Chapter 624: Chapter 624: Core Defense Breakthrough
Finally, the Imperial Army had reached its destination.
There were no large-scale Rebel Army forces as anticipated, no sky-covering Energy Beams, not even a single defense turret appeared; after the jump was complete, we entered a quiet space that was almost inconceivably tranquil.
Space Soup…what a bizarre term it is. However, once Taville coined this new term, we found it to be the only one that could adequately describe the situation at the core of the Big Nebula, despite how paradoxical it may sound.
“The density of the space cloud outside the shield is approaching the critical point of liquidity, but they still retain a dispersed dust-like state, resembling a kind of gelled substance in an evaporated state. These gels are pure random atomic crystals, and in theory, basic substances that can be born can be found among those atoms. But confusingly, these materials have lost all of their attributes. They do not react, do not decay, and do not even generate electromagnetic forces or any other forms of interaction with each other; it’s as if every atom is floating in its own separate absolute vacuum, maintaining an absolute zero temperature as well,” Taville said, standing behind us with a tone full of bewildernt.
“A cosmic snapshot of universal substances,” Sandora tucked a few disobedient strands of golden hair behind her ear, “doesn’t it sound familiar? Here, all the substances of the universe co together, yet they seem as static as if etched into a portrait. Primordial soup of the universe, the core of the Big Nebula turns out to be this kind of thing.”
The bunch of terms that Sandora dumped out felt too profound for the likes of , Big Sister, and Qianqian to bother understanding, but the amazing scenes around us truly made one marvel.
In the space where the Death Star Fleet was located, there perated an endless dark red “fog” that conservatively estimated also expanded over a 0.35 light-year area. Just as Taville described, this fog nearly exhibited the texture of a liquid, yet possessed the ethereal quality of mist. Full of peculiar properties, such as an elusive non-attenuating transparency—as per normal circumstances, a uniformly dense fog would affect visibility, and even more so for this dense ‘Space Soup.’ Yet, in reality, when we looked into the distance, the enormous Planet Fortress and the swarms of mother ships remained distinctly visible, regardless of how far away they were. They appeared with identical clarity in our vision, indicating that so aspects of light no longer functioned here.
A bright flash of Energy Lightning streaked above the Imperial Admiral, illuminating a considerably vast stretch of the sky, causing the thick rolling red fog to tremble and send out countless ripples. This was a silent thunderstorm; similar flashes of Energy Lightning could be occasionally spotted within eyesight. Another spectacle near the core of the Big Nebula, these crisscrossing lightning flashes seed to burst forth constantly, yet we could not identify their source. The energy appeared to arise out of nowhere, not adhering to any known laws of physics. When they slashed through the red fog, they created a fierce shock wave, even capable of making the ‘Space Soup’ within a radius of hundreds of thousands of kiloters boil, yet without any sound—given such an abundant dium, light did not diffuse or refract, nor did sound propagate; who knows to what degree the laws of the universe had been twisted in this eerie place.
And then, there was that thing blocking our path ahead.
A barrier halted the advance of the Death Star Fleet, still standing firm millions of kiloters away, intact and impeccably smooth. The Emperor’s Breath and the Ghost Energy Ship Cannon attacks left not a single mark on it. The images transmitted back from the forward scout drones revealed the true nature of this barrier.
A spherical Defense Barrier, with a radius of about 60,000 kiloters, its surface absolutely smooth, like a rainbow-colored mirror. Its exquisite shifting colors played across the pristine sphere, akin to a dream; it was this seemingly delicate barrier, much like an art piece, that withstood two attacks from the Death Star Fleet. First was the point-blank Emperor’s Breath, and then an intense bombardnt from the entire mobile fleet and a Planet Fortress, yet neither attack had any effect. The target remained, without even forced damage taken.
Taville had used special thods to ascertain the form of this entity, a marvelous thin film, that’s all there was to it. The only thing noteworthy was that it did not belong to any known substance. This film was an absolute singular entity; it had no structure and was not composed of smaller fundantal particles like atoms or molecules. The film itself was its most basic material structure, and its robustness had reached the Law Level.
After confirming the nature of this shield, Sandora imdiately prevented the Dead Star Fortress from launching its final attack, then rather vexedly introduced to a term: Indestructible Structure.
