269: Chapter 269 Four Worlds, One Energy.

The data calculations on Tao Zhe's and Zhou Peide's sides each took five hours of analysis.

One side used the Tianheng supercomputer, and the other used the Deep Blue Group equipment. They computed independently without communicating with each other.

The difference in the time the results came out was less than ten minutes.

Su Mingyuan was woken up on a folding cot.

He had slept for less than three hours—Zhang Wei had forcefully pressed him down to lie down, saying, "If you don't sleep, your judgments will be wrong later."

He didn't argue back. When he first lay down, he thought he definitely wouldn't be able to fall asleep, but as soon as he closed his eyes, he blacked out.

When he woke up, his brain was muddled for a few seconds.

The canvas of the folding cot left a mark on his shoulders, the lights of the Command Center were blinding, and the smell of instant noodles in the air was heavier than before he went to sleep.

"The analysis results from both sides are out."

Zhang Wei shoved a cup of hot tea into his hands.

Su Mingyuan gulped down two sips of tea and walked over to sit in front of the big screen.

The screen was split in half.

On the left was Tao Zhe. The lights of the Yaowu World laboratory made his face drained of color, and his eyes were full of bloodshot veins.

On the right was Zhou Peide. In the server room of the Deep Blue Group at Tianmen Base, a row of server indicator lights flashed incessantly.

Both of them looked just as sleep-deprived as he was.

"Who goes first?" Su Mingyuan asked.

Zhou Peide spoke first.

He had an academic approach, presenting the data first before stating the conclusion.

A waveform comparison chart was projected onto the secondary screen in front of Su Mingyuan.

Two curves, red and blue. Red was the energy waveform of the protective shield, and blue was the energy waveform of the Tier 4 crystal core from the Zombie World.

The two lines almost completely clung together.

"Similarity is 91%," Zhou Peide said. "The differences lie mainly in the attenuation coefficient and the conduction medium—the protective shield is released in the air, while the crystal core is inside a sealed crystal. Different physical environments cause deviations at the end of the waveforms. After deducting the medium factors, the core characteristics are identical."

Su Mingyuan was not into physics, but the number 91% could be understood without professional knowledge. This wasn't a matter of being "similar"; this was "it is the exact same thing".

"Tao Zhe, what about your side?"

Tao Zhe's conclusion was the same, but he had gone one step further.

"I didn't just compare the crystal core."

He pulled up another chart—four curves stacked together.

The crystal core, Yao Dan, the energy signal from that attack in the core area of the Zerg World, and the protective shield. The colors were different, but the trends were almost identical.

"The core waveform similarity of the four sets of data is between 85% and 93%. All differences come from the medium and the release method; underneath, it is the same energy."

He paused for a moment, as if organizing his next words.

Su Mingyuan noticed that he usually spoke very quickly, but now he deliberately slowed down his speaking speed.

"Group Leader Su. Four worlds, four disasters—Zombies, Giants, Zerg, and Yao Beasts. On the surface, they seem completely unrelated. Zombies are viral infections, Giants are unknown creatures, Zerg are a completely different species system, and Yao Beasts are mutations of existing species. But the energy existing within them is the same thing."

"The crystal core is the crystallized form of this energy. The Yao Dan is the condensed form. The protective shield is the released form. The Spiritual Qi we absorb through Cultivate is its diluted form. The names are different and the manifestations are different, but the essence is the same."

Someone in the Command Center stopped what they were doing and listened to Tao Zhe speak.

Even Zhang Wei turned around, holding his communicator and forgetting to put it down.

"One hundred years ago, four worlds suffered meteorite falls at the same time." Tao Zhe's voice came through the communicator, very clear in the quiet space. "The meteorites brought something. This thing created zombies in the Zombie World, spawned giants in the Giant World, produced zerg in the Zerg World, and mutated Yao Beasts in the Yaowu World. Four different outcomes, the same source."

"And this protective shield—" He switched the screen to the real-time footage of the transparent dome, "Its precision far exceeds any natural phenomenon. Three giants release it simultaneously, the energy undergoes automatic Fusion, forming a perfect hemispherical coverage, and it can even perform graded recognition and processing on approaching objects. This is not an instinctive reaction; it is conscious control."

Su Mingyuan asked the question he had been thinking about since the very first second the dome appeared.

"Who is controlling them?"

Neither person on the two screens answered immediately.

Zhou Peide took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on.

"At the data level, I can only go this far. The energy of the protective shield is released by the three giants, but the control precision far exceeds the cognitive level of the giants. The conclusion is that there must be an intelligent entity behind it."

Tao Zhe continued: "Those three eight-hundred-meter giants are tools, not the main body."

Su Mingyuan leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the armrest a few times.

Four worlds.

The same energy.

The meteorites from one hundred years ago.

An intelligent entity manipulating the giants.

He had been piecing these fragments together for days, and now he had finally pieced together a vague outline.

The disasters in the four worlds were four facets of the same matter.

And in each world, there might be a similar "controller".

The Giant World had the intelligent entity behind the protective shield.

The Zerg World had the mysterious woman in the core area.

The Zombie World had the legendary Patient Zero.

What about the Yaowu World? There was a high probability it had one too, it just hadn't shown its face yet temporarily.

He didn't voice this conjecture. The weight of this statement was too heavy; he had to find a suitable timing to say it later.

"Tao Zhe, one last question." He leaned forward slightly, "The energy of the protective shield is the same as the crystal core. We can use the energy of the crystal core—absorbed by those who Cultivate, used for Alchemy, and powering mechs. Then can we break the energy of the protective shield?"

Tao Zhe thought for a few seconds. "Theoretically, there is the possibility of resonance and hedging between homologous energies. But it requires us to have energy output capabilities of the same magnitude. Currently, Daxia's strongest practitioners who Cultivate are at Tier 3, and there is a difference of about several thousand times between the Spiritual Qi output of Tier 3 and the energy density of the protective shield. They are not on the same level."

"In other words, relying on the strength of those who Cultivate to confront the protective shield in the short term is unrealistic."

"Unrealistic." Tao Zhe was very direct.

"Then that only leaves nuclear bombs." Su Mingyuan stood up. "The energy of a nuclear bomb is not Spiritual Qi, but a nuclear bomb is fierce enough. Hard smashing from a physical level—no matter how powerful the protective shield is, energy always has an upper limit. If one isn't enough, then ten; if ten aren't enough, then a hundred. What I want is not to crack it, what I want is to smash it to pieces."

He walked over to Zhang Wei, looking at the topographic map of the Giant World hanging on the wall—the preset positions for missile vehicles in six directions had already been marked with red pen on it.

The spherical coverage deployment had started since last night. Currently, four directions were already in place, while the southeast and northwest directions were still advancing due to poor road conditions.

"To which step has the position adjustment reached?"

"Four directions are already in place. The southeast and northwest still need time."

"Keep pushing," Su Mingyuan said. "Wait until there are new changes on the protective shield's side before making a decision."