When Xi Ling finished telling me what had happened, I understood what had happened. The so-called emergency situation was that she had almost fallen into the rift, and the so-called crisis had been resolved because she had used all her strength to climb out. Basically, that was the rhythm.
On the surface, it looked like a mistake, but after thinking for a while, I frowned like Sandora. If Schilling and the special nature of the rift were taken into consideration, this matter was definitely not as simple as it looked!
The rift was a faulty network segment in the spiritual network. It was a virtual area and could not correspond to certain nodes in the real world (Shiring Apostles). The rift was meaningless to us in the real world, and for now, this faulty network segment did not affect the normal operation of the spiritual network. The reason for the formation of the rift was unknown, but its manifestation was easy to understand. Some network nodes lost their termination symbol, causing the next level of connection between these nodes to become empty connections. This process was like a computer on the Internet sending a data packet to a non-existent network address. In our eyes, we would only see a failed transmission, but in the eyes of the computer, it was sending something into a dark abyss. When the scale of these unterminable 'strange nodes' reached a certain level, they formed an 'address black hole' in the spiritual network, and all data transmission to the rift would be interrupted. If the data was forced to cross the rift, the data would disappear. The rifts weren't fixed, the nodes that lost their termination marks were always changing (this was why we had no way of comparing the rifts to specific apostles in reality), as if this type of bug was constantly jumping from one node to another. Meanwhile, in terms of total volume, the size of the rifts would always remain the same, the average fluctuation not exceeding a few percent. It was also precisely these strange characteristics that made us temporarily view the rifts as a 'threat to stability'. Even though it was unpleasant, in a situation where we didn't have a definite solution, we could only ignore it.
And Schilling was a ghost that lived in the network, and all her data flowed through the network. The rift, which posed no threat to the real world, could devour Schilling without reservation. We already knew the nature of the rift, and we knew that any data sent to the rift would be lost. And Schilling, in essence, was an aggregation of data. If she slid into the rift, there would be no chance of her coming out.
A few minutes ago, she had experienced the most thrilling moment of her life, so she sent out a warning to the entire internet. Fortunately, the girl reacted quickly and was able to successfully escape from the rift valley. Now, other than a little shock, she did not seem to have suffered any other injuries, which was a relief.
"Didn't I tell you not to go there rashly?" After sighing at Schilling's good luck and cleverness, I could not help but blame her for putting herself in danger more than once. "Tawil is researching a solution. Can't you just stay put before that?"
Schilling seemed to know that she usually did not listen to people's advice, and that her behavior of exploring the rift on her own had caused trouble for others. She carefully hid most of her body behind her name tag, and only poked her little head out. "I know, but if I don't look at it, I will feel very uneasy. What if the rift suddenly expands and no one discovers it?"
"We should also think of a way to solve this matter." Shadora looked at the palm-sized Xi Ling. "Indeed, if a Gate of the Abyss appeared in the Shadow Space, no matter how well-behaved it is, we can't help but send people over to check it out … You said that the turbulence in the Rift Valley has increased recently? Didn't you say that it shrunk last time? "
"It did shrunk once, but then it suddenly became very active." Schilling's expression became solemn. "It was as if it woke up and stretched. This phenomenon started two days ago. Since then, the rift valley had been fluctuating frequently. In the past, the nodes that make up the rift would take a few hours to completely renew, but now, all the nodes in the rift will change locations in less than ten minutes. "
By then, the reason for the network-wide warning had been identified, and the host array naturally returned to normal. Tawil came down from the crystal pillar and returned to our side. She listened to Schilling's situation, and a thoughtful expression appeared on her face. "The frequency of activity has increased … What about the scale?"
"The scale hasn't changed much. The scale of the rift has never changed much."
"In other words, it hasn't become stronger, nor has it been weakened. It's just that the frequency of activity has increased," Tawil said thoughtfully. "This is a little strange …"
"What are you thinking of?" Sandora looked at Tawil and asked curiously.
"All this while, we have treated the rift as a 'phenomenon' without logic and self-consciousness," Tawil said slowly. "But now, it feels like a 'living being'. It has hibernation and activity periods, and it moves and updates its nodes on its own. It doesn't move according to any rules, and it doesn't have the rhythm of a normal network program. It's hard to believe that it's just a 'phenomenon' for something that can't be calculated. "
I was shocked. "Do you think that the rift is like Schilling? That it's a collective consciousness?"
"No, in terms of structure, the rift can't generate consciousness." Tawil shook his head. "So, it shouldn't be the rift that's conscious, but something related to the rift … The network itself, or some other cause of the rift. This' cause 'should be conscious, and its activity indirectly causes the rift to become active."
Sandora nodded and looked thoughtful. Then, she looked at Tawil and said, "This matter has to be resolved. I don't feel comfortable dragging it on like this. How's the connection device that you're working on? "
I knew that Tawil was working on an 'interface' that could allow people in the real world to connect to the spiritual network. Of course, the interface wasn't a primitive thing like a 'virtual helmet' or a 'neural intervention plug'. With Tawil's abilities, he could easily make a bunch of those. What Tawil was working on was a device that could encode souls and upload them to the spiritual network. Only with this level of uploading could people in the real world obtain the same perception as Schilling and observe the rift.
