Because most of the people there were highly-trained military personnel, they were instantly on high alert. Only the ten members of the High Council showed no reaction, as if they had known about this for a long time.
"Everyone, calm down."
The commissioner said without turning around, and everyone relaxed, but they still had doubts.
"To begin, we will talk about the Mars expedition 12 years ago. That was the beginning."
The cloud began to take on a human-like shape, but without eyes, a mouth, or anything else.
The entity spoke of the truth of that expedition, and the reason humanity was being invaded by the doom. The cyborgs present were all like Sasha; they had passed the test, been told the truth by the commissioner, and then tested for compatibility with the cube. So they weren't surprised to hear it again. Noid had also known this from the very first day. Only the commanders were silent.
No one went to confirm the authenticity, because it wasn't necessary. The fact that the members of the Mars expedition all agreed was the most credible confirmation.
"That's all you've been told. But there's one detail that was left out: on Mars, the crew also found my spaceship, with me still barely clinging to life inside it."
"You can call us... the Primal Beings."
Everyone was speechless. Primal Beings? An existence like that couldn't just be randomly named. So what was the meaning of "Primal" here? The first beings of the universe? But if they were the first beings, that term didn't seem quite right.
After several tens of seconds, one person finally dared to stand up and ask.
"Mr. Primal, may I call you that?"
"You may."
"You said 'us,' which means you are not alone. What are the others? Friends, comrades, or your race?"
"Using the word 'race' might be appropriate, but in a way that humans would understand, 'siblings' would be more fitting."
"From the moment the material universe was born, when there were no galaxies, no nebulae, no star systems, and no planets. When the universe was only filled with primordial clouds of matter and intertwined streams of energy. Until it appeared."
"The cube appeared, and because of it, the clouds of matter and the streams of energy merged, nurturing and differentiating into many consciousnesses. That is us - the Primal Beings of the universe."
"Our power is the sum of all material existence and energy flowing throughout the universe, and even... far beyond that."
"We built countless stars and created innumerable life forms. We were truly like the gods and deities in human books."
No one was not horrified, not even Noid or the High Council. They couldn't have imagined that the "human-shaped cloud" in front of them had such a terrifying origin. It was the creator of all material existence in the universe. The High Council had not known these things before. And now, this being was revealing this information to everyone, all because Noid had obtained the cube?
"Mr. Primal, you are so powerful. Then why..."
"The doom are the primordial organisms of this universe; the birth of this species was inevitable. But... it was also our mistake."
"Because we were born, we built all matter and were the origin of civilizations. Under our protection, the universe became too rich and prosperous. Countless advanced civilizations spread throughout the void, but because we protected them, they became too dependent and reliant. Until the first Doom Lord appeared."
"Perhaps the doom would not have been able to become this strong, but this universe provided them with too much, too abundant, a source of evolution. There were many civilizations, but they were all too dependent on their gods. Without us, they were quickly devoured by the doom. Coincidentally, we were in a deep slumber that lasted several million years at that time. When we awakened, the universe was in ruins and desolate. Only a few weak life forms were barely surviving on the fringes."
"Facing us was a Supreme Doom, an existence that had surpassed the very primordial universe that had nurtured it. The absolute collective of all doom, by devouring nearly all matter and evolving, it had... become a god. Now it could tear apart space-time and affect the most fundamental things that built the universe. If this continued, everything would be swallowed into nothingness."
"That was our mistake. We had personally offered our children to the doom, creating that monster."
"At that time, all the Primal Beings made a decision to atone. We all shattered our consciousnesses and merged into one to form a true Primal Being, using the power from the cube to destroy the Supreme Doom. Only a few fragments were left floating in the universe."
"As long as the universe exists, the Primal Beings are immortal and indestructible, but once our consciousness is shattered, we will return to being clouds of material energy as we were at the beginning, forever unable to return."
"And I, here, am just a cluster of particles, like a human brain's neurons, that retained consciousness and memories. I sought a new seed for the universe. At that time, Earth was still full of what modern humans call dinosaurs. I wanted to go to the civilization on Mars, which was at war with one of the scattered fragments of the doom. By the time I got there, Mars had become a dead planet, and the entire race was extinct, but they had successfully defeated and imprisoned a Doom Lord deep within the planet."
"That was 65 million years ago. Earth was also affected by that battle, leading to the extinction of its ecosystem and the dinosaurs. I could only lie there and fall into a deep sleep. Until the crew from Earth arrived, taking the ruins and my spaceship. I wasn't even awake then, unable to warn you. The Doom Lord was awakened and broke its prison. What followed is what has transpired."
"That is the truth."
When the Primal Being's words concluded, everyone fell silent. More accurately, what could they say now?
To a consciousness and universe that had lived for billions of years, human history was just a blink of an eye. They felt suffocated, so small. Could they be critical? For the Primal Beings having been too protective? For the Primal Beings sleeping at a crucial time? For the Primal Beings being born at all?
None of this was anyone's fault; they could only blame destiny. Their actions weren't wrong, but they almost destroyed the entire universe. Yet, they weren't wrong; one could only say that fate was playing a cruel trick.
Especially the High Council; they understood this feeling too well. They were the crew members of that year; they had only wanted to advance human civilization one more step, but unexpectedly, they had led disaster back to their race. This wasn't their fault, but deep down, each of them still blamed themselves.
The Primal Beings could atone by destroying the Supreme Doom. What could ordinary humans like them do?