After returning to Prime Universe, Ian was surprised to find that although he had been tossing around in the <Rick and Morty> universe for a whole week, only a few hours had passed on the Empire's side. So, after confirming that everything in his family was fine, he threw himself into work non-stop.
There are only two weeks left before the convening of "Bones Council". In this limited time, he must thoroughly understand and master all the black technologies of Citadel of Ricks Fortress.
Although in terms of technology research and development, Ian does not have the natural intuition of those geniuses who specialize in this field, but with his almost demonic IQ and the assistance of Time Acceleration Chamber, he still analyzed Citadel's technology tree in a very short period of time to a level that is sufficient for perfect reproduction and iterative upgrades.
Subsequently, he spent another three days on preliminary preparations. Finally, Ian officially launched the super Citadel that had returned from the parallel universe. Several core members of the Imperial Family and the elite troops of Time-Space Aurors accompanied him to witness this moment.
From today on, this Citadel will be officially included in the military establishment of the Empire, so they must become familiar with its operating mode as soon as possible and seamlessly integrate it into the existing defense system of the Empire.
The startup process was extremely smooth, at least on the surface. Ian keenly sensed a slight vibration at the bottom of the space, but this fluctuation was so weak that most people were unaware of it.
"How is the feedback on various data?" Ian asked.
"All indicators are normal." Mulatu Aminhui reported. This Arcanist from Ethiopian Region is the current supreme commander of the Empire Time-Space Aurors.
As early as Old Era, he showed a unique and keen perception of time. Unfortunately, his talent could not be used in that backward era. It was not until the rise of the Arcane Empire that he finally ushered in his own stage.
After being identified as Empire's rare genius with the potential to control Time Magic, Ian devoted all Empire resources to him. Rigorous cultivation. And Mulatu did not live up to this trust and fulfilled his talent perfectly. Then, Ian gave him the important task of guarding the absolute safety of the Empire timeline.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, we have successfully built an absolute high space wall outside the main timeline of the Empire."
Looking at the invisible barrier, Mulatu breathed a long sigh of relief. He felt that his future work pressure would definitely be reduced a hundred times. Ordinary people could not imagine how much those overfed guys liked to repeatedly jump around the timeline and try to tamper with history.
Moreover, the number of [Time-Turner] currently scattered among the people by the Empire far exceeds the number disclosed to the public by the former Ministry of Magic; not to mention those Awakened Ones who were born with the talent of Time Magic.
These guys are often unwilling to accept formal training from the Empire, but like to conduct some dangerous and taboo experiments in secret, which may collapse the fragile space-time continuity at any time.
In addition, Time-Space Aurors also has an important responsibility - to prevent monsters from [Blank Domain] and other parallel timelines from invading the main timeline of the Empire.
Before encountering the variant of Ian, they rarely encountered such cross-dimensional invasions. However, in the vast Blank Domain, there are countless terrifying monsters wandering, and they are keen to hunt wildly between different timelines.
"This wall won't affect the normal access of your agents, right?" Ian confirmed.
"No impact at all."
"What about the security protocol? How to ensure there are no loopholes?"
"We have completely upgraded the security identification system. This wall will closely monitor every microscopic particle trying to enter or exit our timeline."
"Well done. However, from now on, the number of field agents sent to Multiverse to perform tasks will be reduced to a minimum."
In view of the current delicate high-dimensional situation, Ian would like to immediately cancel all cross-dimensional exploration missions. However, the behemoth Empire is extremely hungry for massive resources to maintain operation, and Dark Multiverse will soon become their core resource blood bank.
Although Mulatu was surprised when he heard this unusual order, he wisely did not ask more questions. As one of the few people with the highest security level at the Empire, he knew very well that if Empire did not take the initiative to explain the reason to him, it meant that the confidentiality level of this matter was far beyond his authority.
Top secrets of this level often involve Imperial Family's deepest taboos, and his extremely high political literacy clearly warned him: Don't ask anything you shouldn't ask.
Ian continues to focus on analyzing the massive data fed back by Citadel. With the support of these precious data, his understanding of the underlying logic of Space-Time Law and Multiverse will definitely usher in a terrifying leap. Unfortunately, now is not the time to retreat and engage in scientific research.
He left Citadel and returned to the top-secret laboratory alone. He closed his eyes, and after waiting patiently for several hours, his consciousness struggled to break through some kind of obstacle.
Soon, he was in that pure white mysterious space again, and the petite figure was already standing in front of him.
"Klonai."
"Our time is limited," Klonai's voice revealed a cold sense of reason, "Long story short."
"I have used high-dimensional technology to build an absolutely high physical wall around my timeline. Can this effectively solve my current crisis?"
"No. This method can only barely buy you an extra ten years of buffer period at most."
