Chapter 1 After Rushing to the Window

After rushing to the window, Zhou Ming finally confirmed that what he saw was not an illusion—there were really words on the window! And they were written from the outside in the common language of the city-states!

The words were blurry, trembling slightly on the glass in a strange way, as if they weren't written on the hard, solid surface of the glass but reflected in an illusory mist. Zhou Ming stared at the letters for a long time before he could finally make out the content from the blurred and mirrored words—

"I'm outside, you're inside."

Zhou Ming was instantly stunned—he felt like he had just seen a pointless sentence.

Some being went to the trouble of leaving a message outside his "cocoon of protection" just for this nonsense?

He couldn't help but feel a little amused, but then he frowned, vaguely thinking of something.

Zhou Ming slowly straightened up from the window, looking at the gray-white mist outside, frowning in thought.

He now had a vague guess about what was outside his "apartment." Even if he couldn't determine the details, he had a general grasp of some of the rules of this place, or rather... some of the most fundamental logic of this world.

The constraint of "information" had great significance. The expression of "information" was the cornerstone of order. And on this basis, "symbolism" was given a real and effective..."function" in this world.

He had a realization in his heart, and when he looked at the line of text again, his eyes changed slightly. He vaguely guessed that it wasn't a language used to "communicate" with him.

It was an "anchor point." Something... a being who grasped and knew how to use "truth" had "anchored" itself outside this room.

Zhou Ming suddenly frowned, and he suddenly recalled something: the knocking sound that came from the black mist when he last returned here!

The next second, as if his thoughts had really moved reality, the moment this memory surfaced, a sound suddenly appeared beside his ear—bang, bang, bang.

Zhou Ming suddenly looked towards the apartment door, but then realized that this time the sound wasn't coming from the door. The sound came from the side: someone was knocking on the window.

He looked in the direction of the sound, and saw that the gray-white mist still lingered outside the window. Through the clear glass, there seemed to be nothing in the mist, only the constant knocking sound echoing on the surface of the glass, as if an invisible visitor was standing outside the window, waiting...

Waiting for the owner of this "cabin" to recognize ta.

For some reason, Zhou Ming thought of those "fish" again.

He leaned forward again, came to the window, and placed his hand on the glass where the knocking sound was coming from. He tried to sense and listen—the knocking sound was still ringing constantly, and gradually, he felt a vibration really beginning to come from the palm of his hand.

He raised his head, looked at the flowing thick fog, as if quietly looking at the "visitor" in the mist through the clear glass. He imagined a guest, a guest who "could possibly appear here" in all the possibilities and rational branches.

At the end of this order, in this place that had broken away from all things in the world and was close to the cornerstone of the world, who would knock on his window?

A hazy shadow appeared in the mist, and almost the moment the shadow appeared, Zhou Ming finally sensed a familiar aura through the heavy curtain—that aura originated from his flame, a cluster of flames that had been released a long time ago and once thought to have dissipated.

This flame made his cognition instantly established, and the "visitor in the mist" finally collapsed into an entity.

The hazy gray-white mist outside the window suddenly collapsed. The seemingly eternal "scenery" turned into a brightly lit, gorgeous "room" in a Planck time, which seemed out of place with the apartment scene on this side of the window. And across the window, a beautiful lady was staring wide-eyed in surprise, seemingly also in a daze due to the amazing change in front of her.

"Ai..." Zhou Ming blurted out subconsciously the moment he saw the silver-haired figure, but he immediately reacted, "No, Lei·Nora—is that really you?!"

The final fact completed directional collapse, and the scene outside the window finally stabilized completely.

Outside the window was Frost Queen Lei·Nora. She was the "visitor in the mist." Now she was still staring at Zhou Ming—strictly speaking, staring at an indescribable existence entrenched in some vast and incomprehensible chaotic space.

Her eyes reflected endless distant starlight, and the starlight had shone through the "glass" into her room, dyeing the bedroom, which once belonged to "Alice's Mansion," with a faint starlight, as if it would fall into the starry sky at any time.

But suddenly, Lei·Nora's eyes regained their agility. She seemed to finally break free from the influence of the starlight. Under Zhou Ming's gaze, she "recovered" her sanity. She opened her mouth, seemingly saying something, but through the window, only vague syllables came—

"...I see...light..."

Zhou Ming frowned, and then subconsciously pushed the window, wanting to hear what the other party was saying clearly.

