The Petrachelys immediately left the collapsing edge of the world and set forth at full speed towards Zom . The little light orbs around the ship had all snuffed out and the radiant galaxy turned into the dark void as it slowly spread across the space . The scene reminded Hao Ren of when the lights were turned off one by one inside a planetarium . He made his way back to the bridge and tried to get the ship to go faster . However, this Petrachelys was ultimately a reproduction, and this was the fastest it could go .
The entire bridge shuddered as the shock from the collapsing space came from all directions . Hao Ren could feel that the outer plates of the ship were being stripped away one by one . He was now really worried that this entire simulated world would just collapse .
Thankfully, as they approached Zom, the signs of collapse reduced and the dark void of space was now a distant black screen . Seems like the 'world's collapse was limited to its outer areas and the core of the simulated universe is still stable .
"How many nav-sig did you manage to deploy?" Hao Ren heaved a sigh of relief as he turned towards the MDT . "Are you still in contact with the droids?"
"I still have contact, but it has reverted to that transmission mode again, only simple logs exchange, no nav-sigs . " the MDT shook her head . She was reverting to her 'human' form again and the functions that she regained at the edge of the world were now gone . "But I have managed to send out a few of the nav-sigs out earlier, so the exploration droids should have a rough idea of our current position . . . a few light years out I suppose . "
"Looking for a planet within a few light years huh . . . " Hao Ren sighed again . "Well, better than trying to scour the universe blindly . Order the droids to fire their scout drones and locate Zom's exact location . "
The MDT gave a curt 'Oh' before looking at the images coming in from the external sensors . "Seems like the universe is resetting again . "
Hao Ren frowned as he looked upon the holographic display and the darkened stars behind the Petrachelys were shining again, as if someone had flipped a switch . The universe was once again awashed by the stars' radiance and the hull of the Petrachelys glistened in the glow . Beautiful it was, but real it was not .
"What does that even mean? Don't tell me just because we left the edge the system had regained its stability?" Hao Ren was slightly unnerved . "Seems like the situation at the edge of the world was bug resulting in a rendering error?"
"I'm not good at guessing, but I have a bad feeling about this . " the MDT leapt off the control dais as she pointed towards another holographic display . "Look there, something is weird with Zom . "
Zom was just before them, like a clear crystal orb that appeared just in front of the Petrachelys' fore . It was a verdant blue and green that was pleasing ot the eyes, and it looked full of life . And that was when Hao Ren realised the 'weirdness' that the MDT was talking about .
The planet was similarly covered in ocean when he left Zom earlier, but the earlier version had a sickly shade of grey with the land had a yellowish barren hue to it . It was the degenerated plants caused by the constant warfare and within the last ten or so cycles, the planet was never teeming with life, it was always in a flux of warfare or natural disasters, and such a lively hue to the planet was impossible .
This was a whole different planet now .
"There is a good landing spot on the northern hemisphere . A large unhabited area . " the MDT pointed towards the planet surface as she spoke . She was basing it off the sensors of the ship . "We won't get detected as long as we are careful . "
Hao Ren started frowing . "The whole geography have changed . . . where's Nolan now?"
Hao Ren started frowing . "The whole geography have changed . . . where's Nolan now?"
"Looking for her would be quite the task . " the MDT shook her head . "The entire map have changed . We can't be sure if she is still at her original position . And we did not put a tracker on her . "
"A tracker?" Hao Ren was reminded of something as the MDT mentioned that . "Oh right, I did give her that staff, that's an object not from this world and should not be reset . Trace that signal . "
Based on Imperial safety regulations, every inspector's equipment, weapons especially needs to be engraved with a identification chip . This is not only limited to high powered weapons from the Imperial inventory, and includes the personal arms collected by the inspectors . Hao Ren could so boldly give out the technologically advanced sentry staff to Nolan was because of that . He could track the weapon's location at any time, and could remotely shut it off in emergencies . So he did not need to worry about the weapon falling into the wrong hands . Abd now this identification chip could help him locate Nolan, and if he was right, the world had reset and Nolan might not be at her original place .
Even if Hao Ren's various equipments were messed up by this world's 'simulation', even if the Petrachelys was simply a pirated version, thankfully the programme behind his world sticked to 'realism' to the word under any circumstances . And navigation technology was clearly within the programme's understanding, and Nolan's signal was swiftly located .
Hao Ren piloted the Petrachelys towards the empty plain and successfully landed the ship . After stowing the ship away he realised that this was the outskirts of a small city, and as it was before daybreak, there should not be anyone within the vicinity .
He and the MDT stood on a mound as they looked at the small city . It was all peace and quiet . There were no gunpowder smoke, no refugees, no ruined streets and crumbled houses . The city was in a peaceful slumber .
" . . . The world really got reset, and the architecture and this atmosphere . . . it's really different . " Hao Ren murmured as he looked on . Even if what he saw was nothing but peace, uneasiness started creeping upon him . "Seems like this is a peaceful world this time around?"