That was one of the few Law Level Defense System thods widely used during the height of the Empire, for protecting all sorts of classified records. Its principle was difficult to explain in words, but put it this way, everyone should understand: in any world, there exists a fundantal structure that absolutely cannot be further disassembled.
Is there an end to the division of matter at its extre limits? This philosophical proposition once troubled generation after generation of white-bearded old n, including Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Mozi—great yet distressing characters in human history who conjectured one experint after another to verify these questions. For example, the Chinese theory suggests that if you cleave a piece of wood down the middle with an axe every day, as long as your chopping skills are good enough and your patience is ample, you could go on infinitely, even if the unfortunate piece of wood has already been split into nanoter-thick slices. anwhile, the old Greeks believed that matter, in its ultimate minuteness, is composed of “small round spheres.” These are the world’s smallest, most fundantal, and most primal material structures, the bricks and mortar used by God to build the universe. Mortals could never divide them; at best, they could only separate them—here, let us sigh at the distress God must have endured during creation. If “Genesis” were this troubleso, Dingdang wouldn’t have dared to major in Creation Science from the beginning.
Subsequent generations of scientists, through relentless effort, finally proved that both statents—were almost nonsensical.
Thanks to the ever-evolving modern physics, humans gradually discovered molecules, atoms, neutrons, electrons… Whenever a theory claid that humans had mastered the most basic bricks and mortar of this world, new discoveries would prove that these so-called bricks were rely smaller prefab panels. Matter was still being divided by humans under increasingly microscopic conditions. To date, even human scientists have researched down to the level of neutrinos—the smallest known and asured fundantal particles. Yet it seems the end is still not in sight, with even smaller material structures theoretically existing within reach, beckoning those scientists who enjoy challenging extres. Humans have begun to doubt whether matter can be infinitely divided, although this hypothesis is essentially unprovable.
Human scientists have a long road ahead in dismantling the world, but they’ve already glimpsed so of the road’s wonders. A truth well-known to all holds true for all matter, from the microscopic to the macroscopic: the smaller the basic particles you split, the higher the energy level required. The strength in your biceps is enough to break a chopstick, but splitting a carbon atom requires billion-degree nuclear temperatures. To disintegrate a proton, you need an accelerator track long enough to circle the Beijing Third Ring Road three tis, gathering enough energy to power a hundred thousand video ga otakus. Currently, it’s believed that performing surgery on fundantal particles smaller than neutrinos would at least require energy from the early stages of the Big Bang. This is the true essence of matter; the ferocity of the microscopic world. Their indestructible structures beco nearly invincible as they approach the origin. And when they beco extrely microscopic, becoming the fundantal elents that compose the world—a blurred state between matter, energy, and information—these little things beco immune to all non-law-based external factors.
In Dingdang’s collection of books, “Introduction to Basic Creation Science – Divine Version,” Chapter 3, Section 7, Paragraph 7 spends a good part of the lesson instilling this iron rule into novice Creator Gods:
Unless you believe your Creation Science skills have surpassed the Father God, then honestly follow this hierarchy of matter in your Genesis!
Thus, looking around, the microscopic world of the multi-universe is uniformly mighty and imposing.
“Indestructible Structures” are what the Xyrin scientists created based on this basic law that even the gods must adhere to. In many senses, these structures do not have any structure, because… they are the foundational structure.
Although these structures, under the research of those ferocious Imperial scientists, have moved from the microscopic world to the cosmic macro, their size can still expand to a fraction of several light years. But they remain the simplest, most perfect, and most pure “absolute fundantal” particles—a resolute “one.” This pure structure cannot be further divided. You won’t find any traces of connections or fusion on it; it’s the best interpretation of seamless perfection. And an easily drawn conclusion is: sothing without structure cannot be cut.
Since it cannot be split any further, the surface of an “Indestructible Structure” is absolutely “intact.” It lacks any structural conditions to be divided. We might effortlessly snap a piece of carbon crystal because even the purest, hardest carbon crystal consists of countless atoms—it has a structure that can be cut. But if what’s put in front of you is a carbon atom, then too bad—you’d only be able to attempt cutting it with saturated nuclear strikes—and that might not even work. As for the magnificent structure in front of us with a radius of about 60,000 kiloters, you might need a cosmic Big Bang.
