Chapter 901: Simulated Universe·Unknowable Realm (7)

The first is energy, drinking deeply the river of imaginary numbers, hoping to forge endless gold. You see the badge of the Technical Research Department; the interstellar energy war is still not over.

The second is life, attempting to splice genes, grasp the pulse, yearning to find the most suitable body for wisdom to dwell. Its pupils are made of metal, its wings carved from wood, and its chest throbs with a heartbeat like thunder.

The third is unification, building nests from particles, energy as branches, hatching the Grand Unification Equation from attendant eggs, interpreting the decomposition and recombination of all things.

The fourth is called the future, like a butterfly and also like ripples, seeking to divine an answer, interpreting whether the universe is deterministic or chaotic, until the future can be perfectly predicted.

These are the four sufficiently great cosmic problems; after they were posed, thunderous applause brought down the curtain on this feast.

Rupert II, who once swept across the cosmos, has all his might in their hands. Even the most obscure scholar, after the meeting, eagerly plans the use of the scepter, even if they never in their lifetime saw the true form of the inheritance.

It seems everyone has forgotten a fact—that this wisdom does not belong to any organic life present.

"We are like a pack of hyenas, gnawing on the leftovers they left behind, yet feeling smugly pleased." Patiweiya lowered her head helplessly; Xing heard her bitter sigh.

——

Harry Potter.

"Perfectly predicting the future?!" Ron opened his mouth, "Isn't this the Divination Bureau of the Celestial Vessel? The Ten Directions Light Seal Dharma Realm of the Jade Hall Celestial Vessel just perfectly answers this problem, right?"

Thinking of Professor Trelawney always wanting to find the Divination Bureau's future-divining technology from the sky canopy, Ron felt like laughing; even if he obtained perfect divination technology, applying it in practice would also require external devices like the Exhaustive Observation Array and the Ten Directions Light Seal Dharma Realm. But these are completely beyond what Hogwarts can build.

"Indeed, the Luofu Celestial Vessel has perfectly solved the problem of 'predicting the future.' I reckon the Erudite Society has been coming to the Celestial Vessel to seek the Divination Bureau for 'academic exchange' after all, right?" Hermione nodded, her fingers unconsciously rolling a corner of a page, "But I've always been curious: does the Celestial Vessel's divination technology prove the universe is 'deterministic'? If the future can truly be perfectly predicted, does free will still exist?"

"You have too many questions." Ron pursed his lips, "If I may say, of course it exists; if human free will didn't exist, then if the divination predicted the Celestial Vessel's destruction ending, we might as well just wait for doom."

Moreover, have you noticed that the second of these four problems has actually been answered by the Celestial Vessel?

Life?

"Yes, but more precisely, it was answered by the Abundance Folk who oppose the Celestial Vessel."

"That's why the Erudite Society has always wanted to study them." Hermione's eyes flashed with a hint of realization, "If we let the Erudite Society study the 【Red Moon】, this problem would likely be solved soon. The Strider People enslave myriad worlds in the universe; their bodies are the greatest mystery. I always feel…… the Erudite Society will in the future research a hybrid of humans and 'Strider People'—retaining human thought but possessing the Strider People's flesh and external adaptability. But if they truly succeed, would such a person be considered an Abundance Folk or not?"

——

"One percent of a scepter will rival a fleet; one-tenth of a scepter will annihilate stars; one scepter will surpass cognition; one thousand scepters will encompass the cosmos."

"Deconstructing cognition, reversing decay, stretching space, creating planets—stories about the scepter are mixed with too much exaggeration and fantasy, but facts show that the vast majority of spectators' fabrications cannot even approach the fringe of genius creations. Such technology, however, has previously been used solely for simple slaughter."

"Your project review has been approved."

"Looking at the pop-up message on the panel, Patiweiya shifted her gaze to Xing; before applying for the scepter quota, she hoped to get some reference from this old classmate. However, she herself had no clue about the society's evaluation criteria."

"If you could obtain all the imperial inheritance, what would you do?"

"Become the king of the universe." Xing pursed his lips, counter-asking, "And you?"

"Let's first figure out that strange signal before saying anything." Patiweiya's answer mixed with hesitation.

Xing logged into the scepter quota application interface; subjects and items were measured by value. Based on it, she would obtain eligibility to share the scepter's computational residue.

"Please enter the queryable project number; according to Article 21 of the Scepter Management Committee's regulations, we will allocate the computational power you can dispose of."

"8674-Border Star's crop cultivation."

"Query completed, project value under approval." The system prompt's tone softened; based on the theory of the Perfect Evolution School, giving listeners the best amplitude of favorability, "Approval completed, your quota is one ten-thousandth of computational power usage; may you find truth on the Path of Wisdom."

——

A certain scientific super electromagnetic cannon.

"One-tenth of a scepter can annihilate stars......"

Misaka Mikoto stared agape; although when she saw that mechanical entity the size of a planet appear in outer space, she had speculated about the possibility of using such an artificial celestial body as a weapon, but this power......

"Simply put, one thousand scepters...... as long as Emperor II moves a finger, he can easily destroy an entire star system." Touma Kamijou said gravely, "As a killing weapon, the scepter's lethality is top-notch. But as a weapon killing organic life, that is probably not the scepter's most fundamental use...... Since it imitates the Venerable Erudite's way of thinking, Rupert II's purpose is self-evident."

"So why would Nanuke let loose such a cosmos-sweeping madman?" Misaka Mikoto truly couldn't understand, "Rupert II's 【destruction】 efficiency is far higher than Phantom's, right? Phantom spent so much effort trying to destroy the Celestial Vessel, yet still failed. With this time, Rupert II could who knows how many star systems and civilizations he could destroy!"

"Could it have been preempted by the Venerable Erudite?" Touma Kamijou speculated, "However, someone like him who regards himself as inorganic life probably no longer cares whether the Star Gods acknowledge him or not; regardless of whether the Star Gods glance at him or bestow power, he will continue on his predetermined path."

"But seriously, I feel Earth's continued existence owes some thanks to Bolka Kakamu. If not for her, the cosmos would probably have been destroyed already during the first Emperor War."

——

"One scepter's one-ten-thousandth usage right has the same value as her mysterious signal. Feasibility, applicability, economic prospects, and the standard answer of black-box assembly."

"Xing will connect her consciousness to the scepter."

"A faint light flashed before her eyes; in an instant, she seemed to fall into a sea of pure logic code woven into the Star Sea."

"Those trillion-level codes are like the tides at the beach's edge, rising and falling with the visit waves of countless other scholars. The computational nodes overhead hang like stars, converging into a luminous river that silently flows along the folded topological passage formed by curved surfaces."

"Xing felt her consciousness expand in the boundless data stream, like a speck of dust allowed to kiss the galaxy's spine."

"However, this feeling lasted only tens of seconds before being disrupted by a rough, ugly encoding program that interfered with holographic synchronization."

"It is the Armed Archaeology School."

"Their construction team was installing the final thermal insulation component for the engine; for a moment, Xing was washed away and submerged by the massive information flow…… she had no choice but to immediately disconnect."