Due to the complexity of the apostle's spiritual network and the difficulty of operating on souls, it would be difficult to create such a device. But with Tawil's abilities, he should be able to make some progress.
"The original device is ready to use." Tawil first gave us a piece of good news, but then poured cold water on it. "But there are some problems … that aren't easy to solve."
Sandora raised her eyebrows. "Problems? What problems? "
"There are a few contradictions that I don't know whether to laugh or cry." Tawil shrugged. "First, this device is used to observe the spiritual network of the Shiring Apostles, but the user can't be a Shiring Apostle …"
I was instantly dumbfounded. "D * mn, why?"
"Because it will be assimilated." Tawil glanced at me. "The spiritual network is the sea of consciousness of billions of apostles, and the consciousness of a Shiring Apostle is a drop of seawater. No matter how powerful the Shiring Apostles are, the only thing that changes is the volume of the drop of seawater. In terms of composition, it will completely assimilate with the surrounding seawater. Once it enters the sea, it will never return. Of course, if the individual is strong enough, the apostle's consciousness won't disappear, but he will forever wander in the spiritual network because there isn't any device that can separate him from the surrounding network. If you insist on forcefully separating him from the network, it will greatly affect the stability of the entire network. "
Tawil's explanation was too easy to understand. I could only say that no one had thought of this in the beginning. No matter how strong an individual is, it would be impossible for him to go against the entire group, including himself. This was an unsolvable law. Even if Emperor Schilling completely released his spirit and uploaded it to the spiritual network of the entire Empire, there would be no possibility of him returning.
"If it's someone other than the Shiring Apostles, it will work, right?" Sandora could hear that there was some leeway in Tawil's words.
"Yes, the spirit of the Shiring Apostles will be assimilated by the spiritual network because the two come from the same source. If it's a soul other than the Shiring Apostles, it will have a clear 'mark' in the network. It will be easy to transfer it back to the real world. It's just like how an iron ball can be easily pulled up after falling into the sea."
Sandora glanced at me and nodded. "This problem seems to be solvable. There are many foreigners in the New Empire now."
I thought about it and felt that I might have to go out and save the world again.
As expected, Tawil nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty and the few Matriarchs can return safely after merging into the spiritual network of the Empire due to their special identities. However, the few Matriarchs must be eliminated first."
"Why?" Sandora and I asked in unison.
"Authority. This is a situation that I've only thought of recently." Tawil glanced at Schilling. "Only an individual with completely unrestricted authority can take on this task because the spiritual nodes of the Shiring Apostles form the rift. In theory, any node can become a part of the rift … Your Majesty, including the two of you. In theory, yes. "
I pointed at myself in disbelief and was tongue-tied.
"Exactly." Tawil nodded. "The rift is a network black hole formed by a large number of abnormal nodes. These abnormal nodes are not fixed and appear randomly. The probability of an abnormality appearing in every node is exactly the same. Therefore, the corresponding nodes of the two of you in the spiritual network also have the possibility of becoming a part of the rift. Therefore, we must upload an individual with the highest authority to take on this task. The few Matriarchs meet the requirements in terms of their status as' Foreign Apostles', but they don't have the authority to become Emperors. Limited by the complexity of the authority system, they can't make temporary decisions. Therefore, it's very dangerous to upload them into the network. What if the two of you or Her Majesty Halland and Her Majesty Belavilla's nodes suddenly join the rift while they are inspecting the rift …"
"If an individual with lower authority interferes with an individual with higher authority, it will lead to a serious system error or even a network crash." Sandora took a deep breath. "We are tampering with the foundation of the Empire's authority system. This is too dangerous!"
I racked my brain for a long time before I finally reacted. "Oh, so I'm the only one who meets the requirements in the end? Foreign Apostle, the highest authority. Can't you just let me do it? "
"That's right, but the risk is too great." Tawil had sighed for the umpteenth time. Her expression was especially resentful, powerless, and auspicious. It was as though she had worked hard for ten years to save up for the down payment only to be shocked by the collapse of the currency the day before she bought a house. "Your Majesty, you are the only individual who can be uploaded into the network and complete the mission. However, we don't know what's going on with the rift. There is a theory that the rift was left behind when the Fifteen Celestial Zones and the Empire's main network were separated. The other side of the rift might be the collective consciousness of the Fallen Apostles. Your Majesty, if that is really the case, once you are discovered after you cross the rift, you will face the attack of all the Fallen Apostles!"
I instantly felt goosebumps all over my body. This … this is a little too dangerous.
"The other side of the rift is the spiritual network of the Fallen Apostles?" Sandora raised her eyebrows as she glanced at Tawil. "Is this your most recent conjecture?"
