My Journey Lies at the World's End

In the winter hall, upon hearing these words, the Governor of Xizhou's expression shifted markedly.

"Speak in detail." His tone was urgent.

A moment later, a soldier strode quickly into the hall, presenting a seal resembling green jade.

"According to you, this is the so-called 'Secret Seal'? When the palace was about to fall, the former dynasty's Empress used this very item to control the guards and palace maids around her to fight?"

The Governor of Xizhou—or rather, the New Dynasty Emperor—studied this exquisite seal.

It was a size smaller than the Imperial Seal.

Its shape was square and archaic, the surface adorned with complex, faint golden patterns that were now dim and lifeless.

"Yes." The Empire's new Chief Scientist looked on with emotion, saying:

"This is the most important research project of the Institute in recent years, Project 001. Only a very few know of it; it is highly classified to the outside."

"The project has been secretly underway for over a century. It began when we accidentally observed a peculiar phenomenon in the world, which we named the 'Spirit Tide.'

That is, at intervals, a strange energy disturbance would occur in heaven and earth..."

"To be precise, it should be a kind of interference. Through research and conjecture, the Institute believes that there exists in nature an energy we currently cannot observe.

At regular intervals, this mysterious energy rises and falls like a tide for some reason... thereby interfering with other observable energies."

"To this end, the Institute set up several observation stations on high mountains, conducting decades-long observations of the 'Spirit Tide.' Through calculations, we discovered that aside from the first two intervals being irregular, thereafter, a function of decreasing intervals existed between each Spirit Tide.

Though there were errors, the pattern curve was present.

Each occurrence would last about three days.

Of course, some errors might also be due to backward early observation methods and technology.

In short, we determined the cycle of the Spirit Tide and hypothesized that it likely involves the very essence of the world."

"Unfortunately, despite continuous technological progress, we still could not observe that mysterious energy.

Until one time, an expedition team sent from the Capital accidentally discovered a strange ore at the southern foothills. The vegetation around the ore was exceptionally lush, extremely peculiar."

"And the location of the ore happened to be in the direction where the Spirit Tide receded."

"We suspected that the ore, after prolonged energy erosion, had accidentally absorbed the mysterious energy, so we established a dedicated project team to study it...

At that time, its project number was not yet 001."

Speaking thus, the Chief Scientist's eyes were filled with emotion as he continued:

"After that, the Institute began research on this unknown energy based on the ore... Because it could not be observed, progress was extremely slow.

Fortunately, through continuous trial and error, we discovered that this jade could indeed automatically absorb the mysterious energy.

Moreover, it seemed to contain some kind of Extraordinary Power...

When stimulated in a certain way, it could actually affect the human mind..."

"...One who mastered it could use this object to amplify their inner thoughts, forcibly interfering with the thoughts of people within a certain range, much like... hypnosis! Yes, hypnosis!"

"Upon realizing this, the Institute immediately reported it to the late... Old King.

Only then did it leap to become a top-secret experiment, numbered 001.

We tried to decipher this hypnotic power from it, but lacked substantial progress.

Some speculated it might involve the realm of the gods..."

"In the end, it was forged into the 'Secret Seal,' stored in the palace, and controlled by the Old King. Later, when the Old King passed, the Secret Seal fell into the Empress's hands. What happened after that... you already know."

With that, his words fell silent.

After hearing this story, the Governor of Xizhou's eyes had completely changed.

He gripped the Secret Seal somewhat nervously, then stared fixedly at the Chief Scientist, his voice low:

"So, you're saying that whoever holds the Secret Seal can hypnotize others?"

"...Yes, but there are many limitations, such as distance and number of targets. If the target's brain is highly active, the hypnotic effect will also be reduced."

Under the Governor's oppressive gaze, the Chief Scholar lowered his head, swallowing hard, and added:

"Moreover, each use consumes all the energy within the Secret Seal. It can only be set aside to slowly recover... The Empress used it once before.

So now it is dim and lifeless, unable to be activated for a short time."

After he spoke these words, a long silence fell over the hall.

The atmosphere was oppressively heavy.

No one knew how long passed before the Chief Scholar finally tried to lift his head. Then, his whole body trembled as he found the New Emperor staring intently at him.

"Your Majesty?"

"Tell me... how to use this thing!"

[Summer of the 74,041st year of World Evolution, the Governor of Xizhou was crowned, and the Chi Kingdom was renamed the New Dynasty. He became its first emperor. That same year, he issued many decrees to pacify the people, end the war, and allow the land to recover.]

On the Operation Log, text clattered into existence, line by line.

At the same time, Lin Tuo noticed that the Aether concentration on the Virtual Panel had shifted from a red downward arrow back to a yellow-orange horizontal bar. A few minutes later, it turned green and pointed upward.

"Sure enough, once the civil war ends and society re-enters a peaceful era, the Aether recovers too."

Beside the Sandbox, Lin Tuo's tense nerves suddenly relaxed.

As for the Chi Kingdom changing into the New Dynasty... that wasn't surprising either.

