The situation of the world fragment was far more complicated than we had imagined.
The probe that we had previously sent out had already contacted the edge of the world fragment. This morning, the shadow city had sent back the processed probe data. Just as we had expected, the world fragment's volume was limited to this unknown city and a relatively small area outside the city. Within the city, the entire fragment was basically stable. However, at the edge of the city, near the edge of the world, there was a constant violent change. The degree of information chaos there would increase by nearly twenty times for every meter it extended outwards. The entropy value would explode from normal to the limit of maintaining the world's stability in less than half a kilometer. Matter and energy would directly lose stability beyond that turbid boundary, turning into a pot of thick soup in heat death. In the vague description drawn by the probe, the world fragment was like an "object" whose density was rapidly decreasing from the inside out. Its city center was a stable solid, the suburbs outside the city center was a turbulent but still tangible liquid, the edge of the suburbs was a chaotic mass of air, and beyond that … was the end.
This bizarre phenomenon sparked Tawil's strong interest in research, but it completely negated the relatively simple world model that we (Big Sis and Sandora's idea) had previously conjectured.
In our original conjecture, the world fragment should be a self-explanatory aggregation of information with a shell similar to a world barrier. This model was called a "self-enclosed" world. The information inside it was bound, and because the two worlds collided, part of the information would leak out, affecting our real world. In this case, as long as we could cause a small Void Tremor in the Void Plane, we could separate the two worlds and stop the law corruption. However, the current situation was that the world that was originally set as a self-enclosed world had become an open one, and the law corruption had changed from a prickly one to a pervasive one …
Don't understand? Alright, to put it in simpler terms, which was more difficult: pulling out a needle from your arm, or turning the needle into iron sand and mixing it into your flesh, and then picking it out one by one?
Sandora had used this example to let me understand what the pervasive law corruption meant …
The worst scenario was that the two worlds had not actually collided. They were still floating in two infinitely close and infinitely far points in the endless void. The world fragment that had lost the restraint of the world barrier was evaporating, and the information it emitted was evaporating in the form of a super-macroscopic wave (the enhanced version of the world information projection. Compared to the latter, the super-macroscopic wave was like a hundred-megabit fiber cable standing proudly in front of a dial-up connection), radiating to any world in the void that had similar information characteristics, namely, Earth.
As there was no concept of distance in the void, all the "approaching" and "distancing" were based on the approximation of the law of the world. Therefore, the radiation must have simultaneously polluted every plane in the endless void that was similar to Earth, even if the "distance" between them was so far that Asida and Asidora would vomit blood from exhaustion.
This terrible conjecture was soon confirmed. The Special Task Force of the Empire stationed in the Magic-forbidden World sent back reports of unusual incidents that were happening all over the world. Those incidents were initially thought to be caused by the activities of mages or superpowered individuals. However, after we sent the conjecture of "large-scale contamination" to the Shadow Base, Sandora ordered the Special Task Force to re-analyze every anomaly in the Magic-forbidden World. The results showed that other than 10% of the anomalies were related to mages or superpowered individuals, the remaining 90% of the anomalies could be caused by the contamination of the fragments of the world.
In the morning, Tear and Lola also reported to us about the anomalies that happened in the campus city and the British Puritan's sphere of influence. Those anomalies were huge and worrisome, as well as the fact that they could not be detected by ordinary people, made the two young ladies (erm … let's just say that Lola was forever seventeen) very uneasy. Due to the unique power structure of the Magic-forbidden World, the anomalies that permeated the entire world could cause the conflict between mages and superpowered individuals to erupt at any time. Currently, Lola and Aliesta Skeletal Walker, who had become our slave, were ordered to appease the warriors under their respective factions. Tear was also helping. Due to her identity as a "Special Envoy of an Alien Planet" exposed during the Stellaris attack, she currently had quite a bit of influence in the campus city. She was even faintly more influential than a bunch of Level-5 individuals. As a place where a large number of superpowered individuals gathered, rumors of anomalies in the world had long been spreading in the campus city. Zuotian Tear, who was originally a student, stood out to appease the people. It was obvious that Aliesta was more effective than Aliesta. To be honest, I never thought that the energetic girl who always went to the Shadow Base to look at mermaids would be so useful.
Putting aside the problem of multiple worlds being threatened, there was another matter that was equally troubling. Compared to the former, the latter was even more pressing.
The fragments of the world that Artemis and the others lived in were evaporating.
We did not know how this world fragment managed to maintain its stability in the past, but it was definitely not normal for it to evaporate. At this rate, it would not be long before the entire world fragment was destroyed. In fact, according to the probe's detection, the size of the world had shrunk by about one percent compared to when we first arrived, and the rate of shrinking was still accelerating.
After fifteen days, the volume of the world fragment will be reduced to a street block, and if it evaporates at a uniform rate, this street block will be exactly where we are now. That is to say, even with the most optimistic estimate, Artemis and the others only have fifteen days left.
