Even today, I still remember many things that happened when I was young. Most of these things were related to my elder sister. That period of time where we depended on each other for survival had been polished by time, washing away much of the bitterness. Now, it had already become precious gems that flickered with a warm luster. Every gem was an insignificant matter. It wasn't earth-shattering, nor was it soul-stirring. Sometimes, it was just a small interlude of daily necessities. However, to the two of us, it was as precious as the most precious treasure.
I still remember those summer nights when I was only an eight or nine year old child. My elder sister fell in love with singing, and she especially loved singing soothing lullabies. At that time, every time I was about to fall asleep, my elder sister would come to my room and toss me around to listen to her sing. Every time, she would practice singing for fifteen minutes. Then, she would return to her room to sleep. I would jump up and down in my room with exceptional vigor, unable to fall asleep for a long time …
At that time, every night, I would be tossed around with unspeakable suffering. I always felt that my elder sister might have been possessed. It was only now that this slow-witted younger brother of mine vaguely remembered that my elder sister would have nightmares every night due to the immense pressure she was under. She was only trying to boost her courage.
Today, many years later, my elder sister smiled as she recalled the events of the past.
"Actually, at that time, I really wanted to sleep in the same room with Ah Jun again. In such a large house, sleeping alone was really scary. However, I was afraid that my younger brother would look down on me, so I could only brace myself and endure it. Who asked me to take the initiative to say, 'A boy who goes to school is a man, so he has to sleep alone'?"
I don't know if it was because of my elder sister's guidance, or because I had completely returned to my carefree state after half a night of fooling around with the monsters, but after that night, I felt much more refreshed. My previous impatience had completely disappeared, and the heavy pressure brought on by the Fallen Apostle seemed to have vanished into thin air. Of course, they were still the enemies that I needed to be wary of. I wasn't naive enough to think that the present peace would last forever. However, these things could no longer cause me to lose my composure due to the pressure. My elder sister was right. Being responsible wasn't as simple as bearing all the pressure. Being responsible was more important to be responsible for the people around you and for their concern for you. For this responsibility, the first thing you had to do was not to bear everything by yourself. On the contrary, it was to prevent yourself from carrying too many things.
Last night, I didn't know when I fell asleep. I lay on my elder sister's lap and slept the entire night in the temple square at the peak of Mount Olympus. My elder sister's lullaby might have had some effect, but it was mostly because I had a carefree spirit in my bones. That was because it was difficult for a normal person to sleep soundly on a stone floor that was as hard as steel for a night.
When I woke up the next day, I also discovered something terrible: I had a stiff neck …
How miraculous was this? My body had been strengthened to the extent that I could swim freestyle in outer space, yet I was still troubled by a stiff neck and cramp. Perhaps this fully explained the balance of the body strengthening technique. When your entire body's constitution was improving at the same time, some minor problems that originated from internal causes were unavoidable. This should explain why Icetis's wings suddenly cramped when she stretched her back. Even if you had a holy body, it wouldn't be a problem for your muscles to destroy your ligaments …
"Elder sister, it's fine if Zeus doesn't dare to come close, but why didn't anyone at home call us back? Have we been abandoned by the world? "
I looked at the sky at a 45-degree angle, my left eye looking at my elder sister, who was trying to stifle her laughter. To be honest, I felt that I had done a lot of stupid things in my life, but this was one of the more unique ones. I gave up on the comfortable bed at home and slept on Mount Olympus in the cold night wind. Do you think this is something that an idiot would do?
"Maybe everyone is used to it." My elder sister pinched my neck. "You do a lot of stupid things on a whim."
It seemed that the reason why Shallow Shallow and I ended up together was because of our deep cultural roots …
"Phew. But doing stupid things with Ah Jun is really nostalgic. It reminds me of when you were young. There was no time at home, and you didn't want to sleep in your room at night when it was hot in the summer. You insisted on sleeping in the courtyard on a mat. It was the same every time. You would wake up feeling uncomfortable all over, but the next night, you would still feel the same."