In fact, in his view, the Chi Kingdom had already been in decline for two hundred years. Lin Tuo had only "descended" and forcibly prolonged its life with science.

Watching the continent in the Sandbox continue to develop, Lin Tuo felt reassured. He turned around, grabbed his computer, put on his headphones, and started a game.

Well, during this period, aside from cultivating and causing trouble, he'd been watching over the Sandbox. It was busier than work. Taking a day off now and then to relax and have some fun was absolutely necessary.

Before long, the room was filled with nothing but the sounds of keyboard clacking and mouse clicks.

And Lin Tuo, focused on his game, naturally had no idea that his Aether collection from the previous night had been observed by the humans inside the Sandbox.

Nor could he have imagined that his habit of setting an alarm to get up and collect Aether at regular intervals would be meticulously recorded by the scientists in the Sandbox and summarized as the "Spirit Tide Cycle."

The Sandbox continued to shift at a dizzying pace.

In the blink of an eye, a full year had passed since the New Emperor's coronation.

Over the past year, the New Emperor had implemented some reforms, but the main direction was weakening local military power and strengthening centralization.

Clearly, as a usurper who had risen from the provinces, he could not allow a second version of himself to appear.

Regarding the people's livelihood, he had swept away many of the ills accumulated during the Chi Kingdom era, cracked down hard on corruption, rectified the bureaucracy, and gradually replaced the original administrative system with officials from Xizhou's "small government" model.

Through a series of measures and decrees, he fully demonstrated his excellent governance skills... The entire society quickly stabilized and began advancing toward the electrical age at an even faster pace.

It was a time of transition, with new things emerging every day. In just one year, the people had already adapted to the rule of the New Dynasty.

Because of his merit in presenting the "Secret Seal," the Chief Scientist had enjoyed smooth sailing over the past year. No matter how the officialdom shifted, he remained unaffected.

Leading several major inventions had made him a favorite of the New Emperor. For a time, he was riding high.

Until another cold winter arrived, when he was summoned once more to the palace, to a meeting room called the Imperial Study.

"Your Majesty."

Stepping through the door, he saw that the Emperor was alone in the room, his back to the entrance, facing a map on the wall, seemingly lost in thought.

"Ah, you're here. Sit down." Hearing the call, the Emperor snapped out of his reverie and said with a smile.

"May I ask what instructions Your Majesty has for summoning me?" the Chief Scholar inquired.

"I called you here because there is indeed a major matter," the Emperor said without beating around the bush. "I plan to establish a new laboratory in the Great Western Continent.

It will be for a significant research project. I need a person in charge. I wonder if you'd be willing to accept."

"The Great Western Continent? A new laboratory? Research?" The Chief Scholar was taken aback and couldn't help asking, "What is it?"

"The Boundary." The Emperor turned back to face the empire's map on the wall and slowly uttered a single word.

"The Boundary?"

Hearing this word, the Chief Scholar's expression turned serious.

In the empire, the word "Boundary" referred to a specific thing. Its full name was the "World Boundary."

That is, the edge of the continent, the end of the Endless Sea, the very limit of this world.

More precisely, it was the magnificent, never-fully-seen "Great Wall."

However, unlike the people outside the Sandbox who could clearly see the whole of it, for the people of the empire inside the Sandbox, their understanding of the world was based on the Sandbox environment.

Even scientific calculations could only yield results simulated by the Sandbox.

Many years ago, because of backward navigation technology, the people of the Chi Kingdom had no idea what the world looked like.

The fleets they sent out would encounter mysterious storms after leaving the continent and sailing deep into the "Endless Sea," unable to proceed.

It wasn't until the Industrial Revolution began and navigation technology improved that people finally broke through the dangerous waters and reached the end of the world.

There, they discovered the enormous wall.

And named it the "Boundary."

Countless scholars racked their brains but could not figure out the material composition of the "Boundary," nor could they determine what lay beyond it.

Many scholars even believed that the concept of "outside" simply did not exist for the Boundary.

Others thought that beyond the "Boundary" lay the domain of the gods.

Over two hundred years ago, the Sage who taught the world resided in that place.

Thus, it became the ultimate and most mysterious subject in the empire's scientific field.

The sandbox people viewed the "Boundary" the same way Earthlings viewed the "universe."

"Yes," the Emperor said in the meeting room, pointing at the map. "I don't know if you've ever felt this way, but the world we live in... is very cramped."

Back in the Great Western Continent, I used to enjoy going to the observatory at night to watch the stars. The mountains there were tall, closer to the starry sky, and that feeling was especially strong.

It became even more so after I took control of this nation.

My chest often feels tight, as if I can't breathe.

According to your scientific community, humanity rose from the wilderness, conquered nature, and became what it is today. Lately, I've often thought: humanity conquered nature, and I conquered this nation. So then...

What's next? What else do we conquer?"

"Conquer what?"

The Chief Scientist asked reflexively.

The Emperor turned to stare at him, his gaze full of oppressive force:

"The Boundary. I will conquer it, no matter the cost!"