The thing that caused the Army of Vengeance to be trapped in the Otherworld — we don't know what it was, whether it was a program or a supreme command — it was like a barrier that protected Shadora and her soldiers from the apocalypse of the Old Empire.
So, we finally decided to call it the "Unknown Barrier Effect," or simply the "Barrier."
The Barrier looked like a cage, but its real function might be a safety cage prepared for tourists in an ecological park. Even if you were locked inside, its purpose was to protect you from the attacks of beasts from the outside. The Barrier's lock on the Avengers seemed to be very targeted. It prohibited cross-world devices from being activated, which was to prevent people from returning to the abyssal contaminated area. It prohibited communication beyond the universe to prevent people from accidentally reconnecting to the Old Empire's data network. It prohibited the construction of large devices to prevent the Avengers from finding a way to crack the Barrier. Sandora believed that if the function of the Bubble had not been locked, as long as there were enough mainframes, she would have been able to discover the abnormality in the soldiers' bodies through massive calculations and remove the Barrier. So, to eliminate this unstable factor, the Barrier simply locked all the functions of the Schilling mainframe.
As for why the Avengers couldn't even leave a primitive planet back then, I felt that it might have been caused by a certain threshold set by the 'barrier' that was set too high. For absolute safety, it had set the lockdown on the Avengers to a very high level, even shutting down the Xi Ling apostles' space flight ability. This was probably to reduce the chances of people jumping out of the world. There were all kinds of extreme environments in the universe. In the vicinity of a giant celestial body with a high concentration of energy and mass, the stability of space would decrease. In this abnormal zone, it was easy to have "loopholes" that led to other worlds, which was the phenomenon of spatial flash. To prevent the Avengers from getting close to such loopholes, the Barrier simply locked everyone on a single planet. This was not impossible.
Of course, if someone had made such a guess before today, I would have thought that the person's brain had been squeezed by a door. There was a problem with a one-way inference: "The Barrier protected the Avengers" and "The Barrier was put in place to protect the Avengers" were not the same. Without sufficient evidence, we could only say that the Barrier did save Sandora, but we could not say that the real purpose of the Barrier was to protect the soldiers of the Avengers. But now that we have the tablets from the Mesopotamia, things are different.
The soldiers who jumped out of the "safe zone" were forbidden to return, and they were killed outside the barrier by a higher degree of "lock-on order". This was obviously a typical measure used to fight against the plague. The barrier conjecture thus received the most powerful support.
"I've figured something out now," Sandora said slowly. "We had such a barrier in the Old Empire. We built a quarantine zone in the Abyssal Contamination and placed the wounded inside. If any of the wounded accidentally strayed outside the quarantine zone, we would send the Sanction Drones to execute them. However, the quarantine zone was only used to protect the servants or the local natives. The Shiring Apostles' self-purification ability was much more effective than the quarantine zone, so we never used this measure on ourselves. "
"After the catastrophe, the Abyssal Contamination in the Empire became much more serious. Your self-purification ability was not enough, so the Shiring Apostles also needed to be isolated and protected." I glanced at Sandora. "It's just that no one thought of this back then."
Sandora spread her hands. "It can't be helped. That thing was too strange. Who would have thought that it was a protective barrier? We didn't know what was happening outside, so we were completely confused when we were locked inside. Later, when we figured out what was happening outside, I didn't have the energy to study what the "lock-on order" was all about. If it wasn't for the fox digging out these mud lumps, I might have forgotten about it. "
I turned my head and pinched the fox girl's ear to express my praise. Although she had degenerated into a husky, although she was lazy every day, and although she had dug a hole in the courtyard today, she had indeed made a great contribution this time. I was thinking of rewarding her with a bag of bone biscuits, but this girl might explode and hurt people. Thus, in two days, I would bring her to give my tail a wash and dry as a reward.
Fox had been lying next to the coffee table, craning her head to listen to the story that she couldn't understand. She knew nothing about the Avengers, nor did she know what the "lock-on" and "barrier" that everyone was talking about were. However, she knew that the topic was started by her, so she showed great interest from the beginning to the end. It was amazing that she could be so interested in a topic that she didn't understand at all, and she listened from the beginning to the end.
"Now, there's a question." The big sister got up to get a glass of water. When she came back, she continued, "Who made this barrier? Where did he get the ability to trap Sandora without anyone knowing? "
"It could be another emperor, or it could be some kind of 'survivor group'." Sandora thought for a while and made a guess. "We all know that although the disaster of the old Empire broke out quickly, it lasted for hundreds of years before it ended. Many leader level apostles held on for a long time, and during this time, they tried to save themselves. You all remember the document library. In fact, the concept of the document library and the fifteen heavens was separated. It was the survivors who tried to save themselves. It's just that some succeeded and some failed. There might be some survivors that we don't know about who also took action. Some survivors might have found out that the Avengers happened to be outside the contaminated area, so they cut off the communication between the Avengers and the Empire's main data network, trapping us where we are. "
"Pfft, why does it feel like the rest of the story is completely made up by my imagination?" Icetis rubbed the space between her eyebrows, a little depressed. She had been pretending to be a think tank for a long time, and now she finally lost her patience. "Can't there be any solid information?"
