The timeline linked the two events together. Before this, no one would have thought that these two events would actually have a cause and effect connection. We couldn't help but sigh at the dramatic nature of life sometimes. Our first direct contact with the Fallen Apostles ended up going in a big circle and actually being connected to their deepest secrets.
The War of Salvation three years ago was initially caused by the invasion of Azeroth by Belavilla, Ockham and Savi. At that time, the power of the Fallen Apostles had just unknowingly spread to the current territory of the New Empire (of course, at that time, the New Empire's sphere of influence hadn't yet extended to Azeroth). Belavilla was still the leader of the Fallen Apostles. She led an army to invade the World of Azeroth in an attempt to find the Heart of the World there. However, unfortunately, they encountered the Protoss Expeditionary Army. Even though the Protoss Army, which was severely outnumbered, was completely annihilated after a fierce battle, Belavilla and the others were left with only a few remnants of their army. Under normal circumstances, when one's own side had suffered heavy losses, and the Protoss's reinforcements might have already heard the news, no matter how one looked at it, they should have given up on the mission. However, at that time, they still continued with their own mission, braving the danger of being intercepted by the Protoss's reinforcements and staying in Azeroth. At first, I couldn't understand why they did this. Belavilla herself was also very confused. If they only needed to find the Heart of the World, there was one in every world. They didn't seem to have a specific world's Heart to find. They could have just left Azeroth, which was already no longer safe.
Now, the truth was revealed. Apart from finding the Heart of the World there, they had a more important mission: to destroy the Green Star. At that time, the Fallen Apostles' information was wrong. They mistakenly thought that the planet in front of them was the Green Star.
They were going to destroy Planet Azeroth.
From the 3D map, Planet Azeroth really did have some similarities to the Green Star. It was similar in size, had an active internal energy, and was probably on a very high probability "route". According to Lin Xue, the Green Star had the ability to travel across worlds when it was still intact. It was an ark of escape. After the collapse of the old Empire, it drifted to various worlds. The information that the Fallen Apostles had grasped might have indicated that the Green Star would pass by a specific universe. When they arrived in that world, they just happened to find Azeroth at the predicted coordinates. Then, they got everything mixed up. There was a huge whirlpool on Azeroth. At that time, the Fallen Apostles who were disoriented by the Protoss thought that it was an ocean phenomenon caused by the crack of the Green Star. This was the biggest blunder in history, and it almost caused the destruction of the entire Azeroth.
However, it was likely that Belavilla herself didn't know about this entire incident. She was already on the same side as us. Furthermore, there was Sylvia, who wasn't very smart, who sold out her teammates every day. Basically, all the secrets that Belavilla knew had been dug out by Sandora and I. However, she didn't have any memories of "destroying the Green Star." This meant that she had been schemed against from the very beginning. Savy was a warrior that even Sandora greatly respected. Although he stood on the wrong side, he wasn't a cunning fellow (a cunning fellow wouldn't be thrown out to take the lead). In that case, there was probably only one person who knew the truth back then: Ockham, the cunning former Chief Scientist of the Empire. I sighed at the impermanence of the world.
The previously united and glorious Shiring Apostles ultimately became a cunning, sinister, and despicable organization filled with all kinds of internal strife and schemes. Belavilla still maintained her basic conscience after her fall, causing her to often be ostracized by others. Even with the identity of the Emperor, Ockham still dared to scheme against her using his identity as a subordinate. From our previous conversations, I discovered that Belavilla didn't have a clear understanding of the various internal secrets of the Fallen Apostles. A part of the reason for this was that her memories were damaged after her rebirth as Sylvia. Another reason was that she had always been ostracized by the larger organization. The Fallen Apostles were an organization that could easily use anyone as a tool, as long as that person had the value of being a tool and could be controlled.
Back then, Visca was completely muddle-headed and was used as a tool by the Fallen Apostles. Belavilla's situation was slightly better, but it was likely that she was just a tool with a higher value.
How could the entire Fallen Apostles organization not be a tool? Eighty percent of their members did not even know what the "great cause" they were striving for was. They were throwing their lives away for nothing. The one who ultimately controlled everything was probably that mysterious "lord."
"Ockham died early," Missy sighed leisurely (of course, in the spiritual connection. The surface of the Green Star only had an extremely thin atmosphere, not even enough to transmit sound). Then, she finally stopped in front of a "rock" wall that looked no different from the surroundings. "Actually, he almost found the Green Star. His calculations weren't wrong. In some of the branches of history that would no longer occur, the Green Star should have appeared in the World of Wow, even in the same solar system as the Planet Azeroth. In that route, the mages of Dalaran would have seen a green crescent poking its head out from the crack in the void in an arcane illusion, followed by a group of Fallen Apostle warships chasing after it. It was really exciting. However, a small accident caused the Green Star's cross-world engine to malfunction, and the restart failed. In the end, it fell into a world that was completely out of the route and landed on our heads. Yes, it's here. The rock wall is hardened. "
As she said that, she took out the black cube that she had treasured for three years and gestured on the rock wall. "This cube is a replica of the navigation key. I don't know how the original key fell into the hands of Ockham. He made a large number of replicas of the key. This kind of navigation key can activate a certain access authority. Maybe they wanted to dig out some secrets from this place before they destroyed the Green Star, so they prepared this thing. However, they didn't know how to use the key, so they could only let the cannon fodder carry these keys around the world, hoping that the Green Star would automatically sense the existence of the key. Yes, it's probably like this. I have to hold the key in order to trace back some things, but the demons who came into contact with this key were only some small leaders. There are too few things that can be separated from the limited history. "
"Do you know how to use this key?"
