Chapter 250: The Miraculous Matchmaking Mechanism

[Simulation Year 220, you are 239 years old, Ele has been with you for 217 years]

[Simulation Year 230, you are 249 years old, Ele has been with you for 227 years]

[Simulation Year 240, you are 259 years old, Ele has been with you for 237 years]

Time passes quickly.

Like an arrow, it accurately strikes the past that cannot be held.

Like a whisper, it echoes in the ears, difficult to hear clearly.

Like a bubble, its hazy brilliance shatters at a single touch.

The duration of the fourth simulation is growing longer, becoming an unprecedentedly long simulation, yet subtly, Xu Xi does not feel any difference.

Perhaps life on the starship is too monotonous.

Too repetitive and peaceful.

Xu Xi's current perception of time has begun to lean toward Ele's—the rationality of an Intelligent Machine.

The rotation of years and the rushing of time have gradually become a string of cold numbers.

"I suppose this counts as a type of cosmic psychological illness?"

Xu Xi laughed at himself.

Immediately after, he began to arrange an evasion plan—more accurately, a plan targeting the Neutron War Star.

A new round of strikes was approaching.

Xu Xi wanted to try—try to avoid the Neutron War Star's attack.

To this end, he designed multiple plans to verify and judge the Neutron War Star's attack logic.

First, Xu Xi would be alone, carrying nothing except for basic life-support equipment and daily necessities, staying on an uninhabited primitive planet.

Second, the main starship cluster would sail toward a more distant part of the starry sky.

Third, Ele would independently pilot a starship toward another direction.

Fourth, an unmanned starship would be left with a large amount of production materials and automated technological equipment.

Fifth, an unmanned starship—the execution plan for the previous strikes—would be a standardized capital ship, but it would severely lack production capabilities and contain no data backups.

Only a quantum signal tower would exist to allow Ele's machine spirit to perform a quantum transfer.

Five plans.

Five directions.

And more: miniature star-skiffs used for auxiliary calculations and data gathering were scattered within a linear range of ten light-years.

"Master, will this really be useful?"

"I don't know, but doing it wrong is better than doing nothing."

Simulation Year 252.

With Ele's help, Xu Xi completed all the arrangements, intending to use this low-tech, crude method to verify the possibility of evading the Neutron War Star.

Afterward, Xu Xi remained alone on the planet.

Waiting for the final result.

The loyal Mech-Servant piloted the starship cluster toward the furthest reaches of the cosmic sky.

This was to prevent the strike on the main fleet from affecting Xu Xi on the planet.

…

[According to the pattern of one strike every hundred years, a new wave of destructive strikes is imminent]

[Before Year 255 arrived, you implemented multiple plans, arranging various possibilities in an attempt to evade the Neutron War Star's strike]

[To this end, you arrived early at a primitive planet]

[By being alone and discarding technological products, you lived quietly upon it]

[You conjectured that the Neutron War Star's strikes are based on multiple Domains such as civilization, technology, knowledge, and productivity; as a lone individual, you clearly have very shallow associations with these Domains]

[You increasingly felt it was feasible and hoped to evade the coming strike this way]

[Years passed, and the calculated time of the strike soon arrived]

[However, the expected attack did not appear; not only you, but Ele was also unharmed]

[You chose to continue waiting]

[Simulation Year 256, the Neutron War Star arrived late. Its signature gravitational waves once again disturbed the starry sky. The main fleet was the first to be annihilated, followed by the starship piloted by Ele and the unmanned starship containing large amounts of production materials]

[In an instant]

[Only Ele, with her unique life form, and the silent backup starship remained safe]

[Through a miniature communicator, you learned of the entire situation. Just as you thought your lone self had successfully escaped, an anomaly appeared above your head]

Distortion.

Destruction.

Collapse.

Vast swaths of space were torn apart, annihilated and blasted by extreme violence.

The Neutron War Star did not use any high-end technology.

Relying solely on its own mass, it easily shattered the planet Xu Xi was on, as if smashing through glass.

Inexplicably.

In that brilliant explosion of light.

In that moment before death.

A sentence surfaced in Xu Xi's mind: [The System has matched you with a well-matched opponent].

Very good, very reasonable.

"Dammit—!"

…

[You have died. This is your fifth death. The effect of Ten Deaths Before the End is triggering…]

[Congratulations, you have gained a new life]

[The vast starry sky is deep and dark. To evade the Neutron War Star, you carried only a small amount of technological creations. After resurrection, it is difficult for you to use them to create a refuge pod]

[Fortunately, you had already considered such a situation]

[Whether on the planet or in the nearby space, you left behind special emergency measures prepared in advance]

[After resurrecting, your hands were imbued with Mechanical Force, and you successfully manufactured a temporary refuge pod for yourself, waiting for Ele's support]

"Master!!"

A familiar dash, a familiar pounce.

When Ele piloted the remaining backup starship and detected Xu Xi's existence through scouting,

She dashed forward at extreme speed and pounced on Xu Xi, performing a practiced, frantic crawl-over inspection to see if his body had any injuries.

The effect of Ten Deaths Before the End is to recover from all injuries.

Naturally.

The only result Ele could find was 'healthy'.

"Don't worry, Ele, I'm fine," Xu Xi said with a smile, stroking the top of Ele's head to soothe her uneasy heart.

"Ele, can you tell me what happened before?"

Recovery, reshaping, reproduction.

Just like the previous times.

The starship cluster destroyed by the Neutron War Star began its reshaping and production once again.

During this period, Xu Xi asked Ele about the specific details of the Neutron War Star's strike.

"Yes, while you were away, the fleet successively…"

The Mech-Servant recounted truthfully.

Listening to those words, supplemented by his own encounter, Xu Xi found it somewhat difficult to understand.

"The destruction of the fleet was expected. Such a massive target would inevitably attract the Neutron War Star's attention."

"The destruction of the starship Ele was on, as well as the one containing production materials, proves that the Neutron War Star's strike range is not limited to civilizations."

"Instead, it's an invisible detection mechanism targeting technological development and high-risk threats."

"Because the backup starship lacked production capabilities and was unmanned, it wasn't within the strike range?"

"But—"

"Even though I was alone, I still encountered the Neutron War Star's strike."

"Could it be that in the Neutron War Star's detection judgment, my threat as a human individual far exceeds that of a backup starship?"