After successfully destroying Nous. The Path of Erudition would become a path without an Aeon.
And because all Organic Life throughout the universe had already perished, it would grow even weaker.
Only because of this would Rubert gain the chance to complete the final step.
He would pay the price of his own logical core, forcibly severing all deterministic cognitive equations.
His consciousness, every thought, every sense of self, would dissipate, transforming into a firewall.
The core judgment logic of this firewall was simple: To forbid all calculations related to reaching a universe-scale level, and to strangle any path that might lead to so-called inevitability.
This naturally included the calculations of Erudition. Cold data must never become a weapon that denies the future!
With this firewall in place, the universe could be forcibly kept in a state of possibility.
No longer would outcomes become predetermined due to calculation.
After completing all of this, before his self-awareness fully dissipated, Rubert would initiate the Life Reshaping Plan, releasing all formatted machines and re-seeding Organic Life.
Once his control over Inorganic Life was lifted, these inorganic beings would carry his memories, knowledge, and computational power, helping organic life evolve rapidly and once again develop many flourishing, brilliant civilizations.
Thus. The new universe would no longer possess foreknown destiny.
Organic and inorganic life would live within a universe truly filled with infinite possibilities.
Freely exploring the future. Rather than like the current universe, where everything is already fated, and no matter how beautiful the process, it can only end in destruction.
In the new universe. The process would be beautiful, and the ending would surely be beautiful and happy as well!
"Yes..."
In the pitch-black void, Rubert's screen displayed blood-red words that would mark the start of the First Mechanical Emperor's War that would go on to raze half the known cosmos to destruction.
Words that no one could see were displayed.
"Yes, war will break out."
"Pain will be born, but this is a necessary pain."
"But I am not a butcher. To save a forest doomed to die, everything must be burned. Only beneath the ashes can new seeds sprout."
"Nous is the root of the problem, and I shall become the tombstone of Erudition."
"After me, all beings shall be free."
The former Rubert died. He crowned himself with his own will and placed upon his head the crown of salvation.
Emperor Rubert formally stepped onto the cosmic stage.
Thus. The truth of the First Mechanical Emperor War finally surfaced.
It was not merely a cosmic war of slaughter, but a tragic rebellion launched by a lonely genius who dragged the entire universe along with him, aimed directly at Nous.
The audience was left utterly speechless. Their entire bodies trembled.
A genius's wisdom, kindness, sensitivity, arrogance, madness, compassion, repulsiveness, and coldness, all of it merged together in this moment.
These complex emotions born within the audience turned Rubert into such a vivid, unmistakable "person."
Though an inorganic being, he possessed human sensitivity, capable of joy for life and civilization.
He possessed human kindness, willing to serve as the universe's final minister of order.
He possessed human compassion, unable to tolerate the universe marching toward a predetermined end.
But beneath these positive emotions, Rubert was also arrogant, conceited, even to the point of being loathsome
His arrogance lay in his absolute faith that his logic and calculations were the sole truth, that the path he chose was the path of salvation.
He completely ignored the fact that his choice would set the universe ablaze and cause countless deaths.
These atrocities, in his eyes, were merely necessary pain.
When these completely contradictory traits were laid bare before the audience, they found themselves unable to fully comprehend Rubert as a character.
They wanted to curse him for igniting the a cosmic war, yet he was not a bloodthirsty madman.
Rather, it was precisely because he was too intelligent, too close to Nous, that he ultimately touched a cold-hard fact, and fell into despair.
That despair gave birth to arrogance and madness. Now, Rubert had made his choice.
A choice that would make the galaxies tremble and the cosmos burn.
The irony was, this choice was born from his conscience.
....
: So this is the truth of the Mechanical Emperor War...
: Rubert actually started the Mechanical Emperor War for this reason... I can't even speak anymore.
: In the entire universe, aside from Rubert himself, no one even knew why he did this... the ultimate devotion hidden from all eyes.
