Pestilence and destruction ravaged every corner of the Empire Zone after the calamity erupted, plunging the entire Imperial Zone into raging tides of destruction. In the face of the Apocalypse of Equality, all races, strong or weak, met their end. Former protectors became butchers, former homes became demonic dens, the flames of civilization extinguished as millions of worlds were reduced to ash — those who did not personally experience that calamity would never be able to imagine the devastation and panic when it struck. Even if more historical records and ruins were unearthed in the future, it would be difficult to recreate the horror of the past.
Amidst the howling winds and waves of the apocalypse, other than a small group of lucky ones who managed to escape from the polluted zone or the Empire who risked their lives to save them, most of the races did not even have time to fight back before they were wiped out. However, there were still some races trapped in the Empire's zone that survived. They happened to fall into the sights of the Abyss Xi Ling, who had not completely gone mad yet, and so this group of fellows who were unlucky or not were protected.
It was not possible to send these survivors out of the Empire zone. The border had been sealed, and all the World Gates leading to the distant borders had been stopped or blown up by the local guards while they were still conscious. Since the pollution was completely out of control, sending more survivors out of the Empire zone meant that the chances of the pollution spreading would increase exponentially. So Abyssal Schilling did the last thing she could do: she gathered the survivors of the various races and sent them all to the last untouched world in the polluted zone, and then she buried the world deep under the ruins of the old Empire. Although the disaster destroyed everything, Abyssal Schilling was the wisest collective consciousness in the entire Empire, and at the end of the disaster, she had completely controlled all the resources in the mental network. So she succeeded in building something like a protective layer, isolating the entire universe as if invisible in the void. She had won the bet, and the Abyss did not spread to this sanctuary.
This protective layer was the strange interference that Sandora and I had encountered. It turned out that Abyssal Schilling had used the last bit of her consciousness to set up a protective layer, and it worked well. Even after tens of thousands of years, it had not been affected.
But just a protective layer was not enough. Even the strongest defense could be easily breached from the inside. Moreover, no one knew when the unprecedented pollution in the Empire zone would dissipate (Abyssal Schilling had once hoped that the pollution would dissipate on its own). Mortals had short lifespans and were prone to abnormalities, and it was especially easy for their inheritance to be broken and history to be distorted after many years. So before Abyssal Schilling left, she specifically instructed the three long-lived races among the survivors: the tree elves, the white elves, and the high elves to find a way to control the behavior of the other races. To put it simply: hold your breath.
And in the end, the three elven races established the "Lost Church" to carry out this mission to this day.
All races were silenced when the fires of civilization were extinguished, and the Void Mother welcomed the winter of technology. They were the last batch of hatchlings that the Void Mother had carefully hidden in the caves, and so they had to learn to live in the caves, for even a glance out of the caves would be a hundred percent fatal. That was why they extinguished the fire, shut their mouths, and even sealed their own intelligence before desperately digging deeper into the caves. We did not find any life in other parts of the universe, only a few scattered space facilities. The reason was simple: after many generations of planned natural population decline, the survivors had managed to reduce the total population to the point where they could survive on a single planet. They abandoned the once established alien colonies and all moved back to the planet they first landed on.
"The establishment of the Lost Faith went through many twists and turns. It was the final plan that we came up with after trying various means." Bishop Gale was the most senior person present. Now more than 70,000 years old, he was already one of the most respected commanders of the tree elves during the era of the Old Empire. He once received the mission of Abyssal Schilling in front of a MDT. No one was more qualified to speak about the history of the Lost Faith than him. At this moment, the old man was in high spirits. His wrinkled face slowly melted away and finally solidified into pride and open-mindedness. "It was the most extreme plan, but … we had no other choice. We could only rely on the people's terrifying memories of the cataclysm to control their own words and actions. After that, we tried to centralize power with high pressure for thirty years. The efficiency increased, and the regulatory measures became stricter, but it only brought about an unbearable and oppressive social atmosphere. Although the small races still remembered the agreement to 'not touch special technology', they couldn't help but transfer their dissatisfaction to the rulers who maintained this social order, namely the three elven races. After that, we tried to establish a federal system, allowing the races to maintain their own countries, with the head of each country acting as a member of the 'Da Federation' to carry out their mission. In the end, this experiment almost caused an even greater disaster. Many people naively believed that as long as they were absolutely careful and didn't make any mistakes while researching the foundations of the universe, there would definitely be no leakage of information. Even within the three elven races, there were signs of danger. In addition, some of the short-lived races began to change their generations, some even reaching the third generation. The younger the generation, the more they despised the warnings about the cataclysm, and even … In short, the federal system was declared a failure. It couldn't solve the problem of low efficiency and regulatory loopholes, nor could it improve social order. "
Gale's expression was obviously helpless and bitter when he mentioned the 'Age of the Federation'. I couldn't help but be curious about it. Beside me, an archbishop explained, "Towards the end of the Age of the Federation, there were some so-called 'revolutionary organizations' formed by the third and fourth generation youths. They were born and raised in an absolutely safe environment, but they believed that they were living through the worst 'Age of Oppression'. They only saw things about the Abyss and cataclysm from textbooks and videos. To the short-lived races, it was basically something from the previous era, which was why they lacked respect for history. These youths made up a considerable portion of society, and due to the federal system, the survivors developed independently based on their own race. These youths had the opportunity to develop and strengthen in their respective federal countries, even becoming the ruling class. In the end, these revolutionary organizations openly rebelled, saying something about 'overthrowing the corrupt and dark immortals' and establishing a 'New Age of Free Breathing'. I still remember one of their propaganda phrases … 'The world should be saved by fourteen-year-old boys and girls' … Hmph, in the end, they only brought chaos and almost caused the end of the world. "
"They somehow found a Void Engine. Although they didn't know what it was, they resolutely tried to activate it because they believed that it was used to open the door to a new world. Fortunately, the Federation Army killed the young leader at the last second." The archbishop sighed. "A sixteen-year-old youth … many races lost an entire generation."
