."

"The problem is big..."

Xiaofu's voice was only slightly higher, but it immediately lowered under the deterrence of the surrounding Warrior Crabs: "Because the entry of external consciousness, if it connects with self-consciousness, will cause the body to be disordered. Because it cannot identify the situation in the Memory Kernel, it can only move according to the commands of the collective of the Memory Kernel."

"The result of this is that the Memory Kernel is in chaos, various consciousnesses are scurrying around inside, and the external body will also receive disordered commands, and will soon step into destruction."

Zhou Yi understood.

It can only be said that the White Suanni body is indeed easy to use.

Consciousness synchronization is its own skill.

Zhou Yi said, "Okay, you can go out now."

"But I can't go out now. I've been locked in the Memory Kernel and completely cut off from the outside world."

Xiaofu's voice was a little helpless.

Zhou Yi raised his eyebrows, then there's only killing it.

He made a subtle throat-slitting gesture to the Warrior Crabs, then turned around.

"Wait, wait!"

Xiaofu seemed to keenly perceive the crisis and quickly said: "I don't want to either, the key is that your body is not right, it locked me up. It made the first move! Of course, my problem is the biggest... You can kill me at any time, but I can still help you now. I can find the [Seeds]! You will definitely need them."

Zhou Yi turned his face: "What are the Seeds?"

"Individuals with high levels of consciousness wealth, Streamtracers call them Seeds. We will absorb them to become Seed Lives—like that flying electromechanical life before. After absorption, we can store and integrate it on the body, making life immortal."

"I can obtain a large amount of civilization information from them, which is consciousness wealth! Once I touch certain information, I can also obtain feedback and verification through them!!"

"If there are enough Seed Lives, they can be connected to become a Seed Civilization, so that the abilities of every life inside can be mobilized for their own use! This is the unique ability of Streamtracers!"

Zhou Yi clicked his tongue.

There is such a thing?

Directly compressing life into electronic component-like imprints, turning them into a highly contracted integrated civilization?

Zhou Yi looked at the other party: "Tell me more about it."