<h4>Chapter 1491: The Meaning of Existing</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> Henyee Trantions <b>Editor:</b> Henyee Trantions


    One could well imagine the strength it had, as the representative of more than 170,000 civilizations while also being in control of the Cradle system.


    But that didn’t mean Rnd had no chance of winning.


    Lan’s unspoken request, Epsilon’s doubts, the memories from the astrbes, as well as God’s reaction—all of the clues started to form a series of connections.


    The so-called recement of God was not in the true sense of the word.


    “What did you say?” With its hand in midair halfway, the Custodian stopped suddenly.


    “Aren’t species capable of adapting to magic power and qualified candidates wishing to explore the world beyond the door already in existence?” Rnd slowly extended his finger out and pointed to the Custodian. “If we were to let everything start over, no one would have been able to tell you this.”


    “...” It was the first change in expression that ‘Lan’ revealed.


    As though a crack had appeared on smooth ss.


    “Do you know what you’re saying? Once I leave, the Cradle will die and when the timees, this universe will be a vestige of any form of life. Furthermore, the other side of the door possesses apletely different set ofws. Those transformed from magic power might be unable to return and failure means extinction—”


    “That’s not the point, because it will be the same regardless of what civilization it is. Even if they are willing to head beyond the rift, you will never know if they seed. Sopared to ‘adapting,’ the ‘aspiration’ is far more important. You should know that better than me.” At this point, Rnd slowed down his speech. “That’s right, you know about this, that is why there’s a species such as the Sky-sea Realm.”


    God’s minimal actions made it seem as though it had quietened down.


    The Sky-sea Realm’s various abnormal activities indicated that it was not just apetitor. In fact, it was not difficult toprehend. Magic naturally possessed the potential to exceedws. Mutation couldn’t be eliminated for species that matured in environments with extremely weak magic power, allowing them to obtain astonishing progress in a short period of time. This progress might not make them adaptable to life outside the barrier, but would jeopardize the Cradle system.


    But to interfere just for the “possibility” that existed became an inconsistency that went against the basic rules—since creatures capable of adapting to environments with magic power would eventually experience this phase. In order to control the risks and prevent the situation from deviating, a sub-first grade filtering method had to be applied. Thus, the Sky-sea Realm, a unique species, was ced into the Swirling Sea.


    Even though all of this was merely spection, Rnd knew that his idea was not too far off from the actual truth based on God’s reaction.


    Since it was the Omniscient Custodian, the things it considered would definitely be moreprehensive.


    Obviously, the hardest part of the n, aside from the unpredictability of how a species would evolve, was ‘aspiration’.


    The more than 170,000 civilizations involved in Project Gateway might make the scale seem vast, butpared to vast number of civilizations within the universe, it was just but a small minority.


    Besides, theirmon ground of understanding was to break the seal to allow the universe to continue inexhaustibly.


    But not every civilization would be willing to head into the domain of the unknown.


    In other words, if a speciespletely capable of adapting to magic power appeared, the Custodian would be caught in between a dilemma—if the Custodian was not willing to take any risks, the agreement would never be fulfilled. Or if God forcefully spurred the situation, no one could be sure that victory was assured for the Custodian.


    “... You think that this is enough to sway me?” After a long silence, the other party spoke up. But despite saying so, its hands no longer continued to move.


    “I’m not saying all of this to sway your judgment, but merely enunciating the simplest logic here. You already understand and know of the uncertainty in satisfying the criteria of being ‘adaptable’ and having the ‘aspiration,’ and you understand it without me continuing.” Rnd shrugged and feigned casualness. “Of course, it is natural that you can’t be at ease leaving the Cradle. In that case, I can do a bit of a sacrifice. After you are gone, I can allow the Cradle to continue operating, and at the same time, nurture lifeforms with potential—just not through means such as the Battle of Divine Will. How’s that?”


    “Lan” never expected such words from him and was stunned for an extended period of time, be it his understanding of the rules or his suggestion from his all-out calctions. In the end, it shook its head. “A very interesting argument, for you to be able to reach this step shows that you truly stand out from the masses. But an agreement is an agreement, I am the Custodian, be it a species or civilization, this is something set long before life began, and the cornerstone of my existence.”


    “Really?”


    Rnd focused all of his attention and unleashed yet another Battle of Souls!


    Darkness enveloped the two, the tform and stairs disappeared without a trace, and time seemed to freeze.


    “All of that rhetoric, just for this? A pity that a sneak attack ispletely meaningless against me. As long as I transfer a bit of resources, I will be able to satisfy all calctory requirements.” Upon entering battle state, “Lan” spoke much more calmly, and all its prior doubts had disappeared without a trace. “But this is good too. Let this battle mark the end of the world—”


    “No... I merely wanted you to see something, a past that maybe you’ve forgotten.” The huge drain on his psyche made Rnd struggle to even speak, but he knew that it was a crucial moment that did not allow for him to fall.


    As his sentence came to an end, the scenery around them changed, and quickly receded at the speed of light!


    It was time flowing backwards—


    The world full of vitality within the Cradle degenerated intova and earth, once again revealing the metallic cover. The red light blossoming out from the crack instantly receded and turned ck. Following that were the fleets of the more than 170,000 civilizations, as well as the gxy which had pulled over—these strings of events receded at an extremely fast speed, turning the entire space around the two into a light that had no end.


    All of which were memories obtained from the astrbe, to which he had pieced them sequentially.


    This continued until a gray figure appeared.


    Time then returned back to normal.


    “This is—” “Lan” revealed an expression of shock.


    “How does it feel?” The gray figure walked to an iparablyrge construct and raised his head. “This memory pod I built using materials from a gxy is enough for you to use for tens of thousands of years. Of course, considering that the work involved would extend for a long period of time, you are free to increase the modules as you wish.”


    “Tests arepleted, interaction is good.” A pair of eyes appeared beneath the construct—one could tell that its form was made up of a translucent substance and could ry messages directly. “But while circting my consciousness with the differentponents, I discovered a few unnecessary redundancies. They upy arge amount of space without being of much use. It is suggested to simplify or discard them.”


    “Keep them, they are part of the design.”


    “But I did not find simr constructs in other simr auxiliaries.”


    “Doesn’t that mean you’re unique?” The gray figure released a warm and gentle light.


    “... what’s the meaning behind being unique?” The eyes blinked. “ording to logic, the possibility of malfunction with the redundant materials greatly surpass the norm. It mightpletely jeopardize the entire mission—”


    “But these things might allow you to see a few things, domains that the other auxiliaries might not be able to see. Treat it as a stubborn request of mine.”


    The eyes fell silent. “I understand.”


    “Very good. Next up is to activate the energy core, and allow you to separate from the external supply, you will be able to live autonomously for a long time. In some sense, today is the day that you are born.”


    “Executing... order.”


    Following that, the symbols on the translucent shell, the eyes, and the light disappeared without a trace, leaving only the gray figure reflected on the glossy surface.


    The gray figure took two steps and gently caressed the gigantic outer shell.


    “The following years will be long, but I do not want to be a cold voice by the side harping on and on. And as for you... you shouldn’t be just a machine.”


    CRACK.


    The crack on the ss suddenly split open.