"Cosmic Wonders, mystic treasures..."
While the princes and even the Machine Race pursued their own agendas, with a storm brewing, Nie Yun began conducting research on his journey back to the Shattered Star Region.
Before him, the Vector Engine circled the indestructible sphere, occasionally tapping it with its conical tip and producing metallic dings.
Nie Yun beckoned, and the Vector Engine landed in his palm.
"One is a high-tech creation of the Iris Civilization, and the other is an all-natural, pollution-free sphere. Their only common feature is that they defy the ordinary laws of physics, which is why both are classified as Cosmic Wonders."
He turned the Vector Engine over and over in his hands.
"Then does that mean the Iris Civilization had the ability to technologically modify raw Cosmic Wonders, turning them into more practical 'weapons'?
"Is this the gap between lesser civilizations and advanced civilizations?
"Then what about the Water of Life and the civilization that created the Pan-Human Civilization Sphere? Was that an advanced civilization on the same level as the Iris Civilization, or... was it the Iris Civilization itself?"
As he gathered more clues, Nie Yun gradually began noticing certain unusual details.
For instance, there had been the "civilization status assessment" and "Zero Directive" that appeared when the Vector Engine voluntarily recognized him as its master.
This suggested that the crashed Iris Civilization spacecraft had anticipated the possible loss of its components and had established specific inheritance provisions accordingly.
And the conditions for inheritance very likely required the original owner to have perished, as well as possession of the authority to control the Mechanical Insects...
The truth within the fog seemed a little clearer, but... that still was not enough!
"Clues. I need more clues!"
The origins of the Mechanical Insects, the circumstances behind his own