This Fallen Apostle's name was out of our expectations. It was extremely common. Carter Carlo, or Carter for short. He was the most common Imperial Army soldier that I had met when I strolled around the base. It was a name that was so simple that it was hard to remember. The only thing worth mentioning was that these four words were quite a mouthful, to the point where I almost thought that he had bitten his tongue when he introduced himself. The structure of this name was indeed quite interesting. Perhaps it fully reflected Carter's father's unique lifestyle of pursuing an artistic life, if this fellow's name was really given by his father.
"It is truly an unbelievable power, to actually be able to change the essence of the Abyss. This is theoretically impossible, not even the Protoss has been able to do it." Carter moved his arm that was extremely numb from being bound for a long period of time and the Void Baptism just now. Even though he had already acknowledged me and Sandora as leaders, some of the habits left behind from the Fallen Apostle era still made him not care about his bearing in front of the two of us. This seemed to be a common problem left behind by all those who had been infected by the Abyss and recovered. Icetis's hoodlum temperament became even more severe after she was freed from her Abyss state. "Yes, you have indeed completely recovered. You possess the power to control the Abyss from the outside, even to the point of altering it. Perhaps this is why the Fallen Apostles view you as their greatest enemy, yet they do not dare to act blindly without thinking."
"I already knew that." I scratched my head. "Your compatriots must be praying for me to die in various accidents three times a day. But let's not discuss this topic for now. I am more curious about your situation." "How did you manage to reposition yourself as the Shiring Apostles without changing your memories?" Carter fell into deep thought. "Perhaps I can't explain it clearly.
"How did I reposition myself as a Xi Ling apostle without changing my memories?" Carter fell into deep thought. "Perhaps I can't explain it clearly. The entire process is incredible. My memories have not changed at all. I clearly remember everything that happened from the moment I walked out of the boot camp until today. I remember my battle with the Abyss, and I also remember myself joining them. I also remember my recovery just now … All of my memories are still there, and I still don't think there's anything wrong with my judgment at that time. These are all complete and clear records, but they're still divided into three completely different parts. It's as if I'm observing another person's life … I know that I was a staunch supporter of the Abyss more than an hour ago, and I tried my best to self-destruct to prevent you from obtaining the information in my head. But now, this memory is still there, but it seems to have become a scene from a third-person perspective. There's no sense of immersion at all … I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't explain it clearly. This is a very complicated description."
"A change in worldview?"
Sandora's eyes lit up slightly. Although it was fleeting, Carter could still see that she seemed to have thought of something. "The same memory, under the influence of a different worldview, will come to different conclusions and judgments. But the worldview here should be a broader concept. It may include a whole set of processes that you process information from the outside world. The Abyss has changed this set of processes, just like changing a set of algorithms. The same information is input, and after being processed by your core of thinking, it becomes a very strange conclusion. And now, Ah Jun's power has reset this influence of the Abyss, returning your information processing algorithm to its original state."
Carter slightly closed his eyes, as if he was searching through his own thinking system. Moments later, he opened his eyes and shook his head. "Perhaps part of what you said is correct. I did indeed discover signs of an algorithm being modified in my core of thinking. But if that's all, it shouldn't be enough to create the illusion that I'm observing myself from a third-person perspective, as if I'm observing another person's life … The Abyss probably didn't only change the rules that the infected use to judge things. It also changed something on an even deeper level."
The things that Sandora and Carter were talking about were getting more and more sophisticated. As I listened to them, their conversation gradually went from a pragmatic to a philosophical level. It was obvious that if they continued like this, I wouldn't be able to understand anything. Carter, you don't even know why your worldview suddenly changed. Sandora, you haven't experienced the experience of recovering from a Fallen Apostle. We have similar experiences here. One is a little lunatic, one has severe brain dysfunction, and the last one is more abnormal than anyone else under normal circumstances … I think we should leave this question to Tawil to research. Hopefully, she can find the reason why the Fallen Apostles and the normal Shiring Apostles have different ways of thinking. That way, it will be possible for us to reverse the Fallen Apostles' views. "
Carter nodded. "You have a point."
I asked, "… Who taught you that?"
Carter shrugged. "The prison mainframe here is the most difficult interrogator I've ever seen. It almost broke through my psychological defenses. The chattering mainframe uses twenty-three hours a day to discuss life with me and the remaining hour to study Earth's culture."
At that moment, Sandora and I were shocked. That darn prison mainframe, how much does it intend to evolve into?
"In short, try not to come into contact with that gourd in the future. There's definitely something wrong with it," I said resolutely. "In two days, I'll get someone to take it apart to see what's wrong with it."
Carter couldn't agree more. He also felt that there was something wrong with the gourd-shaped prison's mainframe. Of course, more importantly, in the past few days, he was mentally and physically exhausted by the self-evolving building AI that dragged him along with it. Now, he felt like a salted fish that had turned over a new leaf.
Carter? Carlo, or the original prisoner A, had now broken free from the influence of the Abyss. The next step for Sandora and I was to consider how to settle this special person from the Imperial Army. First of all, the prison was definitely not suitable. Other than the fact that the reversed Fallen Apostle still carried the Abyss's reaction, he was no different from a normal person from the Imperial Army. Perhaps he should return to the army.
