CH 81

I turned my head and saw that Old Du was the one who had spoken.

"What do you mean by 'image in history'? Isn't it in front of us right now?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"From the moment I saw the supernova vestiges, I have been suspecting that this whole thing is a preserved chunk of time," said Old Du.

"Go on," Zhang Bao'er and Prince Toruse urged him to continue.

"The supernova vestiges are presented in a nebulous form of the debris thrown out of a star after an explosion. They will most certainly slowly fade away. What we saw was instead some sponge-like substance, which is essentially solidified time," Old Du said.

"Liquid and gas can both be touched and frozen, but how do you freeze time?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"What is it that you have in your bag if it can't be touched?" Domo suddenly said.

Zhang Bao'er touched his bag instinctively before scolding, "Dwarf, what nonsense are you saying?"

'Don't tell me Zhang Bao'er stole some of the solidified time when going down the tunnel,' I thought.

"There is no proof that time can't be frozen. The temperature here is between negative 10 degrees to negative 30 degrees. Perhaps this is the perfect temperature range to preserve the solidified time?" Old Du said.

Everyone returned their attention to Old Du.

"But the supernova vestiges themselves are frozen in solidified time. That doesn't seem to be the case for this black hole," said Zhang Xingxing.

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"Therefore, we can't physically move through solidified time because that will result in chaos in the proper passage of time. As for this black hole, it is probably a replica, so it will be fine for us to enter it," said Old Du.

'As expected from someone who had received a knowledge download with a level higher than mine. During moments like this, the difference between us is especially pronounced,' I thought, feeling a slight sense of injustice.

"I think Old Du makes sense. If this is only a replica and not an actual black hole, and if it isn't padded with solidified time, we can try entering and searching for an exit," said Zhang Xingxing.

"Let's not waste time. Our energy supply is limited. I'll scout ahead," I offered.

"I'll go with you," said Old Du and Zhang Bao'er at the same time.

Suddenly, the sight of the injured Old Du from the other timeline appeared in my mind.

"You go with me, Bao'er. Old Du, you should provide support from here," I said.

"Fine," said Old Du after taking a look at Giorno and Domo. It was a good idea to have him stay and watch over the others.

"Be careful. Stay in contact with us," said Zhang Xingxing with concern.

My heart was filled with warmth as I nodded to her. Then, I stepped into the door that had a whirlpool at its center. After going through the whirlpool door, I arrived at a dark room. Zhang Bao'er arrived immediately after.

"My god, what place is this? It's so dark. There's nothing here. Canyue, the door we came through is not here as well!" Zhang Bao'er cried out.

I turned around and saw that the door had truly gone missing.

"Canyue, Canyue, can you hear me? How is it in there?" Zhang Xingxing's voice came from the communicator.

"We're fine. It's pitch-black in here. Not even my suit's lighting can pierce through the darkness here. Infrared doesn't work as well. We can't see anything," I replied.

"Luckily, the communication channel still works. Why is it that light waves don't work while electromagnetic waves work? Odd," Zhang Xingxing said.

I noticed that the ground under me wasn't sponge-like. Instead, it was solid and hard.

"Old Du, light doesn't work in here. We can't find any exit, but we are indeed standing on something solid," I said.

"You must have entered the final remains of a collapsed star's core. If the ground under you is solid, then this is most certainly a replica," said Old Du.

"Even if this is proven to be a replica, it doesn't change the fact that we can't see anything. There is no way to leave," I said anxiously.

"Calm down. Let me think," said Old Du.

I grabbed onto Zhang Bao'er's arm, worried that we wouldn't be able to find each other after separating.

"Canyue, is it cold in there?" Old Du asked.

"The system indicates that it's negative 25 degrees here," I said.

"Perhaps we have made a major discovery in terms of astronomy studies, confirming that light can't pass through black holes but sound waves can. Either that or it's the other possibility," said Old Du.

"Sound waves traveling through black holes? That seems unlikely. What's the other possibility?" I asked.

"The basis of our communication system is heat. That's not the case for our lighting system. I have a feeling that for both the solidified time and this replica, everything is preserved at a low temperature. Canyue, try to change the temperature of your environment," said Old Du.

I switched my gun to the flamethrower mode and pulled the trigger. When the tongue of flame spurted out, clicking sounds rang out in the air. The flame became larger and larger before eventually providing the illumination to see Zhang Bao'er. The temperature around me rose, reaching five degrees. 

The heat from the flamethrower seemed to have altered the environment we were in. I could also see two whirlpool doors around us. The one near us was probably the door we came in from. The one farther away might be the exit.

