Chapter 492: Impervious?

Chen Xiaolian was unable to figure it out.

Originally, he had imagined Zero City’s main control system to be a highly mysterious and strictly guarded place.

At present, after having stepped out of the elevator, he saw people everywhere around him. These people were unquestionably Awakened ones. They were wearing an assortment of clothing as they moved about in a relaxed manner. Some were laughing and others took out their mobile phones or some other strange devices to take pictures.

These people were no different from the tourists outside. The only difference was that the devices they were using to take pictures appeared more advanced and futuristic.

The place was large, resembling a museum hall. There before him was a large silver screen. The screen was over 100 metres wide!

Seeing its silver coloured surface, those who came to stand before the screen would not be able to stop themselves from reaching out to touch it. To Chen Xiaolian’s surprise, whenever someone made contact with the surface of the screen, water like ripples would spread out across the surface of the silver screen.

“Liquid metal?” Chen Xiaolian mumbled curiously to himself before turning to face Bluesea.

Bluesea shook his head and smiled wryly before replying, “That is something I really do not know. Truth be told, we and all the other resident guilds of Zero City had tried to test it. We conducted analysis on this liquid metal like material before. However, we could not come up with any results. It appears to be composed of something that does not exist in this world.”

“Mm?”

“How should I put it? The results of our analysis reveal that it resembles liquid metal. However, it possesses certain neuron discharge like functions. It can truly be considered a special kind of item. We suspect that it might even be a form of metal life form.”

“Silicon-based life form?” Chen Xiaolian uttered.

Bluesea smiled. “Not, it is not that. Our analysis simply failed to discover what it is.”

As he spoke, he looked at the surrounding ‘tourists’ and lowered his voice. “This thing is very strange. We can cut a small part of it to conduct analysis on and it would automatically regrow itself. However, it would always stop growing and stabilize once it reaches a certain size, never to grow beyond it.”

Bluesea pointed at the silver screen before them. “You go give it a try. It feels very strange.”

Strange?

Chen Xiaolian hesitated for a moment before walking to stand before the silver screen.

Due to the large size and width of the screen, there were still many open spaces despite the high number of people here. After walking over, Chen Xiaolian gently raised his hand and poked his finger into the screen…

“!!!”

The moment his fingertip made contact with the screen, the cold and soft feeling was akin to him poking his finger into cold water. In that instant, Chen Xiaolian’s body was awash with an illusory feeling.

The pores in his entire body seemingly turned upside down – a feeling of tranquillity. Additionally, the moment his fingertip made contact with it, for just an instant, it felt as though something connected with him.

How should he describe that situation…

It was as though, through that one contact he made with his fingertip… … in that one instant, his body seemingly expanded, extending outward. It felt as though his senses had extended far into the distance.

The unique sensation felt ephemeral and was most peculiar.

Chen Xiaolian was stunned and he immediately pulled his hand back. He turned his head to look at Bluesea.

Bluesea slowly said, “Everyone who makes contact with it would be automatically linked to Zero City’s main control system… … Zero City’s main control system appears to be a living life form of sorts. Through this ‘direct contact’, you and Zero City’s main control system had made a connection. It could sense your existence, your breathing, your pulse, it could sense all of that. Mm, it is like having a brief connection with it.”

Hearing Bluesea’s words, Chen Xiaolian felt awkward…

The feeling he had earlier felt different compared to what Bluesea was describing.

That feeling was not one of connection. Rather, it was one of… … bonding!

Taking a deep breath, Chen Xiaolian extended his hand out once more and his fingertip poked into the screen once more.

That feeling of coldness and softness came once more. Chen Xiaolian restrained his emotions and closed his eyes.

“You can call out to Zero City and it will respond to you. It is an ephemeral response, just like… … a baby who is still inside his mother’s womb. You can hear the mother’s heartbeat, but… … that is all. This type of feeling is very miraculous.” Bluesea, who was standing beside him, explained casually.

There was calmness on Chen Xiaolian’s face…

The moment his fingertip made contact with the screen, he could seemingly sense something like a rhythm. It was a pulse-like beating. He was unable to discern if the pulses belonged to him or someone else.

Soon however…

Badump! Badump…

Badump! Badump! Badump…

Badump! Badump! Badump! Badump…

The sound of pulses grew more intense and complex and it surged into Chen Xiaolian’s sea of consciousness.

Chen Xiaolian was taken aback but he quickly reacted.

This is… … the sound of heartbeat.

It is not mine, nor is it someone else’s. Rather, it is…

Everyone’s!

Chen Xiaolian’s sea of consciousness could now sense the heartbeats of all the Awakened ones who were in contact with the screen.

There were at least 100 people there. Their heartbeats that were of varying frequencies all surged into Chen Xiaolian’s mind, causing his body to give a shudder. He had to force himself to withstand it and breathe properly.

This… … this is not ‘ephemeral’ response!

Such clarity! Such force!

Chen Xiaolian pulled his hand back and turned to look at Bluesea. “You said it is an ephemeral response?”

“Yes.” Bluesea smiled. It appeared he did not realize anything wrong with Chen Xiaolian. “You should have felt it too. It is as though there is something responding to the thoughts in your mind. It is a very subtle sensation.”

The edges of Chen Xiaolian’s mouth twitched and he forced out a smile.

