(Volume 5: How Is This Universe So Different From What I Imagined?)
The Cosmic Juggernaut Train instantly severed all its energy sources.
The AI went offline on the spot.
"Not bad. At least it didn't pull that stupid 'mechanical restart requires authentication' nonsense on me."
Noldrei quickly rebooted the Cosmic Juggernaut Train. This time, he went straight to the backend, physically unplugged the AI's connection, and switched to full on-site manual control.
Senti hadn't even had time to react before she saw Noldrei perform a flurry of dazzling maneuvers.
"What are you doing?! You damn bastard!"
She immediately realized what Noldrei was up to. Grabbing Elysia, she found a place to sit down and brace herself. At the same time, Noldrei even activated the safety protection systems.
"Don't panic. Nobody's going to die..."
His calm demeanor made it seem as if he wasn't about to charge a stargate, but was simply heading out for a normal business trip.
[Warp Mode Engaged]
[Energy charging complete. Backup power activated.]
[Imaginary Barrier deployed.]
[Core preheating complete.]
[Zeroth-Rated Power initiated.]
Noldrei watched the Cosmic Juggernaut Train's operations with some surprise. He discovered that its method of using Imaginary energy wasn't direct utilization, but rather by first using an ability similar to the Herrscher of the Void's to open a channel to the Imaginary Tree.
After a brief observation of the ship's startup sequence, Noldrei had a solid grasp of the situation.
"Are you insane? We haven't even run any tests!"
Senti thought Noldrei was an absolute madman.
"What are you thinking? As if we could find a test subject. Besides ourselves, who else could you possibly expect to run a test on this thing?"
"Let's not worry about that for now. If anything goes wrong on the way, I might need your help with repairs. We can talk about any problems after we've broken out of the solar system."
"I have no idea where we'll warp to. Hopefully, we can find a decent set of coordinates."
"I wonder if we'll end up in the core of a star. Tesla said this thing has undergone corresponding stress tests, so I imagine it shouldn't be a major issue."
This wasn't the first time Noldrei had experienced this kind of work. It reminded him of a poem from the human history of his own world.
One of its most famous lines was still preserved even one hundred and thirty thousand years into the future.
[We have nothing left but the universe.]
"Warp!"
---||---
As the saying goes, "Sailing the seas depends on the helmsman."
Even in the cosmos, one still needs to use various methods to perceive the direction one is headed.
Many civilizations had been lost, immersed in that endless sea of stars.
Some could see the infinite cosmic rays, the entire universe moving like the lines on their palm.
Others could only perceive the faintest visible light, the universe appearing as a pitch-black expanse.
But as the ancient philosopher said, "A gentleman is not born different from others; he is simply good at making use of things."
You can't just refuse to change your situation because you can't see, can you?
Of course, you have to find ways to develop better tools to aid your work. Otherwise, you're just a blind man on the road, liable to step straight into a river and be done for.
On the Xianzhou Luofu, the Divination Commission was responsible for this very task.
But as it turned out, that meant absolutely nothing. History has shown that a prophet is called a prophet for a reason: their prophecies come true.
The root of all historical subversion always lies outside the recorded annals.
Just like today. Operating the Matrix of Prescience was just another normal day's work for the current Divination Commission.
The so-called jade abacus calculators were tools where jade talismans were engraved and set to run constantly within a machine, allowing them to perform a specific type of calculation.
In layman's terms, they were essentially supercomputers that ran on a special energy and were used to observe the laws of the universe.
The great Matrix of Prescience itself was more like a massive, floating public square, which could also be seen as a colossal, floating computer complex.
The Divination Commission's job was to use this giant computer to carry out sensory activities concerning cosmic events.
However, today, if nothing unexpected happened, then something unexpected was bound to happen.
A golden streak of light flashed over the Xianzhou Luofu. A massive amount of Imaginary energy, seemingly piercing through the Luofu's protective barriers and carrying immense kinetic energy, blitzed towards the Divination Commission without a second glance.
It plunged down in a near-perfect vertical dive toward the center of the Matrix of Prescience.
On that day, the Master Diviner had calculated many things, but the one thing she hadn't calculated was that someone would launch a blitz attack on her commission, aiming to gouge out the eyes of the Xianzhou Luofu.
A tremendous BOOM from the impact reverberated outwards, and the entire Xianzhou Luofu seemed to ripple from the energy wave. The legendary phenomenon of an "earthquake" once again gave its people the joyful experience of living on a planet.
The disheveled Master Diviner was sent flying by the shockwave, while the staff outside the array were so stunned that even the thought of calling for help froze in their minds.
They stared in shock at the huge hole torn in the center of the Matrix of Prescience. Its most crucial component, the CPU, had been smashed to bits by the sudden "enemy."
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"Quick, call the Cloud Knights!"
"Damn it! Someone's attacking the Xianzhou! What the hell are the troops outside doing?"
"What?! What's going on?!"
Just then, a young woman in a green dress came running out of the restroom. She had only been squatting on the toilet with her phone for a little too long and had almost been splashed by the water from the flush.
Upon sensing that her workplace had been wrecked, her first thought—before she could even consider how many vacation days she might get—was for the safety of her boss, the Master Diviner.
A bizarre, colossal locomotive was embedded right in the center of the Matrix of Prescience.
The young woman had never seen such a scene in her entire life. She even briefly wondered if the Master Diviner had summoned the attack of some Aeon, only for someone to airdrop a bomb like this in return.
"Master Diviner! Master Diviner!"
"Fu Xuan! Boss Fu Xuan!"
"My dear leader!!"
"How am I supposed to live without you! Who else will give me so many chances to slack off?!"
"Master Diviner!"
After trying the communicator and screaming her lungs out for a long time without a response, the young woman was utterly dumbfounded.
Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground, bawling her eyes out.
The thought of never again having such a great boss who would give her so many opportunities to slack off felt like the sky was falling.
"Qingque! Cut the waterworks!"
A familiar voice once again reached Qingque's ears.
Her tear-streaked face immediately lit up with a delighted expression. Sniffling, she grabbed her leader's skirt and asked loudly, "You're alive! You're not dead! Oh, thank goodness! Thank goodness! I thought you were a goner!"
The Master Diviner, Fu Xuan, yanked at her dress in embarrassment and anger. Her clothes were in tatters. Her already modest red-string halter top had been chafed and snapped by the impact.
The only reason she hadn't come out sooner was because her clothes were ruined, aside from checking on the injured.
But seeing Qingque wailing so miserably, she had come out to comfort her.
She never could have imagined that the Matrix of Prescience, which had foreseen countless calamities, had failed to foresee its own fate.