"My word, it is really not in a state of world war . . . " the MDT was surprised . "Didn't Nolan said that the last ten or so cycles were all bad ends?"
"My word, it is really not in a state of world war . . . " the MDT was surprised . "Didn't Nolan said that the last ten or so cycles were all bad ends?"
"No idea what happened, but the world seemed to have chosen a good end script I guess . " Hao Ren shook his head . Just as he was to jump off the mound he remembered something . "Have the droids been deployed?"
The MDT nodded . "Yes . And they should be arriving in the designation location soon . They'll probably take sometime to find our exact location . The nav-sig launched earlier was incomplete afterall . "
Hao Ren thought for a bit before patting the MDT on the shoulder . "Can you access my Dimensional Pocket? Like pulling the Petrachelys out or something?"
"If you give me permission I can operate it for you . . but why?"
"Then I have a mission for you . Return to the real world . Get Vivian and the rest to go the Planes of Dreams from Tannagost, and deploy the Petrachelys to pick me up . I want you to bring my sleeping pod along . Meaning, I want you to bring my real body along . "
"You mean to bring your real body into the Plane of Dreams?" the MDT's eyes widen . "But your spiritual form is already here . We have never tried this before, wouldn't it cause any problems?"
"No, because this is a simulated space within the Plane of Dreams . And strictly speaking I'm only connected to this place, and this is not a real spiritual transference . " Hao Ren pointed to his feet . "I have a feeling, something will happen here . . . no . . something already happened here . So we need to get all the firepower we can get to face it . And if the situation requires, I want to be able to return my body and control the ship . So you need to use the Petrachelys to find where the real Zom is before that . "
The MDT silently looked at Hao Ren for a while before nodding . "Understood . Leave it to me . "
"No, because this is a simulated space within the Plane of Dreams . And strictly speaking I'm only connected to this place, and this is not a real spiritual transference . " Hao Ren pointed to his feet . "I have a feeling, something will happen here . . . no . . something already happened here . So we need to get all the firepower we can get to face it . And if the situation requires, I want to be able to return my body and control the ship . So you need to use the Petrachelys to find where the real Zom is before that . "
The MDT silently looked at Hao Ren for a while before nodding . "Understood . Leave it to me . "
"I'll leave the real world task to you then . " Hao Ren waved at the MDT . "I'll handle whatever there's in this virtual world . "
The next second, the MDT disappeared into thin air .
It had now returned to a sleeping pod in the Southern Suburb and it will bring with it companions, and a spaceship . With the guidance of the exploration droids, it shall find Zom's real location, but before that . . .
Hao Ren walked towards the city that was basking in dawn's light . His tracker shows that Nolan was just in front .
As the sun broke out from the horizon, the skies was painted with a crimson blow . Before stepping into the city, Hao Ren had one last look at the horizon . The radiant dawnbreak signals the start of new day in this world .
And may it be for the best .
The Petrachelys immediately left the collapsing edge of the world and set forth at full speed towards Zom . The little light orbs around the ship had all snuffed out and the radiant galaxy turned into the dark void as it slowly spread across the space . The scene reminded Hao Ren of when the lights were turned off one by one inside a planetarium . He made his way back to the bridge and tried to get the ship to go faster . However, this Petrachelys was ultimately a reproduction, and this was the fastest it could go . The entire bridge shuddered as the shock from the collapsing space came from all directions . Hao Ren could feel that the outer plates of the ship were being stripped away one by one . He was now really worried that this entire simulated world would just collapse . Thankfully, as they approached Zom, the signs of collapse reduced and the dark void of space was now a distant black screen . Seems like the worlds collapse was limited to its outer areas and the core of the simulated universe is still stable . How many nav-sig did you manage to deploy? Hao Ren heaved a sigh of relief as he turned towards the MDT . Are you still in contact with the droids? I still have contact, but it has reverted to that transmission mode again, only simple logs exchange, no nav-sigs . the MDT shook her head . She was reverting to her human form again and the functions that she regained at the edge of the world were now gone . But I have managed to send out a few of the nav-sigs out earlier, so the exploration droids should have a rough idea of our current position . a few light years out I suppose . Looking for a planet within a few light years huh . Hao Ren sighed again . Well, better than trying to scour the universe blindly . Order the droids to fire their scout drones and locate Zoms exact location . The MDT gave a curt Oh before looking at the images coming in from the external sensors . Seems like the universe is resetting again . Hao Ren frowned as he looked upon the holographic display and the darkened stars behind the Petrachelys were shining again, as if someone had flipped a switch . The universe was once again awashed by the stars radiance and the hull of the Petrachelys glistened in the glow . Beautiful it was, but real it was not . What does that even mean? Dont tell me just because we left the edge the system had regained its stability? Hao Ren was slightly unnerved . Seems like the situation at the edge of the world was bug resulting in a rendering error? Im not good at guessing, but I have a bad feeling about this . the