After Dean Luli left, the study returned to silence, with only the faint sounds of the city noise coming from outside the window and the soft tapping of Linde's fingertips on the obsidian tabletop.
The information brought by Dean Luli is fundamentally contradictory to the truth he pieced together from the site of the hominid and from the Zedu civilization's heritage.
According to the records left by the Zedo civilization, the god of magic, Tiolantis, was not some ancient aggregate of rules, but a "man-made god" created by the Zedo civilization's brilliant and even challenging magic technology!
It is the ultimate creation of the Zeduans in their attempt to understand and control the ultimate laws of the universe, a living miracle endowed with the authority of the concept of "magic".
The reason why He suddenly turned against Him and completely erased the civilization that created Him from history was...absurd.
Did Emperor Zedu fall in love with the god created by his own civilization?
Piloting the steel cosmos, a vessel embodying the highest wisdom of civilization, into the realm of the gods, not to conquer, but to express a love that is not tolerated by the world.
This sounds more like a poorly written romantic tragedy than a self-destructive decision that a highly rational civilization would make.
Moreover, the record explicitly states that prior to this, Tiolantis's attitude towards the Zedo civilization was one of "letting things slide," or even tacit approval or cooperation.
Why would a failed confession lead to such extreme and utter destruction?
“A crucial link is missing.”
Linde muttered to himself, a cold glint in his purple eyes, “The Emperor’s affection? That’s not enough. Something must have happened that touched Tiolantis’s most fundamental… or rather, exposed some fatal ‘flaw’ or ‘secret’.”
His gaze involuntarily drifted to the depths of the lord's mansion, to the special ward protected by layers of seals and barriers.
There lies the "divine body"—Tris—sleeping, which was reclaimed from the hands of the God of Fusion.
A semi-finished container, similar to the one created by the Zedu civilization, designed to hold divine power.
The difference is that Vice is the singularity between the Shadow Abyss and reality, while Tris, judging from its name and structure, is very likely prepared to carry the "God of Magic"!
“A divine body…without consciousness…still asleep…” Lind’s fingers paused.
A bold, almost insane conjecture gradually took shape in his mind.
What if... the existence of Tiolantis, this "artificial god," is not perfect? What if His will, or "divinity," contains some kind of "backdoor" or "flaw" that the Zedo civilization pre-set for control?
Emperor Zedu's seemingly absurd actions were not actually a simple expression of love, but rather an attempt to use this "backdoor," such as through the "divinely descended" Tris, to achieve some purpose—perhaps to truly "control" the gods, or perhaps some other, more profound goal.
This action undoubtedly touched Tiolantis' most sensitive nerve, exposing His nature as a "creator" rather than a "born god," triggering His most extreme fear and anger towards His creator, thus leading to the end of civilization.
Triss, the unfinished "key" or "container," was lost or sealed away during the disaster until she was discovered by Lind.
This also explains why Dean Lurie and the Royal Magic Academy were completely unaware of this.
While erasing the Zedo civilization, Tiolantis must have also done everything in her power to erase all the truth about her own origins, packaging herself as a born, inviolable god of rules.
Those forbidden scrolls in the archives of the Royal Magic Academy probably only record the altered "history" that Theolantis wanted them to see.
"Two versions of history... one proclaims God as the creator, the other implies that God is the created being..."
A sharp glint flashed in Linde's eyes. "The truth is probably hidden in Triss, hidden in the core heritage of the Zedo civilization."
He immediately contacted Astaire via the magic network:
"Retrieve all the detection data related to 'Triss' (the divine body), as well as all the core databases of the Zedo civilization that we obtained from the Howling Abyss and the Holy Fall, especially the records related to the 'Divine Construction,' 'Consciousness Transfer,' and 'Root Ark' projects. Highest privileges, transfer directly to my private laboratory."
“Understood, sir.” Aster carried out the order without hesitation.
Linde stood up and walked toward his private laboratory.
It's time to personally uncover the truth shrouded in the fog of history.
If his guess is correct, then Triss, this sleeping divine being, may not only be a research subject, but could also become a crucial... trump card in the future fight against Teolantis.
He needed to know what Emperor Zedu had really wanted to do back then, and what Tiolantis was afraid of.
The laboratory door closed silently behind Linde, completely shutting out the noise from the outside world.
Inside, cold, magical lights illuminated various sophisticated instruments and energy conduits. In the center, within a life support capsule made of transparent crystals and crystal runes, Triss slept peacefully. Her face was so perfect it seemed otherworldly, like a meticulously crafted work of art, yet utterly lifeless.
Linde walked to the main control panel, where a massive stream of data was already flowing across the light screen.
He activated the [Deconstruction Aura], his purple eyes blazing with light. At the same time, he mobilized the power of order from the light veins and the ethereal perception of the Shadow Abyss, beginning the deepest analysis of Triss, one that touched her soul and origin.
He needs to find that possible "backdoor," understand the true technology by which the Zedo civilization created gods, and... the ultimate secret about "love" and "betrayal" that led to everything's destruction.
Time passed slowly in the silence of the laboratory, with only the hum of energy flow and the slight sound of data refresh.
Linde seemed to transform into a highly sophisticated analytical machine, scrutinizing every single anomaly in Tris's body structure and energy imprint.
Finally, amidst the deluge of billions of data points, and with the ultimate insight gained through the combination of [Deconstructing the Halo] and the power of the origins of light and darkness, he discovered it!
Deep within Triss's seemingly flawless energy core, which is highly synchronized with the current magical network, lies an extremely secretive, structurally different "redundant code" or "low-level instruction set" that seems to come from another dimension!
This set of instructions bears a subtle resemblance to the divine power fluctuations that Tiolantis is currently emanating, yet it is more... primitive, more... unstable, and bears obvious traces of human design and debugging! It's like the difference between the source code of a program and the final version after countless iterations and encapsulations.
Moreover, this instruction set is not completely silent.
It resonates faintly with some extremely distant and profound being at an extremely slow, almost imperceptible frequency!
That being, radiating a terrifying and boundless magical power, was none other than Tiolantis!
“As expected…” Lind’s eyes flashed with a sharp light, “Tiolandis, you were not born of nature…you truly originated from Zedo’s hand!”
This "source code" hidden within Tris's body is irrefutable proof that Tiolantis is a "creator"! It is also the last key left by the Zedo civilization in the world, which may restrain or even reconnect this "artificial god"!
Emperor Zedo probably intended to use this "key," perhaps hoping to use Tris, a pre-designed "perfect container" and "backdoor," to "merge" or "overwrite" the will of Tiolantis, achieving true unity between man and god, or some other ultimate goal.
This has nothing to do with love, but is a high-stakes gamble about the ultimate control between the "creator" and the "created"!
And he failed.
His actions awakened Theolantis, making Him aware of His own "flaw" and the deadly threat from His Creator.
And so, the wrath that threatened to destroy the world descended.
Linde slowly straightened up, looking at Triss sleeping in the life support pod, his gaze becoming incredibly profound.
He has mastered Tiolantis' greatest secret—His origin.
And now, he still holds a "key" that may unlock this secret.
The next step is to figure out how to use this key to secure a chance of survival, or even... a chance to fight back, for himself and Blackrock Territory in the face of an enraged "artificial god" who wields magical power.
This is undoubtedly dancing on the edge of a knife, touching upon the deepest taboos of the gods.
But a cold and resolute smile appeared on Linde's lips.
“Tiolandis…it seems that the score between us is more complicated than I imagined.”
"And now, it's my turn to play the game."
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