Chapter 1349 The Initial Story
At the beginning of the story, it was an ordinary world, an ordinary planet, and an ordinary beginning.
It is a small dot in the endless starry sky, a mote of dust in the universe. Like every planet that gave birth to life, luck favored this solid planet composed of rocks, metals, and sulfur-rich minerals. At a certain time, the sun After the storm blew over the earth, charged particles and strong magnetic fields penetrated the surface rock layers, and the first silicon-sulfur macromolecules with the ability to self-replicate were accidentally assembled from hot springs in the shallow layers of the planet's surface. This silicon-sulfur macromolecule became the most complex compound ever created on the planet, and also became the beginning of the entire story - it was lucky to survive the material changes in hot springs, fortunately and accurately completed its first replication, and fortunately it was The hot springs maintain their stability despite changes in temperature. In a slow and lucky "reproduction", it took tens of millions of years to cover the rock bottom of the hot springs, and then slowly spread outward. It gradually aggregates, mutates, and merges with other surrounding substances or other mutated macromolecules. Symbiosis, struggle, compromise, the seeds of life took root and sprouted. After hundreds of millions of years of simple replication, the first organism that could be called a "cell" evolved from these continuously replicating silicon-sulfur soup.
The original biosphere of the home planet began underground.
It took hundreds of millions of years for this cell, whose outer shell was made of polymer sulfide, to slowly "learn" how to unite with other cells to form a more complex organism that was more suitable for survival and migration, and for the first time it was able to move freely. Wander in the dark geothermal soup.
The original underground hot springs have been on the verge of disappearing over time, but the underground "water" system of the home planet has a network structure, and ancient creatures that have learned to move freely swim from the exhausted hot spring to another nutrient-rich hot spring. , and slowly approached a shallow underground river leading to the surface, and finally. These ignorant little beings settled in an ancient open-air lake and began the next stage of complexity, preparing for the fateful day when they set foot on the surface of the earth.
The first things that ran around on the home planet were small crawling creatures, perhaps a bit like squashed lizards. Maybe they have tails that have evolved from tail fins, or maybe they have sharp little nails to scratch the smooth hot spring bedrock - even the ancestors can only rely on guesswork and remains restoration to imagine what these ancient little creatures looked like. They speculate that these earliest home planet creatures would have blue-white scaly skin, silica as their skeleton, and fibrous sulfide as their soft guts. They have not yet evolved eyes, because the dark hot springs and lake bottoms are not Needing this organ - these blind reptiles once left ancient geothermal sources. Leaving the underground river with increasingly scarce nutrients, they now leave the unchanging lake: an epic adventure legend. They carefully grasped the dry surface rocks with their fragile limbs and climbed to the ground. The thick atmosphere of the original mother star rolled up the cold wind and blew on the still moist skin of these small creatures - some timid individuals may have retreated. , but thankfully, the brave among them look up. Facing this unprecedented dry airflow, at this moment, two billion years have passed since the solar storm that sown life on the parent star.
When these small creatures were running around the vast and desolate land of the original mother star, and gradually multiplied and spread to a considerable scale, a decisive turning point occurred: Ancesus, the ancestor, called this turning point the Great Storm Annals.
The original home planet of the Xiling people was a huge planet, according to the data provided by the ancestors. It may be three times the size of the Earth and has a powerful liquid core. The violent geological activities in ancient times caused its surface to be covered with extremely large mountains and rift valleys that are unimaginable on Earth: these mountains and rift valleys are continuous. Absolutely, it meanders along the entire earth's crust, almost like corrugated paper in a partitioned breeding box, cutting the entire planet into several parts. Where the entire earth's crust is depressed, mountains and rift valleys cannot continue, but there are huge oceans. Barrier, just like this, the original mother star is naturally divided into several regions. The natural environment of each region is completely different. The most different places are even like two planets - this high surface difference will cause the atmosphere to accumulate too much turbulence, and combined with the overly active sun next to the parent star, this will bring Every once in a while, there will be violent climate changes on the mother planet, as well as various large-scale meteorological events that are unimaginable on earth. The scale and intensity of typhoons on the original parent star are several times those on the earth. A high-convection strong wind can even spread to four-fifths of the planet - although the period between each such phenomenon is very long, every time it occurs, it is Causing the planet to turn upside down.
But this time, an unprecedented storm was brewing on the home star: a storm larger than any in the history of the planet and since then - it swept across the world, triggering worldwide rainfall and hurricane weather, and the largest storm ocean on the home star. The central part dropped tens of meters, triggering an impact tsunami that devastated the surrounding continents, flooded the sky, and rushed inland. Destiny seemed to be planning to give this earth-shaking planet a kick, so it was in the place with the most mountains in the northern hemisphere. It triggered a large-scale crustal collision: cracks appeared in the towering mountains, floods from coastal areas drove in, and combined with hurricanes and heavy rainfall, this major reshuffle-like meteorological event lasted for nearly half of the home planet's year.
