Chapter 2488: Forum of the Eccentrics

　　The next day in the morning, the artificial sun was shining, and the air was filled with a pleasant fragrance. When Boss Bai, the Fist King, and Long Yangjun gathered again for the meeting, they discovered that Li Yao had arrived earlier and that the meeting room had been redecorated into a whole different atmosphere.

　　Flowers and fruits were on the table. Xiaoming and Wenwen were standing at the door, wearing ribbons and greeting them with “welcome, welcome!” and with rigid faces. A red, eye-catching banner was also flying on the top of the meeting room, which said “The Forum of the Advanced Eccentrics of the Pangu Universe”.

　　Boss Bai, the Fist King, and Long Yangjun looked at each other in bewilderment, lost for words. It was not until a long time later that Boss Bai finally spoke on behalf of them, “Li Yao, what the heck is this supposed to mean?”

　　“This is a theme that I’ve come up with for the meeting!”

　　Li Yao greeted them with an affable smile and explained, “The so-called ‘Pangu universe’ refers to the three thousand Sectors that are surrounded by the infinite black wall. ‘Three thousand worlds’ is a narrow, ambiguous phrase. Since the Cultivation civilization has three thousand Sectors, it is possible that the wizardly civilization is made of a lot of worlds too. ‘Pangu universe’, on the other hand, is much more accurate. I suggest we refer to our hometown with this phrase in the future.”

　　“No, the Pangu universe is not a big deal, but what do you mean by ‘eccentrics’?”

　　Boss Bai glared at him. “You are eccentric!”

　　“Compared to the… regular residents of the Pangu universe, I’m indeed somewhat eccentric.”

　　Li Yao said casually, or rather, shamelessly. “Not only am I eccentric, but everybody here is slightly off the track too. This is the reason why we are gathered here and the focus of our meeting today!

　　“Come on, let’s take a seat and cut to the chase. I talked to you guys in person last night. I believe everybody understands the importance of candor right now.

　　“First of all, no matter what advanced eccentrics we are, the strength of the individuals is always limited when faced with the overwhelming universe. Even if we bury our secrets in our hearts and somehow become a hundred times stronger, it will still be barely enough to resist the cold, dark universe and to realize our dreams on our own.

　　“I need the help of each and every one of you, and I believe that there will always be a time when you need my help.

　　“Besides, we are all smart guys with remarkable computational abilities. Even if a certain someone doesn’t tell, can’t other people guess it out? Here, hasn’t Boss Bai guessed the Fist King’s identity, and the Fist King guessed that we are from a certain country of Cultivators outside of the Imperium? Thankfully, the two of you were rational enough to not burst into real conflicts, but it is inevitable that you are slightly wary and concerned, isn’t it? As time goes by, and when the situation changes, will the wariness and the concerns expand into a real chasm and lead to a real conflict?

　　“Boss Bai, Long Yangjun, the two of you escaped from the federation one after another. Your identities have been exposed. There is no reason to keep it a secret from the… poor eccentrics here when everybody in the federation knows it, right?

　　“I’m the same. I have grown from an unknown scavenger in the magical equipment graveyard into a strong, dominating, unparalleled superhero that is admired by everyone. It is only reasonable that you are skeptical about my unbelievable performance, right?”

　　“Enough.”

　　Boss Bai said coldly, “Boss Bai does not need to hide anything from anybody. Don’t think of me as such a cowardly and stealthy person!”

　　“I agree.”

　　The Fist King also said calmly, “Regarding your proposal, I inferred hundreds of times last night. It is true that exposing my secrets will result in more risk, but taking the returns of the tighter cooperation, the risk will be worth it.”

　　“That’s great. Then, let’s reintroduce ourselves!”

　　Li Yao picked up an apple and bit it hard, with the juice splashing everywhere. Looking at the hole on the incomplete apple, he finally made up his mind and said, “I, Vulture Li Yao, as you know, am from Floating Spear City of the Star Glory Federation. Fist King, this used to be the secrets of the few of us, but it is now your secret too. I hope that you can understand our trust for you.

　　“You must know most of my experiences. However, the secret that I have never told anyone except for my wife is—I’ve been having a weird dream since childhood, one about Earth and one where ‘witchcraft’ and ‘ABCD’ showed up. That dream is perhaps the source of my strength!”

　　Li Yao briefly described his dream about Earth and concluded, “I don’t know what happened exactly. Was a certain ‘earthling’ teleported to the Star Glory Federation, possessing the body of a dying infant in the federation, or was it only certain… information waves from the Earth that traveled through time and space and got received by an infant in the federation?

　　“I’ll have to ask your advice on the matter.”

