In the winter palace hall, the Governor of Xizhou's expression visibly changed upon hearing those words.
"Explain it carefully." His tone was urgent.
A moment later, a soldier hurried into the hall and presented a seal that looked as though it had been carved from green jade.
"So, as you say, this is the so-called 'Secret Seal'? When the imperial palace was about to fall, the Old Dynasty Empress used this thing to control the guards and palace servants around her, making them fight?"
The Governor of Xizhou—or rather, the New Dynasty Emperor—studied the exquisite seal.
It was a size smaller than the imperial seal.
Square and ancient in design, its surface bore intricate pale-gold patterns, though it was now dull and without luster.
"Yes." The Empire's newly appointed Chief Scientist looked reflective as he said:
"This was the research institute's most important Project 001 in recent years. Aside from a very few people, it was kept under the strictest secrecy."
"The project had been conducted in secret for over a century. It began because we accidentally observed a peculiar phenomenon between heaven and earth, which we named the 'Spirit Tide.'
That is, at intervals, some kind of anomalous energy disturbance would occur between heaven and earth..."
"More accurately, it should have been some kind of interference. Through research, the institute theorized that there was an energy in nature that we currently had no means of observing.
At intervals, this mysterious energy would rise and fall like the tide for some reason... thereby interfering with other observable forms of energy."
"For this reason, the institute established several observation stations atop mountains and observed the 'Spirit Tide' for decades. Through calculation, we discovered that although the intervals between the first two occurrences showed no pattern,
afterward, the interval between every two Spirit Tides displayed a functionally decreasing trend.
Though there were errors, the curve of the pattern existed.
Each occurrence also lasted around three days.
Of course, some of those errors may have been caused by the backward observation methods and technology of the early years.
In short, we confirmed the Spirit Tide's cycle and theorized that it was highly likely connected to the nature of the world itself."
"Unfortunately, although our technology continued advancing, we still could not observe that mysterious energy.
Until one day, an expedition dispatched from the Capital accidentally discovered a strange mineral in the southern foothills. The vegetation around it was extraordinarily lush, a most peculiar sight."
"And the location of that mineral happened to lie in the direction where the Spirit Tide ebbed."
"We suspected that the mineral had most likely absorbed the mysterious energy after being washed by it for a long time, so we established a special project team to study it...
At the time, its project number was not yet 001..."
At this point, the Chief Scientist's eyes grew wistful, and he continued:
"After that, the institute began researching this unknown energy based on the mineral... Since it could not be observed, progress was extremely slow.
Fortunately, through constant exploration, we discovered that this piece of jade could indeed absorb the mysterious energy automatically.
Moreover, it seemed to contain some sort of Extraordinary Power...
With a certain degree of stimulation, it could actually influence the human mind..."
"...Whoever held it could use it to amplify the thoughts in their heart and forcibly interfere with the thoughts of people within a certain range, much like... hypnosis! Yes, hypnosis!"
"Upon realizing this, the institute immediately reported it to the former... Old King.
That was when it became a top-secret experiment, numbered 001.
We tried to decipher this hypnotic power from it, but unfortunately made no substantial progress.
Some people speculated that it might involve the domain of the gods..."
"Later, we had no choice but to forge it into the 'Secret Seal' and store it in the imperial palace under the Old King's control. Then, after the Old King passed away, the Secret Seal fell into the Empress's hands. What happened after that... you already know."
His words came to an end.
After hearing this story, the Governor of Xizhou's gaze changed.
He gripped the Secret Seal somewhat nervously, then fixed the Chief Scientist with a hard stare, his voice low.
"So you mean that whoever controls the Secret Seal can hypnotize others?"
"...Yes, but there are many restrictions, such as range and number of targets. If the target's brain activity is relatively high, the hypnotic effect will also weaken."
Under the Governor's pressure, the Chief Scholar lowered his head, swallowed with difficulty, and added:
"Moreover, every use exhausts the energy inside the Secret Seal. It can only be left alone to slowly recover... The Empress used it once before.
That is why it is so dim now. It cannot be activated in the short term."
After those words, the hall fell into a long silence.
The atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive.
No one knew how long passed before the Chief Scholar finally tried to raise his head. Then his entire body trembled as he discovered that the New Emperor was staring at him intently.
"Your Majesty?"
"Tell me, how... do I use this thing?"
In the summer of the 704,100,049th year of World Evolution, the Governor of Great Western Continent was crowned. The Chi Kingdom was renamed the New Dynasty, and he became its first emperor. That same year, he issued numerous decrees, pacified the people, ended the war, and allowed the nation to recuperate.
On the Operation Log, words appeared with a clatter.
At the same time, Lin Tuo noticed that the Aether concentration on the Virtual Panel had changed from a red downward arrow back into an orange horizontal bar. A few minutes later, it returned to a green upward arrow.
"Sure enough, once the civil war ended and society returned to an era of peace, Aether recovered as well."
Beside the Sandbox, Lin Tuo's tense mood abruptly relaxed.
As for the Chi Kingdom being renamed the New Dynasty... that was hardly surprising.
