Bab 216: It's worth a try
Taking advantage of the lingering effects of the lightning, Professor Gregory quickly began his calculations.
Shadow Ten brought out a low-end PC equipped with a 4090 graphics card, saying helplessly, "The conditions are mediocre, but it'll have to do."
The initial plan didn't include assisting Professor Gregory with research, so there were no preparations for it.
Even this computer was one Shadow Ten used for gaming in his spare time, and its performance was nowhere near that of a supercomputer.
Fortunately, Professor Gregory didn't need many functions.
Sitting at the computer, Professor Gregory posed a question, and Mike immediately provided the corresponding answer.
"Current abyssal energy concentration?"
"S+ level, expected to rise to SS level in 30 minutes."
"Magnetic field status?"
Mike used his shadow to form a pattern, which Professor Gregory glanced at before nodding and continuing his questions,
"Current number of demon god seeds?"
"..."
This question and answer session continued for several minutes until Shadow Eleven returned, at which point Professor Gregory ended his questions and fell into deep thought.
"Something's still not right. What's missing?"
Swiping back and forth on the touchscreen, Professor Gregory felt he was overlooking something.
"By the way, we also have demon creatures beneath us."
Mike realized that Professor Gregory hadn't asked about the ground, likely because he didn't know.
"The soil here blocks monitoring even better than the mist!"
The Eye of Truth could see things within hundred miles in the mist but only up to 500 yards below!
"There are demon creatures below, and a passage, but most of those demon creatures are in a dormant state and weren't born in the Suture Abyss..."
After explaining the underground situation to Professor Gregory, a light flashed in his eyes!
"I understand now, that's it!"
Mike felt like he could hear a detective-themed background music playing in his head.
Professor Gregory, please begin your performance!
"I've been wondering why the Suture Abyss, as an Abyssal Plane about to fully evolve, was misjudged as a small Abyssal Plane. Why are the Space Element restrictions so severe, and why must the spatial passage open at specific times?"
Professor Gregory adjusted his glasses and turned the computer screen to show everyone.
"Look, the complete shape of the Suture Abyss should be like this...."
On the computer screen, Professor Gregory had drawn a rough sketch.
It looked like two hands squeezing the ends of a book, causing the pages to bunch up and form an irregular tubular passage.
This book represented the current shape of the Suture Abyssal Plane.
Professor Gregory's explanation was met with unanimous approval from everyone present.
A red dot appeared on the simulation map, marking the location of Mike and the others, inside the passage.
Professor Gregory explained, "We're actually in the inner layer. The soil beneath us is the outer layer. The starry sky above us is fake. If we ignore all spatial restrictions and fly straight to the other side, we'll find the other side of the Suture Abyss!"
Shadow Ten, Shadow Eleven, and Mike looked at each other, somewhat understanding, and gradually felt more confident.
The three of them simultaneously exclaimed,
"So that's it!"
"I get it!"
"I understand too!"
Whether their brains understood or not, their mouths did.
Mike tried to clarify,
"So, there are two stitched-together plane segments, like a sandwich, with a gap in the middle, right?"
"That's one way to understand it."
Professor Gregory nodded,
"As the evolution process progresses, the gap will get smaller and eventually collapse, causing the two segments to fully merge, like this—"
Professor Gregory clapped his hands together.
Everyone understood his point: only ninth-tier Lords might survive this catastrophe!
"The good news is, at least we now understand the shape of the Suture Abyssal Plane, giving us time to consider countermeasures."
Professor Gregory maintained a positive attitude.
Knowing how you might die is better than dying without a clue.
Moreover, there's always a way out.
Once they reunited with the rescue team, they could continue finding a way to escape the Suture Abyss.
Shadow Ten voiced his question,
"Can't we reopen the plane passage to leave the Suture Abyssal Plane?"
"That's the tricky part."
Professor Gregory pointed to the red dot on the diagram,
"We're in the inner layer, separated by a segment. People outside have no idea where we are.
Opening a passage is like opening Pandora's box; no one knows what will happen. So we can only open it at specific times, randomly, like when you arrived. And there's a strict time limit once the passage is open."
The method from outside to inside was not feasible.
Shadow Ten asked again, "What about opening a passage from inside to outside?"
Professor Gregory nodded, "That's a possibility. Preliminary estimates suggest that a move like 8008's earlier, with ten times the power, might break through."
Mike spread his hands, helpless.
The earlier strike had a lot of luck involved.
It wasn't Mike's current true strength but more like the energy fluctuation of the Thunderclap Hammer.
Reproducing such a powerful attack was impossible, let alone at ten times the scale!
Hearing this, Shadow Ten became hopeful, "If that's the case, Maxen can do it!"
Wow—
Maxen is that strong?
"I haven't finished. It needs to be at a specific time and place, targeting the weakest point in the space to break through."
Professor Gregory tapped the computer screen,
"To achieve this, we need to kill as many demon god seeds as possible. Don't forget, we're only on one segment.
That means there are nine demon god seeds on the other segment!"
Everyone fell silent.
Clearly, escaping the Suture Abyss wasn't going to be easy.
Professor Gregory, with Mike's Eye of Truth, outlined a preliminary strategy:
Explore the abyss, purify demon creatures, kill demon god seeds.
Find the designated location, at the critical time, have Maxen open the spatial passage...
Any misstep in this plan would lead to failure.
From the shadow, Mike spoke slowly, "I have an idea. We should split up..."
After hearing Mike's plan, Shadow Eleven immediately shook his head,
"Too dangerous!"
According to Thor's plan, the risks for Thor would increase tenfold. A hundredfold!
Professor Gregory didn't respond immediately, hesitating.
Only Amari, familiar with Thor, nodded, "It's worth a try."
Amari looked at Professor Gregory and said seriously, "Though the time has been short, I've seen Thor's character and actions. I trust him. If he proposes this plan, he has a way to execute it."
Even with Amari's assurance, Professor Gregory was still hesitant.
"A potential Supreme Being, this is a serious matter..."
Amari persuaded again, "Professor Gregory, before we set out, Shadow Nine told me he trusts Thor.
Even if you don't trust me, you should trust Shadow Nine's judgment and the person he endorses!"
After hearing Shadow Ten's words, Gregory finally nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I'll trust Shadow Nine this time."