Chapter 353

"Hmph, then please look forward to it." Black Tower said as he walked to the control panel. "Great, surprisingly everyone has time..."

Before long, in the somewhat empty hall, the virtual projections of three other people quickly reappeared: a black-haired woman in ancient style, a mechanical life form wearing a top hat, and a... middle-aged man with a small mustache.

Looking at the last virtual avatar, Ai Yue couldn't help but reveal a subtle expression. "Stephen Lloyd? You also use a disguise during internal meetings?"

Even without any information about Stephen in the game, Ai Yue could still discern Stephen's true age from the various notes he left inside the Simulated Universe —after all, a guy who draws little yellow ducks in his notes shouldn't look like he has no childlike heart.

Upon hearing Ai Yue's words, the middle-aged man's face immediately showed an embarrassed expression. Then, the entire virtual projection turned into ripples and dissipated. When it returned to calm, only an oval-shaped Q-version virtual image with a little yellow duck on its head remained on the screen.

"You scared him. Stephen rarely attends meetings anyway," Black Tower sighed helplessly. "Oh well, it's my fault for not telling you beforehand... Let's leave it at that for now. Maybe he'll join in when we get to a topic that interests him."

"Looks like I was a bit too casual," Ai Yue vaguely remembered that the game had indeed used adjectives like "socially awkward" to describe this character who didn't have much screen time. "Sorry, Stephen."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ai Yue." After Ai Yue finished speaking, the mechanical lifeform beside him spoke up, "My name is Screwllum. Thank you for everything you've done for the Simulated Universe —although I've only gleaned a few words, it's enough to confirm that this is an incredible surprise."

"My name is Ruan Mei." The woman beside him nodded slightly to Ai Yue. "I'm in charge of designing the biological behavior logic for Simulated Universe."

"It seems you all already know me," Ai Yue said with a subtle expression. "May I ask one more question? Where did you get your knowledge of me from?"

Seeing that both Ruan Mei and Screwllum recognized him at a glance, Ai Yue couldn't help but worry about what Boshizun was up to—had the old man put a warrant for his arrest in the Genius Club?

"Don't worry, I told you everything." Black Tower understood Ai Yue's concerns, so he explained, "Alright, now that everyone is here, let's get down to business. Screw, it seems you've already understood the plan Ai Yue gave us. What are your thoughts?"

"I have no opinion," Screwllum shook his head slightly. "With my current knowledge, I can only marvel at such a sophisticated and massive system. The conclusion is: this is something we cannot operate at present."

"Such a high evaluation?" Hei Ta couldn't help but glance at Ai Yue. "You didn't base this upgrade on yourself, did you?"

"I knew you just threw it at Screwllum without even looking at it." Ai Yue shrugged. "Don't worry, although it is indeed a bit difficult, theoretically it should be within your reach... unless I overestimate you."

"That's impossible!" Black Tower confidently raised his chin, then pulled up the message packet Ai Yue had sent earlier. "Let's take a look now. Everyone's here, let's brainstorm!"

Next, Ai Yue witnessed an exchange between geniuses, mainly consisting of a conversation between Black Tower and Screwllum. Ruan Mei occasionally offered her opinions, while Stephen remained silent, seemingly uninterested in the content.

The conclusion quickly came to light.

"On the surface, this seems to be an upgrade based on Simulated Universe, but internally it's completely different from our original design," Black Tower said in a strange tone. "If I understand correctly, if this thing can really be built, then it should indeed be able to 'create its own world'?"

"Although the capacity will be small, that statement isn't entirely wrong," Screwllum said. "Given the level of detail in this new Simulated Universe, even if it could only hold a small piece of land, it would still be a world comparable to reality."

"However, there are still many technical challenges that we can't solve." Even Stephen couldn't help but say, "Even if we could solve them all, how much computing power would be needed to manufacture it?"

"With the resources we currently possess, it's far from enough." As the designer of the underlying architecture, Screwllum was the first to make this judgment. "In my understanding, there is only one thing that can meet this requirement."

