Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 331 - 250: Black Hole

Chapter 331: Chapter 250: Black Hole

"Are you referring to this?"

Duan Mingyuan took out the "Key of Dominance" and placed the ring on the experiment table, his sincerity apparent. Eisenberg-Adler was undoubtedly someone worth exchanging ideas with.

No one could imagine that within this small ring lay an entire complete world.

Eisenberg’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t keep his hands off the ring, turning it over in his palm for a long time.

The concept of the Key of Dominance was born from his theory, but due to his prisoner status, he couldn’t leave his cell and had to rely on others to realize his long-held ideals.

And now, someone had brought the crystallization of his ideals before him.

"When the sentence was pronounced, I was just one step away from experimental success. In the process of translating theory into practice, we encountered two difficulties: one was a little-known ’Cocoon’ transformed planet, and the other was a vessel capable of sustaining the ’Cocoon’s’ energy."

Eisenberg began recounting the past, despite not regarding Mingyuan as a scientist, but he saw in the other’s eyes much that was similar to them.

The Key of Dominance was of extraordinary significance to the entire universe.

Some would trade it for unparalleled status and wealth with companies or chambers of commerce, while others coveted its strength, attempting to make that power their own. Mingyuan was one of those rare exceptions.

He kept the Key of Dominance with him to explore its mysteries.

"Shanqi Commerce Association found this planet, but more importantly, this stone."

Eisenberg gently caressed the dazzling gem on the ring. "’Black Hole,’ that’s the name I gave it. To my knowledge, traveling through a black hole is the only way to obtain this kind of material."

Even Eisenberg himself didn’t know what lay in the depths of the black hole; not everything in this world can be explained by science, just like the voices that came from within the black hole, guiding them to this stone capable of sustaining the ’Cocoon’s’ power.

It wasn’t that Shanqi Commerce Association had mastered the power to traverse black holes, but rather, some entity dwelling within the black holes had opened a convenient door for them.

While speaking, Eisenberg glanced at the drone hovering over Mingyuan’s shoulder and said, "However, you probably know more about their existence than I do."

"Ah, I’ve been found out."

He Ya no longer pretended. "A scientist’s intuition is truly keen. I just wanted to act as a frail and helpless drone."

"A frail and helpless drone couldn’t pass through a black hole."

Eisenberg’s gaze became much sharper. They seemed to be familiar with He Ya, and Mingyuan speculated that given her character, this was probably not her first time disturbing Eisenberg-Adler.

The Owl had mentioned to him before that Eisenberg was a member of the Shan Clan.

He Ya knew Eisenberg and where he was imprisoned. The only issue was that she couldn’t bring her strength off the Flashing Star, so the grand prison break plan had to be entrusted to someone else to carry out.

And now, she had fulfilled her promise, "I’ve brought the person."

As for whether to help Eisenberg escape from here, to survive or to die, she had left the decision entirely up to Mingyuan. "This Mr. Mingyuan is the proxy I found. As long as he is willing, even the company’s Destruction Fleet can’t block your way out."

"That’s not important."

Eisenberg shook his head. "What’s important is that she knows about this stone and the visions on the other side of the black hole. Only she can answer your questions."

He had asked He Ya the same question many times, but she always refused to answer, and in fact, even the "Black Hole’s" characteristics had been informed to him by He Ya.

Eisenberg didn’t like this feeling; he only knew the answer to the question but knew nothing regarding the steps involved.

And now, he could use Mingyuan to pry some information from He Ya.

He could see that He Ya treated Mingyuan quite differently, which meant she didn’t view Mingyuan as a human being.

He Ya was the ’Cocoon’ that, in Eisenberg’s understanding, had the closest dealings with humans; even after the destruction of the Flashing Star, she still maintained close ties with the Chamber of Commerce. So he knew He Ya had never really respected them.

Just like the question he was now posing.

Secrets countless preeminent scientists couldn’t unravel in their lifetimes were merely an interstellar journey for He Ya.

"There’s nothing worth understanding there, just a jerk who enjoys workplace bullying, but if you’re looking for this kind of ore, then it’s everywhere," he said.

"No, that’s not right."

Eisenberg, however, suddenly furrowed his brows. He had ample time on the Prison Planet, enough to allow them to review the past events every single day.

His research began with a Long Branch Guard who, after disappearing for a long time on a "Cocoon" planet, suddenly sent out a distress signal. Eisenberg discovered that during the time the Long Branch Guard was missing, she didn’t exist in any corner of the universe. According to her account, she appeared in some sort of Conscious Space, a unknown world created by the consciousness of "Cocoon."

All his theories were founded on this basis, with the Key of Dominance being the best case of his theory.

The "Cocoon" planet had vanished, its strength fully sealed within this ring.

But now He Ya was saying that the consciousness’s entity resided deep within a black hole.

"There’s a discrepancy in location, that Long Branch Guard never got close to a black hole."

"How do you know she didn’t?"

He Ya shrugged. If it weren’t for Duan Mingyuan’s sake, she wouldn’t bother answering any of Eisenberg’s questions at all.

This "Chosen One" was an interesting toy, but as a toy, he asked far too many questions, sometimes to the point of annoyance—just like his ancestors.

Even their paths were remarkably similar.

Toys always wanted to know things beyond their comprehension and abilities.

"The black hole is—"

"Error, language module loading failed, unable to answer any questions!"

Imitating the tone of artificial intelligence, He Ya interrupted Eisenberg. She naturally saw that Eisenberg wanted to use Duan Mingyuan’s identity to extract more information from her, and of course, she wouldn’t let Eisenberg get his way.

"You heard some kind of call that led you to find these stones."

Duan Mingyuan brought the conversation back on track. He had no intention of continuing on the topic of black holes, as he had never conducted relevant research. "Have you ever thought that this might be for a certain purpose?"

"To plunge this world into dead silence."

"I suppose," Eisenberg spoke up, "that before you came, you must have seen the object that separated from my body."

The Judge believed it was the incarnation of his evil thoughts, but in reality, it had nothing to do with good or evil—he had simply peeled away certain thoughts from his body.

The object brought omens of the future.

"Which is to say, you’re very aware that your research could potentially lead to destruction."

"Humans have always engaged in actions that destroy themselves, and I’m no exception."

Eisenberg said noncommittally, "The only question is, is the reward worth taking such a risk?"

And he had made his choice.

And no matter how many times he started over, he would make the same choice.

Many fatalists believed that the future once observed could not be changed, and humankind would eventually meet eternal night.

That’s precisely why he wanted to be one step ahead of everyone else, to find a sanctuary after the eternal night descended.

"And I have found it," Eisenberg said.