Regarding the 'individual with special authority' who isolated the Avengers to the safe zone and created these exiled arks, both Shadora and I thought of the collective consciousness on the Empire's main data network: Xi Ling. However, there was something that Shadora didn't understand, which was why she wasn't completely sure of our guesses. That was — how did Xi Ling violate the basic agreement?
Now, there was a collective consciousness in the New Empire. Although it was much weaker than the collective consciousness of the Abyss, the two were essentially the same. Through studying the ever-changing maiden in the City of Shadows, we had already grasped the collective consciousness' activities and rules of behavior. So, Schilling, who preserved the tinder and created the Ark of Refuge, must have followed these rules. Although he had become the ultimate authority in the Fallen Apostle's camp, before the power of the Abyss completely distorted the Data Network, the Abyss Schilling was restricted by the basic agreement.
The basic agreement determined that the Emperor had the highest authority over the Data Network. It also determined that the collective consciousness's actions should be based on network security. These two points were the biggest difficulty of the Tinder Project. If the collective consciousness's authority was lower than the Emperor's, then it couldn't bypass the Emperor's surveillance to secretly create the spaceships. With network security as the highest rule, the collective consciousness couldn't separate Sandora and her personal guards from the Data Network (this was an act of destroying network nodes). These two principles should have been impossible for the Abyss Schilling to violate.
I frowned and thought hard for a long time. I vaguely felt that this might be related to the Abyss. "Sandora, what if the three Emperors of the Heavens were already dead?"
"You mean … there was no supervision?" Sandora raised her eyebrows. "You mean that these spaceships were created after the three Heavens were contaminated by the Abyss. So, at that time, the data in those Heavens no longer followed the network agreement?"
"That's possible." I nodded uncertainly. "Think about it. Why were these spaceships jointly created by the three Heavens instead of one or four? I don't think it was because the Abyssal Schilling needed three Celestial Zones, but because there were only three Celestial Zones that met the requirements. Only in these three Celestial Zones could the Abyssal Schilling avoid the constraints of the network protocol. The local emperor has been killed, and the ruling system has collapsed. According to another security constraint, when the operator cannot guarantee the system security, the system AI or the program on the network can take over the local equipment. Abyssal Schilling must have used this constraint to take over the remaining spaceports in the three heavens. "
The restriction I mentioned is one of the common protocols found in various Empire devices. We all know that the things created by the Empire have one thing in common, which is that they have extremely high AI and can think for anything. Sometimes, when a spaceship is blown into pieces, its turrets that were blown away can also become AI floating cannons on the spot and continue to fight for a while. Even some of the spaceship fragments that were blown away can become intelligent and float around in space to organize a defensive position. This ability of each disassembled device to think independently and operate independently is based on this "emergency initiative" agreement. This agreement stipulates that when an unexpected situation occurs that causes people in a certain area to be unable to control the equipment normally, and the current area is under great threat, all the local equipment that can think independently will operate independently, and various automatic programs located on the network will also take over the facilities that are not intelligent enough. This agreement obviously also applies to the Schilling Collective Consciousness which is itself a "giant program".
However, under normal circumstances, this agreement would only be effective on one battlefield at most. But during the collapse of the Old Empire, the effective scope of this agreement was expanded to the Celestial Zone. Even so, the agreement was still effective.
"Bypassing the human surveillance, activating the spaceport, and using automated equipment from start to finish to build these spaceships …" Sandora scratched her chin, trying to recreate the process of how the Abyssal Schilling built these arks. "This process should not have any human involvement. If it was the three polluted Celestial Zones, she would not have been able to find many Empire soldiers for her to deploy, but the advanced spaceport does have the ability to build some spaceships without human involvement. Alright, this explanation makes sense. For now, we will assume that the Abyssal Schilling found a small, uninfected colony in the three polluted Celestial Zones and built a batch of exiled spaceships in the corner. I will not pursue the details, perhaps only she knows … But how should I explain the problem? She cut off the connection between the Avenger Army and the Data Network. This is equivalent to destroying the network node, and to her, it is also an act of self-harm. The network agreement does not allow this. "
"Under normal circumstances, it is impossible to cut off the network, but if the network malfunctioned, it should not be a problem to block the malfunction points according to the security rules." I already understood what was going on. "Don't forget, at that time, the Abyssal Schilling was already infected … Actually, in theory, she should have been infected first, because the Abyssal Shock directly spread through her body. However, this collective consciousness is too large, no matter how fast the infection spread, she was still conscious for a longer period of time than the others. So, in the matter of 'cutting off the network', she actually followed the protocol. When a part of the node is dead, the monitoring program of the Data Network can disconnect these nodes, which is in line with the rules. So, in fact, she did not cut off the Avenger Army from the network, she cut off herself. To the entire network, she herself was the 'dead node' that was infected. She followed the security rules and cut off this dead node from your normal node. "
Thinking about the situation in reverse, everything suddenly made sense.
