What is it like to communicate with machine spirits?
It’s magical.
Subtle.
Searching for that unique spark of life on cold metal feels like stepping into another dimension, interacting within a world that belongs solely to machines.
Xu Xi didn’t think such interactions were a bad thing.
Based on the effects of machine spirit affinity, every machine spirit he encountered was kind, offering all kinds of help with utmost sincerity.
Ailei’s machine spirit, in particular, had evolved through this connection, transforming into a higher-dimensional form that Xu Xi could barely comprehend—something truly divine.
But.
Everything has its limits.
“Ever since I decided to develop a warp engine, I’ve been constantly communicating with machine spirits, establishing connections with all kinds of them without pause.”
“At this frequency, at this intensity…”
“It’s only natural that my body can’t keep up. The fact that I’m merely stiff and sluggish is actually a milder outcome than I expected.”
Xu Xi looked at his palm.
The lines on it spread like neural pathways, intricate and interwoven.
When his fingers bent and moved, the palm lines shifted under the pressure, changing their patterns.
The machine spirits were like the fingers of a hand, separated yet connected. When they became active, responding to Xu Xi’s resonance and interacting with him,
As the “palm,”
Xu Xi, without realizing it, was subtly influenced by the machine spirits, undergoing changes that were hard to notice.
Xu Xi simply chuckled and shook his head, marveling at the intensity of his work, and then dismissed the side effects.
He was a man destined to die.
Side effects were not something he considered.
Xu Xi only knew one thing.
He needed to continue resonating with machine spirits, harnessing their power, to fight for a sliver of hope in the face of a despairing tomorrow.
“But, how should I put it?”
Xu Xi stood up, tilting his head slightly as he gazed at the dim artificial sunset in the distance, his tone filled with emotion:
“Whether it’s a world of the supernatural or a world of science fiction,”
“Human life,”
“is equally fragile, like a bubble in a dream, bursting at the slightest touch…”
The afterglow of the sunset bathed the blue-purple sea of flowers.
A strong wind blew, and the blue-purple glow shimmered with orange-yellow light, the leaves rustling against the petals, creating a continuous, mesmerizing wave.
Those were the meteor flowers.
One of the flower species brought from the Federation planet.
Xu Xi remembered that Ailei loved these flowers, so he had specifically set aside an area to plant nothing but blue-purple meteor flowers.
The dazzling symbolism of these flowers stayed with him.
Loyalty, freedom, and eternal love.
A symbolism that suited Ailei perfectly.
The first was Ailei’s self-perception; the latter two were what Xu Xi wished for her to possess.
“What is love…?” Ailei had once asked, holding Xu Xi’s arm, her voice filled with confusion.
Xu Xi couldn’t provide an answer, for true love has no fixed definition.
Later,
Ailei stopped asking.
Perhaps she had found her own answer, or perhaps she no longer felt the need to know.
“Master.”
A voice came from behind, pulling Xu Xi out of his thoughts.
It was Ailei, arriving at this moment.
“Why have you been staring at me?” the girl asked, puzzled.
“It’s nothing. I just suddenly thought that Ailei looks even more beautiful today,” Xu Xi forced a smile and reached out to pat the maid’s head.
Ailei felt something was off, but her ears twitched rapidly, and she soon forgot about it.
…
[You’ve noticed something wrong with your body and identified the true cause.]
[It’s the very foundation of your survival.]
[Your ability to resonate with machine spirits, which has carried you through the wasteland world to this day.]
[If you want to avoid the side effects, the best course of action is to stop resonating with machine spirits and let your body and mind recover naturally.]
[However, this would significantly slow down your technological research.]
[You look up at the sky and, without hesitation, make your decision: to continue resonating with machine spirits until the end of this simulation.]
Life now.
Is somewhat painful.
A hopeless struggle in a cosmic prison.
A closed, monotonous universe.
The dehumanizing resonance with machine spirits.
At this point in the simulation, the gains no longer outweigh the sacrifices.
But Xu Xi, true to his nature, didn’t care much about such things.
“Before the simulation ends, I must research as much technology as possible, completing the final gaps in the antimatter engine, energy decay engine, and gravitational technology.”
“This is the only way.”
“The only way to create a chance for Ailei to escape.”
Xu Xi muttered softly to himself, diving back into his busy research. To avoid worrying his loyal maid, he hid the growing dullness in his senses.
Xu Xi’s reasoning was simple.
He couldn’t stop the experiments, which meant the dullness in his body and mind would only worsen.
In that case, it was better to keep it from Ailei.
To spare her from concern.
Researching technology, living his daily life, and continuing to blow up Zerg heads.
Xu Xi believed his acting was flawless. Though his emotional responses were fading, he could still control his expressions, smiling or sighing at the right moments.
But even this perfect facade seemed to have been seen through by Ailei.
At some point,
Gradually, slowly, in every moment of their interactions, those calm silver-blue eyes were always fixed on Xu Xi.
Until one day, the maid spoke up.
“Master, are you ill?”
Her voice was calm, her expression neutral, but her shoulders trembled uncontrollably as she spoke.
“I’m fine, Ailei.”
“I’ve just been a bit tired from all the experiments lately.”
Xu Xi forced a smile, controlling the muscles in his face, and reached out to stroke Ailei’s hair as he always did.
Was that really all?
In the faint, flickering light, Ailei’s silver-blue mechanical eyes revealed an inner ring of light, pulsing at an abnormal frequency.
“Please… don’t do this anymore. You need to rest.”
Ailei’s voice trembled, her vocal module clogged with emotion.
“I will, Ailei. Later.”
Xu Xi spoke gently, agreeing to the maid’s request, but the “later” he mentioned had no specific timeframe.
The room was dimly lit.
But a ray of golden, scorching sunlight streamed through the window, casting a long, slanting glow.
It fell on Ailei’s hair, draping her in a sacred golden light.
Xu Xi stood opposite Ailei, his hand moving through the light, gently stroking her head, watching as the cold machinery of her form perfected its humanity, growing brighter and more radiant.
Xu Xi felt a deep sense of joy at this.
In contrast,
He himself was growing duller.
Xu Xi’s emotions were fading bit by bit, influenced by the machine spirits on the starship, slowly becoming less and less like a normal person.
“…I believe you, Master.”
Ailei, under Xu Xi’s touch, felt the warmth on her head. She trembled, trying to smile back at him, but her smile twisted horribly.
It was ugly, so very ugly, her features trembling, worse than a cry.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
