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Many years after the "Creator" left Earth, in the Atlantis Empire, Anunnaki Special Zone.
Inside the city's teleportation array, a pair of handsome men and women emerged.
One was wearing an Atlantean-style long dress, and the other was wearing a similar-style long robe. Both appeared to be around twenty years old, with delicate and beautiful faces.
The woman was named Evangeline, inheriting her mother's golden hair and jewel-like eyes.
The man was named Richard, inheriting his mother's brown hair and his father's beautiful black eyes.
Stepping out of the teleportation array, he said, "My mother said this is a very nice city."
Evangeline nodded slowly, glancing at the two small suns in the sky: "The temperature is just right, neither cold nor hot."
The Anunnaki Special Zone is not on Earth but on a planet outside the Milky Way, in a stable binary star system.
The two stars are of different sizes, with the smaller star orbiting the larger one. Anunnaki Star is a planet orbiting the smaller star. The two suns in the sky are the smaller star and the larger star.
Because the larger star is farther away, it looks about the same size as the smaller star.
Although it's very, very far from the solar system, it's connected by a convenient teleportation array. Even ordinary people can travel from the solar system to here in just a few minutes.
And because it's warm like spring all year round, many people have settled here, forming a sizable city.
Evangeline and Richard, siblings who came out to travel, first sat down at a roadside drink shop, each ordering a drink, listening to people chatting, and sometimes joining in.
This was the way their father, the Emperor, taught them to obtain information about a city before their departure: listen more, look more, ask more.
Currently, more than thirty planets belong to the territory of the Atlantis Kingdom, which is already a vast interstellar empire.
And Evangeline and Richard, at the suggestion of their parents, began to travel. This is their first stop, and their goal is to travel to every planet in the empire.
Soon they heard about some very nice scenery on this planet, and the "Global Railway Line" here is famous throughout Atlantis.
But this planet seemed to be just an ordinary tourist city, with nothing particularly special.
The two finished their drinks and strolled casually down the street.
Evangeline, looking at the Atlantean-style buildings around, said, "Why did the two mothers want us to choose this as our first stop?"
"I'm also considering this question," Richard scratched his head. "If only my mother suggested it, there must be unique scenery here.
"But it's unusual that Mother Audrey, who doesn't often visit the cosmos, also made this suggestion."
Normally, Richard would call Fors "Empress," and the other Empress "Mother Audrey." Evangeline also called Fors "Mother Fors."
However, if they were outside and not attending official events, they would only call them "Mother."
Evangeline was also very aware that her mothers must have hinted at something, so she tried hard to find something different on the street.
But it was similar to Angers. There was bound to be an "Elven-style" restaurant on the street, as well as an Atlantean-style clothing store run by Loen people, an appliance store opened by Feysac people, a bar opened by Feynapotter people, and hotels and romantic restaurants opened by Intis people. There was also bound to be a snack street in the city.
If it weren't for the two suns in the sky, they wouldn't have felt like they had left Earth at all.
After searching half the street, Evangeline said impatiently, "Forget it, let's stop searching. Let's go see what's fun here first."
Richard smiled and said, "I agree."
So, both of them looked at the arcade not far away.
There was an arcade in the palace that belonged to them. Sometimes, their father, the Emperor, would even play a game with them.
Originally, they thought arcades were quite boring, until one day, they saw the lively scene in an arcade on the street in Angers and realized what arcades were really like.
But in Angel City, everyone knew them, and they were always accompanied by butlers or servants, so they didn't dare to enter the arcade.
But it was different here. Here, they were not a princess and a prince, but two ordinary tourists.
However, after entering the arcade, they quickly came out because Richard accidentally crushed the pool table into two halves while playing pool with a teenager.
Only then did they realize that the toys in the arcade in the palace had been reinforced.
So, after Evangeline paid the compensation, she quickly took her brother away amidst the surprised gazes of the people.
The two smiled helplessly and decided to just play something else. After trying some local delicacies, they prepared to embark on a global tour.
At first, they planned to take the global train, but then they thought it would be boring to stay in the carriage for so long, so they bought tents and other equipment, planning to hike around the world along the railway.
