Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1355: Challenges in Delving into the Rift
After Xyrin finished explaining the situation, I finally understood what had happened. The so-called emergency was that she almost fell into the rift, and the so-called crisis resolution was that she managed to climb out with a strong effort—essentially, that’s the rhythm.
On the surface, this seemed like a blunder, but after a little thought, I ended up frowning just like Sandora: considering the special nature of Xyrin and the "rift," this matter is definitely not as simple as it appears!
The rift is an erroneous segment existing in the spiritual network. It is a virtual zone that cannot correspond one-to-one with certain nodes (Angel Envoy) in the real world. To us in the real world, the rift is meaningless, and as far as I can tell, this erroneous segment hasn’t affected the normal operation of the spiritual network. The cause of the rift’s formation is unknown, but its manifestation is easy to understand: some network nodes have lost their termination symbols, causing the next level connections of these nodes to become null connections. This process is like a computer on the internet sending a data packet to a non-existing network address. To our eyes, it only shows a failed transmission receipt, but to the computer, it is throwing things into a dark abyss. When these unending "eccentric nodes" reach a certain scale, they form an "address black hole" in the spiritual network, and all data transmissions leading to the rift get interrupted. If you forcibly cross the rift, the data will disappear. The rift is not fixed; those nodes that lose their termination marks are always shifting (that’s why we can’t correspond the rift to specific Angel Envoys in the real world), as if this bug keeps jumping from one node to another. Overall, the size of the rift remains unchanged, with average fluctuations not exceeding a few percent. These peculiar properties make us temporarily regard the rift as a "stable threat." Despite its unpleasantness, without a definitive solution, we can only leave it alone.
As a ghost living in the network, Xyrin’s entire data roam around the network. The rift, which poses no threat to the real world, can consume Xyrin entirely. We already know the nature of the rift; any data packet sent to the rift will be lost, and Xyrin, in essence, is also an aggregation of data packets. If she slides towards the rift, there will be no chance to come out again.
A few minutes ago, she experienced the most thrilling moment of her life and issued a full-scale alert. Fortunately, this girl reacted quickly, and she managed to escape the rift smoothly, now appearing slightly shaken but otherwise unharmed, which is a relief.
"Didn’t I warn you not to rashly go there?" I can’t help but reprimand her adventurous behavior after marveling at Xyrin’s luck and quick wits. "Taville is researching a solution. Can’t you just behave until then?"
Xyrin seemed to realize that her usual disregard for advice and frequent unauthorized explorations of the rift were troubling others. She carefully hid most of her body behind her name tag, only revealing a little head: "I know, but I feel really uneasy not watching it. What if the rift suddenly expands and no one notices?"
"This matter needs to be resolved," Sandora said as she looked at the palm-sized Xyrin, "Indeed, if an Abyss Gate appeared in the shadow space now, no matter how docile it is, we would surely send people to watch over it... You mean the rift’s recent turbulence has intensified? Wasn’t it said last time that it had shrunk?"
"It did shrink once, but later it suddenly became extraordinarily active," Xyrin’s expression turned serious, "It’s like stretching after waking up. This phenomenon started two days ago, and since then, the rift has been fluctuating frequently. Previously, the nodes forming the rift might take a few hours to update entirely, but now it only takes tens of minutes for all the nodes to change places."
By now, the cause of the full-scale alert had been identified, and the host array naturally returned to normal. Taville detached from the Crystal Column and returned to us. Having overheard Xyrin’s situation, a thoughtful expression appeared on her face: "Increased activity frequency...what about its scale?"
"The size hasn’t changed much. The rift’s scale never undergoes significant changes."
"In other words, it’s neither stronger nor weaker, just an increase in activity frequency." Taville contemplated, "That seems a bit odd..."
"What are you thinking?" Sandora asked Taville curiously.
"We’ve always treated the rift as a ’phenomenon’ without logic or self-awareness," Taville slowly began, "But now it gives me a feeling that it’s a ’biological’ entity, with dormant and active periods, capable of moving and updating its nodes autonomously, not behaving according to typical network program rhythms. Something with no statistical activity pattern makes it difficult to believe it’s just a simple ’phenomenon’."
I was shocked: "Are you suggesting the rift is, like Xyrin, also a collective consciousness or something?"
"No, structurally, the rift can’t produce consciousness," Taville shook her head, "So what should have consciousness isn’t the rift, but something related to the rift itself—the network itself or other causes leading to the rift’s creation. This ’cause’ should have consciousness, and its activity indirectly leads the rift to become active."
Sandora nodded slightly, showing a contemplative expression. She then looked at Taville: "This matter must be resolved, dragging it on like this...I feel very uneasy. How is the interfacing device you’re researching coming along?"
