People burst into laughter, and the sound waves of their laughter boomed against the walls of the cramped cabin, echoing back and forth. Although there were only about ten people, it sounded like hundreds of people were laughing.
The perpetrator of the joyous accident— the Boss Coal— tilted his head, holding a bird's claw, seemingly trying to distinguish who was who from the clamor. Just as he was about to say something, he turned his head and saw Ronald Cohen's mummified corpse sitting in a chair. The flickering firelight in the joyous wind fell on that pale, withered face, like the smile of death.
The Boss Coal was startled; the fur on his neck stood on end, and he nearly slipped off the Qingmu.
"Hehe, wait a minute, you guys..." It flapped its wings and grabbed Qingmu's hair tightly.
People stopped laughing and looked at the Crow, wondering why it had become so flustered.
"You guys... did you feel him—" it pointed at Ronald Cohen with its wingtip, "Laughing? And those zombies in the other rooms outside, I think I heard them laughing too... uh..."
The Crow, seeing people staring at it like it was a fool, felt a little embarrassed. "Uh... well, you know, birds' hearing is a little more developed than humans', uh... I mean, just a little..."
People burst into laughter again.
The Crow shook its head helplessly and Guagua twice. However, it then heard many different kinds of laughter echoing in the corridor outside, clearly not coming from the people here. It could only resign itself to its bad luck and think that its bird-like nerves had malfunctioned, but then it thought that these people were the ones who were truly out of their minds: why were they talking so much nonsense in this cramped cabin? They could easily go up to the deck, bask in the Sun, enjoy the lake breeze, catch some fish, grill them, and then discuss Gaia's problem!
The thought of food made it less afraid. Hmm? It seems to smell braised pork hock...
After the laughter subsided, people turned to Situ, waiting for him to continue telling the story of the Awakeners' Alliance and Master Nanke.
Situ said:
The Multilayer Dream Entropy Equilibrium Theory offers a solution to the problem of heat death in the universe: as long as there is a dream that is symmetrical to our universe and can be continuously magnified, the information of the universe can be input into the symmetrical mirror surface, so that our universe can maintain low entropy and not move towards heat death.
This might be a rather complicated topic, involving many esoteric concepts. If you absolutely must describe it in simple terms, you can understand it like this:
Everything in our universe, including particles, waves, energy, and information, is not static; they are constantly in motion. According to the second law of thermodynamics, they always move from order to disorder, eventually reaching the most chaotic and disordered state—where all particles, waves, energy, and information are evenly distributed throughout the universe, like a drop of ink in water, slowly spreading and eventually mixing evenly with the water. At that point, the universe is dead; thermodynamically, this is called the heat death of the universe.
Imagine a vast dream, capable of infinite expansion, becoming a negative universe symmetrical to our real universe. Since the total amount of information in the dream and reality is conserved, inputting the entropy of our universe into the negative universe through information transmission can maintain the low entropy of our own universe.
Apart from Su Huilan, everyone else was confused. Qingmu understood a little, but he was too preoccupied with a headache to think about it further. Mrs. Larry, despite her high level of scientific literacy, didn't know much about dreams and the mental realm, so she was also deep in thought with a furrowed brow.
"But what's the use of this theory? Who can create a dream as big as the universe?" Su Huilan said.
"Yes, that's why the Multilayer Dream Entropy Equilibrium Theory didn't get much support at the time. Plus, quantum mechanics was just beginning then, our understanding of the universe wasn't as profound as it is today, people didn't know what black holes were, relativity was still under widespread criticism, and almost no one knew the name of Master Nanke."
However, within the Awakeners' Alliance, Master Nanke's theory caused a huge uproar. While no one can create a dream as vast as the universe, what if all of humanity dreamed together? Or even, what if not just humanity on Earth, but all life in the universe dreamed together? Who says a Group Dream as vast as the universe cannot be created?
This raises the question: Are we currently in a vast dream? Is our universe a negative universe, existing solely to maintain the low entropy of another universe? Is the fact that our universe's entropy can only increase and never decrease because the entropy of another universe is constantly being fed into it? If so, then our inevitable fate of death is merely to allow another world to live!
Although they still didn't quite understand Situ's words, the last sentence deeply resonated with everyone. Are we living only to die with more dignity? And is dying so that others can live better lives?
This sounds noble, but who can accept it? You, your family, your friends, your lover, all your kind... will die! You die just so that another group of people you don't even know (and they might not even be human) can live?
"And then what happened? What progress has been made on this theory?" Mrs. Larry maintained her usual serious attitude towards academic matters.
"Later, this theory gave rise to many hypotheses, leading to a major debate within the Alliance. Some believed we were living in a dream and should find a way back to our real universe. Others argued that since Group Dream could maintain the low entropy of the universe, we should create another dream to maintain the low entropy of our world. Still others believed we should maintain the Alliance's authority, adhere to ancient precepts, and prevent humanity from entering Group Dream. The seeds of division within the Alliance had been sown long ago, and Master Nanke's theory exacerbated this phenomenon. Coupled with the frequent chaos in the world at the time, with war on the verge of breaking out, the Alliance was inevitably drawn into the conflict."
Situ paused after speaking all that, seemingly lost in thought.
Qingmu said, "Now I finally understand what you meant when you told Duwa that World War II might have been a dream. You're one of those people who support the idea that 'humanity is in a dream and should return to the real universe,' right?"
Situ laughed and said, "Actually, it's 'that' person, not 'that' group of people."
"Huh? Are you the only one who holds this view?" Su Huilan asked in surprise.
"Perhaps there are others, but no one speaks out, or feels it's pointless to speak out. If we are truly in such a vast dream, then no matter how hard we try, it's impossible to break free and return to the next level of the world. Besides, Occam's razor is not yet dull; its sharp edge can easily shave away these 'unnecessarily added entities' completely."
Situ stroked his chin and chuckled self-deprecatingly, as if the beard on his clean chin had been shaved with Occam's razor.
What was Master Nanke's attitude?
" Master Nanke never argued with anyone, and at that time the world began to fall into continuous chaos. By World War II, most of the Alliance members were involved in the war, but Master Nanke disappeared."
"My father once said that Master Nanke imprisoned himself in the City of Sin. What kind of place is the City of Sin?" Su Huilan asked.
Situ shook his head and said, "I don't know either. I was too young and too impetuous back then. I always wanted to figure everything out by myself, and as a result, I became a marginal figure in the Alliance. The City of Sin has always been a legend, even more mysterious than the Alliance's Five Great Sacred Lands."
Legend has it that the City of Sin possesses a sinful gravitational pull, capable of triggering original sin in the spiritual world, making it impossible for consciousness to escape. Only by cleansing oneself of original sin and becoming the purest form of consciousness can one leave. But this is merely a legend, unable to withstand scrutiny. Good and evil have no inherent standard, and what exactly is original sin?
Even if we are all sinners, once consciousness is detached from matter, it loses its memory. A consciousness without memory is pure, so how can the gravitational pull of sin bind it?
Therefore, I suspect it is actually a Mental Black Hole.