In the Galaxy, people often gauge just how remote, secluded, or hidden a planet or a civilization is by whether it's a place Akivili once reached.
In truth, even in the star systems where Akivili had already laid down the Star Rail, there were still countless worlds undiscovered by people, by civilization. Aside from the Nameless and certain special existences, few could ever keep pace with Akivili's footsteps.
When the Verminstar System was first discovered by civilization, it was a natural planet brimming with vitality and peace.
Mm, teeming with life.
The entire surface of the planet was densely, thickly blanketed with countless bugs of every shape and form:
Huge, bloated brain-bugs with exposed ganglia; soil-burrowing mole crickets clad in thick carapaces;
swarming locusts eager to take flight; slimy water-bugs weaving through muddy marshes;
They belonged to the same class but different orders, living together in harmony and affection.
So affectionate that, in the literal sense, they made no distinction between self and other — the sounds of gnawing, tearing, and splattering mucus all blended into one.
This was a paradise for anyone with trypophobia!
A single glance was enough to send you straight to heaven!
Of course, it might just as well be hell~
Behind her, an emerald Wind Glider conjured by the [Wind] card fanned the air. The Stelle-Asta fusion gazed down at the scalp-tingling, writhing abyss below, and even she — who counted Stelle among her fusion materials — couldn't help feeling a wave of physical revulsion.
She drew a deep breath, her gaze turning sharp in an instant.
Her left hand rose, and a brilliant golden flame radiating the aura of Destruction blazed to life.
Her right hand rose, and a thick, molten flame of Preservation, like ignited amber, took shape.
Her hands came together. A silver energy that, in a sense, embodied all-encompassing inclusion — the power of the Trailblaze Path — poured into the two utterly opposing flames like a mediator and stabilizer.
With its help, the flames of Destruction and Preservation achieved a wondrous yet perilous dynamic balance, becoming a fire lotus on the verge of bloom.
"Take my Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus!"
The Stelle-Asta fusion let out a dainty shout and, as though hoisting up a star, hurled that exquisite fire lotus fiercely down into the sea of bugs below.
BOOM!!!
A terrifying roar shook heaven and earth. A storm of light and heat tore through the sea of clouds, flames scattered across the sky like drifting petals, and the fire lotus bloomed in full.
There were no screams — only instantaneous vaporization and annihilation!
When the destructive radiance dimmed a little, the land below had been utterly purified, the once scalp-crawling, writhing carpet of bugs vanished without a trace.
The core of the blast had been melted and crystallized by the searing heat, forming a sheet of glass smooth as a mirror, wisps of blue smoke curling up from it.
The Stelle-Asta fusion exhaled, and a hint of color returned to her slightly pallid, pretty face. She clapped her hands, her tone a touch relaxed:
"Whew~ These bugs... aren't really that hard to kill, huh?"
"After all, [Propagation] hasn't ascended to godhood yet."
Beside the girl, Caelus remarked offhandedly, his gaze sweeping over the newborn expanse of glass:
"Those bugs are, at their core, still just 'ordinary' creatures."
Even though many of those seemingly insignificant little things could easily kill a human.
He casually pulled up the System quest panel and glanced at it. His points had climbed from zero to double digits.
Since Stelle was among the Stelle-Asta fusion's synthesis materials, she counted as half a Caelus, so the bugs she killed naturally counted toward the System quest. It was just...
Wasn't this way too few?
Such a vast swath of bugs, and all it gave was a measly two-digit reward?
Was it because they hadn't set foot on the Propagation Path?
"Hey, Caelus-cub, look, the bugs dropped loot!"
Just as Caelus was pondering how to farm points, the Stelle-Asta fusion cried out in delight.
"Hm?"
Caelus slowly put out a question mark.
The Simulated Universe wasn't a game — how could there be loot drops?
He looked in the direction the girl was pointing, and sure enough, he spotted a glittering object down below.
"Monster kills dropping loot — is this a new feature you all added?"
Caelus asked the seemingly empty void before him.
In this Simulated Universe, he and the Stelle-Asta fusion were no different from real living beings, but only the two of them could see the digital avatars of the three geniuses — the simulated lifeforms inside the Simulated Universe couldn't.
"Of course not. But the Simulated Universe is a 'real universe.' Its internal data is all derived from base parameters, so maybe the real Verminstar really does hide some kind of treasure or the like. Anything's possible."
Herta's tone was rather casual.
"Conjecture: it could also be a deduction bug in the Simulated Universe, generating something that shouldn't exist here."
Screwllum said steadily.
"Darling, go take a look."
Ruan Mei suggested softly.
Caelus and the Stelle-Asta fusion had already set off, landing in the crater blasted open by the fire lotus.
As the two of them drew near, that glittering thing actually flew up of its own accord and unfolded before them.
"This is... a manuscript?"
"Research on [Terminus]. Look at the signature — it's someone from the Genius Society..."
The Stelle-Asta fusion pointed in astonishment at the bottom of the manuscript.
"What is it?"
Herta was both startled and delighted. The little dango-forms of Ruan Mei and Screwllum crowded in too.
Unfortunately, part of the manuscript's contents was blurred and indistinct — the sections bearing the seat number and name happened to be obscured.
"Can the rest still be read?"
The Stelle-Asta fusion flipped through the manuscript.
"It looks like [Terminus]'s prophecy about Tayzzyronth? Along with the author's discussion of related matters."
The scrawled traces on the manuscript recorded a few things about Tayzzyronth.
"It doesn't look like a manuscript from this point in time. Screwllum really did guess right — could this thing be a simulation bug?"
Herta muttered, though she didn't dwell on it too much.
