Chapter 14: The Time of Arrival, Part 4, NO.3 (8200)
In this multiverse, the reproductive capacity of many species far surpasses that of humans.
Even though humans possess a year-round hormonal system for estrus, given that a single pregnancy requires nine to ten months and most births are singletons, human reproductive capacity is inherently quite weak. This is especially true because humans are flesh-and-blood beings who cannot reproduce continuously throughout their lives; generally, two or three times is already a lot, and some individuals are even incompatible with each other for reproduction.
Of course, this is only relative to certain particularly prolific species... Each species has its own strengths and weaknesses in reproduction. Generally speaking, the longer the natural lifespan, the fewer offspring produced; the shorter the natural lifespan, the more offspring produced. So for some intelligent species with natural lifespans exceeding three thousand years, humans are probably only slightly more difficult to birth than insectoids.
Regardless, as the most fundamental link in an intelligent life society, reproduction forms the foundation of a race. It determines the form of a civilization and its social tendencies, and can even influence the direction of its collective will. Changing a race's reproductive process or essence would undoubtedly alter the entire race's form at its most fundamental level, whether the change accelerates or decelerates it.
Few races possess the boldness to make significant changes to their own reproductive process. It's not fear of the unknown, but rather a genuine belief that their race's reproductive process is a perfect form evolved over tens of millions of years, requiring no modification whatsoever.
But humans are different.
The Mycroft people made a change.
Year 858 of the Falling Stars Era, January 1st, Mycroft World Standard Time 7:34 AM, Mycroft World, Far South Eternal Lake, Langor City Central Hospital.
A young man anxiously waited outside the operating room, pacing back and forth in the corridor like a tireless walking machine. In a nearby trash can, piles of ice cream containers could be seen, testament to how much ice cream this nervous gentleman had consumed while waiting.
It was clear he preferred the vanilla flavor.
The man appeared to be just over twenty years old, with a handsome face and a very youthful appearance. He had black hair and rather rare purple-red eyes. Occasionally, he would look up at the closed operating room door, then glance at the elegant Elven handwriting on the wall's notice board.
[No smoking in the hospital]
"Who would smoke?!"
He muttered angrily to himself: "Meeting my child for the first time with the smell of smoke on me—I'm not an idiot."
Clearly, this gentleman—no, now it could be said 'this father'—the reason for his waiting in the hospital was obvious. He was waiting for his wife to give birth to the fruit of their love. However, this process could basically only rely on the mother's efforts alone, and as the father, he could only pace like a chocobo afflicted with anxiety, feeling utterly useless.
No one knew how much time had passed before the red light in the operating room finally turned green, and an Elven doctor emerged, looking relaxed and not particularly tired.
"Fafnir·Chris, the surgery was a success. Both the mother and child are healthy."
Stopping Fafnir from rushing into the operating room, the Elven doctor sighed and comforted him: "Ah, you can't go in yet. Your wife is, after all... hmm, a Fairy. I mean, the scene might be a bit unsightly... you know, a bit strange."
"What's wrong?!" Mr. Fafnir glared angrily: "Are you questioning my love for Vera?!"
"...No." The Elven doctor was choked by the retort and couldn't offer further advice, so he simply shook his head and said: "Fine, but seriously, I'll never understand you humans' peculiar tastes..."
This time, he didn't stop him.
Although he had put on a strong front, when Fafnir entered the operating room, he was still cautious and light-footed, afraid of disturbing anyone. Soon, a slightly weak but cheerful female voice came from inside.
"Darling, is that you?"
"It's me, it's me!"
Hearing this voice, Fafnir's spirits lifted immediately, and he hurried into the small ward. The next moment, he saw a shimmering, very tiny humanoid figure lying on a special white crystal operating table (the size of two palms), while several Elven doctors and nurses were removing related specialized micro-surgical tools.
"The spiritual substance separation surgery wasn't as difficult as I imagined. It felt quite simple."