The window opened.

Zhou Ming stood there blankly, staring at the window with a dazed expression, until after a long while he realized what had happened—the window opened!

After such a long time, after the thick fog had sealed this room for so long, this window... actually opened so easily?!

He was stunned for a long time, finally waking up, and his eyes fell on the "Frost Queen" opposite him.

Lei·Nora saw the curtain filled with flowing light suddenly open in front of her—in this "drifting journey," the most amazing and incredible thing happened.

At the end of time and space, an individual with "intelligence," and perhaps even "humanity," appeared in her vision.

Although she couldn't see any exact shape from the vast and chaotic starlight at all, and couldn't see anything that could be understood with reason in that maddening lair, she realized almost instantly that the "entity" was intelligent—ta responded to her call and opened a corner of the lair. Now, a "limb" was extending from the starlight, slowly drooping towards her, and millions of eyes were flickering at the end of the limb, making hoarse and harsh noises—

"It's really you," Zhou Ming looked up and down at this "Queen Majesty" in disbelief, "Wait, I'm a little confused, I have to sort it out... How could you be here? You left Alice's Mansion back then, and then you've been... drifting in the borderlands? Were you the one knocking on the door outside last time?"

The tremors between the stars were maddening, and the harsh noises reshaped Lei·Nora's sanity over and over again. She frowned, looking at the "limb" swaying in front of her. Countless throats at the end of the limb were roaring at her, but gradually... she found that she was beginning to understand.

She was gradually understanding the whispers of the stars—the stars were asking about her intentions.

"I'm traveling," she said subconsciously, "I'm wandering in the spirit world, and then I fell into the ripples of the subspace... At the end of all things, I was trapped in this mist, but a ray of light guided my direction, and I followed the light and saw this magnificent 'palace'..."

She raised her head, took two steps back, and looked at the huge structure that seemed to stand in eternal time—it was like an awe-inspiring "cocoon," floating in this place that seemed to be the end of the world, and she didn't know how many years it had been floating. And now a crack was opened on the surface of the "cocoon," and an ancient and amazing existence was speaking to her from this crack. Every syllable and every tremor of ta seemed to contain truths enough to drive people crazy a thousand times over.

But she felt that she was gradually stabilizing, and could even withstand the impact of this truth, and her thinking was also rapidly becoming stable.

Lei·Nora was surprised by the changes happening to her—she didn't expect that she could still regain her "sanity" after such a reckless "contact."

What she didn't realize was that her voice was also mixed with layered tremors, and that brilliant starlight had been imprinted in her vision.

"You fell into subspace?" Zhou Ming frowned in surprise. Although he felt that Lei·Nora's state was a little strange when she answered him, he didn't think much about it, but subconsciously looked at the other party to confirm whether there were any signs of subspace contamination, "... Why is everyone doing subspace butterfly strokes these days..."

Lei·Nora felt a little dazed. The stars once again stirred up tremors in her soul. This time, she couldn't understand the meaning of these tremors, but she found that... she was gradually seeing a stable "entity" from the group of wriggling starlight and that "limb."

It seemed that there was a person standing in that magnificent "nest."

She frowned and tilted her head slightly: "Are you inviting me in?"

Zhou Ming was stunned when he heard this—when did he invite her?

But soon he put this doubt aside.

Of course he didn't mind someone coming in as a guest—on the contrary, he had been looking forward to this for a long time. After all, he was the only one alone in this closed "cage." Wasn't it a good thing to have a guest now?

He was just a little embarrassed.

Looking down at the windowsill, he smiled a little awkwardly: "Then you have to climb in through the window... I don't know how to get you in through the door..."

That ancient and amazing existence confirmed this invitation—now ta stepped aside, the crack of that nest opened its door to her, and the light of truth and knowledge had been opened to her.

Lei·Nora walked towards the light without hesitation.

Zhou Ming watched the other party climb over the window without hesitation, and was greatly moved by the "Queen Majesty's" resolute and efficient style—it could only be said that she was worthy of being a figure who dared to launch the "Deep Dive Project" decades ago. This execution ability was stronger than ordinary people.

But he couldn't help but remind her from the side: "Hey, be careful, don't fall..."

Lei·Nora passed through the window.

The reality in her eyes collapsed and was reshaped.

Her Majesty the Queen fell heavily on the floor—

"Ouch!"