The submersible ship traveled in the Abyss for three and a half days. It sounded like a terrible result at first. Three and a half days was not even as long as some powerful Empire commanders could fight in the Abyss. But when we thought about it, there was no doubt about it. The ship was moving towards the most polluted depths of the Abyss. The distance it traveled had long exceeded the stability limit of the material world. With every step it took, the pressure it had to endure increased several times. On the first day, the submersible ship might still be in the area that Sandora had entered, but after that, it had entered a dead zone that no one had ever tried before.
The submersible ship was designed to resist the pollution of the Abyss far better than any starship we had. It could move almost forever while cruising near the Gate of the Abyss. It would only collapse when it reached the limit of the danger zone. Based on the speed of the submersible ship, the place where it collapsed had already crossed the shallow zone of the Abyss, and it was very likely that it had touched the 'foreign frontier'.
The shallow zone was Tawil's way of describing it. She roughly divided the known environment of the Abyss into different layers. The Gate of the Abyss was the entrance, and the area near the Gate of the Abyss was the shallow zone. The pollution there was strong but not fatal. There were unstable passages between the forces of the Abyss that could be safely passed through. These unstable passages were the gaps that we had observed when the fog surged. These unstable passages greatly reduced the danger level of the shallow zone. As long as one could accurately find these gaps, the average Intermediate Shiring Apostles would be able to fight in the Abyss. After crossing the shallow zone, there was a clear dividing line. This dividing line had never been observed before, but Tawil deduced the existence of this dividing line based on the data we extracted from the database of the submersible ship. All the Abyss fog should stop abruptly after this dividing line. On the other side of the dividing line was a strongly polluted zone with a uniform concentration. There, the Abyss would no longer appear in a measurable state. At the same depth, the abyssal pollution would be equally strong in every dimension, and it would multiply as one dived deeper. This area was called the deep zone of the Abyss. Since the deep layer did not have a safe passage with an "superior" environment like the shallow layer, and there was no fog that could be delineated, the deep-diving ship would face a huge challenge in this area. There was no opportunistic safe route, and everything depended on the ship's own protective performance. If the submersible ship could still move forward after crossing the demarcation line, even if it was only an inch forward, it would mean that the design of the starship was correct and that its defense system did have the characteristics to continue working in the abyss. At most, the strength of the defense system could be improved. It could be said that the dividing line between the deep and shallow regions was also the dividing line that determined the fate of the deep-submersible ship. If the deep-submersible ship failed to cross this line and survive in the deep region for a short period of time, we would have to redesign it.
Since they couldn't cross the dividing line, it meant that the submersible ship had to rely on the safe route to pass through the shallow zone.
Fortunately, the submarine should have passed the demarcation line on the second day. After that, it persisted for about 35 hours and came into contact with the so-called "strange frontier."
The "strange frontier" was what Sandora called it. She used it to refer to the limit of our current technology to analyze the phenomena in the abyss. There was no clear demarcation line between that area and the abyss. The reason why the demarcation line was based on the information we obtained from the database of the prototype of the deep-submersible ship. According to the records in the database, after the deep submersible ship reached the deep layer for a period of time, all the research data began to decrease sharply. The research team led by Ockham seemed to suddenly be unable to collect any useful information after a certain distance in the deep layer. This meant that after reaching a certain depth, the bizarre scenes that appeared in the Abyss were completely beyond the understanding of current technology, and the shipboard instruments would be at their wit's end for any phenomenon that occurred in the surroundings. The ship could still sail, but the crew could no longer recognize the constellations around them. That was the feeling. Obviously, the demarcation of the "strange frontier" depended on the level of the shipboard instruments or our current technology. With the technological strength of the New Empire, the "strange frontier" would definitely arrive earlier than what Ockham encountered.
After the "strange frontier", there were two blurred layers, namely the "barrier zone" and the "bottom layer." They were both guessed areas, and there was no evidence to prove their existence. Back then, Ockham also failed to cross the "strange frontier", which was a dead end. Tawil only imagined a bottom layer based on the "Abyss Order Signal" that appeared many times, and then added a "barrier zone" on top of this bottom layer.
Now, 90% of our assumptions about the abyss were based on such guesses and inferences. The submarine, or rather, the entire Deep Submersible Project, was slowly filling in these guesses.
The Gate of the Abyss floated quietly on the red surface of the red giant, surrounded by a circle of Psionic Obelisks that were flashing rhythmically to maintain the stability of the gate. From afar, it looked as if a small black hole had been poked through the red giant's glowing skin, revealing the cold and dark core of the planet. From the outside, the surface of the red giant was a stormy place. Crimson plasma hurricanes whizzed past at a speed of tens of thousands of meters per second, but the Gate of the Abyss was as quiet as a pool of black water. On the inside, it was the exact opposite. The red giant's turbulent surface hid order, and every plasma pillar it spewed was based on laws that could be accurately described by several mathematical models. In the eyes of scientists, the red giant was as stable and silent as a quietly burning flame, but the abyss was violent and twisted. It was strange, abnormal, challenging all the laws of the physical world, and inexplicably subverting everything. It looked like it was just a pool of black water.
