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Chapter 248 Secrets Hidden in History
"So there's a deviation in the technological approach?" Chen Xuan guessed. "The prosthetics in New Paris aren't purely mechanical, are they? They rely more on products made from strange artifacts."

"That makes sense. Perhaps this is one of the consequences of the destruction of the Temple Treasury."

“Now that the future has changed, you can rest easy.” Chen Xuan wasn’t too concerned about these minor details. He looked at Elori and asked, “What are you planning to do next? Go back to old Paris?”

The house is gone, which isn't a big problem, since she doesn't belong here anyway.

Her initial intention in seeking out the ability shop was to prevent the apocalypse, and she has now clearly succeeded.

“I’d like to stay here for a while,” Elori said after a moment’s thought. “Is that alright?”

"What's the reason?"

"Although the future has changed, I don't know how it changed. Where is the key turning point, and how can we avoid repeating the same mistakes... I want to find out the answers to these questions."

I see… It seems she’s thought this through quite deeply. Chen Xuan reminded her, “Staying here isn’t a big problem, but just to be on the safe side, I suggest you don’t contact the Angel Alliance—if that organization still exists.”

"Hey, can't I?"

"Yes, do you remember the attack on the Louvre?" Chen Xuan briefly recounted his and Lin Qing's speculations about the future. "We suspect that even if angels disappear, demons will still be born. If we extend the timeframe enough, demons will be the only superpowered beings left on Earth."

This was the first time Elori had heard of such a theory, and she couldn't help but appear somewhat shocked. "The Angel Alliance can be controlled by demons?"

"This possibility cannot be ruled out, so it's best to be cautious."

Compared to the past, both the present and future have lost their mother, Lucy. If demons lurk in the Second New Paris, it is not surprising that demons also exist in this glamorous metropolis.

“Thank you for reminding me. I was indeed planning to contact the organization in this world…” the little angel clicked his tongue. “If that’s the case, then I think it’s better if I investigate alone.”

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

"Are you thinking about filing a complaint against the store?"

"Ahem... This is just an easy example to think of," Chen Xuan corrected. "If you have any requests in your heart, or want after-sales service, you can open a channel connecting to the store in this world."

“Okay, I understand.” Elori nodded obediently. “Thank you again for saving this world.”

Lin Qing and Chen Xuan returned to the store.

"So what are your thoughts on the first question?" Lin Qing asked.

"Why do branch stores exist?" Chen Xuan poured himself a cup of tea. "Perhaps history has its own inertia? Or is it that the power of the ability store can escape the influence of spacetime fluctuations?"

"Neither of them is easy to verify."

"That's right, so there's no need for us to delve into it further; we can just accept it."

Otherwise, just thinking about this problem would make you go bald.

Lin Qing shrugged. "Okay, the second question is... why did the ancient worms on the moon go quiet?"

"How did you know?" Chen Xuanqi asked.

“Of course, I’ll spend more time online,” she said matter-of-factly. “While you and Miss Elori were looking at the future like country bumpkins in the city, I had already connected to the public network and searched more than 80,000 web pages, with the keywords being demons, lunar worms, and angelic prophecies.”

"Well, I've never truly witnessed the future..." Chen Xuan also became interested, "And what was the result?"

"The results of the investigation into the demons are basically consistent with those of the second New Paris. Everyone believes that the angels and demons have disappeared together, and no record of demons harming society has been found in the past thirty years. Two completely different worlds, yet public opinion is basically the same. It would be quite suspicious if no one had guided it."

Lin Qing paused for a moment, then continued, "As for the ancient worms and the prophecy, there is no information about them online. I don't know if the Angel Alliance has kept this information as top secret or discarded it as if it has been proven false."

"Disproven? Impossible, right?" Chen Xuan frowned. "Don't those bugs really exist on the moon?" "Yes, but this was also something the Angel Alliance promoted, so let's leave it at that."

He thought about it for a moment and felt that the other party's thinking was reasonable. "Then let's stick to the original statement for now. This issue is indeed a bit strange... If it is said that Mother Lucy prevented the lunar worms from destroying humanity, then we have not actually changed the outcome."

They only changed two things in this operation.

First, the demons who attacked the temple were wiped out.

Secondly, the Temple Treasury wasn't completely destroyed; at least the mountain peak still exists. If the Angel Alliance puts in more effort to excavate the ruins, they should still be able to salvage some artifacts.

“One item is still missing,” Lin Qing added. “The N21 and N959 have fallen into our hands.”

"Uh... do you think glass and circuit boards can cause such a big stir?"

"They should be irrelevant to them, but they shouldn't be ignored either."

“Alright,” Chen Xuan did not refute, “In short, after the mother Lucy disappeared, there was no reason for the lunar ancient worm not to launch crystals… Assuming that the demon was indeed acting under its command, then their goal was obviously successful.”

“That’s exactly right.” Lin Qing nodded seriously. “I set conditions for Little Green and had it perform tens of thousands of simulations, and the result was…”

Chen Xuan put down his teacup and listened attentively to the answer.

"Result is incorrect."

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

Lin Qing also said helplessly, "I told you, Xiao Lü is a combat AI and is not suitable for analyzing situations where reliable intelligence is lacking."

"Simply put, it requires imagination, right?" Chen Xuan stroked his chin, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Didn't you previously think that the demons stole quite a few rare items before destroying the temple's treasury?"

“Well, they’ve already wiped out all resistance anyway, so why not take it?” Lin Qing nodded. “Angels collect and store artifacts, supposedly to prevent them from being misused, but really it’s to prevent them from falling into the hands of demons.”

Those with ability naturally understand the value of rare items.

"What if they take the mother, Lucy, with them too?" Chen Xuan said.

Lin Qing was stunned.

“N5 is indeed very large, almost the size of a passenger plane, but the demons are numerous and powerful, with about sixty or seventy of them including mercenaries. And if they can get their hands on armed helicopters, then transport helicopters shouldn’t be a problem either.” He continued to fabricate, “In the end, the nuclear bomb exploded deep inside the vault, collapsing the mountain along with it, but in reality, it only destroyed an empty temple.”

"Of course, if that's really the case, then the culprit becomes Mother Lucy. We eliminate Mother Lucy, thus changing the future." Chen Xuan chuckled twice at this point. "It is indeed a bit outrageous. Something so heavily protected by angels is actually the source of humanity's destruction; it just doesn't seem very plausible—"

"No, you're absolutely right!" Lin Qing suddenly interrupted him. "Maybe this is the correct answer!"

"Huh?" This time it was Chen Xuan's turn to be stunned.

“However, the mother Lucy is not the root of the destruction; she is merely a component. The source is still that monster that dwells on the moon!” Her eyes flashed rapidly, as if she were reviewing a large amount of data. “We have always treated them as two separate anomalies, without considering their commonalities as life.”

"The commonalities of life?"

"It's about eating," Lin Qing answered decisively. "Just like humans need to eat a lot of food to grow... it's probably the same for them!"

Chen Xuan suddenly understood what she wanted to say.

"You mean... the destruction of the Temple's treasury was just a ruse, and the demon's real intention was to steal N5 and feed it to the lunar worms?"

"That's right, this explains why history changed so drastically! Because without the mother Lucy, the ancient insects couldn't have grown to the point where they could launch crystals and attack humanity from space!"

(End of this chapter)