"Success. The change in temperature enabled our lighting system. The exit has appeared," I reported to Old Du.

I could hear cheers coming from the communicator. We started slowly walking toward the exit. The atmospheric drag in the dark space was rather high, giving one the sensation of walking through cotton. Eventually, we came close to the exit. The whirlpool door stood before us, emanating a mesmerizing light blue radiance.

"Who will go first?" Zhang Bao'er asked.

"Can we maintain communication after going out?" After returning from the other timeline, I felt like I had turned more and more conservative in my actions.

While I was hesitating, Zhang Xingxing's voice came from the communicator, "Canyue, how is it in there? We've noticed that the star is growing larger."

My heart skipped a beat as I roared urgently, "Come in immediately! The star is on the verge of exploding! If you're slow, you won't make it in time!"

Soon, I saw the others coming through the door one after another.

"Use your flamethrowers to change the temperature before walking toward me," I shouted to them.

"Canyue, we can see you. We're heading your way," said Zhang Xingxing.

While I was speaking to Zhang Xingxing, Zhang Bao'er rushed through the door.

"Bao'er, can you hear me? How is it out there?" I called out.

Only static came from the communicator.

"That guy. I wonder how it is out there," I muttered.

With some difficulty, Zhang Xingxing finally arrived beside me.

"Where's Bao'er?" she asked.

"He rushed through this door. I can't connect to his communicator," I said.

"Everyone is already here. We should move as well. Death or survival, we have to try this," said Zhang Xingxing.

I nodded.

"See you on the other side," I said before turning and walking through the light blue whirlpool door.

I entered an expansive room filled with blue radiance. The space around me constantly shrunk, slowly closing in on me. Then, with a flash, I was in a large warehouse. Zhang Bao'er was in the same warehouse.

"Canyue, you're finally here! I can't contact you with the communicator, so I've been waiting here for a while," said Zhang Bao'er joyfully.

Before long, Zhang Xingxing and the others arrived one after another. Every time a person arrived, the whirlpool door would automatically shut behind them.

"Where is this?" asked Zhang Xingxing when she saw me.

Seeing that everyone was safe, I finally shifted my attention to our surroundings.

"From my earlier observation, this seems to be a deserted warehouse," said Zhang Bao'er.

"This is a large deserted warehouse, and it looks quite old as well. However, it certainly doesn't look like it has a history of over 100,000 years," said Old Du.

While everyone was studying the surroundings, Giorno arrived through the whirlpool door. Shock was plastered all over his face when he saw our surroundings. He then lowered his head with a pensive expression before whispering into Aaron's ears. Next, Aaron rushed away with two Liyate thugs.

"President Giorno, do you have a new discovery?" Zhang Xingxing asked.

"We should be safe for now," he replied.

At this time, Aaron rushed back and nodded at Giorno.

"What a surprise. Truly a surprise. The whirlpool door actually brought us straight to outer space," said Giorno.

"Outer space? This is outer space?" Domo asked.

"This is an abandoned trade station. Many years ago, it was placed in lockdown by Fille I," said Giorno.

"Fille I?" I exclaimed in astonishment.

"Yes. The founding emperor of the Divine Empire. Back then, he had established imperial power after seizing control over parliament. However, one person managed to escape the parliament during the chaos," said Giorno.

"Are you referring to Dida, the leader of the parliament?" asked Prince Toruse.

"The prince is right. In the legends, he escaped to a trade station in outer space and started organizing a resistance. The trade station is filled with numerous tunnels, making it easy for the resistance to hide from the imperial power. The emperor tried to take the resistance down for a long time without success. In a fit of anger, he placed the entire trade station in lockdown for a period of 10 years with his battleships," said Giorno.

"For 10 years? Did Dida not try to escape?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"No. It is said that at the time, a powerful surveillance system was installed with a massive energy field around the trade station. Not even a speck of dust could avoid detection. After failing to escape twice, he vanished from existence," said Giorno.

"I know about that too. This place was surrounded for 10 years without supply. After that, when the imperial police came in, they found a lot of corpses," said Prince Toruse.

"Those people were starved to death by the emperor," said Zhang Bao'er in astonishment.

"However, Dida's corpse was never found," said Giorno. "After exhausting a large amount of energy on the 10-year lockdown, the emperor finally lifted it. However, he did not fail to make this place a forbidden zone."

"A lockdown of 10 years and starving people to death. That Fille I was too cruel," said Zhang Xingxing.

At this time, the silhouette of a large hauler appeared outside the warehouse.