Upon opening his eyes, Li Ming found himself in a turbulent interstellar era. Countless civilizations wielded their hunting rifles, eyeing everything in the universe with predatory gazes, and his m...
Chapter 634: The Unfathomable Eternal Abyss
After playing with it in his hand for a while, Li Ming reluctantly put away the Kashmir Spear.
He opened his smart terminal again and casually scrolled through the latest news. The mainstream news was still the leaked Saint Castle incident.
Discussions about the opposition between truth and falsehood are more heated, and those who persist in discussing them are all lower-class citizens.
They have the least information, have been brainwashed the longest, and are most easily influenced by others. They think whatever they say makes sense.
Some organizations and leaders of civilizations may have already made up their minds.
After reading some outrageous remarks, even Li Ming couldn't help but grin.
Ulrich's ability to get things done is still reassuring. After such a big thing happened, he didn't want the three major civilizations to act as if nothing had happened.
After relaxing, Li Ming entered the development state again. His body was busy, but his mind was also busy. He had already turned on the special terminal projection equipment.
He had copied most of the information in the Holy Castle and then conducted a careful study, focusing mainly on Yongyuan.
Among the Holy Castle's records, the most detailed is the one about Yongyuan.
There is not only information on paper, but also some hidden details may contain extremely important information.
He hadn't cared much about it before, but now that Yongyuan was targeting him, he naturally had to know himself and his enemy.
After careful research over this period of time, Li Ming discovered that his previous rough guess might not be accurate.
He previously believed that Yongyuan's level of activity was proportional to the number of active dominant-level beings in the main universe.
According to some detailed records, in the later stages of the war, the number of Titan Overlords decreased, but the strength of the Eternal Abyss became higher and higher.
This means that, to a certain extent, once Yongyuan becomes active, its intensity will increase until it reaches its peak.
"The best way to deal with Yongyuan is actually to cut off its path of evolution..." Li Ming muttered, his pupils reflecting the constantly flipping virtual screen. "Without the appearance of the Ultimate Life Form, it will never become active."
However, the information left by the Titans does not actually indicate that Yongyuan's activities are related to the Overlord level.
He also knew that it was unrealistic to cut off the path of evolution, as evolution was an instinct engraved deep in the genes of all living things.
At the same time, various external factors, such as lifespan and deterrence, are constantly urging capable life and civilization to move forward.
"Life will always find a way out..." Li Ming shook his head. Even he would not stop evolving because of Yongyuan. Instead, he would be eager to evolve to a certain level faster.
"However, if it weren't for the corpse of the Overlord, the mainstream path of genetic evolution would probably have stagnated for a long time." He couldn't help but think of it, but was suddenly stunned.
I felt like I was electrocuted. The clue that I didn't grasp last time was finally in my hands this time.
"That corpse...could it be..." Li Ming's face changed slightly.
Then with a wave of his hand, the virtual projection in front of him returned to the main page, which had been intelligently classified into several categories.
Li Ming clicked on [Titan Chronicles] and quickly searched for relevant information. It took him three or four hours to find the information he wanted.
"...In the middle of the Titan Age, evolution reached a bottleneck. The Titans were trapped in the Transcendent Level and constantly expanded their exploration boundaries, intending to find a more powerful dimensional world..."
"...In the 1347th Terrax Era, an exploratory Titan discovered a severely damaged Overlord-class dimensional world... The path to evolution was thus opened once again..."
“…The severely damaged dominant-level dimensional world…” Li Ming murmured with his head down.
Only then did I start to think about how much of the information I had received in the past did not stand up to scrutiny.
For example, the evolutionary path of the overlords, within the dimensional world, is the home turf of dimensional creatures, and it is difficult to kill life forms at the same level, let alone those at a lower evolutionary level.
The evolutionary bottleneck they face is even more difficult than they are now.
It is interesting to see how the first dominant Titan was born.
Li Ming never paid attention to it before, but now he discovered something fishy.
"The path of evolution was cut off, and I happened to discover a severely damaged Dominant-level dimensional world..." He murmured softly, "It's so similar."
The current interstellar world has been trapped by X-level life forms for too long, and the appearance of a dominant-level corpse has just opened up the way for evolution.
