On an unnamed small planet hidden within an asteroid belt, inside Feng Zhixi’s secret research base, a certain light orb—the self-proclaimed "Xi Clan Nursery Teacher"—was huffing and puffing. By the time it spat out its fifth "marble," the pinkish orb whimpered and acted spoiled, insisting it couldn't produce any more.
Looking at the five sparkling, transparent, colorless crystals lined up neatly in front of the pink orb, Feng Zhixi reached out and patted its surface in encouragement. "Not bad."
The silly orb O(∩_∩)O: *The cub praised me! So happy! I really am the most successful orb ever!*
Feng Zhixi looked at the silly, cute orb rippling with halos of light. Feeling its soft, warm texture, he couldn't help but smile. It seemed this orb was somewhat useful after all, and not just an extravagant, gold-devouring beast.
After placing one of the Xi Ores into the base's energy core, Feng Zhixi watched the data analysis provided by the optical computer and the efficiency values displayed on the base's external energy shield. His eyes curved into a satisfied smile.
As expected, the high purity and anti-interference properties of Xi Ore were incomparable to any other energy mineral. It reminded him of the Xi Ore he had seen loaded into the energy cores of starships during the joint military exercise; ships equipped with Xi Ore were on an entirely different level compared to conventional ones.
Thinking of this, Feng Zhixi suddenly paused. An idea flashed through his mind—something he had been overlooking until now.
Starships equipped with Xi Ore? A different way of operating energy cores? Energy strings? Spider silk?!
Suddenly struck by a realization, Feng Zhixi urgently pulled up his "Small Toolbox." When he saw the "Spiderweb" tool he had previously adjusted to its maximum threshold, he finally remembered what he had missed. It was the energy. The strange energy string fluctuations he had captured on the starships during the exercise occurred when his optical computer linked to the ship's main control. Essentially, they had shared the same energy source: Xi Ore!
So, to capture those strange energy fluctuations, the missing piece was a specific type of energy—Xi Ore?
Feng Zhixi blinked. To verify this, he chose to install one of the Xi Ores into his optical computer's core.
Once the transparent, colorless crystal was embedded into the optical computer's folding energy compartment, Feng Zhixi restarted his "Small Toolbox." When he opened the redesigned "Spiderweb," a brand-new world of energy strings unfolded before him. It was as if he were looking through a small mirror to see a more authentic side of the universe hidden from plain sight, even if he was only seeing the tip of the iceberg.
As Feng Zhixi observed this new world through the "Spiderweb" tool, he discovered that the light orb in front of him wasn't actually a ball. Those pinkish halos were actually a light-gathering effect caused by the dense convergence and entanglement of energy strings. The entire "orb" was actually a seed wrapped inside a ball of yarn.
A seed? So, the so-called Planetary Spark was literally a seed?
With this doubt in mind, Feng Zhixi reached out and poked the energy strings on the seed. They felt soft and squishy. His finger passed through the wrapping of strings and tapped on the seed itself. It made a crisp, clear sound.
Feng Zhixi asked curiously, "Are you really a seed?"
While he could see the energy strings, Feng Zhixi discovered he instinctively knew how to pass through them without disturbing them, as if it were a genetic intuition.
"???!"
The orb, shocked to its very core by the cub’s tapping, stared at Feng Zhixi, momentarily questioning its entire existence. "You... you... you can see them?!"
Wasn't this a talent only adult Xi Clan members possessed? Why could a cub see them? Wait! No, that wasn't right—why could the cub *pass through* the energy strings?!
As a silly orb that had been tricked into staying behind by its predecessors, the little pink ball had no idea how much the world had changed during its long slumber. Unlike the Xi Clan cubs of old who relied on perception and innate awakening, this cub, raised in the era of Federation technology, was an expert at utilizing tools.
As a seed that had once slept in a higher-dimensional plane and been fished into the current dimension by the Xi Clan using a net made of energy strings, the little light orb was astonished. Had this cub taught himself the basic skills of energy string manipulation already? What kind of terrifying talent was this!
