«Nightmare of the Solar System»
Every vaguely defined truth turns into a lie.
Every reasonably formulated lie can become truth.
This is the soul of all sciences, and no words or actions of man can fully describe its mystery.
«Nightmare of the Solar System»
One hundred thousand years ago, the nine planets of the Solar System and the Moon were evenly spaced in a single elliptical orbit. Their size, weight, and appearance were practically the same... At that time, life and traces of humanity were everywhere on the nine planets of the Solar System and all over the Moon. Human civilization was much more developed than it is now, but environmental pollution was only a millionth of what it is today. Between people, people and officials, people and the law, people and the country, and countries, there were relations of complete mutual respect, complete transparency, free and equal relations of cooperation and suggestion...
A fabulously beautiful drizzle had just passed, and signs of life quickly appeared in the ancient mysterious forest in the southern part of Central Asia. Multicolored tree trunks, vines and bizarre branches, outlandish flowers, unusual fruits... sparkled with transparent drops of water, the air was filled with an intoxicating natural aroma... Deep in the mysterious forest grew a very, very ancient tree. The trunk of this tree was covered with centuries-old bark and vines, but the crown with dense foliage was still lush and abundant with fruits.
Suddenly, a sparkling star fell from the sky and landed at the roots of the ancient tree... After a while, a blue beam of light shot up into the sky, and then a sky-blue mushroom covered with white spots crawled out of the ground... Soon this mushroom turned into a little boy in a blue bizarre cowboy hat and a blue vest... This is how an incredibly smart, cheerful, and playful handsome boy — Prince Mushroom — appeared at the school located near the mysterious forest. Classmates gave him the nickname — Forest Boy, and Prince Mushroom's house was built on top of an ancient tree.
One afternoon, Prince Mushroom was sleeping in his house. Suddenly, a heart-rending scream came from afar, waking Prince Mushroom. He hurriedly left the house and saw a huge, pitch-black cloud, like a terrible sandstorm, approaching from the east... Where the black cloud reached, darkness instantly set in, the sun and moon disappeared... The bodies of all magical creatures, people, and large animals painfully transformed into various insects and small reptiles, only their heads remained the same. A variety of plants bizarrely evolved into outlandish, multicolored forms, and all the buildings built by magical creatures and humans instantly turned into bizarre boulders...
Suddenly, a wondrous light flashed in the sky. An old man with a very long green beard, sitting on a banknote worth one hundred billion space yuan, descended from the sky above the black cloud and in the blink of an eye was next to Prince Mushroom... Before Prince Mushroom could do anything, the old man with the green beard grabbed him and put him on the banknote. In an instant, the banknote lifted the old man with the green beard and Prince Mushroom to a height of ten thousand meters... Prince Mushroom's house and the ancient tree were swallowed by the approaching black cloud...
Then this silent old man with a green beard rescued a boy named Sir Know-It-All from an old European coastal town... Then the old man with the green beard rescued a girl named Moon Sister from a picturesque mountain tribe in America... Finally, he rescued a girl named Princess Doughty from an African village located in the middle of picturesque plains... As soon as the old man with the green beard left the Earth's atmosphere with Prince Mushroom and three other students, the black cloud completely enveloped the planet... The magic banknote, circling, lifted the old man with the green beard and four students above the North Pole of the Earth, higher and higher... And the black cloud continued to swirl, expand, and relentlessly pursue them, an ominous laugh coming from the cloud.
Finally, the old man with the green beard spoke: «Guys, I am the Ancestor of the Universe. I specifically saved the four of you because the entire Solar System is facing a catastrophe that threatens to destroy it! Only you can complete the task of saving all living beings in the Solar System!»
Sir Know-It-All: «Wow! You are the Ancestor of the Universe, you are the idol of all our students! What can we do?»
Ancestor of the Universe: «You must obtain the Sword of Truth within ten hours and defeat the nine-eyed Black Hole monster and its accomplices! Otherwise, the four of you and I will turn into monsters with human heads and insect bodies, like other gods and people on Earth, and then slowly die within three days...»
Sir Know-It-All: «Oh! How is that possible?! This is a unique prize for the winners of the Universal Comprehensive Skills Tournament. To get this prize, you need to stand out among hundreds of billions of teams of the best gods and demons. They say that to be eligible to participate, you need to have at least one hundred and eight higher diplomas from space super universities, and we don't even have the right to enter space super universities! Not to mention ten hours, even in ten billion years it's impossible. If you, elder, could go with us, we would have at least some chance...»
Ancestor of the Universe: «I cannot leave this place. If I don't protect the life force of the Earth here, then in ten minutes we will all turn into monsters with human heads and insect bodies, and then life in the Solar System will no longer have a chance to revive...»
