Xyrin Empire -
Chapter 435 - Chapter 435: 435
Chapter 435: 435
This area was already close to the Sun Core–if the Black Sun still maintained that kind of structure, that is.
Under Sandora’s explanation, I had roughly understood the structure of this Black Sun. Its overall composition still mimicked that of an ordinary star, consisting of structures such as the corona, sunspots, Sun Core, and solar shell, but most of these structures had mutated significantly because it had transformed into a Black Celestial Body after the destruction of laws in the Gods’ Battlefield. Although the process was too short to cause the star to completely collapse, most of its structures still suffered considerable damage. Just moments ago, one of our spaceships reported encountering a large cluster of “density” too high–it was the kind of material that should only form under high pressure in the core of a sun, and yet it appeared here.
Of course, the above-mentioned “density” is merely a concept, a virtual number calculated through special means. The current Black Sun is akin to a phantom capable of interacting with real space. Although it can trigger various phenomena, it no longer has a physical form.
The Imperial Fleet moved through the boundless darkness and Chaos. It was utterly impossible to associate anything here with a bright and brilliant star. A large number of probes and patrol crafts were released to fully explore the entire Sun Core region. The supposed revelation had yet to appear. Zeratul volunteered for the risky endeavor, expressing his desire to temporarily renounce his status as an Honorary Citizen of the Xyrin Empire. With the soul of a Protos Native, he wanted to sense if the force of “revelation” permeated this place. However, Taville dismissed this request as madness and bluntly rejected it–a fragile life in a Lawless Zone was obviously doomed, even if Zeratul’s physical strength was a hundred million times greater than that of a Xyrin Emperor. He would be torn apart in an instant. This had nothing to do with so-called strength; it was a matter from another level.
It’s like the strongest fortress being unable to withstand destruction from the inside by a fourth-dimensional space.
Of course, ultimate Chaos could occasionally allow for a moment of calm. But that small peace couldn’t even accommodate a single cell. Zeratul’s request was brave, but in Taville’s eyes, it bordered on stupidity. Of course, the serious female scientist still expressed sincere admiration for Uncle Z’s courageous spirit.
“The core area of the Black Sun is just ahead. Not a single relic from the Divine Race’s war can be salvaged.” Taville’s mass projection reported beside us. Since it turned out there wasn’t much information related to the Divine Realm here (Information about the Divine Realm is powerful, and some special items require a specific ritual-like process to be disclosed. Until then, even mortals hearing a word about it could face a Law Attack. That’s why we had Uncle Z leave earlier), Zeratul was allowed back on the observation platform. He showed tremendous curiosity about our topics but wisely chose to remain silent. The Dark Temple, having gone through countless events, knew that many things in this world were meant to remain secrets to oneself. No matter how strong the curiosity and the desire to explore, it wouldn’t bring one any closer to those secrets.
It saved us a lot of trouble.
At that moment, Zeratul only regretted not being a scientist himself. If he could bring a group of Protos scientific researchers to this Black Sun, then perhaps… No, it must be certain. The Protos civilization, which hadn’t seen significant advancements in hundreds of years, would surely welcome a technological explosion. An epoch seemed almost unattainable to them, for every inch of space here was filled with the most essential mysteries of the world. It could bring a dawn of evolution and development to the gradually stiffened Protos Race. But unfortunately…
The barrier of Law was too solid. Without an ultimate civilization like the Xyrin Empire to act as a guide, it’s doubtful that Protos civilization could touch that realm until the universe’s end. And due to the offense of the foolish Taldarim, their chance to receive such guidance had nearly dwindled to zero.
We could somewhat guess Zeratul’s or his compatriots’ thoughts. Shakuras’s eagerness toward the Empire couldn’t have come from nowhere. Even the noble Protos “Divine Race” could feel the urge to seek guidance amidst confusion. However, the attitude to adopt toward a civilization was a very serious matter. Even now, whether or not to guide Protos, a civilization that appeared to have much potential, was something Sandora and I hadn’t settled on. They were developed enough that they might not fall into self-chaos or extinction like the fragile Human civilization after some guidance. But it involved too much uncertainty. Even the ever-victorious Empire that had overshadowed countless worlds had guided only a limited number of civilizations. And considering the unsuccessful guidance of the Xel’Naga, it was likely that Shakuras also held ambivalent views toward Xyrin as a “Quasi-Mentor.”
“The spaceship has left the Pseudo Existence Zone, and the universal constants are vanishing. Law chaos is about to ensue. Please brace for the shock.”
The mechanical broadcast sounded again. The shield above the platform burst into a golden glare once more, a necessary anti-shock measure for crossing the boundary between order and disorder. Just as previously mentioned, what we inherited from the Xyrin Legacy was merely immunity to “chaos” of law, not the law itself. Crossing the boundary of order required a solid shield, and Void Energy with Void Attributes was a good choice–although the main protection over the entire Imperial Fleet still came from the precious heirlooms left by our ancestors.
