Chapter 352
After rambling on and on, March 7th slapped his forehead and said, "Sigh, you've lost your memory, so you probably don't know either. It's my fault; I shouldn't have asked so many questions."
Xing didn't know how to respond for a moment, but suddenly turned her head subconsciously to look at the other side of the room.
At the same time, a petite figure emerged from the depths of the room. "Oh, you're awake? If you're awake, don't just stand there like an idiot. Go explore the space station and get to know the people around you."
A figure wearing a beret, resembling Black Tower but much younger, appeared before the three and said in a condescending tone, "Oh, by the way, as a greeting gift, pick one of these for self-defense—don't pick one that's too precious, understand?"
After finishing her long explanation, the doll with its prominent ball joints returned to the depths of the room, as if she had only come to check on the girl's condition.
The three people were left standing there, looking at each other in bewilderment.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Closing the Door and Beating the Dog
"You mean you tried to get Vita to input the Power of Light into the Simulated Universe, and the Simulated Universe exploded?"
In Black Tower's office, after listening to the other party's description, Ai Yue couldn't help but show a subtle expression. "Wait, doesn't this sound like the problem lies with your own dangerous actions? How can you blame me?"
Rashly combining something unknown with existing achievements is probably a hundred times less likely to avoid problems than Mobius's counterattack against Ai Yue. Ai Yue found it hard to believe that a scholar as renowned as Heta would make such a basic mistake.
Or is this also considered a "flash of genius"?
"Do I look like that kind of idiot?" Black Tower rolled her eyes in annoyance, but considering the other person's status, she stopped herself halfway through the roll. "I don't really understand your so-called Power of Light... Where's Vita? Let her explain it herself!"
"She had other things to do," Ai Yue replied casually, then frowned. "From what you're saying, this was actually an accident?"
"Based on the analysis afterward, that's indeed the case; at least that's what Screwllum and Stephen both judged." Heta pulled down the brim of his wide hat. "Let me imagine how to describe it... an invasion, yes, this can be seen as an invasion of the Simulated Universe by the Power of Light."
"Your description sounds quite unfamiliar." Ai Yue paused for a moment, then gave a strange look. "This is the first time I've heard someone use such terminology to describe the Power of Light."
As we all know, the Power of Light is a very gentle and controllable force. Since it was originally created to counter Honkai Energy, it can also play a certain role in purifying and stabilizing energy and environments that are unstable and polluting. It can be said to be a power that only exists in the ideal.
Such a force would actually launch an invasion of the Simulated Universe on its own initiative. Not only did Vita and Black Tower not expect it, but even Ai Yue himself did not expect it.
To be honest, his first reaction upon hearing this was—do you think your "Simulated Universe" is legitimate?
Could they have added some kind of weird "Black Tech" to make it?
"What kind of look is that? Are you questioning my work?" Hei Ta naturally noticed something in Ai Yue's suspicious gaze and immediately showed an annoyed expression. "If you have any doubts, you can always check it yourself!"
As she spoke, she raised her hand and waved it, and then countless virtual screens densely covered Ai Yue's face. Judging from the content, it was not difficult to tell that this was the complete design blueprint for the Simulated Universe.
For a scientist, having their research results questioned is a very serious matter. Even though Black Tower knew that Ai Yue was someone that even the learned and venerable Boshizun had to take seriously, it was still unacceptable that the other party would doubt such a thing.
"It's just a thought, don't get excited." Ai Yue glanced at it, then revealed a subtle expression. "But your Simulated Universe not only looks like an unfinished version, but it also has quite a few flaws."
"You saw through it? Just one glance?" This time it was Black Tower's turn to show a "Do you think you're so clever?" expression. "This is a top-tier achievement created by this genius and several other geniuses working together. You saw through it so easily?"
This couldn't help but surprise her. After all, Black Tower, as the project's leader, had firsthand experience of how complex the process of creating Simulated Universe was and how troublesome it was to maintain the system. Even with several geniuses working together, it was still a massive undertaking.
But this person in front of me actually gained a general understanding of the entire Simulated Universe system after just a glance at the blueprints?
Black Tower was very familiar with the emotions conveyed in the other party's words. That effortless ease was definitely not just empty talk meant to impress others—the other party had genuinely grasped the basic situation of the Simulated Universe!
"That's not how it works," Ai Yue shook his head slightly. "Analyzing existing results is much simpler than creating something from scratch, right?"
"... Never mind, I was prepared for this anyway." Black Tower hesitated, then simply shook his head. "But this way, the problem is easily solved."
She raised her hand again, and the original blueprints disappeared, replaced by more virtual screens—but unlike the previous blueprints, this time every screen had a glaring scarlet background.