"I guess we're thinking the same thing." Black Tower looked at Screwllum, then raised an eyebrow. "The Emperor's Scepter, right?"

Chapter Thirty-One: Your patch is even more complete than the original game, buddy.

Emperor's Scepter.

Upon hearing this word, even Ai Yue couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

He knew about this thing. Although in the game, this word was just a background setting for the time being, the mere mention of it was enough to demonstrate the powerful force of the Emperor's Scepter.

The Emperor's Scepter is part of the "Scepter System," which Rupert II created for himself by imitating Boshizun Henry VIII's way of thinking. In terms that ordinary people can understand, it is a supercomputer array with a celestial scale.

These supercomputers possess computing power that is terrifying to ordinary people; they can even manipulate elementary particles within a certain range, thereby altering the physical rules of a region.

Countless supercomputers, each with its own function, were connected together to eventually construct this vast thinking apparatus known as the "Scepter System"—supercomputers as large as celestial bodies gathered together, transforming into a sea of steel stars, which enabled Rupert II's vast empire.

Relying on such a system, Rupert II was able to become the sole consul, ruler, and thinker of a vast territory with his own flesh and blood. He wielded such a massive empire that he annihilated more than half of the universe within a few Amber Era, creating a catastrophe no less devastating than the Cosmic Plague unleashed by the Aeon of Propagation.

According to the setting, one percent of a scepter is enough to rival a fleet, one-tenth of a scepter is enough to annihilate a star, and a single scepter can even surpass the limits of comprehension. Although Ai Yue did not experience that era, if such descriptions are not exaggerated, then the Scepter System wielded by Rupert II was indeed enough to rule the universe.

The Emperor's Scepter is the most unique among all the Scepter System. Driven by an "anti-organic equation," it is a giant system specifically responsible for the destruction paths of countless civilizations. Its computing power far exceeds that of ordinary scepters, and of course, its level of danger is also far greater than that of ordinary scepters.

But the problem is...

"Is it... necessary?" Upon hearing the words "Emperor's Scepter," the room fell silent. Finally, it was Stephen, the most socially awkward of them all, who spoke first. "The Simulated Universe, concentrating all its computing power, could certainly rival the Scepter System. If even the Simulated Universe can't do it, then the Scepter System probably can't either, let alone just the Emperor's Scepter..."

While the Emperor's Scepter is powerful, it is only one part of the Scepter System. According to Stephen's calculations, unless they can obtain the entire Scepter System, relying solely on the Emperor's Scepter is meaningless.

In reality, the Scepter System was rendered useless in that ugly war between schools of thought, leaving only the Lone Wave algorithm problem, which earned the Black Tower its reputation for genius and laid the foundation for the construction of the Simulated Universe we know today.

As for the Emperor's Scepter, even at the time when scholars were most eager for computing power, no one dared to touch those terrifying intellectual weapons. Therefore, they are now either sealed away or discarded, and even if one wanted to find them, it would probably be very difficult.

In response to Stephen's question, Black Tower smiled slightly, "Stephen, you're right. The Simulated Universe is my great invention, and it's destined to surpass the Scepter System —in fact, the simulated Scepter System is one of my next projects."

Stephen didn't speak, but even Nguyen May could sense a hint of confusion in his virtual avatar.

"Finding and using the Emperor's Scepter is not our goal; what we seek is a certain quality within it," Screwllum began, speaking gently. "Question: What distinguishes the Emperor's Scepter from ordinary scepters?"

"Anti-organic equations..." Stephen answered instinctively, then his tone suddenly rose, uttering the loudest sentence he'd uttered since attending the meeting, "You guys aren't planning to implant anti-organic equations into the Simulated Universe, are you?!"

Seemingly shocked, a series of noises came from Stephen's direction, as if a shelf full of things had been knocked over, causing a jumble of things to roll all over the floor.

"Of course not, my dear friend," Screwllum said with a smile. "Anti-organic equations are like deadly poison to inorganic life forms. Why would I risk using such a thing?"

However, Stephen was too preoccupied to listen to Screwllum's explanation. He heard snippets of conversation through his communication, as if an elder was asking him what had happened.

