Watching the Future

Hearing Navigator Two's words, Duncan's expression immediately turned solemn. He stared into the other's eyes and said in a low voice, "A larger 'Boundless Sea'? Why do you think that?"

Navigator Two thought briefly, then, after organizing his thoughts, suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question. "In the world where you were born, the civilization that created you—had it already reached the 'Final Step'?"

"The Final Step?" Duncan frowned. "You mean..."

"To grasp every truth within the scope of one's own world, to know every mystery, the beginning and future of the universe, and to possess the ability to alter the universe itself—where natural laws become tools that can be readjusted and reset, rather than iron laws that must be passively obeyed."

As Navigator Two spoke, a trace of nostalgia and emotion appeared on his face. Since taking on this form, even his emotional changes seemed far closer to those of a human.

"My creators gave this stage of civilization a name. They called it the 'Transcendent Threshold.' Though they themselves never reached that stage in the end, they touched its threshold and thus deduced the conditions necessary to attain it. Their greatest achievement... was the creation of a 'time capsule' during the construction of New Hope, using it to win a hundred years when the end of the world arrived.

"Flame Usurper, though my creators never truly reached the Transcendent Threshold, vast calculations had already led them to a conclusion: 'mortals' could indeed reach such heights. Through the power of civilization, the mathematical foundations of the universe could be pried loose."

Navigator Two fixed his eyes on Duncan's, and a heavy pressure seemed to gather within that gaze.

"Flame Usurper, I observed you through long years and conducted meticulous calculations. The civilization behind you went farther than my creators ever