Beyond the Bloodline

Chapter 443: Testing the Variables

Richard smiled when he saw his younger sister’s expression, but that smile faded quickly as he remembered that things weren’t that simple.

"Hold on, Olivia," he said. "Don’t forget this also opens the door to a very real possibility of dead lifeforms with powers far more dangerous than our previous estimates existing."

"Huh?"

Olivia looked up at him with a light frown, about to ask "How?" when her mind instantly reached the answer without him needing to explain further.

"These creatures used corrupted magic power. Their inverse law comprehension also seems to progress through stages that mirror the standard Existence Realms, though with slight differences."

She paused, then added under her breath, "Not exactly..."

Richard only smiled wryly at her reaction and lightly shook his head, but Olivia ignored him and continued speaking as her thoughts quickened.

"So technically, that possibility exists as well, especially since the Dead Zone is made of pseudo-nonexistence, not true nothingness.

It’s only pseudo. Things can still exist inside it. That’s why Dead Life forms can exist in the first place.

The laws are broken down, cosmic rules are unstable, but for those rules to be unstable, they still have to exist in the first place, which means there’s cosmic energy involved."

She paused again, then gave a slight shrug.

"Well, we already know that anyway, since we kinda watched the Dead Zone come into existence."

"That we did," Richard agreed.

Olivia nodded, then refocused on the main thread.

"Anyway, let’s go with your idea that there’s asymmetry between the environmental conditions of our existences.

We progress through Existence Realms and eventually reach the limit of the Deity Realms, needing Cosmic Superiority to go beyond that.

This brings us back to a few of my earlier questions. Are there dead lifeforms capable of using cosmic energy, too? If there are, then do they possess varying levels of Cosmic Superiority? And how do they attain Cosmic Superiority? The same way we do, or do they have a completely different method?

If they’re inverse comprehending laws by Rank, what happens when they reach the end of Law Ranks? Are they unable to progress further unless they attain some form of Cosmic Superiority, or are there simply no dead lifeforms more powerful than that?"

Richard silently shook his head when she said that, but Olivia raised a finger to stop him from speaking as she continued.

"We’ve already seen them use magic power corrupted by pseudo-nonexistence, but what about cosmic energy?

Magic power is just the most malleable offshoot of cosmic energy, and they’ve been able to corrupt it. This means there’s a possibility that dead lifeforms can, through their broken laws, gain the ability to manipulate cosmic energy around them, cosmic energy attributed to pseudo-nonexistence."

When she said that, Richard slightly raised a brow. "Attributed? That sounds like you’re treating it like an element or a law. Pseudo-nonexistence isn’t any of those two."

"I’m just using words that fit for now," Olivia replied. "This isn’t a full analysis, just a rough outline of possibilities."

Richard lifted both hands slightly in mock surrender. "Well then, go on."

And go on, she did.

"As I was saying, if they gain the ability to use cosmic energy, and if they have a means to attain Cosmic Superiority, then it becomes entirely possible that they can do what a normal Cosmic Superior existence can do."

Placing a hand on her chest, Olivia said, "I can enter the Dead Zone and remain there for a thousand years because I can manipulate ambient cosmic energy to protect myself. I’m simply durable enough to resist contamination from the pseudo-nonexistence for that long."

She paused for a second, then added in a low voice, "So if there exists a dead lifeform with power at the same Existence Realm level as me..."

"There are already dead lifeforms like that," Richard cut in. "That dragon in the Prison Realm. The ones that Jamie and Miranda fought in that Universe Cluster, where the Extinction Legion was trying to fuse all the universes into one."

Olivia shook her head in disagreement when she heard the cases he listed.

"Those ones were originally normal existences and were given pseudo-nonexistence power by the Neo-Extinction Legion. They’re different. I’m talking about existences born as dead lifeforms, rising through whatever ranks of power they have and reaching my level."

If such dead lifeforms truly existed, then that would mean the Neo-Extinction Legion had been trying to weaponise pseudo-nonexistence for a much longer time than the Hybrids would like.

’We’re talking millions of years here...’ Richard thought.

"Richard?" Olivia called out, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"Were you listening to me?"

"Yes," Richard replied. "You were saying that if dead lifeforms with power at the level of the Cosmic Realms exist, then they could leave the Dead Zone for extended periods and survive outside without issue."