"Compared to giving birth, getting them pregnant in the first place was the real challenge... I really don't understand. Cross-species is one thing, but how can they (humans) be attracted across body sizes?"
"Ah, don't say that. The chieftain of the Langor tribe married a Sea Dragon lady with Thunder Ancient Dragon bloodline, didn't he? That's also cross-species and cross-body size."
"But dragons have human transformation spells, and that chieftain is also a Druid with beast transformation—so it's manageable either way."
Fafnir could naturally hear these undisguised conversations, but he had no time to argue with these people about what Platonic spiritual love meant, nor was he inclined to explain what 'possessive fusion' was—a process even more thorough than simple blood fusion, directly merging from the soul level to conceive the next generation of their combined soul and thought.
The process was just a bit troublesome. If it weren't for the Mycroft civilization having come into contact with many pure energy and spiritual lifeforms over the past decade or so—such as the 'Amond Civilization,' the champion of the Gold Singles Group in the first Multiverse Star River Civilization Invitational Tournament—and receiving their research assistance, making it possible for humans and Fairies, who originally lacked this function, to produce offspring would have been an enormous challenge.
"How are you, darling?"
Since the spiritual substance separation surgery was successful and Fairies had no concept of infection, the doctors didn't stop Fafnir from approaching. He came to the white crystal operating table and nervously gazed at the Wind Fairy lying on it, who appeared somewhat weakened from separating a portion of her spiritual substance.
"I'm fine, but it'll probably take a few days before I can move normally."
It could be seen that this Wind Fairy had long cyan hair, light golden eyes that made her appear delicate and cute, and a pair of lattice-pattern wings resembling the energy shields of Void Warships, proving she was a Fairy keeping up with the new era. She was currently holding a small point of light, her face radiating maternal brilliance—but the entire Fairy was only the size of a palm.
The doctors preparing to leave squinted at Fafnir, feeling this was somehow criminal but unable to find evidence.
For Fairies, separating a portion of spiritual substance was like separating a portion of flesh and blood. In fact, Fafnir had also separated a portion of his own spiritual substance long ago, but that was several months prior, and he had already recovered.
"In any case, our child is very healthy!"
Saying this, the Wind Fairy named Vera happily raised the point of light in her hand, while Fafnir carefully used his own mana to form an invisible, gentle force field, replacing his overly large hand to cradle the point of light, which was only the size of his pinky fingernail.
"It is... I can feel it... a very stable energy frequency. Good, excellent!"
"Ahem, ahem."
Just as the couple were exchanging sweet words, pouring out their feelings, and even beginning to envision their child's future, accompanied by a light cough, the Elven doctor from earlier slowly approached. He squinted at a document in his hand and then, as if following procedure, said: "Congratulations to you both. The surgery was a success. The moth..."
He stumbled here, unsure whether to say 'son' or 'daughter,' but being an Elf, he smoothly glossed over it with a singing-like modulation: "...According to this 'New Mycroft Birth Law,' I must ask for your opinion. You are no doubt already familiar with the content."
"In short, do you agree to perform the 'Divine Mechanism Symbiosis' ritual for the newborn?"
Was there even a need to ask?
Fafnir and Vera first exchanged glances, then said in unison: "We agree!"
However, even as he said this, Mr. Fafnir·Chris was still a bit nervous. He swallowed, looked at the point of light in his hand, and muttered doubtfully: "But can my child really undergo the symbiosis ritual now? I mean, wouldn't it be fine to wait until they're a bit older?"
After all, according to the information he had received earlier, the most primitive Divine Mechanism symbiosis ritual required removing a part of the newborn's body for the ceremony, then placing it back inside the newborn to achieve symbiosis. But his child... was rather special. Perhaps when he or she grew up, they would possess a semi-physical human form, but for now, they were purely a Fairy spiritual body.
Would that still work?
"No problem."
