Welcome to Ability Store

Chapter 248 - 247: Secrets Hidden in History

"So, there’s been a deviation in the technological path?" Chen Xuan guessed. "The prosthetics in New Paris City aren’t purely mechanical either; they rely more on products created from strange objects."

"That makes sense, and perhaps it’s one of the impacts after the Holy Temple Treasure Vault was destroyed."

"Since the future has already changed, you can rest easy now." Chen Xuan wasn’t too concerned about the finer details. He looked at Elorie, "What do you plan to do next? Go back to Old Paris?"

Losing a house wasn’t a big problem since she didn’t belong here anyway.

Her initial reason for seeking a trade with the Ability Store was to prevent an apocalypse, which she seemed to have already achieved.

"I want to stay here for a while," Elorie thought for a moment, then said, "Is that okay?"

"Any reason?"

"Even though the future has changed, I don’t know exactly how. I want to investigate the key turning points and figure out how to avoid making the same mistakes again."

Ah, I see... it looks like she’s thought deeply about this. Chen Xuan reminded her, "Staying here shouldn’t be a big issue, but to be safe, I suggest you don’t contact the Angel Alliance— if that organization still exists."

"Oh, I can’t?"

"Yeah, do you remember the attack on the Louvre Palace?" Chen Xuan briefly explained his and Lin Qing’s speculations about the future. "We suspect that even if Angels disappear, Demons will still emerge. If we extend the timeline long enough, there will only be Demons left on Earth."

It was the first time Elorie had heard this theory, and she couldn’t help but be a little shocked. "The Angel Alliance will be controlled by Demons?"

"We can’t rule out that possibility, so it’s best to be cautious."

Compared to the past future, the current future has lost the matriarch Lucy. If Demons lurk in Second New Paris City, it’s not surprising that there might be Demons present in this bright and dazzling metropolis.

"Thank you for the reminder. I was indeed planning to contact the organizations in this world..." The Little Angel clicked her tongue. "But with what you’ve said, I’d better investigate on my own."

"Yeah, you still remember how to call me, right?"

"Think about complaining about the store?"

"Ahem... that’s just an easy example to think of." Chen Xuan corrected, "If you have wishes or need after-sales service, you can open the channel to connect with the store in this world."

"Okay, I understand." Elorie nodded obediently, "Thank you once again for saving this world."

Lin Qing and Chen Xuan returned inside the store.

"So, what do you think about the first question?" Lin Qing asked.

"Why does the branch exist?" Chen Xuan poured himself a cup of tea. "Maybe history has its inertia? Or perhaps the power of the Ability Store can escape the influence of space-time fluctuations?"

"It’s hard to verify either way."

"Exactly, which is why we don’t need to delve deeply into it. Just accept it."

Otherwise, just thinking about this question could drive one bald.

Lin Qing shrugged, "Alright, then the second question is... why did the Ancient Worm on the Moon lay low?"

"How did you know about that?" Chen Xuan was intrigued.

"Of course, by surfing the internet more." She replied as if it was obvious. "While you and Miss Elorie were looking at the future like country bumpkins entering the city, I was already connected to the public network, searched through over eighty thousand web pages, and looked up keywords like Demons, Ancient Worm on the Moon, and Angel Prophecy."

"Well, I never truly witnessed the future..." Chen Xuan was also intrigued, "What were the results?"

"The search results for Demons mostly aligned with Second New Paris City. Everyone believes that Angels and Demons disappeared together, and in the past thirty years, there’s been no record of Demons endangering society. Two vastly different worlds, yet public opinion is consistent. To say no one is guiding it would be suspicious."

Lin Qing paused before continuing, "As for the Ancient Worms and prophecy, there’s no information online. I don’t know whether the Angel Alliance considers that information top secret and hid it or deemed it debunked and discarded it."

"Debunked? That’s impossible, right?" Chen Xuan frowned. "Weren’t those worms truly on the Moon?"

"Yes, but the Angel Alliance publicized this too, so we should leave it as an open question for now."

He thought for a bit, acknowledging that the other party’s perspective wasn’t without merit. "Then let’s stick with the original theory. This question is indeed strange... If Lucy, the matriarch, stopped the Ancient Worms from destroying humanity, we actually didn’t change this outcome."

This mission only changed two things.

First, the Demons attacking the Holy Temple were wiped out.

Second, the Holy Temple Treasure Vault was not completely destroyed; at least the mountain still remained. If the Angel Alliance puts in more effort to dig through the ruins, they might still recover some strange objects.

"You forgot one," Lin Qing added, "N21 and N959 fell into our hands."

"Uh... do you think Liuli and the circuit board can cause such a storm?"

"Probably unrelated, but they shouldn’t be ignored either."

"Alright," Chen Xuan didn’t argue, "In any case, after Lucy, the matriarch, disappeared, there’s no reason for the Ancient Worms on the Moon not to launch crystals... Assuming Demons were truly acting under its orders, then their goal was evidently successful."

"Exactly." Lin Qing nodded seriously. "I set conditions for Lv and ran tens of thousands of simulations, the result..."

Chen Xuan put down his teacup, listening intently for the answer.

"The result was an error."

"Pfft." He almost spat out his tea. "No, seriously, I thought you already had a conclusion."

Lin Qing was also a bit exasperated. "Like I said, Lv is a combat AI, not suitable for scenario analysis lacking reliable intel."

"In simple terms, it requires imagination, right?" Chen Xuan stroked his chin, suddenly having a eureka moment. "Didn’t you previously think the Demons took a lot of strange objects before blowing up the Holy Temple Treasure Vault?"

"Yes, after all, they had already cleared out all resistance. Why not take it?" Lin Qing nodded. "The Angels collected and stored strange objects supposedly to prevent their misuse, but really to stop them from falling into Demons’ hands, right?"

Those with abilities naturally understood the worth of strange objects better.

"What if they also took away Lucy, the matriarch?" Chen Xuan suggested.

Lin Qing was taken aback.

"N5 is indeed large, almost the size of an aircraft fuselage. But with the number of Demons and mercenaries, that group had around seventy people. And if they could get armed helicopters, transporting helicopters shouldn’t be an issue either." He continued crafting his scenario. "In the end, the nuclear explosion deep in the treasure vault, which buried the mountain, actually only blew up an empty Holy Temple."

"If this was true, the culprit would be Lucy, the matriarch. We eliminated Lucy, the matriarch, thereby altering the future." At this point, Chen Xuan chuckled twice. "It’s a bit ridiculous, that what Angels protected was, in fact, the source of humanity’s destruction. However, it’s hard to imagine—"

"No, what you said makes a lot of sense!" Lin Qing interrupted suddenly. "Maybe that’s the correct answer!"

"Huh?" This time Chen Xuan was stunned.

"But Lucy, the matriarch, is not the source of destruction; it’s merely a component. The source still lies with the creature lurking on the Moon!" Her eyes shimmered quickly as if reviewing vast data. "We’ve always treated them as two separate entities, without considering their commonality as life forms."

"Commonality of... life?"

"It’s consumption," Lin Qing answered firmly. "Just like humans need to eat a lot to grow... perhaps it’s the same with them!"

Chen Xuan suddenly understood what she wanted to convey.

"You mean... blowing up the Holy Temple Treasure Vault was just a facade, and Demons’ real intent was to capture N5 and feed it to the Ancient Worms on the Moon?"

"That’s right, this explains why history underwent such a tremendous change! Because without Lucy, the matriarch, the Ancient Worms couldn’t grow to the point of deploying crystals to strike humanity from space!"