At this moment, I once again lamented the loss of the Xyrin Legacy: it was merely a Racial Talent that had granted us the power to navigate through the Black Sun, even though such power could be as mundane as eating and drinking in Dingdang’s eyes. However, it was sufficient for any conventional civilization to exhaust a lifetime trying to decipher.
Based on my earlier experience, the “brace for the shock” mentioned in the spaceship broadcast was actually aimed at the ship’s equipment. The actual shock had been completely handled by them, and the passengers on the warship would feel nothing. So, I paid it no mind. Qianqian, once again, curiously studied the dazzling effect of the shield above our heads, but I found Sandora frowning tightly, as if deeply perplexed about something.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with concern, although I had every reason to believe I had zero chance of understanding anything that even Sandora couldn’t figure out.
“The Pseudo Existence Zone formed by the Gods’ Battlefield is just this small?” Sandora murmured as if talking to herself, “The thickness of that region isn’t even as large as the diameter of the Earth. With the power of gods, such a range wouldn’t even suffice for them to sneeze, and their weapons are never worn down by time or chaos. Then why have we already crossed this battlefield? The appearance of the Law Chaos Zone came too quickly.”
“Perhaps the Sun Core ahead just happens to be located at a small blank spot on the battlefield,” I tried to imagine the Gods’ Battlefield using conventional thinking, “This place wasn’t affected by their Law Power, so the Pseudo Existence Zone here turned back into a Chaos Zone…”
Even I didn’t believe this far-fetched explanation because the probe had already shown that the recent Pseudo Existence Zone was a huge spherical wall, a thin layer, less than the diameter of the Earth, waging a Law War on the shell of a spherical space while the inside remained as calm as water. Were the gods playing in the eye of a hurricane?
While Sandora and I couldn’t make sense of this issue, a sudden shake came from beneath us, making even the shield above that was producing a golden dazzle tremble momentarily.
“…Uh, do we really need to resist shocks?”
I muttered to myself, then more intense tremors came, almost causing me to lose my balance.
“Stabilize your stance! Increase the Ghost Energy output, start radiating Void Energy around the radiation sources!”
Sandora quickly took over the warship’s top command link and issued a series of rapid orders. Soon the warship’s own vibrations had settled down, and an unsettling energy spread through the Imperial Fleet, temporarily suppressing some external threat: it was Void Energy. The Mother Ship had switched its energy output mode, releasing unattenuated Void Energy directly from the edge of the Ghost Energy Well into this area, a rather risky move that could even endanger the world if not careful, but now that we were inside the Black Sun, everything happening here was no longer related to the outside world.
Under the erosion of Void Energy, the space around us temporarily regained stability, then the various departments began to bustle nervously, tallying the damage to each spaceship from that moment and the origin of the attack. Seconds later, this information was transmitted to Taville’s brain, who served as the Chief War Technician, and even her face, always appearing calm, suddenly showed a hint of panic, “My Emperor! The Black Sun has just experienced total annihilation! It’s collapsing!!”
“Collapsing?” Sandora quickly looked up into the sky–where there was only the chaotic blackness, but the golden halo in Sandora’s eyes indicated she could see something, “…All fleet thrusters activate, prepare to disengage from the Black Sun… Wait!”
Just as Sivis was about to relay Sandora’s order, the latter suddenly cut off the half-spoken command and exclaimed in an incredulous tone, “This is not a collapse!”
“This is not a collapse!”
The moment Sandora’s voice fell, Qianqian by my side repeated the phrase.
“What’s going on?” I looked at Qianqian in surprise, this girl’s face now bore a very rare serious expression, almost making me think she had just been through a transmigration.
“Ah Jun, I don’t quite understand, but… the timeline here is reversing!”
The timeline inside the Black Sun?
There were no stable Time Laws within the Black Sun at all!
“But there was one just now,” Sandora said immediately in response to my question, “just seconds ago, a self-consistent Time Law suddenly emerged within the Black Sun, this order-preserving law amidst the chaos enveloped the entire celestial body… The only difference from the normal timeline is that time here runs backward!”
“So you’re saying the entire Black Sun’s time is reversing?” I grasped what Sandora was saying, “What does that mean? Is this star gradually returning to its former glory?”
“No, the dark existence cannot restore itself in a self-consistent scenario, just like garbled code cannot correctly interpret itself,” said Xyrin. “The time here is stable only in relation to the chaos within the Black Sun; beyond the border, the Black Sun remains unchanged. This reversed time can at most continue until the moment the Black Celestial Body was born, the instant just after the Gods’ War had just ended… I understand now!”
…I said, Sandora, did you just turn into a Sherlock Holmes detective just now? What’s with that far-reaching declaration of “I know now”?
A rare serious expression appeared on Sandora’s face as she said, “This is a trap!”
