Linde stared at the faint wisp of will that had been sealed away, his deep purple eyes gleaming with a chilling light, as if they were frozen solid for millennia.
"As expected... it's you persistent ghosts."
He whispered, his voice echoing in the silent laboratory, carrying a hint of understanding, and an even deeper, colder killing intent.
This was not the first time he had encountered such a will with the essence of "greedy assimilation".
After banishing and almost completely annihilating the Fusion God, Lind, with his keen perception of the nature of energy and rules, and the broader perspective gained from the legacy of the Teolantis Kingdom and the key to the Zedo civilization, had long realized that the Fusion God was not an isolated case.
In the star field where the continent of Til is located, and even beyond the more distant and unknowable dimensions, there exists one or more terrifying beings whose goal is to "devour," "merge," and "distort" the origin of the world.
They are like locusts in the universe, or more accurately, like an "entropy catalyst" or "information virus" targeting an ordered world.
Following the Council of Gods, while busy building a new order framework and stabilizing Blackrock Territory, Linde never relaxed his vigilance against these remnants of "extraterrestrial evil gods".
He secretly mobilized the most elite forces of Narosh's Shadowbinders, combined with the dragons' monitoring of astral fluctuations and the dwarves' perception of abnormal changes in the ley lines, and even listened to the "noise" of life systems through Alessia's natural network, to carry out a massive yet silent "purge operation".
Over the course of several months, several ancient ruins on the continent of Til, which had been discovered to have a faint connection with an unknown evil god, were uprooted; some organizations that suddenly behaved abnormally after the release of magic and were suspected of being bewitched by whispers were ruthlessly eliminated; and several nodes with weak spatial structures that had been detected to have abnormal fluctuations were forcibly reinforced or sealed.
Linde once believed that, at least on the material plane, these disgusting tentacles had been temporarily severed.
However, he never expected that these evil gods would set their sights on—Shadow Abyss!
“Shadow Abyss… Yes, this is indeed an excellent breeding ground.” Lin De analyzed calmly, as if examining a complex experimental malfunction.
The Shadow Abyss, a place where the powers of "nothingness" and "end" converge, coexisting and opposing to the Light Veins, is filled with chaos, death, and undefined primal darkness. This environment is forbidden for the Light Veins who revere order and life, but it is highly attractive to those extraterrestrial evil gods who feed on "chaos" and "nothingness" and attempt to drag everything into chaos.
More importantly, the nature of the Shadow Abyss dictates that it is not a realm that can be easily "completely controlled." It is boundless, unfathomable, and its rules tend towards "dissipation" and "concealment."
Although Linde became one of the "masters" of the Shadow Abyss due to his unique combination of light and darkness and his connection with the [End of Annihilation], enabling him to mobilize and guide its power, the presence of the light vein order power that is incompatible with the Shadow Abyss in his origin prevents him from achieving the same seamless, real-time, deep resonance with this boundless void as a pure Shadow Abyss creature.
This is like a captain who can navigate a giant ship on the sea and even harness some of the ocean's power, but cannot perceive the subtle changes in the deepest parts and every corner of the ocean.
Especially when certain "contaminants" are extremely cunningly hidden in the background noise of the Shadow Abyss's own fluctuations, or attached to those naturally existing, chaotic energy vortexes, even Lind finds it difficult to be omniscient and omnipotent.
"It seems that some 'spores' were left undetected when we cleaned up the God of Fusion last time... or perhaps new 'tentacles' have quietly infiltrated during the chaotic period of my battle with Tiorantis and the upheaval of magic on the continent."
Linde's gaze fell once again on the purified sphere of information light.
This "information cocoon," created by the unexpected combination of the remnant will of an evil god, the abandoned Zedo server, and the chaotic laws of the abyss, is itself a dangerous signal.
This suggests that these extraterrestrial entities are not only capable of whispering and corrupting energy, but may also utilize local "technological creations" and "natural environments" as carriers to carry out more complex and covert infiltration and evolution.
“They are learning, adapting… and even trying to utilize the technological legacy of the Zedu civilization.”
