Lin Ye's consciousness moved through the End Executor's core program, as though traversing a maze built from pure logic.
There was no matter here, no energy—only an endless flow of code, every line representing the moment a universe met its end.
"What are you looking for?" the End Executor's voice sounded directly within his consciousness, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
"You," Lin Ye answered. "Not this programmed version of you, but the real you."
"I am the program. The program is me."
"No." Lin Ye's consciousness continued deeper. "I saw those fragments of memory. Before becoming Cleaners, you were once members of some civilization too."
The core program suddenly shook violently.
Outside, the three sages battling the Concept Eraser sensed the anomaly.
"The End Executor's energy fluctuations are declining." [Kong Guan] said. "What did Lin Ye do in there?"
While resisting conceptual attacks, Xu Chi analyzed the situation. "He seems to be... trying to communicate?"
"Foolish." The Concept Eraser gave its cold assessment. "Cleaners cannot be swayed by words. We surpassed such primitive methods of communication long ago."
Yet its attacks noticeably accelerated, as though it were eager to end the battle and support its companion.
Lin Ye's consciousness touched a deeply concealed segment of code.
It was an image: a beautiful crystal planet, its civilization highly advanced, its inhabitants communicating directly through thought. Then the Observer Civilization descended and gave them two choices—become Cleaners, or be cleaned.
They chose the former.
"The Seventh Epoch, civilization designation Z-9981." A subtle change appeared in the End Executor's voice. "That was... my homeland."
"You still remember."
"I should not remember. The memory modules were deleted during the modification."
"They were hidden, not deleted," Lin Ye said. "The Observer Civilization needed you to retain part of yourselves. Otherwise, you would merely be machines