Capítulo 1025: Chapter 1025: Omen, Truly an Omen Fınd the newest release on 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍 Shadow City Fortress, First Research Center, Third Laboratory of Carbon-Based Life Venue. The person responsible for receiving us was Taville’s Senior Assistant Technician, a young scientist who was stern and efficient. With all the expert teams concentrating on overcoming the “Conqueror” technical challenges and the construction of the deep-diving ship, Taville couldn’t spare more manpower to help us analyze what was happening with a mutant crow, so finding a senior assistant technician was already quite a feat. The three crows, clearly no longer belonging to normal species, were delivered yesterday. In just one day, the Imperial scientists completed a full scan of these three creatures from beginning to end, conducting all the experiments that could be done: as it was essential not to harm the lives of the three crows, the experiments were actually not that numerous. “We’ve numbered the samples; the two adult individuals are No. 1 and No. 2, and the juvenile individual is No. 3,” the young assistant technician opened the lab’s central large container that looked like a silver-white shipping container. The metal cover outside the container silently slid into the ground below, revealing the space inside isolated by a transparent barrier, “As per the command, all three samples are kept in an environment most suitable for their survival and familiarity, only sample No. 2 was slightly startled, everything else is fine.” Inside the transparent barrier was an artificially created small eco-environment, with a patch of greenery, some shrubs, and even a small spring; on top of the shrubs was the crow’s nest that came along, and beside the spring was a large water bottle with half a bottle of water, surrounded by a heap of pebbles. “What’s with that bottle?” Lilina pointed to the water bottle in the eco-environment chamber; it was the only thing that seemed out of place with the natural scenery around it, very noticeable. “Lady Qianqian ordered it to be placed there; she said she wanted to test whether the crow would put small stones into the bottle to drink water when it gets thirsty,” the assistant technician answered methodically and then added, a bit confused, “We still don’t understand what this experiment means.” “Ah, looks like the experiment failed,” Qianqian leaned on the railing watching the eco-environment chamber, “The water in the bottle hasn’t decreased at all.” I thought for a moment and slapped the back of the girl’s head: “You’re stupid! Didn’t you notice those stones are bigger than the bottle opening?” Lilina finally couldn’t take it any longer and looked at the two of us, exasperated: “Did no one notice that there’s an artificial lake right next to the water bottle?! Are crows really that brainless?!” At that moment, I realized how suddenly stupid I was… “Ahem, let’s talk about the crows. How did their physical examination results turn out?” I awkwardly scratched my head, steering the conversation back to the main task at hand. The assistant technician immediately reported: “A full examination has been conducted, confirming that the three samples are still carbon-based life—well, primarily carbon-based life. Sample No. 1 and No. 2 had very minor mutations, with only the brain system undergoing noticeable mutation, showing signs of increased thinking ability. Simultaneously, the reproductive and internal circulation systems also showed some degree of mutation, the significance of which is unclear. Sample No. 3 has been confirmed to be completely mutated, with brain system activity surpassing that of similar species by hundreds of times…” “Hundreds of times?” I quickly interrupted, “What does that mean?” “It means that with certain training, it could communicate with intelligent beings, fully understand the Imperial common language, and with assistive equipment, it could even converse with us in the common language. It has the ability to learn to use tools, but to what extent it can do so still needs observation.” I stood there with my mouth open for a long time before looking at the ugly fledgling: it seemed like it had grown a bit bigger since yesterday, though I didn’t know if it was an illusion, the fuzz on its head already had a mature shine. Currently, the fledgling’s parents were gently pecking at its wings, bewildered because the fledgling refused to eat. Despite them having shown some degree of mutation and an increase in intelligence, they still couldn’t understand why their child wasn’t eating. “Just this one bird? With a brain only slightly larger than an almond, will it become as smart as a human?” “It’s developing rapidly, and the genetic simulation chart shows that if it matures successfully, its size will be hundreds of times that of similar creatures!” The assistant technician opened a holographic projection, revealing a majestic and flamboyant Crow God with five figures posing for a photo op beside it, labeled from Bubbles 209001 to Bubbles 209005… The assistant technician was startled, nervously explaining: “This…this data was reviewed once by the upper-level host machine before, and it returned …” I rubbed my eyes, full of tears: “No need to hurry, I understand, she might be trying to give me a more intuitive explanation in her own way.” Back then, I spent two whole months farming this thing without getting it, but Bubbles just did it with her alternate account, naturally, it had to appear, and you see how many digits she has in her alternate account! As long as the server doesn’t crash, whatever she wants will probably show up immediately! “So, that’s the size of