　　Everybody listened quietly, not saying anything at this moment but caught in deep thought.

　　It was not exactly because possession or information transmission was unusual. In a world of Cultivation, bizarre things such as possession, reincarnation, memory transplantation, and memory superimposition were happening on a daily basis. Even Boss Bai was sort of reborn through possession too.

　　Li Yao had grown into one of the few best experts at the edge of the Pangu universe after only a hundred years naturally because of many fortuitous factors.

　　However, the so-called “Earth”, a center where multiple civilizations gathered, and the “Vulture Plan” to destroy it were too mysterious and thought-provoking.

　　When the Earth and the Flood were combined, even the Fist King’s or Xiaoming and Wenwen’s computational abilities were not enough to support the complicated deductions.

　　“Let’s not complicate a simple question. Let’s consider this… Earth is to be located at a dimension beyond the Pangu universe. A strong life in the dimension named ‘Earthling Li Yao’ dissected, compressed, and packed all the information that made up his life before sending it to our Pangu universe. Then, the information was received by your young brain.”

　　Boss Bai pondered for a moment and said, “This high-dimension space named Earth, as a center of civilizations, is very likely to be an asylum where many civilizations hide from the Flood together. So, it will be perfectly reasonable that both Cultivation and witchcraft can be found there.”

　　“No.”

　　The Fist King said, “If Earth is truly an asylum to dodge the Flood, why must it be a ‘high-dimensional space’? Why can’t it be a ‘low-dimensional space’?

　　“Imagine a two-dimensional life that does not have thickness. As long as it is vertical to our eyes, it will be invisible for us, and it will be in a perfect shelter.

　　“In other words, when a high-dimensional life observes a low-dimensional life, there will always be blind angles during the observation. Then, assuming that the survivors of the civilizations are determined to avoid the Flood, it will be safer to lower their dimensions and hide in the blind angles of the Flood, won’t it?

　　“That is to say, with the three-dimensional universe we are at as the standard, Earth is very likely to be a world of a lower dimension—maybe a two-dimensional world. Evidence? The evidence is that the earthlings cannot Cultivate or use witchcraft. It is possible that their abilities are restricted when they lower their dimension. They can only reminisce about their abilities through fantasies.”

　　“That still doesn’t make sense.”

　　Fascinated, Long Yangjun couldn’t help but join the discussion. “If Earth is just a ‘two-dimensional asylum’, it still can’t explain Li Yao’s Vulture Plan. Why must he destroy Earth?

　　“It was mentioned in the weird dreams that countless civilizations were ‘confined’ to Earth in some sort of infinite loop, which was repeated generation after generation meaninglessly. What does that mean exactly?”

　　“Wait, just wait a moment.”

　　Li Yao hurried to drag the topic back. “Until we find more intelligence and evidence, we won’t reach anything on those impractical topics. Let’s go back to our main theme just now. I’m already done. Who’s up next?”

　　“Let me. I’ve got nothing to hide. Whoever finds me unacceptable is free to duel with me!”

　　With a sullen face, Boss Bai said, “My name is Bai Xingjian. I am… mixed with the souls of two people, one named Bai Xinghe and the other named Yan Xinjian. No, perhaps there are still rats. The souls of five hundred rats. This is my story…”

　　Boss Bai introduced his life.

　　How shameless Yan Xinjian was in the beginning, how painfully he had struggled, how he commanded the army of space pirates to crush the fleet of the Cultivators, and how he met his karma when he tried to advance into the Divinity Transformation Stage, ending his atrocious life under the curse of his wife. Eventually, he became five hundred rats, suffering the half-alive and half-dead torture.

　　Then, it was about how Bai Xinghe watched Xiao Xuance, “leader of all Cultivators”, killed his parents, how he ended up on Spider Den, how he explored the dark, perilous underground fortresses under the coercion of the space pirates, how he rose step by step full of wrath and hatred, and how he turned around and died with the formidable enemy for his son Bai Kaixin.

　　Eventually, the two unpardonable souls encountered in the darkness below the ground. After years of fermenting and condensing, they finally broke out of the ground and found the body of a newly-dead boy named “Mouse Bai”. Reincarnating inside the body, the new-generation Boss Bai began his journey!

　　“I am certainly not a good guy. By either the standard of the federation or that of the Imperium, I’m a ferocious and monstrous bandit. So, if anyone wants to seek revenge from me or cut my head to claim bounties, it will be perfectly understandable.”

　　Finishing his life story calmly, Boss Bai narrowed his eyes and looked around before he said, “However, whoever wants to kill me must be prepared to be killed by me. Until my dream is realized, I will not die. Nobody and nothing can possibly stop me from marching to the higher dimensions!”