"Why are you looking at me?" Shiller glared at Loki and said, "I'm just a no-name psychologist on Earth, you're the one who's infamous across the cosmos as a fraud."
"And just who was the cause of me turning into a fraud?" Loki glared at Shiller, "Are there even any psychologists in this world who can hustle clients better and charge more than you?"
The two locked eyes for a while but ultimately decided to keep quiet to avoid having their dark pasts exposed by the other.
Thor too didn't wish to delve into Loki's past wrongdoings, so he brought the conversation back on track.
"Like I said, both the so-called Hewey Crystals and the dense fog that blocks its energy might have been created by a high-tier alien civilization. However, I don't know why other civilizations would do this."
"So, I hope that you guys can share the clues you've uncovered." Shiller shrugged, "And then I'll tell you my findings."
The two Batmen exchanged glances. Lord Batman glanced at the Totem Pillar Fragments that Shiller held in his hand.
He looked around and realized that everyone here seemed to know Shiller. It appears that Doctor Shiller is an important figure in many universes. However, why hasn't he heard of him in his own universe?
Lord Batman tried to recall him, then turned and looked at Lord Superman. Lord Superman gently shook his head, indicating that he didn't recognize him either.
The two exchanged a glance and decided to investigate further after going back. But for now, Lord Batman was curious to know what the truth was. With limited time and incomplete clues found, they had to rely on exchanging information to complete the story. Thus, he started by saying, "I found a lot of information at the research institute. But I believe one particular thing is noteworthy. They were studying how to extend the lifespan of the Hewey."
"Hold on, you can read their language?" Eddie asked.
"I deciphered some common uses while on the way to the research institute." Batman wrote a few words in the air with his index finger and roughly explained their meanings, then added, "And like human papers, most were accompanied by pictures and charts. A general idea can be gleaned from reading those."
"The latter part of the paper seemed to discuss how Hewey Crystals affect the bodies of the Hewey. It was filled with too much specialist terminology, but I found a critical piece of information. The illustrated Hewey corpse was red and already crystallized."
At this, everyone furrowed their brows. White Can also frowned as he said, "I found this too. There was an abnormal red dust at all the places I went to. There was an area that was sprayed with some paint, and the scattered red dust looked like parts of a humanoid body and an arm."
"But if there was a sudden occurrence of a crystallization disease, there would surely be signs of panic in the city. The news would also report about it." Eddie voiced out, "But I didn't see any such pictures in the newsstands. Hence, their civilization didn't go extinct due to this."
"Have you ever thought about this? Not all races on this world are like humans, having the same appearance after natural death as during life. Perhaps to them, such a death is normal." Shiller proposed.
"There was a previous hypothesis made — what if oxygen was poisonous and all of us were doomed to die of poisoning within a hundred years of breathing it in? Perhaps that's the case for the Hewey."
"From birth, they coexist with the energy from the Hewey Crystals. Their food, drink, medicine, and everyday appliances contain crystal components, and they would die if away from the crystal's radiation."
"To them, turning into crystals and dust might just be a normal death. All Hewey may die this way."
Everyone fell silent for a while. Their thoughts could be summarized in one sentence: just because it has always been this way, is it right?
Although there is abundant evidence to prove that human lifespan is reasonable and it's normal that most people don't live to be a hundred given human evolution up till now, many still wonder if any necessary factors in life considerably shorten human lifespan.
"I saw a picture." Bruce started sharing the information he had found, "It seemed to be a funeral of the Hewey. They placed their fellowmen on the highest mountain, and their crystallized bodies turned into dust and soared to the sky."
Everyone was taken aback and looked up at the sky unanimously.
Through the hole in the ceiling, they could still see the light pouring in from the broken glass panes of the hall. However, most of it was blocked by a fine mist. It wasn't hard to imagine how the entire sky might be blanketed by dense fog.
"Is this some sort of special religious funeral ritual?" Eddie immediately responded. His years of journalism experience allowed him to suggest, "To ask for blessings and protection from the heavens?"
"No, I'm afraid they had no choice but to do this." Bruce continued, "I read a news piece about natural disasters. It seems that an ongoing calamity wreaks havoc on the Hehway Planet frequently."
White Can seemed to have something on his mind. Then he said, "As far as I know, there is a special execution day on Hehway Planet. Death sentences and severe punishments worldwide are carried out on that day."
Everyone looked at him, not understanding why he brought this up. But White Can continued, "I saw the latest disaster relief files in the military zone. Some of the photos captured how they executed the death-row inmates."
