474 Far Ahead

The research into bloodlines had temporarily come to an end.

It was not because their potential had been fully developed, but because their accumulated knowledge only went this far. Beyond that point, even pioneer-grade knowledge led by N4 was beyond comprehension.

This was not a problem money could solve.

"You need to understand something. Knowledge itself is a product brought by the Eye of Discernment, one of the Destroyers. The higher the knowledge, the more twisted and terrifying its form of existence becomes. It may not even manifest as mere information anymore—well, you can think of higher knowledge as a 'living thing,' like fragments of the Eye of Discernment."

Li Aoz understood N4's explanation.

"The limit of the Layered Abyss is the same."

Li Aoz said helplessly, "All knowledge beyond the pioneer grade is controlled by the Narrative Civilization. It is encrypted through black holes, with random keys generated by chaotic systems. Even if you obtain a copy, one failed attempt at cracking it will cause the entire body of information to collapse. The cost of deciphering it is too high."

"So it's a political problem, Grand Commander Lioz." N4 fanned her hand and chuckled. "If you want knowledge from the Narrative Civilization, why not just become one of their affiliated civilizations?"

"Legally speaking, the White Candle Autonomous State still falls under the Interstellar Alliance's definition of a 'derivative civilization.' A civilization that has separated from its parent civilization for less than five hundred years is not permitted to join the Narrative Civilization—otherwise, the Narrative Civilization would have carved up the Layered Abyss long ago."

Li Aoz spoke eloquently:

"No matter how worthless my master's degree may be, I did study interstellar relations. When it comes to interstellar law, there probably aren't many people on this planet who know it