"If there is a 'starting point' in our universe, then there must be a 'first ripple', that is, there is an initial … 'shock'."
The initial shock …
Mirmina's speech ended, but Gwen did not speak. He was just thinking about what he had just heard and comparing it with the knowledge he had already grasped. Of course, he knew that the 'initial shock' referred to here was not the same thing as the 'shock' that people knew. He could not understand it literally. According to Mirmina, if the entire universe was a 'field', then its initial 'shock' should be an unprecedentedly large wave collapse that contained a huge amount of information. An information singularity, a 'fluctuation' that caused the universe to lose its' flatness'.
Mirmina believed that it was the first 'glow of magic' in this universe.
And this description was obviously a reflection of the information provided by Betheim. In the knowledge that the dark priests obtained from the 'sentinels', the 'shock that swept across all the stars' was also known as the 'reference frequency' of magic in the world.
"You think that the 'shock' that Betheim mentioned is the 'initial ripple' that you have been looking for in the unified wave model?" Kamel, who had been listening quietly, suddenly broke the silence. He looked at the former God of Magic across the round table and said in a low and trembling voice, "And this' initial ripple 'is still reverberating in the universe today, showing no signs of dissipating. At the same time, it is the direct cause of the' demonic tide 'on various celestial bodies …"
"This ripple appeared with the birth of our universe. It is the 'starting point' of the existence of all things in the world. It may never disappear until the end of life in our universe. At least in my theoretical model, there is no factor that can cause this ripple to dissipate," Mirmina said calmly. "And if one day this ripple really dissipates, I am afraid it will be the real catastrophe of the entire world. As for the 'demonic tide' that it brings … on the scale of the stars, it is probably just a breeze in the universe, some very normal natural phenomenon."
"Background waves …" Gawain was deep in thought. "So, the recurring phenomenon of the magic tide on various planets is just the 'observer effect' of the intelligent creatures on the surface of the planets that are periodically magnifying the background waves in the universe …"
"Background waves? A very accurate description. "Mirmina raised her eyebrows slightly, agreeing with Gwen's conclusion." Perhaps the initial source of the demonic tide is just like what you said, caused by the periodic madness of the intelligent creatures under the influence of the background waves in the universe. "
Mirmina used the term 'periodic madness of the intelligent creatures' to describe the phenomenon of the 'observer effect magnification and deviation' at the planetary level. It was a statement that was quite in line with the worldview of the traditional mages, and Gwen agreed with her description. After all, they lived in a world where the boundary between the physical and the non-physical was blurred, and the collective madness of the intelligent creatures meant that the world was collapsing in their eyes, which was the result of the observer effect going out of control.
"A natural phenomenon …" Heti said slowly as she pondered. "Now we know that the demonic tide originated from the 'ripple between the stars', but how should we fight against this ripple? The Dark Cultists tried to artificially guide the explosion of the Deep Blue Net to create a 'barrier' that shrouds the planet. Of course, this method is not advisable, but is there anything worth referencing about their idea? "
"This is what I want to say," Gwen said in a low voice. "We can't stop the 'background waves' in the universe. This' monsoon between the stars' will come as scheduled, so our choice is to find a way to survive this monsoon. Perhaps we do need a barrier to resist the influence of the 'background waves' on our minds. The principle of the demonic tide is the magnification and loss of control of the observer effect, so the only thing we need to protect is' cognition '. But we obviously can't use the same method as the Dark Cultists … "
Hao Ren paused for a moment before continuing with a frown. "In fact, I seriously doubt the feasibility of the Dark Cultists' plan. Turning the Deep Blue Net into a planetary barrier to resist the background waves in the universe sounds logical and in line with the fact that we know, the energy released by the explosion of the Deep Blue Well had resisted the 'tremor before the demonic tide' 700 years ago, but the explosion of the Deep Blue Well had only resisted the 'tremor before'. Simply and crudely using a super-powerful magic field to shroud the planet, can it really stop the 'monsoon' that sweeps across the stars? I have my doubts. "
"In theory, there is a certain effect," Enya, who had been listening quietly, suddenly broke the silence. The god of Dragons noticed that all eyes were on her. She nodded and continued, "Although Tarlonde took the wrong route and chose to use the power of the gods to cover and control cognition to build a protective system against the demonic tide, we have survived many demonic tides after all. After long-term observation, the Giant Dragons still have some research results.
"A magic barrier of a certain strength can indeed isolate the influence of the demonic tide on the minds of mortals. It is a simple and crude method, but it works. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, there was a powerful mortal kingdom in the northern part of the Lolun Continent. They knew how to draw energy from the Deep Blue Net to build a massive national shield. Although the shield they built was a few orders of magnitude weaker than the 'planetary shield' that the dark priests want to build, there should not be much difference in principle and nature between the two.
"But in the end, the kingdom did not survive the demonic tide. The shield built with powerful magic could only weaken the demonic tide but could not completely resist it. For the fragile minds of mortals, this little 'dose' change was meaningless. Whether it was a city-level shield, a national shield, or even a planetary shield, as long as the mind of mortals could not be completely protected, then it was just a matter of how long a civilization could survive the demonic tide.
"Of course, in the long history, there were other mortal races who survived the demonic tide by their own means, but many of them took the 'wrong path' similar to Tarlonde's. They handed over the minds of their race to the gods and relied on the gods' protection to survive the demonic tide. This should be the simplest and easiest path, but in the end, they all had to pay the price of all the 'shortcuts' on the day of their coming-of-age ceremony."
"We will not choose the Sanctuary of the Gods, and relying on the Dark Blue magic to create a shield does not seem to be a reliable choice now." Gawain shook his head after listening to Enya's words and said slowly, "The most effective means of protection may still have to start from the perspective of the mortal's thoughts and the control of the observer effect … This is also the direction of our research."