The siblings were born angels, so they didn't have to worry about food and drink, and beasts couldn't pose a threat to them. Anyway, they had plenty of time now and could travel around the world at a leisurely pace.
Even if they didn't want to walk halfway, they could use Beyonder abilities to return to this city.
The siblings set off excitedly. Although they tried to slow down, they still walked more than fifty kilometers in an hour!
Here, they could already see some indigenous villages. When they were studying history, they learned about the "Interstellar Colonization Act" promulgated by their father, the Emperor.
The act clearly stipulated that if there were intelligent life forms on the planet to be colonized, all the colonized land should be traded with the local natives reasonably and compliantly.
Unless the other party actively attacked, it was not allowed to kill the natives at will. They all had basic human rights and enjoyed the basic right to life.
At the same time, there were also regulations on the colonization process. First, an exploration team composed of Beyonders would determine whether the place had colonial value and was suitable for human habitation. If it only had colonial value but was not suitable for human survival, they would have to pray to the "Creator" to transform the place into an environment suitable for both humans and local natives.
If it were other gods, it might still be necessary to make certain trade-offs to accomplish this, but the "Creator" had no such worries at all.
Even if the air on a certain planet was poisonous or even had no atmosphere, people could still survive on this planet as they did on Earth.
After solving the environmental problem, the vanguard would also communicate with the natives and explain the principles of Atlantean colonization to them.
Only then would officials who "understood" the language of the planet move in, trade land with the natives, and build colonial cities.
Finally, the planet would be systematically incorporated into the rule of Atlantis. After long-term observation, the officials would form a report clarifying the main role of the planet.
For example, several planets had discovered oil or oil-like minerals. Currently, the Atlantis Academy of Sciences was developing high-power aerospace engines, and the manned aircraft project would soon be realized.
Next was the question of how to develop it. Generally, the local natives did not have the corresponding development technology. In such cases, they would still trade with them, help them with infrastructure construction, and then acquire local resources.
This would not only allow them to obtain resources but also dump excess domestic capacity.
Some civilizations had quite high levels of technology, and some were even developing outer space.
For such civilizations, those who dealt with them were basically Beyonders, who would sell them teleportation arrays, Beyonder potions, Beyonder treatments, etc., and obtain advanced technologies from them to effectively supplement and reference Atlantean technology.
Of course, because of different customs and different beliefs, some conflicts would inevitably occur.
At this time, it was the turn of the angels and Sequence 3s of Atlantis to appear. They would show the natives their magical abilities, and basically the natives would regard them as new gods.
This not only solved the problem but also allowed high-sequence Beyonders to obtain a certain number of anchors.
Anunnaki was similar to other planets. The natives here got along fairly well with the Atlanteans, so there was no need to worry about being attacked by the natives.
The siblings walked as they pleased, stopping to admire the nice scenery around them, and sometimes leaving the railway line to visit the mountains and lakes.
And so, they traveled, stopping and playing for four days. Both siblings were quite happy, as this kind of travel was unrestrained, allowing them to experience the taste of freedom.
On the morning of the fifth day of their journey, they set off as usual, bathed in sunlight.
They had only walked for a short while when they encountered a large train station!
The "Global Railway Line" of this planet also had stations along the way. The main reason for setting up these stations was to conduct some trade with the local natives.
Before Atlantis developed this place, the planet's technological level was not high, but this planet had many scarce minerals for Earthlings, such as gold, silver, and rare earth elements. It wasn't that they were everywhere, but almost every river had a large amount of gold dust, and silver mines could be found by simply digging a pit.
Therefore, Atlantis used industrial products to trade with the locals for gold and silver. For a time, Atlantis achieved "gold freedom."
The empire's currency was almost afraid to be tied to precious metals anymore and was preparing to be tied to the annual power generation.
However, the train stations that traded with the natives were generally small, but the station in front of them was very large.
Another strange reason was that there was no one in the station.
Why were there no staff members at such a large station built here?
Obviously, this station was the kind with confidential purposes. Most trains did not stop here at all, only a certain train with a confidential level would stop here.
Behind the station, there was also a flat road leading into the deep mountains.
The siblings became curious and walked along the road towards the deep mountains.
Both sides of the road were lined with trees characteristic of this planet, shielding both sides tightly. Walking on this road gave one the illusion that this world only had this one road.
