World Traveling

Gazing at the ruins of civilization beneath the ocean, the transition from the incredibly noisy surface into the cold, silent deep sea felt like passing through the barrier between worlds.

The shift in these two contrasting perceptions gave Li Wei the illusion of having fallen into hell.

The clamor of heaven could not affect the silence of hell, and the wild winds on the surface could not shake the frozen history beneath the waves.

The underwater city lacked the grandeur of the legendary Atlantis, carrying instead an air of emptiness and cold. Forests make people feel comforted and delighted because they are the birthplace of terrestrial life.

People fear death in the desert and fear beasts in the dense jungle, but in the deep sea, Li Wei feared the deep sea itself—the deathly stillness, the cold, and the unknown that it brought.

As his vision descended, he saw a billboard, a stretch of road, a car filled with seawater, and the "struggling" passengers inside.

The deep blue of the seawater combined with the dead city in the night was like an ordinary deserted street viewed through a black-and-white filter.

Li Wei held his breath; because his body density was too high to float, he sank into the fractured city.

At this moment, he felt absolute quiet. There was no hustle and bustle or car horns, and even with cars right beside him, he could feel the barrier between himself and the things around him.

He reached out to lift a giant rock blocking his path and tossed it aside. The body crushed beneath it dissolved, and scarlet, filthy blood floated upward, dispersing into the seawater.

The flesh and blood of an unknown person drifted past his eyes. Li Wei felt that the scene he was witnessing now was vastly different from the deep sea he had imagined.

It was not just the fear of the unknown when facing the abyss, but also the sensory dissociation brought about by the sunken city.

The Blacklight Virus was deducing at full capacity, a new sensory mode was forming, and the fear caused by the seawater was fading bit by bit.

However, Li Wei wanted to permanently record this feeling, to ensure he would remember the fear one should hold when facing the unknown.

He looked up at the bottom of the ship above to confirm his direction, then began to weave through the ruins. Walking into this underwater city was like stepping into a black-and-white photograph; everything around him was gray, and only he was in color.

An invisible, intangible chasm formed between the two; though it seemed close at hand, it was actually unreachable.

Through the gaps in the building ruins, he saw many fish carcasses. The genetic quality obtained when the Blacklight Virus assimilated corpses was greatly reduced, and assimilating dead living things could not provide memories.

Li Wei did not need the memories of these fish, nor was he in a hurry, so he devoured every sea creature he encountered along the way.

Only when he had experienced enough of this fear of the ocean did he stop restricting the autonomous evolution of the Blacklight Virus. A mimetic sonar system appeared within his body, his sensory capabilities returned, and Li Wei could now hear the sounds beneath the sea and construct an environmental model in his mind.

The principle of pulse sensing is to generate high-frequency vibration waves to send and receive information. Electromagnetic waves cannot be used underwater, so sonar systems are generally used for underwater detection. Certain creatures also possess sonar systems, such as dolphins and belugas.

The sea fish caught in the tsunami were also assimilated and devoured by Li Wei one by one, becoming part of the Blacklight gene pool. After extreme deduction, the underwater form, which he chuunibyou-ishly named Deep Diver, was successfully manifested!

It took less time than he had imagined; he had somewhat underestimated the autonomous evolutionary ability of the Blacklight.

It was still a full coverage of heaven-defying biological muscle, and it still retained a humanoid shape, only with many added curved lines to facilitate the parting of water currents.

His method of underwater movement was through the coordination of his limbs. His body was no longer restricted by bones, allowing him to make arc-like twists like a fish to maximize thrust. He then adjusted his depth through air sacs within his body, retaining large eyes capable of seeing in the underwater darkness, with an extra layer of protection added.

Having obtained the Deep Diver form, Li Wei began to use this new shape to travel through the city world submerged in seawater.

As he continuously acquired nearby sea fish to perfect the Deep Diver form, he was also charging the key.

The key, which he could see by focusing his vision, now showed an energy value of 98.39%. The lightning strike from just a moment ago seemed to have caused a leap in the key's energy.

