Chapter 78 - The Sign

(Drop more power stone. If I have extra chapters, I will release it one per 100 stones.)

"It's done." Adam teleports out from the inside of the Iowa-Class Battleship after he is done installing the nuclear reactor that will power all the energy hungry electronics and her new main gun.

New Jersey is a little spooked by his sudden Teleportation but her excitement drowns any complaints she has as she already bounced up and synchronized with her rigging ship with closing her eyes for those extra focus. She tried to get a feel of her new gears which made her giddy whenever she recalled how powerful the cannons were when Adam tested it.

When she opens her eyes again, she already gets a good grasp of everything and immediately turns to Adam.

"Let's test out these new babies on something." New Jersey excitedly asked.

Adam was glad by her enthusiasm and said, "Sure but I don't think there's anything we can test on over here." Before he rubs his chin trying to come up with an idea. However, a powerful shock out of nowhere hit them.

"What just happened?" Adam asked when he felt like he was pushed by a sudden wind pressure coming from the sea.

Then out of the sudden, a powerful earthquake ravaged the base and a tsunami wave appeared in the distance. Before he could get any answer, a transmission arrived from Agent. Adam answered immediately as she might have insight on what just happened since she has her Dummies constantly monitoring the world from the Orbital Fortress.

Adam answered the transmission and immediately greeted with a distressed voice from Agent. "Master, please return to the Orbital Fortress immediately. There is something urgent that needs your immediate attention."

Adam nods when he hears what she has to say and from the look of it, it's very urgent as Agent rarely sounds concerned. This time however, she did.

Also, did he just watch Siegfried cut the tsunami wave with Balmung?

Anyway, Adam apologized to New Jersey for needing to leave immediately. But she instead asked if she could follow. Seeing no harm to it, Adam teleported them both away. They both arrived at the Orbital Fortress to see it was on full alert mode and her Dummies were frantically working on each of their terminals soundlessly since verbal communication is unnecessary for them.

"Master. Your attention here please." Agent called to pull his attention to the main screen which played a recording.

"Few minutes ago, a spike of Siren activity was detected in the Indian Ocean after a massive red rift appeared in the sky." Agent explains the record she showed them to Adam and New Jersey who tagged along out of curiosity.

Adam watched and wondered what caused the seismic shockwave felt all the way across the continent to his base. He saw the Siren ships open fire on the spatial rift and whatever it spit out at them. The battle got intense and he even saw multiple humanoid Siren ships being sent into battle as he saw a red Peace Breaker open fire at the rift using her laser cannons that dealt catastrophic damage yet didn't even cause the rift to waver or push back what's pouring out from it as a swarm unknown creature similar to insects surround the Peace Breaker and killed it.

What happens next is something even crazier. The rift suddenly spit out a gigantic flying tree that is used in the same manner as a fortress as the people inside it seems to use magic? Attacking something that is chasing after it.

Surrounded from both sides, yet unwilling to be defeated. The gigantic tree lashed its sturdy yet flexible roots at the Siren below and the vines at its pursuer spitting out from the spatial rift all while its leaves glow brighter in mystical viridescent glow. Its roots after repelling the Siren fleets, stretch down into the depth of the ocean and moments later the tree becomes rooted on the ocean.

From the spatial rift, after all the pursuer failed to stop whatever that gigantic tree tried to do. They no longer send out cannon fodder. Instead, a black mist? gas? Descend from the rift and form a draconic jaw shrouded in the mist before it tried to swallow the entire tree whole. However, in defiance. The gigantic tree seems to suck out energy from its roots that had rooted into the seabed and caused the leaves to glow even further, bathing the surround with its viridescent light like a fire burning brighter and stronger but also its vitality in return.

The powerful green light seems to burn away the mist and so does the draconic figure lurking behind the black mist that shrieks so powerful that it creates an explosion shockwave that causes the sea to tremble and the ground to shake. Then a green pillar or energy smite the draconic figure along with the spatial rift before it ultimately collapses and kills the draconic creature.

The tree survived but looked very worn from the battle. Its trunk and branches shriveled and leaves no longer look lustrous and instead dull. However, Adam's attention was on the draconic creature.

"HaAgh!" Adam suddenly grunted in pain as he felt like his head was cracked open by a sledgehammer and his brain pounded with images flashing through his mind.

Those draconic creatures were something familiar… Adam is sure that he saw them from somewhere but he can't put his hand on it, especially as many more images and information flashes through his mind.