To some extent, the current StarCraft is a continuation of Titan.
The path of genetic evolution is very similar to that of the Titans, and is highly dependent on the raw materials provided by the evolutionary superior.
It is inevitable to get stuck in a bottleneck, and if you want to break through it, you can only rely on external forces.
"The external force is Yongyuan... Yongyuan is helping Titan and also helping us." Li Ming narrowed his eyes slightly, but there was no such speculation in the records related to Yongyuan left by Titan.
Li Ming didn’t think that the Titans hadn’t thought of it. The main reason why there were no positive records might be because they were “embarrassed”.
To a certain extent, they were also calculated by Yongyuan.
But at least it was not erased, and the incident was recorded indirectly.
"In other words, even if it is not in its active period, Yongyuan can still exert influence on the outside world in some way, and it will probably be severely restricted." Li Ming brainstormed, quickly gathering more clues and coming up with more contradictory problems.
"Then why does it want to kill those Overlord-level evolutionary entities? As long as they are alive, it can operate in the main universe forever."
The speculation could only end here, and he couldn't go any further without getting more information.
"Yongyuan's mechanism is probably more complicated." Li Ming speculated.
There is another more important influencing factor. Yongyuan has his own consciousness. Through the last contact, Li Ming can also confirm that Yongyuan also has emotions.
A thing with consciousness and emotions must also have desires.
"Then what is his desire?" Li Ming fell into deep thought.
However, not long into his thoughts, he was interrupted by a communication request.
"Florian?" Li Ming was a little surprised when he saw the name.
After the call was connected, the slightly hunched and old figure of one of the leaders of the Holy Revolutionary Army appeared on the virtual screen.
"Your Excellency Qinglong..." He spoke respectfully, and his heart was filled with more awe.
Whether it was the Chaos Star Gap siege or the current Holy Castle incident, he was glad that he had come into contact with Qinglong very early.
"Is there any movement in the empire?" Li Ming couldn't help but ask.
After the events in the deep dimensional world were over, he asked the Pioneers to keep an eye on the Empire.
"Hmm..." Florian nodded. "Adam seems to be planning to take action against the House of Commons. He started doing this a while ago, and we didn't realize his intentions at first."
"It wasn't until the news of the Saint Castle spread not long ago that we made our speculation. It was because the deaths of Hekler and the two X-level lifeforms gave him the opportunity to act."
"Tsk..." Li Ming was slightly surprised, and then sighed: "This Saint Emperor really knows how to take advantage of every opportunity, and can turn a big loss into a small one."
It is naturally a huge loss for the empire as a whole, but it may be beneficial to Adam himself.
"We made a rough estimate based on the time and found that he might have taken action immediately after Heckler's death, catching the House of Commons off guard," Florian added.
"I understand. I'll keep paying attention. I don't think this matter will end well. Let's see if there's any chance to intervene." Li Ming pondered for a moment, then added:
"You can try to contact Abel. He often exchanges information with Li Ming. Perhaps you can borrow his help."
"But don't threaten him. Try to make the deal a win-win situation. This is a long-term strategy. And don't approach him in Li Ming's name."
"Abel..." Florian couldn't help but be surprised. They always paid attention to the developments of the empire and were naturally familiar with Abel.
This relatively young prince of the empire had very impressive skills and was not very conspicuous.
However, it has risen rapidly in the past few years, accumulated considerable reputation, has many fans, and holds key positions in many places.
Now, there is a tendency for him to compete with several veteran princes such as the eldest prince and the third prince of the empire.
Florian couldn't help but suspect that there was a secret connection between him and Li Ming.
"I've made a note..." Florian nodded, then hesitated slightly before whispering, "Your Excellency Qinglong... The Higher Lifeforms United Organization has not yet rescinded their designation of the Holy Revolutionary Army as a terrorist organization... The crackdown continues."
"I know, the routine meeting will be held soon, and I will cancel it." Li Ming nodded as usual, but he felt a little uneasy in his heart.
The Holy Revolutionary Army provided him with a lot of help. The equipment used to absorb the blood of the world was also used in the battle for the Star of Eternal Silence in the deep dimensional world.
Florian had actually mentioned this to him a long time ago.