“The remnants of the Gods’ War are definitely grander than that thin outer shell. The core of the Black Sun must also be beneath the battlefield’s coverage, yet none of the weapons debris or pseudo existence zones formed by the Gods’ Law Power have been discovered here. There’s only one explanation: an unprecedented energy has obliterated everything, even twisting the laws of Gods into a Chaotic Zone!”
“Is such power even possible?”
I was startled by Sandora’s alarming deduction. What kind of power could shatter the order of the source of laws?
“Of course such power exists,” Sandora said word by word, “For instance, the self-destruction of a God–its might sufficient to turn every law to ash! We are not outside the battlefield; on the contrary, this was the very site of the most ferocious fighting! Here, everything has been shattered by the self-destruction of Gods!!”
“Then the timeline keeps reversing…” Qianqian had already thought of something and immediately spoke in panic.
“Very soon, we’ll witness the same scene here again… Well, it might not be possible to reenact the moment the Gods fought, but if we just adjust the timeline to the aftermath of the great explosion, it will be enough to destroy the entire Imperial Fleet–back then, an entire Divine Race army was wiped out by that explosion!”
“Full fleet! Assault formation! Evacuate this place!”
Bubbles’ voice followed immediately, “It’s no use, child’s father! The navigation system is jammed and the coordinates outside the Sun can’t be found, I can’t set a course!”
Big Sister blurted out, “Can’t we just go back in the direction we came from?”
“That’s impossible,” Sandora’s voice still sounded calm, “There’s no direction inside the Black Sun; spatial laws don’t apply here. Without a special navigation system, no matter which direction we travel in, it would be the same as staying in place!”
Are we to just wait for death here?
The situation was unprecedentedly dangerous; we had unwittingly fallen into a trap set by some enemy. This Black Celestial Body was but a prepared graveyard for the Imperial Fleet!
And we still don’t know what the enemy looks like until now!
“How much time do we have left?” I asked, casting my words into the air. Although Qianqian said time was still rapidly reversing, my vision was still filled with chaotic darkness; I couldn’t see any changes inside the Black Sun.
“Twelve hours,” Bubbles completed the calculation in an instant, “Based on the collapse rate of the Black Sun, this timeline will come to an end in twelve hours. Beyond that time, the Black Sun will revert to the state it was in when we just entered.”
By then, the Imperial Fleet would be gone.
“Asida-Asidora!” I urgently called the Space Twins who were on standby in the warship. They appeared before me almost within a second, “Can you locate the coordinates outside?”
“I apologize, Your Majesty,” the sisters said in unison, “The Black Sun is a closed data system with its own internal logic; this world is completely sealed off now…”
“Then what about coordinates inside the Black Sun?”
“Inside?” Asida paused, surprised, while Asidora immediately nodded, “We can barely locate the internal coordinates, but can’t perform a space jump–only sub-light speed navigation; however, it won’t be precise, with an error reaching nearly ten thousand kilometers–this is the limit in a lawless state.”
That’s enough.
“Qianqian, do you remember which direction the timeline started stabilizing from?”
Even though Qianqian didn’t know what I was planning, she obediently nodded, closed her eyes and began analyzing: the existence mode of the time world was drastically different from the real world. She needed to temporarily forget the theory of three-dimensional space and start organizing the “direction” of the time flow.
“There’s a rough direction, but I can’t mark it out in three-dimensional space.” After a moment, Qianqian opened her eyes and said so.
I had Qianqian share this direction, indescribable in three-dimensional space, directly with the Twin Sisters, then ordered the entire fleet to move in that direction.
If all this was a trap, then it must have a source that triggered everything. The only reason that could potentially cause ultimate destruction was the reversal of time; hence, to stop all this, we had no choice but to destroy that source of time.
I had thought about having Qianqian use her power to reverse the flow of time within the Black Sun, but that was too dangerous. Without stable laws here, the settings for time would have to be continuously altered at an almost incessant rate; any moment of negligence on Qianqian’s part would result in consequences too dreadful to contemplate.
Sandora had already grasped my intention, and she had to admit that it was the only thing we could do right now. Still, she reminded me, “Ah Jun, the opponent is likely something on the level of laws, our conventional fleet’s effectiveness is very limited; only the Mother Ship capable of harnessing vast amounts of Ghost Energy or even Void Energy possesses the power to resist laws…”
“I know, and I’ve never planned on sending our regular Fleet to their deaths,” I smiled enigmatically, “But at least we need to know what the enemy looks like, right?”
Sandora had nothing to say to that; the current situation really didn’t allow for further thought. If we could get in touch with Dingdang, maybe things would be better, but…
Even Lilina, as the lead Priestess, had lost contact with the World Tree, this mightiest potential ally was barred from entering the fray before the match even started.
Under the guidance of the Twin Sisters, the previously stationary Imperial Fleet once again came into motion. The ripples emitted from the Phase Engine spread layer by layer behind the Fleet. Although I couldn’t see any changes around us, I knew the whole Fleet was moving towards some source…(To be continued. For details, please visit www.NovelFire.net for more chapters. Support the author, support genuine reading!)
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