Chapter 537: The two camps
The void.
No one could explain clearly what this place was made of, let alone when this place had appeared.
An ancient species that was extremely curious had explored the void after developing extremely powerful s.p.a.ce-time technology.
The experts of that race even went deep into the void to search for clues.
They left with a conjecture.
The void might have been created at the beginning of the universe.
By the strong ions ejected from countless quasars.
Only those ancient stars that were hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times brighter than galaxies could create such a spectacle.
Those terrifying giant stars had been created at the beginning of the universe.
At the speed of devouring gas that was equivalent to the ma.s.s of a star every day, they were crazily distorting themselves and all the matter around them.
Their accretion disks, in light-years, lay in the depths of the ancient universe.
And so, these ma.s.sive ancient objects became the origin of time in the present universe.
The light they emitted illuminated the original universe.
And left traces of their existence in the microwave background of the universe.
No matter when and where, what year or month, when lifeforms looked up at the starry sky above them.
They could always see the light coming out of the depths of the universe. Coming out of things that were once unimaginably large that could not be described in words.
With the help of deep-s.p.a.ce radio telescopes, intelligent life could even catch a glimpse of those ancient celestial bodies on the other side of time left a great shadow.
Those terrifying celestial bodies are so huge and powerful.
So much so that even after hundreds of millions of years or even billions of years.
Intelligent life could still see the red-shift traces they left behind in the cosmic microwave background.
This meant that even the spectrum of these terrifying celestial bodies had been distorted.
Whether it was visible light or invisible light.
They were all distorted, torn, and absorbed by their gravity.
Legend has it…
That these terrifying ancient celestial bodies slowly evolved into the present-day black hole of the universe in later years.
The central black hole is at the center of those galaxies.
The ancient species which came up with this conjecture had long perished in time.
Even their home planet was shattered in a tragic battle.
But the void still existed.
It existed outside of time and s.p.a.ce.
And…
There was life here.
But the lifeforms here were completely opposite to the physical universe.
In the depths of the void, in a corner where countless substances overlapped and distorted.
A certain behemoth suddenly opened its eyes.
Its long nose, which was as large as a suction cup, slowly squirmed.
Its webbed limbs slowly recovered.
It was as if it had woken up from an endless nightmare.
Ang!
After waking up, its long nose stirred in the void.
In the depths of the stirred void, waves of ripples continuously rose.
Finally, the shadow of a giant tree slowly grew out of these ripples.
This giant tree seemed to have grown out of this void.
It grew rapidly and stood tall.
Its leaves spread out one by one.
On each leaf, there were jagged sharp teeth.
Between the veins of the leaves, there was something like an eyeball entering winter.
Vines hung down one by one.
Each vine was a thick tentacle.
These tentacles were extremely huge, each of them was dozens of kilometers long.
Above the crown of the tree, an unimaginably terrifying evil eye slowly opened.
The moment this evil eye opened, it released endless light, illuminating the entire void.
It was just like when the universe was born, those ma.s.sive quasars illuminated this place.
Looking at this huge tree, even the powerful old ruler had no choice but to kneel.
“I salute you!”
“The Mother of the immortal race!”
“The Great Tree of Time!”
“The Honorable High Priest of the Curtain of Midnight!”
This was an ancient foreign G.o.d.
His original body had once transformed into a quasar at the birth of this universe, creating and establishing the original physical laws of this universe.
Now, he had even become the immortal Grand Priest of the Curtain of Midnight.
He was a n.o.ble figure and the most beloved messenger.
If he won…
He would replace the G.o.d of Formlessness position.
The eyeb.a.l.l.s on the body of the great Outer G.o.ds lit up like stars.
A great immortal will was radiating from it.
“Well done!”
The Outer G.o.d’s praise was beyond words.
The old ruler listened and quickly kowtowed, “The great arrangement was all your work!”
Then, he heard the will of this great Outer G.o.d start to clamor in the void, “You should do better!”
“Yes!” The old ruler lowered his head. “Yes, I should be able to do better!”
