Chapter 1163: Chapter 1163: Bridge Building
“Bridge Building?”
When I voiced the two words that flashed through my mind like lightning, all I got in return were a bunch of bewildered glances.
“Do you still rember the deep diving plan we discussed last ti?” I tried to remind Sandora and the others, “It was just a few days ago. One night I couldn’t sleep and heard all sorts of nonsensical things about the Chaotic Sea, the other shore, and a bridge being built— I brought it up with you the next day, and everyone agreed that I must have been hallucinating.”
“Now that you ntion it, I do recall sothing,” Sandora nodded with her chin resting on her hand, “Oh, that’s right, it did happen. Wait, you think the Black Shuttle is related to what you hallucinated back then?”
“It’s just a sudden whim,” I exhaled, slowly articulating my thoughts, “Now we suspect the Black Shuttle ca from the Abyss and there’s conjecture that a super civilization within the Abyss created it: let’s assu these suspicions hold true. Then when did they start building the first Black Shuttle? The probe we’re seeing now, though still experintal, could travel through the most chaotic regions of the Abyss, which suggests it’s not a re first-generation product. Otherwise, wouldn’t the creators of the Black Shuttle be defying the odds? So I speculate that the super civilization’s first attempt to deploy a probe likely coincided with the Old Empire’s initiation of their deep diving plan. In other words, these two plans… were essentially coordinated.”
“Evidence? You need so basis,” my conjecture seed so sensational that most people were left dumbfounded, only Sandora maintained her calm, slightly shaking her head as she asked her question, “The Black Shuttle was made by a civilization we know nothing about, one perhaps located in the deepest Abyss, with no connection to the Order World, whereas the Old Empire’s deep diving plan was part of a larger X project. How could such a massive undertaking suddenly synchronize with an unfamiliar, nearly unreachable civilization?”
I spread my hands, “So it’s just a hypothesis; the details are up to the experts. But hear out: I believe the Old Empire collaborated with that mysterious civilization on a project based on continuous insights we’ve received from the Abyss, not from the Old Empire’s records. The Old Empire era received ssages from the Abyss Bottom, and seventeen years ago, I encountered sothing suspected to be from the Abyss. Coupled with the ‘hallucinations’ I had that night, if all these were from the super civilization that made the Black Shuttle, then clearly, they were aware of the Empire’s existence—at least they knew there was a group of intelligent beings across from them with comparable technological prowess. And both sides continuously sent out probes to each other. The Old Empire’s Deep-diving ship logs ntioned attempts to signal the other side after reaching the deepest Abyss—does that not say enough?”
Both sides confird each other’s existence and had approximate notions of each other’s “location,” continuously exchanging information and probes; this is what I’m getting at. And their purpose in doing this… is to build a bridge.
The words “build a bridge” were rely an inference based on the snippets I had “hallucinated” before, yet these words now linger incessantly in my mind. If I truly heard occasional ssages from the super civilization that made the Black Shuttle, and if “put the bridge up” was indeed uttered by them, then it must be a project they once jointly pursued with the Old Empire—because in that hallucination, I distinctly recalled them expressing hope to discuss with the opposite side how to “put that bridge up.” I could argue this isn’t rely speculation but rather built on nurous known facts, though I’ve chosen a rather sensational manner to explain these facts.
Sandora fell silent for a long ti; she seed unsure whether to concur with my speculation. After a while, she slowly began to speak, “Assuming you weren’t hallucinating back then and those pieces indeed relate to this Black Shuttle, then there’s only one explanation: Bridge building continues, and the super civilization in the Abyss Bottom has achieved nearly breakthrough progress.”
“They seed unaware that the Old Empire is already gone,” I suddenly felt a peculiar mood, “Back when the Empire was busy with too many significant projects while building the bridge, everything collapsed, costing the entire Empire, but perhaps those in the Abyss Bottom know nothing about it; for all these years, they’ve kept busy launching these probes… What could possibly drive two civilizations to keep pushing for a bridge even with such a barrier?”
“Who knows, those privy to everything back then are either long dead or defected to the Fallen Apostles, and even the Fallen Apostles probably lack a complete recollection of those days,” Sandora sighed, “Those Abyss Bottom guys seem remarkably resilient; although we can’t establish communication with them, they’ll likely keep working tirelessly until they build that bridge themselves…”
I suddenly envisioned this scenario: a massive mountain separates two people, with both digging a tunnel towards the other, hoping to build a path, but early into the construction, one person perished due to a cave-in; the other, unaware and unable to contact their counterpart, simply continues to toil away with their tools, head down. Now, the digging person is closing in, and from our side of the mountain, we can even hear the thud of falling dirt… it’s that Black Shuttle.
