Ian told his family his entire experience of this voyage. From his arrival in that world, being sealed, becoming the Magic Emperor, to the final life and death showdown with the "god" Eve.
Then, he also mentioned various encounters he had in the <KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!> universe.
During the narration, Pheobe and Hermione also joined the family reunion and shared their experiences. Later, Ian formally introduced Visha to the family. Others did not show any rejection of this new member of the family, but instead tried their best to make her feel comfortable and make her feel at home.
"It sounds like a really magnificent adventure," Luna commented, "Next time, I will definitely not miss this opportunity again."
"We now have three Floating City, and we will be able to build several more soon. So, from now on, anyone who wants to travel across borders can do so at any time." Ian said with a smile.
"You can't just change whatever you want like you did when you came back from the last expedition." Olivia warned.
"What happened?"
"Do you remember 'Death Cult'?" Luna asked.
"Those lackeys of Herpo?" Ian frowned, "I thought I had completely cleaned them up."
"You did clean it up, but under the secret control of Guznader, a new cult organization has penetrated into our border." Luna explained.
"They initially tried to seduce the Empire people with the promise of 'eternal life'. But because of the war, Empire increased the supply of 'Elixir of Life', and their strategy completely failed."
"So, they turned to 'power' as bait. The reason why many people betrayed Empire was because Guznader promised to make them 'holy mercenaries'."
As long as these people work hard for Guznader - such as providing him with information - they can obtain the Blessing given by the gods. These Blessing can not only enhance their soul strength and increase their magic power limit, but can even directly give them high-level magic knowledge. The power of the gods is omnipotent and is enough to achieve all of this.
"Is the situation very bad?" Ian's brows furrowed deeper.
"Ghost Squad, Prophecy divisions and the intelligence department have joined forces to control the situation, and it is still within control. However, it is simply impossible to completely conceal such a large-scale change of the Empire under the nose of Guznader."
"So, a big purge is needed?"
"If possible, yes." Luna nodded.
"But that's not the most fatal problem," Olivia added, "Since the outbreak of the war, 'Universal Web' has become an important tool for conveying information. You should be able to guess..."
"Our information has been leaked to the outside world." Ian rubbed his temples and felt a headache.
"That's right. So, if you don't want more top-secret information about the Empire to fall into the ears of those Tenth Tier old monsters at Central Star Region, you must solve this problem as soon as possible."
Ian was silent. For decades, he had been trying to decipher the underlying logic of Universal Web, but always found nothing. He couldn't even find a breakthrough, and was completely confused.
Everyone fell silent, waiting for him to think of countermeasures.
"Let's cheat." Ian suddenly said.
"What do you mean?" Rowena asked in confusion.
"We know nothing about Universal Web, and it would take too long to study it from scratch. So, we simply cheated and got the answer directly."
"You mean...Akashic Records?"
Ian nodded and no longer hesitated. He immediately communicated with Akashic Records in his mind and asked about the cost of obtaining relevant information about "Universal Web".
"Fuck!" Ian couldn't help but swear, completely losing his composure.
"Watch your words." Rowena scolded with a frown. However, when Ian shared the "price" of the information with her, the curse word almost escaped her mouth; she held it back simply because she didn't want to make the mistake she had just accused Ian of.
Ian showed this price to everyone - including Visha. However, Visha was a little confused about the meaning behind this information. Although Ian had previously given her relevant knowledge infusion to understand the current situation of the Empire, some top-secret information that was too core was not included in her learning module.
Therefore, Ian quickly condensed a part of his memory and transmitted it to her, allowing her to understand the current situation. After understanding the outrageous and exaggerated cost of this information, Visha also had the urge to scold her.
"Can we afford it?" Olivia asked.
"Morgana, calculate the cost."
"Yes, boss."
A few minutes later, Zhinaohui reported, "This requires consuming 80% of all our current knowledge reserves at the Empire."
Ian Now I just want to find someone to beat up. "Does that include the knowledge we just brought back?"
"Yes." Morgana replied, her calculations had already included these latest trophies. Ian let out a long sigh and fell into deep thought.