I could understand Icetis's complaint. After all, we really had very little information on hand. This discussion had already been a reasoning competition since an hour ago, and it was precisely because of this that many of our inferences were not confirmed. The only thing that could be confirmed was the fact that the Avengers were once protected by some kind of 'barrier effect'. Other than that, everything else was yet to be confirmed.
"Let's first assume that the 'barrier' theory is correct." Sandora ignored Icetis's nagging. "This barrier obviously has a lot of signs of being 'rushed'. It can't determine if the people who escaped from the barrier are infected, and it doesn't seem to be able to determine if the world outside the barrier is already safe. After the end of the abyss explosion 70,000 years ago, this barrier never disappeared, which means that it didn't even have a shutdown process. This should be because time was tight when the barrier was set up. "
"If that's the case, the Avengers were a spark that was protected by some of the surviving emperors …" Big Sis sighed. "It's a pity that they didn't have the chance to explain the situation to Sandora."
Sandora nodded. "The entire mental network was infected, so it could only isolate me and the Avengers without them knowing anything. If they had contacted me at that time, I'm afraid that all their efforts would have been in vain."
"But come to think of it, how did the barrier suddenly disappear?" Shallow Shallow muttered in disbelief. "Didn't they say that it doesn't have sensing abilities? After the end of the abyss explosion, it remained stubborn for almost 70,000 years. How did it suddenly disappear … "
As soon as Shallow Shallow's voice trailed off, the entire family's gaze focused on me. Baffled, I pointed at myself. "Huh?"
"Your friend, the Void Creature, has come online." Bubble's voice came from the gap in the crowd (due to her small stature). "The moment the child's father came online, the network was reshuffled. In the end, a barrier works by blocking channels or interfering with critical equipment. Back then, to the barrier, Pandora was equivalent to the external network. The barrier had to prevent the internal network from connecting with the external network, so it naturally jumped out. Then, the child's father instantly destroyed that thing. "
I scratched my head. "Err … Why don't I have any recollection of that?"
Through the gap in the crowd, I could feel the child's mother rolling her eyes. "There are many things that you don't have an impression of. How many things have you done since you ascended to the throne?"
I thought for a moment, then I sighed in grief.
Actually, there were still many unexplainable parts about this "barrier." For example, how did the surviving emperors (assuming they really existed) manage to build the barrier so quickly without Sandora noticing? In the Schilling system of authority, this was impossible. An emperor could not exceed his authority to control another emperor's army, not to mention the other emperor himself. In this regard, Sandora believed that it was highly possible that it was due to the abyss. Back then, the impact of the abyss had almost destroyed everything in the spiritual network of the old Empire. Perhaps at some point in time, even the authority system had temporarily shut down. Perhaps the person who built the "barrier" had taken advantage of this loophole to imprison all the members of the Revenge Army. Alright, I know that this is still unexplainable, but at least it is a reason, right?
The discussion about the "barrier" ended here. Even if we continued to speculate, we would not be able to obtain any more information. Sandora decided to have the soldiers who had been trapped in the other world with her do a full body check-up. Even she herself did an internal scan to see if she could find any traces of the "barrier." Although there was not much meaning in doing so, it was better than doing nothing.
When everyone got up and went about their own business, the big sister suddenly sighed. "The people who built the barrier back then are probably no longer around."
Sandora was silent for a few seconds. Then, she sighed. "It might be even worse. They might already be with the Fallen Apostle."
This was originally an unpleasant guess, but I suddenly thought of something else. "Wait, if they are with the Fallen Apostle, it might be a good thing. Did you forget that I still have …"
Before I could finish, Icetis clapped her hands. "Right, the Prodigal Son's Face Slap Punch!"
I was speechless. "… Can you not mention this name?"
Sandora's eyes lit up. For the New Empire, which had already grasped the key "technology" of "reverse conversion," the Fallen Apostles were no longer completely hopeless. As long as they could be captured, Xiaoxue and I could reverse convert them into normal Shiring Apostles. If the Avengers were imprisoned in another world by a conscious' barrier ', and the one who created this barrier was still alive, then there was a 100% chance that they were in the Fallen Apostles' camp. Based on the fact that they had the strength to create such a barrier in a conscious state even when the great calamity arrived, this would be a group of rather powerful leaders. They would also have considerable influence in the current Fallen Apostles' camp. This would give us a clear path to follow in the future.
"I will call for a headquarters meeting tomorrow," Sandora said resolutely. "From now on, the battle against the Fallen Apostles will be to capture the enemy leaders as much as possible. I must find out what exactly happened back then! "
I thought about it and felt that Sandora made it sound so easy. With the New Empire's combat power, it was already quite difficult for them to fight the Fallen Apostles head-on. Now, they had to capture the enemy leaders alive every time they went to war. You might as well hope for a dozen emperors to come and surrender right now. Of course, Sandora could also think of this. So, she calmed herself down a little and smiled awkwardly at us. "It's just a general direction, just a general direction … Just do your best."