This was a shocking conjecture, but at least until now, all the details were in line with the truth.
"In the end, it is still our conjecture." Sandora suddenly sighed softly. "If all this is true, I really do not know how to feel. The person who actively planned so many plans to preserve the Schilling civilization and protected the Avenger Army is now the supreme commander of the Fallen Apostles. Is there anything more ironic than this?"
I was speechless and could only spread my hands with a strange expression. Over the years, I have encountered many dramatic things. The document library built to preserve the civilization almost turned into a disaster. The greatest scientist of the Old Empire became the most cunning enemy of the New Empire. Halland, who once protected the Tree Elf civilization and left behind advice to other civilizations, became the most powerful Fallen Emperor in the Abyss Faction. Of course, if what we encountered today was really as I and Sandora had speculated, it should be the most dramatic of all dramas.
The highest commander of the Fallen Apostles had done his best to protect the tinder of civilization back then. He had even sacrificed his life for this. Even Shadora and her personal guards might have been personally protected by Xi Ling from the abyss … Who would dare to believe this?!
The scene fell silent. Although it was just as Sandora had said: everything was just conjecture, considering that only the collective consciousness on the internet had the ability to do all this during the Old Empire, this conjecture could almost be said to be the truth. Now, there was an explanation for the strange "blank state" of the spaceship. The reason why it did not have a military emblem and code on its outer shell was because its designer and builder was a collective consciousness that lived on the internet. This collective consciousness did not need any means of identification in the real world. Embedding a nameplate on the equipment was meaningless to the Abyss Schilling. That was why the spaceship was so strange. The strange code on the spaceship's mainframe was probably also the reason. The Abyss Schilling could easily identify it herself.
As for how the Abyss Schilling sent the servant army to the spaceship and how she gave them the mission, it was not clear at the moment. But it should be a small problem. She had the ability to affect the real world, so she had the ability to issue the mission. At that time, the Empire was in chaos. The vassal races were running around like headless flies. How could they have the energy to identify the source of the order? It was enough to know that there was an ark ready to break out of the siege.
Liliana had been lowering her head and thinking about something. Suddenly, she broke the silence. "Boss, since Big Sis was isolated by the Abyss Schilling, why didn't the Abyss Schilling go after the Army of Vengeance after she was completely corrupted? Didn't she know that she had left a disaster behind? "
Sandora and I were shocked. Liliana was indeed Liliana. This fake loli who was black to the bone could always think about the darkest side of things. The Abyss Schilling had a completely different personality before and after she was controlled. So why didn't she get rid of the disaster she had left behind after she fell?
"Maybe she had already realized that she would go crazy like the rest of the Imperial Army, so she deleted the coordinates of that world. Or she might have simply erased the entire plan from her database." Sandora looked at the message that was still playing on loop. "She is a meticulous person. It is impossible that she did not think of these backup plans."
"Anyway, let's leave it at that." I was really troubled by all these messy things. Plus, unless I could find the Abyss Schilling and confront her, all the guesses about the truth of the past could only be guesses. So, I might as well end the topic here. "Let's tacitly agree that the Abyss Schilling was the great savior of the past. Anyway, this will not affect the current situation between the New Empire and the Fallen Apostle … There should be nothing else here. Should we tow the spaceship back?"
"Let's call it a day and go home." Sandora crossed her arms and shook her head slightly. "I am also a little confused. I need to go back and sort it out."
After that, the scouts and staff who entered the Specter Ship quickly took over. The few of us returned to the engineering/research ship. Before we left, I told the people who came to take over some things to pay attention to: Do not destroy the traces of Warren Ferd's life, and do not destroy the small farmland. Sandora also emphasized this point. The Empire's soldiers were a little surprised when the two princes ordered them to take care of these inconspicuous things at the same time. However, the Shiring Apostles' talent in obeying orders kept them from asking too many questions. But when faced with the relics, the Empire's soldiers acted as if they were facing a formidable enemy. A small group of soldiers even set up twenty machine gun turrets around the farmland. I had no idea who they were defending against …
When we returned to the spaceship, the strange and solemn expressions on Sandora's and my faces did not escape the eyes of the others. Even a simple-minded girl like Shallow Shallow noticed it. She came up to me and asked if Sandora and I had eaten the expired food on the Specter Ship. Although the direction of her concern was not quite right, it was enough to prove how obvious our expressions were. So, we gathered everyone together and announced what we had seen on the Specter Ship.
The news was unexpected, soul-stirring, and shocking. Everyone, including Icetis, was shocked from the start to the end. Everyone was naturally moved by the incident with Warren Ferd and the mainframe, but they were more shocked by the speculation about Abyssal Schilling. It was a speculation that overturned everyone's understanding and worldview.
