Chapter 553: Simulation Universe: Gold and Machines (1)

This time is not like the original Cosmic Locust Disaster; besides Hei Ta, Luosi Gumu, Ruan Mei, and Stephen will be present, which in a sense amounts to a gathering of four geniuses.

In front of the simulation universe interface, Xing completed the connection at Hei Ta's request. The next second, all perception was abruptly ripped away—she fell into a void of darkness. However, the silence did not last long, and Hei Ta's image swiftly materialized in the empty darkness.

"Yo, a gathering of geniuses? That's it?" Hei Ta twitched his nose. "Everyone always has their own calculations; trying to do something together is really hard, and in the end we have to rely on the simulation universe— I mean, when will we get an audience with the Sage of Knowledge? Honestly, I'm not expecting to reconstruct His massive brain; I just want to see Him once."

"Wait, Stephen hasn't connected yet," Ruan Mei appeared in the darkness.

"Can I see him now?"

"If you wait like this, he won't show up; I know that little brat," Hei Ta sighed. "You have to intimidate him! Stephen Loeid, can you hear me? Come out and meet Xing, for the simulation universe—don't be afraid, Ruan Mei and Luosi Gumu aren't here."

The words indeed worked; before long, a sneaky figure appeared…

"……"

Stephen's image wasn't a real person but a virtual avatar; upon close inspection, it even had a beard stuck on.

"Why does he have a beard?"

"He doesn't want anyone to know he's a little brat," Hei Ta waved his hand. "He's still a genius little brat! Don't be scared, Stephen, social anxiety is a disease; you'll have to treat it sooner or later."

His virtual beard twitched. He anxiously brushed the buckle of his suspenders with his finger—yet when he looked up and met Xing's eyes, he was so frightened he hid behind Hei Ta.

Xing cautiously raised a hand to greet him.

His virtual avatar nodded, as if responding to Xing's salute.

——

Story series.

"Little brat? That's how Hei Ta calls him, right? If he didn't even have a beard… hmm, by human standards, wouldn't that make him look only a teen or in his twenties?"

On a summer afternoon, lazy sunlight streamed through the window lattice into A Liangliangmu Li's room; Ren Ye Ren had just finished a donut and was idly licking the frosting on his hand.

A Liangliangmu Li looked at Stephen trembling behind Hei Ta, nodded, and said, "Possible. But Ren, you have no right to call others a little brat, okay?"

Although already six hundred years old, in the absence of sufficient blood, the blond vampire before him remained in a childlike form, and saying "little brat" through her mouth felt rather awkward.

"Moreover, true geniuses can't be measured by ordinary standards, right? I've heard some geniuses earn PhDs in their teens and attempt to solve century-old problems. This one not only gets an audience with the Sage of Knowledge, but is ranked #84, just one spot behind Ms. Hei Ta... Xiao Ren, do you know what that means?"

"What?" Ren Ye Ren tilted his head.

A Liangliangmu Li extended a finger and said, "After Ms. Hei Ta, he's the universe's number one genius."

——

"Next time we meet, I'll try to get Stephen to shed his disguise," Hei Ta cleared his throat. "Luosi, are you there?"

"I never left," Luosi Gumu's voice echoed in the darkness. "Miss Xing, I will guard and escort you. Many thanks, my academic partners. Through this study of the Sage of Knowledge, I hope to trace the origins of several mechanical monarchs in history and examine the birth of inorganic life. Conclusion: the journey of the simulation universe begins this very second."

"And inorganic life you don't understand?"

"Of course," Luosi Gumu said. "The Interstellar Peace Company has been on guard against inorganic life since the two Emperor Wars; I've been dedicated to maintaining the bridge between machines and humans—up to today."

"No one is unaware of Luosi's great achievements," Hei Ta praised without reservation. "Alright, that'll be the meeting ceremony. It's getting late; we should set off, Xing. But I must remind you, unlike Taizi Yuluos, every genius here has had an audience with the Sage of Knowledge, so we know—"

"We know this journey will be extremely difficult," Ruan Mei continued, saying coldly, "Because every step we take will… enter His 【Calculation】."

——

Battle of the Twin Cities.

"Everything… is within His calculation?"

Inside a laboratory of Piiertewofu, Victor coughed violently. His gaunt shoulders trembled intensely, and he eventually had to brace himself on the workbench to stay upright. In the palm he spread, a glaring scarlet hue made his pupils contract slightly.

Time was running out.

Scattered on the table were test remnants of the latest batch of Hex cores; they were supposed to be more stable and powerful, enough to support grander blueprints—such as completely overhauling the lower district's wastewater purification system, or creating prosthetics that could replace limbs and perfectly integrate with nerves. Yet in reality, each one collapsed at peak energy, turning into a heap of useless, even hazardous waste.

And now, as Miss Ruan Mei's cold voice echoed in the sky, Victor's already despondent mood plunged even deeper.

An unprecedented sense of helplessness seized him.

All the truths of the universe have already been exhausted by the Sage of Knowledge's calculations; so what do his current struggles, all his failures, the negligible experimental progress earned by burning his life amount to? The answers he has desperately sought but cannot obtain—might they already lie quietly within the Sage of Knowledge's vast, boundless repository, indifferently awaiting a tiny mortal who will never be able to reach Him to extract them?

That thought brings not hope but a near‑desperate suffocation. He knows that with his talent he cannot catch the Sage of Knowledge's glance, and yet a person's intellect can never be obtained through "effort" alone.

——

"Xing's eyelids twitched a few times, then slowly opened."

The glaring golden light made her instinctively squint. The noisy chatter surged into her ears like a tide, carrying Huixiang, as if separated by a watery curtain.

She realized she was standing in an astonishingly spacious hall. The towering dome projected holographic images, displaying various star charts and data streams she couldn't comprehend. People in formal attire of diverse races streamed past her.

"What is this…?"

A brief wave of dizziness hit her; Xing rubbed her head and realized she had somehow switched into a standard job‑seeker outfit, holding a thin résumé and a pamphlet that had somehow been slipped into her arms.

"Interstellar Peace Company's recruitment site," the Hei Ta imp said softly behind her. "It's the early Interstellar Peace Company, roughly a few hundred Amber Eras ago. The company originated over 770 Amber Eras ago, when founders Louis Fleming and Dongfang the Liyue the Liyue Qixing announced the reorganization of the support team and founded the Interstellar Peace Company. You're now at the company's job fair; you must make a choice."