Due to having a guide, the rest of the journey was much easier. Ten minutes later, we had already left the outer layer of the document library and entered its logical region. Compared to the dark and rusty corridors of the outer layer, the path here was no different from the corridors of a normal Schilling building. It was even more spacious and bright. The surrounding silvery-white alloy walls were filled with a network of blue lights. The entire logical region was well-lit. This meant that Sylvia didn't have the time to carry out her next move after shutting off the energy in the outer layer. That makes sense, even if that mechanical idiot knew the secrets of the ruins, it would still take a long time for her to successfully shut off all the energy systems here.
"This is the direct route to the first core control room. The document library has a total of two core control rooms. One of them is the main control room, which is at the end of this corridor. However, the second control room is a little troublesome." Tawil obtained the structure diagram of the document library from Ola's memory core and was currently analyzing the direction we should head in. "It states that the second control room doesn't have a fixed location. It is forever in a semi-connected state to the main material plane. Only the authorizer can enter that place and after entering, the authorizer can immediately separate the second control room. Its entrance and exit will randomly connect to any location in the document library. If Sylvia is in the second control room, then we are wasting our time."
"At least we should try our luck at the first control room."
I said casually. The hundreds of Queen Bees were currently flying silently behind us. Their movements were almost silent. Each of them held a portion of the key to the document library. These keys were not only for the outer layer, but also for the logical region and the core region. Sometimes, when we encounter a locked door, the librarians would be responsible for opening the door. This way, Pandora's bombardment and Shallow Shallow's flying kick could be spared.
To be honest, if we were to encounter another ridiculous God's development, such as an incomparably sturdy door or a wall that would collapse with a single kick, I might just smack them …
"Ola, what exactly is this document library for? Isn't there anything else they can tell us? "
On the way, I could no longer suppress the myriad of thoughts in my mind, and once again asked the question I had already asked before.
"The key data is locked, the librarian has no right to access it," Olla replied rigidly, "The public data is as follows: The Archives is the place of final records, the guardian of the end, a tomb, a monument, it begins with the end, and ends with the beginning. The world was born for the Archives, and the Archives was born for the Holy Church. When the Holy Church is activated, the mission of the Archives will come to an end. The guardian should always remember the mission, and even if the Void ushers in the apocalypse, we must fight for the Archives."
"It's these weird explanations again." I scratched my head in annoyance. Olla had already said these things before, and she was still repeating them word for word, "God knows who the designer of the document library was, but he must be a chuunibyou. Even a product manual is so chuunibyou."
"The first storage area," Tawil's voice suddenly sounded, interrupting my grumbling. Unknowingly, we had already arrived at the end of the tunnel, "There is a giant database that runs continuously, perhaps I can find something from its underlying data."
"Hurry up, before we find out what Silvia is planning, every minute is precious."
I reminded Tawil, and the latter immediately nodded at me, "Please be at ease, Your Majesty, I know my mission."
The first storage area was an extremely spacious hexagonal hall, shaped like a silver-white honeycomb lattice, with a radius of about two to three hundred meters. In the middle of it, there was a giant hole with a radius of a hundred meters. The edge of the hole was surrounded by a blue and white halo, while the inside of the hole was pitch black. The so-called giant database was floating above the hole. It was a large hole with a radius slightly smaller than the surface of the ground, shaped like an upside-down pear. The entire body of the so-called giant database was covered in black metal 'gall'. Occasionally, a red light would flash across the surface of the metal 'gall', just like the blood that would occasionally burst out from a pitch-black heart.
When Tawil saw the database, she was obviously stunned, but she immediately went to the control panel in front of the database, connected her probe to the control panel, and began to read the underlying data.
"It looks … a little creepy, Ah Jun, why is it still beating like a heart? Is it alive?"
Shallow shallow couldn't help but hug my arm tightly. The incomparably large, black, pear-shaped metal object in front of us was emitting a strange aura. This was the first time that I had seen Schilling technology produce such a thing. Why was it so different from the database that I was used to? "Lagman Database, an extremely rare thing."