Two "ferryman" -class medium-sized barges that had been specially modified were patrolling a few kilometers above the Gate of the Abyss. This distance was equivalent to half a foot into the dead zone, so the "ferryman" -class barges were also equipped with a new shield specially designed to resist the erosion of the abyss by Tawil. Like other engineering ships, these barges emphasized practicality. They had a squarish appearance and an extremely flat body, looking like a poker card floating in space: a poker card that was 12 kilometers long. There were several large rectangular openings on the hull of the barges, and the edges of the openings were equipped with a force field traction system. It looked like some kind of ancient extraction well, and in the center of the traction system was the dimensional door that led to the barge's garage. The traction system could drag the goods over without touching the target, and the dimensional door would send the goods to a high concentration of psionic energy environment. In the psionic environment, the abyss would be neutralized and purified, and finally, the goods would be safely stored in the garage.
However, the "ferryman" barges did not have the ability to drag things from the Gate of the Abyss. If we want to "fish" the "floating bottles" from the other side of the Gate of the Abyss, we still need some... special staff who can work in extreme environments, and this work must be done manually. We can't afford any accidents on this project.
In the same spatial workstation next to the Gate of the Abyss, this was already the frontline command center of the Deep Submergence Project. The staff of the planning team were nervously watching the first batch of engineering teams. They had already entered the Gate of the Abyss and were now operating in the outermost layer of the shallow zone. Although the outer layer was already very close to the safety zone of the main material world, it was only relative to the deeper zone. The engineering team only had limited protection. The "salvage ship" they used was also built according to the principles of a deep submergence ship, but because they were trying to retrieve physical objects from the abyss, the salvage ship had a higher chance of coming into contact with the polluted substance, so the entire work had to be done very carefully.
A bearded middle-aged man wearing an assistant technician uniform appeared on the communication screen in front of us. He was the leader of the brave engineering team. The engineering team had established contact with the command center in the Abyss. The transmitted image was obviously distorted and lagged. The place where they were working was only a few dozen kilometers away from the command center, but the communication situation was not optimistic. This made me feel surreal, as if I was not standing next to the extremely advanced technology of the Empire, but talking to the soldiers through an old radio station from World War II.
The bearded middle-aged man had a strong body and a rigid face. Although he was wearing a researcher uniform, I really thought that he was an Empire soldier wrapped in a white robe. Tawil introduced her junior assistant to me. According to her, he was a "frontline scientist". In short, he was the kind of technical personnel who preferred to rush into the battlefield with dozens of tons of explosives rather than doing theories in the laboratory, assembling new bombs while collecting data on the enemy's casualties. No wonder he would lead the engineering team into the Gate of the Abyss as an assistant technician.
"The environment here is terrible. The hull is shaking slightly, and the gravity in the ship suddenly increased by one percent," the bearded "frontline scientist" said in a rough voice. His eyes did not stay on the communication device for long, but quickly scanned the surroundings, as if he was paying attention to the constantly refreshing data. "There may be many things trying to kill us."
"Pay attention to your shield readings. There is a new wave of pollution in the Gate of the Abyss." Tawil frowned. One of her mass projections was personally monitoring the readings in the psionic obelisk next to the Gate of the Abyss. "It seems that the continuous interaction of information from the material world and the Abyss has loosened the Gate of the Abyss."
"Of course, chief technician." Big Beardy's eyes drifted to the side as if he was confirming Tawil's warning. He then skillfully operated the control panel. "We can see the thick fog. It's huge. The Abyss aura that is escaping has come into contact with the workship. Our outermost shield is self-disintegrating, but it is far from the danger point. It seems that we can withstand the impact. We can't move our position. The safety databases that fell off the deep submersible ship are returning. They are in a terrible state, so I've just set the work ship as a temporary navigation tower. This way, more databases can return safely … Oh oh, the impact is coming … Zzz … "
Big Beardy's voice was suddenly replaced by a loud noise. The image transmitted from the other side of the Gate of the Abyss suddenly turned into a large mass of distorted bright lines. The surging Abyss power had destroyed the orderly combination of the communication signals, causing them to collapse into chaotic clutter. The audacious Big Beardy had really used the workship to withstand the impact. Everyone suddenly tensed up. Only Tawil remained calm. "It's just a communication disruption. The workship's design is strong enough to face all kinds of dangers in the shallow zone. I know Vidal. He just likes to play with his life, but he doesn't like to die. "
Just as Tawil said, the workship soon reappeared in the contact list. Big Beardy's report was barely heard in the violent clutter. "The impact is still continuing. Chief technician, we can see a large area of grayish-black … at least after the equipment is processed, it's a grayish-black fog. It's shrouding the workship as if they can tell that the workship does not belong to their world. The shield system is quickly refreshing. The contaminated shield is trying to self-destruct, but it was stopped in time. We are still sending navigation signals to the 'floating bottle'. The impact just now may have affected one or two of the databases, and we have lost track of them … Oh, sh * t, the workship may be a little contaminated. I'm not sure, but two escape towers suddenly disintegrated just now … "
