In Xu Xi's room.
There stood an hourglass.
A symmetrical glass vessel, connected by a slender neck in the middle, supported by an external wooden frame.
The falling grains of sand marked the slow passage of time.
It carried the memories of the past, turning them into eternal moments gone by.
In the gentle sound of the sand slipping, Xu Xi opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the familiar silver-blue mechanical gaze.
Ailei sat on the edge of the bed, quietly waiting for Xu Xi to wake up, holding a warm golden tonic in her hands.
"Master, please drink the soup."
As Xu Xi awoke.
The silver-blue light in her eyes brightened slightly.
Xu Xi wanted to take the bowl and drink by himself, but the mechanical maid firmly refused, pressing him back and feeding him spoonful by spoonful.
"Then... thank you, Ailei."
Facing the girl's eyes, Xu Xi couldn't bring himself to refuse.
And so.
The golden tonic was fed to Xu Xi with gentle and meticulous care by Ailei.
The soup was warm, not too hot.
As he finished it, a faint warmth spread through him.
But this was futile. Xu Xi's body, riddled with scars, and his increasingly indifferent spirit, could not be healed by a mere bowl of soup.
Yet Xu Xi still smiled, forcing the corners of his mouth to curve stiffly.
"It's very effective, Ailei."
"Thanks to your tonic, I feel quite well now."
The experiments on the curvature engine still lacked many key points, and Xu Xi was eager to return to the lab, to continue resonating with the mechanical souls for inspiration.
However, Ailei grabbed his hand.
"Master..."
"I'm... very worried about you..."
Her voice echoed in the air, hollow and trembling.
When Xu Xi turned back, he saw this scene.
The cold mechanical maid, dressed in a black-and-white maid outfit, her hair falling from her ears, one hand lightly covering her chest, the other gripping Xu Xi's hand.
The image was shattered.
Like a smooth mirror struck by a hammer named "emotion."
Crackling.
The pieces fell to the ground without pause.
With each shard that broke, the hand holding Xu Xi tightened even more.
"Please... don't continue anymore..."
Ailei's hand was warm, powered by the mechanical furnace, keeping her mechanical body at a constant temperature.
She clumsily held onto Xu Xi, trying to transfer that warmth to him.
Her demeanor was endearing.
"..."
Xu Xi fell silent.
"I'm sorry, Ailei, for making you worry."
No longer just one-sided, Xu Xi also held her hand, gently and carefully, guiding the fearful and lost Ailei.
"Actually, you don't need to worry about me."
"I'm in good condition, and no matter what, I'll be fine. Trust me, okay?"
The man's voice was soft, like a flickering candle in the wind.
But strangely.
The swaying flame became a beacon in the night, illuminating the timid mechanical soul, guiding it toward a brighter path.
In the room, the sound of the hourglass continued to flow.
Grain by grain, drop by drop.
At a visible pace, it was about to run out of its last reserves.
...
[Simulation Year 500, You are 519 years old, Ailei has been with you for 497 years]
[Your time has been squeezed to its limit]
[Mechanical souls, mechanical power, then more mechanical souls, more mechanical power]
[You push yourself relentlessly for 24 hours, seeking inspiration from the mechanical souls, using mechanical power to carve inscriptions, and having Ailei calculate deeper theories]
[Ailei worries about your health and tries to share your burden as much as possible]
[Ailei begins to frequently use her special abilities]
[Ailei begins to observe the universe]
[Ailei begins to observe particles]
[Ailei runs out of power and collapses in your arms to recharge]
["Master is recharging, please do not move."]
[She clings to you tightly, preventing you from conducting experiments. You suspect the mechanical maid is forcing you to rest this way, but you have no proof]
...
[Simulation Year 564, You are 583 years old, Ailei has been with you for 561 years]
[You experience your eighth death]
[This time, thanks to advancements in gravitational technology, Ailei captures the gravitational waves of the neutron battle star faster]
[The mechanical maid attempts to challenge the "god"]
[Before the fleet is destroyed, she directs all firepower for a preemptive strike]
[The neutron battle star remains unscathed. Without using any advanced technology, its sheer mass and density calmly obliterate everything]
[After your resurrection, Ailei comes to find you in a backup body]
[This time, Ailei doesn't frantically check your body but instead buries herself in your arms, saying she just wants to be still]
...
[Simulation Year 584, You are 603 years old, Ailei has been with you for 581 years]
[With Ailei's help, and her unique observational perspective, you finally unravel the mysteries of space. Using gravitational technology as a lever, you pry open the invisible fabric of spacetime]
[The prototype of the curvature engine emerges]
[Though still in its infancy, you have undoubtedly taken the first real step]
[You delve deeper into research on antimatter engines and element decay engines]
[The energy requirements for faster-than-light travel are immense, far beyond what fusion power can provide. Thus, you focus on antimatter and element decay as potential energy sources to power the curvature engine]
[Simulation Year 588, You research technology, live off Ailei's support, and crush the Zerg]
[Simulation Year 600, You research technology, live off Ailei's support, and continue crushing the Zerg]
[The Zerg numbers are overwhelming, and you feel helpless]
...
Time flows year by year.
In the beginning, Xu Xi's humanity remained intact, and he still felt emotions.
Now, as the mechanical souls further erode him, Xu Xi no longer pays much attention to the passage of time.
Only the timing of the neutron battle star's attacks.
Captures his special attention.
The ninth death is approaching, but before that, in the 616th year of the simulation, Xu Xi's fleet comes to a halt.
Not due to malfunction, not due to error.
But because it can no longer advance.
The endless fleet of intelligent machines, their numbers so vast, they blot out the light of the stars.
Unknowingly, even the vast graveyard of civilizations has been traversed to its end, revealing the existence of a "wall."
"Was I too fast?"
"No, it must be that the Federation's planets were already at the edge of this prison."
"By chance, I arrived at the end ahead of time."
Xu Xi stood in the main control room of the starship.
The scout ships that had gone ahead brought back images of the distant void, an absolute emptiness, a "wall" of nothingness that split the universe and buried hope.
Though seemingly still within the same universe, it completely isolated the stars on either side.
"A spatial blockade?"
"Just as despairing as I imagined... Conventional travel methods are meaningless in the face of such isolation."
"Add to that the neutron battle star guarding the gate, what kind of hellish difficulty is this?"