"Yes, Master." Sebastian bowed slightly. "However, you might be a little uncomfortable with the existence of the energy room."
Just this sentence made Shen Shi's expression change slightly.
A guess suddenly flashed across his mind.
Staring intently at Sebastian in front of him, he asked word by word, "Why do you say that?"
"This is based on my understanding of you, Master." Sebastian maintained his apologetic posture. "In order to serve you better, I need some time to understand you. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable earlier."
Although the central AI of the warship could make a conscious connection with its master through his personal terminal, this connection was passive and cautious.
Therefore, no matter how advanced an AI was, it would take a certain amount of time to nurture a tacit understanding.
At this moment, Sebastian already had a certain understanding of Shen Shi.
For example, he had re-evaluated his sensitivity to emotions. If it were now, he would not have said the word "ghost".
Shen Shi also understood this.
However, after a moment of silence, he said slowly, "Take me there."
This was his warship. He could allow himself to be uncomfortable, but he could not allow himself not to know it well enough.
This determination, which was based on the desire to control, was also conveyed to Sebastian.
He bowed again. "As you wish."
The floating disc under his feet automatically started to operate. Shen Shi did not sense the existence of inertia. This magical experience washed away some of his uneasiness. After all, he was here this time to understand his warship well.
After passing through a membrane that was emitting a gentle light, he arrived in front of a metal door in the blink of an eye.
"So fast!"
Shen Shi was shocked again and could not help but ask.
"Is the speed of movement in the warship so fast? Or is the energy room not far from the entrance?"
"Only you have the right to the exclusive passageway," Sebastian replied.
This was actually to allow the captain to quickly inspect the entire warship.
It was also to prevent the warship from being invaded by outsiders.
Whether it was to attack or to retreat, it would maximize the safety of the captain.
Shen Shi could only say that the products of the future world were more comprehensive than he had imagined.
However, at this moment, his gaze was on the metal door in front of him.
"Can you open it?" he asked.
This was the first door he had seen since he boarded the warship.
"Your will is everything," said Sebastian. The incomparably thick door slowly opened. Shen Shi saw a flash of light behind it, accompanied by a smell that burned the air.
He did not ask what it was.
He only looked inside the door.
It was a cold and strange room. A pile of black "canisters" were densely packed together, and there were also many exposed pipes. The reason why it was strange was because there were strange patterns slowly changing on the walls and even on the ground.
Shen Shi had only looked at the patterns a little longer, and he felt dizzy.
It was as if he was looking at hypnotic patterns.
He quickly looked away and stopped paying attention to the patterns. His senses instantly improved.
Could this be the discomfort Sebastian had mentioned?
Shen Shi heaved a sigh of relief.
He placed his gaze on the "canisters".
"What are these?" he asked as he walked in, his footsteps a little more relaxed.
"Original energy batteries," Sebastian replied, but he did not follow him in. He immediately said, "Master, it's best if you don't get within 40 centimeters of the original energy battery. Your consciousness may suffer an impact."
Shen Shi subconsciously stopped in his tracks.
However, he had already sensed it from this distance.
Coldness, despair, suppression… and also confusion and fear.
The emotions that kept surging in from outside were like a fog dissipating in the air, enveloping him bit by bit.
His expression changed.
This feeling reminded Shen Shi of the time in the virtual market when the collector could not control his emotions and launched a consciousness attack.
Although it was a completely different feeling, and although this was far inferior to that of the collector then,
still…..
"What exactly… is inside?" Shen Shi's throat rolled, and his expression was a little terrifying.
"E-5 original energy batteries," Sebastian replied as usual, but the tacit understanding which had begun to develop had worked. He seemed to suddenly understand what Shen Shi meant and continued, "The raw materials came from an intelligent civilization called the Middleton civilization. They were the fifth generation of individuals from the E-class civilization after they had been incorporated into the Mulder System."
Shen Shi was silent.
Although he did not know what kind of civilization the so-called "Middleton" was, the words "intelligent" and "individuals" were enough to show that what was in the canister was an intelligent creature!
An intelligent creature like humans!
It had been locked in here as a "battery", and it was forever diffusing this mood of despair!
Shen Shi held his breath and pursed his lips. He did not say anything but turned around and retreated.
There would not be any thought of "letting it out" and asking for trouble.
However, he was still enduring some indescribable emotional impact.
It was not until the door was closed that he heaved a sigh of relief after a long while.
"What is the Mulder System?" he asked. "Explain it in a way I can understand."
"You can understand it as a powerful interstellar society system." Sebastian's tone slowly slowed down. "In this system, the highest level is the ruling individual, the 'Rancher'. All the civilizations below are divided into seven levels, sorted by letters. G-class is the lowest. They are usually the primitive races that have been invaded, captured, and bred by force."
Rancher!
Shen Shi had heard this term from the collector.
The original phrase was, "No civilization in the territory of the Rancher would dare to sell the migration warships to us."
Why were they afraid to sell them?
Thinking about the alien invasion three years later, some logic seemed to be clear.
Shen Shi turned around and stared intently at Sebastian.
"Tell me, what grade are humans? I give you permission to search for the answer from the independent information vault!"
"They're D-class, Master," Sebastian replied quickly.
"Will they be made into original energy batteries?" Shen Shi asked again.
"Every twelve years on the mother planet, they'll have to hand over enough benefits. Otherwise, 5% of the number of individuals will be taken away as punishment." Sebastian's tone became gentler.
It was obvious that the deepening tacit understanding had already let him know how much discomfort these words would bring to Shen Shi.
However, this time, Shen Shi did not sway his body.
This was because he had already guessed this answer.
"No wonder…" he said softly.
It was no wonder that more warships and more powerful ones could not be bought.
No wonder the collector had said those words.
In the end, 3,000 years later, humans still did not have true strength.