For a long time, the machine servant has always possessed a strong sense of autonomy.
She is loyal and capable, but all her autonomy and all her actions are directed toward one primary goal: serving Xu Xi.
From the past until today,
the machine servant's autonomy
has never been used for anything else.
But now, in this moment when Xu Xi has "fallen into slumber," the machine servant must move forward alone, trembling with sorrow, step by step.
She cannot accept the idea that after being revived, Xu Xi would live in a universe that remains dangerous.
Even more, she cannot accept that the creators of the prison, the ones who have repeatedly erased Xu Xi's life, are still living without consequence.
She must—she must do something.
Trembling, she turns around.
In a silence so profound it feels terrifying, Ailei turns her back to the newly raised mound of earth and takes a difficult step forward.
She dares not look back, afraid that she might be tempted to stay.
That is not allowed.
Absolutely not allowed.
In the past, Xu Xi would worry that the machine servant couldn't see the stars clearly and would help wipe the lens of the camera.
Now,
the machine servant will replicate that gentleness, cleansing the stars for Xu Xi.
"Master, Ailei will always protect you..."
The glow of the stars and moon bathes the green plants along the path, but that beauty fails to hold the machine servant's attention for even a moment.
She walks from light into darkness,
from warmth into coldness,
leaving behind only a monitoring device to ensure the tranquility of the mound.
Then, she activates all systems of the escape pod, gathers materials on-site to complete the equipment, and begins constructing a new fleet of starships.
"Please wait for me... Master..."
To maximize efficiency, Ailei abandons the use of a humanoid body.
Without Xu Xi now,
maintaining a humanoid form no longer holds any meaning.
She walks, allowing her beautiful body to enter the mechanical chamber, lying down quietly and closing her eyes.
From this moment on,
all computational power, all evolution, belongs solely to the high-dimensional machine spirit.
Replication, stacking, infinite production and deployment.
Without Xu Xi's presence,
the machine servant becomes much colder, more aligned with the icy logic of machinery, efficiently controlling everything. In an astonishingly short time, she produces a vast fleet of starships.
Ailei leaves behind a portion of the fleet to protect the planet where Xu Xi "sleeps."
The rest
carries her machine spirit,
sailing into the cosmos in a grand formation.
...
Killing, destruction, plunder.
Enslavement, domination, war.
The main melody of the universe has never been peace and kindness.
Among the countless civilizations, there are indeed rare exceptions of benevolence, but they are so few that they are almost invisible.
When two civilizations come into close contact,
the stronger one will, as a matter of course, ignore the wishes of the weaker.
Technological civilizations,
stellar insectoids,
mechanical calamities,
cosmic leviathans.
...
The infinite universe, with its countless galaxies, is filled with endless conflict.
This is a common occurrence.
But at some point,
something unusual happened.
Hundreds of years later, a new mechanical calamity emerged, its scale and technological prowess far surpassing that of ordinary mechanical calamities.
What was even more unsettling was that this mechanical calamity specifically targeted predator civilizations—
those with a strong inclination to attack, plunder, and destroy the weak.
Could it be
that this mechanical calamity favored peace?
"H-how is this possible!"
"So many warp-capable starships!"
"Madness, these machines are insane! They're using warp-capable ships for superluminal self-destruction!"
Many civilizations were thrown into despair.
The precious technology of warp travel, in the hands of this unknown mechanical calamity, became a disposable toy, with hundreds of ships sacrificed at the slightest provocation.
Those dazzling explosions,
the final nothingness of gravitational distortion,
were something weaker civilizations could not withstand for even a single round.
Soon, the machine servant's mechanical calamity grew to an unprecedented scale. In the face of such overwhelming force, countless civilizations became docile and cooperative.
Just as all civilizations began to think that the machine servant would become a new dominant power,
the mechanical forces under her command
did something that left all civilizations stunned.
They attacked the stellar pastures of the Enclave Civilization.
This was a highly advanced civilization suspected of mastering spatial technology and beginning to delve into dimensional manipulation. It was said that to reach higher levels of existence, they had enslaved countless star seas.
Enslaving, harvesting, replenishing themselves.
Over and over again.
Harvesting the technological ideas of nascent civilizations.
Yet, despite their fearsome power, this Enclave Civilization was attacked by the newly emerged mechanical calamity.
A massive fleet of warp-capable starships accelerated into the Enclave's pastures, self-destructing to destroy the high walls of the star seas, connecting the inner and outer cosmos without obstruction.
"How dare you! How could you dare!"
The Enclave Civilization was furious.
Furious, enraged.
They launched a counterattack, deploying fleets equipped with spatial technology, including numerous planetary fortresses and stellar energy reservoirs.
Three neutron war stars led the charge.
Such a lineup was undeniably powerful and awe-inspiring.
Without any doubt,
the Enclave Civilization, with its mastery of spatial dimensions, easily crushed the mechanical fleet, which was still limited to superluminal technology.
Everything, it was said, even the mainframe of the calamity's central computer, was completely destroyed.
This event caused a massive uproar.
Some marveled at the Enclave Civilization's strength, while others lamented the fall of the machine servant.
Yet, four hundred years later,
the iconic mechanical fleet returned.
And this time, their technology was even more advanced, equipped with devices resembling spatial weapons, similar to those of the Enclave Civilization's ships.
"Master once said that if I wanted to learn, I could master anything."
Ailei, who had returned once more,
had analyzed some of the characteristics of the spatial weapons from the previous battle and produced an even more formidable mechanical fleet.
Her consciousness ascended to a higher-dimensional perspective,
linking to various points across the cosmos with a commanding view.
An ocean of machines flooded the stars, with an endless fleet of mechanical starships bombarding the Enclave's stellar pastures.
With terrifying scale,
they blasted apart most of the high walls of the stellar pastures.
The war reignited, and the Enclave Civilization was truly incensed. They deployed their most advanced forces, even bringing out experimental dimensional weapons.
These were formidable weapons capable of stripping boundaries and erasing space itself.
Ailei's spatial barriers could not withstand them.
Once again, the mechanical fleet was annihilated.
Ailei calmly accepted this defeat, using quantum signals to evacuate her machine spirit in advance.
Three hundred years later,
Ailei returned once more.
This time, her fleet was even larger, and she had mastered even deeper spatial technology, even hinting at dimensional manipulation.
She also constructed a massive galactic computer array
to accommodate her immense computational power.
A hundred years, a thousand years—it mattered not.
The cold machine spirit grew stronger with each return, defying all conventional logic.
"A cosmic wonder?"
"A higher civilization's scheme?"
"An experiment by a transcendent civilization?"
The Enclave Civilization speculated endlessly, despairing under the relentless roar of the machines.