"We educated, they said we brainwashed, we propagandized, they said we preached, we purged the media, they said we banned breathing. So in the end, we decided to do as they said: completely wipe out modern technology." Gale continued. "After a few failed attempts, we realized something: the mortal races are fragile and fickle, and could never guarantee absolute unity or eliminate selfishness. Even us elves with long lifespans are no different. No matter how hard the mortal races tried, they would never be like the Shiring Apostles — there would always be lunatics, and just a few of them would be enough to destroy everything. Whether it was a republic or a federation or even an empire, it was impossible to fundamentally change people's hearts. Even the strictest system would need time to be implemented, but summoning the apocalypse would only require pressing a button. With the 'cost of doomsday' being so low and triggering it so quickly, it is impossible to rely on regulation to protect the world. That is why instead of trying to restrain people on how to use technology properly and have them distinguish between safe and taboo knowledge, it is better to simply seal everything. That way, at least the seeds of civilization would survive, and no matter how long it is buried, there would always be a chance for it to sprout again. "
"We should be thankful that we came to our senses in time, and did not wait for all races other than the three elven races to change." A plump bishop who had not spoken since the beginning spoke with a smile. His eyes were shut and he was actually blind. "If we had delayed until then, we probably would not have completed the metamorphosis without going through a world war. Since most races were still rational and could realize the necessity of that decision, the 'Knowledge Fade' movement was completed in a relatively stable state. It took hundreds of years, but nothing went wrong. After knowledge faded, the world became like this. Even the three elven races couldn't have too much contact with technology and high-level magic, so in order to ensure that everything was under surveillance, we even gave up on the Interstellar Era, and the three elven races no longer kept high-level knowledge. All mathematical and Void-related devices were either destroyed or sent to the Heavenly Forge — the outer zone of that place was basically a huge graveyard, and the remaining facilities became so-called ancient ruins. Now that tens of thousands of years have passed, aside from us old fellows and the young ones who came to inherit the mantle after they died (he slightly tilted his head and 'looked' at the only young bishop present), no one knows that the depths of the stars used to be our home. "
"By suppressing technology back to the era of animal farming, even if a revival group appeared, they would need hundreds of years to come into contact with that knowledge again, and we would have time to react." The Gale Bishop added. "Instead of trying to think of ways to stop people from detonating the bomb, it is better to simply destroy the bomb. That is our thinking."
"Not only did you erase the advanced technology, but you also erased the truth about the disaster. You even replaced the real history with religious legends. Most people, including most of the people in the Lost God Religion, don't know the true meaning of sealing away the technology. They are just blindly following the orders of the church." I looked at the fat bishop. "Is this necessary? Keeping the truth about the disaster and sealing technology do not conflict. You can let the people know why technology was sealed, and that would add a layer of deterrence, much better than the ambiguous legends now. "
The fat bishop shook his head. "Civilization formed by mortal races is easily distorted by time, and the more civilized they are, the more dangerous they are. A group of primitive people may blindly seek refuge with the gods in the face of pressure, but a group of civilized humans with knowledge and power could overthrow the entire social order in the face of pressure. This has been proven in the Federation Era. Therefore, the more ignorant a race is, the easier it is to maintain stability. Even if a lie is spread for ten thousand years, no one will doubt it. The goal of the Lost Gods from the beginning was to make most of the short-lived races' ignorant ', blunt people's thinking, reduce the people's knowledge, and divert their attention from exploring the truth to eating three meals a day. In this sanctuary, the more knowledgeable and the more they know the truth, the more dangerous it is. For those like us who have experienced everything personally, or those who are selected to know the truth, it is still fine, but the most frightening are the young people who do not know much about history, and who are unprecedentedly motivated and confident. "
"Is that how the technology revivalists are?" Sandora suddenly asked.
