Chapter 168

Even if the Teleportation Gate cannot be closed directly, the power of the "Herrscher of Binding" is enough to gradually weaken the energy source of this area until it disappears.

When the energy of the domain itself can no longer be sustained, the erosion of the real world by the Sea of Quantum will naturally come to an end.

Although the plan seemed perfect, Ai Yue's furrowed brows remained furrowed.

He always felt that he was overlooking something.

As Ai Yue unleashed the power of the Herrscher, the Quantum Monster's offensive became increasingly fierce. Even Sakura and Eden gradually found themselves struggling to cope with such a massive number of them.

But as Ai Yue's powers continued to take effect, the Quantum Monster eventually showed signs of fatigue, their numbers began to decrease, and eventually no new monsters appeared.

Is it over?

After slaying the last monster in her sight, Sakura finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Doctor Ai Yue, how is the situation now?"

"It's probably going to be stable and improving."

Ai Yue said absentmindedly, "Theoretically speaking, this area will soon begin to shrink until it disappears completely. At that time, we can completely close the Teleportation Gate."

"Wrong."

Eden, however, spoke differently at this moment, "There is... nothing here."

"What did you say?"

Ai Yue subconsciously turned his head and saw Eden pointing to a spot not far away.

Ai Yue was right. As the energy supply gradually failed to keep up with the consumption, the entire realm showed signs of collapse, and some places even showed "cracks". Through these cracks, they could even see what the real world looked like now.

However, there was nothing outside—through the crack, all that could be seen were exposed soil and rock layers, which looked as if they had been gnawed by something, with uneven surfaces that looked extremely strange.

But this shouldn't be the case here, because this is the research base for the Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate.

"I see."

Seeing this, Ai Yue instantly understood everything and murmured, "The Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate... is no longer in the real dimension."

"What's the meaning?"

Hearing his words, Sakura, who was still confused, immediately turned around and asked, "Doctor Ai Yue, do you know what's going on?"

Ai Yue did not answer her, because at that moment he suddenly remembered something he had forgotten for a long time.

In the original storyline, the Armed Doll had actually disappeared from the world along with the sinking of the Mu Continent. However, they were not destroyed. Instead, just before the Mu Continent was about to be torn apart by the Ninth Herrscher, the Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate was activated. Using the maximum power of the Teleportation Gate, the Armed Doll, along with a portion of the Mu Continent, were sent into the Sea of Quantum.

The portion of the Mu Continent that was swallowed by the Sea of Quantum became an independent World Bubble, providing a habitat for the Armed Doll.

Ai Yue didn't know what kind of traces that part of the world would leave on the original Mu Continent after being swept into the Sea of Quantum, but it might be similar to what he was seeing now.

But there must be some difference here—

"Cherry!"

Ai Yue suddenly looked up at the girl beside him, "Attack me with all your might!"

Sakura paused for a moment, but did not ask any questions. Instead, she closed her eyes and gripped the hilt of the sword tightly.

The "Mutated Weapon," which she hadn't used in the previous battle, now manifested, further enhancing her power.

The next second, the girl opened her eyes, and the blade slashed out instantly!

The blow, imbued with all of Sakura's power, slammed heavily into Ai Yue's face. The intense external force finally became the last pillar that broke the camel's back, creating a fatal flaw in this fragile area already weakened by the Authority of Binding.

Sakura's blade seemed to slice through space, leaving a deep scar in the domain, while on the opposite side of the scar, a dazzling light emanated.

"This is..."

Eden helped Sakura, who was somewhat exhausted, and subconsciously looked at Ai Yue, "Doctor Ai Yue?"

But Ai Yue only left her with his back turned. "Leave the domain and wait for me to come back."

The next second, he jumped into the crack without hesitation.

"Wait..."

Eden instinctively tried to stop him, but Ai Yue's figure had already disappeared, along with the crack. It was as if even Sakura's full-force strike could only create a momentary opening.

But the entire domain had already begun to collapse at an accelerated pace. Eden turned around and could see the passage they had come through, as well as the surveillance equipment that had been casually placed in a corner.

"What is going on?"

Looking at the chaotic scene before him, Eden couldn't help but show a somewhat troubled expression. "And how am I supposed to explain this to everyone when I get back?"

Ai Yue was completely unaware of the mess he had left for Eden. At that moment, he passed through the rift and finally arrived at his expected destination.

With a solid feeling under his feet, Ai Yue returned to a bright room. As soon as he landed, he looked up and saw the Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate that was still functioning normally.

