MTLNOVEL Chapter 256:
Chapter 256: Ailei Is Very Worried About You:
In Xu Xi’s room, there was an hourglass.
A symmetrical glass container connected by a slender neck, held securely within a wooden frame.
The falling grains of sand silently narrated the slow passage of time, carrying away the past and turning it into an eternal memory.
Amid the gentle sound of cascading sand, Xu Xi slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a pair of familiar silver-blue mechanical eyes.
Ailei sat quietly by his bedside, patiently waiting for him to wake up, holding a bowl of warm golden soup in her hands.
“Master, please drink the soup.”
As Xu Xi awakened, Ailei’s silver-blue gaze subtly brightened.
Xu Xi wanted to take the bowl and drink by himself, but Ailei firmly refused, pressing him back into place and feeding him one spoonful at a time.
“Well… I’ll trouble you then, Ailei.”
Looking into her eyes, Xu Xi found himself unable to refuse.
Thus, with Ailei’s gentle and meticulous assistance, the warm golden soup made its way into his mouth.
The soup was warm, not too hot, and left a faint warmth lingering within him.
But he knew that it was futile. His broken body and increasingly indifferent heart were not things a mere bowl of soup could mend.
Even so, Xu Xi smiled, forcing his facial muscles to lift into a stiff curve.
“It’s very effective, Ailei.”
“Thanks to your soup, I’m feeling much better now.”
There were still many critical aspects of the curvature engine experiments that needed attention. Xu Xi was eager to return to the lab and continue resonating with machine souls for inspiration.
However, Ailei gently grasped his hand.
“Master…”
“I… I’m very worried about you…”
Her voice echoed in the air, hollow and trembling, words laced with indescribable emotion.
When Xu Xi turned to look, he saw a heart-wrenching sight.
The cold machine girl, dressed in her black-and-white maid uniform, with strands of hair hanging by her ears, lightly pressed a hand to her chest while holding onto his hand with the other.
The image felt broken—
Like a smooth mirror shattered by the hammer of “emotion,” pieces crashing down relentlessly.
Each fragment that shattered only made her grip on Xu Xi’s hand tighten.
“Please… don’t continue like this…”
Ailei’s hand was warm, powered by the energy core within her body, ensuring her mechanical form maintained a constant temperature.
She clumsily held onto Xu Xi, trying to pass that warmth to him.
Her appearance stirred a sense of pity in his heart.
“… ”
Xu Xi remained silent for a moment.
“Sorry, Ailei, for making you worry.”
No longer allowing her to hold him alone, Xu Xi gently held her hand as well—carefully, reassuringly, leading the uncertain and fearful Ailei forward.
“You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I’m really fine. No matter what happens, I’ll be okay. Trust me, alright?”
His voice was soft, almost like a flickering candle in the wind.
Yet strangely, that fragile flame became a guiding beacon in the darkness, lighting the path for the fearful machine soul.
Inside the room, the hourglass continued to whisper its gentle shuffling sound.
Grain by grain, drop by drop—its remaining time was visibly running out.
…
[Simulation Year 500: You are 519 years old, and Ailei has been with you for 497 years.]
[Your time is being squeezed to its limit.]
[Machine soul, mechanical force, and again, machine soul, mechanical force.]
[You push yourself 24 hours a day, seeking inspiration from the machine souls, molding with mechanical force, and having Ailei perform deeper calculations.]
[Ailei is worried about your health and tries to take on more of your burden.]
[Ailei begins frequently using her special abilities.]
[Ailei starts observing the universe.]
[Ailei starts observing particles.]
[Ailei runs out of power and collapses into your arms to recharge.]
[“Master, energy replenishment in progress. Please do not move.”]
[She clings tightly to you, preventing you from returning to your experiments. You suspect that this is her way of forcing you to rest, but you have no proof.]
…
[Simulation Year 564: You are 583 years old, and Ailei has been with you for 561 years.]
[You experienced your eighth death.]
[This time, thanks to advancements in gravity technology, Ailei was able to detect the Neutron Battle Star’s gravitational waves much earlier.]
[Ailei tried to challenge “the god.”]
[Before the fleet was annihilated, she unleashed a pre-emptive full-force barrage.]
[The Neutron Battle Star remained unscathed, needing no advanced technology—its sheer mass and density effortlessly obliterated everything.]
[After your resurrection, Ailei piloted a backup body to retrieve you.]
[This time, she didn’t check your body for injuries. Instead, she simply dove into your embrace, saying she just wanted to stay there quietly.]
…
[Simulation Year 584: You are 603 years old, and Ailei has been with you for 581 years.]
[With Ailei’s assistance and her unique observational capabilities, you finally unveiled the mysteries of space, using gravity technology as leverage to manipulate time and space.]
[The prototype of the curvature engine was born.]
[Though still in its infancy, it was undeniably a major breakthrough.]
[You delved deeper into research on the antimatter engine and elemental decay engine.]
[Faster-than-light travel demanded an immense amount of energy, far beyond what fusion power could provide.]
[You sought to utilize these two forms of energy to power the curvature engine.]
…
[Simulation Year 588: You researched technology, ate Ailei’s cooking, and fought insect swarms.]
[Simulation Year 600: You researched technology, ate Ailei’s cooking, and continued fighting insect swarms.]
[There were too many insect swarms. You felt helpless.]
…
As the years passed,
In the beginning, Xu Xi retained his humanity, still capable of emotions and sentimentality.
Now, with the deep erosion of the machine soul, Xu Xi no longer paid attention to the passing of time.
Only the Neutron Battle Star’s attack timing received his special attention.
The ninth death was approaching, but before that, in the 616th year of the simulation, Xu Xi’s fleet came to a halt.
It wasn’t due to a malfunction or an error.
It simply couldn’t advance any further.
A seemingly endless fleet of intelligent machines blocked their path, their sheer numbers obscuring the starlight.
Unknowingly, they had reached the very end of the vast cosmic graveyard of civilizations—
And Xu Xi saw the wall.
“Was my speed too fast?”
“No… it must be that the Federation planet’s location was already at the edge of the prison.”
“By some twist of fate, I arrived earlier than expected.”
Standing in the starship’s control room, Xu Xi gazed at the images brought back by the probe ships sent ahead.
What they captured was an absolute void—an insurmountable barrier that split the universe and buried all hope.
It looked as though it was still part of the same universe, yet it completely separated the space within from what lay beyond.
“A spatial blockade?”
“Just as I expected… this level of despair…”
“With a barrier like this, conventional space travel methods are meaningless.”
“And with the Neutron Battle Star guarding the gate, what kind of hellish difficulty is this?”