The City of Shadows was a place filled with attraction. Even though it was the core of the Imperial Army and the capital of the entire Macro World, it was heavily guarded and disciplined. Outsiders would find it intimidating at the sight of it. However, the residents of the various worlds who had truly lived here or visited the City of Shadows would agree on one thing: This was a magical city that would make one forget to leave. The wonders that one could see here far exceeded the sense of oppression brought by the soldiers that could be seen everywhere in the city. If it was possible, living in the City of Shadows would be the greatest dream of any resident of the Macro World.
However, there was one place that needed to be eliminated: the deepest part of the military quarantine zone. There was a building here that was an absolute forbidden zone. It was densely packed with sentries and detectors. Floating cannons could be seen almost every ten meters in the air. There were also warning signs and Royal Guards who would open fire at any object that approached without permission. A heavy sense of oppression permeated the entire area. Schilling soldiers with low authority were not even allowed to enter and exit this area as they pleased. It could be said that in the entire peaceful Shadow Realm, this was the place that made people feel the most uncomfortable. This was the place where the security of the Shadow Fortress was second only to the Headquarters. Its danger level was even higher than that of the Headquarters: the Prison.
"The condition of the prisoner is normal. He has been very quiet and has cooperated with our body scan."
In front of this heavily guarded black domed building, the prison warden who was in charge of the district's affairs, a tall and stern-looking officer of the Imperial Army, was reporting the situation of the prisoner codenamed 'A' to us. His expression was unusually solemn. It was clear that this extremely special prisoner had recently raised the alert level of the entire prison district.
The Fallen Apostle that was captured from the Ruined World was imprisoned here. Therefore, it was no wonder that the soldiers of the prison were extremely nervous. I believed that this was the most special prisoner that the Empire had ever imprisoned. A former Imperial Army member who belonged to the Abyss Faction. No one knew what other special tricks he had up his sleeves. Even more so, no one knew how much we would have to pay to capture the next Fallen Apostle alive if this prisoner were to escape.
After verification, that Fallen Apostle was only a mid-level officer. He might not even be part of the main army. In terms of combat prowess, he naturally posed no threat to us. The greatest significance of prisoner A to the Empire was his identity as a Fallen Apostle. Because of this identity, he received treatment that far exceeded that of an ordinary prisoner. He had three times the number of guards and was interrogated once every four hours. Before we had any better methods, continuous interrogation was the only method we could use. "He is very tight-lipped.
Up until now, he has only revealed his name. He hasn't even mentioned his military rank or the army he belongs to in order to prevent any information related to his own army from being leaked. "Under the guidance of the prison chief, Sandora and I arrived at the transfer area of this spatial prison. It was a vast expanse of white void space. It was impossible to see up, down, left, or right. The prison chief adjusted the transmission code to the dimensional prison while speaking with a rather regretful tone." Torture is obviously ineffective. Mental suppression is also clearly ineffective against the Fallen Apostle. He has already set up a self-destruct mechanism in his memory core. As long as the core is read by a third party, it will immediately reformat itself. All interrogation methods that are effective against ordinary races are completely ineffective against this kind of prisoner. This subordinate is very sorry for this kind of weak progress. "
"Don't worry about it. If it was so easy to obtain information, he wouldn't be worthy of becoming one of the Empire's greatest enemies."
Sandora waved her hand and said indifferently.
At this moment, my attention was actually focused on another place. In this vast expanse of white space, a gourd-shaped white glowing object was quietly hovering. That was the prison's main warden …
"Ever since the last time Pandora and her sister joined hands to beat Yaya up, did no one fix it?"
I felt the muscles at the corner of my eyes twitching. Looking at the gourd-shaped gourd-shaped object that was full of points to ridicule from various aspects, I once again recalled the ridiculous declaration of the main warden that had become especially annoying after reading too many Qidian novels. I wondered if it still dared to call itself the main warden now.
"The change in appearance does not affect the function of the thought core," the prison chief paused awkwardly before replying. The warden paused awkwardly before replying, "Of course, the main reason why no one fixed it was because it insisted on doing so..."
"Yes, my almighty majesty."
Halfway through the warden's words, a strange voice came from the surrounding air. Following that, the gourd-shaped object tilted its angle, as if it was nodding at me and Sandora. I actually saw a gourd nodding its head in greeting!
"I took the initiative to maintain the status quo," the prison's main warden said solemnly. "Since the two generals joined hands to transform my form, I have been in deep thought for as long as seven days to reflect on my life and the meaning of my existence. I realized that my previous way of thinking was somewhat conventional. I only emphasized the similarity of appearance and neglected the characteristics of the 'main warden' identity. In fact, what's so important about the shape? The gourd-shaped form is also a very novel change … Yes, I think there should be some changes in my life so that it won't make it too monotonous. Ever since I had an extra head, I feel that my life has become much richer …"
I was speechless.
"Life is like an undulating ocean. Only constant change is the proof of life's existence. That's why change is beautiful and eternal. Yes, that's it. That's why I'm very satisfied with the rare change in my life. After all, as a prison's main warden, it's very difficult to obtain this kind of change …"
I was speechless.