Prince Mushroom: «Then what should we do?»
Ancestor of the Universe: «There is still a chance: you can immediately form a team to skip classes, with Prince Mushroom as the main leader. But it's better to call it the «Lightning» team, because you must complete the training, which can take hundreds of billions of years, at lightning speed, and only one student in a hundred million can get a diploma...»
Sir Know-It-All: «It seems there is even less hope...»
Ancestor of the Universe: «You have no choice but to die or strive for this goal! But you can remember the following: firstly, from now on, one hour in the Solar System is equal to ten days outside, which means you have two thousand four hundred days to get the Sword of Truth. Secondly, I will immediately invest in you powerful divine power and give you many rare magical artifacts. Thirdly, you can take all the remaining savings of the people and gods of the Solar System, they are collected on this banknote worth one hundred billion space yuan! Then you must use space yuan to buy one thousand and eighty class skip passes and one thousand and eighty recipes for the latest Protective Pills in one hundred and eight space super universities! Unfortunately, these savings are only enough to buy ten class skip passes and ten recipes for the latest Protective Pills in the first space super university... Also, be especially careful and beware of the two insidious henchmen of the Black Hole monster — the Sky Witch and the Old Demon of Hell. Although the magical power of this devilish pair is not very strong, these two demons have an extraordinary ability to weave insidious intrigues! You can destroy these two demons, but in a day they will be resurrected on Earth again. Only after you defeat the monsters of the nine planets and the monster of the Moon with the help of the Sword of Truth will these two demons be forever sealed in the magma of the Moon's core! Remember what these two demons look like: the Sky Witch is an old witch with a green face, red hair, and a golden wish hook in her hand! The Old Demon of Hell is a skinny old man with a blue face, snake hair, and a rotten poisonous crossbow in his hand!»
Prince Mushroom: «Ha-ha! Although it's dangerous and exciting, it seems like it will be interesting and fun... I agree to this deal! What do you three say?»
Sir Know-It-All: «Hmm-hmm... Of course, I don't want to turn into an insect and die!»
Moon Sister: «I'm ready to live and die with the handsome... Hee-hee...»
Princess Doughty: «He-he! I agree too. I don't know if the handsome will find me too strong...»
Ancestor of the Universe: «Let me remind you again! You are infected with the black poison of the Black Hole monster, so in each new university you must buy a recipe for the latest Protective Pills at the space station and make ten Protective Pills of different colors according to the recipe as soon as possible! Only by taking the appropriate Protective Pills every day can you protect your body from the harm of black poison and prevent turning into an insect. In addition, Protective Pills guarantee that your magical artifacts will exhibit maximum power...»
Prince Mushroom: «I wonder why the Sword of Truth is needed to save life in the Solar System? Isn't there an easier way?»
Ancestor of the Universe: «Because only the Sword of Truth can find loopholes in the magic of the Heavenly Lie, and the culprit of this disaster, the nine-eyed monster, uses magic that borrows the shell of Heavenly Will and Truth to destroy life in the Solar System...»
Prince Mushroom: «I've heard that practice is the only criterion for testing truth. Can't we use practice to expose lies?»
The Ancestor of the Universe shook his head slightly and smiled: «...In fact, practice is only part of the process and actions of testing truth, and not at all a criterion for testing truth! And even more so, not the only criterion for testing truth...»
Prince Mushroom: «Then what is the criterion for testing truth?»
Ancestor of the Universe: «This is a very simple, but at the same time very complex question. You will get the answer when you get the Sword of Truth...»
Prince Mushroom: «Then what is truth?»
Ancestor of the Universe: «Oh, truth is something that does not exist in the Universe, but is present everywhere!»
Prince Mushroom: «I don't seem to understand...»
Sir Know-It-All: «Hmm-hmm... I don't understand either...»
Ancestor of the Universe: «It's not difficult to understand, but we have more pressing matters now! When you get the Sword of Truth, you will naturally get all the answers!»
The magic banknote landed on the Heavenly Island of the Universe, located a million kilometers from Earth. The Ancestor of the Universe led the four students to the nine-story sacred altar on the island. Each floor of the altar shone with different colors, and different sacred animals stood guard on each floor...
Reaching the golden throne in the center of the altar, the Ancestor of the Universe glanced at the approaching terrifying cloud and said: «Quickly sit with your backs to the throne, facing the four sides, I will now invest divine power in you...»
After a series of quick spells and three ring-shaped flashes of multicolored light, a transparent, arc-shaped celestial shield instantly formed over the majestic altar... A powerful stream of light blue air pierced a huge hole in the cloud that had already surrounded the island, and quickly protected the entire Earth, enveloping it in a radiant stream.