Hearing the little orb’s shocked, stammering words, Feng Zhixi blinked. A higher dimension? Energy string manipulation? Strange energy string fluctuations? It seemed there was something quite interesting hidden on that person, Hill.
Thinking this, Feng Zhixi let out a quiet smile.
At that very moment, in a distant galaxy, the "System" shuddered violently. The fluctuations it produced momentarily affected Hill, causing the Omega—who was currently crafting a core component for a mecha—to accidentally input the wrong parameters. Consequently, the model, which was more than half-completed, began to collapse.
The change happened too fast. Hill didn't even have time to salvage it. The model crumbled in an instant until it was completely scrapped. Along with it, the expensive mecha materials provided by Ji Wei were lost.
Ji Wei: "??!!!"
The blonde, blue-eyed Omega let out a low cry at the result. Hill lowered his head helplessly, his voice soft and filled with guilt. "I-I'm sorry. It was my mistake."
Seeing the golden head bowed before him, Ji Wei hurried to comfort him. "It’s alright. You’re already very impressive. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Even Master Zhou said that with your current level, you are definitely the strongest among the new generation in the Federation's scientific community. Right, Master Zhou?"
After comforting Hill, Ji Wei looked toward the elderly man in the laboratory. However, the man Ji Wei addressed as Master Zhou was currently staring at the data in the mecha lab with a contemplative expression, completely failing to hear Ji Wei’s words.
"Master Zhou? Master Zhou!" Ji Wei frowned.
The elder snapped out of his reverie and looked at the young Alpha officer. He was an independent scholar who had recently come to the Lanli Research Institute looking for a successor. As it turned out, the "little friend" he was looking for wasn't there. Somehow, the news had reached this young master of the Ji family, who then sought to send Hill to him.
As an independent scholar who had earned the title of "Master" in the Federation's scientific community, the elder had seen many such things. Even though Ji Wei came from the prestigious Ji family of the Federation Military, he hadn't intended to pay him any mind at first—until the eldest Ji son produced a research achievement: Hill's work. Only then did he take the matter seriously.
It was a very creative piece of work, combining practicality and innovation. It even had the potential to revolutionize the existing energy core operation methods for mechas.
When he first saw that work, the elder was both shocked and delighted. *This is a piece of uncut jade, a child of genius,* was Master Zhou's first thought. This was especially true during their subsequent interactions; he found the child’s talent to be staggering. Furthermore, the child actually wanted to release his research results to the public for free, seeking no reward, so that the entire Federation scientific community could share in them. One had to realize how much wealth such research could generate if patented.
How could Master Zhou, who was searching for someone to inherit his mantle, not be overjoyed by a child who was both brilliantly talented and of excellent character?
But the elder, who thought he had found a diamond in the rough, had no idea that the "achievement" Hill wanted to release for free was the very same one the Federation Patent Office had judged as a "highly similar secondary optimization and upgrade for general application"—the "Mecha Energy Curvature Rotation Application."
Because the result rewarded by the System lacked original pioneering qualities, it couldn't be recorded in the patent database. Since the first path was blocked, Hill intended to take the second. He had already checked; the original result backed up in the Lanli Research Institute’s patent library had no public record. That meant the researcher had not yet published their findings; it was merely a backup in the database.
The other party's lack of disclosure gave him an opportunity. As long as he was the first to release the results for free and push himself to the forefront of the Federation's scientific community, who would care who the original researcher was? After all, he would be the one "selflessly" contributing his research to the public.
At that time, the elder, completely unaware of Hill's true thoughts, had already internally chosen Hill as his student, merely wanting to observe the child a bit longer. But that was ten minutes ago.
Now, looking at the mecha core structural model that had collapsed because Hill entered the wrong parameters, the elder fell into doubt. He could think of at least ten ways to salvage such a data crash. He had remained silent specifically to see what brilliant idea his chosen student would use to resolve the collapse. To his surprise, Hill had no solution at all and could only watch as it fell apart.
Although this mecha core component was very difficult to manufacture, how could a child capable of writing the "Mecha Energy Curvature Rotation Application" be so helpless in this situation?
Looking at Hill, the elder felt a seed of doubt for the first time. *Is this child truly a genius?*
***