“Why was Ah Jun the recipient of the Black Shuttle? And why did it co to Yelsen’s world?”
Qianqian’s voice suddenly broke in, slightly easing the atmosphere, which had grown heavy. I noticed the girl’s face showed hardly any pressure, only curiosity: Perhaps she had no interest in the Old Empire’s history or the super civilization of the Abyss Bottom; after eavesdropping for so long, she tossed aside whatever she couldn’t understand and was now rely curious about one thing: why were those strangers from the Abyss Bottom sending a probe with my na as the recipient?
“Uh, that’s another question,” my sister was taken aback, looking over at Sandora, “If the super civilization on the other side of the Abyss is still bridge-building, they should be sending probes to the Old Empire, yet this probe turned up in the Divine Race territory. Moreover, they have no idea about Ah Jun’s existence, but this Black Shuttle clearly undergoes identity verification; it records Ah Jun’s personal information—how do you explain that?”
“The first point: Why could the Black Shuttle be addressed to entities outside the Old Empire,” Sandora raised a finger, “It’s quite possible the super civilization that made the Black Shuttle has no understanding of what kind of civilization the Xyrin Empire is. We must consider the level of deep diving technology each party had when they first beca aware of the other: The Old Empire’s most advanced deep-diving ships couldn’t achieve imdiate communication with them, and they, until the Old Empire’s collapse, couldn’t send probes over. Therefore, I think the exchanges were akin to ‘seeing flowers in the mist.’ We can’t explain how the Old Empire and the mysterious civilization ca to a consensus and started bridge-building, but one thing is certain: that mysterious civilization had no ans to gather intel from the Empire. In such circumstances, the ‘III-type Uncertain Contact Law’ applies: two groups are only aware of each other’s existence, but beyond that, they possess no information. Each communication cycle is lengthy, and information exchange success rates are below fifty percent. In such a situation, the communication between the two civilizations is more like blindly throwing paper wads at each other; the one tossing paper wads has no clue who their ssage is addressed to, nor can they ascertain if the intended recipient is an individual or a group, not even knowing if the person who threw the previous notes is the one receiving them now. This Black Shuttle is akin to those paper wads; rather than being sent for the Old Empire, it was sent for the ‘group on the other side of the Abyss.'”
“To the mysterious civilization at the Abyss’s bottom, all of us on this side of the Abyss are the sa,” I followed Sandora’s train of thought, “The Xyrin Empire, the Star Domain Divine Race, and the Huron Divine Race: when the information the other side has is overly broad, we collectively beco a group, labeled as ‘the people across’… Eh, then this contradicts: if they didn’t even know what the Xyrin Empire was, then how did they know my na? Doesn’t this conflict with what you called the ‘seeing flowers in the mist’ scenario?”
“It doesn’t contradict, as you are probably the only ‘distinct individual’ they have genuinely encountered and learned about,” Sandora said, looking into my eyes with a bit of a smile, “Do you rember your experiences from more than a decade ago?”
I suddenly realized: more than a decade ago, during the period when Qianqian and I were at our peak of naughtiness, I first encountered sothing suspected of being from the Abyss…
Sandora smiled: “That should have been ‘their’ first successful connection to the ‘other side’, and at that ti you were the only one to respond. Though you hadn’t awakened yet, you were still a Void Creature, so your response back then must have reached the other end. Thus, when ‘they’ filled out the recipient for this ti, you beca the only choice. And after the Black Shuttle arrived in the Order World, it instantly sent out a signal to you. Honestly, I should marvel at this thing called destiny. The probe designed by ‘them’ should have failed because the Black Shuttle landed so off course it even fell into the Divine Race’s territory. Plus, its peculiar nature made it hard for us on ‘this side’ to find. It actually wouldn’t have caught your attention. But coincidentally, the Fifth Fleet appeared just in ti, and as you guided the Fifth Fleet and rged with the Void, you heard this call—just before this thing’s energy was exhausted.”
Sandora was right; we really should marvel at destiny—how a series of events lined up perfectly to lead us here today. Yet, if any step had gone wrong, the Black Shuttle wouldn’t be before us. Although the whole process took at least seventy thousand years, it looks like the “bridge” has finally extended.
Now the question is, what should we do next?
“My head’s a bit muddled now,” my expression must have looked troubled, as if standing at a crossroads, one step forward could decide the trajectory of future history, while over twenty traffic lights flashed in front of . “Do you think the civilization that created the Black Shuttle is good or bad for the Empire? If they really co out from the Abyss, what impact would they have on the Orderly World? Based on the limited information we have, they don’t seem hostile, but I always think being a bit cautious is beneficial.”