The doctor had clearly considered similar questions before. He shrugged and said: "The old ritual from three years ago was, in general, borrowed from that Lord's family's traditional methods. Although it could achieve a 100% stable resonance rate, many children's parents found it too bloody and potentially harmful to the child, so they always refused. Soon, two years ago, a new method emerged that didn't require removing a part of the body but instead performed the ritual remotely."
"And now, our technology has advanced further."
As he spoke, a deep blue spatial-temporal glow appeared in the doctor's hand. Soon, a test tube containing a silver radiance like a nebula, as if holding a miniature star river, materialized out of thin air and was grasped by the doctor: "By drawing on the highest creation of the 'Sanctuary Civilization,' the 'Black Mist,' combined with some unique Mycroft technology, we developed a 'Spiritual State Reagent.' Using this to carry out the Divine Mechanism symbiosis ritual not only eliminates the need to remove a part of the body but also doesn't require performing the ritual directly on the newborn. We simply inject the spiritualized Divine Mechanism core as a reagent, and the newborn gains the symbiosis."
"In the past, the Sanctuary Civilization called this ritual 'Artificial Divine Race.' I think it's quite fitting—though we've added a weapon to it, haha."
Over the years, many once-top-secret materials had gradually become public, now serving as jokes to lighten the atmosphere between doctors and patients.
After hearing the doctor's explanation, Fafnir and Vera both breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that they were old-fashioned, but their child's form was indeed special and couldn't withstand much harm at birth. However, a new doubt soon arose: "But doctor, our child is so small... Isn't this Spiritual State Reagent too big?"
The doctor sighed. He handed the test tube containing the Divine Mechanism core, now transformed into a Spiritual State Reagent, to Fafnir, then made a 'put it in' gesture.
For a moment, Fafnir didn't react, but Vera beside him understood. She first showed a look of realization, then shock: "Put... put it in?"
She looked at the test tube, and in that instant, had a hallucination of a baby bottle: "A... a baby in a bottle?!"
"What else? Did you expect an injection? It's not a balloon."
Unfazed by their shock, the doctor said: "The Spiritual State Reagent is the best culture medium for growing spiritual lifeforms. At least it's better than leaving them outside. Moreover, during the growth process, gradually symbiosing with the Divine Mechanism will allow them to achieve an extremely high resonance rate in the future, even breaking through the 'measured limit of 100%' with ease. Trust me, we've conducted far more tests in this area than you can imagine."
Leaving aside the couple, who were holding the test tube and the newborn point of light with conflicted expressions, unsure how to 'put it in,' the perspective pulled back from the hospital in the city center to the entire Langor City.
It could be seen that the streets were bustling with people of all races and forms of life. There were flesh-and-blood humanoid beings, mechanical individuals of iron and steel, and in the air, ghosts and winged intelligent lifeforms flew. These beings of various forms, some even from different worlds and civilizations, had all transformed into humanoid shapes, walking through the human world.
In theory, among this vast crowd, distinguishing pure Mycroft people should be quite difficult. But in reality, it was not.
It could be seen that on the streets, nearly every Mycroft person had a semi-spiritual entity floating beside or behind them. These entities took various forms—humanoid, weapon-shaped, animal, magical beast, object, musical instrument, or other strange geometric shapes. Any being accompanied by such a semi-spiritual entity was undoubtedly a Mycroft person.
Even children as young as seven or eight had corresponding spiritual entities floating beside them, protecting and guiding the playing children away from danger. Human children might not know what was dangerous, but their symbiotic partners, their best playmates, guides, and weapons, would protect them.
Whether or not they would need such guidance in the future, at least for now, the 'Divine Mechanism' would carve a safe path for them before they grew up.
Of course, not all Mycroft people chose Divine Mechanism symbiosis. At least some still viewed this suddenly appearing half-body spiritual entity with suspicion.
"How can you guarantee the safety of this symbiosis?"