Alright, now who can explain to me what this problem is?
If this luminous prison's main warden, who always imagined himself to be the main warden, was a little chuunibyou and talkative, then right now it was completely a symptom of a late-stage psychosis turning into severe schizophrenia. What's with all this nonsense about life? Did Pandora and Visca's kick last time cause this guy's logic to collapse?
"This main warden has been a little abnormal since it came off the production line."
Obviously, the warden felt a little awkward about the situation, but he couldn't explain what was going on. "It talks a lot and often takes the initiative to learn a lot of strange knowledge. However, its operation is more stable than any other main warden, and it constantly optimizes its computing model and the prison's software system with astonishing efficiency. All kinds of tests show that the probability of this main warden making mistakes in its work is infinitely close to zero, so until now, we haven't considered changing it or reformatting it. Of course, if Her Majesty thinks that this main warden has a hidden danger, we will immediately change it. "
"… No, I think it's better to keep it." Sandora's eyebrows twitched a little. It was obvious that Her Majesty was particularly speechless about this strange prison AI, but Sandora was more concerned about something deeper. "The general main warden that comes off the production line will not have any sudden changes. Is the production record normal for this thing?"
"We've already checked, everything is normal." The warden glanced at the 'main god' of the gourd, who had begun to read the seven-character poem loudly, and his expression became more and more awkward. "From the production plan entering the factory to the installation of it in the building, there are detailed records. There are no problems in between."
At this time, the prison main warden, who was obviously very abnormal, began to yell loudly again, "As the saying goes, when heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility on a man, he must first torment himself to death. Temporary pain means that the value of life is about to manifest. I firmly believe that my birth is unique, so — my friend, in fact, I think there should be a small part that can be optimized in the code exchange process within the prison. Of course, it's not a big improvement, and there won't be too many obvious changes, but as a main god who must bear heavy responsibilities, I feel that I need to do everything to the best of my ability. If you don't have any objections, I will modify the code myself."
"Your Majesty, as you can see, it has been rapidly improving its performance. No one knows where its new data comes from, and no one knows to what extent this intelligent building system can be enhanced." The warden shrugged. "In short, it is still evolving, and according to the analysis report of the experts in the research center, in at most half a month, this main warden will self-improve from a mass-produced model to a prototype that can be independently named. We can even scan its logic group to continuously produce the next generation of the same race AI."
"A mass-produced system that should have been finalized is gradually evolving in the direction of a prototype …" Sandora clicked her tongue in wonder. "The research center should have established a corresponding research plan. When I have time, I will personally pay attention to this matter. Now, bring us to see the prisoner. "
"Yes, Your Majesty."
We temporarily put the prison main warden, who was still nagging and getting more and more crazy, at the back of our minds. After a series of strict and almost demanding identity verification and security system handover, we entered the deepest encrypted space of the prison building: a self-circulating space that mathematically did not have a boundary.
"A normal person should have gone crazy after staying here for a day." I looked around. This boundless cage was only a sheet of white. The Shiring Apostles would never improve their treatment of prisoners from a humanitarian perspective.
The so-called self-circulating space, in fact, could be seen as a three-dimensional Möbius system. The space system was forcibly distorted, and there was only one coordinate system. If you moved in any direction, you would quickly return to the starting point. Of course, this phenomenon would occur in any enclosed space. However, a self-circulating space was not that simple. It looked similar to a enclosed space, but in fact, it was an extension of itself after countless times of overlapping. In such a space, any form of displacement was extremely dangerous. For every unit of distance you moved (usually the length of a Pandora, which was 1.2 meters), you would fall into one of the countless layers of space. On the surface, you would not move, but in fact, your coordinates would be randomly changed. In other words, breaking out of the prison meant eternal damnation.
Aside from the prison mainframe, the warden, and the Emperor of the Empire, no one else had the key to recalculate the coordinates of a self-circulating space. Moreover, this self-circulating space was placed in the crack between the world and the void, just like any other dimensional cage. It was a double insurance. In this kind of cage, even a space expert like Asida and Asidora could not escape. It seemed a bit wasteful to use such a high-standard security measure to imprison the prisoner in front of us.
"Looks like you're quite used to this kind of environment."
I shrugged as I looked at the expressionless prisoner hanging in the energy shackle.
The warden had been ordered to leave the cell, leaving only me, Sandora, and the prisoner in front of us. We did not believe that he could play any tricks, so naturally, there was no need for anyone to guard him. Moreover, I had always thought that the guard of Emperor Schilling was a magical position. Who was guarding whom?
"Hmm, it's okay." Prisoner A hung on the blue chain of the energy shackle. There was no resentment or irritation on his face. He answered calmly as if he was answering a question from an old friend.
"You're a weird guy." At first, I had thought of countless ways to use torture methods, but now, those ideas had vanished into thin air. I was afraid that I would not be able to get anything out of this kind of hob. The warden and his guards must have mastered a lot more torture techniques than I did, but they were not able to get anything out of him. It was obvious that conventional methods could not be used to extort a confession from Prisoner A.
