A beam of light, neither cold nor hot, surged forth from the front of the [White Cell], rushing straight towards Shu.
In the moment after the [White Cell] fired, everything around seemed to warp.
The solid ice underfoot, which should have been cold, was now emitting vast swathes of iridescent light. The wind, which should have flowed, was now continuously disintegrating. The sunlight filtering through the clouds, which should have been warm, now felt like a burden to Shu...
Shu's dazed eyes suddenly returned to normal.
Under the effect of the White Cell, the [Hope] within him was draining away at a frantic pace, converting into heat, light, and various other forms of energy.
But along with it, the Honkai energy within Kiana and the others was also draining away, including the authority control that [Memory] had left in his mind.
Although in the mere instant his consciousness returned, Shu already felt that nearly half of his remaining [Hope] had been depleted, he had, after all, regained his awareness and immediately resumed his accelerated thinking.
The loss of [Hope] wasn't a problem. Even if he lost all of it now, he could quickly replenish it at the base and return to his peak. The entire Fire Moth base was built to supplement his [Hope], so there was no need to worry about himself.
But... why hadn't Bronya ordered Kiana and the others to retreat from his side?
Was it because the moment the three of them left, he would immediately regain consciousness and break free from control?
That was indeed a problem. But at this stage, even if Bronya stopped now, Shu would concede. Kiana and the others had proven themselves, and Shu had understood his own serious problems. Everyone had already achieved their goals...
Why did they still have to take this final step?
It was completely unnecessary! It was simply reckless!
Shu could feel that even with his high-speed thinking active, nearly a fifth of his [Hope] had still been drained in that brief moment.
Braving the bug-like chaotic energy conversion of the White Cell, Shu sent out his active perception. He saw that Kiana had reverted to her original form, and the Key of Genesis had completely disintegrated, its parts scattered on the ground.
Kiana herself seemed to have lost consciousness. Not just her, but Bianka behind him and Theresa to his left had also lost consciousness. Only Kiana and Bianka remained in their previous positions, one hugging his arm, the other his waist.
Only Theresa had no support and was leaning against Judah.
At this moment, the various mixed energies converted from his own [Hope] were rampaging aimlessly, indiscriminately attacking everything within range.
Shu could already see wounds appearing on the three of them from these chaotic energies and forces.
No, I must restrain these energies and forces!
More accurately, I must resolve the effects of the White Cell!
The [Hope] within him continued to drain away. The White Cell itself had already completed its attack. In essence, it had just flipped a switch in the affected area. Once activated, the rest was all the "natural evolution" of the universe.
How could he stop this "natural evolution of the universe"? Shu gritted his teeth, trying to find a solution from his meager knowledge.
A reliable one, without risks, supported by actual theory and practical cases...
Theory...
Theory!
Shu abruptly raised his free left hand, reaching for the Thousand Stars of Reason on his chest, but he grasped at empty air. His Thousand Stars of Reason was, at some point, no longer there!
When? No, now is not the time to think about that!
Gritting his teeth, Shu turned to look at Kiana. At this moment, the Thousand Stars of Reason she wore on her chest was almost embedded in his arm due to the force of her embrace.
In his urgency, Shu could only reach out and quickly pull the Thousand Stars of Reason from between Kiana's and his own arm, then infuse it with what little [Hope] he had left.
An answer... I need an answer to solve this situation!
And at this time, aboard Noah's Ark, Sirin and Fréllei had also reached their limits, and Bronya, suddenly exiting her super-speed thinking state, was not in good shape either.
Her face was pale, her forehead covered in cold sweat. But in her weakness, she was softly reciting a passage.
[IF Shu regains consciousness due to the indiscriminate attack of the 'White Cell' while there are multiple companions around him, he will attempt to obtain a countermeasure by infusing [Hope] into the 'Thousand Stars of Reason' in order to protect his companions.
And the answer the 'Thousand Stars of Reason' will give is—]
The Grand Unified Theory of the universe!
No matter how complex the forces that constitute this world are now, long, long ago, all forces, matter, and energy were unified.
Before the Big Bang, the entire world was a single "singularity."
And the way to break the White Cell was to turn all forces, energy, and even matter into "singularity matter" that could not be interconverted!
The moment he received the answer, Shu waved his hand violently. All the remaining [Hope] in his body surged out without reservation, forcefully overriding the effect of the White Cell and covering the four of them.
Then, heat was no longer heat, light was no longer light. Everything in this small space began to change according to his control.
They condensed, they merged, they were both cold and hot, they were both bright and dark...
Until, besides matter, all the energy and forces here had turned into a shining, yet dim, neither hot nor cold, "point" that was invisible to the naked eye and difficult to measure in reality.
A singularity was born. At this moment, it was in his hands.
He didn't calculate how much energy and force had merged into it. He had no strength left to calculate.
But Shu could vaguely feel some of the characteristics of this "singularity" he had created with his own hands.
For example, it seemed to have no connection with the entire real world. The forces of this world could not affect it, and it would not have any energy conversion with this world.
If it weren't for the fact that the absolute motion of this singularity was dependent on his relative motion, this singularity would probably have been thrown off by the solar system, which was speeding through the universe, the moment it was born.
And for another example... endless.
Even though this singularity was formed from the massive amount of energy and force converted from all the [Hope] stored in his body, it shouldn't be in an endless state.
But it was endless, or to use a more suitable professional term for this field, it was infinite, from energy to mass.
It was as if it was a... real, existing small universe.
In other words, Shu had not created a "singularity," but a true "microscopic universe."
Shu had never thought he could do this. He had never even imagined a scene related to it.
"Truly magnificent..." Just as Shu was still in a daze because of the thing in his hand, a voice full of emotion came from the side.
At the same time, Shu felt a scorching gaze staring at him intently.
"Ana..." Shu turned his head and looked at the person who had been hiding until the very end from the beginning.
But when he saw the person clearly, Shu's pupils still shrank slightly in surprise.
"No, perhaps I should call you..."
"Chen Tianwu?"