The primitive biosphere suffered heavy losses in this reshuffle, but it did not completely die out - miraculously, this became one of the reasons for the completely different civilization structure of the Xiling people later: primitive organisms were sent to all corners of the planet, and Start evolving again in an environment that is so different that it's almost like a different planet. Silicon-sulfur-based life has strong adaptability, and its tolerance to temperature and humidity is often dozens or even hundreds of times that of carbon-based life. They survive tenaciously in every corner of their parent star, and eventually evolved more than ten incredible species. life system.
The differences between each life system are almost like alien creatures!
Then there is the story of the Xiling people - due to the previous "Great Storm Annals", global creatures have evolved more than a dozen almost completely isolated lineages, and half of the lineages have successively produced intelligent life. This is the original Xiling people. Spirit people: Yes, Xiling people are not a single race. They evolved independently in the strange environment of their home planet. What was born were several essentially different creatures. Although they all have human shapes and walk upright, they are the result of being disturbed by star field information. If you compare the Xiling people who belong to different tribes in the two home star eras, Put them together and study them. You would definitely think they are aliens from two planets!
This may also be an ancient inducement for today's Xiling apostles to create "branch clans".
Xiling civilization is a relatively rare "multi-species hybrid civilization", that is, multiple completely different intelligent species originated on the same planet and reached the civilized stage one after another, eventually forming a mixed civilized civilization. They are compatriots and the same people. Brothers and sisters in a civilization. But their life forms have reached the point where they think each other is an alien - it's just that exaggerated.
This type of "multi-species hybrid civilization" may be very novel in the conventional worldview of people on earth, but to me, this concept is not the first time it has appeared. Just look at the species composition of the Salvation Army: they are from the same planet. Planetary. This is the case with the Xiling people. They are composed of several completely different intelligent species - these intelligent species are also the origin templates for future Xiling apostles.
Like many ordinary races, the major races on the original home planet also had wars when they first came into contact. And due to the fundamental differences in life forms, these wars were extremely cruel. When talking about this period of history, ancestor Anseth kept mentioning some names: Scorpio, Safa, and Storm. These were all home planets in ancient times. Ethnic groups, before the Xiling civilization formed a unified whole, the planet was divided and occupied by several equally civilized species. The situation of division and opposition was even far worse than the most chaotic era on earth.
But just like those ordinary races that persisted until the age of the universe. After experiencing the initial war and fusion, the Xiling people successfully transformed from opposing ethnic groups into a unified civilization and began to explore their universe.
"Multi-species hybrid civilization" has a unique advantage, that is, they develop faster in the fields of scientific research and exploration. Therefore, the Xiling people have mastered superb aerospace technology in a short period of time, and have been exposed to the limits of the material world. Then they began to study how to escape from their universe - and it was at this time that disaster suddenly struck.
The abyss that erupted in an inland colony almost instantly destroyed this promising civilization, and in a short time it surpassed the final defense line of the mother planet.
This abyssal explosion was also the original source of Xiling Apostle's "Original Hatred".
Although the Xiling people resisted tenaciously, their strength was not ready to contend with an enemy like the Abyss. Coupled with the huge scale of the abyssal power faced by the original home star at that time, the Xiling people finally had to accept the fact that their universe was slowly collapsing, and any fleet and artillery were ineffective against that kind of indescribable enemy. of.
The Xiling people used their last resources and the time they fought for to build an ark that could cross the void. On the day when the original home star was completely covered by the abyss, they began to escape from their home universe: this was the first time that the Xiling civilization had ever faced the abyss. first. It was also the last time the whole family fled, and the birth of Xiling Apostle happened shortly after that.
"We were retreating steadily in the battle against the abyss. It was an 'enemy' that could not be explained by common sense. It was invisible, insubstantial, and impossible to analyze." It took Ansers a long time to put together the first half of the history of the home planet. After finishing speaking, he now finally talked about the Abyss War and the birth stage of Xiling Apostle, "We don't even know whether it is some kind of clear evil enemy, or it is just an irresistible natural phenomenon in the universe. We only know that everything will eventually become Enemies: The longer we fight against the abyss, the more powerful the hostile forces we face become. This is a battle that is impossible to win from the beginning. In the end, the coalition government has to decide to abandon its homeland and jump out of the universe."
"This must have been a very risky move back then." Sandora nodded and said.
"Yes, adventure, extreme adventure," Anseth breathed, "We have not fully mastered the technology of jumping out of the world - the precise model of the multiverse, the indescribable dangerous environment between the multiverse, and How to controllable navigation between worlds, these technologies are all in the exploratory stage. We have just learned that there is a wider space outside our own world, and we have just learned how to use mathematical rate equipment to generate a space that allows us to navigate in a void environment. In the order field of survival, the war against the abyss has reached the stage where it is necessary to escape.
There was no news after the first batch of Arks set off. The high-power communication antenna we equipped them with lasted in the void for a short time before malfunctioning. The second batch of Arks used new discontinuous communication technology. After leaving their hometown, they The base remained connected for some time. But the news was soon lost - it seems that trying to jump out of the universe is no different from committing suicide, but there is no other way, we must keep launching the ark. There is no time to study a stable navigation plan, and there are not enough resources to launch more unmanned test ships. The coalition government has long given up on the home star defense circle. During the last period of time, the whole Xiling family huddled in the last colonial area at the other end of the galaxy, watching the entire universe slowly collapse before their eyes. The starlight returned by the deep space probe became dimmer day by day, and the stars between the nebulae The light and shadow became more and more distorted and crazy day by day. In this environment, we made an ark with everything we had on hand. No matter whether these simple things can survive in the void until they reach the next safe world, they must run out without hesitation..."