MDT leapt off the control dais as she pointed towards another holographic display . Look there, something is weird with Zom . Zom was just before them, like a clear crystal orb that appeared just in front of the Petrachelys fore . It was a verdant blue and green that was pleasing ot the eyes, and it looked full of life . And that was when Hao Ren realised the weirdness that the MDT was talking about . The planet was similarly covered in ocean when he left Zom earlier, but the earlier version had a sickly shade of grey with the land had a yellowish barren hue to it . It was the degenerated plants caused by the constant warfare and within the last ten or so cycles, the planet was never teeming with life, it was always in a flux of warfare or natural disasters, and such a lively hue to the planet was impossible . This was a whole different planet now . There is a good landing spot on the northern hemisphere . A large unhabited area . the MDT pointed towards the planet surface as she spoke . She was basing it off the sensors of the ship . We wont get detected as long as we are careful . Hao Ren started frowing . The whole geography have changed . wheres Nolan now? Looking for her would be quite the task . the MDT shook her head . The entire map have changed . We cant be sure if she is still at her original position . And we did not put a tracker on her . A tracker? Hao Ren was reminded of something as the MDT mentioned that . Oh right, I did give her that staff, thats an object not from this world and should not be reset . Trace that signal . Based on Imperial safety regulations, every inspectors equipment, weapons especially needs to be engraved with a identification chip . This is not only limited to high powered weapons from the Imperial inventory, and includes the personal arms collected by the inspectors . Hao Ren could so boldly give out the technologically advanced sentry staff to Nolan was because of that . He could track the weapons location at any time, and could remotely shut it off in emergencies . So he did not need to worry about the weapon falling into the wrong hands . Abd now this identification chip could help him locate Nolan, and if he was right, the world had reset and Nolan might not be at her original place . Even if Hao Rens various equipments were messed up by this worlds simulation, even if the Petrachelys was simply a pirated version, thankfully the programme behind his world sticked to realism to the word under any circumstances . And navigation technology was clearly within the programmes understanding, and Nolans signal was swiftly located . Hao Ren piloted the Petrachelys towards the empty plain and successfully landed the ship . After stowing the ship away he realised that this was the outskirts of a small city, and as it was before daybreak, there should not be anyone within the vicinity . He and the MDT stood on a mound as they looked at the small city . It was all peace and quiet . There were no gunpowder smoke, no refugees, no ruined streets and crumbled houses . The city was in a peaceful slumber . . The world really got reset, and the architecture and this atmosphere . its really different . Hao Ren murmured as he looked on . Even if what he saw was nothing but peace, uneasiness started creeping upon him . Seems like this is a peaceful world this time around? My word, it is really not in a state of world war . the MDT was surprised . Didnt Nolan said that the last ten or so cycles were all bad ends? No idea what happened, but the world seemed to have chosen a good end script I guess . Hao Ren shook his head . Just as he was to jump off the mound he remembered something . Have the droids been deployed? The MDT nodded . Yes . And they should be arriving in the designation location soon . Theyll probably take sometime to find our exact location . The nav-sig launched earlier was incomplete afterall . Hao Ren thought for a bit before patting the MDT on the shoulder . Can you access my Dimensional Pocket? Like pulling the Petrachelys out or something? If you give me permission I can operate it for you but why? Then I have a mission for you . Return to the real world . Get Vivian and the rest to go the Planes of Dreams from Tannagost, and deploy the Petrachelys to pick me up . I want you to bring my sleeping pod along . Meaning, I want you to bring my real body along . You mean to bring your real body into the Plane of Dreams? the MDTs eyes widen . But your spiritual form is already here . We have never tried this before, wouldnt it cause any problems? No, because this is a simulated space within the Plane of Dreams . And strictly speaking Im only connected to this place, and this is not a real spiritual transference . Hao Ren pointed to his feet . I have a feeling, something will happen here . no something already happened here . So we need to get all the firepower we can get to face it . And if the situation requires, I want to be able to return my body and control the ship . So you need to use the Petrachelys to find where the real Zom is before that . The MDT silently looked at Hao Ren for a while before nodding . Understood . Leave it to me . Ill leave the real world task to you then . Hao Ren waved at the MDT . Ill handle whatever theres in this virtual world . The next second, the MDT disappeared into thin air . It had now returned to a sleeping pod in the Southern Suburb and it will bring with it companions, and a spaceship . With the guidance of the exploration droids, it shall find Zoms real location, but before that . Hao Ren walked towards the city that was basking in dawns light . His tracker shows that Nolan was just in front . As the sun broke out from the horizon, the skies was painted with a crimson blow . Before stepping into the city, Hao Ren had one last look at the horizon . The radiant dawnbreak signals the start of new day in this world . And may it be for the best .
Chapter end
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