Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 1077 Dr. Kondratiev and Dr. Gear

Heavenly Kingdom Tifferit Outer Loop

The Geller Force Field of Heaven floats in the sky, a colossal ship that is a hybrid of temple and battlefield, quietly docked in the void.

The ship, which is 1,600 meters long, is like a Gothic city hanging upside down above the stars. The surface of the ship is covered with deep ridges and vertical grooves. The layers of flying arches and buttresses seem to have been peeled off from the religious relics of some lost civilization and then brutally embedded into the structure of the starship by some extremely cold-blooded geometric architect.

In the bridge, Xia Xiu stood before the main control console, his silver cane resting lightly on the side of the console. The towering arched dome projected simulated starscapes from within the ship, the starry sky slowly rotating, and countless streams of data pouring down from above like whispers of gods.

What rang in my ears was that familiar and calm Eden's voice:

[System initialization complete; self-check of shipboard core systems in progress.]

[Module 1: Subspace Barrier Interface - Running.]

[During testing: Geller force field stability... 89% → 93% → 100%.]

[Explanation: The ship's force field is currently in a fully enclosed mode.]

At this moment, the star projection at the very center of the bridge slowly rotated, and a ring of faint light spread around the entire outline of the ship, transforming into a pale blue hemisphere composed of invisible particles.

This is the special force field used for trans-space travel in the Kingdom of Heaven—the Geller force field.

It is also known as the reality bubble.

It is not a shield in the traditional sense, but a projective spacetime isolation mechanism.

Eden maps and projects the stable physical laws of the real universe onto the boundary layer of the ether, forcibly enveloping the entire ship in a closed physical island. This is like carving out a real stone island from a chaotic sea, making it impossible for anything not belonging to the laws of existence to set foot on it.

The Geller field isolates the demons and chaotic energy of the Etherian space, making interstellar travel possible.

[Module Two: Shipborne Armament Systems Linkage – Operating at Full Power.]

[Bridge fire control coordination: 42 automatic fire control nodes are in place.]

[Module 3: Divine Reforging Engine successfully synchronized; Prometheus Fighter Cabin - Unlocking in progress.]

As the system search progressed, a faint vibration came from deep within the ship's hull—the sound of the massive, enclosed dock at the stern slowly opening.

The Prometheus mech, located at the core of the ship and standing a hundred meters tall, was slowly illuminated by dim light.

At this moment, the genealogical terminal that appeared before Xia Xiu displayed hundreds of pages of high-density data scrolls before his eyes. The authorized signature on the documents was: [Eighth Seat - Key Analyst - 0-08]

-

【██Classified File - Operation Holy Ring - Code Name: Operation Dyson Sphere】

[Category: Supreme Divine Megastructure]

[Location coordinates: Andromeda constellation, ██████·Currently approximately 186.5 million light-years from Terra]

The Dyson sphere is a complete star-capturing system composed of divine-scale toroidal structures, approximately 15% smaller in volume than the Terra Source. However, the energy released by the core star of the Dyson sphere far exceeds that of the Terra Standard Star, emitting approximately 1.23 x 10^35 joules per 24 hours—equivalent to the total energy output of the Terra Source in one year.

All the energy of the giant Dyson sphere is collected by the "Heliospheric Array" and transferred to the fourth orbiting planet, codenamed Crystal Star, through gravitational channels.

[The dual crystal wall structure and the giant Dyson sphere are tidally locked, and it is currently impossible to explain how they maintain this equilibrium under the relationship between celestial mass and orbit.]

[It has now been confirmed as the remnant of a lost civilization. The planet's surface has been completely eroded and is in a T-Ω level infection state.]

Accompanying the text is a description of what exists on that dead planet:
[Named threat unit: Black Mold.]

[Morphology: A psychic spore-derived parasitic colony that can infect any intelligent individual with a cognitive structure.]

[Mechanism of action: Implanted into the host body through cytoplasmic infiltration or mental resonance, it controls the host's physiological functions, severs motor and volitional mechanisms, but retains higher-order cognitive activity.]

This type of bacterial colony can freely combine organic and inorganic atomic structures, and is not limited by element type. It has been widely used in the reconstruction of crystal spore surfaces to form irregular but highly responsive neural landscapes.

This unit has now infiltrated the remaining components of the Ophiuchus protocol project.

[Relevant Subject: BC (Dr. Kondratiev) has currently escaped to the periphery of the Dyson Sphere and has a complex history of interaction with the civilization on the megastructure. His objective is to recover or control the Ophiuchus components that it has already constructed.]

[Note: In the old data, Armand Katcharian currently has full control and was one of the earliest deployers of the program; he is currently under temporary recall.]

