The "Distorted Entropy Walkers" stayed on the homeworld for many days. While the Empire Fleet was busy with the construction of the various auxiliary facilities, they never left and their numbers slowly increased. Even though the rate of increase had slowed to the point that there would only be one or two Distorted Entropy Walkers attending the "gathering" every day, they were still gathering.
Jingle used her talent to communicate with these strange information-virtual-spirit hybrid creatures (actually, they weren't called that, but I really didn't know how to describe them) many times. Even though the Distorted Entropy Walkers didn't have their own language system, nor did they have any organs to communicate with other creatures, they could still converse with the guardians of life. From this, Jingle learned about the habits of these mystical creatures. They lived in the distant depths of space (hundreds of light years away from here), and usually relied on the energy drifting in space to maintain their form. However, they relied on consuming "information" to reproduce or grow. This was why they could survive in this stagnant universe, despite looking very similar to spirit creatures.
The Distorted Entropy Walkers were weak to us, and they didn't even have the ability to attack the soldiers of the Empire. However, to most ordinary races, these creatures were strange and dangerous because they were born with the ability to consume information, and they could even consume the "knowledge" and "history" of a race. Even though the consumption process was slow, ordinary races couldn't guard against it at all. It could be said that they were born almost mythical creatures. Therefore, Jingle wrote a set of life form modification code to make the Distorted Entropy Walkers safer. At the very least, they wouldn't harm the environment. Our homeworld was about to connect with the Empire District. We couldn't simply wipe out a species, but we also couldn't let them become a threat.
And the reason why the Distorted Entropy Walkers came to the homeworld was the same as what I mentioned before: it was their breeding season. These floating space spirits would come to the homeworld every few hundred years (the standard time scale of a capital city) to be "irradiated", and their breeding would usually last for several months. The area near the Gate of the Abyss was an area where information surged frequently. The abyssal environment had weakened the World Barrier here, causing material leakage and information exchange to occur frequently. This was one of the "holes" in our homeworld (there were other holes in the depths of the universe, left behind by the cataclysm), and one of the few places in this stagnant universe where new "information" was generated. The Distorted Entropy Walkers gathered here, celebrated, feasted, and used their muddled minds to understand the universe. When enough Distorted Entropy Walkers gathered, they would even develop a high level of intelligence, enough to be confused about the meaning of their existence. Tadpole was attracted to the place because she heard the bewildered mutterings of the Distorted Entropy Walkers.
If it were any other world, a group of primitive, non-threatening native creatures like these would not attract the attention of the Imperial Army. But here, even Sandora paid great attention to the Distorted Entropy Walkers despite her busy schedule. Even though the Shiring Apostles did not excel in the emotional aspect, they were an exception when it came to matters related to their homeworld. The generals and emperors of the Empire believed that these floating space spirits that emitted blue light were the embodiment of their homeworld's unyielding spirit, and even the blue light they emitted was reminiscent of psionic energy (the Abyss Schilling protested but was ignored. The color-changing psionic energy had no human rights). So, some of the people who could not help with the bridge construction began to study these creatures. Shallow Shallow even suggested to bring a few of the Distorted Entropy Walkers back as pets. Everyone still remembered that Shallow Shallow was a compassionate girl who would keep anything she caught. But in the end, Shallow Shallow gave up on the idea because she realized that the Distorted Entropy Walkers had no neck. No neck = no leash = no way to walk = no way to keep them as pets, so she gave up.
In any case, I did not really understand how Shallow Shallow's logic worked.
And with the 'company' of the Distorted Entropy Walkers, the bridge construction project progressed smoothly and efficiently to a critical juncture.
Perhaps it was because we had been through too many twists and turns in the past few years, almost everything we did was met with several times the resistance. So, the luck that we had accumulated over the years finally paid off at this moment. There were no rebel armies trying to take advantage of us, no enemy races starting a war, no unexpected technical problems, and the gigantic Gate of the Abyss didn't suddenly collapse. All the factors that could cause the project to fail had been eliminated in advance or would not happen at all. There was no longer anything that could stop us from building the bridge.