"So, you were listening," Olivia muttered, her eyes narrowing.

Richard just chuckled, descending to the floor as he spoke with a thoughtful expression.

"That also leaves one big flaw in our theory.

Cosmic energy is basically the poster child of overwhelming existence, the same force that overwrites pseudo-nonexistence. So, unless the cosmic energy they wield is fundamentally different from the cosmic energy that fills the Cosmos, there’s a contradiction there."

"But what if it isn’t any different?" Olivia asked back without hesitation.

"How so?"

"I just said it, didn’t I? Attribution.

These things grow by unmaking universal laws, comprehending how laws break down, deconstructing the structure of laws instead of understanding it, and absorbing the echoes left behind by the collapse of laws, the exact opposite of what we do.

But what if, just like we can imbue cosmic energy with the power of our universal laws, they can imbue that same cosmic energy with their...deconstructed laws?"

The certainty in Olivia’s voice faded toward the end as she wasn’t fully sure herself, but Richard understood the direction she was heading.

"If that’s possible, then it would make sense that a dead lifeform with Cosmic Realm power could survive in normal conditions for extended periods," he said, agreeing with her theory.

"In the end, these are all just theories we don’t have much proof to confirm at the moment," Olivia said with a sigh.

She then cracked her knuckles, the ambient cosmic energy concentration rising as she used her authority as the ruler of the pocket universe to increase the time dilation effect.

"Good thing we’ve got many specimens we can use to confirm these theories."

Richard flicked his fingers, and a pair of scalpels appeared in each hand. He tossed one to Olivia, and she caught it, pointing it at the giant that was slowly decomposing, then said,

"It’s experiment time."

◇　◇　◇

Olivia and Richard’s deduction session, where they uncovered more characteristics of the dead lifeforms, ended with them beginning a series of experiments along the same line to verify what they had deduced.

Olivia set aside some of the dead lifeforms she had captured in special chambers, then increased the time acceleration ratio within those chambers to the absolute limit she could manage so she could properly observe them and determine how much time each power level of the dead lifeforms required before their existences began weakening and then decomposing.

This information could prove vital during the ongoing war, giving them something they could use to weaken the dead lifeforms.

She also accounted for the fact that the dead lifeforms she was testing were all unconscious and not taking any active action to protect themselves. Because of that, she concluded that the amount of time conscious dead lifeforms, those actively fighting for their survival outside the Dead Zone, would need before they began weakening and their existence started breaking down would be much longer than the results she was currently getting.

Richard raised concerns that the energy consumption from combat would also affect how long they could survive outside the Dead Zone, and that too was added to the list of variable factors.

To test the first variable factor, Olivia temporarily left her pocket universe, returned to the battlefield outside, and boldly captured several dead lifeforms while they were attacking the forces of the Accord, before bringing them into her pocket universe, where she imprisoned them, this time without keeping them unconscious.

She left them in the special chambers within the pocket universe where time was accelerated to the extreme so she could observe how long it would take them to die.

There was absolutely no fear or concern about them potentially breaking out in her mind, since, aside from whether they could escape the prisons Olivia constructed with her Aspectual Authorities, even if they managed to break free, the surroundings were not the main universe but her pocket universe.

They would first need to somehow break out of the pocket universe itself before they could truly earn their freedom from captivity.

As such, it was safe to say that these captured dead lifeforms were doomed on all counts.

Some of them seemed to realise that, and perhaps out of loyalty to their masters, or some desire to prevent their weaknesses from being exposed, a good number of the conscious captives chose the high road and self-destructed.

Alas, aside from releasing a large amount of grey fog into Olivia’s pocket universe, they caused no real damage, and Olivia simply went back out and captured another set, tossing them into the containment chambers filled with the grey fog left behind by the previous set that had self-destructed.

While she waited to observe the conditions of those ones, Olivia continued cutting up the ones she had captured earlier to figure out any other details about their biology that she could.

"Maybe if I find something useful, I could create some kind of cosmic biological weapon that can target their genes, or reconstruct the deconstructed laws in their bodies?"

"..."

Richard would never admit that he felt a slight trace of fear at the smile his younger sister wore when she spoke about creating a cosmic biological weapon with such a terrifying effect, especially if its effects could potentially be reversed and used against normal existences.