I know Taville is researching an "interface" allowing people from the real world to upload to the spiritual network. Of course, this interface isn’t something primitive like a "virtual helmet" or "neural intervention plug." With Taville’s skills, she could probably easily create heaps of those. Taville is crafting a device that can encode and upload a soul to the spiritual network—only this degree of uploading can ensure the people of the real world gain the same perception methods as Xyrin, thereby observing that rift.
Due to the complexity of the Apostle spiritual network and the difficulty of operating on souls, manufacturing such a device proves challenging. Yet, given Taville’s talents, she might have found a way.
"The primitive device is already usable," Taville first gave us good news, but immediately followed it with a cold shower, "Just some issues...aren’t easy to solve."
Sandora raised her eyebrows: "Issues? What issues?"
"A few laughable contradictions," Taville shrugged, "First, this device is for observing the spiritual network of Angel Envoys, yet its user definitely cannot be an Angel Envoy..."
I instantly felt dumbfounded: "Why the hell not?"
"Because they would be assimilated," Taville glanced at me, "The spiritual network is a sea of the wills of hundreds of millions of Apostles, and an Angel Envoy’s consciousness is just a drop of water. No matter how powerful this Angel Envoy is, what they can alter is merely this drop’s volume, but in composition, it completely merges with the surrounding seawater. Once they enter the ocean, there’s no coming back. Of course, if the individual is strong enough, this Envoy’s consciousness won’t vanish, but they will forever drift in the spiritual network, as no device can once again distinguish them from the surrounding network environment. Forcing them to be cut out from the network would greatly affect the stability of the entire network."
What Taville said was all too easy to comprehend. One might say no one thought of this at first. No individual, no matter how powerful, can contend with a group including themselves. It’s an eternal unsolvable paradox, even for the Xyrin Emperor. If he were to completely release his spirit and upload it to the Empire’s entire spiritual network, there would likely be no chance of returning.
"If it’s someone outside the Angel Envoys, then they can do it?" Sandora noticed a loop in Taville’s words.
"Yes, an Angel Envoy’s spirit will be assimilated by the spiritual network because they share the same source. If it’s a soul outside Angel Envoys, it will bear a distinct ’mark,’ making re-conversion to the real world very easy, like pulling an iron ball from the sea."
Sandora glanced at me and nodded: "This issue seems solvable. The New Empire has many foreign personnel now."
I pondered for a moment, feeling that I might once again be about to save the world.
Taville indeed nodded: "Yes, His Majesty and several Mistresses, due to special identity, can safely return while merging into the Empire’s spiritual network, but the Mistresses must first be excluded."
"Why?" Sandora and I asked in unison.
"It’s about permissions, a situation I’ve only recently thought about," Taville glanced at Xyrin, "Only individuals with full unrestricted permissions can undertake this task, as the spiritual nodes comprising the rift stem precisely from Angel Envoys. Theoretically, any node can become a part of the rift, whether it’s His Majesty or even you two. Theoretically, that is."
I pointed at myself in disbelief, tongue-tied.
"Exactly," Taville nodded, "The rift is a network black hole area composed of numerous anomaly nodes, and these anomaly nodes are not fixed. They appear randomly, and the probability of any network node encountering an anomaly is entirely equal. Therefore, there is a possibility that the nodes corresponding to you two in the spiritual network could become ’components’ of the rift. Hence, we must upload an individual with the highest permission to undertake this task. The Mistress meets the criteria as a ’Foreign Apostle,’ but they don’t possess imperial qualifications. Due to the complexity of the permission system, they can’t undergo temporary permission upgrade, making their upload to the network extremely dangerous. If they are inspecting the rift when you two or Lord Harlan and Bellavilla’s network nodes suddenly join the rift..."
"Low permission individuals interfering with high permission ones will cause severe system errors, even network collapse," Sandora took a breath, "We are tampering with the foundation of the Empire’s permission system, this is too dangerous!"
I shuffled around formulas in my brain for a while, then finally reacted: "Oh, so in the end, I’m the only one who qualifies? A Foreign Apostle, highest permission, then why not send me?"
"That’s right, but the risk is too great." Taville sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time; her expression looked particularly mournful, helpless, like Xiang Lin who painstakingly saved for ten years only to hear of a currency crash the day before buying a house. "You are the only individual that can be uploaded into the network and complete the mission, but we have no idea what that rift truly is. One hypothesis is that the rift was left behind when the Fifteenth Day Zone and the Imperial Main Network split. On the other side of the rift lies the possibility of Fallen Apostle’s collective consciousness—your majesty, if that’s true, once you’re discovered crossing the rift, you’ll face the mental impact of all Fallen Apostles!"
I felt goosebumps rise all over at once. This... this level of danger is a bit too high.
"The other side of the rift is the Fallen Apostle’s spiritual network?" Sandora raised her eyebrows at Taville, "Is that your latest hypothesis?"