"I couldn't find any video records, but from the pictures, it appeared that they used some device to enhance the light of the Hewey Crystals. The convicts being executed were crystallized at a very fast rate, turning into dust that drifted into the sky."
"Rescuing by executing criminals?" Stark asked with a hint of surprise, then he suddenly remembered and said, "I saw pictures of fog observations in a meteorological report before. From consecutive photos taken over several days, the fog has been getting lower and lower."
"What's the date for the last photo?" Bruce asked.
Stark raised a hand and sketched out the characters that seemed to represent the date on the photo. Bruce did the same, and they discovered that the day the fog was at its lowest leveled with the day the catastrophe began.
"I get it." Eddie suddenley said, "When the Hewey die, the powdered crystals float into the sky, and the fog rises. If not enough die, the fog descends."
"And this fog, used to intercept the energy of the Hewey crystals, is obviously deadly to the Hewey. If a particular area is affected by the descending fog, it leads to a so-called disaster."
"If we consider the Hewey crystals, the Hewey, and the fog as all left by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations, then first the aliens use the energy of the Hewey crystals to nurture the Hewey, and then use the fog to harvest the powder formed by the Hewey when they die. Isn't this a production process?"
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"Why don't they directly turn the crystals into powder if they have the ability to breed and harvest an entire planet?" Eddie asked.
"Unless there's another element inside the Hewey." Bruce said as if he had figured it all out, "You can see the entire planet as a large test tube, the Hewey crystals represent one element, the Hewey represent another, and the fog is the catalyst."
"The Hewey crystals are a type of mineral possessed by advanced civilizations, the Hewey are another type of elemental container created by advanced civilizations, they put them on a planet, pressurize them with fog and collect the powder formed by their deaths."
"Hewey crystals are one type of element and the Hewey bodies contain another type of element. The two elements react inside the body of the Hewey, turning into a different substance upon their deaths. This might be useful to advanced civilizations, and the fog carries it to the aliens."
Stark suddenly caught onto something, he asked: "How long is the lifespan of a Hewey?"
Batman sighed and replied: "About 4000 days and nights."
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, because they knew that their speculation might be accurate.
By their own estimation, the length of day and night on this planet was slightly longer than Earth's, but roughly the same, about ten years. This is clearly not a lifespan that a humanoid carbon-based organism would naturally evolve to have, even small animals like cats and dogs live longer.
"Just like a fast-growing forest." Lord Batman replied in a slightly deep voice: "Only faster death can provide resources faster, and if resources are insufficient, the fog will promote them to kill more of their own kind."
"They don't even realize they're just like wheat." Eddie also sighed: "They desire to extend their own lives or see the outside world, but there is no broader world outside, possibly only the walls of a test tube."
"But their efforts are not meaningless." Stark said, "Even with only a ten year lifespan, they managed to build cities and even developed a civilization more advanced than human beings. It took millions of years, but progress is always good."
"The progress of the Hewey is probably much greater than you imagine." suddenly Doctor Shiller said.
All eyes turned to him. But he brought out his fragments of the Totem Pillars, all three he had assembled.
"This race never stopped exploring the skies above them. They used all kinds of methods to break through the limitations of the fog. The vast majority failed, and some even led to catastrophes."
"But it was during one of these random catastrophes, they discovered the relics left by the ancient Hewey. In their ancient texts, it mentioned that the Hewey crystals had an original place of growth."
The others hesitated and then Stark, furrowing his eyebrows, said, "You mean the Ancestor Relics? Oh, I came up with the name, because I can't understand their language, but indeed there is such a place."
"The energy of Hewey crystals can be exhausted. " Dr. Shiller proposed, "Some Hewey have observed that a crystal grows approximately every hundred years. The energy-depleted crystal turns white and disintegrates into powder, while new crystals sprout from the ground."
"Since we all know these crystals were launched by an advanced civilization, they must have a launch site, and the crystals emerged from the ground, which means this launch site is beneath the surface."
"So there must be a monitoring station and routine inspection staff." Bruce immediately spoke up: "Even the least important projects should at least have a camera to monitor the launch situation, and based on the frequency of the catastrophes here, this is definitely a crucial production site. They need that powder a lot, and the launch site must be closely monitored."
"So that means we can contact that advanced civilization through the equipment at the launch site?"
Just then, a portal opened around them. Eddie recovered quickly and said, "Oh, no need to, what happens next doesn't matter. We can return straight away, the game ended just now."
Shiller smiled and said, "Did it really end?"