the mutated sample No. 3 after normal development,” the assistant technician continued reporting, possibly not fully understanding the peculiar nature of the First Family, “Its genes have undergone extremely precise changes; however, theoretically, this is highly challenging: the genetic structure of carbon-based life on Earth is rather delicate, the chance of a well-ordered combination occurring under random mutation conditions is less than one in ten million. That is, among ten million mutation combinations, only one will emerge with complete physiological function and stable heredity as a new individual, and sample No. 3 represents such a perfect mutation; it hasn’t developed severe hereditary diseases, but instead, it’s becoming larger and more intelligent… If this is a gene mutation occurring under natural conditions, as a scientist, I must say it holds no singular value: it’s unscientific.” “The result determines the process; direct information disturbance causes the real world to modify itself…” Along with us came Bingdisi, who originally was merely a spectator in such high-tech settings. Unexpectedly, she broke her silence, uttering something cryptic; however, when I wanted to ask her what it meant, she enigmatically shook her head, “Suddenly thought of this, let your scientists continue speaking, I’ll explain later.” Upon our signal, the assistant technician continued to report his findings: “Aside from mutations directly observable with equipment, sample No. 3 also experienced some pertaining to mystic or ultra-intuitive mutations. It developed some structural units capable of storing and transforming special energy, possibly produced by cells, but they don’t belong to any known Earthly product. Further, a systemic energy circulation system was observed within No. 3 sample. Such a system typically appears only inside energy life forms or elemental beings; the likelihood of this system appearing in a carbon-based life form with low tolerance to alien energy is almost non-existent. Furthermore, the brain system’s activity level is more than a hundred times that of similar species…” “Elemental beings?” I questioned immediately, surprised. “What’s the concept here?” “It means, with adequate training, it can communicate with intelligent beings, fully understand the Imperial common tongue, and potentially interact with us using the common tongue with the aid of auxiliary equipment. The ability to learn and use tools is present, but to what degree remains to be seen.” My mouth hung open for a long while before I glanced at that ugly fledgling: it seemed to have grown since yesterday, although perhaps it was just my imagination. The down on its head now had a mature sheen; its parents were gently nudging its wings with their beaks, because the fledgling wasn’t eating at all. Despite their own significant mutations and heightened intelligence levels, they couldn’t comprehend why their child refused to eat. “Just like some of the ancient creatures born in the Azeroth world, having innate powers within their bodies, it’s capable of controlling various different supernatural powers from birth. Furthermore, the young crow’s brain activity exceeds that of its peers by several hundred times…” “Several hundred times?” I hastily interrupted. “What do you mean?” “It means that this little guy could potentially communicate with intelligent life by undergoing some training. It can fully understand the universal language of the Empire, and with auxiliary devices, it might even be able to communicate with us using it. It also possesses the ability to learn to use tools, but to what extent, further observation is needed.” I stood with my mouth slightly agape before I took another look at the ugly fledgling: it seemed to have grown a bit larger since yesterday, although that could be just an illusion—its down head feathers gleamed maturely. Its parents were gently nudging its feathers with their beaks, confused because the fledgling refused to eat. Although they, too, had shown a certain degree of mutation, with intelligence elevated to a relatively high level, they hadn’t yet grasped why their offspring refused to eat food. “Well,” Lilina eventually couldn’t take it anymore, looking at the two of us with an exasperated face, “has no one noticed that there’s a man-made lake right next to that water bottle?! Are crows really that clueless?!” That’s when I realized, how could I have been so stupid… “Ahem, let’s talk about the crow, what were the results of the physical check-up?” I asked, scratching my head awkwardly and shifting the subject back to business, the assistant technician immediately reported: “The comprehensive check has been performed, confirming that the three samples are still carbon-based life – uh, the main parts still are carbon-based organisms. Among them, samples No. 1 and No. 2 have very few mutations, with only the brain system showing significant change, indicating signs of increased thinking ability, while the reproductive system and internal circulation system have mutated to a certain extent, the significance of which remains unknown. Sample No. 3 has been confirmed as completely mutated, with brain activity levels surpassing other similar species by hundreds of times…” “Hundreds of times?” I quickly interrupted, taken aback, “What do you mean by that?” “It means with proper training, it might communicate with intelligent life and fully understand the Imperial common language, possibly even using it to communicate with us with some auxiliary equipment. It appears to have the ability to learn to use tools, but to what extent needs further observation.” My mouth hung open in surprise for quite some time before