In a way, the man who invented this machine could be considered the savior of the Trial Arena World. Though he didn't achieve complete deliverance, he at least left behind a glimmer of hope.
It's a pity, however, that such a remarkable individual ultimately left no name behind.
After understanding the full story, Elysia couldn't help but ask, "How much energy would it take to recreate the entire world?"
Little Glutton replied, "Answer: Due to the instability of the Dimensional Rift and the subsequent emergence of various Extraordinary Powers, the energy requirement would skyrocket. Therefore, the optimal time for reconstruction is before the Rift appears. Based on calculations using Trial Arena reward points as a baseline, approximately three quadrillion units of energy would be needed."
This explains why Shi Jun and the others in the Trial Arena knew nothing of Extraordinary Powers or the Dimensional Rift—they were all people who had died long before the Rift's emergence.
Elysia froze upon hearing the figure of three quadrillion. "H-how much?!"
For a fleeting moment, Elysia wondered if she could use her nearly limitless Honkai energy to help the machine recreate its world.
But the instant she heard the staggering figure of three quadrillion, she abandoned the idea.
Elysia might possess an almost inexhaustible supply of energy, but her output rate was finite. Even if she tirelessly generated pure, harmless Honkai energy at full speed, never resting, until the day she died of old age, she would never accumulate three quadrillion units.
That makes sense, she thought. Recreating an entire world would require an astronomical amount of energy. It would be strange if it didn't.
The absurdly large number hung in the air, silencing everyone for a moment, until Little Glutton suddenly spoke up. "Query: Do you have any further questions? I have pinpointed the location of your world and can now send you back."
As she spoke, a mechanical tentacle extended from the machine toward Elysia and the Scholar. It paused just before reaching them, and a drone materialized at the tentacle's tip.
Remember when the Scholar sent a drone into the Dimensional Rift to investigate its interior after the rift first appeared?
The drone hovering before them was the very one the Scholar had sent into the Dimensional Rift.
No wonder the footage it transmitted had been blank—Little Glutton had captured it directly.
As the Scholar retrieved the drone, an oval Portal materialized behind them.
Little Glutton's objective was simple: to complete the core mission left by its Master—to reshape the world. It cared nothing for anything else.
This indifference was precisely why it was so easy to communicate with. It answered Elysia and the Scholar's questions without hesitation, because none of that information mattered to its primary goal.
As long as they didn't interfere with its world-reshaping task, there would be no conflict.
Theoretically, neither of them could assist in reshaping the world anyway. So, after their conversation ended (when they fell silent for a while), Little Glutton opened the Portal for them.
"..." Elysia glanced at the Scholar. If they left now, their venture into the Dimensional Rift could be considered a success, at least superficially. They had entered the rift, spent some time inside, and emerged, after which the rift vanished.
No matter how she looked at it, leaving now would be a tremendous waste.
After a moment of contemplation, the Scholar gazed at the machine before her and proposed, "Perhaps we can strike a bargain. I want your technology for converting energy into recorded matter, as well as all the information you possess about Dimensional Rifts in your world."
Negotiating with another person, revealing one's objectives so plainly from the outset would be a fatal mistake, allowing the other party to manipulate you. But this was different; her counterpart was a cold, calculating machine. By stating her terms clearly from the start, she hoped to streamline the negotiation process.
"Query: What will you offer in exchange?" Little Glutton responded.
The Scholar raised her briefcase. "This."
"Rejection: While you possess technologies in domains I haven't explored, they hold little practical value for me," Little Glutton replied.
"No," the Scholar shook her head. "Not the briefcase itself, but the gem inside—a gemstone containing limitless energy. With it, you wouldn't even need to maintain the Trial Arena. By continuously drawing energy from the gem, you could reach three thousand trillion units of time far faster than you currently can."
"I can entrust it to you until you've reshaped your world, and then you can return it to me."
Recall that the Scholar's rise to her position among the White Eagle Eight stemmed from acquiring an artifact from a Dimensional Rift—this very gemstone.
It's worth noting that while the agreement stipulated only a loan of the gemstone, who knew how long it would take Little Glutton to gather three quadrillion units of energy? The Scholar might even die of old age before Little Glutton managed to accumulate that much. Thus, the Scholar appeared to be at a significant disadvantage in this exchange.
Her entire briefcase, in fact, was essentially a colossal warehouse built around the gemstone. Her Space Compression Technology and Nanomechanical Technology were all predicated on the briefcase's infinite energy supply.
This also explained why the Scholar's Nanostorm deactivated within two hours of being detached from the briefcase: without sufficient energy, the nanomachines could only replenish their power while connected to it.
Without a doubt, this gemstone was of paramount importance to the Scholar. It served as the cornerstone of all her technological creations, and without it, most of her devices would become useless. Yet, at this very moment, she was offering it in trade to the mechanical entity before her.
A world destroyed by a Dimensional Rift... Did this mean the Scholar's own world was destined to suffer the same fate?
This exchange was a dual investment. Acquiring the pinnacle of technology from another world would benefit her personally, while the vast trove of information on Dimensional Rifts would safeguard her own world.
As she explained, the Scholar began manipulating her briefcase. After three painstaking minutes of meticulous work, the briefcase slowly disassembled, revealing a diamond-shaped blue crystal that floated into the air.
Little Glutton fell silent, processing the offer for over fifteen minutes before finally responding, "Agreed. I accept the trade."