"Yeah, you were actually afraid that I would go missing." I realized that my elder sister was really addicted to reminiscing about the past, so I could only reminisce. "You moved a steel wire bed to watch over me because you were too weak to sleep on the floor. I didn't go missing, but you sleepwalked once. You walked to school at two or three in the morning and woke me up at four, telling me that there would be a solar eclipse today and that school was on holiday … "
My elder sister was silent for a few seconds. Then, she smacked me on the head. "Then, when it was time to go to school, you wouldn't wake up no matter what. You insisted that you were waiting to see the solar eclipse!"
The siblings fought and quarreled for half an hour, just like when we fought when we were young. Then, my elder sister went home alone. She still had to go back to take care of the little brats at home. I was really worried that something would happen to them if I let those brats hang out with strange creatures like Icetis and Shallow Shallow for too long without my elder sister to keep them in check. As for myself, I had to make a trip to one of Tawil's research facilities. The coffin-addict had left me a delayed message, saying that he had some progress to report. Based on the tone of the message, it seemed to be a big progress worth being happy about.
When they left the Atlantean floating island, the sky was already bright in this world. The floating island was rising, and looking down from the edge of the floating island, the entire Avalon continent could be seen clearly like a huge ink painting. Not far behind them was the big hole in the east of Avalon, an incomparably huge black crypt. The floating island passed through the bottom of the continent through that passage, returning to the upper world from the back of the world. It was a pity that I was still asleep when I passed through the hole. Otherwise, I would have been able to witness this magnificent and oppressive scene with my own eyes. After all, the few minutes of Atlantis passing through the "Apollo's Gate" was known as one of the three great tourist attractions of Avalon.
The other two were the eruption of green light once a day in the central Temple of Life, and the occasional giant thunderstorm above the Fairy Forest or near the Palace of Valhalla. It was said that the latter only appeared at irregular times when Cuchulin had no mission and was in Avalon. It was a test of luck …
After such a long period of development, the Shadow Space was now a special world even larger than the Solar System. Other than the mother planet in the core area and the Shadow City that floated upside down above the mother planet, the area within one astronomical unit of the Shadow Space was a conventional military defense line. There were a large number of military stations and spaceports, as well as light war factories. Further out were the gravitational distortion points where planetary battleships docked and readied. Beyond the gravitational distortion points were scattered military facilities and some special bases that were still under construction. For example, the extremely dangerous Abyss Energy Experiment Center and the giant World Gate launch terminal needed to launch planetary battleships to the edge of the world. (This thing has huge energy fluctuations and will cause shocking structural damage to the surrounding celestial bodies, so it can only be placed at the border of any celestial body.) The Vengeance Fleet's base was also on this level. With their extraordinary combat power, they were the first barrier of the Shadow Space.
The research center that Tawil sent me to this time floated independently next to the Vengeance Fleet's base. This area was basically a newly built military facility. If I had taken a serious look at the report when the coffin-addict asked me to sign the new research center, I would have known what the hell this place was.
"Teleportation complete. Entering the gravitational distortion zone ahead. Please identify the signal."
The teleportation portal opened with such a notification. Then, the dome of the transfer station slowly opened up before me, and what appeared before me was a pitch-black expanse of space.
The transfer station below me was a model that the Empire often used when setting up a relatively large space control zone. It consisted of an oval-shaped metal platform with a radius of several hundred meters and a set of spatial gates. It could be used for small groups of people to quickly jump between the control zone. Compared to the usual teleportation devices that needed to be operated in pairs, the transfer station's unique feature was that it could perform "virtual jumps" without a starting point or an ending point. In other words, as long as you were in the spiritual network, you could send an application from any location in the control zone and be "accepted" by the transfer station. Conversely, you could also jump from the transfer station to any other location in the control zone without the need for any receiving or positioning devices at the target location. This type of teleportation technology that only needed one independent "ejection" point instead of two pairs of spatial gates was very common within the Empire. And it was said that the New Eden Federation and the Pan-Galactic Civilization Community had recently created a barely usable replica under the guidance of the Empire's scientists. This could be considered one of the first large-scale systematic technologies that the Empire had exported to its vassal races. The dimensional door of the transit station was used to transport people. The metal platform was protected by an eggshell-like alloy armor plate, making the transit station look like half an egg that had been sliced vertically. The armor plate at the front could be opened to form an incomparably gigantic observation window. And now, I was standing in front of this observation window, staring blankly at the incomparably gigantic silver-white figure in the distance.