"The technology revivalists are one of them. They appeared in this millennium, and similar situations have occurred more than once in the past tens of thousands of years." The fat bishop frowned slightly. "In fact, we also feel guilty about these organizations. In order to protect this sanctuary, many of the short-lived races have been sacrificed. Most of the people in the technology revivalists would have become the leaders of civilization and the pillars of the race if they were in a normal world, but in this world, they can only be suppressed. But the path has been set, and we have to continue on it. Tens of thousands of years ago, we reached a consensus with the leaders of those short-lived races: they voluntarily shed their knowledge, and at the cost of the ignorance of their descendants, we ensure the safety of the sanctuary, and our mission is to try to live longer, as the only informed guardian to maintain this order. "
"If I'm not mistaken … the members of the technical revivalist party will eventually be reabsorbed into the church," Shadora's Sphere suddenly said in a meaningful tone, "I've scanned every corner of this city and found some very interesting … places."
The Gale Bishop laughed. "Indeed, the technology revivalists have appeared more than once, and they are not the only technology revivalists in the world. Some of these organizations have been successfully suppressed, and we try to capture the members of these organizations alive. If their will is strong enough, we tell them the truth, and those who can bear the truth will become a group of special monks in the Church. The outside world calls them 'Maskers', and they are the execution force who wear masks for life. After knowing the history, these 'Maskers' monks will take the initiative to deal with other revivalists, and they are more enthusiastic than the ordinary monks. This is not a righteous method, but sometimes protecting the world requires a little darkness. And regardless of whether they can become the Maskers or not, the revival members who know the truth will be strictly controlled by the Church, those who convert will be monitored, and those who cannot bear the truth will be under house arrest for life, never to leave this city. We try to avoid killing these people, because everyone has no choice, and everyone bears the sin, including us. "
"The revivalists are fearless because of their ignorance, and are full of motivation because they think they are saving the world, but after knowing the truth, they have to deal with their former peers without hesitation, and they cannot reveal the reason why they 'betrayed the organization'." Sandora's voice was a little sad. "You cover up the truth about the abyss to prevent a great collapse."
"Ignorance is bliss." The fat bishop sighed. "The truth of this world isn't all that beautiful. It's a kind of extreme despair. The entire universe can be destroyed at any time. It's all because of luck that we can live for a second longer. Mortals can't resist, and they don't even have a place to run. The legends we make up at least make people believe that civilization will slowly recover, and that the God of Technology and God of Magic will slowly forgive humans, other than that they have nothing to fear. But what if the people know the truth? They will realize that civilization can never recover, and there is no God of Technology and God of Magic. Civilization will immediately lead to destruction as soon as it advances, our future is hopeless, and moving forward in any direction is a dead end — most people will not be able to accept this fact, and we have many ironclad proofs to prove it. Only those with the strongest will can become the Maskers, and most of the revivalists will either go mad or become more extreme after learning the truth of the world, and they can only be under house arrest in the mountain caves for life, because every moment they want to rush out and tell everyone the truth, so that everyone will suffer the same pain as them, or simply drag the world down with them. These revivalists are already extraordinary champions, and if they are like that, what about the common people? Not everyone can accept such a hopeless world. "
"Rather than dying in despair, it's better to live in ignorance. This way, at least you can enter your coffin with an illusory hope. Before the apocalypse arrives, one more day is one more day." Lie Feng's old and hoarse voice expressed everyone's thoughts. "We old fellows have weathered great storms and waves. Just let us hold on. As for the others … just pretend that nothing has happened. Living in peace is better than anything else."
I suddenly realized that the world was a huge cage, just like the warning from the elves, 'The cage will also become the barrier,' it should be understood in reverse, 'The barrier is the cage.' Everyone was trapped in a prison with no way out. It was just that the prison was big enough that most of them did not notice the railings in the distance. The three elves were the first prisoners to enter. They built a small home in the center of the prison like building blocks, and then told the other prisoners: This is the whole world!
The Lost Gods used 'ignorance' and 'ignorance' to create invisible shackles, so that the prisoners could not walk to the end of the cage, and used religious legends to create a false sky, so that when the prisoners looked up, they would not see the dark top of the cage, and as long as they could not see the bars, the prison did not exist — so most of the people in this world lived in peace, generation after generation, never doubting their 'whole world'.
But now, the cage was finally about to be opened.
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