However, at this moment, the Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate was covered with a dense array of twisted and deformed things, much like the bottom of a ship infested with countless arthropods. It was clear that it had been severely eroded by the Sea of Quantum.

This is clearly the source of the disaster, but such severe erosion obviously cannot be formed overnight.

After turning his gaze away, Ai Yue finally saw the scene inside the room—many staff members were still at their posts, but they were lying down or sprawled out, clearly unconscious.

However, according to the scan results from the armor, although these people are extremely weak, they are at least still alive. As long as they receive timely assistance, their lives will not be in danger.

Therefore, we need to resolve the current situation first, and then take these people back for treatment.

As for the Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate, it cannot be closed directly now, because it is the only channel connecting this World Bubble to the real world.

Yes, due to the erosion by the Sea of Quantum, this place has become similar to a World Bubble. The reason for using the word "similar" is that it is still some distance away from completely becoming World Bubble.

If the Sea of Quantum wants to use this Teleportation Gate to erode the Real World and turn it into a World Bubble within the sea, then it's impossible for this place to completely sever its connection with the Real World. In other words, this place is only temporarily separated from the Real World, and given enough time, it can still be pieced back together.

While it may not fit as perfectly as the original, at least it won't be lost in the Sea of Quantum.

However, although we want to put this back together, how exactly should we do it?

Ai Yue made a quick inspection, hastily assembled a few life support devices for those in the worst condition, and then began to consider this issue.

Whether this place can be rebuilt or not is not important, because after such a serious accident, the project will probably be shut down. However, the people who work here are invaluable talents, and bringing them back is Ai Yue's real purpose.

However, bringing so many people directly back to the real world from the Sea of Quantum is obviously an almost impossible task. Therefore, Ai Yue can only bring them back by piecing the World Bubble back into the real world.

As Ai Yue pondered, he approached the Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate. Only then did he realize that what was parasitic on the Teleportation Gate were actually crystals. According to the analysis, these crystals were similar to Honkai Energy Crystal, both being produced by excessive energy accumulation.

To produce this kind of crystal, it is difficult to do so by simply relying on continuous energy output; a burst of energy is required.

Ai Yue stroked his chin and finally summoned the system.

Let's figure out why this place turned out this way first.

Chapter 45 You don't think I'm a weakling too, do you?

As Alvin gradually regained consciousness, he felt as if something was covering his face.

This strange feeling instantly snapped him out of his dazed state.

As the captain of the Fused Warrior squad responsible for the security of the entire Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate project, Alvin was arguably the strongest member of the entire team. Because of this, he was the last member of the team to remain conscious after the accident.

Alvin clearly remembered that in his last moments before losing consciousness, he was still searching for a way to leave this place. At that time, he didn't bring any random things with him—so who brought this thing to him?

After barely regaining his mobility, Alvin reached out and removed the thing from his face. He then discovered that it was a mask-like object with a tube connected to the mouth of the mask, which extended to a small box placed on his chest.

After removing the mask, Alvin immediately felt his brain start to spin again, just like when he was unconscious before, so he quickly put the mask back on.

This result relieved him – although he still didn't know who had put this thing on him, since it didn't do any harm and could even protect him, it meant that the other party must have had good intentions.

He had previously told the scholars in his project team that many other worlds were floating in the so-called "Sea of Quantum." Could it be that he had encountered people from those worlds?

Or perhaps the Moth to Fire finally noticed the anomaly and came to rescue them?

Feeling his strength gradually returning, Alvin stood up again, intending to find the person who had put the mask on him, and also to check on the condition of the others.

He walked back towards the central control room from the emergency escape route, seeing many people lying on the ground or slumped over tables along the way. Some were members of his team, while others were scholars in charge of the project's operation, but without exception, they were all unconscious.

The only difference was that some people wore the same mask as him, while others did not.

In the central control room, Alvin saw a figure in a white coat, busy at the control panel.

So this person is the one who put the masks on them?

Alvin made his judgment, but still dared not let his guard down. He drew his standard Atomic Disintegration Gun from his waist and pointed it at the figure. "Who are you?"

"Oh? Someone woke up so quickly?"

The other person seemed to have just realized someone was approaching, then turned around and said, "Looks like you're pretty good."

Upon seeing the other person's appearance, Alvin shuddered in shock, nearly dropping his gun. "Dr. Ai, Doctor Ai Yue?"

Upon hearing the other person call out his name, Ai Yue nodded. "You know me, that makes things easier."