Sandora said in a low voice, her expression uncertain. "This kind of database was created from the memory cores of the Shiring Apostles that had perished in battle. It possesses an astonishing capacity and reading and writing speed. Furthermore, the soul imprints left behind by the dead Shiring Apostles will automatically protect the contents of the database, giving it unbelievable reliability. Even after an eternity, not a single byte of data will be lost. Shallow shallow's intuition was right. The Lagman Database is alive, and it deserves our respect. This structure represents the highest form of sacrifice of the Shiring Apostles to the Empire: the eternal sacrifice of their souls. However … it is rare for an emperor to order the construction of something that would cause the warriors to feel uneasy, even if the warriors were willing to do so. Why would there be such a gigantic …"
Before Sandora could finish her sentence, a soft 'bang' from somewhere interrupted her. Then, the lighting system in the storage area's hall flickered twice before it suddenly went out. Even the Lagman Database that was floating in midair let out a loud sound as it lost its mobility and fell into the large hole below it. A gentle female voice then sounded in our ears. "Attention, the backup storage area's energy source has been cut off. All Lagman Databases have entered an abnormal offline state … Continue to shut down the energy source. Warning, there is a dangerous option in your follow-up operation. This will cause the library to be unable to be restored forever. Please confirm your operation … Operation confirmed. The main storage area's energy source will be offline in thirty minutes. The final core will enter the lowest power standby state."
After this AI broadcast a few more warning messages, it went silent. Right after that, the walls of the hall started to glow with an orange light. This thing that didn't consume any energy was the emergency lighting system of this place.
At this moment, I saw that Tawil had already collapsed in front of the database platform, unconscious.
"Tawil!"
I hurriedly shouted as I hurriedly ran over, completely forgetting that this was nothing more than a physical projection. Even in the worst-case scenario, Tarver wouldn't be truly injured. I rushed over to the unconscious female researcher and carried her in my arms. When I felt the softness in my hands and felt a little unnatural, I finally realized that this was nothing more than a clone.
"I'm … I'm fine. The data was suddenly cut off and the projection signal was disrupted."
Tawil struggled to stand up. The projection trembled in the air for a moment before stabilizing. "She's still on the move. It's not that she's slow, it's just that when the Archive Library shuts down, it will automatically set a long delay to give the operator a chance to back out. In less than an hour, all the secrets here will be buried forever along with the power supply being cut off. I've already deciphered some information about the Archive Library, but it might be a little too exaggerated …"
Tawil showed a rare look of hesitation, as though she was doubting her own research for the first time. But in the end, she said firmly, "The Archive Library was built after the 'Great Calamity' of the Empire. Within a year after the 'Great Calamity' — at least in theory."
Tarver's words were no less shocking than a head-on blast from the Galactic Cannon. Even Qian Qian, who had lost her mind, let out a low cry of surprise.
"The Empire … was built … after the Slumber?!" Sandora teleported to Tawil's side and shook her shoulders. "Are you sure?!"
"The timetable of the basic data records a 'Great Calamity' that caused the entire Empire to collapse in a single night. The date of the Archive Library's completion is recorded as the 'Year of the Falling Sun'. These are all unmistakable facts. I'm absolutely sure."
This time, she didn't even mention the theory.
"The Empire is in Slumber. The Empire is in Slumber. Are there any records of that?! Are there any records of that Great Calamity?! How did it all happen? How many Shiring Apostles survived the Great Calamity? Where are they now?! You … "
"Sandora, if you keep shaking him, Tawil's soul is going to return to the City of Shadows."
"I … I'm very sorry, Your Majesty Sandora. I … couldn't find those records. They aren't the main records of the Archive Library. The records of this building aren't really related to that Great Calamity … Cough cough …" The unfortunate bespectacled lady who was shaken by Sandora took a long time to regain her physical form. She explained awkwardly. "Is that so?
I'm sorry, Tawil. I was too agitated. "A disappointed expression flashed across Sandora's face. I wanted to console her, but this Queen who had been through countless storms didn't need that kind of consolation. She instantly regained her usual calmness." Let's continue forward. We are getting closer to the truth. Even if there aren't any records in the Archive Library, Silvia must know something. Otherwise, she wouldn't have tried to destroy this place. Tawil, ignore the records along the way. Let's head straight to the first control room. "
Knowing that Her Majesty the Queen was getting serious, Silvia immediately obeyed the order without hesitation. "Yes, Your Majesty."
The rest of the journey was very smooth. As the librarian, Olga had the authority to monitor the real-time situation outside of the core area. She helped us avoid the internal surveillance and sentries, as well as the passageways that were locked for unknown reasons. After walking through the complicated maze-like corridors for close to thirty minutes, we finally entered a special area.
The corridor with alloy walls ended here. After passing through a door of light, we found ourselves at the edge of a metal cliff. In front of us was endless Chaos. The cliff under our feet was so deep that we couldn't see the bottom. There was only a bridge of blue and white light extending from the metal cliff to a mysterious place on the other side of the Chaos fog.
Science came to an abrupt end. In front of us was the domain of the mysterious — this was what Tawil told me.
