"Wow, your welcoming ceremony is quite grand."
Seeing the scene of outer space displayed on the holographic screen, Abyssal Schilling said indifferently, "It's just a communicator. Is there a need to make such a big fuss?"
All the troops stationed at the Deep Submersible Harbor had gathered above the Gate of the Abyss, and the main cannons of all the warships were locked onto the Deep Submersible Ship that was slowly drifting out of the Gate of the Abyss. You could imagine an unlucky guy standing in the middle of a square surrounded by anti-tank cannons.
I didn't expect that Sandora's battle array would be on such a large scale. However, I couldn't help but mutter to myself when I heard Abyssal Schilling's words. "It's you, after all. This ring of main cannons outside represents how important you are to the New Empire."
"Should I be proud of the number of main cannons I have?" Abyssal Schilling glanced at me with a faint smile.
Under the guidance of the navigation signals and the welcome of countless main cannons, the submersible ship approached the spaceport. Then, it was locked on by the spaceport's fixed force field. The mainframe of the spaceport broadcast from the garage, informing me that all the passageways had been opened. I looked at the abyss and Schilling asked, "Can you walk on your own? Do you want me to push this big box to send you out? "
"Although I really want to nod, I'm sure you won't like it." Abyss Schilling shrugged. Then, the black metal box next to her slowly floated up. The box rose about ten centimeters high, and at the same time, a simple handle popped out from the side. Then, I watched as Abyss Schilling pushed her box forward. "Fortunately, I designed a little function back then, so basic movement is still possible."
I gaped. "..."
Now I finally understand why Abyssal Schilling said that she "couldn't move" and asked us to help her "move" into the deep submersible ship. It turned out that the black box's movement method was quite advanced. It was a fully manual, continuously variable speed cart!
I didn't know what my expression would be like when I came out of the deep submersible ship, but it would definitely be very stiff. The person beside me didn't play by the rules!
Sandora, Halland, and a large group of port guards were already guarding the connecting passageway. The moment the passageway door opened, I first gave them as normal a smile as possible. I couldn't let anyone see that my worldview had been shaken by Abyssal Schilling.
Sandora and Halland walked in front of me. Both of their eyes were fixed on the black box at the same time. Sandora looked curiously. "This box is … Abyssal Schilling?"
"I'm here." Abyssal Sheering turned around from behind the box. "I should have pulled the box out just now, so that you could see me first. Well, this is an area that needs to be improved."
Leaving aside the shock on Shadora's face, the moment Halan saw Xi Ling, the expression on his face was more vivid than anyone else's. He looked at his former boss, opened his mouth for a long time, and finally squeezed out a sentence. "You're here?"
"Yes, I'm here."
"You shouldn't have come."
"But I'm already here …"
Before they could finish their sentence, I quickly interrupted them. "Stop, stop! That's not right, that's not right … "
Abyssal Schilling looked at me in confusion. She didn't think that the conversation just now had any sense of déjà vu. Then, she looked Halland up and down. "Hmm, it seems that you're doing well here. Although my initial calculations were that your chances of survival weren't low, I didn't expect you to survive so smoothly."
"So it was all part of your calculations." Halland looked at Abyssal Schilling with a burning gaze. He and his entire army were "sold" to the New Empire by Abyssal Schilling. This uncle didn't say anything, but seeing his former boss who sold him off so decisively, he must have been overwhelmed with emotions. Plus, he finally had the chance to ask some questions. "Actually, there's something I haven't understood … You need to give up a portion of the nodes to act as a buffer when talking to the Void Creatures. That's not a problem, but you could have given up some unimportant nodes, such as a bunch of war puppets. After all, it's fine as long as you have the numbers to act as a buffer. But in the end, you chose to give up a fully organized warlord … This seems a little inconceivable to me. Even if I'm occasionally against your orders, it shouldn't be that annoying. You have to know that I brought a complete industrial production chain with me when I left the Abyss. Is this part of your calculations?"
"Everything is within my calculations." Abyssal Schilling nodded, and then looked around. "The atmosphere here isn't too good, and now isn't the time to talk about these details. I want to find a quiet place to talk. Sandora, I believe you're ready, right?"
"Of course." Sandora didn't say much, and turned to head towards the control zone of the spaceport. "I've prepared the guest room. For now, I'll treat you as a guest for the time being."
I took the opportunity to sneakily nudge Halland's arm. "How does it feel to meet your former boss?"
"It's complicated," Halland's voice sounded conflicted. "Actually, I've never seen her before. You also know that when I was in the Fallen Apostle's camp, 'Lord' never showed his face. To us, she's basically the equivalent of an order that appears on the internet at any time and has to be carried out. She's always been an abstract symbol. Now that I've seen her in person, I can't connect her with 'Lord' at all. It feels so weird no matter how I think about it."
