Chapter 40 The Beauty of Strength <TOC> Chapter 42 Undercurrents
Translator: SumTLMan
Qian Su held a copper kettle, her lips slightly parted.
“If it’s from a Celestial, everything makes sense.”
“He looks like someone used to a life of privilege; such an air and mannerisms are hard to fake. He possesses the power to control the Light Absorber species, shows no fear of approaching the Dead Sea, remains unfazed by attacks from the Dead Sea Knights’ warships, handles Ji Chang’s people decisively, and even has time to study the Dead Sea Abomination that washed ashore…”
“But what exactly is here?”
Qian Su glanced at the large truck below the watchtower: “It’s actually attracted a Celestial?”
Mission had no answer.
The young woman took off her glasses, wiping the lenses with a handkerchief: “Well, Celestials are inherently hard to understand; they just do as they please. But as citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom, we have a lot more to consider.”
“Assisting and serving the Celestials is a civic duty; there’s no way to avoid it.”
“I thought I’d just watch the excitement, but dealing with warships has fallen on us… Making a little money these days is really tough.”
She jumped off the watchtower, agilely climbing into the driver’s seat: “Partner, you drive ahead; I’ll think of something to ward off the Dead Sea Knights’ ship.”
The heavy truck sped toward the Dead Sea shallows.
Qian Su gripped the binoculars, keeping an eye on the distance.
“Damn, it really is a patrol ship… the Organ Horn.”
A bright flash appeared in her viewfinder.
The warship was bombarding the Dead Sea Abomination.
Qian Su frowned: “These guys are here to snatch the Abomination… Whatever, let’s make our stance clear.”
“Target: Organ Horn. Prepare ‘C-Class Light Blocker Round’ in triple-shot mode to disrupt its main cannon’s light condensation beam.”
From the cargo container behind, a mechanical clattering sounded.
The heavy truck suddenly spoke: “The situation has changed.”
Qian Su noticed it too.
Multiple glowing entities abruptly rose around the Dead Sea Abomination, launching into the sky before plummeting back to the sea, exploding in a continuous flash of light. The truck rocked up and down from the series of shockwaves.
After several seconds, the flames from the Dead Sea gradually subsided.
A ripple, like a raindrop spreading across the windshield, appeared on the truck, with a single bright red dot at the center. The smaller red dots within its radius rapidly scattered in all directions.
“The Organ Horn’s traces have disappeared, and all nearby Light Absorbers are fleeing.”
The real-time information her partner captured didn’t surprise Qian Su.
She sighed: “As expected of a Celestial, the noble airs of the Heavenly Kingdom remain as dominant as ever… A bit slow on our part, but better late than never. Partner, speed up!”
The heavy truck’s engine roared louder.
But before it could accelerate for long, a blue-and-white sidecar motorcycle intercepted it.
“Tianjin Knight Third Squadron on duty at Sand Port. I’m Tianjin Knight Cui Mao. You are in my squadron’s jurisdiction. Vehicle ahead, pull over and present your identification!”
“Stop immediately and present your ID!”
Qian Su clicked her tongue, glancing at the rearview mirror: “Another knight squadron. What a coincidence.”
The truck slowly pulled over.
She opened the door and raised her hands in a gesture of compliance.
“Hello, I’m a legitimate businesswoman. I hold a passport of the Heavenly Kingdom.”
Qian Su offered a professional smile to the man dismounting the motorcycle: “It must be tough patrolling such a remote area, Knight.”
“Duty calls. Please cooperate.”
The man’s voice was devoid of any emotion.
…
After confirming that Jade Emerald City had thoroughly destroyed the Organ Horn, Zhou Yi reconnected all three Light Blockers to it, embedding Chain Lines underground to avoid drawing attention.
As for the strength of Jade Emerald City, Red Falcon claimed it couldn’t gauge.
“Existing strength ratings for Light Absorber bodies and various devices or tools are derived from a wealth of usage data, supporting consistent analysis. Creatures like the Claw Boar or Long-Necked Crocodile are backed by extensive records.”
“Building-based lifeforms themselves are extremely rare, each one unique, with different structures and collective memories. Only a handful have left enough data to establish basic digital archives.”
Since connecting to the Machine Stack Service in Recursion City, Red Falcon essentially functions as a military advisor, capable of resolving many of Zhou Yi’s doubts.
It continued: “Building-based lifeforms are a profoundly paradoxical existence.”
“They possess a staggering power that other lifeforms can only envy and can absorb vast amounts of Dead Light directly as energy. They are born as a minimum C-Class body, and over time, as they continuously accumulate Dead Light, they can incrementally enhance their body strength.”
“Unless obliterated by an even stronger external force, they are naturally immortal beings, the closest entities in this world to eternal life. The long lifespan craved by countless organisms is theirs by birth.”
“But their vulnerability stems from this as well.”
“A building-based lifeform’s self-awareness arises from reactions between its body structure and collective memory. They have a fully enclosed self-consciousness, moving only under adverse conditions to seek stable, energy-abundant areas.”
“They cannot communicate, nor can they be understood, like someone living their entire life in a closed fortress. They can observe changes in the outside world but lack the staircase to step out. They must rely on their own power to think, so their cognitive development may be even slower than that of insects.”
“A giant’s body, an infant’s mind, this is the contradiction within building-based lifeforms. Their occasional attempts to interact with the outside world can lead to the extinction of other lifeforms, even the collapse of regional environments.”
“They are fundamentally different from all other lifeforms, an anomaly born of the Dead Sea.”
Zhou Yi couldn’t help but look at the broken building standing nearby.
He recalled his childhood, when he loved watching ants and could watch them for hours.
Ants would carry leaves, insect corpses, and all sorts of human food scraps that fell to the ground.
When in a good mood, Zhou Yi would pour water on them, watching how they reacted to the oncoming flow.
Or he would stomp on them and observe their response.
The ants would scatter and flee, only to return resiliently to retrieve the prey they had worked so hard to acquire.
He, as a child, was to the ants what building-based lifeforms are to the new humans now.
Fortunately, as the committee owner, Jade Emerald City had become far more stable.
Zhou Yi raised a question that lingered in his mind: “How can one identify a building-based lifeform? If it’s in the Dead Sea, and it’s dormant, can it be distinguished from the other buildings?”
“This is impossible.”
Red Falcon replied: “Once inside the Dead Sea, building-based lifeforms reenter a state of indeterminacy between life and death, continuing to absorb various signals of life consciousness in the Dead Light, indistinguishable from other Dead Sea buildings.”
“To confirm if a Dead Sea structure has transformed into a lifeform, it must be retrieved from the sea floor, entirely removed from the Dead Sea environment.”
“But this is a tremendously costly endeavor, and diving into the depths carries extreme risks. The massive structures must be entirely detached and transported to land… If one is lucky, they’ll encounter a fully intact building-based lifeform.”
“Its awakening represents an unpredictable, colossal threat.”
The high costs, the low odds of success, and the unpredictable outcomes… All these factors mean that developing Abominations from the Dead Sea remains a purely theoretical ideal. No one or organization would willingly take such a loss-making gamble.
This is why Jade Emerald City emerged, and why the Dead Sea Knights wish to seize it.
Zhou Yi pondered.
If only 15% of Jade Emerald City can destroy a warship, what state would it be in at 100%?
Chapter 40 The Beauty of Strength <TOC> Chapter 42 Undercurrents