In fact, in his view, the Chi Kingdom had already grown old two hundred years ago. It was only because Lin Tuo had "descended to the mortal world" and forcibly extended its life with science that it had survived another stretch.
Seeing the Sandbox continent continue developing, Lin Tuo set his mind at ease. He turned around, hugged his laptop, put on his headphones, and started a game.
Well, aside from cultivating, stirring up trouble, and watching over the Sandbox, he had been busier than at work lately. Giving himself a day off now and then to relax and have some fun was very necessary.
Before long, only the sounds of keyboard and mouse clicks remained in the room.
Naturally, Lin Tuo, engrossed in his game, had no idea that his act of collecting Aether the previous night had actually been observed by the humans inside the Sandbox.
Nor could he have imagined that his habit of setting an alarm to wake up at intervals and collect it would be meticulously recorded by the Sandbox scientists and summarized as the "Spirit Tide cycle."
The Sandbox continued changing at a rapid pace.
In the blink of an eye, a full year had passed since the New Emperor ascended the throne.
Over the past year, the New Emperor had implemented several reforms, though their main direction was to weaken local military power and strengthen centralized authority.
Clearly, as someone who had seized power from the provinces, he could not possibly tolerate the emergence of a second version of himself.
As for people's livelihoods, he vigorously swept away many of the accumulated ills from the Chi Kingdom era, ruthlessly purged a wave of corruption, rectified the officialdom, and gradually replaced the original administrative system with officials from Xizhou's "small government."
Through a series of measures and decrees, he fully demonstrated his outstanding talent for governing... Society swiftly stabilized and once again marched toward the electrical age at an even faster pace.
At a time of transition, new things emerged every day. In just one short year, the people had already adapted to the New Dynasty's rule.
Because he had rendered merit by presenting the "Secret Seal," the Chief Scientist had enjoyed smooth sailing over the past year. No matter how the officialdom changed, he remained wholly unaffected.
Having led several major inventions, he became a favorite at the New Emperor's side, riding high on the spring breeze for a time.
Until another cold winter arrived, when he was summoned to the imperial palace once more and entered a meeting room known as the Imperial Study.
"Your Majesty."
The moment he stepped through the door, he saw that the Emperor was the only one in the room. He stood with his back to the entrance, facing a map on the wall as if lost in thought.
"Ah, you're here. Sit." Hearing him, the Emperor finally came back to himself and spoke with a smile.
"May I ask what instructions Your Majesty has for summoning this subject?" the Chief Scholar asked.
"I did summon you for an important matter," the Emperor said without beating around the bush, getting straight to the point. "I intend to establish a new laboratory in the Great Western Continent.
It will conduct a major research project, and I lack someone to take charge. Would you be willing to accept?"
"The Great Western Continent? A new laboratory? Research?" The Chief Scholar was deeply surprised and could not help asking, "What is it?"
"The Boundary." The Emperor turned again toward the Empire's map on the wall and slowly uttered a single word.
"The Boundary?"
Upon hearing that word, the Chief Scholar's expression tightened.
Within the Empire, the word Boundary carried a special meaning. Its full name was the "World Boundary."
That was, the very edge of this world, beyond the continent and at the end of the Endless Sea.
More precisely, it was that magnificent "Great Wall," whose full extent could not be seen.
However, unlike those outside the Sandbox, who could clearly see the Sandbox as a whole, the Empire's people inside the Sandbox understood the world based on the Sandbox Environment.
Even scientific calculations could only produce results simulated by the Sandbox.
Many years ago.
Due to the backward state of seafaring technology, the people of the Chi Kingdom at that time had no idea what the world looked like.
The fleets they dispatched would encounter mysterious wind and waves after leaving the continent and sailing deep into the "Endless Sea," unable to advance any farther.
It was not until the Industrial Revolution began and navigation technology improved that people finally broke through those perilous waters and reached the end of the world.
There, they discovered that incomparably enormous wall.
And named it the "Boundary."
Countless scholars racked their brains, yet none could determine what substance the Boundary was made of, much less investigate what lay beyond it.
Many scholars even believed that the Boundary had no such thing as an "outside."
Others believed that beyond the "Boundary" lay the domain of the gods.
Over two hundred years ago, the Sage who taught all under heaven had resided in that direction.
Thus, it became the ultimate and most mysterious object of study in the Empire's scientific world.
To the people of the Sandbox, the "Boundary" was like the universe to the people of Earth.
"Yes." In the meeting room, the Emperor pointed at the map and said, "I wonder whether you have ever felt that the world we live in... is very small.
Back when I was in the Great Western Continent, I liked to visit the astronomical station at night to look at the stars. The mountains there were very high, closer to the starry sky, and that feeling became especially intense.
After I took control of this country, it became even more so.
My chest often feels stifled, as though I cannot catch my breath.
According to your scientific community, humanity rose from the wilderness and conquered nature to become what it is today. Lately, I often think: humanity conquered nature, and I conquered this country, so...
What comes next? What else are we to conquer?"
"Conquer what?"
The Chief Scientist echoed unconsciously.
The Emperor turned to stare at him, his gaze brimming with pressure.
"The Boundary. I will conquer it, no matter the cost!"
Before you continue