Putting aside the clueless separation of worlds, the second operation that we had just put on the agenda met with unprecedented resistance before it could even begin: how to save Artemis and her companions?
As for the basic mechanism of the birth of the world fragment, Tawil had recently deduced the most likely model. The Prime Material Plane suffered a powerful attack that could destroy the laws of the world in a very short period of time, and everything that existed was disintegrated into free information in an instant. But for some unknown reason, the information did not dissipate, and thus formed the world fragment.
In other words, the current Artemis and the others were like a radio signal that had been sent from an antenna (this metaphor may not be too appropriate), and then the antenna that could continuously enhance the signal and continue the transmission was suddenly destroyed, leaving only the initial radio wave still wandering in space. Although the radio wave had not dissipated, it had inevitably begun to decay in transmission.
The only difference from the radio wave was that the ghosts in the world fragment could not receive it with a wireless network card and then store it on a hard disk …
As for the samples we collected from the world fragment (that is, the "citizen" ghosts without sanity), both Bubble and Tawil were helpless. Such ethereal information collections were strictly speaking dead things. They did not even exist, but were just a memory. No one could save a memory that was about to disappear in a tangible form. Should we send a task force to capture Shiro Omiya and try?
Uh, I admit that I misspoke again just now.
In short, it was impossible to protect information ghosts like Artemis and the others in a conventional way. It was just like if you said "tomato noodles with gravy", then the sound of this sentence would not really spread halfway through and become a bowl of noodles with a pair of chopsticks falling on the table (note: the above is a magical metaphor from Sandora).
And the fact that the ghost samples we collected dissipated within a few seconds after entering the Prime Material Plane indirectly proved the unreliability of using simple means to bring Artemis to live in the Shadow Dimension. It was impossible to let a helpless and fragile radio wave live forever in a strong magnetic field. That was how my USB drive was destroyed … I digress again.
In short, there were many difficulties. Being a savior was really not a job for a human!
"You're not human for a long time!"
Liliana, who was sitting on the side with sleepy eyes, did not forget to turn her head to complain to me even in her drowsiness. As a result, I hit her with a karate chop and she wailed.
"Ugh … You don't love a loli. A lolicon who only slaps without feeding her isn't a good lolicon!"
For the sake of Jingle, please leave me some moral integrity as a member of the Divine Church! My Lord Jingle is fooling the entire world, you bastard!
"Ugh … My head hurts … Nanny Boss, Liliana wants a hug …" Liliana, who had just been well-behaved for less than a minute, muttered in a daze again and then groped her way over to me.
"Hey! I'm driving! " While doing my best to resist the small arms and legs of a certain fake loli who was muddle-headed due to a hangover, I tried my best to control the steering wheel. "There's …"
* Boom! *
* Crash … *
The 700 billion with a psionic shield fiercely crashed through the unlucky store that was blocking the road and continued forward without slowing down. Behind us, the store that had a large hole in it was already slowly recovering.
Alright, there was nothing in front of us now.
"Hehehe … 700 billion is mighty …"
My head hurts. How did I end up with such a troublesome person like Liliana? God knows why this girl's alcohol tolerance is so strange. She was fine after drinking that night, but the next morning, she got drunk and went crazy?
In comparison, my older sister, who was pulled by Lin Xue and took a sip of beer and was still sleeping in her room, was much cuter. Even though it was quite regrettable that my drunken older sister was tricked by Lin Xue into countless embarrassing experiences when I was a child, I was 200% sure that it was all premeditated by Lin Xue! Not everyone knew about my older sister's magical alcohol tolerance.
As I drove the 700 billion in the predetermined direction, I also had to be on guard against the drunk loli's surprising actions. Along the way, I fought with Liliana on the driver's seat. Although the road was flat and there were few cars, I felt like I was driving a Hollywood car battle!
Last night, I really should have kept a close eye on this girl. As a loli, she should have the self-awareness of a loli. Even though her body's alcohol tolerance wasn't that great, she still went to drink with those Awakeners. In the end, if it wasn't for Bell Yin rushing over to report to me, this girl might have caused her stomach to bleed. Even now, thinking back to the scene where Liliana went back to continue drinking, she raised her glass high and stood on the table in front of the bonfire, drinking it all in one gulp before collapsing, I still felt my liver aching.
"Hmph hmph … Boss, I'm an adult, of course I can drink … Oh, don't hit the head, you should say it with love towards a loli …"
Forget it, I'll just let this immoral idiot get drunk until she reaches the end of the world!
Even though I didn't activate the buggy engine like Space Jump to enjoy the joy of going for a spin, with the astonishing speed of 700 billion, it still took us less than half an hour to reach the suburbs after leaving the bustling area of the city. This was the result of me abiding by the traffic rules along the way. If it was Pandora driving, she would most likely aim in a certain direction, step on the gas pedal to the bottom, and follow the rule of the shortest straight line between two points to directly rush to the destination. As the buildings in the surroundings gradually thinned, more and more large wastelands that only existed in the suburbs appeared in front of us. I reached out and patted Liliana, who was sleeping soundly on my shoulder again. "Girl, wake up, we've arrived!"