Sandora exhaled: “Indeed, we should be cautious. It’s as foolish to impulsively extend a hand as it is to impulsively open fire when unknown civilizations first contact one another. Even if ‘they’ haven’t shown any hostility, we should prepare for the worst. As of now, it seems the other civilization’s deep-sea navigation technology surpasses the Empire’s, but it’s unknown if they’re as advanced in other areas. Also, we can’t unilaterally stop them from building a bridge. If their ultimate goal is to reach the ‘other side,’ then based on the state of the Black Shuttle, it’s just a matter of ti. So, in this scenario, we can’t afford to sit back… Taville, when can we get our next deep-diving ship off the assembly line?”
“The second deep-diving ship has undergone massive improvents and overall structural adjustnts. It’s still in the skeleton assembly phase. Due to various issues that surfaced during the first deep dive, I have almost completely redesigned the deep-diving ship’s energy network, so…”
“Alright, I see. It’s good to proceed with caution,” nodded Sandora. “For now, there’s at least so good news: the Black Shuttle is evidently a relatively advanced probe. See if we can extract any beneficial technology from it. Additionally, if possible, identify all the functions of the Black Shuttle. At the very least, I want to know if it has a readable data interface.”
“Yes, understood!” Taville nodded firmly and saluted.
I looked at the chief female scientist, full of enthusiasm: “Your workload will be heavy again from now on, I appreciate your hard work.”
“It’s my honor,” Taville’s mass projection smiled slightly, “and also my greatest interest.”
The matter of the Black Shuttle temporarily ended there, and now it depended on when Taville could decipher its chanics. Although it employed technology completely unfamiliar to us, Sandora believed that this technological barrier was more due to the differing civilization form at the Abyss Bottom, and the technology of the Black Shuttle itself remained within a graspable level for the Empire, so chances were good Taville would make progress soon. I was also prepared that, once the scientists confird the Black Shuttle posed no danger and, more importantly, once Taville felt comfortable letting interact with it, I would attempt to engage with it again. I always believed that the mysterious civilization went to great lengths to send sothing up, and it wouldn’t simply be for to sign off on it and watch a fireworks display. There ought to be sothing specifically for inside the Shuttle, possibly a ssage? A greeting? Or maybe a self-introduction? Everyone was curious about it.
It’s ti to bid farewell to this intriguing world.
Though I had arrived on the Azure Star as an intrusive alien, we encountered many interesting people here—especially that group of Gandalf elder n harboring dreams of starry seas. Naturally, we had to say goodbye before leaving. The past few days, we were so preoccupied with finding that big sphere that we had little opportunity to communicate with Qiao and his group. For Qiao, who considered studying aliens his life’s primary endeavor, this was hardly tolerable. Now that we suddenly announced our departure, the old n were even more distraught.
Just before we departed via the temple’s Teleportation Gate, everyone we knew gathered. Elder Qiao was being consoled by Mr. Lei, while Mu stood beside Yelsen, seemingly listening to a revelation from God, though most present doubted Yelsen’s words could be insightful. Eva, with a sowhat anxious and reserved expression, stood before Monina, and the two were talking quietly. There’s a tradition on Azure Star; they believe every citizen is born under the protection of a god, who becos the guardian deity of that person’s life. These guardians include the five understaffed slackers of Dingdang Team and so of their High Order Divine Servants, totaling fifteen, and Eva was born under the protection of the Shadow Star. So even though she was the Maid of War God, she received the Shadow Goddess’ protection—of course, though this might seem confusing, people on Azure Star were long accustod to it, and anything associated with the Dingdang Five was bound to be chaotic, right?
“Monina has a fondness for Eva,” Lin whispered in my ear. “Although they’ve never t, Eva prays daily, making them quite familiar with each other. This situation is common, many followers may never et us in person, but as long as they persist in prayer, they can always have our presence.”
“I just can’t get this feeling,” my lips curled slightly, “and I suppose that one over there doesn’t get it either.”
As I spoke, I glanced at Lilina a few ters away, the small one was pretending to be engrossed in the Bible, muttering as if she were devout: clearly putting on a show for Mu and others since rivals are enemies in the sa field. Lilina never loses her face before her rivals. However, her true level of devotion to Dingdang is a mystery, even though she has a great relationship with Dingdang. But can soone who dares to blatantly set up a tape recorder before a Goddess Statue as a substitute for prayer really grasp the concept of “devoutness”?
“Lilina…” Lin, who is usually gentle, also showed a helpless smile when facing Lilina, for in the profession of God, she’s quite seasoned and naturally can see how “unique” a pope like Lilina is. “Soone who’s least likely to be compassionate performs better than my best pope. This can only happen around you, can’t it?”
I: “…”
It feels like sothing’s not quite right with that last remark! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welco to Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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