Prince Mushroom looked thirteen or fourteen years old, his height was about one meter sixty-five, and his weight was about fifty kilograms. His favorite weapon was the whip «Chasing Clouds and Heaven», he mastered the unique martial art «Forest Palm of a Thousand Transformations», his signature magic was «Mushroom Spell of Divine Sound», and he also carried an unusual magical artifact «Mirror of Seven Lights of Heaven and Sea».
Prince Mushroom had a cheerful, quick-witted head like an angel, and a beautiful, mischievous, playful neck. The most unusual thing was his radiant, beaming face, which never knew fatigue and danger, combined with a straight, smooth, slightly upturned nose. Above the nose were a pair of deep, cheerful, wisdom-filled black shining eyes, on the sides — sensitive, alert, luminous thin ears, and below the nose — energetic, light red ancient tree-like lips.
When he spoke, snow-white teeth, like white jade, were visible, and a cheerful, dexterous tongue, like a bird of paradise, seemed incredibly fashionable, but at the same time luxurious. His slender, light body, flexible and agile like a young smoky leopard, seemed especially magical, but at the same time cool. His chin, hard as a statue, was truly amazing, but at the same time radiated charm. A pair of beautiful, black, prodigy-like eyebrows seemed a little frivolous, but at the same time betrayed hidden stupidity.
As for the figure of Prince Mushroom, he had energetic, youthful shoulders like a lion, under which were strong, muscular arms, like those of a magic monkey. His youthful, clean palms, like the palms of a little god, seemed a little daring, but at the same time betrayed hidden strength. Long, dexterous, graceful fingers were indeed a little small, but at the same time betrayed hidden rarity.
His young, strong legs, like jade pillars supporting the sky, seemed cool, but at the same time radiated tenderness. Fast as the wind, full of energy divine feet were incredibly beautiful and powerful. His strong, smooth, magical buttocks seemed incredibly refined and magnificent! At the waist was a wide, shiny black belt with a gold border, adorned with nineteen strange gemstones, which seemed incredibly powerful and mysterious.
When he smiled, his voice was clear and bright, like the sun after rain. When he was excited, he exuded a light aroma, like the smell of a blue field. His flexible muscles, like those of the spring god, seemed very beautiful and mysterious. His light, breeze-like manner of holding himself was indeed very correct and valuable.
Sir Know-It-All looked thirteen or fourteen years old, his height was about one meter sixty-four, and his weight was a little over forty kilograms. His favorite weapon was the «Transformer» revolver, he mastered the unique martial art «Claws of the Invisible Octopus», his signature magic was the «Spell of Heavenly Chaos», and he also carried an unusual magical artifact «Pocket Watch of the Ancient Universe».
Sir Know-It-All had a melancholic, thoughtful, slightly old-fashioned genius head and a slightly stiff, but very precise neck. The most unusual thing was his exaggerated, pretentious face, combined with a thin, light, slightly hooked nose. Above the nose were a pair of indifferent, absent, but capable of unraveling enemy plans eyes, on the sides — alert, thin, rotating strange ears, and below the nose — shiny, strict, thin lips, like those of a pious priest.
When he spoke, even, white, rabbit-like teeth were visible, and a precise, strict tongue, like a machine, was indeed incredibly refined, and at the same time radiated a slight hint of something wonderful. His untrained chest, light, flexible body, agile like a jumping donkey, seemed incredibly scientific and strange. A funny, slightly curly, fiery red beard, like a goat's, was incredibly beautiful and delicate. A pair of bright red, rare thin eyebrows seemed very cool, but at the same time betrayed some poverty.
As for the figure of Sir Know-It-All, he had mobile, expressive, monkey-like, thin shoulders, under which were thin, dexterous, capable hands. His quick, dexterous, thin palms were indeed very elegant and effective. Long, dexterous fingers, like those of a magic thief, seemed very romantic and refined.
His light, thin legs, like those of a reindeer, seemed incredibly mysterious, but at the same time betrayed hidden comicality. Fast as the wind, full of energy divine feet were indeed very strong, but at the same time a little aloof. His slightly offended, but very unwilling to be lonely thin buttocks seemed very valuable and exciting! At the waist was a thin, smooth, dark blue belt made of old vine, decorated with a chain of strange gold symbols, which seemed very correct, but at the same time betrayed hidden stupidity.
When he smiled, his voice was hoarse, intermittent, like the sound of a strange harp. When he was excited, he exuded a distant, heavy smell of moldy ink from an old book. His thin, straight bones, like a flagpole, seemed very beautiful, but at the same time radiated luxury. His manner of holding himself, full of exaggerated movements, melancholy, and helplessness, was indeed very cool and harmonious.
