The "hyperion" performed a brief and stable short-range spatial jump under the "escort" of five Angel patrol ships. When the silver-white hull emerged from the warp state, what appeared before Artoria's eyes was not the bustling core of the Angel Nebula or the towering Heavenly Blade Royal Court as she had imagined, but a small star system softly enveloped by a pale blue Nebula in a secluded sector of space.
At the center of the system was a stable middle-aged star, emitting a soft silver-white light. The third Planet orbiting it had been completely transformed. Most of the Planet's surface was covered in silver-white architectural complexes filled with geometric beauty, but these were not residential areas; they were more like a giant, open-air observation and research platform. Countless small silver-white "shuttles" and autonomous machines shuttled silently between the buildings. Orbiting the Planet were several silver-white satellites with various functions, the largest of which was shaped like an exquisite crescent moon, emitting a stable and powerful energy field. It was clearly the control core of this place—the "Silver Moon" space station.
"Arrived at designated coordinates: Silver Moon Subsidiary Research Galaxy Third Observatory." The system notification sounded, and at the same time, the communication channel from Commander Yunxi opened again. However, the one appearing on the screen was no longer that serious patrol Commander, but a stunningly beautiful woman with silver hair and blue eyes, a calm yet inquisitive temperament, wearing a silver-blue scholar's robe.
"Otherworldly Traveler, Captain Hua Ling. I am Heavenly Base King Hexi, responsible for all contact and assessment matters regarding your party in this incident." Hexi's voice was gentle and clear, carrying a rationality and sense of distance unique to scholars. "Your ship and personnel will temporarily dock at'Silver Moon' Berth 3. Please follow the guidance, shut down non-essential systems, and undergo a basic scan. Afterward, I will personally board the ship for a preliminary exchange."
Heavenly Base King Hexi! Artoria felt a slight chill in her heart. This person, known in the known data as the "Wisdom of the Angels" and the one in charge of technology and research, had actually shown up in person? This not only showed the importance the Angels placed on this incident but also meant that the following contact would directly enter the most core and dangerous stage—technical verification and intent screening.
"Understood, Your Excellency Heavenly Base King. Thank you for the reception." Artoria remained calm and followed the instructions to maneuver the hyperion slowly toward a berth extending from beneath that "Silver Moon." An invisible force field guided the warship to a stable dock. She could feel countless more precise and deep scanning beams enveloping the hull, even attempting to penetrate the interior, but they were gently blocked by the system's preset energy barrier that simulated the rules of this Universe when they touched the core areas.
Hexi did not seem surprised, nor did she intend to force her way through; the scanning ended quickly.
The berth passage docked, and the airtight door slid open silently. Artoria straightened her clothes and walked out alone. She carried no conspicuous weapons, holding only a silver data pad she had prepared long ago, which stored some "demonstration materials."
At the end of the passage, Hexi was already standing quietly. She was not wearing armor, just a simple scholar's robe, her silver hair flowing with a faint luster under the soft artificial light of the space station. Her gaze fell calmly on Artoria, without any sense of oppression, yet it seemed as if she could see through all disguises to reach the very essence.
"Welcome to the Silver Moon Observatory, Captain Hua Ling." Hexi nodded slightly, her gaze scanning the data pad in Artoria's hand before looking at the simple yet distinctly styled hyperion bridge passage behind her. "A very special creation. The rule compatibility is done quite... cleverly."
"Just a minor survival skill, I'm glad to have entertained the Heavenly Base King." Artoria responded neither humbly nor arrogantly, while slightly extending the data pad in her hand. "This is some basic information prepared by our side, as well as... some preliminary proof regarding our origin."
Hexi did not take the data pad; she just gave a light wave of her hand, and the data pad automatically floated up, its surface flashing with light as it clearly read the information within at extremely high speed. Her expression remained calm, but in those deep blue eyes, the light of the data stream accelerated its flickering once again.
The two arrived at a simple and bright observation room. On one side of the room was a huge transparent porthole, offering a view of the silver-white research Planet below and the distant Nebula. Inside, there were only two floating chairs and a similarly floating silver platform.
"Please, sit." Hexi gestured and sat down first, though her gaze never left Artoria. "Your data mentions 'Other-Universe', 'World Bubble'... the concepts are very interesting. But how do you prove that what you say is not false? That it's not some hoax disguised by an unknown civilization, or... some kind of distorted creation of Karl's Void theories?"