Tawil's projection appeared beside me with a faint noise of signal interference. She appeared rather tired — she must have completed another huge, sleepless project, but that did not affect the workaholic's spirit at all. Her face was brimming with excitement, and she hurriedly saluted me before tapping the Information Terminal in her hand. "Your Majesty, you've come at the right time. She has just completed the first activation test, and the compatibility is at sixty percent. Hmm, it's very low compared to normal ships, but it's an unbelievable miracle for both of them. It means that the ancient warship before you has regained the ability to walk the battlefield — at least in theory."
"Well done. Hmm, I mean, it's far beyond my expectations."
My attention was not entirely focused on the report of the bespectacled lady beside me, but was instead lost in thought at the behemoth hanging in the dark of space. It was a planet, a planet covered in a silver-gray alloy crust and a translucent energy shield. There was no doubt that it was an artificial object. Dark-blue energy circuits pulsed slowly in the cracks of the metallic planet's crust, while capillary-like psionic beams flowed over miles after miles of its surface. It appeared to have just undergone a massive overhaul, with several hexagonal alloy armor plates near the equator opened, revealing a dark, complex mechanical structure and a mysterious crystal jungle of unknown functions. Red lights danced merrily within the labyrinthine machinery, telling everyone who saw it that the metal planet before them was alive.
I was very familiar with this gigantic artificial planet. It was the ancient planetary battleship that the Imperial Army had spent a lot of effort to drag back from the world of Mobrador. It was Sandora's flagship back then, the Warsong.
Even though the Warsong seemed to be operating normally, a few days ago, it was still a lifeless experimental specimen. Ninety-five percent of the modules were in a shutdown state, the ship's AI was in complete chaos, and all the facilities were locked to each other due to logical errors. It was practically a steel model that could not be activated at all. Even though Tawil had done his best to repair seventy to eighty percent of its hardware structure, due to an error in the planet's control database, it could not be activated at all. It was equivalent to a useless computer with basically intact hardware but no central processing unit. Even its energy core, which had a huge amount of energy, could not be controlled. As a result, we had no choice but to take out the entire core to prevent it from overloading and self-destructing. When I made that decision, I could still clearly remember how disappointed and devastated Tawil was.
"How did you do it?"
I asked in amazement as I looked at the magnificent planet fortress in space.
"It was a slightly risky attempt." Tawil tapped on a series of control terminals in the air. He operated quickly while saying proudly, "As you know, the Warsong could not be activated because the ship's AI was damaged during its forced shutdown. Even though the control core was successfully rebooted, the logic base of the ship's AI was missing a lot of things, causing it to be unable to match a large number of advanced equipment in the Warsong. It was as if it was missing a driver. Because a lot of the old Empire's information was missing, we could no longer repair the core AI that was written in a very unique way. This was the main culprit that caused the Warsong's restoration process to be slow. But now … "
"You found the compressed package of the planet fortress's operating system?" I raised my eyebrows and thought to myself, Could this be Sicarro's victory?
"Of course not," Tawil shook his head decisively. "We just found a substitute. This substitute also came from the old Empire's technology and also used the sixth type of multi-load control coding rule. Well, you don't have to be curious about this term. It is just a way of writing the ship's AI. It is the special coding that we are unable to restore. In addition, this substitute was inexplicably added a lot of messy enhancement modules during its design. In the end, this AI has far more processing power than necessary. At the very least, it is barely able to handle the daily operation of the Warsong, at least in theory."