“Then do it!” The Outer G.o.d said solemnly.
“Don’t be afraid!”
“Victory will ultimately belong to us!”
“The great Curtain of Midnight will eventually win!”
“Those heresies and traitors will be dealt with most comprehensively!”
The old ruler listened and was filled with joy, “Your will!”
“The great Curtain of Midnight will definitely win!”
This would be a great and immortal battle.
A war that had lasted for countless years.
Although the great Curtain of Midnight had temporarily failed.
But they firmly believed that as long as their master woke up.
Everything would return to normal.
Those heresies and traitors would be completely settled!
Everything now was just the heresies and traitors trying to delay time and oppose their master.
…
Zhou Ke finally returned to the house he rented.
He opened the door, but there was no one in the room.
Aning was at boarding school.
He walked to the sofa in the living room and sat on it.
The human skin covering his face slowly showed signs of wrinkles.
“In the words of mortals…”
“This is a fight between immortals, and I’ve implicated myself!”
He sighed helplessly.
But what could he do!?
Since he was already on the boat, he could only bite the bullet and go all the way.
After all, he did not have the right to bet on the table.
“Let’s go and pick up Aning tomorrow!” He said, “I have to reopen my night snack shop!”
“Oh right!” He suddenly remembered, “I have to shake a game cabin for Aning!”
In the prophecy, the great ruler of the past would eventually be destroyed.
Only his daughter could reverse this predetermined fate.
Now, he knew the meaning of the prophecy.
He was involved in this terrible war that involved the fate of countless universes.
An existence like him was just cannon fodder.
Even an Outer G.o.d was probably just a consumable in this war.
Seeing that guy, Yig was soaked in a wine jar and made into medicinal wine.
If he failed, he would probably end up the same way.
If he wasn’t soaked in a jar and turned into an octopus salad, he would probably be placed on a barbecue rack and roasted.
“Sigh!” He shook his head.
At this moment, he could only hope that he wasn’t deeply implicated, lest there was no turning back in the end.
…
Zhang Hui finally received the report from Imperial Capital’s Genetic a.n.a.lysis Center.
The results of the specimen he had sent for examination were out.
Holding the report, his expression immediately turned gloomy.
“70% of human genes…”
“Other genes came from frogs, fish, snakes…”
“This…”
“A jumble of genes?!”
“How was this possible?!”
This was the strangest creature the Blackguard had discovered since the recovery of Spirit Aura.
An intelligent creature that was completely different from humans in terms of genes!
One had to know that in the past, even if it was a foreign species.
Whether the foreign species came from the east or the west.
As long as they transformed into human form, their genetic relationship with humans would be incomparably close.
The similarity would normally exceed 99.9%.
It was even higher than the similarity between ancient and modern humans!
This was the first time that a species with an intelligent species only had 70% genetic similarity!
The worst part was…
According to research and reports, the Shi Family had intermarriages with the outside world for the past few years.
People were marrying in and out continuously.
It affected thousands of people.
No reports were showing that the Shi Family and others had been isolated.
Until now!
In other words, Zhang Hui knew that he and the entire world were in big trouble!
An unknown species was lurking in the human world.
What were they trying to do?
This was an even more terrifying enemy than the ‘humanoid’ foreign species, which were regarded as the greatest threat to humanity in the past.
Humanoid foreign species.
Whether it was zombies, vampires, or the so-called species discovered by Fusang, the mandrill that appeared in Xinluo was either genetically similar to humans.
Or, it had reproductive isolation from humans.
As for the Shi Family, there was no reproductive isolation, and their genes were also vastly different from humans!
In other words…
This brand-new species was very likely to have contaminated the genes of humans!
“Investigate!” He put down the report and immediately ordered, “Immediately investigate all those who were married to the Shi Family…”
“Set up a tracking system…”
“Make sure you find everyone!”
As he said these words, Zhang Hui felt his hands trembling.
Those who were not of the same kind must be of a different mind!
A species that, genetically, physically, and structurally, is 30% different from humans start to spread.
In a few hundred years, who the world would belong to, perhaps, would be another matter.
