"There." Shallow Shallow bit her finger as she looked at me meekly. "It's in our hands now."
That's right, that message from back then was recorded in the database of the probe that was salvaged from the Gates of the Chaos Abyss. Its original copy was now in our hands. After traversing through tens of thousands of years of history, from the Old Empire to the New Empire, and after starting and ending a crazy period of history, it was now in our hands.
"… Lock down all networks and shut down the space where the Green Star is. All fleets that have directly come into contact with the Green Star after the Green Star database was activated, are to immediately land on the surface of the Green Star. Contact with the outside world is forbidden."
Sandora didn't hesitate at all as she gave a series of orders. Only then did I find a chance to interrupt. "What? Is this really possible? The Chaos Abyss, hiding in a message and then jumping out to pollute the real world … "
"Didn't they do that before?" Sandora glanced at me. "They once followed the spiritual network of the Empire to pollute the entire country. If the spiritual network can contain them, why can't they do the same with a message? The Chaos Abyss is often invisible. Since it can pollute everything in the real world, then anything that exists in the real world, be it tangible or intangible, or even a sentence, a concept, or a well-known word, can be used as a carrier of the Chaos Abyss. Not only that, Shallow Shallow is right. This message came from the deepest level of the Chaos Abyss, so perhaps it really can hide from all detection methods. "
This time, even I was nervous. Shallow Shallow, oh Shallow Shallow, you really are a person who amazes the world with a single brilliant feat. This girl's magical brain jumping ability has really opened up an incredible horror story. The only thing I felt fortunate about was that thanks to Shallow Shallow's reminder, we managed to nip this creepy and creepy possibility in the bud. Even if the Chaos Abyss was really hidden in that message, it wouldn't have the chance to leave the Green Star. Everything that the scientists retrieved from the database was temporarily isolated. According to a law passed two years ago, after the discovery of an ancient ruin, before obtaining the approval of Sandora or myself, anything retrieved from the old Empire would not be uploaded to the new Empire's database. This was initially to prevent the operating protocols of the various devices in the new and old Empire from conflicting (in other words, the rumored malicious driver bug). But now, this prudent measure might have nipped a potential danger in the bud.
Green Star's communications with the outside world were all cut off. Sandora only used her special mental frequency to issue a safe and reliable announcement to the outside world. "There is an emergency at the scene of the investigation. The City of Shadows is temporarily under martial law. Before obtaining the personal authorization of the Empire Ruler, the martial law will not be lifted, and no one is allowed to actively contact Green Star." After completing the announcement, Sandora turned to Tawil and asked, "Where's the message?"
"It's stored in the database." Tawil had already realized the severity of the problem and said the worst-case scenario he had come up with. "If the Matriarch's guess is correct, then any reading, copying, or teleportation operations on it could have spread the contamination. However, the possible contamination is currently restricted to the intranet. When we operate the Legacy of the Old Empire, we put ourselves in an isolated environment."
Well, at this critical moment, she didn't add "in theory".
"Very good. You have executed the order perfectly." Sandora glanced at me. "Send the message through Ah Jun's mental channel." After saying that, Sandora winked at me. "Ah Jun, is it alright to use you as a filter for the time being?"
I thought about it and understood that she was referring to my identity as a Void Creature. The Abyss was unable to infect Void Creatures. On the contrary, the only outcome of direct contact with Void Creatures was that they would be decomposed. After all, the Abyss was a secondary product of the Void. If I were to read the message through my mental connection, no matter what was in it, it would definitely be purified.
The message was sent over very quickly. It was a very simple phrase that was pieced together by a few broken words. Back then, the scientists of the Old Empire had received a fragmented message. They realized that the message was just a continuous replay of a sentence. Hence, they picked out a few words and rearranged them to form the original message. It went like this:
Is anyone there? Hurry up and reply. I will log off after sending this message!
That was the entire content of the message. It was a very long message, but it was just a few words that kept repeating over and over again.
Of course, we wouldn't discuss the content of the message. Perhaps regardless of whether it was inside or outside the Abyss, the sentry type of messenger had a hard time.
"Originally, it was coded in a way that couldn't be recognized directly. Perhaps even the source language was different from any known language," Tawil explained. "However, the message itself hid a hidden codebook. It was hidden in the energy peak between each character of the message. Through this codebook, the message itself could be translated into any language. This was a rather high level of intelligence. It meant that the sender of the message didn't know what language the recipient was using. However, it had already summarized a set of rules that any intelligent being could summarize. After the translation, the content of the message was a request for a response. "
"The scientists in the old Empire must have translated it as well. That was why they decided to reply to the call from the bottom of the Abyss." I glanced at Sandora. "It's too risky."
Sandora's smile was a little forced. "If it hadn't happened once, and with Shallow Shallow's reminder, who would have thought of such danger?"
