648 Mortal Dust (Finale)
Wang Wei sat on his school desk, breathing in and out. He placed his elbows on the desk and supported his head with his hands. Thirty Times. That’s how many times he had to experience death. And each time, the experience was not pleasant.
He ignored the noise around him as he took a deep breath. He concentrated on the sound of his beating heart, slowly alienating all the noise in his surrounding. And when he could only hear the soothing rhythmic thumping of his heart, he felt calm, peaceful, and composed.
‘Let’s see if it works.’ He closed his eyes, using a medication technique to enter a realm of absolute silence. As he traveled into the depth of his mind, he soon saw five floating lights, and a rare smile appeared on his face.
He opened his eyes to look at the worried Fatty Jun and said: “I have something for you.”
“Huh? Something–Forget about that. Are you alright?”
“You’ll understand soon.” Wang Wei placed two fingers on Fatty Jun’s forehead as he closed his eyes: “It might hurt, so be prepared.”
Immediately afterward, Fatty Jun groaned as his eyes changed: it was no longer youthful and full of vigor. Instead, it contained the vicissitudes of life. Li Jun faltered for a moment, and Wang Wei supported him.
“So, I’ve failed,” said Li Jun, his eyes full of wisdom beyond his age. “What life is this?”
“The 30th. But you should not blame yourself.”
“I couldn’t protect you, so who else should I blame?”
“We knew things would not be so simple. Anyway, we should focus on the positive sides. Liling’s method worked.”
Fourth-Level Genetic Warriors have evolved their brains to detect the magnetic fields of the universe. And this process is often referred to by scientists as achieving a Higher Consciousness.
Wang Wei’s group theorized the further evolution of the Higher Consciousness in Fifth and above Genetic Warriors would allow humans to transfer their consciousness into another body, abandoning the flesh and becoming pure consciousness creatures; to become soul creatures.
So, they experimented to see if they could leave a piece of their Higher Consciousness to Wang Wei, and when he died and restarted, whatever power placed him in the time loop could bring them with him.
Separating the Higher Consciousness took some time to achieve through technology. And right before Wang Wei’s 35th birthday and death, the group proceeded with the plan.
“Let’s go get the others,” said Wang Wei before meeting with Wu Hong, Liling, and his parents. After accessing the previous life’s memories, the team had a better chance at surviving since they did not have to go through all the hurdles of becoming acquainted and convincing each other.
“It’s good that at least one of our plans succeeded,” commented Yan Liling. “So, what’s our next game plan?”
“Fifth-Level Genetic Warrior. If all of us can be this powerful, nothing on this planet can kill us,” said Wang Wei.
“That’s not as easy as stated,” added Yu Yan. “We have already theorized that further study of the Higher Consciousness is the way to the fifth level. But how will we achieve this stage in less than 20 years?”
She was correct. Achieving Fourth Level Genetic Warrior with the limited time the group had was already a daunting task. And each higher evolution needs more energy or resources and more time.
“Do you want to study Temporal Fields to create a Time Acceleration Room?” asked Wu Hong.
“Exactly,” replied Wang Wei.
“This level of technology cannot be developed easily.”
“Yes, but we have time.”
They did have time, but at what cost?
Wang Tian patted his son’s shoulder while Yu Yan tried not to cry. Then, the group got into action. Wu Hong and Wang Wei worked on the Temporal Field, while Yan Liling and Yu Yan worked on the Fifth-Level Genetic Warrior Path. Li Jun and Wang Tian were in charge of calculating all possible dangers that could lead to Wang Wei’s death and preventing it.
The group also did not give up trying to survive in this life. They tried to build an underground bunker to hide and pass the time. Somehow, a group of Fourth-Level creatures that had evolved underground ambushed and killed them.
The next attempt was to build a spaceship and leave the planet with their research crew. Unfortunately, one crew got infected by an alien species that is a brain porosity and sabotaged the ship, killing everybody.
The group tried again, this time with only themselves on the spaceship. They were caught by some abnormal cosmic phenomenon and died.
On the 50th life, they completed their research. With Time Acceleration, the group became Fifth Level Genetic Warriors. Their cause of death was the planet’s explosion. Typically, a Fifth Level Warrior should be able to survive a planet’s destruction with no issue.
Unfortunately, the real cause of the destruction was a secret research program gone wrong that affected the planet’s core and exponentially increased the explosion.