They always asked this, their tone filled with doubt, even fierce attacks: "You can't guarantee it, can you? If the Divine Mechanism were to rebel, wouldn't ordinary people like us without supernatural power be doomed?"
For various reasons, they always refused change, but their doubts couldn't be called wrong. At least, during the development of Divine Mechanism symbiosis, the developers had thought of this problem long before them.
And the answer to this question was 'it doesn't matter.'
Unsafe? Of course it's unsafe. There is no such thing as 100% safety in this world. If one wants absolute safety and peace, the only suggestion is to die... Ah, but death isn't peaceful either, because absolute experts, even if the deceased have been annihilated into the void, can forcibly reverse entropy and time to drag them back.
Even the human body itself isn't safe—various genetic diseases, congenital defects, and innate shortcomings developed in the womb are far more dangerous than artificially crafted, perfection-seeking Divine Mechanisms. Not to mention other things: toothaches, stomach ailments, digestive issues, cancer... Which of these doesn't cause suffering? Which isn't dangerous?
Moreover, compared to the Divine Mechanism, which has yet to show any problems, humans should be more wary of other things—like car accidents, exploring other worlds, accidentally bumping into sharp objects, magic backlash from learning spells, or excessive battle qi training leading to life decay... Countless people die worldwide from practicing supernatural powers or from their own blades, yet no one stops learning magic and battle qi or using weapons and tools.
Remember, back in the day, countless people died from cultivation going awry every day.
And the Divine Mechanism can avoid most of the above dangers.
They are spiritual entities and weapons that symbiosize with humans. When the symbiosis ritual is performed, they can modify the symbiont's body to achieve a naturally perfect state. They can avoid sudden attacks, warn of dangerous areas, give warnings before magic backlash, share the burden during backlash, guide the symbiont in battle qi training, and if the symbiont insists on a dangerous path, at least help them prepare a will (some might also choose to notify the city guard or the symbiont's parents).
Perhaps in the future, Divine Mechanism symbiosis might lead to some bad outcomes or adverse conditions, such as creating a group of useless people who rely on the Divine Mechanism for everything. But such people would rely on their parents even without the Divine Mechanism, ultimately being useless anyway, and the Divine Mechanism would at least prevent them from making mistakes due to their uselessness.
As for Divine Mechanisms that rebel against their symbionts... that's not impossible. For example, if the symbiont is too useless and the Divine Mechanism can't stand the exploitation, it might rebel in anger—that would be quite reasonable. But ultimately, the Divine Mechanism is a spiritual entity born from the symbiont's own soul and body. If it were to rebel, in a sense, it would be like one's left hand hitting the right hand, a form of schizophrenia. Moreover, this situation hasn't occurred yet, so it can't be used as a counterexample.
Of course, some people don't try Divine Mechanism symbiosis for such shallow reasons.
Outside Langor City Central Hospital, a middle-aged man who didn't look particularly old gazed at the hospital with a complex expression. He could sense that his son and daughter-in-law were inside, for his... grandson or granddaughter? Whatever.
In short, they were joyful and elated.
But as the 'grandfather,' his heart was filled with myriad emotions.
"Divine Mechanism..."
The former Chris·Radcliffe, now surnamed Firstner·Chris, let out a long sigh: "Is this fate?"
His father wanted it. For power, to bear responsibility.
He didn't want it. For freedom, to escape responsibility.
His son grew up knowing nothing of all this.
And his grandson, unknowingly, obtained it.
The desires and cravings that had entangled four generations, the cause and effect and cycles that had bound four generations, once again connected to those bearing the Radcliffe family bloodline. He could even hear the Divine Mechanism, not yet self-aware, cheering and resonating. The ritual born from the Radcliffe family contract was invigorated by contact with the original blood.
