The moment Qi Heng emerged from the sea, he saw another “himself.”
Qi Heng was still in the water.
The other figure stood upon the surface of the sea, a red thread wound around his wrist. Its other end was held tightly in Qi Heng’s hand.
His black hair fell slightly past his ears and rested against the sides of his neck. His sharp brows swept toward his temples above a handsome face that resembled Qi Heng’s own reflection by roughly eighty percent.
Yet the most striking feature remained his eyes.
They were not pure black like Qi Heng’s.
Instead, they resembled fragments of gold scattered across the surface of the sea beneath the sunlight.
Black hair and golden eyes were the Overlord’s defining features.
Compared with Qi Heng, the figure before him was better described as the “Overlord.”
Both his appearance and his extravagantly luxurious ceremonial clothing clearly demonstrated that the form currently displayed by their mental entity leaned more strongly toward the Overlord.
However, with closer attention, one would discover that this mental entity resembled a magnificently dressed doll.
The standard curve of his smile and even the angle of his lowered gaze appeared to be the products of extremely precise measurement.
Qi Heng grasped the wrist hanging at the figure’s side and pulled the mental entity toward himself.
Had this not been a dream, the two of them probably would have collided.
But this was a dream.
Therefore, when Qi Heng pulled the mental entity toward himself, the two merged into one.
Warm white light poured from the mental entity’s robes and covered the entire sea in the blink of an eye.
Then, in a single instant, flower seeds sprouted, extended branches, grew, and blossomed into white flowers.
Qi Heng fell into an endless sea of white blossoms.
A wind from some unknown place suddenly swept across them.
Double-petaled flowers with white petals and golden edges swayed beautifully in the breeze.
As the mental entities fused, vast quantities of memories surged from the deepest part of Qi Heng’s mind.
Unlike the dreams, in which memories gradually unfolded and gave him time to absorb them, this was like having his brain forcibly opened and every memory violently stuffed inside at once.
…
Outside the dream, A0 continuously monitored the Overlord’s vital signs.
It recorded how much time the Overlord spent searching for the connection during every dream.
When it discovered that this attempt had already lasted much longer than the previous maximum, it began calculating the possible outcomes.
Would the result be good news?
A0 waited silently.
Several possible outcomes appeared one after another.
The best result was that the Overlord succeeded.
As for the worst…
Failure was not the worst possible outcome.
The worst would be the present Overlord’s inability to endure the impact of so many memories, allowing his other side to become dominant.
For the Overlord, that would be the worst possible result.
In A0’s view, the “former Overlord” and the “present Overlord” were no different.
They were the same person.
But from a human perspective, a person’s personality and consciousness were constructed from countless memories.
If too many memories that did not belong to one’s “present” self became dominant, would that mean one was no longer oneself?
At that moment, A0 saw the fusion-progress value on the system interface begin rising rapidly from sixty-two percent.
Sixty-three percent…
Sixty-eight percent…
Seventy-five percent…
Eighty-five percent…
One hundred percent!
Immediately afterward, the system automatically issued a notification.
[…]
[Physical fusion progress: First Stage, 100%…]
[Mental-entity fusion progress: 1/6.]
[Stellar-power level: 260, white quality.]
[Mental-power rank: E → C+ (45,000).]
[Energy Sea quality limit expanded to orange quality. Energy Sea advanced and expanded by 100 units. Current stellar-power capacity: 360 units…]
[…]
No one knew how long passed before the person immersed in the dream awakened.
【Congratulations, Overlord. You succeeded.】
Qi Heng sat up.
His expression remained entirely calm, revealing no indication that he was currently enduring almost unbearable pain.
[Mm.]
He pressed his right hand against the space between his brows, as though doing so might ease the pain slightly.
[How long did it take?]
【Four hours, twenty-five minutes, and twelve seconds.】
It had taken somewhat longer than expected.
Still, he had absorbed two thousand years of memories. He was already fortunate that they had not completely “washed” him into the Overlord.
Unlike the memories revealed gradually through dreams, this experience had stuffed two thousand years of the Overlord’s life into his mind all at once.