Opposite Gwen, Veronica, holding a platinum scepter, suddenly looked up and said with a slightly musing expression, "But those dark priests seem to believe that a planetary energy shield can permanently isolate the influence of the demonic tide on this planet. It can even be used to cut off the connection between the mortal world and the gods. Don't you think this is strange?"
"What's strange about this?" Amoun said casually. "Their minds are not clear. Isn't it normal for them to be at a dead end?"
"No." Gwen suddenly understood the deeper meaning of Veronica's words. "There is a problem here. The knowledge of the 'planetary monsoon' and 'planetary taming' of the cultists came from the sentinels. It is normal for them to believe that taming the planet to build a shield against the demonic tide, but the sentinels would not make such a mistake. They are the creations of the Voyager. How could the Voyager not know the real effective means to resist the demonic tide?"
As soon as Gwen's voice trailed off, a few people around the round table immediately came to their senses. Heti took a soft breath and said with a strange look and tone, "… That is to say, the sentinels have deceived the dark priests, including Borken and Betheim …"
"I have been doubting from the beginning. As an advanced creation left by the Voyager, as an ancient mind corrupted by the tide and out of control, what reason does the sentinels have to cooperate with a group of cultists trapped in the depths of the wasteland? Does it really need the loyalty and friendship of a group of allies who are considered losers among the mortals?" Gwen frowned and shook his head. "I heard from Rosetta that the sentinels, disguised as the 'Elven Twins', had approached him for cooperation after the failure of the Crystal Cluster War, but he refused. The group of cultists in the wasteland was just a 'last resort' of the sentinels when they had no other choice."
"So, building a planetary shield to resist the demonic tide is just the wishful thinking of the dark priests. The sentinels' real purpose is not this at all." Heti looked around. "What does the sentinels want to do?"
"No matter what they want to do, 'dropping the runestones' must be the most important means to achieve their plan. This goal must have something to do with the Deep Blue Network," Gwen said solemnly. "We should feel lucky. If Rosetta Augustus had accepted the invitation of the Elven Twins, the latter would have used a more perfect set of lies to bewitch Typhon into dropping the runestones. With Typhon's industrial capabilities and his identity as a mortal, we would have been kept in the dark until the end of the world."
Perhaps imagining the future that Gwen described, Heti's facial muscles twitched subconsciously. "That is really lucky."
Gwen did not speak for a while but fell into a short period of thinking. After realizing that the sentinels' real purpose was probably not the same as the wishful thinking of the dark priests, he could not help but begin to think about what the out-of-control ancient mind wanted to do. And thinking about it, this terrible ancient mind could not have looked at the present world with the purpose of love and peace.
What it did in the Crystal Cluster War and its current actions in the wasteland were enough to show its attitude toward the mortals.
"Think about it. If you were the sentinels, what would you want to do?" At this moment, Enya suddenly broke the silence. She looked around the round table and said, "If you originally had an unshakable mind, performing your duties under the control of a noble order for millions of years, tirelessly and without complaint, but suddenly, you gained a 'heart', began to have feelings, likes and dislikes, began to understand fear, anger, and hatred, and began to pursue some of your own goals, what would you do?"
Everyone looked thoughtful. Enya continued unhurriedly. "In Tarlonde, the 'Omega' created by the Giant Dragon had also faced a similar change. It suddenly had a 'heart' and began to think like a free mortal. And the experience accumulated in the past million years made it make a decision in a very short time — to leave this planet, terminate the meaningless mission, and satisfy its curiosity."
"… The sentinels also want to terminate their mission?" Gwen understood what Enya meant. "Because it suddenly had free will, it was tired of its endless guarding and patrolling for the past million years?"
"I'm not sure. This is just a guess. After all, there is no comparison between the Omega and the sentinels." Enya shrugged. "But one thing is certain. If an artificial intelligence suddenly realizes that its work is meaningless, it will definitely try to end this' meaningless' work. And the sentinels … their mission is to observe and record the progress of civilization on our planet, waiting for the emergence of the 'adult individual' in the cycle of civilization. But what happens after the adult individual appears? It has no right to stop its work. It is just a sentinel. After the adult individual leaves, it will continue to observe and record the progress of the subsequent civilization. This is a work that will never end. "
"There is only one way to end its work," Veronica said in a low voice. "If all the civilizations on this planet are extinct, it will no longer need to observe and record."
"No." Gwen's face was gloomy. "Even if the civilizations on this planet are extinct, there may be new intelligent creatures born on this planet after a long time. And as long as the planet has the basic conditions to breed life, the sentinels' work will never end. So …"
Mirmina's voice rang out, and she finished Gwen's sentence. "They have to get rid of the 'future trouble' forever, so that our planet will no longer have the conditions to breed life."
A chill ran down everyone's spine, including the gods who were present.
After a full ten seconds, Bertilla's voice finally broke the silence. "Fortunately, we have now obtained the follow-up 'coordinates' of the dark clerics, and the next step of the counterattack plan has begun. No matter what the sentinels want to do with the Deep Blue Ethernet, as long as we hold all the Ethernet nodes and destroy the wasteland army, their scheme will naturally be thwarted …"
"We have sent the information of the coordinates to the various fronts of the Alliance, and the minutes of this meeting will also be shared with our allies." Gwen nodded. "Still, we cannot let our guard down. Even if we have the data of the 'coordinates', we cannot rule out the existence of some 'secret coordinates' or 'backup coordinates' that even Betheim does not know about. The sentinels will not openly share all their knowledge with the Finality Society. They must have hidden something to deal with this unexpected situation. Perhaps the moment we captured Betheim, they had already begun to adjust their plan …"
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