This head-splitting discussion finally came to an end. What was left was to make some minor adjustments to the various future military operations based on the newly obtained information. We also had to arrange for the Revenge Army to undergo a major physical examination. Since Sandora had decided to personally oversee this matter, I was happy to relax. Ji Shanshan stood up and began to tidy up the clay tablets on the table. These treasures were no longer of much use to us, but Ji Shanshan seemed to like them quite a bit. This flat-chested shortie hummed a tuneless folk song, which was rare for her. She sounded as if she was celebrating a festival.
"You're quite happy. Are these your treasures?" I asked casually as I patted Ji Shanshan's head.
"Can't I be happy when I see something familiar?" Ji Shanshan deftly tossed a pile of clay tablets into her portable space. Then, she looked at me cautiously. "Wait! You aren't going to hand these clay tablets to the humans, are you? How could you do such a thing … "
I thought about it and realized that Ji Shanshan's worries were reasonable. These clay tablets were a part of Earth's culture. It was reasonable to hand them over to the humans. However, I had no intention of doing so because we had been working hard to erase the traces of the Empire from Earth. Before the earthlings were sufficiently developed, we wouldn't allow them to come into contact with any "influence" beyond the necessary level. For this reason, the Boundless Love Organization had dismantled or moved away dozens of ancient ruins. (Just look at the expedition team that threw away non-flammable trash!) Now, these clay tablets revealed too much information about the alien civilization. They would have an extremely bad influence on Earth's civilization. It would make the earthlings think that they were a captive race created by the aliens. This was obviously a bad influence.
Although we hoped to guide the earthlings into space as soon as possible, the Xiling Empire was too much of a provocation. It would easily cause the fragile civilization on Earth to go astray.
Of course, the more important reason was that I found it troublesome.
"Since these clay tablets didn't become the mainstream of Sumerian culture, it means that they eventually became a small branch of human history that was eliminated. Let's not let these branches disturb the earthlings' originally unfocused attention."
After getting my promise, Ji Shanshan was instantly elated. She carried her clay tablets and ran up to the second floor. However, she quickly ran back down again because there was still a large pile of clay tablets in the courtyard.
"You look like an ancestor of gods now." Icetis sat on the sofa beside us like a crouching tiger or a coiled dragon. She coldly watched the conversation between Ji Shanshan and me. "From a higher perspective, consider the problems of the mortal civilization …"
I suddenly frowned. "Why do I feel uncomfortable when you say that? It's as if I've become the villain?"
"Because you feel that you've interfered with the process of mortals?" Icetis chuckled. "Don't be too sensitive. This is inevitable. When you're strong enough, even a breath is enough to cause a storm in the mortal world. You can't be like an ordinary person and have no influence on the world. No matter how careful you are, it's useless. I'll give you a recent example. Three days ago, I heard from Sandora that in order to build a new Void Laboratory, you approved the micro-adjustment of the speed of light in a certain world. Do you know what this micro-adjustment means? It means that in that universe, millions of intelligent races that have never come into contact with the Empire will choose another technology tree in the future. For you, this is a side effect of carelessness. For those mortals, this is — fate. "
I was speechless.
"That's what it is. If you're so strong that it's like fate to another race, then you'll never be able to get rid of this responsibility. We Protoss have spent countless years researching this problem. In the end, under the guidance of God Father, we understood the heavenly responsibility of God: God does not involve himself in the world. It's not that God does not touch mortals at all. It's that God will not twist the will of mortals according to his own will. Other than that, how much influence you have on the world, it doesn't matter."
Icetis patted my shoulder heroically. "Remember this from the bottom of my heart. The greater the power, the more f * cking trouble."
I was speechless.
She was really my life coach. She was speaking from the bottom of her heart.
Actually, sometimes I also felt that Icetis was a good female gangster. Although she was fierce, vicious, violent, willful, and would go out to cause trouble every few days and spend my money lavishly, other than that … other than that, there didn't seem to be any other good points …
In short, what I meant was that Icetis was always able to stand up and give me some pointers or comfort when I was at a loss, especially when I was confused about power and responsibility. This female hoodlum may look sloppy on a daily basis, but what she has accumulated over millions of years is definitely not just biceps. Her awareness of power and responsibility, authority and mission is worthy of the name of a goddess. I can't even remember how many times I have been enlightened by her. Her guidance is full of mischievousness, but it suits my carefree personality perfectly. If you find a proper, strict teacher to guide me, I might not even listen to it.
Maybe this female gangster hid a soft and delicate heart under her sharp edges. It was pretty good for me to hypnotize myself like this. It could effectively filter out the sand in her words.
Looking at Icetis swaying her arms as she walked towards the door, looking like she was going out to spend some money. I called out from behind, "Thanks, Icetis."
Icetis waved her hand without turning her head. "Save it. When I come back from buying things, you'll want to kill me …"
I was speechless.
As expected, the sand in her words was quite large.
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