“Law-level Defense System, the gap between laws and non-laws is this vast. I didn’t expect them to even deploy this,” Sandora sighed.
“Pah, if they have such an aweso shield, then what’s the point of the Rebel Fleet struggling against us for several hours,” Lilina grumbled, puffing her cheeks, “there are so many souls in need of soothing, the business volu of a Goddess Priest is also quite substantial.”
“Because even though the Imperial Army cannot break through this barrier, there’s still a destructive threat that could obliterate it along with the Big Nebula Core,” Sandora said with a gloomy face, “‘Indestructible Structures’ are not invincible shields. Compared with ‘instantaneous difference’ in the true sense of invincibility, the forr is just an extrely sturdy wall. It’s a wall, so it can collapse, just needing sufficient force. The Ghost Energy Death Star’s Supernova Explosion attack should be enough to reach that threshold. After all, it’s known as the Ultimate Weapon of the Imperial Army at the mont; its power cannot be underestimated… Ah Jun, don’t be happy yet, this is the real headache, and also why I stopped you from launching the Supernova Explosion attack earlier. Belonging to the fundantal particles that can no longer be split, this barrier will only have two states after activation. The first is the current state of completeness and the second is, upon receiving an attack far exceeding its capacity, instantly evaporating from the material world. This process is similar to nuclear annihilation but produces even more astounding energy. It will entirely destroy the secrets protected inside, making it a kind of ultimate self-destructing vault. Without the password, it’s either unopenable or it blows the treasure inside to ashes along with it—you can think of it as a switch that only has ‘0’ and ‘1’ states. Generally, the things kept in such structures are extrely confidential materials. When they are at risk of being stolen, their keepers would even go as far as destroying them.”
Do you believe if I say I want to curse now?
“Why do the Xyrin People always have to ss around with the World Laws, drilling holes left and right? Don’t you fear that one day, the world will collapse because of it?”
I understood Sandora’s aning. That is, the barrier that was blocking our way now, though extrely solid, could still be breached if the Ghost Energy Death Star attacked at full force; however, doing so would destroy everything within as well, and with Silvia inside, it put us in a bind.
“Um… in that case, how did Silvia get in there?”
“I don’t know,” Sandora shook her head in dismay. “I’ve only just realized how little we actually know about Silvia. No one ever cared about what she did on a daily basis…”
“Wait a minute, Ah Jun,” Big Sister suddenly rembered sothing. “Could it be related to the mysterious call Silvia received that night?”
The mysterious call… Reminded by Big Sister, I finally connected the dots to that night’s events. I hurriedly told Sandora about Silvia being drawn to the Core of the Big Nebula and leaving in the middle of the night, claiming she needed to go into outer space. After a mont’s thought, she decisively said, “It’s very possible… Where are the Ravens? Assemble all the Raven Corps on board the ship.”
There were more than a thousand Ravens on duty aboard the Imperial Admiral, all of whom were officer-level elite from the lower-ranking Ravens. Under Sandora’s personal summoning, they quickly assembled in front of us, over a thousand silver-haired navigators in neat formation, ready to go.
“Can you sense the location of the Mother?”
“There is no Perception. The Mother has actively concealed her own Energy,” replied Raven 001, who had been promoted to High-level Commander of the Raven Army.
“Then, there should be a record of the last soul backup Silvia left before she departed, right?”
The Raven Leader nodded, her face showing no delay despite her slow reaction.
Sandora gestured toward the gorgeous barrier that, despite being hidden behind hundreds of millions of kiloters of dense fog, was still clearly discernible: “Lead your people over there. I believe once you arrive, you will naturally know what to do.”
The Raven Leader’s eyes flashed with a hint of confusion but nonetheless accepted the mission without hesitation. She led thousands of Arcane Masters, who were very sharp-minded, and they vanished in an instant, teleporting billions of kiloters away using Space Magic. They truly are limitless.
“What now?”
I looked at Sandora, puzzled. She had been vague while assigning tasks and I couldn’t possibly guess what this girl was up to; pardon my Mortal-level intelligence.
