His fingers tapped three times on the holographic keyboard, Cole's tense back reflected in his visor. His right hand was hidden behind his back, clenched tightly as though he were ready to act at any moment.
Apparently believing Yuan had not noticed his probing gesture, Cole relaxed. Little did he know that beneath his visor, Yuan had taken in every shift in his expression, his eyes full of wistfulness.
Then, no longer paying attention to the surprise in Cole's eyes, Yuan shifted his focus to the Dark Iron before him, intending to use it to grasp the elemental properties of Dark Matter.
"Three-dimensional expansion model of the Dark Iron lattice..." Yuan deliberately increased the operating speed of the central system database.
Very soon, after the familiar scream of a soldier reached his ears, Cole finally let down his guard.
"Ah!"
Although he had increased the central system's processing speed, its underlying logic was ultimately unsuitable for data simulations involving Dark Matter.
The Dark Matter particles floating in the projection immediately collapsed into a disordered state as the computational load increased.
"Failed again?" Cole withdrew the hand behind his back and placed both hands before his chest. Dense streams of data flashed continuously across the visor on his face.
"Science is nothing more than countless rounds of trial and error." Yuan shut off the three-dimensional projection before him and rubbed his brow irritably.
"I don't understand it. I really don't understand it." Cole sadly realized that his decades—perhaps even centuries—of learning could not compare to what Yuan had achieved in just one year.
Someone else could begin simulating Dark Matter in a single year, while even after more than a century, he could not grasp the operating principles of Light Particles.
"Was the gap between beast bodies and Divine River Bodies really this vast?"
"What are you thinking about?" Yuan gave Cole, who had suddenly become indignant and grief-stricken, a puzzled glance.
"If it weren't for the knowledge base you gave me, and if my circumstances weren't a little unusual, how could I have reached this point so quickly?"
"I..."
At that moment, the sudden intrusion of a figure made Cole swallow the question on his lips.
Bruis slammed open the hatch, a glowing projection lit up on his mechanical arm. "Your Excellency! Sir! An ultra-high-purity Vanadium Crystal deposit has been discovered in the third mining zone!"
"So?"
"Huh? Aren't we going to collect it? The battleship's hull repairs need a great deal of material like that."
"Then go do it. What are you doing here? Are you expecting Your Excellency to go mining?"
"Hehe, that joke isn't funny at all." Yuan immediately cut him off coldly. Cole seemed to realize he had said something wrong and promptly apologized to him.
After all, the person before him had escaped a mining field by the skin of his teeth.
"Oh, oh, yes. I'll go right away."
"That idiot. How did I ever choose him as my adjutant?"
"Idiot? He isn't an idiot." Yuan gave Cole a meaningful look. He had seen Bruis's actions before arriving with perfect clarity.
He was a smart man. The moment he realized something was wrong, he had immediately come to interrupt a potential conflict.
Yuan then shook his head indifferently and immersed himself in the sea of knowledge once more.
Although the Operating System could conveniently input countless data files of knowledge, he still had to personally design suitable algorithms to improve the system's operational efficiency.
Moreover, after fully absorbing the Gluttons' knowledge data, Yuan no longer had another way to acquire knowledge so quickly.
Perhaps the pursuit of knowledge would become part of his daily life from now on.
Cole stood there mulling over Yuan's earlier words, unable to figure out what he meant.
He wanted to ask, but Yuan looked completely absorbed in study and impossible to pull away from it. Cole could not bring himself to disturb him again and could only bury the matter in his heart.
Once Bruis had completely disappeared, the command center returned to its former silence.
"Cole!"
"???"
"Your Excellency? What are your orders?" Hearing Yuan's gentle voice, Cole suppressed the doubts in his heart and hurriedly responded.
"Tell Bruis to send over the materials I need first."
"Given the central system's current computing power, model analysis of Dark Iron matter will probably take a very long time."
Yuan had no intention of exposing Dawn's existence just yet. Once the battleship had been repaired, or after they left the Styx Galaxy and found a suitable planet—
He would establish his own Experimental Base. During that process, the Dawn system would play an enormous role.
And Cole's hidden God-Slaying Weapon was also a massive threat to Yuan. The sense of danger he had felt a year ago might have come from it.
In other words, Cole had absolutely harbored killing intent back then.
If that was the case, Dawn absolutely could not be exposed.
I need to find an opportunity to crack the key. At the very least, I need to leave a backdoor. Yuan mused inwardly, while the smile on his face remained unchanged.
"I'm going to build a new Supercomputer to provide computing support for the central system."
"Otherwise, relying on the battleship's built-in computing cloud, just sorting through the Repair Unit module's data will take a long time. You don't want to be delayed here for that much longer either, do you?"
"Gah!" Cole shuddered, then raised his head righteously, his gaze toward Yuan brimming with resolve.
"Rest assured, Your Excellency. I'll have Bruis send all the materials over at once."
After saying that, he began shouting beneath his combat visor.
"Bruis! Right now, immediately, bring me the materials Your Excellency asked you for."
"But sir, what about that Vanadium Crystal Ore?"
"What about it? Stop fucking obsessing over that little bit of ore. Besides, can't you have someone else mine it? Don't you understand? Bring the materials over immediately."
"You don't know the price of firewood and rice until you run the household, sir! Vanadium Crystal Ore is extremely hard and high-quality, and it places rather strict demands on operating engineering machinery.
If I don't keep watch, those guys will ruin the ore. Besides, our supply holds are practically empty. We urgently need to replenish them."
Bruis was somewhat unwilling to give up. He had never seen ore of such purity before. And after becoming the adjutant, nearly all logistical pressure had been placed on his shoulders.
Bruis, who had nearly been crushed beneath the burden, had wanted to grab a shovel and start digging on the spot when he saw the test results.
"Well, well. So now that you're an adjutant, you dare argue with me?
Say one more fucking word, and you can spend the rest of your life with your ore, idiot! Moron! A moron fit for a museum! Now get moving!"
Sensing Cole's fury was already on the verge of erupting, Bruis did not dare say another word.
"All right, sir. I'll bring the supplies over immediately."
"Phew!" Bruis's final response satisfactorily extinguished the nameless fire in Cole's heart. Feeling an odd gaze beside him, Cole turned and looked back.
Meeting Yuan's strange gaze, he immediately gave an embarrassed smile.
"My apologies, Your Excellency. I've made a fool of myself."
"It's fine. Logistics work comes with a lot of pressure. That's normal. But, Cole!"
"Hm?"
"Your temper has been getting worse and worse lately." Yuan said meaningfully.
Cole was somewhat baffled by those words, but soon let them go. Yuan's way of speaking had become increasingly mysterious, and he could not make sense of many things that had happened today.
Shaking his head, he simply decided not to think about any of it. Too many lice, and you stop feeling the itch—escaping came first.
Nothing is difficult in this world if you are willing to give up. In an instant, Cole felt as though the sky had brightened.
Seeing Yuan begin another simulation experiment, Cole still could not understand it, but he eagerly trotted over to observe.
Far away from them, at the center of the Styx Galaxy, within Dead Song Academy.
Under candlelight swaying in the breeze, a young man who seemed to sense something unusual stopped the hand that had been writing and drawing.
But he soon smiled faintly and resumed his records.
Nothing had happened!
Before you continue