Chapter 1179 — A Bold Project

The corridor by the window fell quiet. After a moment, Gao Yang sighed softly. "When things were hard for all of us, most people had no trouble hacking through the thorns together. But when times get better, those former companions who weathered hardships side by side don't necessarily stay the same... Some will want to compensate themselves for what they once gave; some will want to stand above others; some will grow comfortable and stop moving forward, becoming the very sort of people they once devoted themselves to wiping out... That is why a mechanism for constant self-renewal and self-correction is so important."

"The Special Section arrests people every week, but I never thought the day would come when someone I personally brought up would end up on that list. Alas..." Amber said, then suddenly shook her head. "Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. It's actually a good thing—if even a founding figure of the Military Intelligence Bureau can be rooted out and dealt with, that means the 'correction' mechanism you built hasn't failed yet, at least at this stage. Just as you once said—the Special Section's list isn't frightening; what's frightening is when that list is empty."

Gao Yang nodded. He had wanted to say more, but a familiar set of footsteps suddenly came from the other end of the corridor, drawing his and Amber's attention.

He looked up toward the sound and saw Hedy, dressed in a long red gown with gold trim, walking quickly toward them from that direction. Noticing the hurried steps and the serious expression on the face of this granddaughter of his, he realized she might be bringing extraordinary news. So before she even drew near, he stepped forward and asked, "What's happened?"

"A Class One communication has come in from the Typhon Empire—sent directly from the Obsidian Palace," Hedy said quickly, stopping before Gao Yang and catching her breath. "They have achieved a breakthrough in their research on the fragments of the God of War, and now they wish to conduct a high-level academic collaboration with us—to complete a bold... project together."

"Academic collaboration proposed by Typhon? And related to the God of War's fragments?" Gao Yang was somewhat surprised, for this was the first time since that last "war" that Typhon had proposed such a cooperative project through official channels. It had come far sooner than he expected—which could only mean that Typhon's scholars had truly produced some result that even that great emperor, Luoyan Augustus, could not sit still about. "This should fall under the purview of the Theocratic Council... What have those Typhon people come up with?"

Hedy seemed not yet to have recovered from the news she had just learned. She took a deep breath before she could finally make her tone sound somewhat calm. "In short... they seem to have found a way to open a gate to the Divine Realm—a gate leading to the God of War's divine realm, one that would allow mortals to enter and see for themselves."

Gao Yang: "...?"

The corridor fell instantly silent. Even Gao Yang failed to react for a moment. He stared wide-eyed at Hedy for several seconds before his thoughts finally sorted themselves out, and a few syllables tumbled from his throat: "Say what?"

The next second he hastily cleared his throat twice, trying to restore the dignity of the Mystic Vein Sect. "What did you say? Open a gate to the Divine Realm?! Are those Typhon people serious?"

"The contact came directly from the Obsidian Palace. If that Luoyan Augustus isn't serious about this matter, then there are probably few people left in this world who are," Hedy sighed, clearly understanding Gao Yang's shock at this moment—after all, her own reaction not long ago had been much the same as the Mystic Vein Sect's. "They sent a brief technical document and an 'inspiration report' regarding this project. It covers the course of their research on the God of War's fragments and their basic approach to opening the gate—and, of course, why they intend to do so. I've read all the documents, and from the perspective of a former technician... I think there's nothing wrong with it.

"Put simply, they discovered the 'two-aspect unity' between a deity and its divine realm, and found the 'resonance' pathway between the two. They confirmed that after a deity's fall, the divine realm does not vanish immediately but undergoes a prolonged process of dissolution. They found a way to materialize this 'pathway' and temporarily stabilize it, and they have already carried out a considerable degree of feasibility verification.

"The document does not explicitly describe how the Typhon scholars found this 'method,' but reading between the lines, I get the feeling that this matter may be connected to Luoyan Augustus himself."

"Luoyan Augustus himself..." Gao Yang softly repeated the name Hedy had mentioned, and already he vaguely guessed something—the Augustus family, that venerable family, had been entangled with the ancient "Eye of God" for the past two hundred years. Through the immense price paid by generation after generation, they had successfully stolen usable knowledge from "God" and achieved a feat unprecedented in mortal history—knowledge that even Cecil's advanced technology could not replicate, a treasure beyond compare.

Cecil had begun its research on the gods very early and had inherited part of the legacy of the ancient Gondor defiers, so its advantage in this field was of course obvious. But Typhon held knowledge that came directly from the gods, which meant that in certain specific fields, the Typhon people had their own advanced aspects as well. The God of War's fragments were not monopolized by either Cecil or Typhon. After the Battle of Winterhold, the deity's fragments had scattered and fallen, and the remains that were successfully recovered were divided between the two warring sides. The two nations had then promptly begun research on these fragments, but clearly Typhon's results had now advanced a step further.

Yet it seemed Aldernan had not kept these results to itself—they had implemented the resolution of the 112th Conference and the unanimous agreement reached by the leaders of all nations at the founding assembly of the Theocratic Council: that the fruits of divine analysis should be shared by all mortals, and that, prior to that, specific technical projects should be undertaken jointly by those nations within the Council possessing the corresponding research capabilities. The "invitation" Typhon had now sent to Cecil was an implementation of precisely this clause.

"The Typhon people were the first to keep to the rules," Gao Yang said with a soft sigh as these thoughts flashed through his mind. "That is good—and we should respond in kind. But before we rashly agree, we should first see just what the Typhon people have been up to... Hedy, take the documents from Aldernan to my study first. I'll head over there now. Also, notify Camille and Virodai while you're at it—I expect I'll be needing their 'professional opinions' very soon."

Hedy lowered her head. "Yes, Ancestor."

Hedy turned and left quickly, while Amber began chattering beside Gao Yang. "Those Typhon people really did quietly cook up something that could scare a person to death... Open a gate to the Divine Realm? Even we wouldn't dare dream of such a thing..."

"Actually..." Gao Yang glanced at Amber and said with some awkwardness, "I have thought about it. I just had no idea how to go about it technically..."

Amber was instantly dumbstruck, and it was a long while before she managed to speak. "...What kind of thinking is that? Are you and that Luoyan Augustus relatives or something?!"

"...If you insist on putting it that way, I suppose it's not impossible," Gao Yang said, rubbing the tip of his nose as he sorted through his memories. "Seven hundred years ago, my wife was some distant cousin of Roland Augustus..."

(End of Chapter)