For the sake of his descendants, Zhang Hui understood that he had to pay any price!
As such, the entire Federal Empire’s intelligence and public security systems were immediately put into the highest state of combat readiness.
Inside and outside the Imperial Capital, countless police cars drove out of the police station, rushing towards one address after another.
Fully armed and wearing protective clothing, the special forces began to set up barriers at one intersection after another.
Before dawn, the entire Imperial Empire had already completed the screening.
Over the past hundred years, every single person who was related to the Shi Family through marriage had been found.
Tracing their bloodline, tracing their spread.
As soon as they found one, they would immediately conduct blood tests.
In the end…
No abnormal genes were found in anyone’s body.
It was as if a Shi Family member would turn normal once they were married off.
This made Zhang Hui heave a sigh of relief, but at the same time, the uneasiness in his heart quickly grew.
After thinking for a long time, he had no choice but to inform the Cabinet and the Blackguard’s joint security meeting about this matter. He also reported it to all the generals on duty.
At the same time, he ordered all the people involved to be put under house arrest and sent to the Demon Suppression Prison in the desert in the northwest for quarantine observation.
…
In the morning, Ling Ping’an was woken up by a phone call.
He picked up the phone and answered in a daze, “Who is it?!”
A sweet female voice came from the phone, “h.e.l.lo, Mr. Ling, we are the official customer service center of Legend of Nightmare!”
“Our press conference is scheduled for today at 4:44 p.m…”
“Do you need our private car service?”
Ling Ping’an immediately woke up and replied, “Okay… Then send a car over!”
“Okay!” The customer service personnel smiled and said, “We will immediately prepare a private car for you…”
She asked again, “When do you plan to leave?”
Ling Ping’an thought for a while and said, “Around two o’clock!”
“Okay!” The other party said sweetly, “The private car we have arranged for you will arrive at your residence on time!”
“May I know if you have any other instructions?”
Ling Ping’an thought for a moment and said, “Not for the time being!”
“Then I wish you a happy life!” The other party said respectfully, “If you have any questions, please call us anytime. We will serve you wholeheartedly!”
Ling Ping’an hung up the phone and smacked his lips, “This game company’s att.i.tude is really good!”
Thus, he got up and began to wash up.
…
Yin Mingxiu had already gotten up early in the morning.
In front of the mirror, she began to try on the gowns provided by the Emba.s.sy one by one.
But no matter how she chose, she was never satisfied.
They were either too bright or too ostentatious.
This made her a little distressed.
After changing into a traditional Xinluo dress, she looked at herself in the mirror and shook her head, “This isn’t good either!”
“I’m just a maidservant!”
“If I wear this, others might misunderstand!”
If she was misunderstood, it might make Mr. Ling unhappy and think that she had ambitions.
A small country serving a big country, yet she was restless.
This was the way to bring disaster!
And a servant peeping at a master was the way to bring death!
The education and training she received made her remember this principle from beginning to end.
Thus, she changed out of this Xinluo official dress.
“I’d better wear the clothes I used to wear when I went to Mr. Ling’s place to clean up!” With this thought in mind, she opened her wardrobe and picked out a light yellow dress.
Then, she wore it.
Then, she looked at herself in the mirror.
She finally smiled.
Although this dress looked simple, it wasn’t dignified enough.
But it was very comfortable!
Most importantly, it could remind her that she was only a servant.
Moreover, she was only a servant who didn’t even have a status.
She absolutely couldn’t have any thoughts that she shouldn’t have because of Mr. Ling’s kindness.
Therefore, she put on this set of clothes and pushed the door open.
At the door, Xinluo Amba.s.sador Wen Fengming was already waiting.
Seeing Yin Mingxiu’s attire, Wen Fengming was shocked. “Miss Yin, why did you…”
“Were the clothes we prepared for you not good?”
Yin Mingxiu shook her head and said, “Thank you for your arrangement, Mr. Wen… The clothes you prepared were very nice…”
“But…”
“Mingxiu is just a little servant girl, how could I overstep the boundaries?”