"Only ten years?!"
"The Guardianss are closely monitoring the movements of the entire Multiverse all the time. For them, a timeline that is destroyed normally due to internal friction is not worth a second glance; however, a huge timeline actually It is very abnormal to disappear out of thin air without any warning. Therefore, once my cover method for you fails and they start searching for you Wrath throughout the universe, they will easily be able to detect this 'lost timeline' that you have deliberately hidden."
Ian frowned deeply. "Then what if I decisively pack up the entire Empire and completely move it to other dimensions?"
Klonai fell into a brief silence. This was actually the result she least wanted to see. For Ian and Arcane Empire, she had devoted too much effort and bets crazily.
She was originally very optimistic about the potential of the Empire, but after seeing that Ian was able to create such terrifying black technology as "Timeline Physical Isolation Wall", her expectations reached its peak.
She was keenly aware that the potential of this technology was far from being fully exploited! Even Ancient Magekind, which was in its heyday, had not mastered this technology!
Back then, Magekind did have the perverted old monster Eleventh Tier, who could easily use magic to forcibly hide one or even multiple timelines, but they definitely did not systematically develop universal technology or magic arrays that could do this!
Compared with Ancient Magekind, Arcane Empire has a core and fatal advantage - [Absolute Inclusivity]! Arcane Empire can perfectly and smoothly Fusion and absorb all heretical things, whether it is outrageous black technology, countless different extraordinary power systems, or complex races, bloodlines and civilizations!
But Ancient Magekind is taking a domineering and extreme path [Absolute Assimilation]. They arrogantly forcibly assimilate and twist everything in the universe into their own bloodline and magic of Magekind!
Because of this, Klonai sees great hope in the Arcane Empire - a terrifying hope that can surpass the peak glory of Ancient Magekind!
"The method you mentioned... may work." Klonai finally made the difficult decision to tell the truth.
"Is it possible?"
"Every life I create has a unique life mark or Soul Imprint. I record all the data of these marks at the bottom layer, and the Guardianss have the highest authority to access these records. If you forcibly relocate to other planes, they can find you by tracking these marks."
"However, in other planes, they are just very powerful Tenth Tier gods, and it may be slightly easier to deal with them. Moreover, you also know the incompatible relationship between the major planes, and they may not have the courage to take the risk of provoking Plane War to forcibly chase you across borders."
"Maybe it was like this before, but after I exposed the black technology of this Citadel, the situation is different." Ian added. These Guardianss all dream of becoming the real No. 1 Eleventh Tier, so they will definitely covet his Citadel and these technologies that can subvert the universe like mad dogs.
"It's possible."
"Can't you completely erase or hide my soul mark in the underlying records?"
"That is a serious violation of the highest rules of the universe. To say the least, even if I risk the backlash of the law to help you erase your personal imprint, what about the imprints of tens of billions of citizens of yours Empire?"
"That's true." Ian nodded, "What if Guardians's access to these records is cut off from the source?"
"I have concluded an extremely ancient ancient contract with them. Unless they voluntarily give up or are deprived of Guardians's priesthood, it is impossible for me to unilaterally tear up the contract and forcibly weaken their Authority in order to protect you."
After saying these words, more chains of laws appeared on Klonai's body. This time, even the naked eyes of ordinary people could clearly see the terrifying pressure emanating from those chains.
"Thank you for telling me this without reservation." Ian said quickly.
He was very grateful that Klonai did not hide the truth from him for his own benefit. At the same time, he also clearly saw the huge risks and the backlash of the law that the other party took in order to reveal these secrets.
"That's all I can tell you at the moment. You will not be able to have any contact with me for a long time in the future. But remember, as long as you can find Sage Clan, you can definitely find the ultimate answer to completely solve these Guardians."
Ian opened his eyes suddenly and exhaled a heavy breath.
'This problem is far more difficult than I originally thought.'
From the bottom of his heart, he is unwilling to take the entire Empire and flee to other dimensions like a lost dog. First of all, this is his base camp. He has countless unique advantages here, the most important of which is the secret protection of Klonai, Planar Will.
Ian can completely predict that once these home field advantages are lost, the difficulty for the Empire to fight his way back to the top of the Astral Realm in other unfamiliar and hostile planes will definitely increase exponentially.
'Besides, why should I hide from these high-ranking gods like a mouse? They are the ones who should be afraid and run away!'
A fierce light flashed in his silver eyes. He would never compromise with these Guardianss just to clear out the bullshit charges of a so-called "time criminal". No, when he has accumulated enough information and background, he will let these so-called Guardianss understand who is the real hunter under the starry sky!
Ian strode out of the laboratory and began to make final preparations for the upcoming "Bones Council".