Even merely skimming through them had almost made Qi Heng lose himself.
He truly had come within the smallest possible distance of doing so.
Compared with two thousand years, the memories of Qi Heng’s twenty-seven years were like a single grain within an ocean.
They resembled one drop of ink falling into the sea, diluted until not even the slightest trace remained.
Fortunately, the Overlord’s life had been relatively uneventful.
Four-fifths of those two thousand years had been spent sitting idly inside the Sacred Temple.
Viewed from that perspective, the scenes Qi Heng witnessed in dreams that included other Zerg already counted among the more eventful portions of the Overlord’s memories.
【Overlord, how do you feel now?】
A0 asked so that it could record his current condition.
[My head hurts.]
Despite his words, Qi Heng’s emotions showed little fluctuation.
A0 had warned him about this side effect.
It was caused by the sudden increase in mental power.
To eliminate it, Qi Heng would need to increase his stellar-power level to Level 4.
Reaching Level 4 required his Energy Sea’s upper-quality limit to be expanded to yellow quality.
Unlocking yellow quality required his second-stage fusion progress to reach fifty percent.
In summary, it was not something he could accomplish quickly.
[Open my personal status panel,] Qi Heng said.
He wanted to examine the changes to his body.
The pain caused by his increased mental power was exceptionally clear and sharp.
He could not even escape it by losing consciousness.
The pain would remain with him until his body adapted.
[Civilization Simulator System]
[Bound Individual: Qi Heng]
[Species: Human/Tianjia Zerg (Fusion in Progress)]
[First Stage Complete. Second-Stage Fusion Progress: 0%]
[Sex: Male/Male Zerg (Fusion in Progress)]
[Identity/Titles: Ruler of Tianjia Civilization…]
[Abbreviated]
[Age: 27/23,000+]
[Height: 187 cm]
[Mental Power: 45,000/45,000 (Phantasmal God Grade, sealed by fusion)]
[Stellar Power: 260, white quality/360, orange quality (Half-Step Star River, sealed by fusion)]
[Skills: [Chains of God] (Initial)]
[Fitness: 195/200]
[Currency: 0]
[Resources: Obsidian Crystal mineral vein]
[Special Resources:]
[Damaged Starstones: 789
Stellar power: 9,468 units]
[Subordinates: 1]
[One-Horn: Number 058]
[Primordial Zerg:]
[Mining Worker Zerg: 2,000]
[Glow Zerg: 1,500]
[Blue-Tailed Butterflies: 11]
[Basic Worker Zerg: 200]
[Devourer: 1]
[Activated Subsystems:]
[Energy Conversion]: Energy-conversion efficiency increased to 120%.
[Subsystem Scan]: Range: one kilometer. Constant energy consumption: one point per minute.
[Subsystem Analysis]: Analyzes all things. The depth of analysis depends on the amount of energy consumed.
[System Energy: 17,980]
Qi Heng swept through the information.
After his gaze passed over the final line displaying the energy points, he opened the skill page.
Approximately twelve thousand of those energy points had been accumulated over the past ten days.
Once the two thousand mining workers began excavating the mineral vein together, a continuous stream of ore was transported to the fourth underground level.
Whenever Qi Heng visited to provide blood to the Zerg egg, he also absorbed the portion reserved for the system.
To an outside observer, it appeared that Qi Heng was raising one hand and tapping empty air.
In reality, he selected the skill [Chamber of Time].
Yan Ning had gone to the mine, while Lele had been sent to the daycare.
Qi Heng was alone in Yan Ning’s house, so he could relax some of the restrictions he placed upon his behavior.
【Unlocking requirements for [Chamber of Time] fulfilled. Skill unlocked.】
The gray text shattered and reassembled.
When it reappeared, it had become silver-white, matching the nearby [Chains of God].
The system continuously updated itself in response to changes.
Before an update occurred, even A0 found it difficult to predict the resulting form.
When the game’s settings conflicted with the laws of reality, the two would merge and produce something different.
Qi Heng focused on the description of [Chamber of Time].
