The moment he activated Deep Dive of Consciousness, Guan Tong felt his spirit being forcibly pulled from his physical body.
The sensation was like being a high-velocity sniper round, tearing through a vast emptiness at breakneck speed.
The infinite darkness conjured by the void seemed to last only an instant, and the next moment, Guan Tong found himself in a pure white space.
With him at the center, row after row of black bookshelves stretched out in every direction, extending endlessly with no discernible boundary in sight.
Every bookshelf was packed with books lacking covers, some of which exuded an ancient aura, as if all things in the world were inscribed within these tomes.
Guan Tong gazed at those infinite bookshelves, and an inexplicable sense of awe welled up within him.
He had a feeling these bookshelves were older than human civilization itself, as if they had existed here since time immemorial, waiting for readers to arrive.
Who had erected these bookshelves? Who had created this data space?
Whoever it was had undoubtedly displayed their absolute power through a non-violent means.
"Ah, it's been a long time since we've had a visitor."
Just as Guan Tong was immersed in shock, a sudden voice rang out.
Guan Tong heard the voice coming from behind him. It sounded very young, and could belong to either a boy or a girl.
He turned to look, and a child of about twelve or thirteen stepped out from behind a row of bookshelves.
When he saw the child's features, Guan Tong felt a somewhat absurd sensation and blurted out: "Dialoguer?"
This child gave him the exact same feeling as the "Dialoguer" that had descended during the [Debate of the Oracle] rule. They both had a completely "average" face that was impossible to distinguish as male or female.
The child showed surprise upon hearing this: "In the past, out in the star sea, some civilizations did indeed call us 'Dialoguers.' You've encountered remnants of our civilization?"
So that's it...!
Guan Tong hadn't expected his guess to be right. This child was indeed from the same civilization as that "Dialoguer."
"Who are you?"
Guan Tong didn't answer the child's question. Rather, he was the one who had come here with many questions.
"Ah, my apologies for the oversight." The child gave Guan Tong a slight bow. "I am the administrator of the Star Sea Court database, responsible for managing data information and receiving visitors."
"The administrator?"
Guan Tong was somewhat surprised. He had originally assumed this database would be a "self-service" affair, never expecting an intelligent civilization member to serve as its manager.
Guan Tong looked around: "What do all these books record? Why do none of them have covers or titles?"
The administrator smiled: "Because these aren't truly books, just shells encapsulating information retrieval interfaces."
"...What?"
"For ease of information retrieval, the Star Sea Court database automatically presents data in a storage format familiar to each visitor based on their race and civilization.
Since you're human, the database displays itself as a library. Including me - in your eyes, I appear as a standard human image, right? Given that you've encountered remnants of my race before, you should understand this trait of ours."
"......"
Guan Tong thought to himself, I see.
This administrator was right. The "Dialoguer" who had descended on Tianshui Star had also said that its appearance and voice were "human averages."
But this administrator's attitude toward "humans" struck Guan Tong as somewhat odd.
He thought for a moment, then asked: "Have humans come here before?"
"Of course." The administrator said, "Though human civilization isn't as widespread across the universe as the Demon Race, it's still a force in the star sea that cannot be underestimated."
Guan Tong was momentarily stunned.
The administrator's words essentially confirmed that more than one human civilization existed in the universe.
In fact, he had speculated about this before: Tianshui Star's civilization couldn't possibly be the only human civilization, because he, a human from Earth, was living proof of that!
This meant the universe contained at least two human civilizations: Earth's human civilization and Tianshui Star's human civilization.
It was just that Guan Tong couldn't confirm this before. It wasn't until the [A Bright Moon Rises Over the Sea] rule, when the Fire Thief presented cultural works from Earth's civilization, that he believed his hometown of Earth truly existed within this universe.
Now, hearing the administrator's words, there were even more branches of human civilization in the universe, some of which seemed to possess considerable strength.
But what made him wary was that the administrator had also mentioned the Demon Race, describing them as "widespread across the universe," which showed just how great a threat they posed.
