As one of the main executors of the "disobedience" plan in the past, Kamal knew the "Abominations" created by the plan like the back of his hand, including the first generation of Abominations and the last generation of mutated Abominations. Therefore, when Tyr handed him a purified Abomination, he quickly saw the characteristics that made him feel uneasy.
A few simple tests, some parameters that could not be falsified, and the uneasiness became a fact.
"Although I can't determine the genetic sequence in the remains without more professional equipment, the results of the mutation are enough to conclude that the Abominations are the mutated products of the Abominations," Kamel said in a heavy tone. "The power of the Demonic Tide has covered the gene expression of the Abominations. Our plan back then had a terrible loophole. We underestimated the degree of mutation of biomass in the face of the Demonic Tide. The Abominations' genetic factor could not withstand this level of mutation, causing the carriers to become monsters before they could adapt to the environment of the Demonic Tide."
Kamail had tried his best to calm himself down, but Gawain could still feel the great sorrow in the heart of this ancient magus. He could imagine the sorrow — Kamail and his colleagues had sacrificed everything for this cause, and the price was even beyond the limits of what humans could bear. But in the end, the result was even more terrible than failure. Not only did their cause not save the people they wanted to save, but they turned those people into monsters … Even if Gawain put himself in Kamail's shoes, he felt that he might not necessarily be as calm as Kamail when facing the same blow.
But he still had to ask his own question. "Do you know what happened to the Abominations after they were sent back to the hinterland of the Empire?"
"I'm only responsible for the research and development. I don't know the follow-up 'application'. But although I don't know the details, I can make a rough guess," Kamel said slowly. "Didn't you say that there has never been news of the Demonic Tide in the outside world? So I guess it all happened in secret. After the Abominations were sent back to the imperial capital, the royal family should have gradually injected the Abominations' genetic factor into everyone through centralized immunization or something like that over three centuries, and made it a stable genetic factor for humans. Because our goal is to save everyone, every Gondor citizen must become a carrier of the Abominations. In this way, we have the answer to the endless Abominations that emerged overnight after the Demonic Tide. "
Gwen believed that what Kamel said was probably the truth.
Genetic modification was not something that could be done overnight. Kamel and his colleagues could directly modify themselves with powerful magic and turn themselves into carriers of the Abominations. But for the millions of ordinary people in the Kingdom of Gondor, such a degree of modification was unrealistic (and not confidential enough). So the royal family of Gondor could only have adopted a secretive and gradual approach, such as transferring the mutated substance to the parents, and then making the next generation born carriers of the Abominations.
It would take more than one generation to modify the entire population of the Empire. But from the completion of Project Disobedience to the actual outbreak of the Demonic Tide, there was a 300-year gap. 300 years was enough for the Kingdom of Gondor to complete this massive project with their technological prowess.
"Now that you mention it, I seem to have thought of something." Gwen scratched his chin and suddenly found some valuable information in his memory. "At the end of the Sparkle Age, the Empire did suddenly add several centralized immunization and newborn screening programs. At that time, the Imperial Capital said that it was to alleviate the increasingly serious problem of Elemental Assimilation and to select magic adapters from the newborn stage. If I am not mistaken, this should be the application phase of Project Disobedience."
Kamel's voice was low. "This ultimately harmed everyone."
"No, if it is as I have guessed, then your plan is actually a success." Gwen suddenly looked at Kamel with a serious face.
Kamel looked up, a little stunned. He did not see any deliberate consolation on Gwen's face.
"I am not consoling you." Gwen could not see Kamel's expression, but he could guess what the latter was thinking. "Your Project Disobedience should have worked, but it did not save everyone. Kamel, have you forgotten that the four human kingdoms were built by the Gondor survivors? "
After saying this, Gwen felt his eyes brighten — Kamel had become bright.
The ancient Archmage's tone was somewhat excited. "You're saying …"
"Many people think that the pioneers, or the Gondor refugees, escaped the first impact of the Great Mana Tide 700 years ago and escaped to the safe zone in time before the second impact. But in fact, we had experienced the first and second impact." Gwen said as he recalled. "When we gathered the team, the surrounding natural environment had begun to mutate. A large number of animals, plants, and even lifeless soil and stones changed in front of us. The high-energy clouds brought by the chaotic magic energy gathered above everyone's head. The magic energy surged day and night, and no one escaped the first impact. We ran out of the first impact."
Kamel's eyes flickered. "No one was mutated?"
"Many people died of malignant diseases or elemental poisoning, but no one was mutated," Gwen said solemnly. "And there is a very important clue. At that time, there were not only humans in the breakout team, but also elves, dwarves, halflings and other races who stayed in Gondor when the Great Mana Tide broke out. They were mixed in with our team. The death rate of those alien races in the Great Mana Tide was several times higher than that of humans. Basically, only seventy to eighty percent of the middle-order and high-order elites survived, the low-order professions and ordinary people all died in the first few months."
"So … the 'antibodies' still worked …" Kamel seemed to be muttering to himself. "But why did all the people in the hinterland of the empire become mutants?"