"I'm sorry, Uncle... no, nothing." After a moment, Stephen returned to the meeting. He instinctively wanted to explain something, but ultimately kept quiet. "Where were we?"

"As for why I won't use something as extremely dangerous as the 'anti-organic equation'," Screwllum patiently repeated, "The design concept of the Emperor's Scepter is worth our consideration."

Stephen didn't say anything, but everyone could hear him visibly relieved.

"If the current Simulated Universe is about recreating past events through deduction, then this new Simulated Universe is more like a creation plan," Black Tower explained. "In this way, we can extract a core logic from it, and then use that as a basis to deduce the laws of the universe."

"Wait a minute, isn't this a completely different thing from Simulated Universe?" Ai Yue, who was standing to the side, finally realized this. "Is this correct?"

"You're asking me about this whole thing you've come up with?" Black Tower looked at him with a ghostly gaze. "Don't you realize that this is a completely different approach from Simulated Universe?"

Ai Yue immediately put on a thoughtful expression.

"I can understand Mr. Ai Yue's feelings, because it can be seen from the derivation process of this design draft that his initial idea was to make patches and upgrades based on the Simulated Universe."

Screwllum explained, with a hint of apology in his voice, "But unfortunately, because there were too many areas to upgrade, the patches ended up building up to look like a brand new building."

"I think his initial approach predetermined this outcome." Black Tower wasn't surprised. "I haven't been idle these past few days either. I've been re-examining the issues between the Power of Light and the Simulated Universe, and the conclusion I've reached is that the existing Simulated Universe is completely incompatible with the Power of Light."

"Because in this universe before, the Power of Light simply did not exist." Ai Yue also realized that in order to make the Power of Light compatible with the Simulated Universe, he had overlooked a fundamental problem. "Since the Simulated Universe is not a device for predicting the future, but for recreating the past, it can never be compatible with the Power of Light."

Integrating the Power of Light means incorporating it as a condition in the simulation of the Simulated Universe. However, since this is a power that has never existed in the universe, its intervention will inevitably affect the original simulation, ultimately causing the entire Simulated Universe to crash.

Ai Yue was a little embarrassed as he spoke. He realized that he had subconsciously projected his impression of the Simulated Universe from the game onto reality, which led to this preconceived notion. It was precisely because of this notion that he did not study the Simulated Universe from a holistic perspective, but instead started fixing the parts that were malfunctioning, ultimately resulting in such a ridiculous outcome.

Although, judging solely from the outcome, things weren't actually that bad.

However, this means that the Power of Light will instinctively invade the Simulated Universe, which is a very interesting thing.

"Regardless, at least we now have two Simulated Universe." Black Tower couldn't help but smile as he said this. "Moreover, this new Simulated Universe can be used to solve many of our problems... although the prerequisite is that we need to create it first."

"I was just about to say that things aren't that complicated," Ai Yue said. "Since I can design it, I naturally have a way to make it a reality. You don't need to put in any more effort."

"A good suggestion, but please allow me to decline." Black Tower shook his head. "If we can't even handle something like this ourselves, wouldn't that make us look useless?"

"Finding a means to implement your proposed solution is itself a process of acquiring knowledge," said Screwllum. "The conclusion is: without this process, we probably won't be able to use it effectively in the future."

"Although I'm eager to see results, since you've all said so, I'll listen to you." Ai Yue shrugged. "Also, regarding the compatibility issue between the Power of Light and the Simulated Universe, I've thought of a compromise."

"What method?" Black Tower immediately fixed his gaze on Ai Yue, not wanting to wait even a second longer. "Stop beating around the bush, just tell me, please."

"It's very simple. The Power of Light cannot participate in the 'universe' part, but it can at least participate in the 'simulation'. Anyway, that part was designed by you, so it doesn't affect the normal event deduction, right?" Ai Yue smiled, then flicked his finger lightly, and a beam of light flew out from his fingertip, floating lightly towards Stephen.

"Combining it with the power of destiny should prevent the entire Simulated Universe from exploding."