The message, as well as all the databases and recording devices that had been linked to the transmission of the message, were marked out. Even the scientists who were involved in reading the database had voluntarily isolated themselves from the public network. All the 'suspected infected' were urgently gathered in a metal cavity in the upper mantle ten minutes later. The cavity was originally installed with the energy furnace of the Green Star's surface ecosystem. However, the Green Star's surface ecosystem had long been destroyed in some unknown world. To the perilous universes that they had been running through during their escape, the entire ecosystem would be wiped out as soon as the Green Star's shield flickered once. And this antique starship originally used a shoddy shield. So the energy furnace had completely stopped operating more than ten thousand years ago. Now, the energy furnace inside had been teleported to the surface, leaving behind a place for scientists and equipment.
We had also arrived at the scene. The space here was large, almost a regular hexagonal alloy space. There was a circular depression in the middle of the ground that was nearly a hundred meters in diameter. In the depression area, there were still the remains of the shimmering energy interface and fixing bolts, which were left behind after the energy furnace was dismantled. A large number of equipment was piled up next to the depression area. Dozens of Schilling technicians were busy analyzing the philosophical equipment. Tawil was next to them personally checking a large data terminal.
All of these were isolated by a layer of psionic barrier.
Tawil's real body was also involved in the work of opening the database, so she was also isolated.
"No signs of infection found, all the data is clean," Tawil reported to us through the psionic barrier. "But we can't rule out the possibility of a new type of abyss that the Empire's technology cannot identify. The Matriarch's logic is very correct. The old Empire's plan X went out of control only after this message was retrieved. It is likely that the abyss is polluting the real world in a way that we have never known, at least in theory."
"In fact, I think the possibility of this is not high. You see, doesn't every part of the plan X that went out of control sound very logical? Because an important secret was discovered at the bottom of the abyss, the progress of various projects was accelerated. Because all the previous projects went smoothly, the scientists were a little blindly optimistic because it was a chance to fully understand their mortal enemy, so everyone was working hard. There is no problem with the logic in the middle. Even if the abyss is not involved, it seems to be the only result. "
"Ah Jun, this is very likely, but to deal with the abyss, we can't tolerate a one-in-ten-thousandth of a guess," Sandora was very determined. "Continue the experiment. First, use all the known catalysis methods. If it doesn't work … only Ah Jun can do it. At least now we can be sure of one thing. Even if the abyss really did sneak in, it will definitely be trapped in this barrier. "
After saying this, Sandora whispered to me, "I guess you will have to go in and purify them one by one, including the equipment. If worse comes to worst, you can just give up the data."
I thought for a moment and smiled apologetically at Tawil. "I didn't expect that even you would be quarantined, but it will be fine."
The bespectacled lady blinked nonchalantly. "Your Majesty, don't worry. To us, this is just a daily matter. Frontline scientists always have to come into contact with dangerous things. Every few days, we have to quarantine ourselves …"
I was speechless. This bunch of shameless fellows actually had such a strong daily routine!
After repeated monitoring, we still couldn't discover the so-called abyss reaction hidden in the data. Even Shallow Shallow herself was beginning to wonder if she was making a mountain out of a molehill. She had a bold and imaginative mind, but that didn't mean that she was completely unreliable. When it came to serious matters, Shallow Shallow was also very responsible.
Although it was also possible that Project X had indeed gradually gone out of control due to some indescribable influence from the abyss, it obviously had nothing to do with the data before us.
In the end, the data was still preserved. It wasn't that we were completely certain that the data was safe and harmless (in fact, after coming into contact with the abyss once, it was basically impossible to say that something was completely safe and harmless). It was just that Sandora had suggested to treat the data innocuously. Using my spiritual link as a springboard, she had uploaded the data into the memory core of a mass-produced mainframe. After being filtered by the void creatures, no matter what malicious code was in the data, it would definitely be destroyed.
The personnel and equipment that had come into contact with the data still needed to be purified — just in case. Under everyone's gazes, I walked through the psionic barrier alone. I could feel the tense atmosphere inside. This atmosphere came from the dozens of scientists and assistant technicians in front of me. It wasn't that they were afraid of the possibility of being infected by the abyss, but they were especially excited because they wanted to personally receive the baptism of His Majesty the Emperor. I didn't think that it was a big deal, but I was sure that some of the people here had already decided not to bathe for more than two hundred years after they returned home …
"Relax." I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. I had already switched to my void form. In this form, I couldn't make any expressions, so I could only use body language. "Tawil, open your eyes."
I couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, didn't you want to punch me?" Tawel's eyes were tightly shut. Tawel shuddered and looked at me awkwardly. "Your Majesty, didn't you want to punch me? Can you not punch my face? "
The moment Tawil finished speaking, the dozens of scientists around us all revealed expressions of sudden realization. One by one, they closed their glasses. I was flabbergasted in the wind. "… Who was the one who said that I have to punch someone when I purify them!?"
Speaking of which, my purification power was developed with Tawil's help. I thought that she was smart enough, but she only remembered to punch my face!
In the end, Tawil looked around in embarrassment and whispered, "It was Princess Xiaoxue who said, 'My father's Fist of Universal Love has awakened so many lost lambs. I've been learning boxing from my father since I was young.' Yep, that's what she said."
I said, "… Lass Xue, go back and teach our daughter some morals. You don't have any objections, right?"