“Wait,” Sandora took a breath, “If an indestructible structure is used as a safe, there must be a way for its creator to open it. Silvia… no, Bellavilla is skilled in manipulating mysterious energy, which ans this structure can be temporarily disabled by arcane ans. As mass-produced clones of Ravens, they always record snapshots of Silvia’s soul. If she left behind any energy fluctuations from using magic nearby the barrier, the Ravens could use their recorded soul fluctuations to replicate that magic without understanding its principles—after all, the magic used by the Raven King is far beyond the comprehension of ordinary Ravens.”
“Look over there!” Sandora’s words had barely finished when Qianqian, with her sharp eyes, spotted sothing and imdiately tugged on my sleeve, shaking it vigorously. “There was a flash over there! A flash!”
I followed the direction of her pointing and saw that damn structure flash once again, its surface, full of floating colors, resembling a faulty neon light—flickering on and off, until it finally dimd completely, its beautiful colors gone. It had transford into a grey-white sphere with a radius of 60,000 kiloters, covered in a bright yellow grid.
The Ravens had succeeded!
The Big Nebula Core Relics had a re radius of 60,000 kiloters; of course, the Death Star Fleet couldn’t enter. And if there were supre defense forces inside, sending a few Eternal-class Mother Ships would be pointless. Naturally, it was ti for a few leaders to step up. After a brief discussion, Sandora, Qianqian, the Pandora Sisters, and myself—a party of five—ford the action team for this mission (Dingdang, who had beco a non-combat pet, and Alaya, a bag space extender, naturally followed along, but theoretically, I think they don’t really count as team mbers unless they’re acting cute…). Big Sister would stay aboard the spaceship to keep an eye on Lilina and rcury Lamp, as well as various other troubleso little guys, like the group of Three-headed rcury Lamps who were determined to follow Brother wherever he went.
Please, watching the hundred-ter-tall Titan rcury Lamp being used as a transport ship with hundreds of Three-headed rcury Lamps burrowing into its clothing, all set to execute the rcury Lamp Descent Combat Plan, I’m guessing that apart from my ability to snark, I’ll lose all my combat power!
Ah, right. Apart from us five combatants, there was one additional mber—Taville, the spectacled lady who was so stimulated by the potential treasure trove of knowledge inside the relics that she was bursting to join; she was more fanatical than Lilina, who was insistent on coming along. I couldn’t refuse the genuine enthusiasm of an explorer who sought knowledge with such devotion—or rather, I couldn’t face Taville’s serious expression that practically scread, “If you don’t agree, I’ll offer myself to you right here and now.” Although the specific details might have been a fignt of my imagination, my intuition told not agreeing with this research enthusiast might lead to a scene involving crying, causing a fuss, and threatening to hang herself.
Considering the depth of exploration needed for an ancient Xyrin Relic, a knowledgeable researcher like Taville could be of great help. Besides, her state of mass projection ant she had no fear of death, so we agreed to let her accompany us.
“You fool, you always dive into danger yourself,” the little doll muttered worriedly, with a tough facade as she was lifted off my shoulder, “Don’t die in there, otherwise it’ll be such a hassle to rember your na.”
…What a frank farewell. No sooner had she finished speaking than rcury Lamp was dragged away by Big Sister for so ‘training’.
Lilina’s parting words were even more brutal, catching off-guard for a good three seconds: “Rember the Lady Goddess is in your left pocket; use her in case of danger!”
It felt as though a wife was earnestly instructing her distinctly absent-minded husband, “The cold dicine is in the inner compartnt of your carry-on, rember to take it before bed,” dammit!
Upon hearing Lilina’s words, Dingdang curiously popped out of my pocket then, with a mischievous and cheerful smile, flew to my right pocket and slid in.
“Ah, boss, it’s on the right side now, rember to use it in ti… Ow!”
“Alright, let’s talk less and save our breath for when it’s needed,” I said, rubbing her head emphatically, and then confidently stood up to wave goodbye to the crowd of Three-headed figures on the deck, “Don’t worry, I will be safe… mmm mmm mmm…”
Sandora covered my mouth urgently and dragged backward, “Even I know you can’t say things like that!” (.)
Reviews
All reviews (0)