"The Warp is an ocean."
"We've said this metaphor many times."
Bai Yi interrupted.
"Our universe is the air above the sea, the warp is the sea surface, and the Sun God enters the depths of the ocean."
Ainol shook his head.
"That's what I fooled you about before."
"In fact, there's a very serious flaw in this metaphor. The ocean depths are essentially the same as the surface."
"The so-called seabed is nothing more than a deeper layer of the pressure space. The pressure there is greater, and the repulsion of external matter is more severe, but that's all."
"The Apollo wasn't entering an ocean at all. It was entering another world, a world called the Abyss."
Bai Yi blinked.
"You're telling me this now so you don't have to worry about keeping it a secret?"
"We're all in this together now. Now that you're on board, what's left to keep secret?"
Bai Yi curled his lips.
So Ainol went on.
"The Apollo Project is just a cover. The so-called Apollo reconnaissance ship is just a transitional product halfway through the project."
"What is that actually called?"
"Deep Dive Plan."
Ainol took the coffee handed to her by Bai Yi and took a sip. Through her sandy yellow body, she could see the brown liquid droplets of coffee gradually spreading all over her body with the air flow.
Ainol's eyes wandered, as if he was lost.
"The real purpose of the plan is to build an exploration vessel, an exploration vessel capable of diving into the abyss."
Bai Yi scratched his head, and his metal fingers rubbed against his metal skull, making a harsh scraping sound.
"Is there anything worth exploring in the abyss?"
"It's a completely new world, a world unknown to anyone and anything. There are completely new physical rules, a completely new order, and everything is completely new..."
"Based on long-term detection data, we believe that there is a wide range of energy and matter out there. Their properties are far beyond our comprehension, and some can even be said to completely violate the laws of physics."
"So... you're going over there... to mine?"
Bai Yi chose the statement that he thought was most appropriate.
"It's a scientific expedition."
Ainol corrected immediately.
"It's still mining, an excuse humans have used to death since before they even left Earth."
"I won't talk to you about this."
Ainol didn't want to go off topic.
"Anyway, we've discovered some terrifying... entities out there."
Ainol paused. She wanted to say living things, but some things really couldn't be described as living things.
Bai Yi was intrigued by her words.
"Individual? What individual?"
Ainol didn't look at him, but continued to sip the coffee.
"I suppose you've seen it."
Suddenly, she shuddered so violently that the coffee spilled onto Bai Yi's feet.
"Sister, what are you doing? It's hot!"
Bai Yi's shoes had been lost in the battle, and now the only intact skin left on his feet was also damaged.
"You must seal the Sun God away immediately!"
Ainol suddenly grabbed Bai Yi's arm and spoke in a serious tone.
"You don't even need to tell me that. I was already preparing when we left."
He showed an expression that everything was under control. As the source of all the weirdness, the Sun God would naturally be blocked at the first moment.
"But...what's your reason for doing this?"
He asked Ainol. It was obvious from his attitude that the reason couldn't be as simple as simply protecting the crime scene.
"Do you know why the Deep Dive Project has so many layers of disguise?"
Ainol said softly.
"Secrecy requirements?"
Bai Yi could only think of this reason.
"That's just an appearance. Do you know why it's kept secret?"
"Don't ask me, just tell me."
“Because we want to keep as many people as possible unaware.”
Bai Yi didn't understand.
"The Abyss is like the subspace. Every time our research vessels return, they carry some leaked Abyssal matter, which forms a contaminated zone within a certain range."
"According to our testing, these contaminated areas are invisible and, in most cases, harmless. Unless an individual is aware of their presence..."
"It? The contaminated area?"
Ainol shook his head.
"Habydal pollution is more of a conceptualization than just pollution itself. Just like when we observe the microscopic world, matter in a superposition state collapses into a collapsed state the moment we observe it. Habydal pollution will also materialize when people become aware of it."
"That's why you placed so many sedatives in the spacecraft."
Ainol nodded.
"The Abyss can contaminate the consciousness and bodies of higher intelligences, transforming them into children of the Abyss. We suspect that those living within the Abyss also came from this origin."
"What about us?"
Bai Yi pointed at himself.
"Didn't we just come out of it?"
"Abyssal contamination has virtually no incubation period. Short-term exposure usually does not result in fatal consequences."
Ainol held his head.
"At most, you'll experience symptoms like nausea and dizziness for a while. As for you... you've seen Apollo's condition. Intelligent AIs can experience abnormalities within the abyssal region, but these symptoms will not be felt once you leave the contaminated area."
"So you're okay."
Through this conversation, Bai Yi basically understood the concept of the abyss.
The so-called Abyss is actually a third world different from the universe and the subspace. There are abundant resources there, but there is also a kind of Abyssal pollution.
So the Abyss is essentially a bit like memetic contamination. When you're unaware of it, it barely affects the outside world. But the deeper you get into the Abyss, the more deeply it will erode you.
In addition to manifesting itself as hallucinations and hysteria on the mental level, these erosions also affect organisms on the physical level.
Dr. Max and the former crew of the Apollo are the best examples. Dr. Max was the least affected, so he was basically still at the level of obsession and self-harm.
As the former crew members had gone deep into the abyss and stayed within the contaminated area for a long time, their bodies had been transformed into descendants of the abyss, such as the cystic monster that Bai Yi encountered at the beginning, which was transformed from a corpse.
As for the other crew members, they either went crazy and fought each other due to the pollution of the abyss, or were torn to pieces by the abyss creatures from the engine room.
Speaking of the engine room, Bai Yi felt that it was more and more like a passage leading to the abyss.
When talking about this with Enol, the other party became visibly nervous.
"Do you know something?"
Bai Yi asked.
"The formation of the channel indicates that the abyss's influence on this universe has reached a certain stage."
"Have you really blocked the Apollo?"
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