The missy flew into a rage out of humiliation when I called her our daughter. Flustered and exasperated, she said, "Both of you, come at me together! If I don't do something, are you two going to go against each other!? "
The purification process only lasted for a minute. Actually, all I had to do was release my own Abyssal domain and soak everything in the psionic barrier. This was much more difficult to operate than the Fist of Universal Love … or the Fist of Universal Love. However, the effects were much better and more humane. This was the 2.0 version that I had developed after several days of dedicated research. I believe that everyone could tell that Carter Carlo had taken that punch for nothing. That day, Carter Carlo had actually taken that punch for nothing …
However, what I didn't understand was why I would still have to teach my daughter how to box even after I had developed such a high-level advanced technique. After thinking about it for a long time, I suddenly came to a realization. This probably meant that Xiaoxue had been a naughty child ever since she learned how to walk. It was likely that she had started boxing with her own father when she was six years old …
This made me feel despair.
The Green Star finally returned to its normal state after nearly two hours of martial law. Even the City of Shadows had returned to normal. However, in the end, we were still unable to confirm whether Shallow Shallow's conjecture was true or false. Did Project X really go out of control under the influence of the Abyss? Did the Abyss really throw a dangerous seed into the Old Empire, and all the scientists in the Old Empire fell for it? Was there really such a highly intelligent opponent at the bottom of the Abyss who could come up with such a far-reaching plan?
If these conjectures were true, then I would have to reexamine my first encounter with the Abyss when I was a few years old. Whenever I thought about how this could be another huge conspiracy, I shuddered. It had been a long time since I had felt such feelings of fear and anxiety. Perhaps the power of the Void Creatures and the three years of training had matured me quite a bit, but this time, I truly felt that things were far from good.
"Perhaps the situation is the opposite, and there really is a harmless fellow at the bottom of the Abyss." Lin Xue seemed to have noticed that I was in a bad mood. She said in a private channel, "My intuition tells me that we won't face a dark future."
We had now returned to the surface of the Green Star. We had returned to the flat and desolate land that was covered with soft gel crystals. The hibernation pods of the tree elves were being moved to the surface in batches for the final activation work. The reason why we moved these hibernation pods to the surface was because we discovered that there wasn't enough space in the upper mantle. From the very beginning, it was designed to support half of the tree elves awakening and the other half hibernating. Before the aging of the system and the exhaustion of the crew, the tree elves lived on the surface of the Green Star. At that time, the planet's planetary shield was still in place and was able to resist the harsh environment of the universe. When the tree elves were moved to the surface in batches, they directly entered the hibernation pods. That was why the honeycomb "cities" in the mantle didn't have enough living space. Now that 2.6 billion tree elves were about to awaken, we could only bring them to the surface.
Please allow me to send my greetings to the tree elf designer who carried out this work. Did he not think that everyone would wake up at that time?! Or did he think that the surface of this dilapidated starship would still be habitable by then?
Fortunately, Tawil had already filled the Green Star with an atmosphere. This atmosphere might be a little high for the tree elves, but it wouldn't affect their survival. Schilling's technicians had already deciphered the entire structure of the hibernation pods. After they had completed the soul reloading, they would be able to pause the hibernation pods and transport them to the surface to 'unfreeze'. This huge project was directed by the assistant technician and operated by the engineers. It was expected to be completed in a few days. Think about it, there were over two billion people, and all of them would be revived in a few days. No wonder Liliana was so happy. She had already made up her mind to trick all the tree elves into joining the Church of the Goddess of Life. I felt that her success rate this time was unprecedentedly high.
Now, the area around us had become a busy transportation hub. The light of teleportation kept flashing. It was the elite soldiers of the Asida and Asidora sisters who were helping to move the hibernation pods underground. There wasn't enough space and time down there, so the ultra dimensional army was much more useful than the cumbersome army-level portal. Looking around, there were crisscrossing hibernation pods in all directions. All of them were of the same model: straight coffins.
I was speechless.
"Damn, it looks like a mass funeral." Liliana climbed up my thighs in an attempt to attract attention. However, I threw her down halfway. "Hey, that hibernation pod over there looks really familiar!"
She was pointing at a hibernation pod whose lid was half open. All the hibernation pods were the same, but this one had a distinctive feature: its lid was cracked a few times, and in the middle of it, there was a silly little face carved in relief, which was indented.
When Liliana's face landed on the hibernation pod, it was on this hibernation pod.
While the few of us were discussing how hard Liliana's face could be, the tree elf girl in the hibernation pod finally completed her rebirth. She could be considered one of the first tree elves to awaken.
I still remembered this girl's name: Green Calyx. This was her name in the oasis. According to the chief, this was also the tree elf's real name. Green Calyx sat up in the hibernation pod and looked at the funeral-like scene in confusion. Her eyes were filled with panic. Then, she clumsily climbed out of the hibernation pod. Before the staff could come to her aid, Green Calyx had already staggered towards … Liliana.
The girl grabbed the 1.9-meter-tall little loli whose face was filled with shock and confusion, and a blissful, silly smile appeared on her face. "I had a very long and seemingly short dream, and you appeared in the dream. Can I follow you?"
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