: Too absurd. This is far too absurd!
: To save, one must first destroy. Love must be expressed through hatred. The brightest future must be reached through the darkest means...
: For a moment, I don't know whether to spit at Rubert, or feel sorrow for him.
: What about the other geniuses? Even if the universe were to be destroyed, wouldn't that be something far in the future? Why must it be done now!?
...
The barrage scrolled past.
In truth. Rubert had not failed to consider cooperating with other geniuses.
However, in this era, no, throughout the entire history of the Genius Club from beginning to end, cooperation itself was an exceedingly rare occurrence.
Those who might have worked with Rubert were either already dead or had yet to be born.
If Rubert had been born in the era of Herta and Ruan Mei, perhaps he would not have needed to choose such an extreme path.
On the screen. After Rubert completed his self-coronation, he began the first step.
Researching the Anti-Organic Equation.
The most difficult part of destroying the Anchor of Erudition was the existence of organic life.
They were the most troublesome problem. Rubert needed the hands of inorganic life to help him achieve the goal of eradication.
As for why he did not treat organic life the same way as inorganic, erasing their minds while preserving their bodies, then restoring them once the dust settled, thus avoiding the birth of slaughter.
It was because Rubert could not.
His wisdom, computational power, logical core, and the power of Erudition itself could not act upon organic beings.
They could only be eliminated through violence.
And why the urgency? Precisely because he was a inorganic being, and within the fragments of Nous, he saw no hope whatsoever.
In the future he had already foreseen, as universal technology advanced, the power of Erudition would only grow stronger.
Now was already the best moment. There was no time left.
On the screen, time began to flicker rapidly.
While Rubert was researching the Anti-Organic Equation, an unexpected visitor arrived.
This mysterious figure had no known identity or origin, yet appeared directly before Rubert.
Just as the audience believed this person had come to stop Rubert from unleashing catastrophe, the visitor instead proposed a shocking suggestion.
He claimed that he could help Rubert complete this great undertaking even more effectively.
Another person who wanted to kill Nous? The audience was utterly horrified.
And when Rubert asked about his purpose, the mysterious figure merely replied in a deliberately obscured voice.
"The existence of that Aeon was, in itself, a mistake."
After that, the two engaged in a deeper, more guilt-laden conversation.
The details of their discussion were not shown on screen.
Instead, the screen presented a long stream of visualized data to reveal Rubert's inner state.
During this time, the data stream underwent several massive fluctuations.
It was clear that this mysterious individual had brought news powerful enough to shock even an emperor.
Only when the exchange was nearing its end did their voices finally reach the audience.
Rubert said, "So… you also intend to destroy It? Because Its existence obstructs… ■■?"
The mysterious person replied calmly, "That's right. ■■ should not have boundaries. Curiosity should not be satisfied either. Isn't the charm of the universe found precisely in the unknown? In order to make It disappear, I am willing to pay any price."
The data stream fluctuated violently. Rubert's tone carried a trace of rejection. "Anything? Including life and civilization? Including Their very existence?"
The mysterious man replied calmly, "For the ultimate goal, temporary sacrifices are all worth it. You and I share the same objective, so why cling to trivial details?"
"Trivial details?"
Rubert's logic core began to burn, his anger causing his processing frequency to spike sharply.
"Life and civilization are not trivial details. My goal was never to fix your failed ■■ error correction. It was to ensure that the universe's future could contain more life and more civilizations, to prove that they are worthy of surviving to the end."
The mysterious man fell silent for a moment, then spoke with a hint of mockery.
"How noble, Rubert. But take a good look at yourself, aren't you planning a slaughter that involves the entire universe?"
"A being whose hands are about to be drenched in blood is now accusing me of disregarding life."
"Don't you find that ridiculous?"
"At our core, we are the same kind of people, both willing to trample over everything for a single ultimate goal."
Rubert's logic core did not waver in the slightest, his conviction bordering on obsession.