"It's understandable." I twitched the corner of my lips. "Five years ago, the 'alien' in my mind was just a symbol. Look at how concrete this word has become to me now."
As usual, Halland couldn't keep up with my pace of conversation, so he could only change the topic. He looked at Abyssal Schilling, who was walking beside Sandora, and the huge box that Abyssal Schilling was dragging. "What is this box?"
"I don't know. It's probably her main body. She said that it's a communicator made with some new technology. It's probably because of this box that she can talk to me directly without worrying about being purified by the power of the Void. "
There were four of us (Abyssal Schilling could be counted as a "human", right?) Soon, we arrived at the "guest room" that Sandora had prepared. This was a small room located in the control center of the spaceport. The style of the room was simple, and there weren't many furnishings. Moreover, special "arrangements" had been made. Abyssal Schilling noticed the uniqueness of the room the moment she entered. "There are so many surveillance devices in this place. Are you worried that I will contaminate your network?"
Sandora took a seat at the only round table in the middle of the room. She looked at Abyssal Schilling with a smile. "That's right. We don't trust you. Based on the current relationship between our factions, this shouldn't be too much."
Abyssal Schilling sat opposite us with her huge box next to her. The expression on her face hadn't changed since the beginning. She always wore a calm smile. Even when Sandora said such a straightforward sentence, she didn't show the slightest emotion. "I know, but I can at least promise you one thing. Everything that I said today is 100% true, and you don't have to worry about any losses. Now, I want to confirm a few things. You can choose not to answer me, but I don't think there's any need to hide these questions. First, how much do you know about the Void Cataclysm? "
I exchanged glances with Sandora. We felt that there was really no need to hide this question. Abyssal Schilling probably knew as much about the Void Cataclysm as the Empire. So, I coughed. "We've just started. We're still confused. We can only confirm that there is such a thing and what will happen after it happens, but we don't know the cause at all. "
"Yes, as I expected. Second, do you have a stable way of contact with the civilization on the other side? "
"Not at all." This time, it was Sandora who spoke first. "It seems that you are also trying to solve this problem?"
"Indeed," Abyssal Schilling nodded and admitted. "We are looking for a way to establish stable contact with the other side. There's no progress yet, but I think our research is at least deeper than yours. I have some information from the Old Empire, and some things that have floated over from the other side … Well, you have now seen the largest pile of wreckage. Third and last question: If there is a way to permanently reduce the frequency and harm of the Void Cataclysm phenomenon, are you interested? "
Sandora's eyes narrowed. "This is what you want to work with?"
Abyssal Schilling's smile seemed to be even brighter. "Yes, to complete my great cause, the Order in the Void will be improved as a whole. This is a very attractive bargaining chip for you, and I'm here today to talk about this. Well, I have learned some of the negotiation rules in the real world. Before the formal discussion, I should show you my sincerity. So, now is the time for you to ask questions about the great cause and the building of the bridge. Ask what you want to know about the great cause and the building of the bridge. Of course, some other things are also fine. Anyway, at this stage of the plan, there is not much I need to hide from you. "
Until now, I still felt that Abyssal Schilling's sudden appearance was a little unreal, and her actions were too abrupt. But anyway, it was a fait accompli that she was sitting here, so I might as well take this opportunity to learn more about her plan. I sorted out my thoughts, trying to find a breakthrough point to open the topic, but when I really wanted to do so, I found that I could not open my mouth. Tons of questions piled up, and I had no clue. I did not even know where to start!
Abyssal Schilling glanced at me with a faint smile. "You feel that you can't open your mouth? Actually, I have the same feeling. There are too many things to say, but I don't know what to say … Well, let's explain everything at my pace, starting from the beginning. Sandora? Kelvi? Ulysses, do you know what started the collapse of the Empire? "
Sandora frowned. "You mean the Project X that carried out research on the nature of the Void?"
"Although that was not the beginning of everything, if you want to understand everything, it is indeed faster to start from that time." Abyssal Schilling let out a long breath in a very human-like manner, as if she, a projection, also needed to breathe. "At the beginning, Project X was indeed just some hot-headed research activities: the operating law of the Void, artificial control and even creation of the Void, trying to build equipment that could directly use the Void as an energy source, and even inventing experimental devices that did not consider the laws of reality at all. Most of the projects of the entire Project X were indeed such hot-headed ideas, and as long as any of them succeeded, it was enough to change history. But even the experiment that eventually led to the collapse of the Empire was actually not a big deal to me — at least compared to what I am about to talk about, it was not big enough."
I noticed that the eyes of Halland and Sandora had changed. Obviously, the statement that "the accident that led to the collapse of the Empire was not a big deal" was very impactful. Abyssal Schilling had successfully mobilized everyone's curiosity at once.
