Truth be told, Hao Ren was not too interested in the origin of the Ebon Blade and the ritual itself. He was here because the MDT had detected a signal.
The Sacred Armory was emitting a rhythmic pulse, and the signal was short and repetitive, but it matched another signal subtly, and that was the mysterious pulse that Nolan had collected from the core of the planet.
After entering the Sacred Armory, the signal that the MDT detected had become more obvious, and it had started to lock onto the source of the signal.
The first impression that the abandoned Sacred Armory exuded was that it was empty. The 770,000 mechanical swords and a large amount of equipment that came with it had been moved to the south, and all that was left was a dizzying emptiness and neatly arranged platforms and stands. In the center of the Sacred Armory, the lift platform was connected to a cross-shaped bridge, and the bridge pointed in four directions. Two of the directions had neatly arranged sword stands, while the other two pointed to the server area and the "Soul Injection Workshop". After a careful scan, the MDT confirmed that the signal was coming from a corner of the Soul Injection Workshop.
Hao Ren pointed in that direction. "Can we go there and have a look?"
"Of course, feel free to look around." Constance nodded nonchalantly. "But most of the equipment here has been moved, and there's not much of value left."
Hao Ren smiled and did not say anything. Under the MDT's guidance, he came to the Soul Injection Workshop, and this was probably the most thoroughly moved place. Almost 99% of the equipment had been moved away, and what was left were rows of neatly arranged machine stands and a few strange devices. But the signal did not come from any of the devices. It came from a black obelisk in the middle of the Soul Injection Workshop.
"What is this?" He pointed curiously at the black obelisk. The latter was about the height of a person, and its surface was smooth, but under the power of magic, there would occasionally be some words and symbols appearing on the smooth black surface, but they did not seem to have any meaning.
Constance had a strange expression on her face. "The Foundation Stone … You don't know?"
Hao Ren was a little nervous. This seemed to be something that the inheritor should know?
But he didn't show his nervousness. Instead, he nodded naturally and said, "We really don't know. Don't be offended, we really don't remember much in this regard. "
Perhaps it was because the heritors were suffering from severe memory loss in this era, so Constance did not suspect anything and simply explained, "This is something that appeared along with the reopening of the era. We don't know the origin of the Foundation Stones either. We only know that there would be some stones like this scattered around the 'point of origin' of the new era every time a new era begins, which is around the inheritors. As time passed, we took these black rocks to be the crystallization of the Turn of the Eras, and it was a 'mark' left behind during the process of the world being obliterated and rebuilt. So even if these rocks were completely useless, we felt that they possessed a special meaning …. "
At that, she reached out to gently touch the surface of the 'Foundation Stone'. "There would be one such Foundation Stone in every important facility built by the heritors to symbolize the continuity of the world. Even if the facility is abandoned, the Foundation Stone would not be taken away."
Rocks that appeared during the Turn of the Eras? Or rather … rocks that would not be obliterated along with the world even after the Turn of the Eras?
Hao Ren was suddenly very interested in this so-called Foundation Stone. He imitated Constance and placed his hand on the Foundation Stone, and at the same time ordered the MDT to get close to the surface of the obelisk.
"Buddy, I've read the complete message!" Almost at the same time, the MDT's surprised voice rang in his mind. "So that's it … This thing has a 'concept' for itself, and only when it is touched will it release the inner message!"
Hao Ren lowered his eyelids to hide his sudden excitement. "What's the message?"
"It seems to be a very complicated set of keys … and a decoding database …" the MDT said before it exclaimed again, "It matches the signal that Nolan got from the core! Buddy, the Foundation Stone records the decoding rules of 'that thing' in the core! "
"Send it to Nolan immediately."
"Understood. The decoding has been sent. Nolan has begun decoding."
Hao Ren retracted his hand from the surface of the Foundation Stone, and the MDT flew up and landed on his shoulder.
"We roughly understand what the Ebon Blade conversion ritual is all about," Rheia said from the side. "By my standards, it is indeed not suitable for Duke Owen. Even if you used the Ebon Blade's biomechanical modification to strengthen his body, and used the chainsword to help him think, letting his soul enter the chainsword and remotely control his body is not a solution to the problem of his soul. Leave this to me, I have full confidence that I can fully restore him to health. "
Rheia said confidently, and it did not look like she was flipping through a book.
Constance's cold and indifferent expression finally changed. She turned to Rheia and bowed solemnly. "Then, I will thank you on behalf of Haywood. You have not only saved a general."
"Let's cut to the chase." Rheia waved her hand. "It's all for the sake of the Turn of the Eras, isn't it?"
