Chapter 195: [star Egg]
In the bustling Business Hall, Meng Xiyue was startled awake by the broadcast voice.
Her small pink-haired body suddenly shuddered violently, sitting up straight and opening her frightened eyes: “I, what is this?!”
Upon waking, she hurriedly felt her body, her small hand touching between her nose and mouth, and upon looking down and confirming no bloodstains, her expression turned puzzled.
For a moment, she couldn’t distinguish whether this was real or a dream.
Everything that happened earlier in the Space-Time Fault was too real, even this Business Hall before her had once been littered with corpses, collapsed and shattered, with traces of battle everywhere.
But at this moment, another voice in her heart told her those were all false.
In her ‘memory’, after their group arrived at the Star Realm Bank by airship, they smoothly came to this hall to handle business, took a number, and quietly waited. Due to extreme boredom, she fell into a deep sleep.
Thus, she puzzled, “Am I dreaming?”
Suddenly, her body shook as she felt her pants pocket overly bulging and uncomfortable. Involuntarily, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of paper money and coins.
Huh? Why so much loose change? This isn’t my style at all! Wait, no! This isn’t my money at all; it’s what I earned ‘looting corpses’ with Little Zhu Zi in the dream!
Since the backpack was already full, she had no choice but to stuff this small change into her pocket. So… I wasn’t dreaming; it was all real! We smoothly returned from the Space-Time Fault to the Present World, and I was implanted with a layer of false ‘real memory’?!
Realizing the issue, Meng Xiyue hurriedly grabbed her backpack from the nearby seat. Upon opening it, she immediately spotted the mildly polluted and damaged ‘Skull Server’, and her expression gradually turned grim.
Finally, with a mournful expression, she turned to Yuan Zhu and the others beside her, who looked concerned and curious, and wailed, “A Miao, all my Little Pumpkins are gone! Were they restored like this Business Hall?”
The more she spoke, the heavier her mood became. Dejected and self-pitying, as if abandoned by the world.
Her speculation was reasonable. Since the Space Fault had returned, the originally destroyed hall had been fully restored, and those comatose and dead passersby had all revived one after another, starting to handle business at the counters. Then, the Little Pumpkins stolen from the VIP lounge would logically reset to their pre-theft state, wouldn’t they?
Hearing this, Yuan Zhu was also startled and hurriedly checked his Soul Space, then let out a long sigh of relief. The Holy Seal was reliable; this space was on the inner side of the Holy Light Network, protected by the Holy Light Source, sacred and inviolable.
Thus, the thirty-plus Little Pumpkins were neatly stacked in the Soul Space. Each one contained a small space of varying size, stuffed full of handicrafts, calligraphy and painting, antiques… truly a bountiful harvest day.
Thus, Yuan Zhu comforted her: “Don’t be sad. As the saying goes, ‘Pink Hair loses pumpkins, who knows if it’s not a blessing?’ Though you lost the Little Pumpkins, you kept your pocket money!”
He pointed at the loose bills and coins in Meng Xiyue’s hand; these were all collected from the Fault, and added up, they weren’t a small amount.
“Huh?” The heartbroken and despairing pink hair suddenly paused, surprised, “Right! Everything was obtained from the Fault, so why were these paper money and coins preserved, but the Little Pumpkins disappeared?”
Thus, she felt even more heartbroken!
A Miao suddenly spoke: “Your Little Pumpkins aren’t lost; they’re all with me. I worried you couldn’t hide them in your backpack, so I took the liberty of keeping them for you. No rush to return them until we leave the Star Realm Bank.”
“Not lost?” Meng Xiyue came back to her senses and giggled again, saying to A Miao, “Yes, yes, no rush. Sister Miao, just keep them safe for me. But why are we still staying in the bank? Why not leave directly?”
Those memories from the Space Fault melted away like ice and snow, becoming clear. Meanwhile, the false memories she focused on became hazy like a dream.
Thus, she realized that the three of them had made a big haul in the Space Fault without encountering danger, cleverly avoiding the greatest conflict from a passerby’s perspective, ultimately winning by lying down and even touching the Star Core.
Originally, they came to the bank to transfer money to A Miao to buy arms. But this transaction had already been completed inside the Fault, so there was no need to stay longer now; they should leave quickly and get her Little Pumpkins back!
A Miao replied: “The reason we stayed is, first, to wait for you two to wake up. We couldn’t just drag you out while asleep; that would be too conspicuous. Second, I plan to handle some business.”