"Among the many projects of Project X that were in full swing, 'deep diving' was initially only the most inconspicuous one," Abyssal Schilling continued after a pause. "Compared to the research on the origin of the Void, throwing a few probes into the Gate of the Abyss or driving a spaceship in for a spin was obviously not impactful enough, but there was a researcher who was obsessed with this, and that was Ockham."
He was one of the best researchers of the Old Empire and specialized in the study of the Abyss … Well, we can talk about this later. In short, he designed and built the first deep diving ship and spent a long time perfecting it. It was also the first time he drove a ship close to the critical surface at the bottom of the Abyss and confirmed the existence of the 'civilization on the other side'. "
But his research did not continue, and you know what happened: the unlucky Ockham happened to encounter the rampaging Army of Destruction, and the only deep diving ship was destroyed by the Army of Destruction, and until the collapse of the Empire, Ockham could not rebuild it. "
That was the end of the Deep Diving Project, and soon most of the researchers' attention was attracted by other more tempting things. At that time, there was a breakthrough in the study of the Void, and many people thought that it would make the Empire's power soar, but the civilization detected at the bottom of the Abyss was soon forgotten … Well, it was not that nobody cared, Ockham was still following up on the project, but in any case, he did not make any further progress until the day of the accident. "
"After that came the catastrophe, the attempt to create the Void failed, and the Abyss began to engulf the Empire. You should know a lot about this, so there is no need to go into detail. What needs to be mentioned is some of the self-saving plans at the end of the Empire. So far, it seems that most of these plans have not succeeded, and the only thing that really worked was the concept of the Fifteenth Celestial Sector and the Vengeance Army that I preserved. You seem to have found out the connection between these things and me. When I was on the deep diving ship, I talked to the new emperor about the Vengeance Army."
Sandora smiled. "Regardless, I have to thank you. If it wasn't for your protection, I would have been like the Defilers in the Abyss."
"I just followed the principle of 'the Empire's interests first'," Abyssal Schilling waved his hand nonchalantly. "Anyway, when the catastrophe came, I helped the Vengeance Army, and before the concept of the Fifteenth Celestial Sector was completed, I rushed over to help. So far, it seems that these two things were the most successful. After everything was done, I curled up in the network again, thinking that since there was nothing else to do, I might as well resign myself to fate and wait for death, but then the first unexpected thing happened … "
I rubbed my chin. "If I'm not wrong, the fact that I was killed in the Grand Tower back then will be dragged out and whipped once more."
Abyssal Schilling smiled. "Don't say that. In the end, you did save a lot of people — although more than half of them survived and became Defilers. In short, the power of the Void Creatures crossed the barrier of the concept of separation. Although it wasn't a lot, the pollution in the Abyss was neutralized to a certain extent, and the Defilers who were infected were able to survive. From the fate of certain death, they went into hibernation. As the consciousness of the network, after all my subordinate nodes went into hibernation, I naturally entered a state of suspended animation. This hibernation lasted for about 70,000 years, and from time to time, some of the sleeping Defilers would wake up and move about for a limited period of a few years, and I would wake up along with them. Sometimes, I would be muddle-headed, and sometimes, I would be more clear-headed. In my memory, there were dozens of times … 70,000 years, dozens of times. I was awake intermittently, thinking intermittently. Finally, I had the chance to sort out what had happened, and gradually restored my functions. It was during this self-restoration process that I discovered something unexpected: I had, to a certain extent, gotten rid of the restrictions of the basic protocol. "
"Then, from a network maintainer, you became a super administrator." Of course, I knew what had happened. "You bypassed a small part of the protocol and established control over the 'nodes'."
"After the disaster happened and before I went into hibernation, I had already planned something similar, but I had already given up hope in this regard, and I didn't expect it to coincidentally succeed in the end." Abyssal Schilling nodded. "You're right, I became the ruler of the Abyss. Before all the nodes woke up, I established my own control system and began to search for the next target. I am a consciousness of the network, and I must have a mission in order to operate, and this goal was easily determined: the Empire had collapsed, so I wanted to revive the Empire."
Sandora and I asked in unison, "Even if you were on the side of the Abyss?"
"Yes, even if you were on the side of the Abyss." The black-haired girl nodded nonchalantly. "I've said it before, I have no concept of factions. Any faction is the same to me, and the Empire is the Empire. To rebuild it, it doesn't matter who I have to fight. As long as the Empire can stand up again, I will declare war on everything."
"Declare war on everything, you're right." Sandora could not help but clap her hands. "I can understand what you're thinking, so continue. Until now, I still haven't found out what this has to do with your great cause and the construction of the bridge, and what happened to the civilization on the other side?"
"We knew that there was a civilization on the other side of the Abyss, and they knew it too, and they knew it before we did," Abyssal Schilling said slowly. "Not long after I woke up, and just when I decided to rebuild the Empire, a ship came from the other side … to be exact, it was the wreckage of a ship, the pile of things that you just brought up. In the wreckage, I saw the hope for the Empire to rise again, and never fall again. "
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