I asked curiously. In the end, Lin Xue casually threw the black cube at me. "I don't know either. Please, the first navigation key was made tens of thousands of years ago, and the one in our hand is just a replica. The information connection is very weak."
Well, it seemed that even a prophet couldn't be omniscient. Whether it was to peek into the future or to trace back to the past, she had to at least know what it was, and there had to be a key information connection. The key was a key, but this black cube was just a replica of the navigation key. The information it could connect to stopped at the moment when Ockham made the replicas of these keys. Anything before that, even if Lin Xue turned it on full power, she could only roughly see things.
However, she had already told us a lot of things. Now, everything would be fine as long as we found out how to use this key.
I fiddled with the black cube that Lin Xue threw at me. I had fiddled with this thing a few times in the past. It didn't look very impressive, and its surface felt rough to the touch, as if it was an unpolished iron billet. It felt heavy in my hand. It was called a key, but I couldn't see any grooves or protrusions. It was just a square metal lump. I could see some unknown patterns on its dark surface, but unfortunately, these patterns looked more like ornaments than functional. The only thing that made me curious about this thing was that there were a few small holes of different sizes on one side, and a few narrow slits on the other side. I couldn't tell the function of this key at all.
I tried to use a small amount of energy to activate it, but there was no reaction. I pressed it back and forth until my hand hurt. Shallow Shallow used it to hit the wall twice, but the wall didn't open up a passageway. Sandora hugged the black cube and took a bite. She frowned, indicating that it didn't taste good — — I broke out in a cold sweat.
Tawil held the black cube in his hand and used his special power to scan it for a few minutes. He shook his head at us and said, "It's empty inside. The outer shell has no structure. It was forged using a single component."
The current situation was that we had found the door, and we had the key in our hands. However, we couldn't find the keyhole. Theoretically speaking, no one knew if the key had to be inserted into the keyhole in order to be used. Everyone was very gloomy. Yep, it wasn't just gloomy to describe it. After all, we were just one step away from the ultimate secret of the Empire's rise and fall. However, the only thing that stood in our way was a square lump that wasn't much bigger than Jingle. It was no exaggeration to say that we were grinding our teeth in anger. It was basically the same as getting a room with your girlfriend only to have your door broken into by 1400 men wearing red hoops. Furthermore, the one leading the group was your future father-in-law …
Look, I was so anxious that I couldn't even speak properly.
Liliana held the black cube in her hands and touched it here and there. Her face was full of seriousness. Then, she grabbed my sleeve and looked up to ask, "Boss, what are these small holes for?"
I had noticed those small holes earlier. However, Tawil said that the so-called key only had a single component, solid porcelain shell and a hollow cavity. There weren't any gears or wires behind the holes. So, I could only shake my head and say, "Maybe that demon had nothing better to do back then and poked them with a needle …"
Liliana rolled her eyes at me and blew a few mouthfuls of air at the edge of the black cube. Of course, no sound came out. However, her eyes suddenly lit up and she shouted, "Tawil, Tawil, air! Give me an air environment! "
Tawil seemed to understand something too. He was stunned for a moment before he seemed to understand. Then, he ordered his assistant to open up a small laboratory nearby. The laboratory was filled with air that was equivalent to the standard atmospheric pressure on Earth. We ran into the laboratory excitedly. This time, Liliana put the black cube next to her mouth and blew gently. There was a sharp sound.
She seemed to be in high spirits. She changed a few small holes and blew a few different tones. Shallow Shallow was also interested. She gestured and pressed a few narrow slits on the other edge of the cube. As her fingers moved along the slits, the sound that came from the cube began to change.
Even though the one who played the instrument was Liliana, the combination of the tones sounded like hell.
"This is a musical instrument. Boss, I am amazing, right?" Liliana said happily. She looked as if she was asking for praise. I didn't let her down. I rubbed the head of the black-bellied loli affectionately. "I know. Let someone else play it next time. It's so unpleasant to hear."
Liliana pouted. "…" Then, she ran to the side and wailed. However, no one cared about her. This girl is pretending. Do you think I don't know how she looks like when she really cries?
As expected, after a few seconds, seeing that no one came to comfort her, Liliana moved back dejectedly. "Then?"
"Tawil, how long will it take to add atmospheric pressure to the crack?" I asked the bespectacled lady next to me.