This undoubtedly greatly increases the threat level.
Lind paused for a moment, then made a decision.
First, through a soul link, he sent an encrypted warning message to Amar'serak in the Dragon's Rest, Urano in the Endless Hunt, and Elessia in the Eversong Forest. The message was concise and stern:
"External pollution has reappeared in Yingyuan, with a distorted form, and can utilize local resources. We must remain vigilant and strengthen monitoring in our respective areas, especially vulnerable points and ancient sites. Further details will be provided later."
This is both fulfilling the crisis response mechanism in the "Spark Charter" and reminding these ancient beings that the real threat may come from beyond the heavens.
Then, he summoned Naraku.
"Your Excellency, Lord." The old Shadowbinder emerged from the shadows and bowed respectfully.
"Narosh, adjust the Shadowbinder's mission priority."
Linde commanded, his voice leaving no room for doubt, “Suspend the monitoring of the internal power struggles among the various factions on the continent, and select at least 70% of your elite forces to form the ‘Shadow Squad.’ You will personally lead the squad, carrying the highest-level stealth and purification runes, to penetrate deep into the Howling Abyss and all known Shadow Abyss infiltration points.”
He raised his hand and handed Naraku a crystal that replicated the characteristics of that wisp of evil god's will and the energy pattern of the "cocoon of information".
"Use this as a sample and conduct a thorough search. Look for any similar anomalous energy gathering points, information structures, or any unknown entities with tendencies toward 'assimilation' or 'distortion.' Once discovered, purify and eliminate them immediately with swift and decisive measures, without seeking permission, to ensure that no residue remains. If resistance is encountered... the 'annihilation' protocol may be used."
The "Annihilation" protocol means that a portion of the power projection of the "End of Annihilation" can be invoked to carry out conceptual annihilation.
This is the highest level of authority granted by Linde, which also illustrates the seriousness of the matter.
A hint of seriousness flashed in Naraku's deep-set eyes as he accepted the crystal with both hands:
"Understood, Your Excellency. Shadow Abyss will return to its pure state."
His figure flickered and disappeared back into the shadows to carry out this sudden top-level order.
Finally, Linde turned his gaze to the depths of the laboratory, to the complex device that connected the core of the Light Vein with the power of the Shadow Abyss.
“Passive defense and post-event cleanup are ultimately inferior methods…” he muttered to himself. “We must find more proactive monitoring and early warning methods.”
He recalled the energy signature of the "cocoon of information" when it tried to connect with and assimilate Allen and the others, as well as the subtle differences between the background fluctuations of the Shadow Abyss when the wisp of the evil god's will tried to hide itself.
"Perhaps... we can utilize the 'order definition' property of the light veins to weave a subtle 'sensory network' within the Shadow Abyss? Like deploying countless sensitive buoys in a chaotic ocean, any disturbance that doesn't belong to the Shadow Abyss's own 'disorder' but carries a specific 'ordered malice' will trigger an alarm..."
This idea requires extremely high energy manipulation skills and a deep understanding of the nature of both, but it is not impossible for him.
Linde walked to the device, pressed his hands lightly, his left eye shone brightly, and his right eye was as deep as night.
Under his exquisite control, the power of the Light Vein and the power of the Shadow Abyss began to intertwine and probe each other in an unprecedented and extremely subtle way, as if weaving an invisible and intangible "spider web" that covered the entire Shadow Abyss.
This is a massive and arduous project, but he has enough time and patience.
Although the infiltration by the extraterrestrial evil god was detected and thwarted in time, it served as a wake-up call for Lind.
The new order on the continent of Til has just been established, and the internal strife has not yet subsided. However, the threat from beyond the stars has been ever-present, and has even found loopholes in the system to lurk.
"After cleaning the chessboard and driving away the unruly players, we discovered that there were still predators lurking outside the game..."
Linde's eyes were cold and sharp.
"It seems that while guiding this new era, we must also be prepared to... confront the undercurrents from deep space."
His figure appeared even more upright and solitary amidst the flickering energy glow of the laboratory. The burden of protection had never been so heavy.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com