"You said earlier, 'it's been a long time since we've had a visitor.' What did you mean by that? Since this is a database, people should come here frequently to query information, right?" Guan Tong continued.
The administrator looked at him strangely upon hearing this: "The universe is dying. Civilizations holding Authorities are rapidly perishing. Didn't you know?"
Guan Tong froze.
"Since you were able to come here, your civilization should logically be aware of this matter. Hmm, let me see which human civilization you're from."
The administrator raised a hand, and a book materialized out of thin air in their palm, lightly flipping open.
A few seconds later, the administrator raised their head in disbelief, giving Guan Tong a deep look: "You can actually hide your Mind Power signature code?"
"......"
Guan Tong's back went cold.
So this administrator had just been checking his Mind Power signature code. If he hadn't relied on the Wordless Book's power to conceal it, the administrator would likely have seen all his personal information and civilization affiliation in perfect clarity.
"Although I'm curious how you managed that, it's not my place to ask."
The administrator said, closing the book, which vanished from their hand like flowing light.
"Now then, allow me to fulfill my duties. Visitor, you've come to access the database, so you must have information you wish to query, correct?"
Guan Tong recalled that he did indeed have a great deal of information to look up. It was just that the sheer shock of everything he'd seen upon arriving had made him neglect his original purpose.
Remembering that he only had one chance at Deep Dive of Consciousness, he couldn't help but feel nervous: "How much time do I have left? How much information can I query?"
The administrator smiled: "No need to worry. The Star Sea Court database operates in a 126,400-fold conscious hyper-sensory space. One atomic second in the universe equals 126,400 seconds here. We have plenty of time."
Guan Tong was somewhat astonished. That meant he could deep dive here for over 35 hours while only one second passed in the real world. The time was indeed more than sufficient.
"As for how much information you can query, theoretically, any information within the authority level permitted to your civilization can be accessed... However, since you've hidden your Mind Power signature code, I cannot accurately determine what level your civilization is."
The administrator paused: "Given that your civilization isn't unfamiliar with the current state of the universe, it's clear your civilization level isn't low. According to the rules, when a visitor's information is unclear, the database administrator shall exercise independent judgment."
Guan Tong remained silent. Of course, he wouldn't volunteer "I'm a first-level civilization, just give me first-level authority."
Because first-level authority was surely the lowest tier, meaning the smallest scope of queryable information.
The administrator looked at Guan Tong for a moment: "Very well, I'll grant you the query authority corresponding to a third-level civilization."
Third level!
Guan Tong's heart leaped with joy. That was two levels higher than his actual civilization, and this was absolutely a great stroke of luck.
"Judging by your reaction, my assessment should be correct. You do belong to a civilization at third level or below." The administrator said.
"What do you mean?"
"If you came from a higher-level civilization, you'd definitely be offended. After all, in the Star Sea Court's classification, third-level and below are all considered low-level civilizations."
Guan Tong knew that facing such an absolute information gap, he couldn't possibly pretend to be from a high-level civilization in front of the administrator.
Rather than play mind games, it was better to be straightforward.
"You're right, I do come from a civilization below third level. The first piece of information I want to look up relates to the Deep Sea Serpent civilization and its bloodline."
Uenoshi, now petrified, was still preserved in his ring.
Back on the battlefield, when he had touched Uenoshi's arm and watched it turn to powder before his eyes, he had almost completely despaired.
But at that very moment, he realized that time didn't flow within his storage ring, and items placed inside wouldn't spoil or decay.
That was why he had stocked so much food in there earlier... This discovery had given birth to a faint glimmer of hope amidst his despair, and he had placed the fully petrified Uenoshi inside.
He believed that if he could somehow figure out the root of her bloodline power, and understand what kind of creature the Deep Sea Serpent was, then perhaps there might be a way to reverse the petrification and bring her back to life.
This matter was of utmost importance to him, even more important than his own eye problems, and it was also the first piece of information he needed to query upon arriving at the database.
"The Deep Sea Serpent." The administrator nodded upon hearing this. "A malevolent creature born from the abyss, feeding on the flesh and blood of its followers. This falls within the permitted scope of your information query authority."