"The home world may be located at the dividing point of the Void Quadrant," Sandora suddenly whispered. "The only difference between sailing within the quadrant and sailing across the quadrant is the communication method. The communication system of the first batch of arks must be for the purpose of 'continuous Designed to work in the Void, so after crossing the quadrant. Those Arks disappeared... Don't worry about this, please continue."
Ansers nodded, knowing that he probably didn't understand Sandora's explanation: "The situation finally improved - the pressure of genocide can make mortals collapse and go crazy, and it can also give us the explosive power to survive desperate situations. We finally figured out the key to sailing in the void and made crude navigation devices - sounds ridiculous, right? The first Ark launched didn't even have a navigation device, just like the one made by primitive people with a rudder and sails. It’s like a canoe that doesn’t exist. It can only drift forward in the void. This is the original ark.”
After the new technology comes out, it immediately becomes a manned spacecraft: As mentioned just now, we do not have the time and resources to conduct unmanned experiments. The abyss is approaching step by step. As soon as any new technology appears, it must be immediately transformed into a physical object, and then a new technology must be transformed into a real object. Send out a batch of brave volunteers. At that time, we could not grasp the laws of abyss propagation. Its non-linear propagation meant that every day could be a disaster. Therefore, we could only send people out at every opportunity to prevent missing the last 'safe window'. Finally, we felt that the final moment had come. That destructive force was only half a light-year away from the final barrier, and there was no time to develop new navigation technology or build new ships. The coalition government decided to launch all the spaceships manufactured, loaded with everyone they could bring, and jumped in The void. "
Relying on the experience gained by the pioneers with their lives, the last batch of arks reluctantly moved forward in the void. We even made contact with several spacecraft that were launched earlier and successfully merged with them, but there is still no news from more early spacecrafts - they are like floating balls that were thrown into the turbulence to detect the water potential, and have long since been emptied. swept away. "
From that day on, the era of Xiling's homeland came to an end, and the coalition government announced its reorganization. With the approval of the whole people, we abandoned the moderate federal and parliamentary systems, and the entire civilization turned into an imperial system - the Xiling Empire was established on the Ark. "
In order to survive, we decided to give up our individual interests and arm our wandering civilization with absolute efficiency, obedience, unity, loyalty and bravery. Everyone knows that as a wandering civilization that may capsize at any time, only this can Only in an inhumane way can one survive. "
Despite escaping from their home planet, the Xiling people's rage for revenge has never subsided. We remember the tragic history of the destruction of our homeland, and have been trying to find out the truth of that disaster - scientists firmly believe that it was not a natural phenomenon that caused the collapse of the universe. , the home world was destroyed by something abnormal and not belonging to our universe. After a long period of research, they finally determined that this thing came from outside the world, from the depths of the void, and encountered it in the Ark Fleet. After some cosmic debris, they determined that more than one world had been destroyed by this power. This last point is very important: we thought that the destructive power would disappear after destroying the home world, but it still exists and is a common phenomenon in the multiverse. This makes the Xiling people in the difficult situation There can be one constant motivation in exile: revenge. "
Eventually, scientists decided to call this force: the abyss. "
No one still knows the properties of the abyss, whether the pattern attached to the two-dimensional plane is matter, energy, or something else, but at least the target of revenge has become clearer than ever before. Other things also happened at this time. We discovered that our many shortcomings as mortals will prevent us from persisting in exile for too long. We will be afraid, we will retreat, and we will lose our fighting spirit over time. Most people cannot do this. To be 100% honest with others, it is difficult to have absolute trust between people. These shortcomings become more and more obvious as the exile continues. In this way, the characterization of the abyss and the facing up to one's own shortcomings work together, and finally Let the new government decide: Create a brand new life form, input all the information of Xiling Civilization into these new lives, and let them take over the fire. "
"Actually, the plan of the original body has already started in the home world," Ansel paused and mentioned more secrets, "It was when we were fighting against the abyss in the home world. We found that the abyss is more susceptible to infection with weak wills. Ordinary people, so someone once proposed to create a ruthless combat weapon to replace ordinary soldiers in fighting the abyss. The name of the original body was also mentioned at that time, so it can be considered that the 'primary body' was proposed in the hometown era. project. However, due to the rapid deterioration of the war situation, we finally failed to create this ideal life. In the early days of exile, because survival was above all else, this plan was temporarily shelved. It was not until later that we had a chance to breathe and created The Primarch's plans have just been restarted."
"This is the origin of Xiling Apostle." Anseth exhaled and said a little tiredly.
(It is said that the Xiling Empire Bar is currently organizing a fan essay competition. Apostles who are interested can go and take a look - it is on the homepage.) (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation at Qidian. Monthly ticket, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please read it.)