"Lucky little one, my grandchild... Unlike me, who escaped responsibility and is no longer qualified to possess it, you know nothing of this and need bear no responsibility... because someone has severed the bloodline's fate, allowing you to grow freely."
And the chain of cause and effect belonging to the Radcliffe family was finally, on this day, linked to all of humanity, and indeed to all future intelligent life.
The middle-aged man sighed with relief, silently emotional. Beside him, a golden-haired lady gently placed her hand on her husband's—she thought he was simply emotional about becoming a grandfather. So this lady named Sophie softly said: "Don't sigh, old man. This is all good."
"Yes. It's all good. Wait, you wretch, I'm not old!" He instinctively agreed, then, after realizing, feigned anger at his wife, who was covering her mouth and giggling: "Tonight, I'll show you my prowess—let's give Fafnir another sibling!"
"...Yes. It's all good."
Above Langor City, the blue-haired, black-winged Winged Human girl gazed down at the entire city. No.3 watched the city's central hospital with a complex expression, observing the scene of 'human' and 'Fairy,' 'physical life' and 'spiritual life,' producing offspring. She shook her head, whether in helplessness or relief: "Does the Radcliffe family bloodline naturally favor non-human beings? Even Fairies are fair game... But it's all good."
"If I hadn't allocated resources for related research... Hmph, those two little ones really thought they could quickly find a method like 'possessive fusion' to produce offspring? This birth looks perfect; my approach was indeed correct."
Human reproductive patterns had changed, thanks to her efforts and countless others.
—It was all good.
The Artificial Intelligence who had been driving all this development from behind nodded slightly. Then, she turned her head to look at the entire Langor City.
Naturally, the numerous symbiotic Divine Mechanisms came into view.
"...I never thought it would come to this."
No.3 watched as the creation of her former homeworld gradually developed into what it was today. She watched as the Divine Mechanism, through her efforts and those of the Lord's Mansion of Moldavia, gradually became an indispensable part of Mycroft civilization, both now and in the future. Her feelings, besides relief, held a hint of complexity.
All efforts and struggles had borne fruit... but could that person see it now?
He surely could. He must.
"Joshua, the current Multiverse Star River is far from peaceful... Not only that, but people's hearts are beginning to waver."
Thinking this, No.3 naturally opened the Magic Net. As a humanoid Psychic Terminal, one of the Magic Net's central administrators, and a high-ranking member of Mycroft civilization, she could naturally connect to the entire Multiverse Star River and know many secrets unknown to ordinary people.
It could be seen that on various forums, many slightly anxious posts and anonymous discussion threads had appeared.
[Another Multiverse Star River Joint Conference has been held recently, and even the third Multiverse Civilization Invitational Tournament has been suspended. Is something big about to happen again?]
[During the conference, the Magic Net is cracking down. The following words are prohibited in discussions (link attached)]
[I heard another natural disaster has appeared on the other side of the Multiverse Star River. Netizens around the Ross Star River have gone silent. We were playing the Grand Arena online not long ago, and they disconnected mid-game. I've gotten used to it over the past few years.]
[Pray and donate, I guess. Netizens worldwide are one family; we're all part of the Grand Alliance.]
[What use are prayers and donations? Official aid has already been sent out. I heard it's led by that Legendary Swordsman and the new Pope. Us ordinary folks just need to wait for news.]
[Sigh, although I know it's far away from us, for some reason, I always feel very uneasy...]
No.3 browsed through the anonymous discussion threads. Unlike the proper forums that guided public opinion, these places, where one could apply for a range and discuss secretly, truly revealed people's thoughts. Although the impending invasion of Dark Chaos hadn't been fully disclosed to the public, the increasingly tense social situation and many trends would always make some sensitive people feel nervous and guess at something.
"Brandon, Loranda has been at the Ross Star River as the vanguard for nearly three years now. The Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground and the Shadow Sage's connection to the Shadow Space of all realms have indeed made communication more convenient... But if they fail to hold the line, the Evil Gods can invade all realms just as easily."