How could anyone not recognize Moth to Fire!

Alvin was speechless for a moment, too excited to speak.

Even newcomers to the Moth to Fire would never fail to recognize the person in front of them, because the first thing they learn is that they must protect the person in front of them with their lives, no matter what.

Alvin had never met Doctor Ai Yue, but his legend was everywhere among the Moth to Fire —the weapons they used were invented by Ai Yue, the armor they wore was invented by Ai Yue, the Fused Warrior surgery they underwent was optimized by Ai Yue, and even the new version of the training regulations was customized with Ai Yue's participation.

It can be said that everyone who joins the Moth to Fire will clearly realize the significance of Ai Yue to this organization and even to the entire human civilization, thus developing a sense of worship. Alvin is no exception.

Most importantly, he never expected that after they had encountered such a major misfortune, the first person to come to their rescue would be Doctor Ai Yue.

Moreover, it seemed that the other party had even ventured into this eerie realm alone. The plot of such a noble person risking their life to save themselves was truly shocking to Alvin.

"Alright, stop spacing out and come help."

Ai Yue didn't seem to care about Alvin's attitude. He simply waved his hand and said, "Tell me what exactly happened on your side."

"Oh, okay."

Alvin finally snapped out of his daze and walked somewhat awkwardly to Ai Yue's side. "Um, Doctor Ai Yue, my name is Alvin..."

"Hans Alvin, second batch of fusion warriors, number 27, a veteran who has served for more than five years with the Firemoth, I know you."

Ai Yue interrupted his self-introduction, "Let's not waste time on this kind of thing. Let's sort out what you've encountered and tell me all the details."

"I see,"

Realizing he had been too agitated, Alvin gradually calmed down. He thought for a moment and then said, "Actually, even now I don't know what's going on here. Even the scholars haven't figured it out, so I can only tell you what I experienced."

"That's enough."

Ai Yue nodded and continued searching for something in front of the console.

"Initially, we tried to extend the continuous operation time of the Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate to 24 hours to test its stability and whether there would be any reaction inside the Sea of Quantum."

As Alvin recalled and described the events, "Things went very smoothly. Not only was the Teleportation Gate stable, but even the Quantum Monster didn't appear."

"No Quantum Monster have appeared?"

Ai Yue suddenly looked up. "Didn't a single one appear?"

"Yes, I was responsible for guarding the Teleportation Gate entrance at the time,"

Alvin nodded affirmatively. "According to the usual pattern, once the Teleportation Gate has been open for more than three hours, a Quantum Monster will appear. But this time there was really nothing. So the scholars thought this was a good opportunity, and they conducted the next test."

Ai Yue finally saw the latest operation log. "'Operation Whaling'? Is this it?"

"Yes. They say it's used to capture those worlds floating in the Sea of Quantum."

Alvin nodded. "Dr. Michelle said that if this plan succeeds, we might be able to communicate with other civilizations and perhaps discover a way to fight the Honkai."

"The idea is quite good,"

Ai Yue shook his head and commented, "I just don't recommend thinking like that."

How could World Bubble be captured so easily? Even Ai Yue only managed to capture a collapsed World Bubble after venturing deep into the Sea of Quantum.

Before the World Bubble collapsed, even observing it was an extremely difficult task.

"Then they dispatched special machines into the Sea of Quantum to attempt to catch them."

Alvin scratched his head as he said this, "Dr. Michelle explained the principles of the fishing program to me, but I didn't quite understand it."

"It doesn't matter, I've already figured it out."

Ai Yue quickly glanced through the whaling plan, then nodded. "Using special energy frequencies to construct a 'fishing net,' filtering out the smaller parts, intercepting the larger objects, and then using a 'whaling gun' to anchor and drag them, thus fixing them near the Teleportation Gate... Is this some kind of fairy tale?"

At first glance, the plan seems to make sense, but Ai Yue knows very well that Quantum Monster and World Bubble are not the same thing at all. Even if this so-called fishing net can filter out Quantum Monster, it is absolutely impossible to find World Bubble, let alone the anchoring and dragging part.

Ultimately, these talented individuals have been researching the Sea of Quantum for less than six months, and they haven't even seen World Bubble.

After mentally grumbling for a moment, Ai Yue shook his head. "Forget it, that's not the point. What happens after the plan fails? Or did the plan itself cause an accident?"

"The fishing operation itself didn't cause anything unusual, but when the research equipment was being retrieved, the monitoring system seemed to detect something amiss and subsequently issued an alarm,"