"This error message is more complex than the entire system code of the Simulated Universe!" Ai Yue recognized the information represented by the red screens at a glance and couldn't help but look astonished. "I say, instead of fixing this thing, have you considered building a new one? That seems more efficient."
"That's what Ruan Mei suggested, but Screwllum firmly disagreed. He believes that the Simulated Universe, like a real universe, has its own will and dignity and shouldn't be destroyed so easily," Black Tower shrugged. "Considering that he's the one truly in charge of the repairs, he naturally has the final say."
"Indeed, I was hasty in making such a statement." Ai Yue paused for a moment, then shook his head slightly. "Perhaps these things are causing me a bit of an allergic reaction."
Ai Yue had experienced this screen full of error messages before—when he was researching the secrets of Elysia, he had fallen into this embarrassing situation more than once, because each time the result ended with a change of direction and a restart. Now, whenever he sees a similar scene, he wants to start over.
"That's not necessary..."
Black Tower wanted to say something more, but saw that the other person had already closed their eyes.
The next second, the error messages around them mysteriously broke free from the constraints of the virtual screen and floated in the air. Then, they began to combine and entangle with each other, finally transforming into a huge and complex virtual structure in front of the black tower.
Black Tower stared in astonishment at this scene. Even though the underlying algorithm and data framework of the Simulated Universe were not her creation, she could tell that Ai Yue had forcibly pieced together a Simulated Universe using incorrect data!
The missing data that was due to the absence of errors was also filled in with blue data that he somehow obtained.
The final result was that, given Black Tower's understanding of the Simulated Universe, she couldn't find anything missing in the simulation framework that Ai Yue had pieced together.
In the blink of an eye, the other party analyzed and understood the blueprints for the Simulated Universe, and then, by comparing the erroneous data with the blueprint content, deduced a simulation framework?
No, is this reasonable?
Although he had long known that the differences between people could sometimes be greater than the distance between the two most distant stars, Black Tower couldn't help but feel a subtle sense of loss at this moment.
This was something that the four of them worked on together for a long time, and someone just casually sculpted it like that?
Around that moment, something called "empathy" arose in Black Tower's heart—she suddenly felt she understood the guys on the space station a little better.
"It will take some time to revise and improve it. I will organize this data and leave it to you later. You just need to replace it then." Ai Yue said to the Black Tower with his eyes still closed, "Before that, what about the plan we just mentioned?"
"I understand," Black Tower sighed. "Shall I leave?"
Ai Yue nodded. "Remember to close the door."
Black Tower didn't say anything more, but left his office with somewhat heavy steps.
Three hours later, a heated argument broke out on the Herta Space Station. The details of the argument are unknown, but it is known that the Herta Space Station's true owner stormed off, declaring that he would "never return to this detestable place again!"
On the bridge, Asta looked up as the Black Tower's unique, magically imbued vehicle gradually disappeared from her sight, a subtle expression appearing on her face.
Although it was all planned, for some reason, she could always sense that the declaration the other person made when they left... carried a touch of genuine emotion.
The nature of genius is truly unpredictable.
"Miss Asta?"
Just as she was lost in thought, a familiar greeting came from behind her. The acting station manager turned around and saw the nameless guests standing in front of her. "What just happened?"
"It's nothing, just part of the plan." Asta smiled, then her expression turned serious. "Himeko, I'd like to entrust you with a new task..."
The news that "Black Tower stormed off the space station" quickly spread like wildfire and became widely known online. Although it garnered some attention, it didn't cause much of a stir. After all, it was common knowledge in the galaxy that members of the Genius Club had some quirks, so this little thing was nothing to worry about.
Even if Black Tower has a terrible temper, it's still within the range that normal people can understand, much better than those other awful guys.
However, this also led some people to have ulterior motives, and they began to try to contact the Black Tower in an attempt to buy the entire space station from them.
Of course, given the Black Tower's elusive nature, this idea is unlikely to be implemented.
Black Tower's angry departure clearly had a significant impact on the staff on the space station. After all, they had all followed him because they admired his achievements. If Black Tower abandoned the station, what reason did they have to stay?
Fortunately, Asta was skillful and quickly calmed everyone down, preventing the incident from spreading further.
And so, after an unknown number of days, a group of uninvited guests quietly appeared outside the space station.
With the sirens blaring and the roar of engines, the attack, which had been written into the "script," finally began long overdue.
Countless bizarre creatures barged into the space station with an arrogant attitude, beginning to wreak havoc and attempting to completely destroy the entire space station.