"Give it to me?" Stephen asked uneasily, watching the light merge into his virtual projection and actually transform into analyzable data. "Give it to me?"

"When it comes to analyzing energy, who here can compare to you?" Black Tower nodded slightly. "It's up to you now, Stephen. Good luck!"

Stephen didn't say anything more; his virtual projection simply dimmed, indicating that he had gone to deal with the matters at hand.

"I really hope to see the results soon." As Stephen left, Black Tower also made a gesture as if preparing to retreat. "Alright, I'm going to study this new Simulated Universe now... Speaking of which, shouldn't we name it after you? Ai Yue Universe?"

"That sounds a bit strange. Besides, everyone has to contribute. What's the point of just using my name?" Ai Yue shook his head slightly. "Just use the old and new names to distinguish them. Everyone knows what's going on anyway."

"No, that would make our technology look outdated... Okay, that's true." Black Tower was shaking his head at first, but quickly accepted reality. "Let's leave it at that for now, we'll talk about it again when we have a better idea."

After saying that, she looked at the other two people. "Ruan Mei, and Luo Si, if you don't have anything else to say, shall we call it a day?"

"Wait a moment." This time it was Ai Yue who spoke up. "I'm actually quite interested in inverse organic equations. Does anyone have any samples they could let me study?"

When the topic of the Emperor's Scepter came up, Ai Yue wanted to join the discussion and bring it up, but the conversation only lasted a few sentences before they stopped, causing him to miss the best opportunity. Now, he can only be more direct.

However, the danger of the "anti-organic equation" was clearly something that made everyone very wary, so much so that after Ai Yue said those words, no one in the room responded for a moment, creating a delicate atmosphere.

"To be fair, such dangerous things shouldn't be brought out casually," Black Tower finally sighed and spoke first. "However, firstly, I think you're the same kind of person as Screwllum; secondly, if you're really interested in this, you can get it yourself even if we don't give it to you, so—"

She turned to look at Screwllum: "I'll vouch for you—Screw, you should have some samples, right?"

"Of course, I constantly wish that my people could be freed from such a vicious curse." Screwllum, then looked at Ai Yue. "Sentiment, like intellect, is a beautiful crystallization of the world. Mr. Ai Yue, I hope you will treat it with care."

"Don't worry, if this thing could affect me, then Rupert I wouldn't be the Boshizun, but the Rupert I." Ai Yue joked slightly, but still maintained a serious expression. "I'll handle it carefully."

"I have great confidence in your abilities," Screwllum nodded. "However, this means I'll have to ask you to stay at the Herta Space Station for a while longer, as it will take some time to send the samples over from here."

"In that case, let's use mine." Ruan Mei, who had been quiet all along, suddenly spoke up. She seemed to have finally come back to her senses from her long period of thought and joined the discussion. "I also have a sample of the 'anti-organic equation,' and I'm on my way to the Herta Space Station."

"I knew you'd keep a copy of this." Black Tower wasn't surprised that Ruan Mei possessed such a thing; instead, he was curious about something else. "But you came over without warning, so suddenly?"

"Well, I encountered something interesting while collecting samples, and considering this current project, I feel it's necessary to have a face-to-face discussion with Mr. Ai Yue." Ruan Mei's gaze swept over the design draft in front of her again, a slight ripple appearing on her expressionless face. "I hope Mr. Ai Yue can offer me some guidance."

Chapter Thirty-Two: I Brought New Life

Nguyen Mai was well aware that there were countless geniuses in the world, and she was by no means the person who had gone the furthest in the study of the evolution of life.

Even so, when she saw the design draft, she was still deeply shocked by the content related to life design.

Is this even possible? Is this even a concept? How dare he take such a radical step?

Ai Yue hadn't expected that the information about Honkai Beast that he had inserted to fill in the content of the Simulated Universe would cause such a huge uproar in Ruan Mei's mind. However, when he noticed the subtle changes in the other party's expression, he realized something was amiss.

The remote meeting quickly ended, Screwllum expressed his intention to visit the Herta Space Station in the near future. However, he believed that he should not delay Ai Yue's journey because of his own desires, so he did not emphasize that he wanted to meet with him.

