Chapter 229: A World of Consciousness
Just as the discussion reached a lull, Belle cautiously typed a message. She and Wise had privately entertained a rather bold conjecture for some time, but they felt it was too outlandish and had never found the right moment to voice it in the chat group.
However, the recent conversation about spacetime and the universe, especially the mention of 'anomalies'and'perception,' had stirred the idea within her once more.
[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle]: "Um... everyone, I... when my brother and I were brainstorming earlier, we came up with a particularly unreliable guess... please don't laugh at me when I say it."
[Genshin Impact · Venti]: "Oh? I'm all ears~ Poetry and miracles often arise from seemingly unreliable imaginations."
[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle]: "We were just thinking... what if Amphoreus isn't a purely 'physical world'at all? What if it's a... super-large, VR immersion device-like place? Or, to put it another way, a giant'world of consciousness'?"
Her words plunged the chat group into a thoughtful silence for a few seconds.
[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle]: "Look, the way we enter Amphoreus is by having the chat group treat us as temporary Stelles, opening a passage with Trailblaze Power. That in itself is very special."
[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle]: "And, when we were doing the event mission to collect the 'Nymphs' before, those pieces of information appeared like holographic projections. They weren't recorded on physical mediums, like parchment scrolls or pages from a book."
[Zenless Zone Zero · Wise]: "What Belle means is, if what we have in Amphoreus isn't a complete physical body, but some kind of 'consciousness projection'or'spiritual body,' then the so-called time dilation might not exist at all."
[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle]: "Exactly! It's like when people dream! Sometimes in a dream, you feel like you've experienced a very long story, that several days have passed, but when you wake up, you find only a few minutes have gone by."
[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle]: "This is because our consciousness processes information at an accelerated rate in a dream. If Amphoreus is a world based on consciousness, then could the so-called 'time difference'just be an'accelerated' experience of our consciousness processing information?"
[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle]: "Could one hour in the outside world be enough for our consciousness to simulate and experience several days of adventure inside?"
This conjecture was undoubtedly bolder than any that had come before, sounding almost like something from a science fiction novel. It completely shattered the framework of physical spacetime, proposing new possibilities from the perspective of consciousness and information.
[Honkai: Star Rail · Welt]: "A world of consciousness... accelerated information... this is indeed a... very novel perspective."
Welt pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his expression turning deeply pensive. From the perspective of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta, consciousness itself was a potent force. The idea that it could shape independent world bubbles, or even more peculiar forms of existence, was not entirely impossible.
[Honkai: Star Rail · Dan Heng]: "If it truly is a world of consciousness, then many phenomena can indeed be explained in another way."
[Honkai: Star Rail · Dan Heng]: "For example, the way the information from those Nymphs manifested, or how Nikador can constantly 'resurrect'—that would be more like a reset based on rules or memories, rather than regeneration on a material level. But this requires more direct evidence."
[Honkai: Star Rail · Himeko]: "Belle's conjecture, though bold, is not without basis. The abilities of the Memokeeper Black Swan are intimately related to manipulating memory and consciousness."
Himeko gently stirred her coffee, her gaze sharpening as she connected the dots.
[Honkai: Star Rail · March 7th]: "Are you saying that in Amphoreus, we might all be in a massive 'collective consciousness field'or'information reality'?"
[Genshin Impact · Venti]: "To view the experience of an entire world as an epic poem sung at an accelerated pace... Hmm, it has a very romantic feel to it. However, if it truly is a world of consciousness, then what kind of powerful force must the 'source' that created and sustains it possess?"
Belle's "consciousness world hypothesis" had stirred a storm within the chat group. Its boldness and subversive nature required everyone a moment to digest.
However, the first to jump out with doubts was the ever-straightforward Stelle.
[Honkai: Star Rail · Stelle]: "Belle, your idea is too outlandish! It's not me boasting, but with the strength of me, Dan Heng, and March, to extract our three consciousnesses from our bodies without us even noticing? What level of existence would it take to do that?"
Stelle's statement was brimming with her characteristic confidence and her unwavering trust in her companions' strength. She found it hard to believe that any power could so easily fool the entire Trailblazing team.
However, no sooner had she sent the message than March 7th weakly chimed in.
[Honkai: Star Rail · March 7th]: "Stelle... um... did you forget that in Amphoreus, there might not be just one, but three Emanator-level existences? Especially that guy who attacked our Astral Express without a word..."
The words Stelle had been typing into the chat box were instantly deleted. Like a balloon pricked by a needle, the momentum behind her rebuttal completely deflated.
Right. Emanators... beings who stood at the absolute pinnacle of their Paths, capable of freely wielding the immense power bestowed upon them by the Aeons.
Faced with beings of that caliber, their combined strength, which had not yet reached the threshold of an Emanator, did indeed seem insufficient. If an opponent of that level had planned this and used some unknown means to target their consciousness, whether they could detect it, let alone resist, was a very big question mark.
But Stelle was not one to easily admit defeat.
[Honkai: Star Rail · Stelle]: "...Alright, then... even if it's an Emanator, so what? We even fought Phantylia, and wasn't she a Lord of Annihilation? In the end, she still got blown up by us!"
Just as everyone's thoughts were drawn to the grand and somewhat ethereal concept of a "world of consciousness," Wise brought up a more concrete and unavoidable contradiction.
[Zenless Zone Zero · Wise]: "Everyone, let's put aside the debate about time difference and the world of consciousness for now. There's a more fundamental question: If the internal time flow in Amphoreus truly far exceeds the external one, then how can Mr. Welt and Ms. Himeko converse with us with almost no delay? Can the chat group's information transmission really ignore such a huge difference in time flow?"
This question was a direct hit.
Indeed, if the flow of time was out of sync, information transmission would inevitably suffer from serious delays or errors. One second on the outside might be hours on the inside. If Welt sent a message, Stelle might have to wait "half a day" to receive it. How could real-time communication even be possible?
Welt and Himeko immediately recognized the logical flaw. They had been so focused on the safety and experiences of Stelle and the others that they had completely overlooked this most basic communication paradox.
[Honkai: Star Rail · Welt]: "Wise has pointed out the crucial issue. Please wait, I need to verify this immediately."
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