Zhao Chen was greatly startled.
Never in the world had he imagined that the Sacred Elf Empire had worked out such a technology long ago.
The depth of this technology could fairly be said to have reached the T7 grade already.
If it could be used as a weapon, that would be more remarkable still.
It was on the same level as Order's technology of the Pitch-Black Legion fleets that could revive again and again.
Take a dislike to some interstellar civilization, use this lockdown technology on it, and its technology would be trapped at that grade forever.
And at the same time, it could actually spare you Order's covetous eye.
The principle could not be explained, but being able to do this was indeed a marvelous ability.
"So you used this technology on yourselves? And it can't be undone?" Zhao Chen guessed the final outcome.
The Flame Elf Queen nodded and said in a deep voice, "Yes. At first a good many of the upper ranks argued over it. They say our Sacred Elf Empire's High Council held thirty sessions on it, one after another. It even brought down an Elf Sovereign of the war faction at the time outright. In private, some civil strife broke out too. In the end the faction for withdrawing from the world won the majority, because the long years of fighting Order had left many with nothing in their hearts but fear and confusion. Now such a good chance lay before them, telling them: you needn't fight Order, and you needn't fear destruction either. For them it was beyond doubt a lifeline. If anyone stood in their way then, they'd have torn every one of those obstructers to pieces without a moment's hesitation."
It was as though the scene of that civil strife already rose before Zhao Chen's eyes; it was easy to imagine.
Two ideas colliding, with long-pent-up rage besides.
Even an Elf Sovereign, even the family of an Elf Sovereign, would meet these extremists' revenge.
"How things went after that, you can probably guess. The High Council and the Elf Sovereigns of the time set this plan of withdrawing from the world in motion. From then on, every project within our Sacred Elf Empire's universe to do with developing T7 technology could no longer proceed normally, and never yielded anything again. At first a good many project teams and institutes still tried to break through, but long years of heavy investment brought not the least return. That led the High Council and the Elf Sovereigns to give up developing a T7 technological civilization bit by bit, to settle for things as they were, and to seek a T7 technological civilization no longer."
And so came the Sacred Elf Empire of now, a T6 technological civilization all along.
"Then the Devourer Civilization……"
The Flame Elf Queen went on, "The Devourer Civilization came later. Whether Order had meant to arrange it this way from the start, or had found us after we vanished, I don't know. Order raised up the Devourer Civilization, and then used the Devourer Civilization to attack and devour the interstellar universes around it. And our Halo of Shelter works only on Order, which is a spirit body. The Devourer Civilization can still find us and attack us. We've clashed a few times too. But I expect the Devourer Civilization realized that it had no ability at all to swallow us then, and at the same time we had no ability to wipe out the Devourer Civilization. Add to that our Sacred Elf Empire was already full of war-weariness, with opposition to war everywhere, let alone attacking other interstellar civilizations' universes ourselves. So the matter was shelved. After that, we watched helplessly as the interstellar civilizations' universes around us were devoured bit by bit by the Devourer Civilization, and the Devourer Civilization grew into what it is now."
Raising a tiger that would turn on you.
That was the phrase that came into Zhao Chen's head.
Had it been him, on finding such a potential enemy, he would certainly have wiped it out at once, at any cost.
But think of the Sacred Elf Empire's system, together with the war-weariness left over, and the hedonism.
They had made the Sacred Elf Empire no longer the mighty power it had once been, holding up the banner of peace and able to step into the affairs of other interstellar civilizations' universes.
"Then is there no way to switch off this Halo of Shelter?" Zhao Chen asked curiously.
The Flame Elf Queen shook her head and sighed. "In truth, over all these years, the war faction has always existed in the Sacred Elf Empire. And it's been looking for a way to switch off the Halo of Shelter too. But the Halo of Shelter seems…… impossible to switch off at all. Unless…… unless we destroy the World Tree that powers the Halo of Shelter. But for our Sacred Elf Empire, that's something that can never be allowed. Even we of the war faction won't allow such a thing to happen!"
Destroy the World Tree.
That truly was no small matter, above all for the elf race.
What was more, for the Sacred Elf Empire the World Tree was not merely a matter of faith; it stood for the Sacred Elf Empire's highest power.