The group tried again. They reached the fifth stage and left the planet. With their strength, they should have been able to survive in the universe. Unfortunately, they encountered a Sixth-Level Cosmic Creature.
On the 59th Life, they pushed the boundaries of the Temporal Field and created the method to achieve the sixth level. An Alien Empire discovered their planet, and they died fighting off an invasion composed of too many Sixth Level Powerhouses.
From the 60th life, the group focused on using the power of time to deal with the situation. They concentrated on mastering its power to escape the Time Loop. Unfortunately, they could not comprehend how it operated.
So, they tried a different strategy: escape into the past or the future. The travel to the past was to see whether they could find any information on how Wang Wei became entangled in that Time Loop. Furthermore, they wanted to know what would happen if the two of them existed.
Unfortunately, this attempt was futile. They did not find any new information, nor did anything change after Wang Wei met his younger self. When his future body turned 35, an accident occurred, and he died.
Then, they proceeded on their voyage to the future. The year that Wang Wei always died was 2136. So, the group wanted to know what would happen if they traveled beyond that year.
Nothing occurred. And when his biological age reached 35, Wang Wei died.
Then, the group realized an anomaly: If they counted the Time Acceleration, Wang Wei had lived longer than 35 years old. And yet, previously, he always died in the year 2136. But now, after traveling to the future, they cannot understand how exactly his death time is calculated. They tried to use this information to their advantage. However, they soon gave up on this idea since they no longer knew the rules and regulations.
Without knowing the exact time Wang Wei would die, the number of variables that needed to be considered dramatically increased.
100th life:
Wang Wei walked on a beach, lost in his thoughts. He stopped and turned around: “Why are you guys following me?”
“We are afraid you’ll give up.”
“Give up, huh? *Sigh*” He turned around and continued walking.
‘Is this what I need for this to stop? Accept my fate and give up?’ thought Wang Wei as he looked at the sand.
Ptooey!
He spat on the ground with disdain in his eyes. He refused to just give up. He promised himself that he would punch whoever it was that made him suffer through this. And even if it is out of spite and hatred, he would never stop until he succeeded.
He took a moment to calm down and analyzed the situation, taking into account all his previous experienced.
‘This feels like a sick twisted game.’ He felt that way because of the events in the future. It was like he went outside the boundaries of the game, and without knowing the rules, it became even harder to win.
‘So, I need to play the game to win; play within the confine of the rules.’
He then looked at the entire situation like he was playing a game against an unknown entity. ‘Let’s call it Fate.’
He drew his name against fate on the sand before drawing a line. At one end, he wrote sixteen and the other 35. He then crossed the 35 and placed the year 2136 underneath.
‘My greatest move was that High Consciousness Transference.’
Wang Wei wrote the name of his name against fate. That move granted him the support and help needed to continue this battle. Otherwise, he would never be capable of making so many moves.
‘That move was brilliant and cunning,’ he thought with a smug look before stopping. ‘Why did it work?… The mind…memories…thoughts…Part of the game’s rules?’
He squinted his eyes, deep in thought. ‘Fate is not absolute; it has to allow room for possibility. And since it’s not absolute, it can be conquered, but how?’
Wang Wei was not stupid to think he could overwhelm such power.
‘Play within its rules and limitations: trick it.’
In this life, Wang Wei did nothing extraordinary besides managing his disease. And when he turned 35, the group placed him in a machine with two pods. And when the time arrived, the machine beeped, signaling his death.
Pushee!
The other pod opened, and a teenager walked out.
“Success?” asked Wu Hong.
“It appears so,” replied the teenager as he looked at the dead Wang Wei. “Fate wanted Wang Wei to die in the year 2136, and he did.” His plan was simple: accept his fate, die, and transfer his mind, memories, and consciousness into another body.
As such, he was now a “new person” with a new identity. He did not agree to the plan to transfer his mind into a clone to ensure success.
“So, are you really Wang Wei?” asked Li Jun.
“The answer to this question is quite philosophical,” he replied. He did not transfer his Higher Consciousness to another body. Instead, he transferred his memories and thought patterns to a prepared body with its mind wiped.
On a physical level, he was different. On a conceptual level, he had a different “soul” if such a thing existed. But on an existential level, he had the same memories, ideologies, likes, dislikes, fears, aspirations, and everything that made him Wang Wei.
After thinking about this, Wang Wei suddenly smiled as his eyes and hair turned gray and his face changed. Meanwhile, his family dispersed since they were only projections.
“This was an interesting experience.”