Carter wasn't surprised by my suggestion. He nodded as if it was a matter of course. "I am a soldier, and I can only be a soldier. There won't be a problem with any of your arrangements. I'm suitable for high-speed assault battles, so I'm more than suitable for the frontlines."
"But this is a little wasteful." Sandora blinked. She was considering how to maximize the value of every soldier. "Your identity is very special. Although it seems that your military experience in the Fallen Apostle camp is no longer of any value to us, this special identity should still have some value … Ah Jun, what do you think?"
Sandora tossed a question at me. Actually, it wasn't that I didn't have any thoughts about this.
Carter was a former Fallen Apostle. From the start, the greatest significance of this special identity was that he might know who was behind the ambush in the ruined world, as well as the value of those warship remains. However, this information was already useless now. Belavilla brought us even more detailed information, but because of this, Carter, a former Fallen Apostle, was assigned to the regular army, becoming an ordinary small officer at the frontlines …
"Perhaps we should establish a military organization that specializes in dealing with the Fallen Apostles."
After thinking for a moment, I tried to voice my opinion. "Carter, although you might not know much about military secrets, you are definitely familiar with the Fallen Apostles' fighting style and the various characteristics of their army, especially the equipment they modified with the power of the Abyss."
The other party nodded as if it was a matter of course.
"Belavilla was a leading figure among the Fallen Apostles back then. She might know what the Fallen Apostles are doing from the overall situation, but when it comes to the most basic soldiers, her understanding of the Fallen Apostles might not even be comparable to an ordinary captain." I looked into Sandora's eyes. "The headquarters has always had a group that specializes in analyzing the actions of the Fallen Apostles. However, this group has always been made up of normal Shiring Apostles. They lack a true specialist or core — I feel that Carter is suitable for this role."
"That's definitely a good idea." Sandora revealed a faint smile. "Carter, how about you take up a position in the headquarters for now?"
"I am only a frontline officer with mid-level authority." Carter didn't accept or reject, instead objectively informing us of his situation. "Do I have the qualifications to enter the headquarters?"
"You can treat this as a special appointment." Sandora said indifferently. "At the very least, during the initial period of time, you won't have any actual military position in the headquarters, nor will you have any organizational structure. You will only exist as an external aid specialist for a certain military group."
When Sandora told him that this was a special appointment, Carter didn't say anything else and immediately saluted. "I accept your order!"
In that instant, I suddenly felt a huge sense of incongruity. The tall and skinny man in front of me was still our enemy just a few hours ago, unswervingly standing on the side of the Abyss, scheming to make Sandora and my plan fail. However, after such a short period of time, the other party was freed from the influence of the Abyss and had even turned into a member of the Imperial Army. Such a sharp contrast, such a huge change, it was hard for me not to feel strange.
The Fallen Apostles and normal Shiring Apostles … had the same memories and clear minds. What was the difference between them in essence?
I felt that it would be difficult to figure out this question before I could completely defeat the other party.
With the absolute control of the mental link, there was no doubt about Carter's loyalty. However, he was still an enemy of the Imperial Army before this. Not to mention, this was the first time that we had used "Void Reversal" (please let us forget the ridiculous name that a certain crazy girl gave me, "The Emperor's Love") to purify a person infected by the Abyss. The effects of this treatment still needed to be verified, which was why Sandora didn't completely release Carter. He still had to be closely monitored, and his mental link was open to us twenty-four hours a day. Apart from the right to move around in the headquarters, he didn't have any other authority of the Imperial Army. He was forbidden from using any military equipment, and he wasn't allowed to leave the headquarters as he pleased. It could be said that he was a free prisoner, under house arrest. This state probably wouldn't last for long. After a series of strict checks, he would be able to return to his normal status as a mid-level commander. However, before that, it would be difficult to say that Carter had completely been treated as one of us.
I felt that this kind of treatment would be quite depressing, but I didn't expect Carter to have such a calm expression. He happily accepted the order to continue being "detained" as if it was only natural.
"We must always be cautious against the Abyss. They are everywhere," Carter said himself.
"After all, I still have the Abyss's reaction on me, and it will only take a few hours for me to complete the reversal."
"It's great that you understand, and you don't have to worry. It's just a small restriction on your freedom. I hope you can get used to it." I contacted the prison warden who was on standby outside of the prison through our spiritual connection and got him to cancel Carter's prisoner number. At the same time, I got Sylves to prepare to add a serial number with no authority to the headquarters and bind it to Carter. "You can leave the prison now. Sandora and I will personally bring you to the headquarters."
"Wait a minute, there's one more thing!"
Carter suddenly seemed to recall something and suddenly shouted, "I just remembered … There's a piece of information that you definitely don't know!"
Sandora's gaze instantly focused on Carter, and her expression became serious. "What information?"
Carter also appeared abnormally serious. "I have no right to know the details, but because Her Majesty Halland once participated in this plan, I came into contact with some relevant information. This plan is related to you."
