As a representative of 170,000 civilizations, as well as the controller of the Cradle system, it was obvious how powerful the other party was.
But that did not mean that he had no chance of winning.
Lan's unspoken request, Epsilon's doubts, the memories from the astrolabe, as well as God's own reaction, all the clues were strung together.
The so-called replacement of God was not a replacement in the true sense of the word.
"What did you say?" The Custodian's raised hand suddenly paused.
"Don't species that can adapt to magic power and are willing to explore the world beyond the door already exist?" Roland slowly extended his finger and pointed at the other party. "If everything were to start over, no one would be able to tell you this."
"…" Lan's expression changed for the first time.
It was as though a crack had appeared on a smooth mirror.
"Do you know what you're saying? Once I leave, the Cradle will die, and when that happens, the Universe will no longer have any traces of life. Besides, the other side of the door has completely different laws. Those that are further modified by magic power might not be able to return, and failure is equivalent to a dead end — "
"That's not the main point, because it's the same for any civilization. Even if they are willing to head out of the crack, you have no way of knowing if they will succeed. So compared to 'adaptation', 'will' is more important. You should know this better than me. " Roland slowed down his speech. "That's right, you do know, which is why there's a species called the Sky-sea Realm."
God's actions seemed to come to a halt.
The various abnormal actions of the Sky-sea Realm indicated that it was not a simple competitor. In fact, it was not difficult to understand. Magic power naturally had the potential to exceed the laws. Species that grew in an environment with weak magic power could not eliminate the possibility of mutation, allowing them to obtain astonishing improvements in a short period of time. This improvement might not allow them to adapt to life outside the barrier, but it could cause harm to the Cradle system.
But to interfere just because of the "possibility" was inconsistent with the underlying laws. After all, creatures that could adapt to environments with strong magic power would definitely experience such a stage. In order to control the risk and prevent the situation from deviating, a secondary screening method was needed. Therefore, a special species like the Sky-sea Realm was placed in the Swirling Sea.
Although this was only Roland's speculation, from God's reaction, the actual situation was probably not far from what he thought.
Since he was the Omniscient Guardian, he would definitely consider things more thoroughly than him.
Obviously, the most difficult part of this plan, apart from the unpredictability of biological evolution, was the 'will'.
The more than 170,000 civilizations that were carrying out the Gateway Plan seemed huge, but compared to the number of civilizations in the universe, it was still a very small number.
What's more, their consensus was only to break the seal and allow the universe to last forever.
Not every civilization was willing to go to the unknown.
In other words, when a species that could completely adapt to magic power appeared, the Custodian would be caught in a dilemma — If the other party was unwilling to take the risk, then the agreement would not be fulfilled. And if they were to forcefully control it, no one could guarantee that the Custodian would still have victory in hand.
"… Do you think this will make me waver?" After a long silence, the other party finally spoke. But even as it spoke, it did not continue to raise its hand.
"I'm not trying to shake your judgment. I'm just stating the simplest logic. The chances of satisfying 'adaptability' and 'will' at the same time is extremely slim. I'm sure you understand without further explanation. " Roland shrugged and pretended to be relaxed. "Of course, it's natural for you to be worried about the Cradle. Then, I'll make a small sacrifice. After you leave, I can let the Cradle continue operating and continue nurturing species with potential — just that it won't be through the Battle of Divine Will. How about it? "
"Lan" did not seem to expect him to say that and was momentarily stunned. It was probably because the lower logic was doing its best to calculate his suggestion. Moments later, it shook its head slightly. "What an interesting explanation. For you to be able to come this far, you are indeed extraordinary. However, an agreement is an agreement. I'm a Custodian, not a species or civilization. This was engraved before I was born, and it's also the cornerstone of my existence. "
"Is that so?"
Roland focused all his attention and activated the Soul Battlefield for the last time!
Darkness instantly enveloped the two of them as the platform and staircase disappeared without a trace. Time seemed to freeze.
"You said so much just for this moment? Unfortunately, a sneak attack is meaningless to me. As long as I use a small portion of resources, it will be enough to satisfy the requirements of the verification. " After entering battle mode, "Lan"'s voice suddenly calmed down, and the hesitation from before disappeared without a trace. "But this is good as well. Let this battle be the end of the world —"
"No … I just want you to see something, something from the past that you might have forgotten." The immense mental exhaustion made Roland need all his strength to speak, but he knew that he could not collapse no matter what.
As soon as his voice fell, the surrounding scenery appeared and quickly retreated!
That was when time began to flow counterclockwise —
The vibrant Cradle world degenerated into lava and soil, revealing its metal shell. The red light that bloomed from the crack instantly retracted, and it became pitch-black once again. Following that was the fleet of the 170,000 civilizations, as well as the star systems that were dragged over. This series of scenes retreated at an extremely high speed, and the light and shadows that were pulled out formed an endless colorful belt of light around the two of them.
These were all the fragments that appeared in the astrolabe's memories. He was now connecting them together according to the sequence.
Until a gray shadow appeared in the background.
Time also returned to normal at this moment.
"This is —" "Lan" revealed a surprised expression.
"How does it feel?" The gray shadow strolled to the front of a magnificent creation, looked up and asked. "A memory created from the matter of a star system should be enough for you to use for tens of thousands of years. Of course, considering the length of the project, you can also add more components in the future. "
"Test passed. Good contact." A pair of eyes appeared at the bottom of the creation. It could be seen that its outer wall was almost made of a transparent material that could directly project information. "But I found some unnecessary redundancy in the Consciousness Circulation Zone and the Divided Control Zone. They take up a lot of space, but they don't have much effect. I suggest that they be simplified or eliminated. "
"Keep them, that's also a part of the design."
"But I didn't find similar structures in the other assistants."
"Doesn't that prove that you're unique?" The gray shadow's body emitted a gentle light.
"… What's the meaning of being unique?" The eyes blinked. "According to logic, the possibility of abnormalities and malfunctions in the redundancy zone is much higher than the norm. For the mission, it can be categorized as a risk factor —"
"But these things might allow you to see some things, some areas that the other assistants can't see. Just treat it as my insistence. "
The eyes were silent for a moment. "I understand."
"Very good. The next step is to activate the energy core, allowing you to break away from the external energy supply and move on your own for a long period of time. In a sense, this moment is the day of your birth. "
"Command … executed."
Immediately after, the symbols, light spots, and eyes on the transparent outer shell disappeared without a trace, leaving only the reflection of the gray shadow on the smooth surface.
The gray shadow took two steps forward, a part of its body gently caressing the outer shell of the gigantic object.
"The years to come will be incomparably long. I don't want to be talking about a cold voice by my side all day long. You … shouldn't be just a machine. "
"Crack."
The cracks on the surface of the mirror suddenly burst forth.
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