Suddenly, a man in a white robe, barefoot, ran out of the forest. When that person saw the siblings, he first showed a surprised expression, then rushed towards them with some joy, making "Ah, ah, ee, ee" sounds.
Immediately afterward, several people in Atlantis uniforms chased up from behind and pressed the white-robed man to the ground, arresting him.
The siblings did not take action because they did not know what was going on.
The man pressed on the ground still only made "Ah, ah, ee, ee" sounds, sounding quite happy, until he was kicked hard, and then he began to whine.
The leader of the uniformed men saw that the man in the white robe was arrested before asking Evangeline and Richard, "Who are you?"
Evangeline smiled and said, "We are tourists."
The leader carefully examined the two before saying, "Don't go any further."
After speaking, they left with the white-robed man.
After they had gone far away, the siblings looked at each other, and both saw excitement in each other's eyes.
Evangeline asked, "Did you notice? Their badges are the badges of the Institute of Biological Research!"
The younger brother, Richard, nodded repeatedly: "I also noticed that there is a Beyonder among them!"
As far as they knew, as long as a research unit was equipped with Beyonder, it was basically carrying out a national-level key research project.
Without further discussion, the siblings hid their backpacks in the forest, and then used their Beyonder abilities to avoid the main road and came to a nearby mountain to look around.
On the other side of the mountain, they indeed saw a not-small complex of buildings.
In the forest, a large factory-like building was surrounded by a high wall. Inside were seven or eight buildings, large and small, as well as a tall water tower.
The siblings glanced at the tall buildings, and after confirming with their spirituality that there were no Angel-level Beyonder here, they once again used their Beyonder abilities to appear on the top floor of the building.
Next, Richard, the "Duke of Entropy," would use his abilities to continuously "distort" the sight of the people around him, causing the people here to ignore them.
So the two swaggered into the largest building. Before entering, they noticed that the building simply had the words "Sixth Research Institute" written on it, without a specific name.
This was also a bit abnormal, because the names of Atlantis research institutes generally included place names or the names of research projects, but this research institute did not have such information.
The siblings became even more curious, and they came to the building, looking everywhere for clues as to what was being researched here.
They did not intend to find a researcher to "interrogate," feeling that they could definitely find the truth on their own.
First, they found large rooms on the first floor, and those rooms were filled with men and women in white robes. They were clearly adults, but they were playing on slides and swings in the rooms. It was obvious that they were having a great time, often making childlike laughter.
It's just that they didn't seem to be able to speak, only saying "Ah, ah, ee, ee" while gesturing.
The two came to the second floor, which was for slightly younger men and women, also wearing white robes.
All the way up, they saw teenagers, children, and infants.
Finally, on the top floor, they saw embryos being cultivated in glass bottles with various tubes inserted.
The siblings looked at each other, still not understanding what kind of experiment was being conducted here.
But it was certain that human experiments were being carried out.
As far as they knew, human experiments were strictly prohibited.
At this time, they saw researchers taking a man in a white robe away from the first floor and sending him to a two-story building with almost no windows, and the walls were even reinforced with metal.
The siblings immediately followed in. They saw the researchers tying up the white-robed man with iron chains, and then a Beyonder took out a sealed artifact with very serious negative effects.
Under the effect of the negative effects, the white-robed man became emotionally unstable and began to yell hysterically, not far from madness.
At this time, the Beyonder put away the sealed artifact and poured a small bottle of medicine into the white-robed man. The surrounding researchers were carefully recording the white-robed man's reaction.
One or two minutes later, the white-robed man's emotions obviously improved. After letting him rest for a while, the second round of experiments began.
The white-robed man was still affected by the sealed artifact, but this time the effect lasted longer. The white-robed man's eyes were bloodshot, his teeth and nails grew rapidly, and small snakes seemed to be swimming quickly under his skin. There were obvious signs of turning into a monster.
Only then did they put away the sealed artifact and pour another bottle of red potion into the white-robed man.
This time, after a full ten minutes, the white-robed man miraculously recovered. Although he still looked painful, the signs of turning into a monster disappeared.
The researchers applauded together, celebrating the results of this experiment.