"They said the same thing about me." Prisoner A smacked his lips. "But it doesn't matter. You can do whatever you want. I have no comment on any of your questions. Of course, if you don't want to discuss military matters with me, I'd be happy to chat with you. Of course, if you want to talk about the battle, I have something to say as well. You were lucky this time. If there was another battle like that, you'd be dead. Our tactics are better! "
I nodded from the bottom of my heart. "I really admire your fearless spirit and optimistic attitude towards life."
"Thank you. Also, I think there might be a problem with your wording. An optimistic attitude towards life is generally not admiring, but appreciating …"
"Ha, I really wonder if you suffered some mental damage during the battle." This time, even Sandora could not help but laugh. She had seen tough prisoners, weak prisoners, and even prisoners who dared to point their middle fingers at Emperor Schilling. But this was the first time she had seen such a calm guy. "You're facing the highest leader of the Empire, yet you're still so calm. It's really surprising."
"To be honest, I'm also quite surprised." Prisoner A moved his arm as if keeping that posture made him very uncomfortable. "Well, this is the truth. It's really an honor to be able to meet the Emperor-class. In my memory, it took me more than two thousand years from the time I came down from the production line to the first time I spoke to the emperor face-to-face. At that time, I burned three logic units. Well, if I may ask, can you change my posture? I feel like I'm a bit stupid … "
A few minutes later, Prisoner A was tied up in a reverse V shape in midair by Sandora and me. As expected of the Queen. Sandora was much smarter than me when it came to tying people up in a reverse V shape.
"Alright, I admit that I made an extremely stupid suggestion." The prisoner swayed in midair. "You didn't come here today just to make fun of me, right? Also, how long do I have to maintain this position? If it's possible, I still prefer the cross shape from before … "
"It won't take long. We came here today just to do an experiment." I recalled a few key points in the report that Tawil submitted this morning. Although that coffin-con bespectacled girl has a weird sense of beauty, she is indeed a good scientist. She was even able to research something so unscientific. Although I don't know how effective it is, it looks very impressive. "If the experiment goes smoothly, you will choose to cooperate with us in ten minutes."
"Is it the latest memory core extraction method?" Prisoner A asked, swaying back and forth. "It's useless. I set up a self-destruction program for them."
"No, it's a brand new skill." Sandora glanced at the Fallen Apostle who had remained calm throughout. "There is a Matriarch of the Empire who named it: His Majesty the Emperor's Universal Love …"
Just as I was warming up my arms, Sandora's words made my legs go soft and I almost fell to the ground. "Hey! Don't take the name that Qian Qian, that crazy girl, came up with so casually! "
"Ridiculous. You fellows from the previous generation are really ridiculous …"
Prisoner A looked at Sandora and I with a weird expression as we got tangled up in a weird topic. He couldn't help but sigh. However, he only managed to sigh halfway before his expression changed. "Huh?! What are you doing?! "
"I am just transforming. I am just giving you a buff."
A unique voice that was distorted into a hollow echo resounded from my body. Even though I still couldn't figure out how I was able to make a sound in this form, it could be a direct information broadcast that was then converted into a voice. I raised my arm and a blurry black limb came into view. Black particles rose from my body and clashed violently with the surrounding space, forming circles of unstable ripples.
Just by standing here, I was able to cause the sturdy space of the prison to become unstable. At that moment, I felt that I might be a very powerful person.
"Ah Jun, legs, legs." Sandora's voice came from the side. She pointed at my lower body and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You forgot to grow your legs out!"
I lowered my head and instantly jumped up. "Aiyo, damn it. I was wondering why it suddenly became so much lower!"
I had to admit that it was easy for problems to arise when modifying an already mature skill. For example, I was already used to slowly turning the surrounding space into a void when I entered my void state. This was a power that was close to a living creature's instinct. Now, according to what Tawil said, I had to control this trend in order to maximize the durability and controllability of this ability. She was right. It was just that it was a little difficult to actually control it. It was difficult for me to control the amount of power output. If I was careless in my control, it would cause the surroundings to turn into a void and the power would leak out before I could unleash my ultimate skill. If I was too tight in my control, it would cause me to lose an arm or a leg … After all, void creatures didn't have a physical body. If Sandora didn't remind me, I might not have remembered that I still had legs.
"Ah Jun, legs … This time, you have three legs …" Sandora's voice came again.
I was speechless.
"What are you guys putting on a show?" Even Prisoner A spoke up. He sounded extremely troubled. "Also, pardon me for asking, are you facing me right now?"
I glared at him fiercely. Of course, he probably didn't feel it because I didn't have eyes. "I am looking at you right now!"
Prisoner A was instantly shocked. "Ah? I thought that was the back of your head! "
I was furious. "Have you ever seen someone with a nose on the back of their head?"
"I have never seen someone with a nose on the back of their head …"
I was speechless.
I felt that I couldn't stand this weird fellow anymore. Thus, I took a step forward and twisted my waist. I aimed an uppercut at his chin. "Wake up!"
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