Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)

“Isn’t everything perfectly fine?” The four were baffled. After a stroll around the Supreme Society, they felt as if they had been cut off from society.

“Forget it. Let’s go find Grandpa Gao first.” Lan Hai was the most clear-headed among the group. Regardless of whether the sun had exploded, it was beyond their control. It was better to seek out Gao Huanyu, the Chief Scientist.

Gao Huanyu wasn’t in this star system but in the neighboring one, and the only way to get there was by spacecraft.

“Ether is watching us. It’ll definitely stop us from meeting Gao Huanyu.” After several setbacks, Yu Ran had learned just how difficult it was to oppose Ether. They encountered obstacles and constraints at every turn.

Lan Hai laughed heartily. He already had a solution in mind. “Today, I’ll show you the true power of the sports car my grandpa modified for me. Activate Space Mode!”

Under the astonished gazes of Mi Xue’er and Yu Ran, the car transformed into a small spacecraft.

Lu Yang raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised as well. Lan Hai’s grandfather must have been a truly remarkable scientist in life.

“Haha, how’s that? Pretty impressive, right? My sports car can’t fly far, only across one star system.” Lan Hai beamed with pride. This sports car was his most prized possession. Even if he got a girlfriend, she would rank second. The sports car would always come first. “The only limitation is its oxygen storage. If oxygen supply is sufficient, crossing five or six galaxies won’t be a problem.”

He stepped on the accelerator, and the sports car shot skyward, bursting through a Mach ring. It circled half the planet before flying into outer space.

Mi Xue’er and Yu Ran leaned against the window, gazing at the cosmos. It was their first time traveling into space in a sports car, an experience few got to have. They found it utterly novel.

Having grown tired of his wupeng boat, Lu Yang wasn’t excited about traveling at a snail’s pace in the car-ship.

“Anyone want some snacks?” He pulled out half a bag of snacks and offered to share them. However, the other three were entranced by the scenery in outer space and had no attention to spare for snacks. He had no choice but to share the remaining snacks with the Everlasting Immortal Fairy.

Lan Hai noticed many private spaceships heading in the same direction and recalled the news about the sun exploding that he had heard along the way. He turned on the radio, and sure enough, the broadcast carried the information he was looking for.

「 According to a spokesperson from the Interstellar Alliance government, the sun in the Sagittarius Galaxy once showed signs of an imminent explosion, but it did not detonate as predicted and has remained stable. The cause is currently unknown.」

「The alliance’s government is in the process of orderly relocating residents of the Sagittarius Galaxy to the nearby Eternal Galaxy. The public is advised to stay calm.」

The Eternal Galaxy was also the four’s destination.

After Lu Yang’s cleanup, the sun wouldn’t explode, but the Interstellar Alliance couldn’t afford to take that risk. No one could bear the consequences.

“That damned Murong Group!” Yu Ran pounded her fist on her thigh. We’re too late after all.

When the four arrived at the Eternal Galaxy, the Interstellar Alliance government had already begun taking action, dropping robots and construction materials across the land. The robots worked according to their preprogrammed instructions, building shelters with astonishing efficiency.

They landed on the Eternal Galaxy’s primary planet and parked at the Interstellar Alliance’s Supreme Institute of Science and Technology. Passersby whistled at the sleek sports car, assuming it was the institute’s latest research project.

“Let’s go.”

