Chapter 4402: Permissions?

In the end, Rean shook his head. "Even if you tell me that, there isn’t much to be said. I used my arrays, and they worked. Could it be that you were the one who lost contact with the guardian core instead? My airplane has arrays that prevent Celestial Senses from prying in from outside. It obviously has more arrays capable of blocking various kinds of signals too."

-Incorrect. The Nexus Control Seed does not rely on Celestial Senses for communication, and the other kinds of signals your airplane’s arrays can block are incapable of interfering with the Nexus Connection. The Nexus Connection works through different means, which your airplane cannot stop.-

"Hum... are you certain?" Rean asked, scratching his chin. "I mean, we consider this place nothing more than a collection of ruins because of its age and state. Pretty much everything except this tower and a few other facilities has fallen into complete disrepair. Can you truly say that a place this old couldn’t have developed some issue while I was working on the core?"

The AI fell silent at that moment.

Rean could see the energies inside the Nexus Core revolving more rapidly than before, perhaps because it was running some kind of diagnostic process. He couldn’t tell for sure, so he simply waited. At the very least, his suggestion that the ruins themselves might be at fault seemed to have produced some kind of effect.

-This AI cannot discard the possibility that the entity called Rean is correct.-

Rean smiled in response. "You saw the arrays themselves. We don’t have anything else here. By the way, what happens to that energy once it is separated? It simply disappeared soon after it was left behind. Does it return to you?"

-Analyzing... Nexus Control Seed did not return. Current location unavailable. Probable conclusion: Nexus Control Seed dissipated due to the lack of a host.-

"Oh... no wonder it simply vanished then." Rean nodded as if everything suddenly made sense. "My airplane didn’t have a storage capable of preserving it, so I suppose that explains it. Even Spatial Rings seemed useless. Of course, you are free to check our Spatial Rings yourself if you feel like confirming it."

-Cooperation accepted. Please do not block the scanning process while this AI verifies the contents of your Spatial Rings.-

Normally, no cultivator would willingly allow someone else to inspect the contents of their Spatial Ring.

Unfortunately, they obviously didn’t have much of a choice here. If they refused, the Nexus Core could simply seize the rings by force anyway. There was no point in provoking it over something they couldn’t stop.

Everyone watched as threads of white and golden energy entered each of their Spatial Rings one after another. Several ugly expressions immediately appeared inside the airplane, yet no one voiced any complaints. Fortunately, the Nexus Core only inspected their belongings and didn’t remove a single item.

-Confirmation acquired. All Spatial Storages have been verified. None contain the Nexus Control Seed. This AI concludes that the Nexus Control Seed has dissipated.-

"So..." Rean scratched the back of his head. "What do we do now? Can you let us go?"

-For security purposes, the threat shall be eliminated.-

The moment the Nexus AI finished speaking, tens of thousands of the same lasers used by the guardian cores materialized around the enormous Nexus Core. Every single one of them began accumulating terrifying amounts of energy.

There was simply no way they could dodge an attack on that scale.

"Shit!" Harksha and the others immediately circulated their Godly Energy, making one final attempt to break through the barrier imprisoning them inside the airplane.

Even Rean and Roan quietly prepared themselves to activate the Sanctuary.

But before either of them could move...

Kentucky suddenly raised one wing.

"Wait!" he called out. "You keep calling us a threat. Can you define exactly what threat we pose?"

-Unknown life forms inside a restricted facility.-

"But we do have permission to be here," Kentucky argued confidently.

Everyone immediately turned to stare at him.

We have permission?

Since when?

The countless lasers, already charged and ready to fire, suddenly stopped.

The energy gathered inside them hadn’t dissipated yet, but at least they didn’t fire.

-Please provide proof.-

Kentucky pointed one wing toward the Nexus Core.

"Well, I mean... why would you let us come all the way here if you hadn’t given us permission yourself?"

Everyone inside the airplane felt completely helpless.

That wasn’t permission.

They had been lured here by the Nexus Core. Besides, the one being recognized before wasn’t even them—it was Rean’s disguise array.

There is absolutely no way that ridiculous excuse will work...

-Analyzing... proof accepted.-

*Bang!*

Everyone immediately collapsed face-first onto the floor.

Is that okay?

Is that really, really okay?!

What kind of proof was that?!

It sounded much more like a flaw in the AI’s reasoning than an actual argument.

Kentucky nodded proudly, puffing out his chest. "I’m really smart."

The hell you are!

That was what everyone wanted to shout. Unfortunately, the results spoke for themselves.

Could it be...

...that they were the ones lacking intelligence instead?

No! They absolutely refused to admit that possibility.