-

Xia Xiu turned his gaze away from the file and looked out the porthole. The bubble of reality, cut out by the Geller force field, rippled quietly in the starlight, and in the distance was the endless sea of ​​light projected by the sacred constructs of the Belial layer.

He turned to look at the old devil standing beside him, his tone calm yet inquiring: "What kind of person is Benjamin Kondrati?"

Amund did not answer immediately.

He simply leaned against the edge of the bridge, his hands clasped together, the metal nameplate reflecting a pale silver light in the shadows, revealing an expression that was almost reminiscent of the past.

"You're asking about him?" He chuckled softly. "He's certainly an interesting character."

He raised his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through the Geller force field, looking into the depths of some distant timeline.

"He has a rough personality and speaks concisely. Like me, he scoffs at the ethics committee's practices. Unlike other PhDs at other sites, he never wears a white coat, always saying, 'Wearing that thing will make you stupid.' But he really doesn't need that thing, and no one can deny his abilities."

“He is a researcher, photographer and scientist at Station 17. And you know, very few people at the station can handle such a complex cross-disciplinary role. But he did it.”

Amund paused, his eyes growing deep. "And he never received any formal education in this field—neither optics nor theoretical engineering; everything he did was self-taught."

"You might think he's a genius... but no, he's a madman."

Xia Xiu raised an eyebrow slightly, while Amond continued speaking:

"He was extremely cold to people."

Five years have passed, and I've been working at the station so long that I can't even remember the names of a single colleague.

It wasn't because of arrogance—he just didn't care.

The ethics committee conducted three personality assessments on him, and the final conclusions were consistent: he was an individual with extreme disorderly tendencies, difficult to manage, and had a weak sense of discipline...

However, they also noted: 'High-value individuals should not be easily removed from the register or disposed of.'

"Because it's so easy to use."

“He’s the kind of person who can still solve 99% of the problems even if the whole world hates him.” Armand’s voice lowered. “Our generation of decision-makers… all tacitly accepted this. As long as he’s still willing to work for the Kingdom of Heaven, even if you know what he’s doing, you’ll turn a blind eye.”

"While incredibly talented, he is also highly controversial. His excessive freedom and transgressive experimental behavior force us to view him as a valuable yet dangerous asset."

"Moreover, he always appears at crucial moments, almost never absent. Even though he himself says it's just a coincidence that he happens to be passing by, we all know it can't be just a coincidence."

“He used to be part of my team. I liked him a lot because he supported weaponizing anomalous entities for practical purposes, and he did just that. He led the development of 33 weapons that utilize anomalous project resources. Although he claimed his motivation was simply to apply his research findings to real-world applications, it's more likely that he gets bored easily.” “Oh, right,” Armand suddenly seemed to remember something, turning to look at Xia Xiu, a meaningful glint in his eyes, “He has an ability that's very similar to yours.”

Xia Xiu raised an eyebrow, turned around, and asked with a hint of curiosity, "What ability?"

The old devil raised his hand and lightly tapped the porthole frame, his knuckles producing a crisp metallic sound. He answered slowly and deliberately:

"He conquered an anomalous group, a group of anomalous beings called the Illusion Butterflies."

Xia Xiu turned his head to the side, revealing a hint of barely perceptible interest, while Amond's tone gradually lowered.

“A group of seemingly ordinary lepidopteran creatures, resembling zebra butterflies in appearance. But they are not individual beings, but rather a collective consciousness, somewhat like the hive mind… They always operate as a ‘whole’. When still, they can perfectly mimic the colors, textures, and light and shadow of their surroundings, even if you stare at them, you cannot see them.”

"Disguised as if it were nothing?" Xia Xiu asked softly.

“That’s right.” Armand nodded. “But what’s even more interesting is their defense mechanism. When threatened, they transform into ‘illusions’ of aggressive creatures to scare away their enemies—an extreme form of biomimicry. Some people have seen phantoms of lion prides, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and even…immortal lizards.”

A hint of surprise flashed in Xia Xiu's eyes: "The Undying Lizard?"

“Of course, it’s not the original, just a copy of the image. But the problem is,” Armand lowered his voice, “that these illusions are not simply visual deceptions. They carry a certain psychological pressure and can even briefly disrupt the observer’s perception of reality. At first, we thought it was just the instinctive imitation of lower organisms, but we were wrong.”

He raised his hand, lightly tapping his temple with his index finger: "The illusion butterflies can understand language and respond to questions. We tested their thought structure using visual transcoding and found that they can actively change their own patterns to spell words and sentences—letters, sentences, emotional expressions, everything. Ultimately, their collective intelligence test score was... 109, slightly higher than the human average."

Xia Xiu then asked the crucial question: "A single individual?"

