Still reeling from the shock, Li Hai eagerly used the Reverse Chaos Bow to look at the disc-shaped objects deeper inside the iron box.
Then he saw rows and columns clearly marked on the surface of the discs below—
“...Dead Realm Ecological System...Investigation and Research...”
“Dead Realm Planning Bureau Sixth...Large-Scale Defense Project...Plan”
“Anatomy of High-Level Dead Realm Residents...Records”
“Dead Realm Ancient Civilization Ruins...Investigation and Research...”
“What are these again?!”
Li Hai was even more bewildered, “What is the Dead Realm? Is it a place? The Underworld? The Netherworld? Yellow Springs?
This...how can there be a planning bureau in the Underworld? Is the Wu Xian Federation that powerful?!”
“And what are these high-level Dead Realm residents? Dead Realm ancient civilization...does the Netherworld also have civilization? And ruins? That large-scale defense project...it couldn't be for defending against them, could it?”
Alright, so this world has a bunch of prehistoric civilizations, and now there's this Dead Realm, which sounds eerie just from its name.
Somewhat dazed, Li Hai instinctively looked at the discs buried deeper below these few discs.
He saw that these were clearly marked with—
“...Third High-Level Meeting with Interface Four Main Civilization...Detailed Discussion Log on...Topics”
“...Ninth Interface Six...Exploration of Ruin Number 437...”
“...Interface Three Colonial Administration...Suppression of Natives...”
“...Multi-Interface...Strategic Alliance...Communication Meeting...Records”
“Alright, alright, so after beating up the Underworld, your Wu Xian Federation went to fight other interfaces, right? And what exactly are these so-called interfaces? Alternate planes? Alternate dimensions? Alternate timelines? Parallel Universes?”
Li Hai was so confused by this information that the words 'bewildered' almost grew on his forehead. He scratched his head, full of doubt:
“But why use such a strange word like 'interface' when things are going well? Interface Four, Six, Three, that's three interfaces already, isn't it? Could the Wu Xian Federation really have developed to the point where it can reach alternate dimensions...and even colonize alternate Universes?
And that so-called Multi-Interface Strategic Alliance, why do they need an Alliance? Is there some enemy that a single interface can't defeat alone, so they all have to fight together? Holy cow, this world is so chaotic.”
This made Li Hai involuntarily recall a meme from his previous life on Earth.
That is, if the hostile Dragon Country and the United States suddenly resolved their conflicts and joined forces one day, what would that signify?
For this question, there are usually several answers.
For example...the Trisolarans, an alien civilization, have arrived; the Benevolent Father has returned to life with Yuri and a million Iron Legions; Cthulhu has crawled ashore from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
In any case, all of them represent death and despair.
So suddenly, Li Hai, who had considered himself quite strong, felt the abundant sense of security in his heart plummet significantly.
Damn it, he couldn't even withstand an atomic bomb right now, and so many supernatural things had emerged.
Not to mention the so-called Dead Realm ancient civilization and alien interface civilizations; Li Hai couldn't possibly defeat the Wu Xian Federation's mech brigades or Universe battleships alone.
What's more, there was also the Unknown root cause that led to the frequent destruction of numerous prehistoric civilizations in successive cycles, and the Unknown enemy that forced multiple interface civilizations to actually unite to deal with it; he was even less capable of dealing with that.
In short...it's truly outrageous!
“Whew~”
Li Hai exhaled a little dizzily, muttering, “It should be the end now, right? The most dangerous things should be like this, right? What other outrageous enemies could there be? Could there be Returners throwing two-dimensional foils everywhere?”
As he mumbled, he looked at the few discs pressed at the very bottom of the stack of discs inside the iron box, seeing only vague markings on them—
“...Civilization Cycle...Theoretical Research...”
“...Spherical World Conjecture...”
“...Extraterrestrial Migration Plan...”
“...Despairism Ideology...”
“Wu Xian Federation All Citizens Last Words Compilation”
“Civilization Seed Preservation Plan”
“...Upon reading this incomplete text...one must know that life, all things...are utterly meaningless...everything is sorrow...and will eventually perish...”
“...Golden Doom...End of All Principles...Meaning's End...”
Just as Li Hai's eyes widened, scanning disc after disc, finally resting on the vague small words “Golden Doom” marked on a certain disc.
A terrifying sense of crisis, as if it would completely explode him from head to toe, suddenly appeared, and at the same time transformed into an almost physiological sharp pain that instantly spread throughout his entire body.
“Ah!”
Li Hai roared in agony, his loud cry instantly shaking the surrounding lake water into surging, continuous waves and currents.
But at this moment, the System, which had been silent, suddenly emitted a series of intense, continuous alarms in Li Hai's mind:
“Warning! Your Master has come into contact with a malicious information dissemination source, which will lead to severe consequences.”
“Warning! Your Master has come into contact with a malicious information dissemination source, which will lead to severe consequences.”
...
“To ensure the Master's safety, the maliciousness of the information has been purified, and the dissemination source has been completely blocked. Please do not touch it again.”
After issuing this final reminder, the System fell silent again, and Li Hai finally caught his breath.
“Huff~ Huff~ Huff~ Damn it, what...huff...is going on?”
Li Hai, panting and continuously exhaling bubbles, grimaced and said, “I just looked at a few words, how did it become like this?”
Li Hai didn't quite understand, but that didn't prevent him from developing an extreme apprehension towards the phrase formed by those words—Golden Doom.
Just looking at it once led to such a result.
What exactly is this Golden Doom...?
Is it a phenomenon? Or a living being?
Or...is it an Unknown thing that is neither a phenomenon nor a living being?
And why does this iron box, which clearly belongs to the Wu Xian Federation, contain discs with information about the Golden Doom?
Could it be that the Unknown Golden Doom was what destroyed the Wu Xian civilization?
Li Hai knew none of it.
He only knew that he absolutely, absolutely could not look at the bottommost disc in the iron box again.
Because the sensation of pain, worse than having his entire body crushed, was truly unbearable.
So, Li Hai frowned, opened the portal, and threw the iron box into the Guiyou Cave Heaven, then reached out for the small bronze mirror, which was suspected to be a wondrous Magical Artifact.
And when he got the bronze mirror and instinctively rubbed the mirror frame a couple of times, the mirror suddenly trembled and burst forth with light, converging above the mirror surface at about a palm's height, weaving and combining into a yellowish light screen about half the size of a person.
After this light screen appeared, it surged and undulated like boiling water, as if something was about to crawl out from within.
Just as Li Hai was wondering and about to insert his steel whip to stir it, this light screen suddenly became as calm as a still ancient well, and a clear, indifferent male voice came from within:
“Hmm? Is that Salt Slave? What do you want from me?”