However, he later became busy with other things and forgot about it.
No wonder it was Florian, not the navigator, who was in charge of the briefing this time.
Florian was relieved after getting the promise. Now the influence of the United Organization of Higher Life Forms is growing.
As a result, more and more people are now implementing the proposals that were previously passed, while the Holy Revolutionary Army is still in the process of being suppressed and is unable to move.
Even Florian himself could not join the United Organization of Higher Life Forms.
"One more thing..." Florian paused, but couldn't help asking, "Did you really kill an Ultimate Lifeform?"
"I guess so." Li Ming was vague and naturally would not explain it in such detail to Florian.
Is that so? Florian muttered to himself, sensing Qinglong's perfunctory attitude and wisely not asking any further questions.
“I actually forgot…”
After ending the communication, Li Ming glanced at the time. In five days, the United Organization of Higher Life Forms would hold a routine meeting.
The initiator was not him, but Anatoly. This time it was mainly due to the massive increase in the number of members, which could be regarded as a meeting.
Of course, they were probably also curious about whether he had killed an ultimate life form.
………
On the other side, the fleets of the three civilizations that redeemed the X-level life forms also parted ways after sailing to the nearest star gate node.
In the recuperation room deep inside the Imperial flagship, the X-class creatures who were still seriously injured were soaking in a high concentration of life-repairing fluid.
These thick green liquids are very valuable and can also be of great use to X-level life forms.
Researchers walked around, data terminals in hand, making sure there were no problems with the vital signs of these important people.
Standing before them, Costat said with a warm expression, "You are all heroes of the Empire. Please rest well. The Empire awaits your return."
Several people had flickering expressions, some ashamed, some helpless, but some had blank expressions, as if they didn't care at all that they were captured.
One person even asked, in a very rude manner, "Costat, why don't you give us external communication equipment?"
"Could it be that we no longer even have the qualifications to contact the outside world?"
"Of course not." Costat smiled and shook his head. "It's just that the mental state of several people has not yet been determined, so it needs to be reviewed."
"Do you think Qinglong has exerted mental control over us?" He couldn't help but sneer.
Costat said, "It's not impossible. No one can predict Qinglong's methods. This is a necessary measure."
"Antiya, stop making trouble, this is the normal procedure." Someone said in a deep voice.
Antia's expression subsided, and he snorted coldly. Seeing that Costat was about to leave, he asked again, "What's going on at the Saint Castle?"
Kostat's eyes flickered slightly, and he shook his head and said, "No comment."
Antia was dissatisfied, but no one supported him, and he was seriously injured, so he could only give up in disappointment.
After a brief greeting, Costat left the room with a restrained expression and went straight to the top command room.
The room was closed and the blocking device was activated. Silver metal plates more than one centimeter thick fell from all sides of the wall. There were precise symbols on them. As they charged, they flashed with light and enveloped the entire room.
After taking shielding measures, Costat activated the communication terminal. After five minutes of communication transfer, Adam's face finally appeared on the virtual screen.
"Is the handover complete?" Adam asked immediately. "Is there anything wrong?"
"No, it's been very smooth," Costat replied. "Just as we expected, the first creatures Azure Dragon took over were the lower-level X-class life forms: Antia, Serol, Batani, Rona, and Leathers."
"There are two people in the House of Commons... There is one person in the House of Lords..."
Adam narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "Have you done a full-body test? Have those X-level life forms been infected by the Azure Dragon virus?"
"We've already done some testing, and all the data shows no abnormalities. There shouldn't be any problems." Costat nodded, and Adam relaxed a little, but still reminded him:
"During this period, they need to be tested frequently to ensure there are no abnormalities."
"Understood." Costat nodded, and Adam then said, "Did Antia and the other two or three notice anything unusual?"
"I'm a little suspicious..." Costat shook his head with a hint of sneer, "but nothing more drastic. I used my suspicion that they were being controlled by Azure Dragon as my excuse."
"They were clearly frightened by Azure Dragon and stopped talking. In ten days or so, the dormancy potion hidden in the repair fluid will take effect."
"Yes." Adam nodded. "After that, send Antia and the other two to the secret base for detention. But don't let them wake up until this matter is over."
(End of this chapter)