You've Already Done Very Well

Humans yearn for the unknown, hence they explore the stars.

Humans fear the unknown, hence they dread the darkness.

The unknown signifies variables, brimming with infinite possibilities, and people fear such variables, terrified of futures they do not wish to see.

This is only natural.

The figure with its head bowed, the figure that Ailei was so concerned about, its abnormal behavior made the mechanical servant uneasy.

"...Master."

"What is it, Ailei?"

Fortunately.

The soft call received a response.

In the flickering lights of the bridge, the environment grew dim, accentuating a sense of melancholy and desolation, making Xu Xi's face appear even paler.

However, there were indeed no wounds on Xu Xi's body, nor any traces of blood.

Gazing at the familiar features, Ailei's restless mechanical heart calmed somewhat.

"No, I'm fine," the machine endowed with humanity spoke in a calm voice, offering a blessing, "Ailei just wanted to tell you that I will definitely protect you."

The words were so solemn.

So much so that Xu Xi was momentarily stunned.

Then, he smiled lightly, his body too heavy to even manage a complete, feigned smile.

Only able to lift the corners of his mouth slightly.

"Mm, I believe in you, Ailei."

Outside the ship, the curvature of space became more pronounced, the stars stretched into abstract paintings.

The warp engine operated in an overloaded state, paired with the gravity generator, antimatter engine, and elemental decay engine, collectively sustaining the superluminal voyage of the dark starship.

From a distance, the high-speed starship appeared within a distorted spatial bubble.

Engaging in a superluminal warp chase with the neutron war star behind it.

To call it a chase might be giving the dark starship too much credit, as it lacked both the cutting-edge weapons to break through defenses and any viable defensive systems.

The neutron war star was the ultimate creation, a trinity of offense, defense, and speed.

Faced with such overwhelming despair, the only thing the dark starship could do was continuously increase the output of its warp engine, attempting to break free from the cage.

"Calculating deviation, calculating time, success rate declining..."

The starship's internal computer.

Ailei continuously performed precise controls, but all the data calculations pointed to the same conclusion: their starship would be caught, and the neutron war star would swiftly destroy them.

Both equipped with warp engines, the neutron war star's output was clearly far superior.

"...No, absolutely not..."

Unable to accept such a reality.

Terrified of such a reality.

The emotionless data now fluctuated like a human heart, straining to the limits of its computational power.

But it was still futile.

The starship had successfully leaped to the top of the barrier, just a short distance away from completely breaking free.

But that distance was enough for the neutron war star to close in and unleash hundreds of spatial disintegrations.

"No..."

"I must protect my master..."

The overwhelming despair clashed with the beautiful wish in her heart, creating an unprecedented conflict. The mechanical soul, already remarkable in its computational power, seemed to undergo a subtle change.

But that change still could not bring victory.

"Wait, what is this..."

Suddenly.

The starship's overall output increased once more.

At what should have been the impossible, already maximized limit, a miraculous leap in performance occurred.

Break through, we must break through!

There was no time to ponder the reason for this sudden performance boost.

Ailei controlled the starship, pushing it to a state of surpassing and disintegrating all limits, using the brief surge in performance to rush into the gravitational breach leading to the true universe.

Light, frozen.

Time, stilled.

Space, turned into a single string.

Breaking free from the cage of the stars, the scene of things changed, presenting a dazzling and bizarre spectacle.

And, the moment they succeeded in escaping, the warp starship malfunctioned and was destroyed.

It was miraculous.

Having endured multiple spatial disintegrations and operating the warp engine beyond its limits, this experimental starship managed to hold on until now before finally breaking down.

The neutron war star did not pursue, seemingly confined within that cage.

Unable to determine if there would be further pursuit.

Thus, Ailei decided to activate the escape pod, abandoning the useless wreckage of the starship, and taking Xu Xi further away.

"...Master?"

Ailei re-entered her humanoid form.

She opened her eyes and saw the familiar figure, still maintaining the posture of resting with its head bowed.

The angle of the bowed head cast the face in shadow, making it impossible to discern the specific expression.

Motionless.

Utterly quiet.

The body remained youthful, but the intangible essence within had weakened like a candle flame in the wind, too faint to detect.

"...I'm sorry, I failed to protect you."

The mechanical body trembled slightly.

Ailei crouched down, in the lightless darkness, gently holding one of Xu Xi's hands, the trembling motion so delicate, as if touching something extremely fragile.

Perhaps hearing Ailei's voice.

Or perhaps feeling the warmth of the hand.

Xu Xi, who had exhausted his spirit, wearily opened his eyes and softly asked in a hoarse voice.

"Ailei, have we left the cage?"

"We have, Master."

"Haha... *cough*, that's good."

"But I didn't do well enough, I couldn't protect you."

"It's alright, Ailei... you did very well, truly..."

Xu Xi squinted, feeling his vision grow hazy, making it difficult to see the mechanical servant before him. He tried to stand up.

But the moment he attempted to rise.

His vision vanished.

[People often call incredible feats "miracles."]

[But you are the "miracle" itself.]

[You repeatedly broke through limits, resonating with the mechanical soul, pushing the warp engine's output to unprecedented heights, sustaining the starship's journey.]

[In turn, you suffered greater erosion.]

[It wasn't just a change in your spirit; even your body began to fail, and you could no longer control your weakness.]

[From Ailei, you learned that you had successfully escaped the cage. This news brought you solace, but you fell unconscious once more in front of Ailei.]

[The loyal mechanical servant held you, taking the starship's escape pod to the nearest star system. Shortly after your departure, the wreckage of the warp starship was destroyed.]

[When you awoke again, you were in the medical pod prepared by Ailei.]

[Your body was undergoing treatment.]

[But to you, both your body and spirit had entered "death."]

[Before, under the erosion of the mechanical soul, you only lost the ability to feel emotions. Now, you had fallen into a deeper void.]

[You could no longer feel cold, no longer feel warmth. The void began to consume you.]

[It was an indescribable sensation, as if everything had been stripped away, leaving your overexerted body and mind passively awaiting the end of annihilation.]