Hao Ren continued, "Then we will talk about the Turn of the Eras … First, I want to confirm something. How far do we have to go before the Turn of the Eras is considered complete? Do we have to fight until the world is destroyed? Or … as long as we get rid of the minions controlled by the power of Annihilation, we will have completed the Turn of the Eras? "
"Get rid of the minions of Annihilation?" Constance could not help but show a look of disbelief. "How is that possible … The minions of Annihilation are endless, and as long as the war continues, the power of Annihilation will continue to spread, spread, and infect. Everything in the world will become its minions, and it is only a matter of time before the minions of Annihilation can be wiped out. Fighting against those minions, the world will be consumed bit by bit, and the final battle will be fought on the last piece of the world, the final battlefield. When everything is destroyed, only then will the Turn of the Eras be completed … And those who persevere on the final battlefield will become the first pioneers of the new era. That is the law of the world. "
Constance spoke in a tone without a shred of doubt, but Hao Ren could tell that something was amiss from her words.
"Which means, no one had actually tried to wipe out the minions of Annihilation before the world was destroyed. In fact, every apocalypse was forced. It was the heritors who could not withstand the attacks of the minions of Annihilation, and that caused the world to fall bit by bit until it was destroyed. Is that what you mean?"
Without waiting for Constance's reply, Vivian spoke up, "So regarding the matter of whether we need to fight till the end of the world to complete the Turn of the Eras, no one has been able to come to a conclusion, because no one has tried the other path!"
Constance opened her mouth, but she could not find the words to refute, and could only frown as she slowly said, "Come to think of it … that is indeed the case. But so what? Countless eras have passed, and the ancestors could not even defeat the Annihilation at their peak, and our era is the worst in history. Most of the heritors have lost their memories, and the ancient knowledge is incomplete. Under such circumstances, do you think we can really wipe out all the minions of Annihilation? "
Looking at the increasingly emotional Princess Constance, Hao Ren said calmly, "Who says it's impossible?"
"You …" Constance stammered.
"It doesn't matter if you don't believe it or think we're ignorant." Hao Ren waved his hand. "In fact, we need to investigate more about the truth of the Turn of the Eras. But that's fine, we can finish this war first. Since it's a war against the apocalypse … then the Basilica of the Yggdrasill can do whatever it wants. "
Constance looked at Hao Ren in confusion, not knowing what he meant by that, but Lily beside her was elated. "Wow! Mr. Landlord, so you're saying that we can be reckless now? "
Vivian gave the husky maiden a disdainful look. "Look at how happy you are. Don't be a coward on the battlefield."
"When have I ever been a coward!" Lily clenched her teeth. "How can a strategic retreat and a strategic defense be called cowardice!"
Vivian was speechless.
Hao Ren was speechless.
At the same time, in the temporary base near the planet's core, Nolan was commanding a large number of construction machines to land on an alloy platform that was built close to the planet's core.
The decoded information from Hao Ren had been entered into the database, and after a simple comparison, Nolan had confirmed that these were the keys to accessing the mysterious "item" in the planet's core.
During the decryption process, Nolan was at her wit's end regarding the encrypted barrier at the planet's core. The latter's defensive capabilities had far exceeded everyone's initial expectations, and this had left Nolan dumbfounded.
She realized that the thing in the planet's core came from a highly skilled creator, and when Hao Ren sent her the information about the Turn of the Eras and the Cycle of Annihilation, she had a vague idea who had left the thing in the planet's core.
It must have come from the ancient times, the lost era when civilization had yet to decline.
What could it be? What was its use?
The construction machines landed on the platform, and a large number of needle towers had been erected on the platform in advance. Below each needle tower was a long data needle, and the lower end of the needle reached into the scorching shell of the planet's core, maintaining a physical connection with the mysterious barrier deep inside the planet's core.
These needles had been Nolan's limit for the past few days, and she had not made any progress in accessing the data source in the planet's core.
"Inject decoded information, begin data stream recompilation."
Nolan stood on the bridge, looking at the constantly refreshing lines of data on the analysis interface, and the words "waiting to be received" on the central holographic projection. On another window next to her, the construction machines were nervously adjusting the status of each data needle.
A heartbeat sounded on the bridge: Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump …
The heartbeat from the planet's core seemed to be more rapid and chaotic than usual.
"Information injection successful, recompilation complete, sending initial contact pulse … Transmission complete."
Nolan stared at all the interfaces.
After a few seconds of torturous waiting, a line of text suddenly popped up on the central holographic projection:
Access request received. Database opened.
Done!
(Strongly recommending "Marvel World's Warlock" by Flamejoy. It's a novel that fishes in troubled waters in the Marvel World with a unique way of thinking. It's very entertaining, imaginative, and relaxing. You can read it if you don't have any books in the market, and those who like anomalies should also like the style of this book.)
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