The white-robed man was taken to a separate room, obviously to continue to observe and continue to experiment.
The siblings looked at the white-robed man who was tortured to the point of almost losing consciousness. The two looked at each other. Their tacit understanding from childhood did not require discussion. Richard "distorted" the thinking of the guards who escorted the white-robed man away, causing them to send the white-robed man outside the building.
Evangeline solemnly said: "Rescuing is prohibited here."
"Information exchange with the outside world is prohibited here."
At the same time, Richard had "distorted" all the men and women in white robes in the previous building to the yard and prepared to send them away.
Wahhh Wahhh Wahhh—
At this time, a muffled alarm sounded suddenly in the research institute. This sound was like a magic spell that slowed down everyone's movements, including the siblings Evangeline and Richard.
At this time, they also understood that the Beyonder layout here was more advanced than they thought.
In the next second, not far from them, a hazy door opened, and the Sanguine Duke Olmer came out of the door. He was about to attack the intruders, but suddenly recognized them: "Your Highnesses, why are you here?"
Evangeline's speech rate also slowed down: "Uncle Olmer, we are touring this planet."
They often saw Olmer when they went to grandma's house to play, so they were more familiar with him.
Olmer looked at the surrounding situation and probably understood what was going on: "Nonsense!"
While speaking, he took out a switch made of "Order Crystal", and turned off the alarm first, otherwise angels would keep coming to support.
Under Olmer's command, after driving those white-robed men and women back, he invited the two "bear children" to his office.
Evangeline and Richard also knew that even angels had come forward, so the research here must be very important. Therefore, they obediently followed behind, without speaking or asking questions.
It wasn't until they sat down in the reception area of Olmer's office, and the secretary had served tea and left, that Evangeline suppressed the surrounding sounds, preventing them from reaching outside the office: "Uncle Olmer, is the Empire secretly conducting human experiments here?"
Olmer glanced at the siblings and said, "Yes!"
The siblings were both a little surprised. Evangeline said, "But, but..."
Olmer raised his hand: "Before explaining the research here, let me tell you something.
"Although you were born as angels, you must also know that each advancement for Beyonders is very dangerous, right?"
The siblings nodded, something they had heard since they were young.
Olmer continued, "In the past few decades, we have compiled statistics. Knowing the 'Acting Method' as a basis, the risks of advancing to Sequence 9, Sequence 8, and Sequence 7 are not significant.
"The success rate is about 98%. Of course, this statistic must exclude those Beyonders who have been injured or mentally corrupted and cannot advance normally.
"The probability of successfully advancing from Sequence 7 to Sequence 6 is 90%, and the success probability of advancing from Sequence 6 to Sequence 5 is 78%.
"This is the probability under the circumstances of having organizational support, knowing the 'Acting Method', and being able to consult advancement experiences and 'acting' experiences.
"And it's just the probability of successful advancement. The deterioration of the state after advancement, or the inability to continue advancement for other reasons, are not included.
"It is said that the probability of wild Beyonders advancing from Sequence 7 to Sequence 6 is less than 60%. Many Beyonders who have not digested the potion have completed the advancement process, and their probability of losing control is also very high."
The siblings roughly understood that this place must be a place to study the madness and distortion of Beyonders.
Olmer continued, "Even below the level of a demigod, Beyonders behave very uncontrollably, so His Majesty the Emperor specially ordered the establishment of this research institute.
"And using the cloning technology traded from Cevas Planet..."
Richard suddenly asked upon hearing this, "Cloning technology?"
This was a word he had never heard before.
"Yes." Olmer explained, "This is the name given to the technology by His Majesty the Emperor, meaning it can reproduce asexually and create life artificially."
He continued the previous topic: "After our Sanguine modified this technology, it has undergone fundamental changes compared to the original technology.
"First of all, if we need it, an embryo can grow into an adult in three seconds.
"But because the demand for test subjects is not that great, we basically rely on instruments for cultivation. Even so, it only takes three months from an embryo to an adult.
"Another change is that we prayed for the help of the 'Creator' and 'changed' the process of life's birth. The test subjects you see only have a virtual consciousness in their bodies, not a consciousness in the sense of life.