Tawil said a lot of specialized terms. I became more and more confused as I listened, and my curiosity grew. Fortunately, I didn't suppress my curiosity for too long. Soon, Tawil completed the synchronization with the Warsong and opened a huge communication window in front of us. At the same time, a loud scolding resounded through the entire transit station.
"Bastard! Idiot! Idiot! You old hag with a chest that can smash walnuts! Release me from this damned place immediately! Immediately, now, immediately! Do you know how serious of an offense this is?! I will definitely take revenge! I will smash your research lab and make you suffer for the rest of your life! Do you hear me?! Immediately release me from this inexplicable big box. You will suffer retribution. The general will soon lead thousands of troops to crush your bones! Ahhhh, bastard! I used to be a beautiful spaceship with 389 main cannons. How long are you going to use this stupid round body to insult my dignity! Bullsh * t, bullsh * t, bullsh * t!! "
"An auxiliary processor that fits all the requirements." Tawil pushed his glasses and said with a helpless expression, "The only problem is that she doesn't cooperate with my research, at least in theory."
I was speechless.
The person in front of me was definitely the most powerful genius I had ever seen. How could an ordinary person imagine that she would do such a thing? She actually transplanted the ship's AI from Visca's flagship to the Warsong as an auxiliary processor?!
I listened to the imposing ship's AI scolding for a full 15 minutes with a complicated expression. I was impressed to find that this girl's eloquence was really not bad. She must have been a crosstalk comedian in her previous life. After 15 minutes had passed, she could still maintain a curse word every 5 seconds. Moreover, the repetition rate was less than 5%. I was amazed to hear that. In the end, I could only look at Tawil from head to toe and asked in a low voice, "Let me ask you something. Is it true that you can smash walnuts with XX?"
Tawil: "… I think that it is an artistic exaggeration, at least in theory."
"Alright, let's change the topic. How long does she intend to scold for?" I chuckled foolishly. I turned to look at the surging lightning storm on the surface of the Warsong, which was obviously enraged. "Furthermore, you placed such an uncontrollable person on the most powerful weapon in our territory. Aren't you afraid that something will happen?"
"Based on the previous few activations, she will need another 10 minutes to finish using all the adjectives. If no one pays attention to her, she will start again after 30 minutes. As for the issue of safety, Your Majesty, please rest assured. I have already made all the necessary preparations. The planet's warship is fixed on a gravitational anomaly. The Courtyard of Death has set up a layer of law barrier around it. At the same time, the warship's weapon system has not been unlocked. The planet's warship is fixed there with no possibility of movement, nor can it fight. It poses no threat. And after a period of observation, I realized that the AI is actually just a little bad in personality. She is harmless to the Imperial Army. Perhaps it is the influence of General Visca's subconscious. The AI has not harmed the will of the Imperial Army at all. She is just a little sharp-tongued, at least in theory. "
My admiration for a certain spaceship's AI reached a whole new level.
I knew about the gravitational anomaly that Tawil mentioned. It was something set up in every space area for the planet's warship to dock. In fact, it was a very powerful gravitational generator. Coupled with a large enough gravitational isolation device, it could be used to firmly fix the entire planet at a specific coordinate in space. Because the planet's warship was too big, we could not build a larger conventional port for it to dock. That was why the gravitational anomaly device was born. It could be used like a golf ball to stop the huge planet's fortress in one place. With a little modification, this device could be used as a safety lock to restrain the planet's warship. This was because all planet's warships used a coordinate engine as their basic power source. The coordinate engine could be disrupted the first time it was activated. This interference method was to place a super strong gravitational trap at a very close place, such as a gravitational anomaly.
As long as the anomaly existed, the coordinate engine could not be activated (of course, if it was already activated, any interference method would be useless). Without taking the first step, even the powerful planet's warship could not move an inch. In addition, the Courtyard of Death system and the system lock set up by Tawil had shut down the Warsong's law weapons in advance. The ship's AI could only rage in place.
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