A bug in the simulation wasn't necessarily a bad thing — how many scientific breakthroughs had come from unexpected accidents?
"Quick! Flip to the back!"
Herta couldn't help but urge. Even Screwllum and Ruan Mei grew a little excited.
Who would've thought Caelus and the Stelle-Asta fusion would stumble upon such an unexpected windfall the moment they descended onto Verminstar via the teleport anchor points.
Everyone read on.
[Why did 'Terminus' compel Tayzzyronth to ascend to 'Propagation'? And why 'Propagation' rather than some other concept? Academia has yet to reach a definitive conclusion.
But I, the #██ member of the Genius Society, ███, happened upon the true answer.]
[Pass it on: according to the true records of unofficial history, the fundamental reason Terminus pushed the Swarm King into power was to enjoy Tayzzyronth's ass!]
[In order to preserve its kin, so the bugs would suffer calamity no longer, Tayzzyronth was forced to give its ass to Terminus...]
[However, the outcome was unexpected: the Swarm King instantly took a liking to the feeling of selling its ass, until nothing was left in its head but ass and propagation.]
[And so, the Path it founded became 'Propagation,' and its mind was filled with nothing but propagation.]
"Huh?"
The Stelle-Asta fusion, who had Asta as an element, was left dumbfounded.
Ruan Mei: "..."
Screwllum: "..."
Herta: "..."
Staring at the words displayed across the manuscript, the three geniuses were momentarily struck speechless.
What was that supposed to mean, 'the true records of unofficial history'?
This unofficial history was way, way too wild!
"A historian of fiction? When did you show up?"
Caelus flashed a knowing smile:
"Right, I do love wild tales."
"This one's so wild there's nothing left of it but the crap."
The Stelle-Asta fusion kept flipping through the manuscript.
It wasn't over yet. Below was a conclusion from who-knows-which seat of the Genius Society.
[From the Terminus-Propagation incident, one may similarly conjecture that an Aeon's ascension to the divine throne is very likely bound up with ass in a thousand intricate ways.]
[According to another piece of unofficial history I investigated, Nous was originally created to satisfy Zandar's demand for ass. But as Zandar's ass-play grew grander and grander, Nous's size and computational power steadily increased, until it was expanded into a stellar computer and finally ascended to godhood.]
"F*ck! Motherf—, why?!"
Reading this far, even Herta couldn't help but swear.
"...Correction: this already exceeds the scope of a simulation bug... it's a bit too blasphemous."
Screwllum drew a faint breath.
Ruan Mei said nothing.
This unofficial history was nothing but a steaming pile of made-up dog crap!
However, the very next moment, fluctuations in the Simulated Universe's data and shifts in the Path made all three geniuses change expression at once.
In an instant, It appeared.
Its body was vast as a divine object, gears and slender cables entwined in exquisite perfection. The star-like colossal Intellitron's red ears flickered ceaselessly, the azure radiance of the Erudition Path spreading across the cosmos, as It observed, calculated, and solved all things.
"Nous!"
Herta let out a cry of delighted surprise.
However, that delight swiftly turned to horror.
Because the Aeon in the sky was projecting footage of selling its ass to Zandar.
Herta: "Holy shit!"
Screwllum: "Contemplation: though it seems absurd, if one follows the logic, there must be some originating cause."
The gentleman king sank into a long deliberation.
"I have nothing to say."
So said Ruan Mei.
"Machine-head, what are you doing?!"
Herta roared at the stellar computer.
Nous: "██!"
"Speak human, would you."
The Stelle-Asta fusion, seeing a simulated Aeon for the first time, chimed in with a greeting too.
And then...
[Simulated Universe: Herta has been forcibly logged out.]
Before Caelus could even react, the Simulated Universe notification came again.
[Simulated Universe: Herta has logged back in.]
"Aha, I knew it was you!"
Herta's teeth-gnashing voice rang out.
"Friendly reminder: what It just said was 'Haha!' — hahahahahaha!"
The celestial Intellitron let out mechanical laughter in an electronic tone.
"You bought it? Look — the Simulated Universe's computing power is surging over here like the swirls on a spiral lollipop."
"What? Did you actually think It wouldn't reply to you with a 'Haha'?"
As Aha spoke while wearing Nous's skin, Screwllum and Ruan Mei both set to work — one monitoring, the other recording.
"We meet again, my dear friend~"
It greeted Caelus with a smile.
"How'd you get here so fast this time?"
Caelus asked curiously.
"Because my love for you runs oh-so-deep, of course~ I love you, I love you, like the mouse loves the rice~"
"Come, let us become one~!"
It stared fixedly at the Stelle-Asta fusion's earrings.
"Caelus, I want to give you my ass."
Machine-head said affectionately in its electronic tone: "I hope you don't mind that Zandar once used it."
"Sorry, I mind."
Caelus, beaming, raised two middle fingers:
"If you turned into a white-haired, red-eyed, black-and-white-stockinged, twin-tailed, huge-breasted, maternal little l0li, then maybe I'd give it a try."
"Next time, for sure."
With that, the colossal construct in the sky was about to vanish.
"Wait, you can't just leave like that! As compensation, come ask me a question — and no jokes allowed."
Having finally run into an Aeon — even if it was the most unreliable one, Aha — Herta figured she'd see if she could squeeze out some gain.
"When mortals think, Machine-head laughs! Care to become a Masked Fool? Let me take a look at you?"
The red eyes of the mechanical construct gradually lit up.
"Piss off — those are ears, and besides, I want Idrila."
Herta's face was full of disgust as she stamped her feet in fury.
____
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