After a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and made a decision. "Change!"
"Are you sure? The price is too heavy." Rowena said with some reluctance, and others nodded in agreement.
"Because it's so expensive, I'm even more interested in knowing what it is. I just hope this information is worth the price tag."
Although everyone agreed with his decision, Ian could still see the expressions of pain on their faces. After all, in this world where knowledge is power, handing over such a huge reserve of knowledge was like cutting their flesh.
"Don't be so frustrated. There is a high probability that we can use the information we obtained to make back the lost capital with profits. Isn't this the original intention of establishing Empire? Use existing knowledge to create and plunder more knowledge."
"You are right. We must not lose Self and become those pedantic civilizations that only cherish themselves and hoard knowledge." Luna agreed.
After unifying their opinions, Ian no longer hesitated and decisively completed the transaction with Akashic Records.
He closed his eyes and began to quickly browse the huge amount of knowledge in his mind.
An hour later, he opened his eyes, with an extremely bright light Blink in his eyes.
"Magic Network... the origin of all magic." He murmured excitedly.
It turns out that in this universe, there is an invisible network that extends throughout the universe like biological blood vessels - this is Magic Network. It is the source of all magic. The magic leylines on all planets are connected to this energy network at the lowest level.
Ancient Wizard Race As a pure magic race, they are naturally able to connect to this network and draw almost infinite energy from it. Not only that, they also use this network as the ultimate medium to connect and communicate with the entire universe.
This is the original "Universal Web". After Ancient Wizard Race disappeared, the gods discovered this network and took over Universal Web, connecting everyone together.
"It's incredible. As long as you can access this network, it is equivalent to mastering nearly Infinity's energy." Ian murmured, crazily deducing the countless possibilities brought about by this information in his mind.
"What exactly is it? What did you find?" Rowena asked eagerly, and Ian immediately shared this information with everyone.
"Is this the origin of magic?" Hermione asked in shock.
"At least in our universe, yes."
"I think we can't conclude so hastily that this is the only source of magic." Visha suddenly said, causing everyone to turn their attention to her. But she did not feel stage fright.
"After all, magic is just one aspect of magic. So, what about another equally important thing - the soul? We now know where magic comes from, but what about the soul? Is it just an ordinary organ that all life is born with? Or is there a deeper mystery hidden behind it?"
"Visha is on to the point." Ian nodded approvingly, "I once made an inference: in some specific universes-especially those universes where magic does not exist at all-the soul and the so-called Soul Dimension simply do not exist. There, the so-called 'soul' is just an ideology produced after the brain of a creature evolves to a certain stage."
"Your inference is probably correct." Olivia echoed, "In the <Star Trek> universe, Empire once conducted in-depth research on the concept of soul and came to the same conclusion as you. Even the clone you created for me in that universe has no soul after being affected by the underlying laws of that universe."
"I really hope I can see that research report with my own eyes." Visha said with interest.
"Bringing the topic back." Hermione interrupted the chat, "What can we do with this Magic Network? Can we use this to block the Universal Web connection in Milky Way Galaxy?"
"Energy close to Infinity means resources close to Infinity." Ian's eyes flashed, "As for Universal Web... As long as you give me a little time, I can completely use Floating City and the brain room to create an absolute Signal Jammer."
"Not only that, I can also take this opportunity to let Morgana start reverse intrusion into Universal Web and steal intelligence for us."
"It seems that the price we paid is definitely worth it." Olivia commented, "However, before you can completely enter the in-depth research mode, there are still many mundane trivial matters that need to be dealt with by you."
"You're right. Let's have dinner with my parents tonight. I have to formally introduce Visha to them. After dinner, I will deal with these things."
"As for your return, do you plan to announce it now?"
"Let's talk about it based on the situation."
That night, Ian met his long-lost parents, had dinner with them, and solemnly introduced his new wife Visha. His mother was very happy about this, while his father secretly He Envy spoke sourly of his son's love, while his aunt shook her head helplessly to express disapproval, and his cousin Susan even bluntly complained about his playboy behavior to his face.