Passing through the portal, a soft fluorescent light washed over them, and Xia Zichen and the others felt as if they were in a vast swarm of jellyfish. Countless translucent creatures swam around, their bodies childlike in outline, but with eyes as bright as the starry sky. Glowing question marks entwined their fingertips.
"Is this a guard made of curiosity?" Lin Yue whispered softly, the double helix on her neck tingling slightly. The creatures seemed to sense her presence and gathered around her. Suddenly, a guard pointed a finger at Lin Yue's forehead, and a beam of memory instantly erupted. In the scene, a young Lin Yue squatted by the stream, curiously observing the ants moving their nests until the sun set.
Old Zhang cautiously raised the ink chain, only to discover that as it approached the guards, it transformed into multicolored threads. "Something's wrong! These guys are reading our memories!" Before he could finish his words, all the guards simultaneously let out a resounding laugh. Their bodies began to reorganize, eventually converging into a gate composed of question marks. Ancient words appeared on the gate: "Answer the unknown, and you may proceed."
Ah Fu stepped forward and examined the oracle sword carefully. The sword suddenly resonated and translated the words on the gate into a language that everyone could understand: "What color is the first ray of light at the birth of the universe composed of?" Xia Zichen tightly grasped the Egg of Possibility, and the Star Pattern Sword glowed faintly. Fragments of memory left by the man in black robes flashed through his mind - at the beginning of the universe, all colors had not yet been separated, and that ray of light contained infinite possible colors.
"The answer is... the sum of all colors!" Xia Zichen exclaimed. The Question Mark Gate roared and slowly opened. Behind it lay a nebula filled with floating, giant egg-shaped objects. Each egg was bound by golden chains, engraved with the Authority's insignia. "Are these the Eggs of Possibility?" Lin Yue stared at the scene in shock. "They've imprisoned the beginnings of so many universes."
Just as everyone prepared to approach, the ground suddenly shook. A giant, cobbled together from fragments of memory, rose from the depths of the nebula. Its body was composed of countless eager eyes, unfinished lab notes, and aborted ideas. In its hand, it grasped a massive axe forged from a question mark. "Intruders, are you prepared to pay the price for the answer?" The giant's voice resounded like thunder throughout the space.
Old Zhang threw a candy wrapper bomb, but upon contact with the giant, it transformed into blank test papers. "Is this... a test of knowledge?" The giant swung his axe, and the surrounding space began to distort, transporting everyone to different memory scenes. Xia Zichen found himself in an ancient library, its shelves filled with books that had never been written, and on each cover was written a timeless question.
"Why do you fight?" an ethereal voice echoed through the library. Xia Zichen gripped the Egg of Possibility, his Star-Embroidered Sword illuminating the surrounding darkness. "To give every 'if' the right to grow, to free memories from imprisonment!" As the words fell, books on the shelves opened, their pages transforming into butterflies that flew toward the giant, creating a pattern of hope across its body.
Lin Yue was trapped in a laboratory, a lab table filled with various memory reagents. "Choose one, and you'll see a certain future," a voice enticed. Lin Yue watched the flickering light in the reagent bottles, remembering the possibility of being burned in the memory recycling bin. She raised the double helix and shattered all the reagent bottles: "I don't want a defined future. I want to protect all possibilities!" The laboratory collapsed instantly, and she returned to the nebula space.
Ah Fu found himself on an ancient battlefield, his oracle-inscribed sword wailing in his grasp. "Lay down your weapons and accept the order," the enemy's voice echoed. Ah Fu stroked the blessed markings on the sword, remembering the first guardian's instructions. He raised the sword high: "True order is to respect every unknown!" The battlefield crumbled to dust, and he returned to his companions.
Lao Zhang's black cat, Raven, suddenly transformed into an open notebook filled with unanswered puzzles. "Solve these, and you'll gain power," the voice said. Lao Zhang's lips curled up as she wrote in ink, "The answers are on the way." The notebook exploded, and she returned to the nebula, smiling.
The four reunited, the light of faith emanating from them resonating strongly with the Egg of Possibility. The giant's axe began to disintegrate, its body shattered into countless fragments of curiosity, merging into the memories of the crowd. The golden chains binding the Egg of Possibility also broke, and countless rays of light burst forth from the egg, illuminating the entire embryo bank.
However, just when everyone thought victory was in sight and cheers were about to resound through the sky, a huge black crack suddenly appeared in the sky without any warning, like a wound in the universe, bottomless, revealing endless darkness and despair.
In this dark abyss, a massive object slowly descended. It was the very form of the Scythe of Entropy. Like a demon from hell, it exuded a chilling aura. Wherever it passed, the eggs of possibility, once brimming with vitality and hope, began to wither rapidly, as if drained of their life force.
"Do you think you can stop Absolute Order?" An icy voice rang out from the Scythe of Entropy, as if it came from the very edge of the universe, filled with endless mockery and disdain. This voice echoed in everyone's ears, sending a chill down their spine.
"All possibilities will eventually return to nothingness." This sentence is like a death sentence, announcing the collapse of all hope.
Xia Zichen tightly grasped the egg of possibility in his hand, as if it were his last straw. He exchanged glances with the people around him, their eyes meeting. Without needing words, the determination in their eyes spoke volumes.
"Then let us use all our 'ifs' to fight this so-called inevitability!" Xia Zichen's voice echoed in the air, filled with determination and fearlessness. His cry seemed to ignite a flame deep within the hearts of the people, making their faith even more fervent.
Everyone responded, pooling their memories and pouring them into the Egg of Possibility like a river flowing into the sea. With this powerful infusion of energy, the Egg of Possibility began to emit a dazzling light, which grew brighter and brighter, eventually forming a pillar of light that transcended time and space, reaching straight into the sky.
This beam of light, like the breaking light of dawn, pierced the dark night sky and headed towards the terrifying Scythe of Entropy. The Scythe swung through the air, emitting a suffocating aura, but faced with this ray of hope, its might seemed to be somewhat suppressed...
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