Chapter 497 The Experiment’s Ultimate Goal

Chapter 497: The Ultimate Goal of the Experiment

"To prevent the Crimson Moon's demise? Do the Mermaid Remnants really have that kind of power?"

Su Bai had always felt he knew a great deal, having struggled in the Nightmare World for over a decade in his previous life. Yet, as Wu Hang narrated these hidden truths of the Nightmare World, all Su Bai could do was listen, unable to analyze matters about which he knew almost nothing.

"There is actually a very simple method to prevent the Crimson Moon's demise." Wu Hang did not directly answer Su Bai's question but continued, "Just as the Crimson Moon used its immense power to stitch that world together, using an even greater power could prevent its demise."

"But obviously, those who grew strong relying on the Crimson Moon's power do not possess such might, and the mermaids are even more lacking in that regard." Only then did Wu Hang address Su Bai's question. "So, they thought of a relatively simpler method."

"That is, to control time."

"Time?"

"Yes." Wu Hang nodded at Su Bai. "If today's Crimson Moon will perish in ten years, then the Crimson Moon from ten years ago will perish in twenty years. So, initially, their experiment was quite simple: they wanted to return to the past, to a time before the Crimson Moon's demise."

"For these anomalies, returning to the past isn't particularly difficult; it doesn't even require traversing the Void Sea. But they soon abandoned this initial experiment."

"If they return to the past, wouldn't there be past versions of themselves at that point in time?" Su Bai guessed the reason these beings abandoned the experiment.

"Correct. These creatures are greedy marauders. They cannot allow two versions of themselves to exist in one world, nor can they guarantee which one would survive a conflict between the two." Wu Hang confirmed Su Bai's speculation. "Moreover, even if they continuously travel through time, the day the Crimson Moon perishes would eventually arrive."

"Thus, they turned their focus to researching fixed points in time."

"I'm not too clear on what fixed points in time are, but if I recall correctly, the mermaid race can not only navigate the Void Sea but also enter its fissures." Su Bai recalled what he had heard about the Mermaid Remnants. "If a mermaid leaves a part of themselves—whether a physical fragment or a piece of memory—within a fissure, it creates a coordinate there. This way, even with countless fissures in the Void Sea, a mermaid can use the coordinate to find the specific fissure they seek."

"Is that why those beings are experimenting on mermaids?" Many puzzle pieces and clues surfaced in Su Bai's mind; this seemed the most plausible reason he had found.

"Essentially." Wu Hang nodded. "Rather than using body parts, mermaids prefer to use scales to create coordinates, though some do use memories. However, most coordinates created by the mermaid race are one-time use. When they wish to return to the same fissure, they must retrieve the previous coordinate. To go again, they must create a new one."

"The goal of their experiment is to create a coordinate that does not disappear. Such a coordinate would qualify as a fixed point in time." Wu Hang explained. "Unlike mermaids swimming through the time of the Void Sea, the coordinate they desire is like an unremovable nail driven into the river of time. You can keep moving forward, but looking back, you'll find it still fixed in place."

"They want to create such a fixed point in time and, using secret arts, fuse it with the Crimson Moon."

"That is the ultimate goal of the experiment."