Yuan Zhu chimed in: “Yeah, yeah, I also need to handle business, to settle my consumption in Yellow Millet Town and prepay some money.”
He was already a regular at Yellow Millet Town and planned to frequently hold White Feather Association team-building activities there in the future. Moreover, as someone with a ‘private Dreamland’ in the Bubble World, he had strong interest in Yellow Millet Town, this veteran large-scale Dreamland, and planned to observe and learn to optimize his own Cockroach Village.
Therefore, he needed to open an account at the Star Realm Bank, deposit a large sum, so he could continue consuming on credit without being blacklisted.
Seeing the two weren’t leaving, Meng Xiyue rubbed her eyes, leaned back in her chair to rest: “Fine then, I’ll deposit some money too while I’m at it. Oh, right, don’t take out those anonymous Savings Cards that came with the Little Pumpkins; that would be suicidal.”
The Star Realm Bank had just been robbed of a batch of Little Pumpkins, and then the matching gift cards suddenly appeared at the counter. This would be as conspicuous as robbing a bank and then, without even changing clothes or removing stockings, carrying the sack back to make a deposit.
Yuan Zhu gave her a glance: “Who are you looking down on?”
At this time, Yuan Zhu, who had also fully recovered his memories, while perceiving the wondrous and contradictory sensation of two kinds of ‘true and false memories’ coexisting, reviewed his gains from the ‘Space-Time Fault’.
Then he heard a question from beside him: “Did you get anything from the Star Core?”
Hearing this, he was first a bit dazed, then realized, and began perceiving and studying the ‘information’ in his brain. With Little Spicy Stick’s assistance, he discovered a massive Unknown File in the Soul Firewall (Data Cache Area).
Then, he gradually understood that before the countdown ended, with the Great Desolation Immortal Scripture’s assistance (buffering), he had forcibly copied an unreadable ‘file’ from that Star Core, now fully integrated and placed in the Data Soul. Not only could it not break through the defenses to be read, but it was like an unhatched egg?
According to Little Spicy Stick’s analysis, this File not only provided no valuable information but was reversely absorbing and taking ‘dataized soul information’ as nutrients to nurture itself.
Yuan Zhu was somewhat vigilant: “Is this a bad thing?”
Little Spicy Stick proudly said: “Of course not. Not to mention you, Boss, even I have 100% confidence to completely delete it from the ‘dataized soul’! So, it poses no threat; it’s your property.”
Currently, this ‘egg (strange file)’ wasn’t absorbing much of his knowledge (dataized information). It showed no interest in Shadow or Holy Light, while emitting a picky hunger, desiring more valuable and nutritious ‘food’ from Yuan Zhu’s soul to optimize and complete itself.
Spicy Stick said: “I can guarantee that this ‘thing (egg/unknown file)’ is now 100% ours. But it’s strange because it’s not a life form! Nor is it an artificial intelligence like me with soul consciousness! Nor a new pollution system. Instead, it’s like an ‘incomplete, unreadable’ Knowledge System Framework.
“In my view, it’s a crude framework of a profound and systematic ‘supernatural knowledge system (Star Core)’ originating from the future. It craves your feeding, needing your own knowledge to fill the framework into an Embryo, and once complete, it will hatch into a perfect, self-owned ‘systematic knowledge system’.”
Yuan Zhu raised an eyebrow, somewhat tempted, and asked: “A knowledge system to construct Star Constellations? Or, cultivating a ‘Path of Divinity’ for a Star Constellation Master?”
In his mind, 22 Paths of Divinity inexplicably surfaced.
In the girlfriends’ world, each path to godhood involved a dozen or so magic potion formulas and rituals, capable of forging a deity at the highest level. Even if he didn’t use it himself, and it lacked matching supernatural traits, merely knowing the full ‘sequence information’ was extraordinary foundation.
And this ‘egg’ currently in the Boss Template was somewhat similar to an ‘incomplete, gestating’ Path of Divinity. Representing the full ascension knowledge for one of the Twenty-Eight Star Constellations?
Therefore, it wasn’t a life form (egg), nor a soul, nor a Pollution Root like a Seed. But a set of ‘supernatural knowledge, pollution elements’ fed by himself, completely shaped into his form, a self-customized ‘brand new supernatural star constellation knowledge system’?
Ultimately, it would become an independent Supernatural System that could spawn ones under his control?
Little Spicy Stick responded: “In short, though there’s no immediate gain, I think this is worth it. This should be a treasure; we’ll nurture it slowly. According to the Immortal Scripture records, it has absorbed some nutrients.”
