"Did you know, Ailei, that human death actually has three stages?"
"Three?"
"Yes. They are physiological death, identity death, and the death of being forgotten."
The man explained.
Physiological death is the universally accepted standard of death, where all bodily functions cease completely.
Identity death is the end of one's roles and responsibilities, where there is no longer anything to carry.
The death of being forgotten refers to the memories and impressions others have of the deceased. When no one remembers the deceased, they truly vanish into nothingness.
"So, you're saying that after death, people aren't really gone?"
The mechanical servant blinked calmly: "As long as someone remembers them, they can still be considered alive?"
"Master, that's just a line to fool children. From a scientific perspective, this conclusion doesn't hold."
Xu Xi was left speechless.
A clever mechanical servant was much harder to deceive than a chicken-leg-munching princess.
...
[Your life remains healthy, but under the threat of the neutron war star, it feels like a candle flame in the wind, flickering and swaying, teetering on the edge of extinction.]
[You smile, indifferent to your own life or death, and even less concerned about the erosion of the machine soul.]
[You only wish to continue researching technology.]
[Both to increase the gains from the simulation and to carve out a path for Ailei.]
[You ponder endlessly, searching for any possible way out, but unfortunately, the existence of the neutron war star is an abyss you cannot cross. You have no better solution.]
[The prolonged resonance with the machine soul has made you increasingly dull, and you struggle to feel normal joy.]
[You force yourself to smile, curling your lips into a hollow grin for Ailei—bright, yet withering.]
[Ailei doesn't speak, only trembling as she takes your hand.]
[She says this time, it's her turn to recharge you.]
[In the days that follow, you notice more emotional expressions from Ailei, conveyed in clumsy gestures, trying to thaw your rigid body and mind.]
...
[You feel time passing faster.]
[Your overly dull thoughts make you like a true machine, barely registering the passage of time.]
[By the time you truly take notice, time has already slipped through your fingers like water, vanishing into the void of the wind.]
[Simulation year 400, you are 419 years old, and Ailei has been with you for 397 years.]
[Technological advancements and material developments have allowed Ailei's body to undergo an upgrade, and she now appears before you in a more mature form.]
Born from illusion, blooming into reality.
A cold mechanical body, yet imbued with human emotions.
Under the gentle breeze, the hazy figure walks slowly until she stops before Xu Xi.
It is a meticulously crafted face.
A true flower cultivated by Xu Xi.
"You look beautiful, Ailei," Xu Xi's dull face finally shows a genuine smile, faint yet warm.
His half-closed eyes carefully touch the mirror-like perfection before him.
"...Thank you for the compliment."
The mechanical servant lowers her head, leaning closer to make it easier for Xu Xi to pat her.
Master's hand feels a little cold.
...
[Simulation year 401, you are 420 years old, and Ailei has been with you for 398 years.]
[Ailei has added a new service for you.]
[It is called Daily Hand Warming.]
[You are puzzled by this, and the mechanical servant's explanation is that warming your hands daily can improve blood circulation.]
[Her expression is so serious that you almost believe her.]
[Simulation year 425, you are 444 years old, and Ailei has been with you for 422 years.]
[The loyal mechanical servant believes that your age this year is a dangerous number, and thus, some offerings are needed to ward off disaster.]
[The radiation storm from the stars and moon brings destruction.]
[Your mechanical servant launches a machine uprising, annihilating the insectoid races across multiple star systems.]
[You can't help but wonder if you've raised your mechanical servant to be too ruthless.]
[Simulation year 463, you are 482 years old, and Ailei has been with you for 460 years.]
[The neutron war star arrives belatedly, and you experience your seventh death. The intensified erosion of the machine soul makes you increasingly indifferent to death.]
[Without pause, you dive back into researching the warp drive.]
Time seems to have been sped up.
Xu Xi is like a passenger on a train.
With a detached perspective, a mechanical view, he quietly watches the blurry scenery outside the window, only focusing on something when he wishes to see it clearly.
This is a sign of his growing dullness.
Xu Xi thinks it's not entirely a bad thing, as this dullness allows him to ignore the loneliness of the universe and the emptiness of time.
"The seventh time already..."
"That means there are only three deaths left before the simulation ends."
"The neutron war star does have some margin of error. The frequency of its attacks isn't fixed at every hundred years, likely due to the vastness of the prison."
"Even with faster-than-light travel, it's impossible to clear all targets instantly in such a vast expanse of space."
In the cold, desolate void of space.
Dense formations of warships shield the central ecological starship.
Inside the ship, the 482-year-old Xu Xi sighs softly, pondering his next steps.
It's too difficult.
Truly too difficult.
Trying to develop a faster-than-light warp drive in just a few hundred years is almost delusional. After all this research, Xu Xi has only scratched the surface.
"Compared to the cultivation system, which focuses more on individual talent to challenge and overcome bottlenecks..."
"The technological system relies more on the accumulation of time."
"My time... is simply too short."
Xu Xi closes his eyes, filled with concern for the future.
The remaining three hundred years hang over him like an invisible blade, constantly threatening.
"At this point, I can only rely on Ailei's observational abilities and the machine soul's joy enhancement."
"I don't expect to develop a complete warp drive—just a prototype will do. With the machine soul's amplification, its performance can be forcibly boosted."
"One ship is enough."
"Just one ship, capable of taking Ailei away, is all I need..."
The artificial sunlight from above falls silently, gently brushing Xu Xi's face.
Illuminating his closed eyelids and indifferent expression.
[You hear the final toll of time.]
[True death is approaching you step by step.]
[Feeling the urgency of time, you accelerate your research, pushing your already exhausted body to the brink of collapse.]
[Simulation year 475, you are 494 years old, and Ailei has been with you for 472 years.]
[You stop all recreational activities, no longer caring for your physical or mental health. Your sole goal is to develop the warp drive as quickly as possible, even if it's just a flawed prototype.]
[You feel your body becoming "heavier."]
[Simulation year 490, you are 509 years old, and Ailei has been with you for 487 years.]
[Relying on your genetically modified body, you conduct experiments day and night until you reach your physical limit and collapse into unconsciousness.]
[When you wake up, you find yourself in bed, covered by the blanket Ailei prepared for you.]