"I really want to go and confront Abyssal Schilling face to face," Icetis said what was on everyone's mind. "Unfortunately, we found out about this news a little too late. Back in the 'Rift Valley', we had already talked to Abyssal Schilling face-to-face. If only we had met this Specter Ship back then … we would never have the chance to meet that guy again."
Sandora was quite considerate towards her good friends. "If you want to die, go ahead. I won't stop you."
I said, "… Actually, there is not much meaning in finding Abyssal Schilling now. She is no longer the collective consciousness that protected the civilization with all her might. Even if she admits that she did it, it is useless. She still has to fight."
Shallow Shallow looked at me and said, "Ah Jun, why don't you try punching me in the face …"
I was shocked by this girl. "Shallow Shallow, please don't think like that. Abyssal Schilling is the collective consciousness of the entire Fallen Apostle community. Do you know how big her soul is? Besides, even if I have the ability to purify … where can I find Abyssal Schilling's' face '? At most, she only has one interface like Schilling in the real world."
Shallow Shallow thought about it and agreed with me. In the end, she did not say anything.
"Xi Ling No. 6" was towed back to the City of Shadows in the late afternoon of the same day. This ancient spaceship, which was so dilapidated that it was on the verge of disintegration, still had to undergo a series of procedures. First of all, structural reinforcement and internal repairs. I was really worried that its severely aged and leaking energy core would suddenly explode. With the current state of the Specter Ship, I wouldn't be surprised if it really disintegrated. After that, the technicians would copy the ship's database and hand it over to Tawil and her research team to deal with. As an ark that inherited the civilization, it definitely had a large database. There would definitely be valuable technical information and some audio and video records of the old Empire (Warren Ferd's diary also mentioned these). These things were very precious.
The plan that Abyssal Schilling had painstakingly come up with back then was beyond recognition. Most parts of the plan did not go according to her plan. Regardless, after a series of dramatic events, the plan finally partially came to fruition. Sandora and her Avengers were saved and became an important cornerstone of the new Empire. The information in the ark also passed through several hands and returned to the Empire's hands. However, the way that the plan was carried out was definitely very different from what the planner had expected.
I did not know how Abyssal Schilling would feel if she knew what had happened here. Even if she had changed her temperament, she would probably be dumbfounded by the twists and turns of fate.
After returning home, Sandora and I went through everything again in the room. Basically, we confirmed that Schilling was the one who created these exiled spaceships and shielded the Avengers (specifically, Abyssal Schilling). We also suddenly understood the meaning of the names of these exiled spaceships. Everything was so simple. These spaceships were coded in the form of "Schilling" and "serial number". The reason was … the collective consciousness named the spaceships after itself.
But now, the collective consciousness that created the spaceships had to add the word "Abyssal" in front of its name.
"Although the collapse of the old Empire was swift, it was still a colossus. The process of its collapse took about a few hundred years." Sandora leaned against the headboard. Her eyes were a little dazed. "The Empyreans that were not destroyed at the first moment basically took measures to save themselves. Even if they couldn't save themselves, they tried their best to protect the races within their sphere of influence that had not yet been infected. Things like the exiled arks and the wandering planets, who knows how many of them there were back then. But I never expected that there would be an internet ghost among those who took measures to save themselves … Before that, no one realized the existence of this ghost. After that, she became the leader of the Abyssal Empire. This Abyssal Schilling is really an incredible person. "
I sat next to Sandora and stretched out my hand to stroke her hair. "Now that I think about it, Abyssal Schilling's self-saving actions back then weren't very effective. The document library plan failed completely. Halland only had time to save the Tree Elf and leave a suicide note. We haven't seen any of the other fleets or civilization's tinder. Based on this, only two people's' tinder protection 'was successful. One was my elder sister who had the foresight to protect half of the Empyreans. The other one was Abyssal Schilling. She protected you. Perhaps I should thank her. If it wasn't for the safety barrier back then, I wouldn't have been able to see you. "
Sandora smiled warmly. Then, she seemed to have suddenly thought of something. "That might not be the case. With my power, even if I were to be devoured by the Abyssal Schilling, I wouldn't die. I would become a Fallen Apostle like the others. Then, we would still be able to meet. If I'm lucky, I would be able to meet him after you awakened your superpower. We would still be together, but you would have to beat me up …"
I asked, "Isn't this topic a little too weird?"
Sandora thought for a moment and shuddered. She awkwardly rolled around on the bed. "Alright, let's not talk about such heavy topics. Let's talk about something lighter. Ah Jun, I'm hungry. I want to eat in the house today. Can you help me bring the food up?"
I was speechless.
This topic was even more 'heavy'!
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