"The librarian's authority is insufficient. Unable to enter the core of the Archive Library."
Olga stopped at the edge of the cliff. The six crystal wings on her back drooped down as she entered standby mode. Due to the mask covering her face, I couldn't see her expression. But for some reason, I felt that the long-haired girl in front of me seemed to be struggling with her words.
Just who did the order she received a million years ago come from? Even now, she still had the faint desire to protect the Archive Library?
"Wait here with your sisters. We'll be back soon."
I got this loyal guard to stand guard here while Shadora and the others stepped onto the bridge of light that didn't seem very reliable.
Due to the imbalance in the power of the Imperial Army, I didn't have much contact with Schilling's mysticism. But they were definitely several times more powerful than the tricks of any otherworldly mage. In many situations, even with my abilities, I was unable to understand the principles behind Raven's magic. The Schilling's mysticism was the perfect definition of the word "mysterious." Even if it was laid bare in front of you, you wouldn't be able to understand what was about to happen.
This was the case with this Chaos fog. The moment I walked into it, I didn't even feel any changes in the energy around me. But I discovered that everything around me had changed.
We arrived at a dazzling crystal hall.
As far as the eye could see, I couldn't tell how far it stretched. This gigantic hall seemed to have been set with spatial attributes, making it seem boundless. Only the dome above us with countless crystal clusters reminded us that this was still an indoor space and not another world. This dazzling place gave off the feeling of a natural and man-made cave. There were crystal clusters and crystal prisms that were more than ten meters tall everywhere. Sparks of energy leaped between these translucent objects without making a single sound. In my line of sight, there was a crystal obelisk floating in mid-air every hundred meters. They were more than three meters tall and there were indistinct symbols floating on top of them. I walked curiously to the side of the nearest obelisk and laboriously read out the words on it.
"… Everything … Records … Empire Destruction … Rebirth … Documentation Library Activation … World Unfolding …"
Along the way, every piece of information that I learned and every clue that I encountered kept combining in my mind. Something called the truth seemed to be on the verge of bursting out, but because this truth was too shocking, I still didn't dare to believe it until now. However, these fragmented words floating above the obelisk … Fine, the words weren't fragmented, they were the fragmented words that I recognized. Did these words already prove all my guesses?
"Is this the central control room?"
Shallow Shallow carefully walked in the dazzling crystal hall, her eyes filled with stars. "If I secretly knock a piece down, it shouldn't cause the system to collapse, right …"
No matter when or where, bringing this girl around always made me feel better.
We arrived at the central control room, but we realized that we were in a boundless space. Silvia wasn't in sight.
No … there was a figure.
When I looked carefully, I finally saw a small black figure standing in front of a huge crystal obelisk. His back was facing everyone, as if he didn't know that we were rapidly approaching him.
When we were less than twenty meters behind him, this black-cloaked man with a medium build slowly turned around. What appeared in front of me was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man's face. It was as if he was the uncle next door who had just moved in two or three days ago. His ordinary-looking face made me instantly put up my guard.
"Long time no see, the newly crowned Emperor, and Her Majesty Sandora. Ah, and you, adorable 7535. It seems that you are very satisfied with your new life. This dress really suits you …" The ordinary-looking middle-aged man spoke with a seemingly kind expression and a friendly tone, but he still bowed slightly to us. "It seems that you are the same as me, looking for that stupid woman. But unfortunately, I am the only one here."
Ockham!
This sly Fallen Apostle that I had met once in the Black Sun, the one who had tormented the Imperial Army and caused them to be covered in dust, had actually appeared in the core of the ancient ruins?! Why was he here? When did he come here? Could it be that our battle with the rebel army and our actions in the nebula were all part of this sly old fox's scheme?
Huge doubts flooded our minds, but all of us wore a calm expression. Of course, it was hard to say whether Qian Qian was calm or not, but I was very calm.
In fact, I was even a little delighted. The energy reaction of this Fallen Apostle before me was clear and stable. His body didn't give off the slightest feeling of a projection. This meant that this guy had appeared here in his true form!
Last time, you only sent a projection over, but I couldn't kill you. This time, I don't care what schemes you have up your sleeves. I will first beat you up to vent my anger! It would be easy for me to reignite the anger that I had been suppressing in the Black Sun! And judging from his tone earlier, he was looking for "that stupid woman"? Without a doubt, he was referring to the former fallen apostle Belavilla and the current idiot Silver Haired Silvia. Even though I couldn't deny this fellow's definition of Silvia, just his impolite tone was enough for me to sentence him to death!
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