"We can add an atmosphere to the entire planet." Tawil shrugged. "It would be best if that's the case. The Green Star used to have an atmosphere. We can increase the success rate by simulating the same environment. The fastest we can do it would probably take around thirty minutes. We can send the nearest groups of planetary modification ships over. Besides the research base, there is no ecological environment on the Green Star, so it isn't afraid of storms. Moreover, filling the planet's atmosphere doesn't require a mothership to land, so it shouldn't trigger the alarm on the Green Star. "
Adding an atmosphere to a planet in thirty minutes would be difficult for an average person to comprehend. However, as long as there were enough engineering ships and suitable equipment, it wasn't difficult at all. Of course, the process of 'filling in the atmosphere' was a little thrilling. Ten minutes later, an unprecedentedly strong storm appeared above the Green Star. As we skipped the initial atmospheric dredging process, the atmosphere that was quickly transferred to the Green Star's gravitational capture range collided wantonly without any restraints. It formed a hurricane that spread across the entire planet. The intensity of the hurricane was probably enough to overturn an entire city. However, the hurricane was quickly suppressed. The Ravens used their magic power to restrain the flow of air around the planet. Then, they started to dredge the air. We walked out of the laboratory and realized that we could breathe normally, just like on Earth.
"This door was opened by sound?" I asked curiously after returning to the rock wall. "It doesn't seem very clever, especially this key. It's actually a whistle."
"It sounds like a very primitive key." Sandora shook her head. "But you have to know, if you want to preserve a piece of information, sometimes the simpler the structure, the more reliable it is. They probably made the key into a simple whistle to prevent the overly complex key from being damaged over time. As for whether this simple structure can produce reliable results, it depends on the train of thought."
"And it's not just sound that opens the door." Tawil fiddled with his detection equipment. "When the key is blown, it produces a set of complex vibrations. There is a resonance between its outer shell and the nearby rock wall. Sound is only a medium to transmit this resonance. When the key vibrates at a high frequency, every two peaks will correspond to a trough on the rock wall. As the frequency decreases, the corresponding ratio between the peaks and troughs will change along a parabola … "
"Ahem, say something I can understand." I scratched my head awkwardly.
Tawil shrugged. "In other words, this simple key is actually quite complicated to work with. According to the resonance between each tone it produces and the surrounding rock wall, the density of the layer of green matter on the surface of the Green Star, and the natural frequency of the key itself, this set of 'locks' contains ten to the seventeenth power of the password combination. If all the frequency combinations are used … it will at least be a thirty-minute long song, and the beat is frighteningly fast."
Liliana burst into tears. She had just volunteered to use her musical talent to crack the door.
"Fortunately, we can use a mathematical model to simulate the closest key," Tawil glanced at Liliana, who was crying. "I have found the resonance pattern. Since the key is for intelligent creatures to use, this set of resonance patterns must follow a certain 'rhythm'. I have completed the calculation, and there is only one combination."
In order to calculate the accurate resonance sequence, Tawil used a Schilling mainframe. With the powerful computing power of the mainframe, it took us less than half a minute to obtain the key. What was gratifying was that the "error tolerance" of this key was quite high. In other words, each syllable only needed to be roughly accurate to trigger the resonance phenomenon. It seemed that the designer at that time had fully considered this situation. In the future, the person responsible for opening the door might be tone-deaf. You can't let them not open the door because of this, right?
To everyone's surprise, Sandora volunteered to play this piece of music.
To the Shiring Apostles, music was not a difficult task. They only needed to download each operation step into their thinking core, and they could perfectly reproduce the sound of any musician. Also, the "music score" that the Schilling mainframe cracked could only be read by the Shiring Apostles. Even if we saw the music score, it was impossible to perform it without training.
However, there was one thing that needed to be made clear. Although it was easy for any Xi Ling apostle to reproduce a musician's voice, for most of them, to understand the "art" behind it would be a little more difficult …
After some preparation, Sandora stood in front of the crystal rock wall. She closed her eyes and began to play the special "key."
When the clear and melodious sound echoed, we couldn't help but quiet down. Not only was it to prevent the effect of the key from being affected, but more importantly, this piece of music truly had the power to resonate with our hearts.
Cheerful, mellow, melodious, hurried … One by one, the completely different tones changed rapidly, but each tone change was unexpectedly harmonious and not abrupt at all. The ordinary-looking black square seemed to contain an incredible magic. Even if it was just a group of simple syllables that kept repeating, it was still able to calm people's hearts.
Perhaps this piece of music was not only a key to open the door, but also a message?
I couldn't help but guess. Then, my gaze fell upon Sandora who was playing this piece of music.
The golden-haired girl was a princess of the battlefield, an ancient emperor, and a leader of her species. All these heavy halos gradually dissipated. When she slightly closed her eyes and immersed herself in the music, she was as tranquil as a fairy bathing in the morning sun. She stood in front of the rock wall and used the ten-thousand-year-old flute to knock on the ancient door. At this moment, I was actually at a loss for what to do with this girl that I had spent so much time with.
So beautiful.
Then, Liliana said the strongest sentence of all, "You have to play for a full thirty minutes …"
I was speechless.
I really wanted to beat her up, could I?
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