The second month after the Empire's fleet arrived at our homeworld.
All facilities around the startup terminal were operating at full capacity, and the once loose work field was filled with a large number of space factories, turning into a dense cluster of artificial celestial bodies. This cluster of celestial bodies had a radius of 0.3 astronomical units and formed an irregular ring. It was composed of a large number of factories and computing cores, and countless spaceships (eighty percent of which were newly built by us, praise to the Empire's advanced battlefield deployment technology) shuttled through it, turning the huge ring into a bustling and lively place. The work field was quite a distance away from the startup terminal, and it did not come into direct contact with the terminal. Instead, it was a 'logistics facility' that provided additional computing power and energy transfer for the startup terminal. The two were connected by a large number of dimensional doors and fast shuttles.
And even further away from the work field was the crucial energy station.
Everyone still remembered the terrifying amount of energy required for the startup terminal. Back when we fought with the New Army for the startup terminal, it was thanks to this thing that it took ten days to half a month to recharge, and the Imperial Army managed to catch up at the last moment, preventing the New Army from getting what they wanted. Back then, when the New Army discovered that the regular psionic wells did not have enough power, they even went crazy and detonated their own universe, but even that did not manage to get the startup terminal to work in time, which showed how insane the energy consumption of this thing was.
That was why the most important thing we did after we arrived here was to immediately start building large-scale psionic wells. From the moment the first work base was unfurled above the Abyssal Gate, a thousand psionic wells were built at the same time. Before the Empire's fleet departed, they had prepared a large number of builders and prefabricated modules, and the mass production mainframes also diverted most of their computing power to direct the construction (since the startup terminal was not activated, the mass production Bubble had free time). With full capacity, the largest energy array in the history of the New Empire was piled up.
It was a massive building complex made up of a thousand psionic wells, three psionic abysses, and countless psionic reactors. Everyone knew the principle of these psionic facilities. Its main body was located in the critical layer of the Void, and it extracted decay energy from the Void and sent it to the real world. The external ports of the Psionic Reactor were connected together to form a large cluster of buildings that looked like floating islands. The output port of the Psionic Well was a huge facility that looked like a cylindrical space station. The Endless Psionic Abyss was an ancient technology that the New Empire had just mastered. It was the most powerful Ultimate Reactor, and it could blow up the entire universe if it was not careful. Their output port looked like a huge tombstone, grayish-white, unadorned, square … Alright, it actually looked like a coffin, but I really did not want to say that …
This building complex floated hundreds of astronomical units away from the Gate of the Abyss. The reason why it was so far away was that they were worried that the excessive energy surge would stimulate the gate and cause unpredictable accidents. The huge amount of energy they generated was transmitted to the startup terminal through the hyperspace device and the conversion and focusing equipment on the work field, thus forming an efficient energy transmission system.
Surging psionic energy filled these devices, illuminating the dark universe. The entire energy station was thus shrouded in a blue haze, looking like a blurry city in the clouds. Every time a building was completed, it would immediately be put to use, which was why it had been charging the startup terminal for a month, and the latter finally revealed its familiar majestic form: a large mass of brilliant white light.
The white pillar that we had seen in the past had also appeared again, piercing the entire homeworld and messing up all optical phenomena in the universe. But it was only temporary, and it was said that everything would return to normal after the startup was properly activated.
The white pillar continued to grow and gradually devoured the startup terminal, until it finally disappeared before our eyes, leaving only a beam of light that illuminated space. That was a sign that the charging was nearing its end. And when the startup terminal was fully activated, the process would reverse, and the white pillar would slowly shrink while the white light on the startup terminal would reappear, just like the scene during the Great Battle of the Tranquil Core.
Well, although it was not a pleasant memory, I was eagerly looking forward to it starting soon — and it seemed like it was really soon.