Then Kentucky looked back at the holographic face. "Would you allow us to leave, then?"

-Despite the permission granted by this AI, this AI still classifies unknown life forms as a potential threat. The threat shall be eliminated.-

’Fuck!’ Everyone felt like crying. So the Minokawa’s miracle had been completely useless after all.

The countless lasers immediately resumed charging.

"I see..." Kentucky nodded thoughtfully, completely unconcerned. "Then we just have to prove that we aren’t a threat, right?"

...and once again...

The lasers stopped.

-Please provide proof.-

Everyone else was already cursing that AI to no end in their minds. Of course, that bought them more time, so who cares?

"No problem!" Kentucky declared confidently before turning around. "Rean, it is up to you!"

"WHAT?!" Rean stared back at Kentucky with an expression that perfectly captured his disbelief.

Where in the world had all of Kentucky’s confidence come from?

Of course, with tens of thousands of lasers ready to fire again at any moment, Rean didn’t have the luxury of arguing.

His mind immediately began working at full speed.

A few moments later, an idea finally appeared.

"Ahem..." Rean cleared his throat. "I can see that most of these ruins are already in a deplorable state. As you can also see, I’m an Arrays Master. More importantly, you’ve already verified that none of us carry any traces of the ancients... whatever they might be."

He pointed toward the surrounding structure. "The simplest way for us to prove we aren’t threats is to let me help repair these ruins. How about that?"

-This AI already possesses the required means for self-repair.-

Rean shook his head. "That’s not entirely correct. As self-sufficient as you may be, you’re clearly approaching the limits of your capabilities."

He gestured toward the countless damaged structures beyond the tower. "These places are called ruins for a reason. You saw my airplane’s database, didn’t you? You know about the many other ruins scattered throughout the Besgol Region. Every single one eventually suffered the same fate."

He looked directly at the holographic face. "You are barely an exception... but for how much longer? The materials stored here are finite. Eventually, you’ll exhaust them along with every other resource required to maintain this place. When that day comes, you’ll require outside assistance."

Rean spread his hands. "And if no help arrives, you’ll eventually become incapable of fulfilling the very purpose for which you were created. You will simply become one of those long-forgotten ruins."

"As the AI responsible for this entire facility, shouldn’t ensuring its continued operation be among your highest priorities? Even if accomplishing that requires accepting outside assistance, it should still be considered if it increases the probability of fulfilling your primary mission."

He took a slow breath before continuing.

"Look, you called my arrays primitive, and you’re probably right. But even those primitive arrays allowed us to reach this place."

"Besides, you already examined the objectives stored inside my airplane’s database. None of them involves destroying you or taking over this facility."

"We’re trying to acquire the runes necessary to preserve our Sacred Relic. You undoubtedly possess the blueprints required to repair and maintain it or runes similar to the ones we need."

"So... what do you say?"

Roan raised one hand, deciding to add another point. "There’s something else. If you eliminate us, you might actually be placing your own existence in greater danger."

The AI immediately focused its attention on him.

"Others will eventually come searching for us. If this place is determined to be openly hostile, there’s a good chance it will eventually be assaulted."

He looked around at the countless arrays surrounding them.

"Your defenses are remarkable. No one can deny that. But since we aren’t actually your enemies, wouldn’t it be a mistake to create enemies unnecessarily? We could even help with this ’ancients’ threat you mentioned if you tell us more about it."

The holographic face remained motionless while the energies inside the Nexus Core accelerated once again.

It silently processed every argument they had presented, especially Roan’s final point.

Several long seconds passed before it finally responded.

-This AI was created for the sole purpose of defending against the ancients. This AI must verify whether the Besgol Region constitutes an enemy before making any further decisions.-

Everyone blinked in surprise.

"And... how exactly do you intend to do that?" Harksha asked.

Without warning, all the energy gathered for the lasers flowed toward a single point near the center of the chamber. At the same time, hundreds of Worker Cores flew into the room from every direction, immediately beginning some kind of construction process.

Before long, a strange mechanical creature gradually took shape.

It resembled a metallic spider equipped with a pair of mechanical wings. Its entire body was covered in the same ancient runes found throughout the Nexus Core itself.

*Dlung!*

Right after, the threads holding and imprisoning the airplane vanished. The Celestial Thrusters immediately roared back to life, allowing the airplane to hover freely once more.

The winged mechanical spider wasted no time.

It flew through the opening it had previously created in the airplane’s hull before landing squarely on Harksha’s remaining shoulder.

Then it spoke in the same emotionless mechanical voice.

"This avatar shall verify the situation personally."

A brief pause followed.

"Bring me to Besgol."

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