For a full minute, Researcher Zhao simply stood there, staring at the small brain in front of him, his mind racing to process the implications.
Then, snapping back to reality, he issued his next command.
“Continue supplying mana. And...
2025-03-09 04:03:35 +0000 UTC
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Aron took a deep breath, momentarily pausing to process what he had just read. The revelation that mere physical contact had led to the discovery of an entirely unknown form of intelligent life was nothing short of astonishing.
Rather than r...
2025-03-06 23:58:14 +0000 UTC
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Mobile Lab – That Day
Zhao Ming froze mid-step as he heard shouting behind him. From the direction of the sound, it was clear the commotion wasn’t directed at him. His curiosity piqued, he quickly slipped his headgear back on—he had ta...
2025-03-06 04:28:40 +0000 UTC
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“What is your name and rank?”
Inside a sparse room containing only a table and two chairs, a man in a suit posed the question to the individual seated across from him.
“I am Specialist First Class Amir Riza,” Amir responded, cl...
2025-03-05 03:20:21 +0000 UTC
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Mars, CENTCOM – System and Monitoring Control Center
If there was a place that could be called the eyes and ears of the empire, it was here. Every sensor, every probe, and every surveillance array deployed across imperial space fed its dat...
2025-03-03 05:04:57 +0000 UTC
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{Robert Watson of Icarus Airlines, please proceed,}
Their industry closely mirrored Hermes, with the key difference being that they transported people instead of cargo. However, their expansion potential was more limited—no matter how many...
2025-03-01 00:23:19 +0000 UTC
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Sarah began her report by presenting the financial performance of GAIA Technologies over the last fiscal year. As expected, revenues continued to grow, though at a slower pace compared to the early years following the empire's formation. The initi...
2025-03-01 00:21:20 +0000 UTC
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[A/N: I encountered some immigration issues, which made it difficult to write during that period. My apologies for the delay.]
A few days later…
The board meeting of Connect Enterprise, the parent company overseeing eight power...
2025-03-01 00:19:45 +0000 UTC
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“It’s been a while since we had a real outing instead of a virtual one,” Felix remarked, taking a sip from a plain, unbranded can that looked like it had just come off the assembly line.
“If not for the countermeasures put in place, ...
2025-02-25 22:03:08 +0000 UTC
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Near Pluto’s orbit, a massive space station was in the final stages of construction. Only the finishing touches and full-scale testing remained before it could officially open for use and visitation by imperial citizens.
Spanning nearly a ...
2025-02-24 20:24:11 +0000 UTC
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Aron sat before a stack of papers containing the final experiment data. Though he was in the universal simulation, he liked to switch up how he processed information, avoiding fatigue from relying on a single medium—especially since he spent wha...
2025-02-22 22:42:53 +0000 UTC
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It took Nyx several hours to sift through the vast amount of data collected before she was ready to deliver her findings.
“Using the asteroid field as a natural cosmic phenomenon to mask the wormhole’s opening worked in our favor. As far...
2025-02-21 00:32:23 +0000 UTC
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Crack!
Had there been air to carry the sound, that would have been the noise echoing through space. Instead, there was only silence as the fabric of space fractured—a jagged crack forming for the briefest of moments.
A small, round o...
2025-02-19 22:23:05 +0000 UTC
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Yaloria’s gaze shifted to the battery status display. Despite the intensity of the fight so far, only about one percent of the mana battery’s energy had been expended—and even that was already nearly replenished.
It was a stark contras...
2025-02-17 23:58:57 +0000 UTC
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A few minutes before the fight began, an alarm blared across the testing grounds, and all personnel in the vicinity received an immediate evacuation order. Given the low number of individuals present, the process was completed in under a minute.
2025-02-17 00:04:47 +0000 UTC
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BAM!! A heavy thud echoed as a box was set down, the sound hinting at its weight.
“We have tractor-beam technology at our disposal, so why are we hauling these things by hand? Isn’t this a waste of both resources and our valuable time?...
2025-02-14 23:30:49 +0000 UTC
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John lifted his head from the piles of documents in front of him, his expression calm but carrying the weight of responsibility.
"How is the progress of our preparations?"
At this moment, few individuals in the empire were busier than ...
2025-02-13 01:23:22 +0000 UTC
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While the emperor remained engrossed in his work, Mars—still concealed from all external sensors—was undergoing significant modifications. The planetary shield, which doubled as a stealth veil, was in the process of receiving a major upgrade.<...
2025-02-11 22:41:53 +0000 UTC
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Three days later.
With only six hours remaining until the scheduled update of the quantum communication network protocol, the deployment process had finally begun in full force. Ships carrying the newly manufactured Quantum Communication Sat...
2025-02-11 01:19:41 +0000 UTC
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A few days later.
Aron had returned from another short period of rest after spending three months in rigorous research. In real-time, it had only been ninety days, but within the accelerated VR environment, those months had translated into n...
2025-02-08 23:23:27 +0000 UTC
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Aron’s laughter lasted for quite some time, echoing through the simulation. He felt it deep within him—the climb was nearly over. He had been struggling up an impossible mountain, but now, at last, the summit was within reach. All that remaine...
2025-02-07 22:08:16 +0000 UTC
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With the System’s efficiency, the knowledge assimilation process was completed in no time.
Nova wasted no time either. The moment the process finished, she requested access to Aron’s brain data to extract the newly assimilated knowledge....
2025-02-06 19:55:40 +0000 UTC
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Two weeks later.
Aron, now fully reinvigorated after his semi-forced break, finally logged back into the universal simulation.
{Welcome back, sir,} Nova greeted him the moment his body materialized inside his lab.
“Can’t say ...
2025-02-04 23:16:47 +0000 UTC
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"Oh, this is quite delicious. Did Nova prepare this?" Aron asked with a smirk as he tasted the food. He was sitting in an open field that looked more like a picnic spot than a meeting ground.
Before he could even swallow, he had to tilt his ...
2025-02-02 22:24:20 +0000 UTC
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{Sir, the decryption is complete,} Nova informed Aron a few hours after receiving the decryption keys.
“That was fast,” Aron remarked, surprised by the speed. Previously, when processing the unencrypted information it had taken considera...
2025-02-01 22:28:46 +0000 UTC
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With the mana stones exchanged, only the meeting remained. The endurance of those present allowed discussions to continue for over sixteen hours, wrapping things up sooner than expected. This early finish meant the individual meetings about increa...
2025-01-31 04:13:32 +0000 UTC
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"There is nothing in the contract that says if our ship carrying mana stones is attacked, we are going to be punished, as that falls under circumstances beyond our control," Kalron said, subtly hinting at how they could proceed. The mana oath and ...
2025-01-28 09:24:52 +0000 UTC
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“F*ck.” That single word ran through the minds of the majority of the individuals present in the meeting room—especially those who had jumped at the chance to insult the Trinarian representative, believing he was merely holding the agreement...
2025-01-26 16:53:02 +0000 UTC
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“Are you trying to use this agreement as a hostage to secure more benefits for yourself?” the Valthorin representative interjected before the Trinarian representative could respond to Kalron’s question. His tone was sharp, laced with frustra...
2025-01-24 22:45:13 +0000 UTC
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“By setting up guardrails and limiting the ways the empire can easily access this information once they send their initial fleets to the Astral Conclave's territory and attempt to initiate trade and other dealings. Even at their fastest, it’ll...
2025-01-23 21:56:35 +0000 UTC
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