“Absorbed what?”
Spicy Stick: “Some basic polluting energy of shadow and Holy Light, as well as beginner knowledge (dataized soul information). It only ate a bit, then stopped. It seems uninterested in deeper Tiger Demon Divine Ability or Holy Light Skills. Moreover, the energy and knowledge it consumed won’t affect your original cognition. So, Boss, you need more trials to find what interests it, learn specific things, summarize valuable information, and feed it in.”
…
After figuring out what he gained from the Star Core, he turned to the curiously asking Meng Xiyue: “What did you get from that Star Core? I’m totally confused; I feel like there’s something in my brain, but I can’t read it, and it even causes some headache, strain, discomfort.”
Meng Xiyue surprised: “Huh? That’s how it feels for you?”
She subconsciously touched the non-existent blood at her eye corners and nasal cavity, still with lingering fear: “Besides bleeding from all seven orifices and the intense phantom pain of brain overload, my brain gained much ‘dormant knowledge’ that’s incomprehensible but surely very valuable.”
Yuan Zhu: “What do you mean incomprehensible yet valuable dormant knowledge? Explain; what’s your situation?”
Meng Xiyue: “I vaguely recall the feeling of touching the Star Core then. It was a massive Supernatural Core containing and fusing vast information. Upon contact, it tried to leak higher-level ‘information’ to me. But my strength, abilities, cognition, and possessed supernatural powers and knowledge were limited. Only ‘knowledge’ I could comprehend would resonate with the Star Core.”
“It was like a dam containing infinite water; I was just a small container, using my own knowledge and cognition as the ‘connector + filter’, filtering some ‘higher knowledge’ fitting me from the immense pressure of the dam into my mind. Under the terrifying pressure, it kept pouring until the soul (container) was full and on the verge of bursting before stopping.”
“So I’m sure this harvest is huge. The obtained ‘high-ranking knowledge’ is surely closely tied to the Knowledge School, but I lack the ability to read and comprehend it now, so it can only settle for a while, recuperate. Once the soul further strengthens and grows, I can slowly absorb these nutrients.”
Yuan Zhu understood, but grew more puzzled. How was this guy’s situation completely different from his?
Though he also couldn’t read it and was forcibly infused, he didn’t feel he’d gained ‘higher knowledge’ that could be slowly digested and absorbed by himself.
On the contrary, this mass of ‘knowledge’ was hungrily crying out to him, demanding he feed it ‘knowledge’ to shape it into his form?
Totally upside down, right?! No gain at all; instead, continuous one-sided expenditure, with no end to the ‘hatching day’ in sight.
Thus, he looked at A Miao with expectant eyes.
A Miao set down the impurities: “Mine is similar to Meng Xiyue’s but also different. I stayed awake throughout, actively filtering and selecting the information the Star Core infused into me, ultimately selectively absorbing some comprehensible knowledge, enriching my foundation.”
Yuan Zhu was even more dissatisfied; it seemed like only he was different?
“What did you get?”
A Miao shook her head: “Don’t ask about such things casually in the future; it’s extremely sensitive personal privacy. Simply put, it’s formulas for establishing close ties with the Star Realm and acquiring Starlight Energy while in the Human World or different layers. And survival and combat guides in the Star Realm. How to evolve oneself into a Star Realm life form suited to the Star Realm environment… etc.”
Meng Xiyue: “Are you planning to ascend to outer space?”
“Haven’t thought about it, but it’s worth considering.”
While the few were whispering, Meng Xiyue suddenly elbowed Yuan Zhu: “Hey, hey, look! That guy in the bright blue striped suit—he didn’t die? Do you remember him?”
Following Meng Xiyue’s indication, Yuan Zhu saw a man in a blue suit who had finished his business and was passing in front of them. Then, he suddenly recalled the scene of the man dying miserably in the corridor, his body dismembered, eyes wide in death.
This person had been parasitized by a Buddha Cocoon in the Space Fault, then slain by the veteran squad. Unexpectedly, he was alive again now?
A Miao: “What happened in the Space Fault can be treated as a dream; for you and me now, it’s a false illusion. Everything experienced in the Space Fault—only our real gains were preserved. The rest was rewritten.”
Yuan Zhu: “What about the ‘timeline’ effects?”
A Miao: “Buddhism’s plot to seize the Star Core failed; they don’t know what happened in the Fault. The stolen supplies from the Star Realm Bank were rebalanced by the Time-Space Security Bureau