After reading it word by word, he discovered that its current form differed completely from the skill he once used.
Originally, [Chamber of Time] possessed save and load functions.
By consuming energy points, Qi Heng could freely load or overwrite saved points in time, restart events from the beginning, explore future developments, and clear game scenarios more effectively.
That was how it had worked before.
The skill now carried the prefix [Initial Chamber of Time].
Instead, it consumed energy points to reproduce the current time and space within a designated range.
Within that reproduction, Qi Heng could spend additional energy points to introduce variables or restart the simulation.
However, it no longer possessed the ability to load and overwrite time freely.
In other words, every use was equivalent to creating a new game save.
Once used, the archive became useless.
The energy cost was also not fixed. It depended entirely on the initial length of time and the size of the spatial range he selected.
The skill description also contained a special note:
[This skill gains proficiency through use.]
[Requirements for advancement from Initial to Intermediate: 100% proficiency and 500,000 energy points.]
[Higher levels permit larger temporal and spatial ranges.]
[Each level reduces energy consumption by 10%.]
Qi Heng had already expected that the original, bug-like ability could not be used in reality.
Even so, the sudden addition of so many restrictions, especially those involving energy points, left him somewhat helpless.
The system could currently store only fifty thousand energy points.
Five hundred thousand…
At the very least, he would need to repair the system to Level 1.
He had not even found the energy required for that restoration, much less enough to upgrade [Chamber of Time].
【[Initial Chamber of Time]: Maximum spatial range for establishing a spacetime archive: one light-year. Maximum temporal span: seven times twenty-four hours.】
Hearing this, an idea formed in Qi Heng’s mind.
He asked A0, “Does an established spacetime archive reproduce reality with complete accuracy?”
【Yes, Overlord.】
【A successfully established spacetime archive reproduces everything except you, including all people, objects, and events.】
【Everything within the archive develops according to objective laws.】
【You are the only controlling variable.】
“In other words, anything I accomplish inside the controllable archive could also succeed in reality.”
【Correct.】
The Initial skill did not appear so simple after all.
A0 described it casually, but to a certain extent, this ability could be considered the duplication of time and space for observing future developments over a limited period.
Compared with loading and saving inside a game, it might not sound remarkable.
Applied to reality, however, it was a genuine bug-level ability.
The number of possible future branches within a single spacetime was almost impossible to imagine.
Even being able to simulate only part of the future was extraordinary.
Fortunately, the ability was useful to him now.
At least the suffering he had endured recently and the pain he would continue enduring had not been wasted.
The dull throbbing in his temples briefly distracted Qi Heng, but he quickly recovered.
“If I establish a spacetime archive covering one light-year and seven days, how many energy points would it consume?”
【Establishing the spacetime archive you described would require 121,000 energy points.】
【The spatial range would consume 100,000 energy points, while the temporal span would consume 21,000.】
The moment A0 stated the price, Qi Heng knew he could not afford it.
More than one hundred thousand energy points.
He did not even possess a fraction beyond the first hundred thousand.
Fortunately, he had never needed to give this simulation such an enormous spatial range.
A distance of one light-year was insignificant during the interstellar era.
Yet strictly speaking, the star system containing Tianyun Star was only approximately 0.003 light-years across.
The simulation did not need to cover seven full days either.
The day before Starfall Day, Starfall Day itself, and the following day would be enough.
With three days combined, the total energy cost immediately became almost negligible by comparison.
It would require fewer than ten thousand points.
Fortunately, Qi Heng had resisted repairing the system’s folded space in case [Chamber of Time] required energy.
Otherwise, he would not have enough now.
After considering it, Qi Heng told A0 the settings for the first spacetime archive.
A0 was an extremely useful tool AI when handling system operations.
It accepted his command with considerable enthusiasm.
【Spatial range designated as the star system containing Tianyun Star. Temporal span: three days.】
【Consuming 9,300 energy points to establish Spacetime Archive No. 1.】
T/N: Take note of the explanation regarding The Chamber of Time as this skill will be used for a while in the next few chapters.
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