On the upper deck of the Empire Admiral, Abyssal Schilling and we looked at the brilliant pillar of light in space. It was parallel to the Great Abyssal Rift, and it looked like a long bridge of light that shot from the beginning of the universe to the end of the universe. It was a spectacular sight.
"At the last step of the bridge, the startup terminal that is in peak condition will be released, and then it will fuse with the Abyssal Gate," Abyssal Schilling said unhurriedly. "At that point, we don't need to participate. If the data and calculations are correct … the long bridge will be built, and the two sides of the Void will be forever connected. The bridge itself will become the Void's own structure and therefore very sturdy. Unless there is another Void Cataclysm or Void Cataclysm that we do not know about, it will exist forever. Well, theoretically, it's impossible. "
I carried Little Bubble in my arms, carried Little Jingle on my back, carried the figurine on my shoulder, and hung Pandora on my left and Visca on my right. (These two generals were definitely not suited for research. They were even more free than Shallow shallow these few days) We sat busily as usual. When I heard what Abyssal Schilling said, I popped my head out from the gap between the little rascals. "What if the long bridge is harmful — I mean, what if? Is there really no way to dismantle it?"
"Of course it's not that easy to dismantle. Otherwise, the new army would not have treated the long bridge as a sure-win treasure and occupied it at all costs." Abyssal Schilling glanced at me. "Of course, there are no absolutes in this world. Since the Void contains all possibilities, then we have to assume that the long bridge can be destroyed. But perhaps it would require five Void creatures to rush up and self-destruct? Who knows? I don't pay attention to such things. Things that cannot be calculated are meaningless, at least not to me. Also, Father, can you not lose your composure like that? It is not appropriate to let these royal members, who should be the commander-in-chief of the army, hang on their bodies like that. "
I tried my best to maintain my composure. I chuckled at Abyssal Schilling. "Are you envious? You can hang on them too. Theoretically, you are also my little rascals. I was not used to it at first. But now, I have really accepted this setting. I find it quite cool. "
There was a strange glint in Abyssal Schilling's eyes. Then, she turned to look at the huge box next to her. It was as tall as a person. She was about to smash the box on my shoulder. "Father, are you serious?"
I instantly withered at the sight. "Let's do it. You are not any worse than Xiaoxue when you act like a rascal."
Just then, Halland suddenly came to the platform. He looked like he had something to inform him. This old man was not surprised to see the lively scene on my body. He only smiled as if he was used to it. Then, he nodded at me. "Chen, everything is ready on the other side. Their activation terminal is fully charged. They are just waiting for news of our ignition."
"This side … should only take two or three days." I turned to look at the light pillar in space. "It would be great if we could drag the Psionic Death Star over. That thing is definitely more useful than any reactor."
"But you'll have to spend half a year to drag it from the Empire District." Halan shrugged. "Be content. It's not easy for such a big project to be carried out to the end safely."
Hearing that, I sighed emotionally. "Yeah, it was not easy. Everything … is finally going to be settled."
Three days later, the activation terminal was fully charged.
The brilliant light pillar that connected the heavens and the earth was being retracted. With a single command, it would completely condense inside the activation terminal. In the middle of the light pillar, the dazzling white ball of light was already expanding and contracting as if it was breathing.
All the preparatory work was completed. The activation terminal was fully charged. The external computing array had an ample amount of load. The safety measures and system controls had been tested hundreds of times to ensure that everything was foolproof. Abyss Schilling conducted a major inspection on the activation terminal, energy station, external computing array and other systems based on the information she had on hand. She confirmed that everything was operating according to the design specifications.
More importantly, our communication with the other side was smooth. The relay stations in the critical layer of the abyss were working well. The Federation of Rings had even launched two more manned relay stations in the past few days, regardless of the cost, to ensure that the bridge construction could proceed smoothly.