The first half of Carter's sentence was to answer Sandora, but the second half of his sentence shifted his gaze to me. I pointed at my nose in confusion. "Related to me? Speaking of which, can you stop talking like a train? "
Carter didn't react to my ridicule. Instead, he said word by word, "They might be trying to copy you."
"…"
Silence. The surroundings instantly became silent. Even my own breathing skipped a few beats.
"Copy me?" After a long while, I couldn't help but laugh. As I exchanged glances with Sandora, I shrugged and laughed. "How do they copy me? Is it that easy? Do they know the truth about me? "
There was a reason for me to laugh. In fact, I didn't even believe that such a thing could be done. Even though Carter had said a sensational piece of information, the effect of this piece of information was obviously far greater than the truth. The Fallen Apostle is trying to copy me? Is that even possible?
If it was so easy to copy Emperor Schilling, they would have been invincible long ago. Why would they need to keep such a low profile?
If millions of emperors from the Empire were to crush them, I believed that any fleet would be destroyed. It should be known that during the Empire's peak, there were only 135 emperors, and this was a number that had been developed over millions of years. You could see how difficult it was to produce an emperor. Not only did it require hard power, but it also required great luck. And now, the Fallen Apostle was actually thinking of mass-producing emperors?
This was only one of the reasons. More importantly, could Void creatures be copied?
There were only three Void creatures in the entire Void! We couldn't even find a partner within our race. Father God's wife was raised to carry out the Light Source's plan. Could it be that the Fallen Apostle was planning to create his own Void creature?
This was almost as crazy as the Void Creation Project of the Old Empire era.
"I know that this sounds unbelievable. In fact, I don't even dare to confirm that this guess is true." Carter wasn't surprised by my reaction. He took a deep breath. "However, I am a hundred percent certain that they have found a 'source' somewhere that can be used to copy a portion of your power. I once came into contact with an independent database. The footnote of the database mentioned your name. Furthermore, this name was placed together with a 'source' known as a 'blank container.' Furthermore, based on what I know, they successfully collected a sample of your energy a long time ago. This is very easy. As long as you personally go to the battlefield, your energy sample will be completely open to the public. Now that all of these elements are in place, it is hard to say whether they intend to copy your energy sample and inject it into a blank container to create a copy similar to you … "
"If what he said is true, then this is a serious situation." Sandora was silent for a few seconds before saying to me in a low voice, "They definitely won't be able to copy an Emperor-level Apostle that is exactly the same as you. It is even more impossible for them to create Void creatures. However, if they were to find a 'shell' that can contain the power of the Void, then use your energy sample to mass produce a copy similar to you …"
"That is definitely a disaster." I was very clear about what my power meant. At this moment, I couldn't help but frown. "As long as they discover the secret of the Void Domain, they can easily turn all of our top combatants into ordinary people. Even the Protoss will be affected by this power."
"This is just the worst conjecture." Sandora shook her head in the end. "I don't think that the Fallen Apostle can achieve any results in a short period of time. You must know that Tawil has been studying your power from the very beginning. Until now, her only mature result is just a superficial thing like the Energy Plundering Device. This is also under the condition that she can directly come into contact with you, the 'original'. The Fallen Apostle only has a sample of your energy at most. Even if they were to find a shell that can contain the power of the Void, they shouldn't be able to grasp the method to multiply your energy sample."
Sandora's analysis wasn't without reason. Although Carter's information was sensational, perhaps there was no need to worry about the Fallen Apostle's plan so early on. In fact, that bunch of lunatics had many perverted plans. None of them were easy to deal with. Even if you were to worry about them all, even if they were to succeed, there wouldn't be anyone who would be deeply worried about it. It was just a fake. Did they really intend to make me, the original, helpless?
However …
"I don't know why, but I suddenly thought of Sicarro." I glanced at Sandora gloomily. The latter was stunned for a moment, and a strange expression appeared on her face. "Now that you mention it, I also thought of him."
Very quickly, Sandora and I set aside the Fallen Apostle's' duplication plan 'for the time being. It wasn't that we didn't need to worry about this plan. It was just that in the current situation, it was difficult for us to effectively stop the Fallen Apostle from conducting any research in their lair. So, since it was useless to worry about it, we might as well let go of our thoughts and think about how to quickly increase our own strength. No matter the situation, absolute power was the most effective method of defense and counterattack. Even if the enemy really managed to duplicate a few hundred' defective Void Dukes', I firmly believed that if the Imperial Army had tens of thousands of planetary battleships, those duplicates would still have to kneel. It was very simple. Tens of thousands of planetary battleships!
"So this is the capital of the New Empire … It really is a completely different place from what I had imagined." Carter, who was now half-free, followed behind Sandora and me as we left the prison. We didn't choose to use the teleportation gate, but instead walked to the headquarters. On the way, this former Fallen Apostle, who had seen the scenery of the City of Shadows for the first time, let out a loud exclamation. Then, his gaze fell on a holographic propaganda wall not far away. He instantly let out a strange cry and jumped back a dozen meters. "Wow! You actually placed such a dangerous ring in the square?! "
I quickly went forward to comfort him. "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous. That is the London Olympics …"
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