The signal interference was very serious. The image transmitted from the other side of the Gate of the Abyss was almost a frame-by-frame image. The expression on Big Beardy's face was still very light, but more and more alarm lights were appearing in the control hall behind him. It seemed that the situation was not as relaxed as he sounded. Sandora decisively ordered, "Go up immediately. We will send the second engineering team down. Brief me on the status of the spaceship. I want the team of scientists to analyze the cause of your contamination now. "
"Maybe … It doesn't have to be so troublesome. We can deal with this small problem. Viham has already gone to the base of the escape tower to check the damage. The warning system has not sounded the alarm yet. Our shield is still intact. This should be just an accident." Big Beardy's voice suddenly became clear, and the image returned to normal. "Oh, the impact has passed. It came and went quickly. Okay, chief technician, and Your Majesty, now let's talk about what we have confirmed. The databases that fell from the submersible ship may have encountered a more serious impact than expected. We only received a total of seven navigation requests. Yes, more than a hundred databases, only seven returned to the shallow zone alive, and two suddenly lost connection just now. We must stay here and continue to provide navigation for the remaining five databases. They can no longer go home on their own. More storms are forming. Once the navigation signal is terminated or there is a delay when switching with the second engineering team, there is a 90% chance that the databases will be lost. That is the last result of the entire plan. I must protect the property of the Empire! There is no need to send the second engineering team. We can send the first database out of the gate in a minute. Please prepare to receive it. "
Big Beardy's attitude was very firm. It seemed that the team of experts led by him could really solve these problems. So, Sandora did not insist anymore. Instead, she asked them to complete the task as soon as possible and then let Tawil do a thorough check.
Big Beardy saluted and then hung up the communication.
Soon, the barge waiting on this side of the Gate of the Abyss received the signal of "delivery" from the engineering team. I did not know whose idea it was. The password between them was like this: Open the gate, your delivery …
A tiny whirlpool appeared in the middle of the Gate of the Abyss. Then, a small object flashing with a dim blue light floated out of the whirlpool. Compared to the entire Gate of the Abyss which had a radius of several hundred kilometers, this blue little thing was as inconspicuous as a sesame seed on a sesame cake. Okay, I admit that I was really lacking in words at this time. The barge successfully captured the first database that floated up and sent it out of the Gate of the Abyss. Everything went smoothly. When this sesame seed on the sesame cake … cough cough, it seemed that it was quite difficult to think. Anyway, when this inconspicuous little thing floated out of the Gate of the Abyss, the entire command center immediately became filled with a relaxed atmosphere.
As long as one database returned to our hands, the entire plan would be more than half a success.
"Excellent, we have observed the target. However, it seems that the latter's situation is not very good. Its protective shield has almost been extinguished, and it is not accepting our external commands. It is possible that there is a certain degree of system damage. Hopefully, the database security program that the scientists designed is still operating normally … Our tractor beam has captured it!" A report came from the number one barge. Then, we saw many faint tractor beams shoot out from the walls of the rectangular passageway in the center of the barge. These tractor beams wrapped around the database that had just floated out of the Gate of the Abyss and quickly pulled it into the dimensional door that was used to receive the goods. "Very strong Abyss reaction detected. There is a danger signal going up along the tractor beam … The barrier system is working well. We have limited the contamination. This thing needs a thorough cleaning. First, make sure that it has a disgusting smell all over its body. "
How big was an escaped database? It was actually very small. In the environment of the Abyss, a smaller size meant that it would be easier to obtain highly effective protection. The floating bottles that were equipped with the most efficient navigation system and current engine were only the size of a small car. However, the size of a "ferryman" -class barge was measured in kilometers. Using such a gigantic barge to carry something the size of a small car home seemed a little comical. It was like Megatron carefully picking up a Jingle from the grass. However, we had a reason for doing so: only something as large as a barge could carry enough equipment to ensure that it could operate normally while sticking close to the Gate of the Abyss. Not only that, it also carried a set of "cleaning equipment" that could quickly purify the floating bottles that had just been salvaged. It was not that we had not thought of using a high-speed, small airship to fly past the Gate of the Abyss to retrieve the database. This might be more efficient and not so comical, but there was a certain chance that the contamination would spread to the salvage team.
Soon, the other data bases were all guided out of the Chaos Abyss under the guidance of a working airship. It seemed that the entire salvage process would be completed much more smoothly than we had expected. Amongst them, only one 'Floating Bottle' was lost. It was heavily infected, its shield completely extinguished and its outer shell twisted into a tangled mess. The interior of the Abyssal machine was bursting with the radiance of self-destruction, attempting to disperse the Abyssal presence on its body the moment it arrived in the material realm. Fortunately, there were many sentinel cannons nearby, and before it exploded, the concentrated psionic rays had cleansed everything. The corrupted database only produced a small spark in space, but it was instantly devoured by the brilliant light of the red giant. Then, Tawil's heart ached …
"First Engineering Team, your mission is complete. Return immediately."
Sandora breathed a sigh of relief and ordered into the communicator.
There was no reply.
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