"Why?" Haoyun asked in confusion.
"From the situation shown on this escape route map, Elina made several large jumps during her escape and frequently moved back and forth at the same node. Additionally, she left behind energy along the way, which makes me think these actions were deliberate. By doing this, she can use the energy to mislead and even obscure her true escape route. However, this doesn't necessarily mean she entered the nearby black hole. It's very likely that, under the cover of the energy she left behind, she hid her trail and escaped into another black hole," Judge Yan explained.
"Don't forget, ghost energy naturally possesses the ability to conceal itself. Even though Elina was wounded by Brother Hao, causing her to constantly lose energy and making it hard for her to hide, we can't rule out the possibility that Elina, using her own strength, could temporarily hide herself. If she could seize the right moment, she could still use the energy she left behind as cover and hide in any black hole within the limited time she remains invisible," Judge Yan continued.
"So what Judge Yan means is that Elina might have intentionally used the energy leaking from her wound to create a flaw, attracting our attention and creating an opportunity for her to escape? That damned Elina, I didn't expect her to be so cunning!" Dream Jia reacted immediately upon hearing Judge Yan's explanation, realizing she had been tricked while tracking Elina. She gritted her teeth and cursed Elina while tightening her grip on her high-tech spear. Seeing this, Haoyun and the others quickly distanced themselves from Dream Jia to avoid becoming her target in a fit of anger.
To divert Dream Jia's attention, Master Gu quickly followed up on Judge Yan's words, "Another point is that due to the special nature of black holes, we have set up a strict blockade around each one to prevent unauthorized entry and exit. Although Elina once forced her way out of our blockade, her significant energy expenditure from making such large space-time jumps while wounded would greatly deplete her strength. Therefore, I don't believe she has the strength to break through our blockade again without being detected and forcibly enter a black hole."
"So Master Gu means that Elina might have pretended to enter the black hole under the cover of her energy while actually seizing the opportunity to escape and hide elsewhere?" Haoyun asked.
"Yes. I think we can't rule out this possibility," Master Gu replied, and the others present also agreed with Master Gu's speculation.
Thus, the mystery of how the cunning Elina suddenly disappeared and where she escaped to became a case to solve again. The group could only start analyzing the data provided by Dream Jia from scratch, expanding their energy fluctuation detection to a larger area around the regions where Elina left traces during her escape, hoping to find any clues she might have left before disappearing.
Since the subsequent investigation and data analysis required operating the system projection in the judgment hall, Haoyun, being a rookie, couldn't be of much help. He had no choice but to wait quietly on the side, helping Judge Yan and the others with trivial tasks when possible, and taking the opportunity to learn how to operate the more complex system.
Meanwhile, Haoyun also had a chance to observe the holographic domain map of the 13th District of the Netherworld Realm displayed on the system projection. Although astronomers on Earth have the technology to map the Milky Way and even more expansive star maps beyond the galaxy, compared to the star map Haoyun was seeing, which detailed numerous space-time lines, human-drawn star maps seemed like simple children's sketches.
For the first time, Haoyun realized that the universe they lived in had so many hidden details. This made Haoyun feel that the universe was not a vast star map but rather an ultra-precise perpetual motion machine created with highly sophisticated techniques.
Staring at the complex and dazzling star map on the screen, Haoyun became increasingly lost in thought. He couldn't help but wonder how one could possibly find Elina's whereabouts in such a vast universe. As he pondered, Haoyun unconsciously took a step forward and reached out to touch the projection, seemingly wanting to personally feel the charm of this vast universe. The others present just smiled and didn't stop Haoyun's actions. After all, it was normal for Haoyun to be mesmerized by such a spectacular scene, being his first time seeing it.
However, just as Haoyun's hand touched the star map on the projection, his vision suddenly went black, and he felt disoriented. In his mind, he saw many stars rapidly passing by. The stars flew far into the depths of space, forming a strange pattern there.
Then, the strange pattern used a mysterious force to pull Haoyun's thoughts closer, and the pattern continued to traverse the vast starry sky until it finally reached a gigantic black hole. The star-formed pattern dropped Haoyun there, disintegrating into countless stars, which merged into the star river surrounding the black hole and formed an even larger strange pattern. The black hole emitted a familiar yet unfamiliar whisper as Haoyun appeared. Although Haoyun couldn't understand what the voice was saying, he felt it was calling him, inviting him.
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"Haoyun? Haoyun! Are you alright?" The clear shouts that covered the whispers from the black hole shook Haoyun's consciousness, plunging him back into confusion. When he abruptly opened his eyes, he saw Dao Lao grabbing his shoulders and shaking him vigorously while shouting at him. As Haoyun regained consciousness, he hadn't had time to speak before his entire body went limp, causing him to stumble and collapse to the ground.