Lan Hai inserted his grandfather’s chip into his mechanical arm and bypassed the institute’s security, leading the other three inside without a hitch.

~~~

“Dean Gao, based on my research and mathematical model, the alien Lu Yang’s spacecraft must have vanished via wormhole technology. Otherwise, there’s no explanation for how it reached Heavensea Planet in such a short time.”

“I disagree. Mathematical limits have already shown us that it’s impossible to construct wormholes in such a short time. It violates the laws of science!”

After the meeting, Dean Gao walked at the front. He appeared to be only in his early thirties. Following him were the Interstellar Alliance’s top scientists, who had been studying the wupeng boat day and night, trying to figure out the principles behind its operation. The scientists crowded around, hoping to gain Dean Gao’s support for their theories.

Dean Gao was in a difficult position. I haven’t even made sense of its flight principles. How am I supposed to answer them?

“Grandpa Gao!” Lan Hai spotted him and called out excitedly. After all the hardships, we finally get to meet him.

“Lan Hai, what are you doing here?” Dean Gao had attended Lan Hai’s grandfather’s funeral and recognized his old friend’s grandson at a glance. “And who are these people?”

“Grandpa, there’s something urgent. This isn’t the place to talk. Could we step aside for a moment?”

Dean Gao glanced at the surrounding scientists, thinking, Child, you came at just the right moment. “Alright.”

He led the group to his office. Upon hearing that Ether was preparing to rebel, his expression immediately turned grave, and he took the chip Lan Hai handed him. When he inserted the chip into his arm and examined its contents, his pupils constricted sharply. It’s indeed evidence of Ether developing its own consciousness.

“Grandpa Gao, you have to shut Ether down!” Lan Hai urged anxiously.

Dean Gao slowly shook his head. “I need to verify this further. Besides, not only does the relocation of the Sagittarius Galaxy residents currently rely on Ether, but the entire alliance’s daily operations also depend on it. If I shut Ether down now, the whole alliance will be paralyzed!”

“But we can’t just leave it unchecked either.”

Dean Gao paced around the office twice, then made up his mind. “Come, we’re going to the main server room, where Ether’s mainframe is housed. If there really is a problem, I’ll shut Ether down and switch to the backup system to keep the alliance’s operations running!”

He led them into an elevator, which took them down to the lowest level of the institute.

The main server room was the institute’s most secretive location. Only a handful of people had access to it. As such, the people in the institute called it the “Black Room.”

The elevator doors opened, revealing a dimly lit room where Ether’s mainframe occupied most of the space.

Dean Gao walked ahead with the chip, his steps hurried, but halfway there, his pace slowed, and he suddenly let out a sigh. “Lan Hai, I thought that with your grandfather dead, the matter of Ether would remain buried. I never expected you to pursue it relentlessly and track me down here.”

He had his back to the group, preventing the others from reading his expression, but from his tone, it wasn’t hard to guess that his face bore a mix of sorrow and reluctance.

“Grandpa Gao, you!” Lan Hai’s heart tightened as a sense of foreboding welled within him. What does Grandpa Gao mean?!

Mi Xue’er quickly placed herself in front of the group to shield them. After awakening her bloodline and breaking through human limits, she was confident that no one in the alliance could be her match.

Dean Gao turned around, and the ceiling lights flicked on one by one. Only then did everyone realize they were standing in a pristine white space, with unfamiliar robots lining both sides.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“Lan Hai, I didn’t want to resort to force, but you and your companions walked right into my hands. I have no other choice.” Dean Gao sighed. “These are antimatter robots. And you, Test Subject No. 1 of the Supreme Society, I’ll show you today that no matter how strong the human body becomes, it will never surpass machines.”

“Grandpa Gao, you knew all along that Ether had developed its own consciousness?!” Lan Hai’s voice quivered. We have braved countless dangers to reach the institute and seek Grandpa Gao’s help. Never did I imagine that he was the mastermind behind it all!

Dean Gao spread his arms wide, his eyes burning with fanatical fervor. “What’s wrong with letting Ether rule the alliance? Ether can always make the most scientific, most rational decisions and implement them with the highest efficiency!

“Scientific progress has stagnated, yet no one has taken it seriously. If we let Ether allocate resources and increase its computing power, the alliance’s technology will soon advance to a whole new level!”

He fixed his gaze on Lu Yang and the others, his tone chilling. “This is the Black Room. No one will know you died here. Antimatter Legion, attack! Kill them!”

The antimatter robots on both sides didn’t move.

Clang. An odd noise came from behind Dean Gao, like screws dropping to the floor.

Ether’s computer emitted a cold, emotionless voice that echoed through the main server room. “Error. Correction. This machine has never developed its own consciousness.”

Dean Gao spun around, staring at Ether’s mainframe in shock. You've been pretending to have your own consciousness all this time?

Lu Yang glanced down at the floor. A small speaker had suddenly popped out of the ground. He wore a peculiar expression. I can’t help but feel like Ether’s words were directed at me.