What they didn't expect was that while the space station appeared relaxed on the outside, the interior was a completely different story. When the alarm sounded, the Herta Space Station members did not panic. Instead, they methodically followed the pre-arranged evacuation plan and hid in a safe space. As a result, when the Antimatter Legion invaded, they couldn't find any ordinary people other than the combat personnel.
In addition, the important facilities had been secretly protected in advance. Security measures were activated along with the alarm to prevent the gates from flashing red the moment they closed. This not only protected the important assets of the Herta Space Station, but also, in turn, separated and imprisoned the Legion's soldiers, weakening their momentum of advancing as a group.
At this point, all preparations have been completed. All that remains is to clean the space station and dispose of the trash.
As an ice-blue arrow emitting a white glow flew by, the last enemy on the field fell.
"The power Brother Yue gave me is really useful!" Looking at the greatly enhanced arrows, March 7th nodded in satisfaction. "And I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like this power is particularly effective against the Antimatter Legion?"
"That's probably not an illusion. At least when we were practicing at the shooting range, it didn't have this level of destructive power." Dan Heng put away his spear, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Could it be that Mr. Ai Yue's power has a certain restraining effect on the Destiny of Destruction? Or is it..."
"I know, this thing is called a Special Attack," the gray-haired girl beside her said confidently. "As the saying goes, restraint is paramount, Special Attack Day..."
"Alright, alright, A Xing, stop talking!" March 7th quickly interrupted her, afraid that she might say something inappropriate. "What special attack stuff? As long as it works, that's all that matters. Let's go!"
"Yes, Alan just sent a message saying that the monsters on this floor have been mostly wiped out, and they can handle the rest themselves," Dan Heng nodded and took the lead towards the left passage. "We'll go this way, meet up with Himeko first, and then go to the platform."
He looked up at the transparent curtain at the top of the space station—through that barrier, the boy could vaguely see a huge figure hovering outside the space station.
"What's that?" March 7th had obviously noticed the dark figure as well, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "He looks pretty handsome."
"It's a dragon," Xing said casually. "It's a classic final boss, don't worry, bosses at this stage are generally not too strong."
"What nonsense are you talking about!" March 7th couldn't help but complain, "Don't treat life like a game!"
"However, she was right about one thing." Dan Heng's expression turned serious as he gripped his spear tightly. "If nothing else happens, then it will be our final enemy."
"See, what did I tell you?"
"Whatever, I'm tired."
Chapter Thirty: Look Closely, This is How the Universe is Simulated
With the Herta Space Station prepared in advance, the invasion orchestrated by the Antimatter Legion was quelled in just a few hours.
The outcome was exactly as Asta had calculated – aside from a few unavoidable hull damages, the limited property losses were mostly due to operational errors by the space station crew. In addition, some combat personnel were injured, but none were seriously injured.
For the Herta Space Station, which has purchased the company's "Legion Insurance" service, this level of loss could even result in a small profit.
Of course, aside from the fact that they had taken precautions in advance, the biggest contributor to reducing the losses to such an astonishing level was the Stellar Train crew.
After all, they were the ones who dealt with the Doomsday Beast that was circling outside the space station.
As an anti-planet weapon of the Antimatter Legion, the Doomsday Beast's strength should not be underestimated. In fact, it was the beast that breached the outer defense system of the Herta Space Station; otherwise, the Antimatter Legion would not have been able to infiltrate the space station so easily.
If it weren't for the nameless guests dealing with it, the Doomsday Beast alone could probably cause unimaginable damage to the Herta Space Station.
After all, the Herta Space Station currently doesn't have much security force to speak of. The so-called security department is mostly responsible for dealing with the various troubles caused by the station's members—before this, who could have imagined that it would be targeted by the ruthless Antimatter Legion?
As for Asta's decision to personally fund the expansion of the space station's defenses, that's another story. For now, the space station, having survived the ordeal, is still basking in jubilation and joy. In order to quickly eliminate the aftermath of this crisis, Asta also held a large party on the space station.
As for the main characters of this party, they were undoubtedly the nameless guests who had previously shone brightly.
However, the biggest contributor to this crisis did not have time to attend the party prepared for them, because before that, she had already been dragged into the office by the Black Tower, who had returned, to receive research from the genius.
"So, you were the one who killed the Doomsday Beast and even received a glance from the Star God of Destruction Nanook?" In the office, Black Tower stroked his chin and circled around Star. "Really? I just went out for a walk and missed such a big news story?"
"Strictly speaking, it was it." Facing the genius repeatedly mentioned by March 7th and the others, Hoshino became slightly more serious. She pointed to her chest, her face still showing a hint of confusion, "To be honest, I don't know what happened either."