"Oh … Nanny daddy, give me a hug …"
This girl's personality change when she was in a daze really made me speechless. Even though the Priestess who was acting cute with evil intentions was quite cute, at least the naturally tanned Liliana had a pause button, right?
Black lines appeared on my forehead, and I didn't care about Liliana's protests as she wriggled over like a huge worm. I pushed the door open and got off the car. Then, I grabbed the dazed Priestess from the other side and flung her around in the chilly morning wind of the suburbs.
"Wah! Boss! Boss! I was wrong! Stop flinging me around! You'll definitely fly out … Ah! "
Ah, she really flew out!
Liliana, who was flying out in a parabola, didn't forget her original skill. She waved her small hand in midair and immediately summoned a gigantic lotus above her — Eh? Above?
I watched speechlessly as Liliana fell to the ground with a series of cries of surprise. Then, she was attacked by the gigantic lotus that she had summoned as a cushion, but because of a mistake in positioning, she became a stone in the well. I almost lost all hope for the entire God of Life. Speaking of which, did this lass come here today just to act cute?
After foolishly climbing onto the lotus and floating over, Liliana awkwardly scratched her head. "Hehe, that was an accident."
"You're sober now?" I looked in astonishment at Liliana's large eyes, which had regained their intelligence. Just a moment ago, this lass was still dizzy from a hangover. How did she suddenly become full of energy again?
"I just remembered that the God of Life's power can cure a hangover." Liliana continued to scratch her head.
"Why are you laughing!" I gave her a karate chop. Since you know how to cure a hangover, you should have remembered it earlier! Do you know how much of your moral integrity you've sacrificed on the way here?
"This place is so desolate." Liliana ignored my karate chop and looked around at the scenery around her. "Ah, Boss, why did you hit me?"
Are you cosplaying as Sylvia?
We were already at the very edge of the world fragment, located in a hilly area in the western suburbs of the city. About a hundred meters in front of us was a hazy fog. Within the fog, we could faintly see the road that extended from here, twisting into a strange spiral shape that extended all the way to the sky. Beside the road, there were many blurry shadows. Due to the fog, we couldn't see them clearly.
At the boundary between the stable space and the white fog, there was a truck that was parked there. It was a more direct demonstration of the dangers of the World's End. The front half of the truck was still parked perfectly on the road, but the back half of the truck was a pile of parts floating in midair. It gave the onlookers a feeling of flesh and blood flying everywhere.
Liliana didn't need my reminder as she had already started her ritual. She nimbly jumped onto the ground and took out a bunch of black and green ball-shaped objects from her dimensional pocket. Green vines automatically grew out from beneath her feet and began to spread rapidly in all directions. Not long after, they formed a magic formation with a radius of more than ten meters. This magic formation that was created using Divine Arts was completely different from ordinary magic formations. Mysterious runes slowly appeared from the nodes of the vines and gradually formed a spherical rune structure. Based on the general knowledge of magic that Jaina told me when I was chatting with her in the past, three-dimensional magic formations were extremely difficult to master. Using energy to draw a second layer of runes in midair was already enough to earn you great honor in Dalaran. Even Antonidas in the past was unable to master a fourth layer of three-dimensional runes. Now, although the magic formation that Liliana created only had a radius of more than ten meters, the complexity of the structure was enough to make one dizzy … Oh my god, even a 3D model would take a day to render this, wouldn't it?
Without her usual mischievous look, Liliana, who was now casting Divine Arts, actually seemed to be quite serious. The little girl floated in midair and tossed a few black balls in her hands onto a few key nodes on the inner wall of the spherical magic formation. Then, she snapped her fingers and tossed green beans into her mouth as she turned to look at me for praise. "Boss, it's done … Eh? Why isn't there any reaction? "
I replied, "… What you're eating right now is a Life Seed, you idiot! Didn't you notice that the thing floating in the magic formation is a chocolate bean?! "
"Ah … Haha … My mistake, my mistake." Liliana scratched her head as cold sweat dripped down her forehead. Then, using a method that would scare any professional mage to the point of pissing their pants, she removed the chocolate bean from the magic formation and replaced it with a Life Seed that contained divine power.
"Yep! It's done this time! " Liliana giggled as she clapped her hands. "As long as that layer of white mist comes into contact with this magic formation, the World Tree Shrine will immediately be able to trace the path of the evaporation of information. Perhaps we can use this method to find a way to stop the evaporation."
"Yep." I nodded, but my gaze was fixed on the white mist not far away. It was now a little closer. The truck that had been half-devoured earlier had become floating parts that slowly floated at the edge of the white mist. "I'm thinking, should we go over and take a look?"
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