Moon Sister had just turned thirteen, her height was about one meter sixty, and her weight was about forty kilograms. Her favorite weapon was a green smoky quartz flute, she mastered the unique martial art «Feet Like Moonlight in a Dream», her signature magic was «Melody of Moon Shadow on the River and Lake», and she also carried an unusual magical artifact «Fan of Gold Thread and Hibiscus».
Moon Sister had an elf's head, full of unusual ideas and cunning plans, and a delicate, slender neck that exuded a light orchid scent. The most unusual thing was her bright, radiant face, her cheeks like blooming cherry blossoms, combined with a graceful, lively, angel-like, beautiful nose. Above the nose were a pair of clear, transparent, beautiful eyes, like a moon spring, on the sides — light, graceful ears, capable of understanding the language of animals at a distance, and below the nose — small lips that seemed to always be touched by a charming smile.
When she spoke, beautiful, clear, snow-like teeth were visible, and a lively, dexterous tongue, like a little elf, seemed very refined and luxurious. Her elusive, light body, like a light jade doe, was indeed very hazy, but at the same time radiated refinement. A beautiful, smooth chin, like that of a little fairy, seemed very proud and cold. A pair of beautiful, expressive eyebrows were indeed incredibly strong, but at the same time radiated some roughness.
As for the figure of Moon Sister, she had beautiful, flowing shoulders, like a stream, under which were light, wind-like, graceful jade hands. Her ethereal, white, delicate palms, like magic flowers, seemed incredibly effective, and at the same time radiated a slight hint of primitiveness. Cold, dexterous fingers, beautiful like green onions, were indeed incredibly strange and fashionable.
Her beautiful, slender, light legs seemed very elegant and unusual. Beautiful, transparent, dexterous little feet were indeed very primitive and artistic. Her full, elastic buttocks seemed incredibly strong, but at the same time radiated some playfulness! At the waist was a beautiful peach belt made of cloud thread, decorated with a chain of sparkling stars, which seemed incredibly interesting, and at the same time radiated a slight hint of something unusual.
When she smiled, her voice was clear, cheerful, like beautiful notes. When she was excited, she exuded a fresh, invigorating aroma, like the smell of a spring garden. Her light, beautiful bones, like those of a snow fairy, seemed incredibly luxurious and mysterious. Her beautiful, aloof, calm, bright, dreamy aura was indeed very funny and elegant.
Princess Doughty was about fifteen years old, her height was one meter fifty-five, and her weight was eighty kilograms. Her favorite weapon was the axe «Flying Disc, Cutting the Moon», she mastered the unique martial art «Fingers Destroying the Sky with Giant Force», her signature magic was «Lullaby of Rain and Light», and she also carried an unusual magical artifact «Rainbow Magic Brush».
Princess Doughty had a simple-minded, playful, round head full of strange ideas and a round neck, very similar to a purple-gold copper vessel. The most unusual thing was her full, radiant face, which resembled a red apple, combined with a flat, round nose, like a hill on the horizon. Above the nose were a pair of sleepy, but often radiating cheerful light eyes, on the sides — strange, unusual ears, very similar to small wings, and below the nose — kind, natural lips, as if breathing the aroma of the fields.
When she spoke, even, tightly closed teeth, like two rows of gates, were visible, and a fast, lightning-like tongue was indeed very bright and graceful. Her strong, powerful body, strong as an elephant, was indeed a little strange, but at the same time radiated a slight hint of something eerie. A round, smooth, carefree, cheerful chin seemed especially amazing and courageous. A pair of thick, slightly curved eyebrows, like tadpoles, seemed a little cool and refined.
As for the figure of Princess Doughty, she had strong shoulders, like waves, under which were unusually strong arms, as if made of steel. Her huge, flying saucer-like palms, strange like irons, were indeed a little dazzling and cruel. Strong, powerful, indestructible thick fingers seemed very luxurious and magnificent.
Her thick legs, like bridge supports, were indeed a little exciting, but at the same time radiated a slight hint of classicism. Thundering, hammer-like, huge feet seemed very refined and scientific. Her round, full, strong, hippopotamus-like buttocks were indeed incredibly new, and at the same time radiated a slight hint of something dazzling! At the waist was a shiny, dark black belt «Milky Way», decorated with eight black gemstones, which seemed incredibly strange, but at the same time a little small.
When she smiled, her voice was thick, low, like the sound of a huge pipe. When she was excited, she exuded the aroma of harvest and joy, like the smell of ripe fruit. Her strong, strong bones, like a steel machine, seemed incredibly luxurious, but at the same time radiated a slight hint of beauty. Her simple-minded, straightforward, unconstrained, simple character was indeed very primitive and cool.