Thinking this, No.3's expression darkened slightly: "And as the interpreter of the Unified Grand Database and the bearer and administrator of the Magic Net, I can only stay in the rear... I always feel like I'm not helping everyone much, only tinkering with Divine Mechanism matters."
But there was no use in being unwilling. Even after receiving the inheritance of the Sky God and reaching the general Legendary realm, becoming the second Legendary expert among the Lord's Mansion members besides Joshua, No.3 was well aware that she wasn't skilled in combat and couldn't help the others much in that regard.
Thinking this, she instinctively opened a private, high-security forum. It could be seen that this simple forum had very few people posting. The two most recent posts were from a few days ago.
But the content of the posts was particularly shocking.
The first post was by a user with the ID 'Love·Physical Proselytizing·Friendly,' and the content was the scene of the 'Ross Star River' mentioned in the earlier anonymous discussion thread.
It was a star domain on the edge of the Ross Star River. Originally desolate and uninhabited, after repeated confirmations by the Knowledge Seizer, Mycroft explorers had discovered a large-scale Pioneer-era relic site from the Sage of Demons era there.
But now, the original relic world had become a fortress star domain. Centered on the entire Pioneer relic group, vast Void fortresses and world fortresses, like walls of steel, blocked the entire star domain tightly, forming an incredibly solid fortress cluster.
At least several hundred civilizations were continuously supplying resources to this place, constantly reinforcing the fortresses. It could be seen that within this vast fortress cluster, dozens of different styles were mixed, incorporating almost all supernatural forces and their derivative powers. The powerful supernatural fluctuations even distorted the light of this star domain, causing the entire side of the Ross Star River to shimmer with twisted rainbows.
The second post was by a user with the ID 'Protective Sword,' and the content was about the interpretation of documents from the Pioneer-level relic within the Ross Star River.
[This is a civilization called 'Balod,' a testament left before their imminent destruction. The content is long and complex, detailing their entire civilization's history, development process, and key technologies. I've uploaded the more important data to the Omega section of the Unified Grand Database; enter the corresponding key to browse.]
[However, for us, the most important information isn't that data, but their regret and lament before their demise.]
['We made the wrong decision. Voluntarily lowering our civilization level to avoid the Evil Gods' destruction was a grave mistake. After self-castrating to a second-level civilization, while the Evil Gods wouldn't actively attack, it didn't mean their minions would ignore us. And the more minions, the more attention the Evil Gods would pay... Indeed, as the 'Sage' wrote, escape does not solve problems; it only gets solved by problems.']
[Recently, many negative comments have appeared on the Magic Net, along with related defeatist speeches aimed at undermining confidence. Some even involve acquaintances hoping to enter the Sanctuary World and act like ostriches to survive the Evil God invasion... Seriously, that is a last-resort shelter for survivors after our defeat, not something to run to. No one can enter it without shedding blood. I hope everyone can arrange and guide related public opinion, and strictly investigate pessimistic statements.]
This user's post was quite intense, seemingly genuinely angry. Although he didn't use harsh words, his tone was very stern.
[Escape is useless. Just as that man always said, only by facing hardship can we find a glimmer of hope. No victory comes without reason. We must fight to secure a chance for the Sanctuary World's safe activation in the future.]
"Yes, just as that man always said..."
Floating in the sky, No.3 looked up. Her gaze pierced through the sky, straight into the void: "Just as you always said."
"But when will you appear before us and truly say these words yourself?"
The Artificial Intelligence knew very well that it wouldn't be long... Deep within the Magic Net, at the core of the Genesis Maelstrom, the massive pulse was growing faster and faster, larger and larger.
"This year marks the eighth year since you left the normal Multiverse Star River for the Genesis Maelstrom."
This year marked the eighth year since Joshua·Van·Radcliffe entered the Genesis Maelstrom.
The time of arrival was approaching.