“All right. Since you have felt it, we should leave.” Bluesea looked around and saw that there were more people coming in. “Every time Zero City opens up, the first two days will see this place filled with many people. We should find ourselves a more quiet place.”

Chen Xiaolian looked at the screen again before nodding his head.

As the two of them were walking back, Chen Xiaolian was unable to hold back his desire to ask, “To allow so many people to visit this place and allow them to touch the main control system of Zero City… won’t there be any issue with that? Is this not going to cause any security issues?”

“Zero City’s system is more wondrous than you could possibly imagine.” Bluesea smiled. Next, he took on a serious expression and said, “About the security issue that you mentioned, I will say this. Before this, for the sake of analysing Zero City’s main control system, the resident guilds and the Board of Patriarchs exhausted a great deal of effort to analyse Zero City’s main control system. However, even with our most advanced methods and equipment, we were unable to damage Zero City’s main control system. Did you know? Back then, during one of the Board of Patriarchs’ sessions, they made a very dangerous decision and utilized a very powerful weapon to conduct a test… naturally, they did not bombard Zero City’s main control system. Rather, they used an equipment to cut out a small portion of the screen and placed it in a specially sealed space. Then, they utilized the most powerful weapon they could get their hands on to bombard that small portion. Do you know what the result of the test was?”

“The cut off portion was not damaged at all?”

“It was not just that.” Bluesea’s face took on an odd expression. Next, he sighed. “The cut out portion was about one cubic metre in size. The one in charge of the testing detonated a nuclear bomb in the sealed space. In the end… … our monitors revealed that, during the explosion, a change happened to the energy field and… … all the energy that was released due to the explosion was suddenly absorbed.”

“Absorbed?”

“Yes,” said Bluesea in a very solemn tone. “The moment the bomb exploded, a strange force field appeared and it sucked in all the energies released by the explosion. The nuclear bomb was like a small flame. It could only flicker a moment before getting extinguished.

Later on, the ones in charge of analysing it entered the sealed space and found that no traces of energy remained of the nuclear explosion. Even the radiation tests returned normal!”

Chen Xiaolian was silent.

“Even [S] class experts had attempted to personally test it. However, we found that any known power or skill cannot bring it any harm. It is impervious to any form of harm we could muster. Impervious to physical attacks, spiritual attacks, everything!”

Chen Xiaolian glanced at Bluesea and suddenly said, “So that is the reason why you all could be at ease with letting everyone visit Zero City’s main control system? I think it is not that simple.”

“Mm…”

“If I had to guess, you people opened up Zero City’s main control system because you fellows were unable to damage or figure it out. So, you wanted to see if the outsiders could do it. Although the chances of that are small, there is no reason not to, right?”

“Perhaps that is the case. At any rate, this place was opened up a long time ago. It was a decision made a long time ago by that time’s Board of Patriarchs. The succeeding Board of Patriarchs chose not to overturn this decision. As for your opinion, I personally believe it is possible.”

After saying that, Bluesea smiled and continued, “The screen you saw is just a portion of Zero City’s main system that is put on display. The real main control system of Zero City is an extremely massive existence.”

…

“System auto-scan: Abnormal template found, scan results… … compatible with inceptive founders’ template. Begin screening. Re-directing all spare calculative capacity for scanning… … begin countdown… estimated time: 7 hours 24 minutes 55 seconds.”

…

In a workroom within the Board of Patriarchs’ building, the ones responsible for monitoring the main control system consisted of men from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild and the Angel Corps.

Two men in Angel Corps uniforms were staring at a floating metal orb. The metal orb floated at a height level to that of a man’s height. Suddenly, the surface of the metal orb shook a little.

It was like… … there was an issue with the frame rate.

Seeing that anomaly, the two of them became shocked. Then, they exchanged glances.

“Did you see that?”

“Ah, did you see it too? I thought I made a mistake.”

“This… … we have never seen something like this. Do we report this?”

One of them quickly turned his head. Behind him was a large platform. Several Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild members were operating virtually projected control stations to monitor the various areas within Zero City.

“Did you see something out of the ordinary?”

“No… ah, there is crowd forming in the Sea of Love. A conflict had occurred in a bar. Send the patrolling Sentinels to check it out.”

“Is there anything else?”

“No.”

The Angel Corps’ member was silent for a moment. After a moment of consideration, he walked out from the room. Then, he pressed the headset in his ear. “Situation report. There is a need to report this to Sir Angel Wu.”

A few seconds later, a voice came from the headset. “Situation code?”

The Angel Corps’ member hesitated for a moment. He turned around to see that everything within the room was normal. The large metal orb appeared normal as well.

After hesitating, he said, “Code [B].”

A clear reply came from the headset. “This matter has been reported to Sir Angel Wu’s assistant. Sir Angel Wu is presently preparing for the Angel Corps next training session. Please submit in a report. If there is a need, Sir Angel Wu could come find you in 24 hours.”

A few minutes later, the Angel Corps’ member walked into the room. He stood beside the metal orb and looked at his companion.

“How is it? Is there any…”

“No,” replied his companion with a dubious expression. “Everything appears normal here. Just now… … did we make a mistake?”

“… … I do not know. Regardless, I have already made a report.”

…