Armand shook his head: "It's the result obtained after grouping. In other words, the intelligence of each small group decreases after the group is split."

“Typical characteristics of a honeycomb intelligent system,” Xia Xiu added in a low voice.

"Yes. The problem is that nobody can establish stable communication with them—until Kondratiev."

The old demon king said to Xia Xiu:

"He was the first person to talk to them, and even persuaded them to accompany him back to Site 17. After that, I gave special approval to Kondrati to weaponize those butterflies."

So, a large number of butterflies followed him, and only a small portion remained in heaven. Those butterflies that survived are said to still be deeply attached to Kondrati.

Xia Xiu listened quietly, his brows furrowing slightly, a hint of undisguised regret flashing in his eyes. He let out a soft breath and said in a low voice:
"Such a colleague actually chose to join Chaos... Armand, what exactly did you do to him back then?"

The old demon king's expression remained unchanged, as if he had expected Xia Xiu to ask this question long ago, and his tone was as indifferent as ever.

"At that time, a true miracle was born among the thirteen vampire clans, a vampire who awakened the blood of the true progenitor. Eden and the Council of Resolutions were alarmed and dispatched the First Swordholder, Saint Valentine, to capture him alive."

He paused for a moment, seemingly weighing his words.

“We tried many methods, but none of them could kill him. If Heaven were to take him in, it would have to use its precious swordsmen to suppress him, which would be too costly for us.”

"Moreover, even if containment is completed, the blessings of the True Ancestor's blood will still spread in the bloodlines of the thirteen clans, constantly nurturing those vermin to awaken higher levels of bloodline power."

"Therefore, we must execute him as soon as possible."

Amund paused, his tone almost cold and indifferent, "And I, I handed over the task of execution to Kondrati."

Xia Xiu was silent for a moment before speaking, "...You mean you want him to use the power of chaos?"

“I told him to go all out,” Armand admitted without hesitation. “Even if it requires the assistance of Chaos, this task must be completed. We cannot risk letting that being live; the cleansing must be done, even at a great cost.”

The bridge fell into a brief silence.

Xia Xiu did not speak immediately. His gaze was fixed on Amund's eyes, a gaze so clear that it seemed to pierce through the other's silence.

He knew that the old devil in front of him had not told the whole truth.

“You didn’t tell me everything,” he said calmly.

Amund didn't evade the question, only smiling slightly, as if acknowledging it. Xia Xiu didn't press him further, but instead turned to look at the other side of the bridge, asking in a low voice:
"Then, what about Dr. Gear?"

Upon hearing this name, Armand's tone truly became more serious.

He straightened his posture slightly and answered slowly:
"He is the other extreme."

The old demon king paused for a moment, as if retrieving a long-forgotten file from his mind.

“His full name is Charles Giles,” he said slowly. “Charles Giles has an unusually low level of emotional reaction, is frighteningly calm, and doesn’t even react to shock. He’s like a rational machine that has lost its emotional modules, so we call him Dr. Gear.”

"He was a containment expert from the former Tactical Theology Department."

Armand's voice echoed across the bridge, calm and slow, like retrieving a dusty archive from the deep sea.

"Later, his research expanded, crossing departmental barriers and getting involved in countless projects. The number of unusual projects he was involved in was astonishing, and the range of types was even more... astonishing."

He spoke with a rare air of respect.

“To be honest,” he turned to look at Xia Xiu, his tone unusually tinged with a hint of confusion, “he is fully qualified to be a member of the resolution assembly—whether it was our class or yours now, he could do it if he wanted to.”

Xia Xiu didn't speak, but raised his eyebrows slightly, clearly surprised by the evaluation.

As if he had anticipated his reaction, Amond smiled slightly and continued:

"Interestingly, his personal file was classified at a very high level. Although some of the content has been erased from my memory, one note about him has been preserved."

Do you know when he joined the Kingdom of Heaven?

Xia Xiu simply spread his hands. How would he know such a thing? Although he was a reserve decision-maker, there were still many internal documents of Eden that he could not access.

The Demon King stopped teasing and said casually:

"He was recruited shortly after the founding of the Kingdom of Heaven."

A glint of light flashed in Xia Xiu's eyes.

The Kingdom of Heaven was founded not long ago, so it must know a lot about the truth of the Kingdom of Heaven...

Armand, however, readily added:

"Like Mu... he has lived for at least a thousand years."

“He still looks young. He experienced the earliest containment wars and may even have participated in Eden’s initial commissioning work.”

He paused for a moment before continuing:
"To be honest, in front of him, we exes are nothing more than... juniors."

"However, like Mu, he was willing to obey the orders of the resolution assembly and serve the Kingdom of Heaven and humanity."

(End of this chapter)