E-Cube… Wisdom Cube… Origin Cube… Origin Energy… Deus X… Leviathan… Antiochus… Siren…

Information after information surfacing into his mind despite most was never there. So, the question was where did this information come from? How were they able to appear in his head? Adam couldn't ask. The pain was terrible. What he did comprehend was the Black Cube or Origin Cube that Purifier gave him is what catalyzed this reaction.

He could see a blurry image of Agent and New Jersey screaming something to him but all he can hear is loud deafening buzzing. Even as they shook his body to wake up, he could feel only numbness that claimed his body and then everything plunged into dark as he felt his mind forcefully shut down due to the unbearable influx of information.

———

"!"

"Where…"

Adam felt himself awake but still in darkness that he last remembered. His body is also similarly numb.

"Could it be…" Fear enveloped his mind as he feared that he might have become vegetative because of brain damage. However, his senses quickly returned and the numbness vanished like the shore on a low tide.

He felt something was covering his face. Not unpleasant. Instead, it was soft almost like fur. Unfortunately, he couldn't move his body. His head is also resting on a soft surface and warm too.

Instead of worrying about the state of his body which now resembles sleep paralysis, Adam focuses on the information he just received from his painful bout of resurfacing memories.

First, E-Cube or the predecessor of Wisdom Cube is essentially an object created from a material obtained from a meteor that fell to Earth which was found to have the property of generating seemingly infinite energy. But that can't be farther from the truth. In reality, infinity energy generation and energy storage were merely side effects of its true property. In truth, what was created out of the meteor by DR Anzeel, which is a Variant of the E-Cube called Wisdom Cube, was in fact a reality bending machine. Giving E-Cube a personality is like giving a reality bending machine a personality to be exploited.

But in the end, a device is just a device. Without energy, the Wisdom Cube cannot do its magic. So, what is the energy? Because the way Wisdom Cube generates infinite energy is by pulling it out from another dimension just like what happened in Doom when Earth tried to mine Argent Energy on 'Mars'. That energy came from another dimension and belonged to someone or something.

So, when the landlord notices it's neighbor is stealing his energy. He of course gets furious and sends something to stop those thieves which ended up being Steel Leviathan. A serpentine dragon-like creature made of steel or metal, shrouded in black fog which. The landlord of that dimension was obviously outraged by the theft and ordered his dogs to ravage the land. Destroying everything and eventually sending humanity into extinction.

But as usual, the 'humanity is more persistent' trope is playing out and in defiance of their punishment. Humanity has their last failsafe, the Antiochus were given an order by Dr Aoste to save humanity before being given a device that can create parallel timelines. Antiochus did as he ordered and found a way for humanity to defy their fate of death. However, something Dr Aoste maybe failed to account for is Antiochus didn't treat the timeline as precious since they can generate an infinite amount of them and they treated those timeline as disposable as they continue to experiment a way to defeat those Leviathan.

Due to their repeated failure, Antiochus instead creates an endless loop where they fail and they prune the timeline and do everything again with slight change of variable. Again and again for god knows how long. Also, they rebranded their name as Siren for whatever reason. Maybe because they dislike the meaning of their original name, Antiochus.

So, that's basically the abridged version of the important lore.

Before he fainted, Adam remembered seeing the Leviathan trying to pursue the gigantic tree, which on its own raised several questions. But what's more surprising than an fantasy-esque gigantic floating tree is how the fuck a Leviathan breached the experimental timeline?

Shouldn't they be sealed in the original timeline in a limbo state since a divergent timeline branched off from the original timeline when the Siren begined their experiment. The possibility of them emerging from one of the timelines created by the Siren is impossible because before the timeline can progress to that state, they will prune it.

Also, what with that fantasy-esque gigantic floating tree? Did humanity say fuck science, fuck building KANSEN and embrace magic before building a magical gigantic floating tree instead?

Considering it was strong enough to repel the Leviathan. No. Correction, it's a shadow of the real Leviathan. But still, Adam would say they were steering in the right direction, whatever that direction was that led up to the creation of that magical gigantic floating tree.

*Rustle*

Adam's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he felt like his body was shifted and whatever was on his face was finally removed. He could see some light through his eyelids which he opened to see a collection of pink leaves, uniquely a sakura tree's leaves. Also a big bulge wrapped in a blue kimono.

"Ah, you were awake already, Commander. I apologize because I fell asleep while waiting for you to wake up." A familiar soft and dainty, almost sleepy voice reached his ears.

