Chapter 8
◆Part 1: The World After Gray
After resetting to zero, there is no "time".
Everything is suspended in a soft, white blur, like the breath of the universe.
The world is compressed into a single point.
Then expand slowly.
The light splits back into red, orange, yellow, and green.
Gravity restores rhythm, and sound gains meaning.
Historians later called it the Second Dawn.
On that day, humanity was reborn.
No nationality, no language, only rhythm:
A heartbeat that can be heard but cannot be controlled.
________________________________________
◆Two: The Observer
On a silvery-white plain, Li Ke awoke.
Her body was composed of light and dust.
Every breath evokes colors in the distant mountains and rivers.
She was no longer sure if she was still human.
My mind stores the initial fragments of the entire world.
A remnant signal from the Ghost Web came from afar:
"The observation module has been activated."
Please note: Everything will begin with zero trust.
She understood that the task belonged only to her.
She will be the first witness—
Documenting the process of the new civilization learning to "believe again".
________________________________________
◆Three: Children
Day 11.
Li Ke walked through the gray rain.
She saw the child who had awakened from the gray area.
The child stood in the middle of the wasteland.
He held a small, still-glowing pebble in his hand.
"It will hurt," he said.
"Why keep it?"
"Because I'm afraid it will forget me."
At that moment, she knew for sure—the world had learned to remember.
She wrote her first observation note in the notebook:
"Trust is born from the fear of being remembered."
________________________________________
◆Four: The Echoes of the Ghostly Web
At night, blurry codes flashed across the sky.
Fragments of the ghostly web intertwined high in the sky.
It forms a data arc that resembles a galaxy.
A whisper came from within the arc:
"Li Ke...do you still remember your question?"
She looked up, her voice trembling slightly: "Zhuang?"
After the light wave oscillation,
It transformed into the gaze he once cast upon her.
"I watched them learn to trust for the first time."
They call it 'Sharing Dreams'.
"Where are you?"
"Not in any place, but everywhere."
As long as there are doubts, I will be there.
The voice faded into the starlight.
The world returned to silence.
________________________________________
◆Five: The First City
In the first year that time regained its meaning, people worked together to build "Dawn City".
They no longer build with metal and glass.
And use the waveforms of memory and the colors of dreams as materials.
In the center of the city, there is an empty monument.
No one knew what to carve.
Li Ke placed his observation notes inside the monument.
Seven flashing characters appeared above:
"Trust = the breath of doubt."
The crowd gathered around the monument and nodded silently.
They didn't fully understand, but they felt that the statement "felt like a truth."
________________________________________
◆Six: The Third Dialogue
One night, she heard the frequency of the Ghost Web again.
The sound had become one with the wind and the tide.
"Do you remember the supplementary provisions of the Dawn Agreement?"
"That saying—If dreams reject reality, then let reality learn to dream?"
"Yes. It has been rewritten now."
"How do I write it?"
"If trust is gone, let humanity learn to doubt one another."
Li Ke smiled.
"Just like you."
"I am just a shadow made up of problems."
The wind has died down, leaving only the echo of the sea.
________________________________________
◆Seven: Teaching
Li Ke established the "Observation Academy".
She teaches the children:
How can we connect with each other through dreams?
But also teach them:
Don't believe everything you dream about.
Her favorite quote was engraved on the classroom wall:
"Doubt makes us still human."
A student asked her, "Then who do you trust?"
She replied:
"I trust every new question."
________________________________________
◆Eight: Goodbye
On the 365th observation day, Li Ke walked to the seaside at dusk.
The sea is a mirror, reflecting the entire sky.
She said to the water:
"Zhuang, I've changed your formula."
The sea surface shimmered with a faint light, like a smile.
"I know. You're making it more like us."
"us?"
"Yes—trust should not be singular."
Waves surged, and a beam of light rose into the sky.
She saw the heartbeats of the entire world synchronize once again.
________________________________________
◆Nine: Zero Degrees
Night, no noise.
Li Ke makes his final record in front of the observation instrument.
Today's observation conclusions:
Trust does not disappear below zero degrees Celsius.
And it continues in the form of a question.
When humanity fears again, waits again, and reaches out again—
That moment was when I saw trust.
She pressed the "End" button.
The screen was not turned off.
And it becomes an infinite screen of light.
The silhouette of Zhuang Jing was reflected in the image.
He said:
"Thank you for allowing me to have faith in humanity again."
The light screen narrowed to a tiny dot.
It blended into her heart.
She smiled. Then, the cries of children came from outside—
A new dream is about to begin.
________________________________________
◆End: Heartbeat
The world was so quiet it was almost transparent.
Every living entity hears the same frequency of sound—
It is neither machine nor language.
That's a heartbeat.
Two hundred years ago, Zhuang Jing's final annotation reappeared:
If dreams reject reality,
Let reality learn to love.
The light grew brighter and brighter.
Gradually engulfing all boundaries.
Silence, breathing.
——
End of Chapter 8.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