"Yes, it hasn't been verified yet. I can only say that it's a whimsical idea." Tawil nodded. "However, this matter is of great importance. Even if there is only a one in a million possibility, we can't let the head of the Empire take such a risk alone. The souls of Void Creatures are indeed extremely powerful, but I will be frank with you. I'm afraid that it won't be able to go against the overall ideology of the Fallen Apostles. "
I thought about it. If the situation that Tawil had described really happened, then I would probably be washed into an idiot. I would go out at half past eight every morning to look at the sun and laugh foolishly … The consequences would make me shudder!
"It would be great if there were a few more helpers." Sandora looked at me with a conflicted expression. "If we upload them together, we would be able to take care of each other. I won't feel at ease letting you go alone."
What Sandora said was also what I was thinking about, but it was also the most unsolvable problem. In order to prevent the system from collapsing, we could only upload an Emperor-level person into the spiritual network. This Emperor-level person couldn't even be the original Shiring Apostles. Then, where could we find someone who was a Foreign Apostle and had the authority of an Emperor who could be uploaded into the spiritual network and come back alive?
I reckoned that if we couldn't find someone strong enough to go with us, Sandora would rather die than let me set off alone.
According to the general train of thought, the solution to this problem would be like this: Find a lady with a good enough foundation in the family — for example, big sister — and then let her go out to farm for military achievements and experience. In the Empire's authority system, the fastest way to increase one's authority was through experience in war and contributions in science and technology. The latter was out of the question, but at the very least, it wouldn't be a problem for those who fought in the family. Sandora made a rough calculation. If we didn't include the effort to expand the territory and only focused on war, then with big sister's current authority foundation, she would need to be unparalleled in the main camp of the Fallen Apostles for more than two hundred years. If we were to include the expansion of the territory, then big sister would need to conquer half of the new Empire's territory and at the same time, be unparalleled in the main camp of the Fallen Apostles for a hundred years …
I couldn't stay calm anymore. "Why is the requirement to increase my authority so cruel?!"
Sandora looked at me silently. "Ah Jun, it's because your authority came too quickly, so you didn't feel it. Among the one hundred and thirty-five emperors of the old Empire, which one of them ascended to the throne before the age of a thousand? As a warring race, if you don't have ten to twenty thousand war achievements in your hands, you wouldn't be able to say that you have fought in a war."
I said, "… Then let's think of another way."
After Sandora and I returned home, we had a heated discussion about this topic for a long time. This was because the matter of the "Rift Valley" was becoming more and more urgent. It had already posed a fatal threat to Schilling. No one knew if Schilling would be so lucky to escape again. So, no matter how difficult it was, we had to think of a way to solve this problem.
Later, I realized that I couldn't find anyone else who met the requirements, so I could only grit my teeth and say, "Forget it, it seems like I have to go by myself … It shouldn't be a problem if I'm careful."
Just as Sandora was about to open her mouth to stop me, a lazy voice came from the side, "Say, the two of you have been whispering to each other ever since you came back. What are you doing?"
I turned my head and saw Icetis sitting on the sofa while yawning. Then, she took out the TV remote control from the sofa and changed the channel. She didn't have any programs that she liked to watch, but she liked to change the channel. So, half a year ago, the TV at home was switched to Schilling technology. Otherwise, if one TV broke every three days, they wouldn't be able to afford it.
"We're discussing serious matters. Who's as idle as you?" Sandora glared at the female pervert. Usually, her biggest complaint about Icetis was the latter's lazy attitude.
"Tell me, tell me!" As expected, Icetis was interested. She shamelessly swung Sandora's arm and said, "I love to join in the fun!"
Don't expect to get rid of this female pervert if you make her interested. After interacting with her for so long, I already had this feeling. Sandora had known her for tens of millions of years, so of course, she had the same feeling. Thus, we told Icetis about the rift valley and Schilling technology. Sandora even used a bunch of high-tech terms. I could tell that Her Majesty the Queen was planning to drown the female pervert with scientific terms …
However, what was surprising was that the female pervert didn't drown. She even flopped on the ocean of science, "Oh, so you want to upload Chen to the network to check the situation in the rift valley. However, the situation on the other side might be very dangerous, so you want to find someone to go with you. But now, you can't find anyone who fits the requirements, so Chen is going to die alone, right?"
I looked at Icetis in surprise, "Aren't you a technological idiot?"
The female pervert swung her leg over, "You're the idiot! I already filtered out the words I don't understand, this is all that's left! Damn, are you going to let go or not … "
I grabbed onto Icetis's ankle and didn't dare to let go. This female pervert's kick broke the sound barrier!
Thus, Bryndis maintained his posture of having his legs blocked. He said to Shadora and me with an enigmatic expression, "Don't worry about me.
"Actually, I can go with you, do you believe me?"
"No." Sandora didn't even hesitate for a second, "You're not the Shiring Apostles, and you don't have the authority to authenticate. How can you upload?"
"I'll hitch a ride." The female pervert raised her eyebrows, "Have you heard of Soul Resonance?"
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