Maurice sighed.

"When we, the people digging in history, try our best to come to the high wall of the Great Annihilation, and spend our whole lives searching for artifacts and comparing ancient books, trying to get a glimpse of the scenery on the other side of the high wall, what we face are such bizarre things."

The old man's face was filled with deep fatigue and frustration, as if he was a traveler who had been traveling for most of his life and still could not see the end at the end of the journey, and had to accept reality.

"The history before the Great Annihilation is fragmented and contradictory. The records of different city-states are like bizarre stories or unconnected dreams... There is no conclusive evidence to prove which of the records is correct, or a theory that can integrate these contradictory things."

Duncan did not speak for a while, because his thoughts were rising and falling like waves. In these incredible "fragments of wild history" described by Morris, he seemed to be experiencing the baptism of an information storm.

As a "foreigner" who has experienced the information age and has good associative ability, he can imagine or guess something from the other party's description -

The dome covering the entire continent may be some kind of artificial ecological device, an energy system that is the same as the sun and relies on substances in seawater as fuel. It may be fusion technology.

A huge ship sailing in the void, relying on capturing dust and gas clouds in space for power, this may be one or several colonial starships.

As for the so-called dream of the devil... the sea water that came from the dream to the reality... he couldn't imagine what this was for a moment, but it sounded very much like a fantasy concept, something completely different from the technological atmosphere and style in the previous two historical periods.

He could find explanations or guesses for many things, but they could never be pieced together.

As Morris said, they are more like unconnected dreams, outlining completely different "prehistoric histories".

Contradictory and broken, it is totally incapable of recreating the world as it was before the Great Annihilation.

"Perhaps what you said is correct. There is a 'horizon limit' for the key event of the Great Annihilation," Morris' voice came from across the counter, interrupting Duncan's thoughts. The old man held his forehead and said in a low voice, "We cannot observe the 'events' on the other side of the horizon, so the history before the Great Annihilation is a concept that we can never trace back to."

Looking at Morris who was full of emotion, Duncan's thoughts did not stop. Gradually, he came up with a rather bold idea: "What if these records are all true?"

Morris raised his eyes and looked at Duncan with some surprise: "Oh?"

"What if these records are all true, and the history recorded by each city-state or each race is really what they know about the 'world before the Great Annihilation'?" Duncan stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "Perhaps our ancestors ten thousand years ago really came from completely different 'homelands' and had completely different civilizations? The Great Annihilation trapped these exiles from different worlds on this sea, and the descendants of the exiles barely recorded what they knew before the inheritance of civilization was completely cut off. Ten thousand years later, it became the 'contradictory history' that troubled scholars..."

His thoughts became active, and after a pause he continued, "Perhaps the essence of the Great Annihilation is not the end of the world, but a 'Great Transmission'?"

Morris looked at Duncan in surprise and suddenly said, "...Brock Bendis's conjecture? The world drift theory? This is a relatively unpopular school of thought. Have you studied ancient history so deeply?"

This was a compliment from him, but Duncan was a little confused: From what I heard, someone had already thought of this possibility?!

He blinked, but didn't let his surprise show. He just pretended to continue the topic: "These are just some scattered knowledge, but I like this conjecture very much."

"I like this conjecture, too - even though it's a bit unpopular," Morris shook his head, "but like all other conjectures, we don't have evidence, so it's just a conjecture.

"The Clark School once assumed that the interference of the subspace in the real world distorted all historical records. The Villentim School believed that the world before the Great Oblivion was countless isolated lattices. The people of the Bologna City-State even believed that the world before the Great Oblivion did not exist at all. All records of prehistoric history are illusions created by shadows in the subspace...

"I shouldn't say this, but even some heretical cults have their own understanding of world history. The end-of-the-world preachers who worship the warp firmly believe that the end of the world has actually begun, and is chasing and devouring our civilization along the long river of history. The historical records of the conflicts between the city-states are the result of the real history being gradually torn apart by the warp. The Great Oblivion is a barrier blocking the end of the world. When the history after the Great Oblivion is gradually polluted and torn apart, that is the day when the whole world falls into the warp..."

The more Duncan listened, the more astonished he became. After a long while, he subconsciously shook his head and said, "I didn't know there were so many bizarre hypotheses..."

"No one would go into this kind of stuff; history is a dangerous thing to study in mystical terms," ​​Morris said. "But it's obvious that if thousands of scholars have spent hundreds or thousands of years groping at a point where there's no clear way out, then they must have come up with every possible hypothesis."

Duncan slowly understood what the old man meant.

For those who have truly spent their entire lives buried in ancient books and cultural relics, it is very easy to come up with a hypothesis that can explain the current situation. As scholars, what they lack is never imagination and vision.

What they lack is evidence, evidence that can prove even any hypothesis.

"...Is there no evidence left?" Duncan asked, "Any 'physical evidence' from the history before the Great Oblivion that can prove that some 'wild history' is true? Is there no evidence at all?"

"Nothing has been found so far," Morris said slowly. "In the ten thousand years, plus the dark ages in between, countless city-states have risen and fallen in the vast ocean. It is too difficult to have anything left from the ancient times... The only things that have been passed down are either manuscripts with unreliable sources or stories passed down by word of mouth, and these things themselves may have changed in the process of being passed down."

Duncan was silent for a moment.

Deep in his mind, on the distant Homelander, the waves were rising and falling gently, and the boundless sea was as always, covering the entire world.

It also covers all possible truths.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Researching ancient history is really a difficult task."

"Yes, what we have to face is not only the fragmented 'years', but also the current situation of having nothing to rely on," Morris sighed. "With such a limited land in the city-state, if there is anything that can be dug out, it would have been dug out long ago. If not, it means that the things that can prove our history are hidden in a place that mortals cannot reach."

"Like the bottom of the sea?" Duncan said suddenly.

"Under the sea? Ha, what a thrilling and bold statement," Morris laughed. "But this is indeed the only thought left for many historians who have reached the end of their rope... There is evidence on the seabed, there are mountains of artifacts, there are cities of ancient civilizations, there are ruins that can explain everything, but what's the use? When we dive down, we can only touch the shadows. Mortals cannot reach the deepest part of this world."

He paused for a moment and continued, "But this does give rise to another conjecture... Although it has not yet become a school of thought, many people have speculated that the lost 'old world' in history is actually below the surface of the Infinite Sea, and is even precisely located at a certain 'depth' between the Deep Sea and the Spirit World - the world before the Great Annihilation is sleeping at that depth."

"Why do you say that?" Duncan was a little curious. This serious yet unfounded assumption aroused his interest.

Morris thought for a moment and explained, "Because many fragmented ancient histories mention that before the Great Annihilation, there was a 'starry sky' covering the entire world. And as we all know, the 'starry sky' is at the interface between the deep sea and the spirit world."

Duncan nearly choked himself to death on his saliva: "Ahem...ah?"

"Are you okay?" Morris was shocked by Duncan's reaction. "This shouldn't be incredible..."

"I'm fine. I was just too engrossed in what I was listening to and choked a little." Duncan waved his hand quickly. "The starry sky is between the deep sea and the spirit world. Of course I know that, of course I know that..."