Chapter 3633: Where to Start Searching

Rui found his goal admirable, even if there were compunctions he had about some of the facts regarding the whole ’Gaia is alive’ and the excessive comparison with a virus.

“How do you intend to get rid of the foreign agent?” Rui raised his eyebrow. “Do you intend to try and remove the negatron core at the very epicenter of the planet? That’s not happening. Not only is it utterly impossible to achieve such a feat, to the point that I’m not sure even the Transcendents would be capable of that, but it would also spell the destruction of the entire planet.”

“The negatron core is a necessity,” the Divine Doctor remarked, much to the relief of Rui. “If removed, Gaia would immediately implode and become a red dwarf star. That is obviously not permissible. I will not allow this beautiful mother of ours to be reduced to the most insignificant of stars. However…”

His eyes sharpened seriously. “Whatever is causing the production of matter and negatron matter needs to stop. This process, whether intentional or some sort of cosmic fluke process, will lead to the destruction of Gaia eventually.”

Rui’s expression darkened. “You mean that if the balance is off, then it could cause Gaia to implode or explode?”

The Divine Doctor nodded. “If it has some intentionality, then that intention cannot possibly be in our interest. Viruses exist to spread and replicate specifically at the cost and harm of their host. One of the ways they do that is by causing a host cell to be infected and then causing that host cell to die and ’explode’ to spread out genetic material containing the virus that can then spread to countless other host cells to infect and continue spreading. I do not wish to anthropomorphize this foreign agent to a virus too much, but even if it isn’t a virus, it cannot possibly be good for us.”

Rui nodded. “If it is a sentient party that we are dealing with, then its interests clearly diverge from ours, which means that it is an existential threat to us. And if it isn’t a sentient party, then it means that this delicate balance between matter and negatron matter production to ensure gravity remains stable is truly some coincidence, in which case it could easily be destabilized, which would lead to a planetary catastrophe.”

In either case, they were all dead.

Thus, they needed to get rid of this foreign agent regardless of its nature.

“The question is, where is this foreign agent at the moment?” Rui pondered aloud. “After all, it doesn’t appear to be on the surface of the planet. Which means that…”

“It is likely well within the depths of the planet,” the Divine Doctor reasoned. “Perhaps even at the epicenter. It might be that at the very center of Gaia is some kind of esoteric machine that produces negatron matter. Or perhaps this virus isn’t at the epicenter but right outside the outer core of the planet.”

Rui frowned. “How do you reason that?”

“I highly doubt that some kind of alien technological machine was imported from another world and simply implanted into our world.” The Divine Doctor shook his head. “Producing negatron matter on such a large scale should be utterly impossible for a simple, small device to fit neatly within most meteorites. One hundred and eighty-seven thousand years isn’t that long historically.”

Rui nodded. “The Esoterist reasoned that the high temperatures and pressure at the center of Gaia might be playing a role in the production of negatron matter. It might be that these high pressures and temperatures can be used to essentially recreate the phenomenon that occurs in large hadron colliders that we know can create antiparticle matter.”

“However, that doesn’t make the task of actually locating this foreign agent that much easier either.” The Divine Doctor’s eyes flew around as he grew immersed in thought. “Gaia is truly enormous. Locating one lifeform or mechanism creating negatron matter will be utterly impossible. It might not even be one lifeform. Regardless, we will need to find a way to locate it and then get rid of it. With the combined technology of the true world and of the Panama Continent, this might not be impossible.”

“…It will require the cooperation of all of Gaian civilization,” Rui reasoned before wincing. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that will be happening any time soon.”

With the Great Void War, as it was being called, unfolding in full fury in Gaia, Rui didn’t think that it was possible to bring the nations of the world together to deal with the problem at the moment. He wasn’t even sure he could convince them of it.

“Even finding it will be almost impossible with a world war already born from the fight for negatron matter,” Rui murmured. “We don’t even know where to start.”

“Actually…” the Divine Doctor’s expression grew serious. “I think I have a good idea of where to begin searching.”

Rui raised an eyebrow. “…You mean the Great Void Ocean?”

“No.” The Divine Doctor shook his head. “Instead, I believe that the answer lies somewhere within our own home, the Panama Continent.”

Rui frowned at those words.

What could there possibly be left within the Panama Continent that eluded their awareness?

Indeed, human territory had retreated a lot during the Era of Darkness, ceding immense swathes of territory to the Beast Domain, increasing the amount of ’unknown’ territory.

However, it was highly implausible that any of the lost territory would contain hints to the source of the negatron matter. The territories had been ceded only in the last eighteen years, while the negatron matter production processes had been going on for more than a hundred and eighty-seven thousand years.

As for the core of the Beast Domain, it had been largely explored and conquered over a span of eleven years by all Martial Sages in human civilization. Even the very epicenter, previously drowned in mystery and darkness, had been uncovered.

Now with the Elder Tree on their side, who could connect with flora across the entire continent, was there anything in the Panama Continent that was unknown?