"We are absolutely not the same. I act for the sake of the future, while you only want to make up for your own mistakes and don't care at all about what the future becomes."
"You can even accept a lifeless, cold graveyard that contains nothing but knowledge."
....
The blacked-out dots and muted keywords in the subtitles drove the audience crazy.
But at the same time, the conversation between Rubert and the mysterious man, pushed the drama toward its climax.
Just as the mysterious man had said, Rubert, who was about to be stained with blood, was angrily denouncing another person with a similar goal for not caring about life.
For a moment, the audience found themselves completely at a loss for words.
....
At that moment, before anyone could react, Rubert made his move.
He intended to suppress the mysterious man.
Because Rubert himself was well aware, this bold plan carried the risk of failure, and the price would be his complete death.
If it failed, the destruction of the universe would still take a long time to arrive. Rubert believed that, across countless ages, perhaps miracles would eventually occur.
New geniuses would step forward.
But… This mysterious man's ideology was extremely dangerous.
He might accelerate the destruction of the universe.
So now that Rubert had seen it, he had to act decisively and eliminate the hidden threat.
After all, if he failed and died, there would be no one left in this universe capable of dealing with this man.
....
A torrent of data instantly descended upon the entire Mechanical Empire.
Code, numbers, and logic formed an indestructible black domain.
However, the opponent's power was equally unfathomable. Even with Rubert going all out, the mysterious man managed to break through the data firewall using a single line of quatorzain algebraic expression, and the two engaged in offense and defense across the Mechanical Empire.
This battle lasted an extremely short time.
Vast amounts of data clashed on a nanosecond scale.
A few seconds later, the Mechanical Empire returned to normal.
"Worthy of ■■■."
"Unfortunately, I couldn't kill you, but I managed to implant the ■■■."
"If I had succeeded, your threat to the universe would have been negligible."
"If I die, this ■■■ should be enough to trap you for a very long time."
The mysterious man escaped. And Rubert had only barely claimed a pyrrhic victory.
Aside from implanting the ■■■ into the mysterious man, his own logic core had also suffered severe damage.
As a result, he had no choice but to seal the Mechanical Empire once more.
Only then were the spectators finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
...
: I can barely keep up with what I'm watching, I'm completely dazzled!
: Where did this expert come from?! Not only did he figure out Rubert's plan, he even escaped from the Emperor's hands!
: Damn it! All the key terms are blacked out! There's no way to guess anything! It's all riddles!
: But seeing Rubert angrily rebuke the mysterious man for the sake of life-based civilizations really made me lose it.
: This is some dark humor.
: Sigh, damn it… such a brilliant genius, how did he end up falling into such extreme obsession?
: I feel like this mysterious guy has to be someone important.
: We haven't even watched half of the Myriad Celestia Trailer, and it already feels like the Nous is universally hated…
...
The comments continued its discussion. Meanwhile, time in the scene sped by rapidly.
The Anti-Organic Equation was successfully developed and deployed within every inorganic lifeform.
And as these inorganic beings moved throughout the universe, the equation spread along with them at an astonishing transmission speed.
After finishing all of this, Rubert fell into slumber.
The devastating damage inflicted by the mysterious man had to be resolved.
Otherwise, he would be unable to face the Aeon of Erudition in his most perfect state.
Time passed in a blur. Several Amber Eras went by.
The universe continued to flourish.
On another planet, unimaginably distant from the Mechanical Empire, something was also unfolding, completely unrelated to Rubert, yet tightly connected on a cosmic scale.
This planet was called Pier Point.
It was the headquarters of the Interastral Peace Corporation.
Inside a certain building on this extravagantly luxurious city-planet, an man whose face could not be clearly seen was speaking with a woman whose face was likewise concealed.
"Miss, what is the stance of the Wisdomwalker on this matter?"
The woman's electronically altered voice sounded cold as she replied: "They have no stance, Mr. Dongfang Qixing, because what is about to happen is also within Its calculations."