The raw materials and energy the World Tree produced were a key part of what kept the Sacred Elf Empire strong.
Once the World Tree was gone, the Sacred Elf Empire would as good as cut off both its own arms.
So even the Flame Elf Queen would never do such a thing.
"Then…… if only the Sacred Elf Empire itself is restricted…… what about carrying out the research in other interstellar universes?" Zhao Chen thought of a way.
The Flame Elf Queen raised her head and looked at Zhao Chen.
There was no surprise in her eyes, but rather a steadiness.
"You've in fact had such arrangements for a long time?" Zhao Chen realized something, looking at the Flame Elf Queen.
So simple a way around the shackle of the Halo of Shelter: how could these high elves not have thought of it?
"Yes, it's a plan we carry out in secret. In truth the Elf Sovereigns all know of it, and the High Council tacitly allows it too. We have several institutes in other interstellar universes carrying out research on T7 technology. But carrying out research in someone else's interstellar universe, you can't spread your wings at all; add to that the supply of raw materials and everything else the research needs, and the research goes very, very slowly; it's hard to develop T7-grade technology in a short time," the Flame Elf Queen said with a helpless shrug.
Zhao Chen nodded; doing such research on someone else's ground was like making a person with hands and feet bound walk: hard and slow.
At this point Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes and looked the Flame Elf Queen up and down. "Telling me this now, you have plans of your own in mind as well, don't you?"
A gleam came into the Flame Elf Queen's eyes. "I can find a way to persuade the High Council to give you the interstellar-universe exploration technology you need; I can even share with you the rough coordinates and the files on those interstellar universes. But we'll want to cooperate on this too."
"You want to open up new territory too," Zhao Chen said with a light laugh.
The elf race, which called itself peaceful, actually thinking of expanding outward: it went wholly against their original ideals.
"You could say so, but we don't want those domains and lands; we only want a better environment for research, one that lets us develop better technology more easily and quickly," the Flame Elf Queen said.
Zhao Chen understood the Flame Elf Queen's thinking.
An interstellar institute under another interstellar civilization's rule would never in the end be as efficient as one under an ally's control, granted certain privileges.
"And at the same time, our two sides' technological research could deepen its cooperation in this too," the Flame Elf Queen said with a smile.
"Will your High Council agree?" Zhao Chen asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Those aren't all the Sacred Elf Empire's holdings," the Flame Elf Queen let drop.
It dawned on Zhao Chen.
"So the ones cooperating with me are your war faction, not those people." Zhao Chen looked at the Flame Elf Queen.
The Flame Elf Queen did not explain.
By now there was no need for much explaining; each knew very well what the other was after.
"Good. I agree. Whatever means I use to gain control of an interstellar universe, I'll give you a special zone; within the special zone your interstellar institutes will have the highest authority to carry out the relevant research. If needed, we can give some help too. And besides that, we can set up an interstellar institute where we work together," Zhao Chen promised.
The Flame Elf Queen nodded, satisfied, then said, "But to get those high elf council members to agree, and the Elf Sovereigns, you'll still need to toss them something sweet."
The Flame Elf Queen looked at Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen smiled slightly. "I'll provide you with part of the technology for the Supernova Ultimate Bomb."
"A pleasure doing business," the Flame Elf Queen said with a smile.
"A pleasure doing business." Zhao Chen nodded.
This meeting ended there.
Zhao Chen and the Flame Elf Queen each came away with something.
As for the final deal, the Flame Elf Queen asked for little, and Zhao Chen gave little:
only part of the technology for the Supernova Ultimate Bomb.
The Flame Elf Queen did not demand more, because she knew very well that what they were giving the Owl Dragon Emperor now was not yet enough to make the Owl Dragon Emperor lay out all the Supernova Ultimate Bomb's technology.
And Zhao Chen was easy about handing this part of the technology to the Sacred Elf Empire because he knew very well
that it would take the Sacred Elf Empire time to master this technology thoroughly,
and time too to put this technology to use in real battle.
And this was only one part of it.
For the Sacred Elf Empire's researchers to master it completely would take no less than several decades.
For these long-lived elves, a few decades were nothing.
But for Zhao Chen and the Owl Dragon Empire, a few decades were already a very generous span of time to win.
In those decades, Zhao Chen and the Owl Dragon Empire could do a great many things!