"Yes, it’s not yet verified, it’s just a whimsical idea," Taville nodded, "But this matter is of great importance, even with a millionth chance, we cannot let the Imperial Leader face such risk alone. Void Creatures’ soul strength is indeed very potent, but frankly, I fear it cannot withstand the collective consciousness of the Fallen Apostles."
I thought about it; if the situation Taville described truly arises, then optimistically speaking, I might be turned into an idiot, heading out to grin at the sun every day at 8:30 AM... The consequence is chilling!
"If only we had more helpers," Sandora looked at me, conflicted, "Upload together and we’ll have support, letting you go alone truly worries me."
Sandora’s thoughts mirrored mine, but it was also the most unsolvable: to prevent a collapse of the permission system, we can only upload someone of Emperor Level into the network, and this Emperor Level individual cannot be an original Xyrin Apostle. So where do we find someone who is both a Foreign Apostle with imperial permission that’s uploadable to the spiritual network and can survive?
Estimating that Sandora would never let me go alone unless we found sufficiently powerful companions.
The usual solution to this issue would be: Select someone with a solid foundation from the girls at home—such as Big Sister—then have her gain battlefield merits and experience. In the Empire’s permission system, the fastest ways to upgrade permissions are through battle achievements and technological contributions, the latter is unfeasible, but at least the former is no problem for the girls at home. Sandora roughly calculated, without considering territorial expansion, for battle alone, given Big Sister’s current permission foundation, she would need to unleash unparalleled prowess for over two hundred years in the Fallen Apostles’ territory. If including territorial expansion, then Big Sister would need to gain control over what’s equivalent to a small half of the New Empire and continually enforce might within the Fallen Apostles’ territory for a century.
I couldn’t help but exclaim, "Why are the permission upgrade requirements so brutal?!"
Sandora looked at me silently, "Perhaps because your permission came too rapidly, Ah Jun. Of the Old Empire’s 135 emperors, none ascended the throne before turning a thousand. As a War Race, if you don’t wield a record of ten to twenty thousand genocidal wars, you can’t really claim to have fought."
I said, "...Then let’s think of another way."
Sandora and I discussed this matter intensely for most of the day after returning home. The issue regarding the ’rift’ seems more pressing now as it’s already posed a deadly threat to the Xyrin. No one knows if they’ll be that lucky to escape next time; thus, regardless of how daunting the challenge, a solution must be found.
Ultimately, I found no other qualified individuals aside from myself, and thus I gritted my teeth, "Fine, looks like I’ll have to go myself... If I am careful enough, it shouldn’t be a big deal."
Just as Sandora was about to voice her objection, a lazy voice came from the side, "Hey, you two came back and started whispering like crazy; what’s the fuss?"
I turned to look, seeing Bingdisi yawning as she seated herself on the sofa. She skillfully fished out the TV remote from the sofa cushions, flicking through channels. She wasn’t particularly keen on any program; she just enjoyed channel hopping, which is why half a year ago, the household TV switched to Xyrin Technology; otherwise, it’d break every three days, impossible to maintain.
"We’re discussing business, not everyone can loaf around like you all day," Sandora glared at the female hooligan, her biggest gripe about Bingdisi usually being her lazy demeanor.
"Tell me, tell me!" Bingdisi perked up instantly, adamantly shaking Sandora’s arm, "I love being in the center of things!"
Once this female hooligan gets interested, you can’t expect to shake her off. After much time, I’ve come to understand this. Sandora knew Bingdisi for millions of years ago, and of course, shared the sentiment, so the two of us told Bingdisi about the rift and the threats facing the Xyrin. Sandora even used a slew of high-tech terminologies, clearly hoping to drown the female hooligan in scientific jargon...
However, surprisingly, the female hooligan wasn’t drowned and even managed to bob on the sea of science: "Oh, so you want to upload Chen into the network to inspect the status of that rift, but the situation may be very dangerous on the other side, so you’re trying to find someone to accompany him, but currently can’t find anyone qualified, so Chen’s presumably planning to go it alone and risk it all, right?"
I looked at Bingdisi in astonishment, "Aren’t you a tech ignoramus?"
The female hooligan swung a leg at me, "You’re the ignoramus! I simply filtered out the nonsensical words and got this gist. Damn, are you going to let go or not..."
Holding onto Bingdisi’s ankle, I dared not release it. The female hooligan’s kick just now broke the sound barrier!
So Bingdisi, maintaining her leg-swinging posture blocked by the sofa, looked at Sandora and me with a profound expression:
"Actually, I can go with you, do you believe it?"
"I don’t believe it," Sandora replied without even a second’s hesitation, "You’re not a Xyrin Apostle, nor do you have permission certification, how can you be uploaded."
"Just hitch a ride," the female hooligan raised her eyebrow, "Ever heard of Soul Unison?" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