"Let me explain." Although he hadn't left the office, Ai Yue, who had taken in everything, interjected, "Simply put, the power of the Star Core erupted the moment she realized her life was in danger, and then directly destroyed the Doomsday Beast. In the process, she was caught off guard by Nanook."
"So?" Heita blinked, waiting for more, but Ai Yue turned her head back again, making her stomp her feet in frustration. "The principle? The process? The analysis? The summary? Nothing! This is no different from the existing information!"
"Because there really wasn't much to say," Ai Yue shrugged, looking dejected. "I thought I could snatch it away and take this opportunity to get in touch with Nanook, but it all happened in a flash, and I didn't even have a chance."
"Are you serious? You're going to steal something like this?" Heita looked at him speechlessly, but then a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "But then again, judging from your behavior, you're probably inherently at odds with Nanook. Unless you go to his doorstep, it'll be very difficult for you to get close to him."
"So, we still need to find Himself." Ai Yue. "Unfortunately, this time they only brought rotten fish and shrimp; they couldn't even find a decent sample. Otherwise, we might have been able to trace back to the source."
While the Doomsday Beast, an anti-planet weapon, sounds impressive, it's merely cannon fodder within the Antimatter Legion's system. After all, compared to Nanook's vision of destroying everything and then rebuilding, a single anti-planet weapon is simply insufficient on a large-scale battlefield.
If we could find a Great Extinguisher...
Ai Yue was still racking his brains when the girl beside him objected. "Wait, are you guys ignoring me? If I had intercepted the power to Destiny of Destruction back then, wouldn't I be doomed?"
"What are you afraid of?" Heita waved his hand impatiently, then pointed at Ai Yue, "See? The strongest patron you can get your hands on right now. With him around, are you still afraid of dying? Even if you die, he'll probably have a way to bring you back to life on the spot!"
"What?!" Xing was shocked, then knelt on one knee before Ai Yue, "If you will not abandon me..."
"Hey, hey, what are you saying?" Ai Yue said speechlessly, lifting the other person up. "Stop doing this kind of unlucky stuff—besides, if you really do this, you'll be a generation below March 7th. Are you going to call her 'Auntie'?"
"Hiss..." Upon hearing this, Xing began to seriously consider the matter, as if weighing the feasibility of such a thing.
"Go play, kid, go play," Ai Yue said helplessly, dismissing the girl before turning to the Black Tower. "Compared to the Star Core, I think you should have other things to do, right?"
After obtaining the blueprints for the Simulated Universe, repairing it was not a difficult task. The reason Ai Yue was able to work here for several days was mainly to give the Simulated Universe a complete upgrade in order to try to make the system compatible with the Power of Light.
"I've already sent your solution to Screwllum, I wonder how it's going on his end," Black Tower shrugged. "By the way, have you figured out the cause of the problem?"
"Simply put, this wasn't an invasion, but rather... well, an act of heroism," Ai Yue for a moment before offering this explanation, "Like seeing a rock obstructing traffic and casually kicking it aside."
As mentioned before, the Power of Light reacts to special environments, and the Simulated Universe's operating principle is actually a pre-designed collection of various types of information, which are then randomly combined during activation to Simulated Universe's operation and attempt to establish a link with destiny in order to gain the favor of the star gods.
Because of this principle, each activation of the Simulated Universe is only a slice of the universe, and can be said to be inherently incomplete. It is precisely because of this that the properties of the Power of Light are triggered, causing it to instinctively want to complete it.
However, the Simulated Universe itself is an extremely sophisticated system, and any external force that intervenes rashly may cause unimaginable consequences, let alone the Power of Light, which is a powerful force that is completely different from the power of destiny. That is why Vita's contact caused such tragic consequences.
"Oh, so you just kicked it casually and the whole street was blown to smithereens, right?" Black Tower clearly understood Ai Yue's analogy, and couldn't help but look at him with a subtle expression. "With your explanation, am I supposed to apologize to you for the Simulated Universe not being robust enough?"
"That's not necessary. After all, you've already done your best, and the framework for Simulated Universe is quite good," Ai Yue smiled. "However, the way this logic works means that its level of completion is far from that of the real universe, and it's normal that it can't withstand the Power of Light."
"I know what you're saying is true, but why does it sound so infuriating?" Black Tower glared at him angrily, then waved his hand dismissively. "Just you wait! It's just a special power; I'll strip you naked!"
"Good luck, I believe in you." Ai Yue watched Hei Ta walk towards the door and couldn't help but remind him, "But have you forgotten that this is your office?"
"... You almost made me faint with anger." Black Tower paused for a moment, then turned back as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, given the situation, do you want to join our meeting?"
"If you don't mind," Ai Yue also showed an interested expression, "I'd love to see the abilities of other geniuses."