Adam's body tensed and basically jumped on his own as he lifted his body up in a demonically possessed manner before he turned around lightning fast to glance at the owner of the voice.

"Shinano?!" His eyes opened wide in shock while looking at his most beloved shipgirl.

"Yes, Commander. It's your Shinano. The one that went through thick and thin together." She opened her arms and caught him in her embrace as she rested his face on her bosom. "But it seems Enterprise had beat us over finding you, Commander."

Adam was in too much shock. First it's Enterprise and now Shinano? How? He lifts his face out of her bosom and looks at her face. But before he could ask his question, Shinano beat him to it.

"You wonder how I managed to arrive in this world? Then, I simply didn't. The Sacred Sakura are all interconnected between multiple timelines and rooted in the original timeline. I simply project my consciousness into this world through the Sacred Sakura to bring you an important piece of information, Commander." Shinano said as her face turned somber.

"Our true enemy will never be and never meant to be defeated by us or the Siren. The divine will never be defeated by a mortal creation."

"Divine? A god?" Adam asked not in much shock of the revelation as his System spoiled the secret to him before Shinano could.

"Indeed. The Leviathan is merely a tiny portion of its true power. A shadow of its divine self yet capable of destroying the world, KANSEN and Siren." She shook her head helplessly as she gazed into the sea right in front of them. "What the Siren did is futile. They could never find the answer even after a million, billion or a trillion simulations. Those sacrifices were for naught as they were cultivating a tree that never meant to bear any fruit." Sadness reflected in her eyes before they vanished in a blink.

"However, it seems Yamato is telling the truth after all. When the Commander returns, he will bring with him the solution and the answer to everything." Shinano smiled and her body suddenly fades and turns transparent. "Oh, it seems my time is up." She said in not much shock as she let out a grateful smile.

"The power you obtained is the answer Commander." She said once she noticed the confusion in his face. Then she fished out something from her back. "Also give this comb to Nagato when you meet her. It is a gift from Yamato to aid your arduous mission."

Adam holds the antique looking wooden comb that looks bland without any engraving or design. He also has an inkling of what is causing Shinano to disappear. She is known to have power to enter a dream and his Semblance is thwarting her effort. In that brief window of time when his brain forcefully shut down, she entered his dream and now that he is waking up, his Semblance once again rejects her power.

"Then, farewell Commander and don't be sad. We will definitely meet again someday." She opens her arms again and offers a hug for Adam who doesn't hesitate to accept as her body rapidly dissolves into butterflies that fly up toward the moon as they vanish.

He was left grasping at empty air as he felt a deep sadness enveloping his mind. First it's Enterprise and now Shinano. One by one they reappeared to find him.

But this time he obtained way more information. Information that he doesn't necessarily like. Like the fact that his action in preparing the shipgirls for the final showdown is futile because their attack will never reach the true enemy, Deus X. Only his Semblance could. Or rather, the Fragment of Nihility's ability.

But why? He wondered. Why could only his power could? For that, Adam has to look at his own power which is rejection of his opponent's power. Considering Shinano stated Deus X is indeed a Deus or god. He didn't need to think far before landing on the idea of divinity.

The only possible explanation why KANSEN and Siren could never defeat Deus X is perhaps because he has divinity. Just like what divides humans from apes is their intellect, what divides humans from God is divinity or divine power. That also explains the power pulled by the Windom Cubes from another dimension. Divinity is an omnipotent energy that can shape the world and do many other things which includes creating life just like how Wisdom Cube could create KANSEN. Adam could imagine how pissed the god was since the humanity in the original timeline actually was stealing another god's divine power and why that being is hell bent to kill humanity that still is and will continue to steal its divine power. It went beyond the level of just stealing electricity from a neighbor because if his conjecture were true, this is the level of sucking someone's blood dry while they sleep like fleas.

When he is ejected from his dream, he finds himself in the infirmary with Siegfried as usual, peeling apples next to him. He sometimes wonders how he could always get the immaculate timing to peel the apple when he is about to wake up every time. Well, at least this time Siegfried isn't alone as Vestal is here too since this is her workplace basically.

"Commander! You are awake?" Vestal almost screamed when she noticed Adam's eyes were open and his head turning around trying to grasp his surroundings.

"Yes. Yes I am." Adam sighs as he grabs a slice of the apple Siegfried silently offers to him. His mind still lingers at the new pieces of information he obtained from all that just happened.

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