He did not know the operating principle of that broken key; it was not something he could understand. After eating a dozen small fish, the second decimal place of the energy value would increase by a point.

The large ship sailed for a long time, and Li Wei also swam through the ocean, chasing the shadow of the Ark until the sky began to brighten. The morning light could be seen on the surface, and the waves were no longer rolling, so he surfaced and headed toward the top of the Dawn, facing the rising sun.

The rising sun held only a hint of warmth, and the morning mist still shrouded the earth. All nine Arks slowed their speed at this time, and after several broadcasts, they opened the decks of the large ships.

They allowed the survivors to feel the calm sea breeze, watch the sun rise once more, and regain the hope destroyed by the disaster!

This period of time, this day, was designated by the survivors as January 1st, Year 0000 of the New Era.

Li Wei knocked on the small cabin door at the top of the Dawn. The guard who had been on duty for an entire day poked his head out. He squinted at the bright light, then lingered for a few extra moments with some reluctance before asking Li Wei, "Is there anything else you need?"

Li Wei looked with amusement at the young guard, who clearly wanted to watch but was hindered by discipline. He waved his hand and said, "I need you to keep me company while I watch the sunrise. Come up!"

"...Thank you."

The guard hesitated for a moment, then climbed up the ladder and sat on the edge of the hatch, silently watching the golden-red sun, rubbing his sore nose with trembling hands.

Without making a sound to disturb the guard, Li Wei stood to the side, also looking at the slowly rising sun.

The nine Arks were lined up, and the last survivors of humanity walked out of the sealed ships to watch this hard-won sunrise.

People wept, smiled, remained silent, felt anticipation, and grieved...

Grief could no longer erode the little hope they had left. The light of the morning sun illuminated their weary faces, reflecting faces with distinct features; the people here were the last embers of human civilization.

One day, human civilization would eventually grow and develop again, becoming a top-tier civilization that even this universe would fear to hear of.

[Energy 99.87%!]

Five days passed, and the energy of the key finally reached 100%. Li Wei could once again start searching for that old thing who made the key!

Fan Guojun and a group of leaders came up to meet him, along with two fully armed soldiers with resolute expressions.

The two were the elite of the military, carefully selected volunteers to accompany Li Wei on his cross-world travels.

This was Fan Guojun's suggestion after watching the sunrise five days ago. Li Wei felt this could verify the function of the key, so he agreed to Fan Guojun's request, allowing the two soldiers to accompany him across worlds.

Therefore, today, he would use a utility room—the only one on the entire ship with a keyhole—as a medium, and under the gaze of a dozen pairs of eyes and cameras, he would pass through the world barrier and enter another world.

He reached out and pulled the key from the void. He inserted the key into the mismatched keyhole, turned it, and pushed the door open in one fluid motion!

The scene that appeared behind the door was a meadow, the surrounding environment somewhat blurry, making it impossible to see further into the distance for the time being.

"Let's go!"

Li Wei turned around, grabbed the two slightly nervous special forces soldiers, and began to back away, leading them into the new world.

The dozen or so people responsible for observation and recording hurriedly focused their attention, and they were shocked to see the small patch of grass and the vast expanse of fog behind the gate.

So, world-hopping really did exist!

Just as Li Wei fully stepped into the new world and tried to pull the two soldiers in with him, a powerful repulsive force erupted between his hands and the soldiers, forcing him to let go uncontrollably.

The gate vanished along with them...

"Looks like it failed... oh well." Li Wei lowered his hand, shrugged helplessly, and looked around at his surroundings, realizing he seemed to be in a backyard, devoid of the fog he had just seen.

Feeling something strange under his foot, he looked down and turned around, only to see a little blond boy sitting on the grass, looking up at him with a blank expression.

Li Wei lifted his left foot to take a look, only to find a crushed toy car...

A moment later, he placed his foot back onto the toy car, stared at the little boy, and asked calmly, "What are you looking at?"