"It is said that this virtual consciousness was jointly developed by His Majesty the Emperor and Emperor Roselle. They also gave it a strange name, called 'Calculation System'.
"Because these consciousnesses are not formed naturally, they only give normal physiological reactions and basically do not think about self and worldview. Moreover, after the main body dies, the 'Calculation System' will disappear by itself without producing any spiritual bodies.
"So we all believe that these test subjects are not life in the general sense."
The siblings both understood why the white-robed man they met on the road was surprised and then delighted when he saw them, and why he was still happy after being caught, because in his opinion, it was just a game.
At the same time, they also understood Olmer's meaning. These test subjects were not life in the general sense, so these experiments did not violate the laws of the Empire.
Immediately afterward, Evangeline asked, "What exactly are you researching here?"
"There are currently two major research projects." Olmer told the truth: "One project is to use test subjects to find methods to suppress loss of control with drugs, or even cure loss of control.
"According to our research, a normal human body has a spiritual circulation system that tends to be balanced in a normal state and can operate on its own. Ordinary people also have this.
"The Beyonder characteristics contained in the potions taken by Beyonders will break this balance and cause temporary instability.
"If the advanced person uses meditation and other methods to return to a normal state, this spiritual circulation will also recover.
"But if this spiritual circulation is unstable for a long time, signs of loss of control will appear. This is also the internal theory of loss of control that we have researched.
"So, based on this, we have developed many drugs that can restore the spirituality to normal within a certain period, which can effectively slow down the time and degree of loss of control.
"In conjunction with meditation and other methods, even if there are signs of loss of control, it can be restored to a stable state within a certain period.
"This is now an essential drug for official Beyonders of the Atlantis Empire, but it can only delay the signs of loss of control. In the end, the problem of poor condition must be completely solved by digesting the potion.
"In addition, due to injuries or mental corruption, this drug is only suitable for first aid.
"We are now researching drugs that can effectively treat the loss of control process after it has already begun.
"Currently, we have a general idea. In addition to restoring the normal circulation of spirituality, we also need to treat the damage to the spirit and body in order to achieve the purpose of terminating or delaying loss of control."
Richard asked incredulously, "Are you saying that we are about to overcome loss of control?"
"No, it just means that we have certain means and are trying to treat loss of control as a disease." Olmer sighed and said, "In addition, these drugs have miraculous effects on low-sequence Beyonders, and the effects are also good for Sequence 7 and Sequence 6 Beyonders.
"For Sequence 5 patients, the effect is very limited, and Sequence 4 and above will not have any effect. Fortunately, at this level, you can find angels to help in a short time.
"So we have another research direction."
Olmer's expression gradually became serious: "The second research direction is: to find a method for basically controlling Beyonder characteristics."
The siblings realized that this was a process similar to searching for extraordinary pathways and exploring potion formulas in the First and Second Epochs.
Evangeline quickly asked, "Are there any results yet?"
"The current results are very limited." Olmer said helplessly, "Our main idea now is to make the Beyonder's spirit stronger through drugs and training in order to deal with extraordinary power.
"You should have also heard about this. Since last year, His Majesty the Emperor has required official Beyonders to strengthen their mental training and hold exchange meetings from time to time to exchange 'acting' experiences.
"We have not found a very good way to directly deal with the distortion and madness of Beyonder characteristics, and we don't even have a feasible idea."
The siblings fell into silence. Only now did they truly realize the distorted side of the extraordinary.
Evangeline said, "I understand why the two mothers recommended that we take this place as the first stop of our travels. They hope we can understand that the Empire is built on the foundation of the extraordinary, and the extraordinary has such great uncontrollability."
Richard nodded, indicating that he had similar thoughts.
Then he asked, "Can we find a way to completely control the extraordinary?"
"Originally, I also felt that the hope was slim." Olmer smiled and said, "But His Majesty the Emperor said that we have time. If we can't find a way in a hundred years, then we will take a thousand years. If that doesn't work, we will take ten thousand years. We will always find a practical idea.
"Just having a feasible idea can also make you a person who will be forever remembered by the extraordinary world."
Richard and Evangeline looked at each other: The story of the old man moving mountains.
Evangeline looked at the teacup in front of her: "I hope that day will come sooner."
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