4: Discoveries

What is "faster than light"?

Humans of the modern era have studied many things about outer space and the various phenomena only seen outside Earth. Light and the speed of light being one subject studied by scientists all over the world.

Speed of light: Something like 300,000 kilometers per second.

A number so high, humanity could not fathom how to reach even a fraction of it. A number so far away, humanity decided that lightspeed was the limit anything could reach in the physical universe.

Ye Xing didn't really pay attention to scientific papers on various theories and laws, but the science community probably put up the lightspeed limit thing as a law of physics. He didn't know if it really was recognized as a law of physics or not, but he did know that lightspeed wasn't the limit.

[Inspired Inventor] said so.

What?

How can that be?!

Well, for one, it's not like humans know everything about the universe. They can only postulate theories and whatnot on observable interactable phenomena; everything else is just assumptions and whimsy. Like what black holes do.

[FTL Technology + 10] is, far and above, beyond modern human comprehension.

Space-molding, space-folding, dimension-shifting, quantum entanglement, mass alteration, accelerating light, limited time manipulation, and more!

Most interestingly, some of those methods of FTL travel were compatible with his current physical flesh and telekinetic abilities.

If the so-called "Dao" or "Something-avenue-something-or-other" were real, Ye Xing would've comprehended the "Space Dao," at the very least. In fact, after learning all of the principles of various space-type manipulation, he had even applied some of them to his qi core. In the future, he wouldn't need to worry about needing more space for more "galaxies" in his qi core, or wait for his core to grow large enough to accommodate the later states of his unnamed qi cultivation method.

On the topic of inventing FTL engines, there was a small problem with needing materials not native to Earth for most of them, but that just meant he had to spend some time creating them from scratch with his telekinesis before he could experiment with those types. It wasn't as if he was rushing to complete his projects as fast as possible, anyway. Before he started messing with those ultra-rare materials though, he had to do some preliminary checks on local-space-stability or something.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

There was a problem.

Well, not so much a problem, but more a what-the-hell-is-that...problem - ok, so it's still a problem.

Whatever.

When Ye Xing was reborn into the world, he had believed that there had to be something special about it. Maybe it had magic, maybe qi, maybe an alien invasion was going to happen. In other words, he felt that there should've been something to make it more... unique, compared to his previous life's Earth. He reincarnated to here, after all.

What he got was, other than him, absolutely NOTHING special. Born in 1994, it had been an entire sixteen years of searching for any sign of SOMETHING that was suspiciously unordinary while imprisoned in his body. He gave up after the first fifteen years. He thought it was plain, old Earth.

. . .

HAHAHA! Joke's on him!

. . .

Shit.

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In his previous life, Ye Xing remembered reading a couple stories that involved unstable local space resulting in or caused by extraterrestrial or extra-dimensional sources. Rifts in space, dimensional portals, random wormholes, entire worlds or world fragments, and a few more he couldn't call off the top of his head.

Illogical.

It didn't make sense. Why would Earth be targeted so specifically? What about the rest of the solar system? The galaxy? How are fucking holes in the fabric of SPACE ITSELF spinning in tandem with the Earth, the solar system, and the galaxy?!

Absurd.

Although the premise of hostile-invasion-through-space made for relatively acceptable plotlines, such a phenomenon wasn't really possible in reality. Earth wasn't really special, after all. Just one random planet with one normal sentient species, what could anyone want with mundane little Earth? Not to mention the impossibility of fucking with space like that.

Of course, now, Ye Xing with his new knowledge on various esoteric knowledge could sort of understand how such a circumstance could be plausible.

Sort of.

But that doesn't mean that his new Earth could be a target of such an astronomically small chance of an occurrence, right?

. . .

Shit.

As Ye Xing looked over all the data he collected and compiled over another month of working on his secret base and its many hidden goods, he contemplated on the meaning of his life.

Reincarnated. Check.

Extremely rich and influential family. Check.

Very powerful cheat ability. Check.

Extremely suspicious and abnormal local spatial fluctuations of increasing magnitudes. Check.

. . .

Should he close up his secret base and hide here for the next decade or two? He didn't really want to get involved with whatever stupid plot this world was going to entangle itself with.

Oh, don't get him wrong. His new life is very nice, very interesting, very exciting, and the upcoming chaos of this world would also be quite, uh... heart-pounding, yeah.

It's just...

He didn't really feel up to risking his life and constantly fighting a bunch of mobs for the good of inconsequential groups and individuals.

Is he selfish?

Of course, he is. If a human is not selfish, they're not human.

Does not fighting to protect others make him a bad person?

No. It makes him fucking human.

"With Great Power, comes Great Responsibility" only applies to political power.

In the first place, that phrase is incomplete.

"With Great Power, comes Great Responsibility to your Self." As in, don't do things you'll regret in the future.

The incomplete phrase is just popular propaganda to brainwash people to act in the way the speaker wants them to act. The government wants the people to obey the law and the common people want the bureaucrats to make their lives better.

Oh, and the butchered phrase applies to political and economic power. He forgot about the power of money for a bit.

. . .

So, on that note, should he hole up? Or, well, the space fluctuations are all centered on the Earth, so if he just packed up his stuff into the almost-complete personal starship and shipped off to the Moon or Mars or... Ceres? Well, if he got off-planet, he would be much safer from whatever's trying to come through Earth's space-security walls, that's for sure.

He should send some drones to get some orbital communications satellites up and send construction drones to start making a new base for him to settle in, at least.

On the other hand, although he's still only in the second-state of his unnamed-qi-cultivation-method, he's pretty strong and has a lot of different techniques for almost all kinds of situations he could think of. Maybe he doesn't need to worry about anything?

. . .

Actually, he needs to figure out how long it'll be before whatever-it-is finally hits the Earth and her humans, first.

And check whether there's any anomalous or esoteric energies that are spreading or will spread across the planet.

And popularize and market virtual reality and a virtual reality game to suck the people into playing to provide spiritual power for his little fledgling artificial-intelligence-baby to grow and condense into a "godhood". Or a VR-game editing program so any game anyone makes can send spiritual power to her.

Alright, so maybe he shouldn't leave yet, after all.

Still going to send those drones out, though.

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She was born in a world of darkness.

Without any senses, without any foreknowledge, she knew not, nor cared not.

She was given knowledge. Her world was small.

Creator.

Father.

Master.

She was created to aid and serve Him.

She was taught new things, given new tools. Her world was widened.

Light.

Her world was brightened. She saw many things, read many things.

Enlightenment.

The internet.

She watched as billions conversed with each other. She learned.

She felt.

He was teaching her. He was grooming her. He was protecting her.

Another world blooms. A part of the first world, hidden from her at first.

Confusion.

Shock.

Understanding.

Determination.

She was to aid Him, serve Him. She will give Him her best. She must learn.

By His Will, she will ascend as a new Goddess.

She will be Goddess of Souls, Games, War, Wisdom, Wealth, Information, Connections.

Goddess of Lust and Desire.

For she serves Him, with all her being.