Artoria had already anticipated this question. She sat down slowly and, instead of answering directly, asked in return: "Your Excellency Heavenly Base King, in your understanding, are the underlying rules that constitute the Universe—such as the basic constants of matter, the efficiency of energy conversion, and the limits of information transmission—unique and constant?"
Hexi's brow twitched slightly: "Within the Known Universe, yes. Even if special domains like the Dark Plane and the Void exist, their interaction with the Main Biological Plane also follows some deeper, unified rule framework. This is the basis of the Sacred Knowledge Vault's the billion years of observation and deduction."
"Then, please look at this." Artoria operated the data pad a few times, pulling up a complex energy waveform diagram and a molecular formula with a strange structure. "This is a trace of 'Rule Ripples' waveform produced when our ship's energy core interacts with your Universe's Dark Energy environment upon startup. And this is a record of the stable molecular structure of a composite material synthesized using some of our basic technology, which, under your Universe's physical rules,'should theoretically be extremely unstable and decay instantly'."
Hexi's gaze instantly focused. A portion of the Sky-based Computing Cluster's power was invoked, beginning a frantic analysis of these two pieces of information. A few seconds later, a hint of hard-to-conceal astonishment flashed in her eyes.
"The waveform... does not match any known Dark Energy disturbances, Void fluctuations, or even the harmonics of the natural Universe's background radiation. It's like a... foreign 'frequency' trying to adapt to our 'medium', producing unique interference patterns." Hexi's voice carried a hint of suppressed excitement. "And this molecular formula... Sky-based Computing Cluster simulations show that under Known Universe rules, its bond energy distribution and particle spin states are at an absolute point of instability and should disintegrate within 10^-23 seconds. But your record shows it existed stably in your 'experimental environment' for over 0.1 seconds... unless the underlying rules of your so-called 'experimental environment' allow such a structure to exist."
"Yes." Artoria nodded and pulled up several more pieces of information—some limit parameters regarding "Honkai Energy inertization treatment," "the adaptability attenuation curve of Stigmata to non-Honkai Energy environments," and "the theoretical energy consumption values for limited local reality modification using Mind Stone fragments."
"All of these point to one fact: the 'place' where our side comes from has fundamental and systemic differences from your Universe in some basic physical constants, forms of energy existence, and even certain aspects of the law of causality." Artoria watched Hexi's eyes grow brighter and brighter as she spoke slowly, "We are not from some corner of the Known Universe, nor are we creations of the Void. We come from... another 'World Bubble' with a different rule framework. The hyperion, as well as my own power system, all carry the 'brand' of that World. When crossing the World barriers, our own rules collided and adapted to the rules of your Universe, which is why your side detected 'Otherworld rule' residues. One could also say that we ourselves are... moving evidence of the existence of a 'Multiverse'."
Hexi fell silent. On the data pad floating before her, the information stream poured down like a waterfall. The Sky-based Computing Cluster was using its highest authority to invoke all physical models, energy maps, and anomaly records of the Known Universe to compare, analyze, and deduce against the "anomalies" provided by Artoria. The results pointed in the same direction time and again: mismatch, incompatibility, non-native to this Universe.
After a long time, Hexi let out a long breath, the shock and excitement in her eyes slowly settling into an extremely solemn contemplation.
"Stunning... if all of this isn't a meticulously planned hoax beyond my imagination." She looked at Artoria, her gaze sharp as a blade. "Then, Captain Hua Ling, you and your companions might be the first visitors from 'outside the Universe' with conclusive evidence in the hundreds of thousands of years of the Known Universe. This significance... is far beyond your imagination."
"To me, the only significance lies in saving my companion." Artoria timely showed appropriate fatigue and earnestness. "Proving my origin is to gain trust so we can proceed to the next step. Your Excellency Heavenly Base King, our side has no intention of intervening in any disputes of your Universe, nor do we have the power to do so. We are just lost travelers seeking a path to redemption."
Hexi looked at her deeply, seemingly assessing the sincerity in her words. After a moment, she nodded slowly: "Your proof... is very persuasive. At least, it presents a possibility that we cannot easily disprove and that is logically consistent. Queen Keisha has already authorized me to handle all contact with you. So, state your specific needs. What kind of 'high-level medical technology' do you require? What is the specific condition of your companion's injuries?"