"Maybe it's because of the Deep Blue Well," Gwen said. "The Deep Blue Well had an explosion a year before the Great Mana Tide. At that time, two of the four main reactor towers were blown up, and a large amount of magic energy escaped to the center of the empire. They are like unstable fuel. When the chaotic magic energy of the Great Mana Tide suddenly broke out, the energy of the Deep Blue Well had a catalytic effect. The genetic factor of the Abomination may indeed enhance the ability of humans to resist the erosion of the Great Mana Tide, but its effect is obviously limited."
"If that's the case …" Kamel's tone calmed down. "Maybe it's a consolation."
Gwen could not help but think of the identity verification device found in the ruins in the mountains (Defiant Citadel). At that time, the device clearly regarded all humans, including Gwen, Byron, and others as' safe and stable carriers'. But when Amber tried to pass the verification, the alarm went off. Gwen once thought that the device was damaged, but now he guessed the function of the device.
The device was not damaged at all. It had indeed identified the safe and stable carriers. Every human whose ancestors came from the Kingdom of Gondor was a carrier of the Abomination.
But even though Gwen had figured out the origin of the Abominations, he still had a lot of doubts about those monsters.
"If the Abominations are all mutated from humans who carry the Abomination's genetic factor, and not the so-called 'creatures of Chaos' produced in the Great Demon Tide, then many of their characteristics are completely inexplicable," Gwen said. "For example, when the number of Abominations exceeds a certain threshold, there will be an environment of Chaos magic energy around them, and when the intensity and range of the environment of Chaos magic energy reaches a certain level, the Abominations will 'appear out of thin air' in the Chaos magic energy field … How can this be explained?"
If the Abominations were 'creatures of Chaos', and their life form was similar to a certain elemental product, then their continuous proliferation in the Great Demon Tide environment could be explained. But if the Abominations were 'normal life form' mutated from humans, how could they 'appear out of thin air' in the right environment like elemental creatures?
Even Kamel could not answer this question. It was beyond the knowledge of the ancient sorcerer. The latter could only make a bold assumption. "Perhaps the source of the Abominations — the power of the gods is at work? Although the Abominations only used Amoun the giant deer's genetic factor, for the gods, stealing his flesh and blood is equivalent to stealing his power. The power of the gods is difficult for humans to understand. Perhaps this power gave the Abominations some … characteristics that do not belong to normal creatures. "
"In any case, it's too difficult to explain that the Abominations can 'appear out of thin air'." Gwen shook his head and sighed. "Everything in the wasteland is unknown. No one can guess what happened to those monsters."
After the conversation about the Abominations ended, Kamel finally remembered the original purpose of Gwen's visit. He asked curiously, "My lord, I heard that you've designed something?"
"It's a weapon manufacturing plan, but I'm not sure if it's feasible." Gwen nodded, picked up the blueprint on the desk and handed it to Kamel. "Although energy weapons have obvious advantages, there are also significant shortcomings when it comes to things like anti-magic shields. We still need live weapons. It's best to have both weapons so that we can always maintain our advantage on the complicated battlefield."
The lord seemed approachable and open-minded, but in fact, he was a cautious and meticulous person. He would never give the enemy any chance to survive on the battlefield. After learning about what Gwen had done, Kamel had already realized this. So he was not surprised that Gwen would keep the plan of using live weapons. He also preferred to use a variety of weapons to meet the challenge. So he took the blueprint and quickly became interested in it.
"It's still a repulsive mechanism … Using a continuous repulsive structure to form an acceleration track? You've mentioned this before …" Kamel looked at the detailed description on the blueprint and muttered in a low voice. "But this time, you intend to add hurricane runes to the shell?"
"It's not just the shell that has changed. In fact, the acceleration track has also been specially designed." Gwen pointed to the blueprint and explained, "I've referred to Rebecca's idea of an 'amplifier' and added a magic field receiver and load balancer at the end of the two acceleration tracks. I've also used a set of additional runes to guide this part of energy into the repulsive mechanism. This way, all the repulsive mechanisms will be overloaded when firing, and their thrust will be greatly increased. With the strengthened acceleration track and the auxiliary power of the shell itself, its range and power will completely meet my requirements, or even far exceed them."
Kamel could not help but question, "Continuous overload? This way, I'm afraid the lifespan of the magic circle will be shortened by more than half … "
Gwen had already expected this question. He smiled and said, "I think … many people in the field of industrial arcanotech devices have fallen into a misunderstanding, and a master mage like you is no exception."
"What misunderstanding?"
"Industrial products are not afraid of consumption. A finely crafted traditional magic ring can be passed down from generation to generation like a family heirloom. It can even be used for hundreds or thousands of years and become an ancestral treasure with a legendary story. But industrial products … they are not meant to be passed down from generation to generation.
"They are consumables. As long as their lifespan can reach or exceed the actual needs, then they are qualified industrial products. Although a longer lifespan is not bad, it is just icing on the cake and is not essential.
"If it can be used to complete its mission, then it is qualified. If it can be used until the technology is obsolete and replaced, then it is an excellent product. If it can be used until the end of time, and passed down for generations … then it will affect the industrial process, the advancement and replacement of technology.
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