"Hey! Pull yourself together! What's wrong with you?" Dream Jia, noticing Haoyun's condition, turned back and quickly assisted Dao Lao in supporting him.
"What... what just happened to me?" Haoyun asked, taking a deep breath as he slowly sat on the ground with the help of Dream Jia and Dao Lao.
Before anyone could inquire further, Haoyun began pounding his head with his fist and said, "I... I think I was just taken to a black hole, and there was a strange voice that seemed to be calling me."
"Taken to a black hole? A voice? What are you talking about? You've been standing here the whole time, you haven't gone anywhere! Hey! Are you out of your mind?" Dream Jia shouted at Haoyun, hoping to snap him out of it. The other officials present were equally bewildered, not understanding what Haoyun was talking about.
With the help of Dream Jia and Dao Lao, Haoyun struggled to his feet. Then, he continued to pound his head and, with Dao Lao's assistance, began communicating with the system in the Judgment Hall. Thanks to his ever-strengthening mental abilities, Haoyun had a superhuman memory. Thus, he was able to describe to the system the black hole and the surrounding star map he had seen in his dream or illusion with remarkable accuracy, and he requested the system to search the lower realm's universe for a matching area.
The results surprised everyone. After a thorough search, the system indeed located a black hole that matched Haoyun's description almost perfectly. The identified black hole and the surrounding star map patterns were nearly identical to what Haoyun had described. Haoyun was even more convinced it was the same black hole he had seen, as he experienced a strong sense of longing and resonance when the system found it, causing his consciousness to blur again.
Although the others still did not understand what had happened to Haoyun, they decided to check out the black hole located near the border between the 13th and 14th Districts of the Netherworld Realm, identified as VOID-5173, as Haoyun was adamant there was something wrong with it.
Haoyun saw that, according to the system's information, this black hole, numbered VOID-5173, was once a galaxy in the 13th District of the Netherworld Realm called VOI. Unfortunately, during the Divine War, the god army of the Divine Spirit Realm fought several massive battles against the Ghost Energy army in this galaxy, causing the collapse of all the space-time lines that constructed the galaxy and triggering an unimaginable explosion. After the devastating explosion, the destroyed VOI galaxy became the supermassive black hole VOID-5173, which was subsequently sealed off as a forbidden area by the Netherworld Realm.
"So this black hole was formed because of the Divine War!" Haoyun exclaimed.
It was not hard to imagine how fierce the battles in the VOI galaxy must have been to cause the collapse of all the space-time lines and trigger such a cataclysmic explosion. That explosion must have destroyed countless lower realm civilizations and claimed innumerable innocent lives.
"In fact, all the black holes currently existing in the lower realms of the Divine Spirit Realm were formed during that Divine War," Master Gu explained. "To resist the invasion of the Ghost Energy armies, the god army not only fought them in the upper realms but also engaged in even larger battles in the lower realms. As a result, many of the space-time lines in the lower realms were severely damaged and collapsed to varying degrees, causing explosions of different magnitudes. Minor explosions destroyed a few planets or a small galaxy, while more severe ones led to the annihilation of large galaxies. These destructions resulted in black holes of various sizes."
"Due to the extreme instability within these black holes and the loss of divine protection, divine officials would be shredded by the chaotic energy inside them. Thus, all black holes were marked as forbidden areas in the Divine Spirit Realm. Unless specifically authorized and granted additional divine power by the Divine Spirit Realm, no one is allowed to enter a black hole. This measure is to protect us from the dangers of black holes and to prevent chaotic energy from being brought back to the Divine Spirit Realm and threatening other regions," Master Gu continued.
"All the current black holes were formed during the Divine War? Wait a minute. According to our astronomers, many black holes were formed billions of years ago, or even earlier. But the historical records show that the Divine War occurred over twenty thousand years ago. This doesn't add up!" Haoyun asked in confusion.
Judge Yan, taking over the explanation from Master Gu, said, "The situation is like this: each space-time line in the lower realms has its own time laws, some relatively fast and some slow. This means that when you observe a space-time line with a faster flow of time, you will find that many things existed long before your own time. Does this explanation make sense to you, Brother Hao?"
Haoyun nodded, indicating he understood, and then politely signaled for Judge Yan to continue.
Judge Yan resumed, "Let's take a single planet as an example. This planet contains multiple time-space lines that can extend infinitely, each with its own unique pace of time. Within each time-space line exists an independent central planet. The existence of these independent planets is supported by a core mother planet that encompasses all the central planets within the time-space lines."
He continued, "Imagine that each of these time-space lines represents a different timeline, with some running faster and others slower. Despite their differences, they all intersect at the core mother planet, which serves as the anchor point for these timelines. This mother planet maintains the stability and cohesion of the entire system of time-space lines, ensuring that the various independent planets can coexist."