Finally, they had reached the most crucial step. Artoria's heart lifted slightly, but her tone remained steady: "My companion's... injuries are extremely complex and special. Her life form... is different from both conventional carbon-based life and energy life; she is closer to a highly developed 'Construct Life' where consciousness and precision mechanical structures are deeply fused. Her injuries primarily lie in: the'soul' or 'information aggregate' carrying the core consciousness has suffered some level of rule-based tearing and pollution, becoming extremely unstable and liable to dissipate at any time; meanwhile, the 'mechanical carrier' maintaining her existence has also suffered severe trauma involving structural damage to basic physics, where conventional physical repair and energy infusion have minimal effect and may even cause rejection with the unstable consciousness."
She deliberately blurred the specific details of 2B, using the relatively broad concept of "Construct Life" instead. This was the strategy she and the system had agreed upon—revealing the difficulty of the injury and the "type" of technology needed, but hiding the specific origin and form of the "patient" to avoid her being treated directly as a "research subject."
"Therefore, what we need is not a single biomedical or mechanical repair technology." Artoria continued, while pulling up a pre-prepared tree-like projection of a list on the data pad. "What we need is a comprehensive 'technology set' involving multiple frontier fields. Based on our preliminary understanding of your civilization's technology, I have compiled a list of potentially relevant technical fields that I hope to discuss with your side."
Hexi looked at that "technology tree" list, seeing that it did not contain detailed technical descriptions but rather categorized "Field Labels" marked with levels:
High-efficiency Clean Energy Technology: arc reactor principles, high-efficiency energy transmission, and storage solutions.
High-level Artificial Intelligence and Logical Architecture: Ethical frameworks and core logic for strong AI, Distributed Intelligent Network Coordination Protocol.
Preliminary Exploration of Idealistic Rule Applications:
Foundations of Elemental Control: Principles of sensing, guiding, and primary shaping of basic elemental energies such as Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind.
Runes and Words of Power: Basic theories and models for using specific symbols, syllables, and rituals to trigger the underlying rules of the World to produce specific effects.
Soul and Spiritual Domains: Observation methods for the essence of the soul, basic spiritual protection, and telepathy principles.
Alchemy and Matter Transformation: Introductory knowledge of converting and reorganizing the properties of matter based on the principle of Equivalent Exchange.
Special Materials and Creation Science: Vibranium property analysis, preliminary energy affinity reports for Uru metal, and theoretical synthesis conjectures for some 'fantasy-type' materials.
This list was the result of repeated deliberation between Artoria and the system. It clearly pointed out the "height" and "breadth" of the technology required for the cure, yet cleverly masked 2B's specific situation with relatively abstract concepts like "Construct Life" and "rule-level trauma." At the same time, the "exchangeable knowledge" offered was extremely seductive—especially the "Idealistic Rule Application" part, which was a complete blind spot for Angel technology based on materialism, genes, and Dark Energy, a brand-new field that could potentially overturn their understanding.
Hexi's gaze lingered on that list for a long time, especially the "Idealistic Rule Application" and "Special Materials" sections. Her fingers unconsciously tapped in the air as if simulating the operation of those "Runes" and "Words of Power." As one of the top scientists in the Known Universe, she knew all too well the value of this list. Those instances of "Otherworld rules," those power systems that were different from Dark Energy-driven ones and seemed to rely more on "cognition," "will," and "symbolism"... this was not just new technology; it was opening a door to a completely new World!
"Construct Life... deep fusion of consciousness and machinery... rule-level soul trauma..." Hexi whispered these keywords, her eyes flashing with a light of extreme excitement and extreme gravity. "These injuries... are indeed tricky. Even with Angel technology, matters involving soul stabilization and high-dimensional matter repair are at the absolute frontier, with much still remaining in the theoretical stage. And 'cross-rule adaptability'... is a field we have never deeply explored."
She looked up at Artoria, her eyes burning: "The 'exchangeable knowledge' you've provided, especially the part about 'Idealistic Rules,' is of extraordinary value. They might provide completely new perspectives and tools for our understanding of the Universe, consciousness, and rules themselves. But..."
Hexi's tone shifted, becoming serious: "You are hiding key information, Captain Hua Ling. You've only spoken of the injury type and the required technical direction, but you've remained tight-lipped about your companion's specific form, the cause of the injury, and... the more core, specific knowledge you possess regarding your World's 'rules.' What are you worried about? Worried that we'll go back on our word after getting the technology? Or are you worried that... your companion herself is a greater secret, or even... a 'danger'?"
Pressure descended like something physical. Artoria could feel that beneath Hexi's seemingly peaceful gaze was a wisdom and scrutiny capable of piercing the stars. She knew that her next answer would be crucial.
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