Chapter 910: Simulated Universe·The Unknowable Realm (16)

But if they were secretly cultivating some human insurgents, or spreading rumors detrimental to the human kingdom's rule, the higher‑ups within the kingdom would not hesitate to launch a purge, slaughtering tens of thousands in a single night.

They might condemn the enemy's ferocity and cruelty, but once the knife is handed to them and an excuse to kill is given, they will kill their own even more ruthlessly.

"Dimiu Gous, what do you think of the power of these cleansing machines on the heavens?"

"Hmm… Lord Anzi, based on my observations, a conservative estimate would be… each cleansing machine's combat power can match that of more than ten Soul‑Devouring Demons." Dimiu Gous's expression briefly stiffened, and he said hesitantly.

Soul‑Devouring Demons are legendary monsters, undead that specifically devour the souls of the living. Back then, three such demons appearing in the Orc City caused a hundred thousand casualties.

"Hmm, though Soul‑Devouring Demons are undead, they can still be shattered by magic, but these cleansing machines don't seem to be the kind that magic can destroy."

Lifeless machines mean they are fundamentally immune to life‑stripping magic, can complete suppression tasks across 142 star sectors, and can adapt to most cosmic environments, allowing them to move unimpeded in this world.

These are the violent killing machines the Erudite Society uses to suppress rebellion; if ten were deployed to this world, even the Nassarick underground megatomb would be helpless before they run out of energy, and if a thousand or more were deployed… they could probably conquer the entire world in three days.

Anzi is precisely worried about that.

——

"Countless people tried to evacuate Krostea, but the encircling cleansing machines have blocked them completely."

"In the second before the base fell, Xing pressed the Scepter's command input button, a silent shout."

""Is Vafong Calligraphy Ouchi captured?""

"She can no longer comprehend the words at her ears."

"The Scepter destroyed the collective perception beacons across the entire star sector, returning them to an age without lies or deception. Amid the rambling mutterings spreading between stars, the Candle Ink School sensed the aura of a riddle, yet they were unsure whether the record itself had also become tainted with 【Mystery】."

"……"

"When Xing opened her eyes again, she found herself in a space made of blue data streams, with Black Tower floating beside her."

""I remember I was just being chased by the Erudite Society's cleansing machines..." Xing rubbed her head; the Scepter's instantaneous release destroyed the collective perception beacons in the star sector, and now her mind is just chaos."

""Black Tower, what are we…""

""You are now the navigation AI of the Stellar Ripple, guiding the starship through the language‑lost Krostea — the border star you were just on," Black Tower said, "We are now sailing deep into the Empire's realm. Though the Emperor is dead, the hidden residual organic equation may still covertly incorporate us into its computation; be careful.""

""Additionally, I propose switching the ship to autonomous navigation," Black Tower, the decision‑making AI, suggested.

""On what basis are you the decision AI?""

""Because I'm a genius," Black Tower's amethyst‑like eyes flashed. "What, you're not satisfied?""

During the pause in their conversation, Pativiya came over, tossing them a data model whose coordinates raced across the star map over time, momentarily impossible to anchor.

""This solitary wave might just be a meaningless phenomenon." Pativiya felt uneasy about the answer she was about to face; she seemed to mutter to herself, yet hoped the cold machine would respond."

——

DC Universe.

"She wants to chase the end of the solitary wave; why go into the Emperor's realm? Could that wave be related to Emperor II?" Clark frowned, eyeing the ship in the heavens.

"It's probably more than that," Louise said, carrying coffee. "I even think this solitary wave is linked to the Emperor's Scepter. Do you remember the Scepter Core we mentioned earlier? The Erudite Society believes the core is Emperor II, but if the wave's source proves tied to the Emperor, it also raises suspicion that the Scepter Core is connected to the wave's origin."

"If we can access the Scepter Core, it means Pativiya would be qualified to control all Scepters, becoming the … Perfect Scholar that the Erudite Society has coveted all their lives."

"Perfect Scholar… how ironic," Clark closed his laptop, a wry smile tugging his lips. The Erudite Society's lot tried to wield power over everything, yet the outcome backfired, rendering the Perfect Evolution School effectively extinct and forcing the destruction of over a hundred Scepters. But if Pativiya truly becomes a Perfect Scholar, that's also good; at least a scholar devoted to research would wield the Scepter, far better than those greedy, power‑hungry bastards.

——

"Do you need to retrieve related services?"

"No… just consider me babbling. I'm scared, always feeling some force pushing me forward… maybe it's just my imagination." After multiple iterations of the model, Pativiya successfully achieved a reverse trace to the source of the ripple.

"Knowledge Circle, you may have heard the term. But if—if we think we've stepped out of the circle, yet haven't moved a inch…" The Relative Cognition School's words seeped into Pativiya's thoughts, the seed of self‑doubt sprouting—how can one prove one's correctness before results appear?

As the trajectory synced with the destination, the overall structure of the ripple in the model grew clearer. On the other side of the system, Black Tower, embodied as the decision AI, wore a solemn expression.

"The Candle Ink School didn't even record such an important thing; are they blind?!" The starship jolted up and down with her emotional fluctuations.

"The origin of that ripple is the Erudite Supreme Computation's 【Moment】! It is… the stationary wave of the Star God's contemplation."

As the ship continued, an invisible star began to "reveal" its trace.

Emperor II once thought he had hidden it well, wrapped in imaginary energy yet perfectly balanced inside and out; even after millennia, the satellites orbiting the throne remained undiscovered.

But it formed a perfect 【Coincidence】, a fixed point in chaos that aligned flawlessly with its 【Moment】. Consequently, after Rupert II, the first organic life set foot on its land.

Pativiya stepped out of the ship, unable to believe the scene before her.

It was a planet almost entirely built of metal; everywhere one looked lay collapsed ruins. The wreckage of inorganic life littered every corner, coated in thick dust, like orphans abandoned by time.

Rupert I awoke in a mechanical graveyard, anger looping through his circuits. What of the second?