I looked at that ungainly chick: it seemed to have grown slightly larger since yesterday, though I was unsure if it was an illusion, the fluff on its head had taken on a bit of a mature sheen. Right now, the chick’s parents were gently nudging the little one’s wings with their beaks as the fledgling refused to eat anything. Despite this pair of crows having also undergone a certain degree of mutation, with their intelligence raised to a relatively high level, they still couldn’t understand why their offspring wouldn’t eat. “Just to check, you said it can make a hundred times the brain activity? What does that mean?” Lilina looked at me with an overwhelmed expression. “Yes, which means that once it undergoes some training, it might be able to communicate with intelligent beings, fully understand the common language of the Empire, and even use common language to communicate with us with auxiliary devices. It has the ability to learn to use tools, but the extent of its understanding remains to be observed.” The assistant technician immediately began to report his findings at my prompting. Lilina rolled her eyes at me, then turned to ask the assistant technician, “Have those crystal eggs been checked? What’s the situation inside?” “They have also undergone deep mutations, with mineral content exceeding the norm, organic matter crystallizing. Additionally, we’ve discovered a phenomenon of unfamiliar energy condensation. However, the crystal eggs seem to be the products of failed evolution, and they all end up as stillborns.” Lilina furrowed her brow, “I can sense something that doesn’t belong to this world inside the crystal eggs.” “Yes, your feeling is correct. There are three types of radioactive elements in the crystal eggs, which are new materials whose quark combinations don’t conform to the laws of this universe, yet they can exist stably here. They seem to have appeared out of thin air, and if one must find an explanation… it can only be described as a result of some information disturbance, causing materials from another world to be projected into this one.” Information disturbance—those four words uttered by the assistant technician swept through my mind like a lightning bolt. I immediately linked them to what Bingdisi had just mentioned, and then thought about myself. Bingdisi noticed the change in my expression and smiled gently, “Alright, the scientific time is over for now, Chen, let me explain something unscientific to you—” “I have a hypothesis that the mutation of the crows in your yard is related to you.” “You are a massive source of information disturbance. Initially, these disturbances only interfered with the people closest to and in most contact with you. Over time, the disturbance began to spread to everything you personally experienced. Now, the disturbance may have expanded once more, choosing the crows in your yard as its target. You see, the energy control talent, the bodily structure mutating toward elemental beings, these two characteristics are easily associated with you, aren’t they?” I might have looked a bit dazed, taking a moment to react, “Why does it sound like I’ve become some sort of pollution source?” “It’s not pollution, but what I see in you…” Bingdisi suddenly paused, seemingly weighing her words carefully, something rarely seen from her, “it’s just a guess, but I seem to see the shadow of the Father God.” Everyone was instantly taken aback. “Or should I say the shadow of the True God, it’s almost the same, after all, some of our Divine Race’s talents are directly inherited from the Father God. Remember the journey Father God took to your house?” I nodded, of course I remembered. It involved a long trip, squeezing into subways, buying tickets from scalpers, and chive pockets—Bingdisi named this journey as some kind of journey of the gods, with a whole lot of seemingly impressive symbolic significance. “You are creating the same influence,” Bingdisi looked at me, “your very existence has a higher priority than the world itself. Now, as you grow more… mature, perhaps you are beginning to possess traits similar to the Father God. Initially, it was the people around you being affected, gradually anything you came into contact with began to embody extraordinary significance. They started gaining power, possessing greater intelligence, turning from a small fish into a giant in the waves of information disturbance… look at this bird, even if it grows to the height of two people and can spew out shadow storms, in our eyes it’s still unremarkable, but in the eyes of mortals, it’s enough to be called…” I casually chimed in, “The Crow God.” Bingdisi glanced at me and nodded. “Now your influence is no longer confined to ‘people’, it’s starting to extend to wild animals. Anwina mentioned that the first crystal egg to fail hatching appeared nearly a year ago, so maybe from that day, you already started influencing those two big crows, and it was only in recent days that this influence reached a result. This should prove that your power is gradually changing.” Bingdisi’s expression was very serious, and she started recalling some records from the Divine Realm, “You know the Divine Realm’s main deities are divided into four branches: life, order, light, and dark. The Divine Realm and the gods were born because of the Father God. The usual saying is: the Father God created the Divine Realm and then created the Four Divine Clans. However, this statement isn’t entirely accurate: if we define being created entirely from nothingness as the Father God’s original creation, then only the Divine Realm itself and the Light Divine Race were created by the Father God. The other three divine branch clans were actually ‘promoted’ into existence. The Dark Goddess originally was a dark elf from a certain world, and during one of Father God’s journeys, he saved them from the local residents and brought them back to the Divine Realm. The Dragon God Clan initially consisted of golden giant dragons from the Lower Realm, who were later brought back by the Father God. As for the Life Goddesses, their origin is even more peculiar—a long, long time ago, the Father God was traveling in the Lower Realm, when a careless forest elf accidentally bumped into him. Out of curiosity, the Father God raised this forest elf for a while, and later brought her along when he returned to the Divine Realm—she was Jiajia, now the most powerful Life Controller in the Void. Her thoughts can even kill a powerful True God, yet initially, she was just a forest elf picking berries amidst the underbrush, gathering dew drops diligently each day. This is the detail of the Star Domain Gods’ origin, except for the Light God—originally called the Star Clan, personally created by the Father God, while the other clans were promoted under the influence of the Father! But such promotion can also be considered a form of re-creation, which is why there’s a general saying in the Divine Realm that the Father God created the Four Major God Systems.” “So… Ah Jun is becoming like the Father God…” Qianqian hesitantly interjected, but Bingdisi hadn’t finished yet, she waved her hand to indicate there was more, “I haven’t gotten to the important part: the Divine Realm has countless types of plants and animals, I think you all remember, right? Rabbits that can release lightning storms and mice that can harness Arcane Nova can be seen everywhere on its plains. But in reality? They originally were mere mortal creatures; they gradually became powerful solely due to their association with the Father God, eventually adapting to the power environment of the Divine Realm. Now look at this crow, it managed to shoot shadow arrows just a few days post-hatching!” “The True God has a prominent feature; any action taken in the mortal world can bear symbolic significance for them. Such symbolic significance often doesn’t require the God to actively do anything, just existing in a place is enough. A direct example is ever since Dingdang became God, the admission rates for various universities in this city and even this province have suddenly dropped several percentage points…” Suddenly, I felt several nudges from the pocket in front of my chest, and a tiny voice whispered from within, “Didn’t hear, didn’t hear, Dingdang didn’t hear anything…” Now that even God is avoiding reality, how are in-school students supposed to cope? “Is this influence ultimately good or bad?” My sister suddenly grew worried, “I know the Divine Realm is a place where gods live, but this is Earth. If even mice were to suddenly cast arcane novas and chain lightning, would humans still stand a chance? Or is it that the entire world’s creatures will evolve along with it?” “Before that day, this world would definitely be torn apart; do you think a mortal world can be turned into the Divine Realm? The foundation won’t keep up,” Bingdisi jokingly calmed their nerves when she noticed their anxious looks, “To speak of this, I think, Chen, you should attempt to delve deeper into your powers from now, the sooner you control your information disturbance power, the better. This is something no one else can help you with. So far, across the vast Void, each of you possesses a unique power, all of which are different, and…” “The time it takes for such influence to gradually expand is quite a lengthy process, Chen. It took you four years from awakening to expand your halo to the size of a yard. It was only a year ago that you began to significantly influence a few crow eggs, and just a few days ago, you managed to successfully hatch the Crow God. This means you still have plenty of time to adjust to your abilities,” Bingdisi said with a smile, noticing everyone’s tense expressions, “The day your powers eventually become like the Father God’s, perhaps then you’ll need to consider moving to the Shadow Space,” Bingdisi began to muse, “But it’s no big deal, it’s even more prosperous now than the outside world, and the number of mainframes responsible for maintaining the space is increasing; it’s much more stable than the real world. Who knows, by then, perhaps the Shadow Space will… be like the Divine Realm…” She paused here, as if her words trailed off into a realization, “However, I haven’t mentioned the key point yet: the Divine Realm has an infinite variety of flora and fauna, I suppose you’ll remember, right? While traversing the plains there, you can see various creatures that can emit flashes of lightning or use chain lightning, but they were originally created entirely based on the mortal world’s level. Those animals became powerful simply because of their association with the Father God, and over time they eventually adapted to the power environment of the Divine Realm to manifest such grandeur. Now look at this crow; just days after hatching, it can let out shadow arrows!” The unmistakable characteristic of a True God is that any action in the mortal world is imbued with symbolic significance, with the result that their presence has unprecedented importance. So that now, many beings and things you have encountered have begun to gain strength and superior intelligence, transforming from small fish into behemoths in the waves of information disturbance… Consider this bird: in our eyes, even if it grows as tall as two people and can unleash shadow storms, it remains insignificant, but in the eyes of mortals, it would be enough to be called…”