If the bridge construction failed, it was highly unlikely that the workers in the relay stations would survive. The Federation of Rings's deep-submersible ship wouldn't dare to guarantee that it could survive in the depths of the abyss for a long time. Not to mention, they wouldn't be able to travel through the abyss twice in a row. This showed how determined the other side was.
They could only succeed. Failure was not an option.
The activation control terminal for the bridge construction was located on the officer's platform on the Empire Admiral. The giant holographic projection in the command hall expanded to its maximum size, allowing us to see the activation terminal from afar as if we were there. The ancillary facilities around the latter had been completely dismantled. Now, other than the white ball of light in the center, only the anchoring force field generators around the ball of light were still operating.
Everything was ready. We just needed to activate the system. A row of crystal boards was used to activate the system. Me, Sandora, my sister, Halland, Belavilla, Abyss Schilling, Ivan Thain, regardless of whether it was the previous emperor or the current emperor or the strange creatures (especially Abyss Schilling). In short, everyone present had to have a controller in front of them. Once these crystal boards were activated at the same time, the long bridge would be established.
"I can't believe we made it this far safely." Sandora looked at the crystal board that had the word "Ready" on it. Her tone was a little emotional. "Speaking of which, is there a need for such a symbolic step?"
"This is a historical moment. You should at least give the historians something to record." I grinned as I watched the countdown before me slowly moving towards zero. Actually, this countdown wasn't really necessary. There was an entire hour's time difference, and this was the limit of the two activation terminals of the long bridge. As long as we and the other side activated the system within an hour, there wouldn't be any problems.
The countdown continued. The historical moment was about to arrive. My sister had already placed her hand on the controller. She smiled and said, "At least it looks solemn. Shallow Shallow didn't have the chance to touch this. She's not happy about it."
The countdown had already entered thirty seconds. I placed my hand on the crystal board like everyone else. "Then let history roll forward. This sentence can be added to the Empire Academy's examinations from now on. Now, listen to my countdown. Five, four, three, two, one, zero, activate … Eh, Halland, why did you press the button so early? "
The system issued an alarm, indicating that the operation had failed. Halland raised her hand innocently. "I thought I would just count to zero. I didn't expect you to have an 'activate' button."
I was stunned. I waved my hand with all my might. "Again, again. Three, two, one, zero, activate! Eh, why didn't you press the button? "
"Wasn't the countdown from five? Why did it start from three?"
"Don't worry about the details!" I pointed at the countdown timer. It had already passed zero. It was now -1, -2, -3. "We are in a hurry. This is a serious matter!"
"Let me count, let me count," Abyss Schilling shouted. "Three, two, one, zero … Eh, why aren't you guys moving?"
Everyone said in unison, "Why didn't you shout 'activate'?!"
I broke out in cold sweat. "Forget it. This isn't reliable. Let's use our mental connection. The synchronization rate is rather …"
"My mental connection has a delay." Abyss Schilling raised his hand. "Don't look at me like that. I am not compatible with your network. I need to translate it."
"I think it's fine if I don't participate in this." My sister raised her hand too. "I have already abdicated for seventy thousand years."
"Halland, what's going on?"
"I am just reminding you that the countdown timer is already negative 130 seconds."
"Don't bother anymore. Everyone, press it together!"
"Ivan Thain, why did you press it without saying a word?!"
"Didn't I say not bother anymore?!"
"Stop!!"
In the end, Sandora couldn't stand it anymore. Her Majesty the Queen pushed everyone aside domineeringly. She removed the temporarily modified joint controller in front of her, revealing the only activation chip. As she slapped it, she said angrily, "I knew that Shallow Shallow's ideas were never reliable!"
Far away in space, a ball of white light suddenly expanded into an unprecedentedly large door.
The system let out a melodious notification sound, indicating that the activation was successful. I muttered to myself with a stiff expression, "This is a historic moment … It was so difficult to make a historic moment … How did it end like this?"
Icetis had been watching from the side for a long time. Finally, she felt good and threw a sarcastic remark.
"Hehe, at least the historians will have something to write about this time!"
[End]
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