There will always be a chance. Screwllum turned off the virtual projection in front of him and let out a slight laugh.

It seems like a good idea to add a little surprise to your trip like this.

Meanwhile, in the other office, Hei Ta was sizing up Ai Yue.

"I've almost never seen Nguyen Mai make that expression," Black Tower, a longtime friend, naturally noticed the other's reaction. "I didn't expect you to have made achievements in the field of life sciences?"

"It's alright, I've gained some insights." Ai Yue recalled his time on Earth, a subtle expression appearing on his face. "Or, strictly speaking, did I start out researching life sciences?"

"Why do you use such an uncertain tone yourself?" Black Tower was speechless. She had never encountered such a peculiar person as Ai Yue. "Never mind, just be careful anyway."

"What's wrong?" Ai Yue raised an eyebrow, noticing a hint of doubt in Hei Ta's expression.

"Ruan Mei... well, I'll be frank, she's rather extreme. When she's convinced of something, she can easily cross the line—you know which line I'm talking about." Black Tower fiddled with his staff, speaking in a subtle tone, "Through the virtual projection, she probably hasn't noticed your special characteristics yet, but once she gets close to you, all of this will inevitably be hard to hide."

"By then, she won't be interested in your research findings, but in you as a person."

"So you're saying," Ai Yue stroked his chin, "That I should be careful of her?"

"No, I mean, please have mercy and spare her life. We still need her for our Simulated Universe," Black Tower shrugged. "After all, like I said, she's capable of anything to achieve her goals, so it's almost inevitable that she'll offend you."

"Then you should try to persuade her, not me." Ai Yue shook his head with a slight chuckle. "Or do you think it's easier to persuade me than her?"

"From my personal perspective, that's certainly true." Hei Ta smiled, his gaze lingering on Ai Yue. "Another reason is that I'm also quite curious whether Ruan Mei can learn anything from you."

Black Tower had never imagined he could be so "self-disciplined." It was truly unbelievable that he could control himself from being curious about the person in front of him, who might be hiding a great mystery no less than that of a star god, and thus prevent himself from having any ulterior motives towards Ai Yue.

During her time away from the Herta Space Station, she not only re-examined the Simulated Universe but also herself. With a keen intuition, she believed that she was being "interfered" with by some external force.

As for what this external force is and where it comes from, although the Black Tower has no evidence or reason, it still points to Ai Yue in front of them.

After all, if we're talking about what changes have recently occurred in her life, besides the "glances" cast by the Boshizun, it's this mysterious fellow in front of her.

"Sounds like you're eyeing it covetously too?" Ai Yue gave him a knowing look, then extended a hand in an inviting gesture. "How about I give you a chance?"

"Never mind." Black Tower stared at Ai Yue, but finally shook his head. "With my current abilities, I'm afraid I'll waste this opportunity. Let's wait and see."

After saying that, she walked out of the office. "Compared to you, Star Core Girl is more suitable as my research subject... Where did that guy run off to again?"

Ai Yue watched as Hei Ta's figure disappeared outside the door, and couldn't help but reveal a subtle smile.

Ruan Mei arrived very quickly, not even until the next day, but that very evening, when she reached the Herta Space Station. This speed made people wonder if she had already arrived beforehand and just needed to say hello before entering, in order to cover up her eagerness.

The arrival of another genius did not cause a sensation on the space station, because Ruan Mei was aloof by nature and did not like socializing, so she came very discreetly. In the entire space, apart from the acting stationmaster and other core personnel, only the nameless passengers of the Stellar Train and the Black Tower knew of her arrival.

The promised "anti-organic equation" was indeed delivered to Ai Yue.

It was a human skull that refracted a metallic sheen under the light—or at least it appeared to be.

But its internal workings surprised even Ai Yue.

"This..." Without even touching it, Ai Yue noticed something was wrong. "This thing isn't the head of a normal creature, is it?"

Using his Power of Light perception, he could clearly sense that inside this metal skull, there was a brain also made of metal, and an organ of this quality could not possibly grow in a normal living being.