In the end, Rean shook his head. "Even if you tell me that, there isn’t much to be said. I used my arrays, and they worked. Could it be that you were the one who lost contact with the guardian core instead? My airplane has arrays that prevent Celestial Senses from prying in from outside. It obviously has more arrays capable of blocking various kinds of signals too."
-Incorrect. The Nexus Control Seed does not rely on Celestial Senses for communication, and the other kinds of signals your airplane’s arrays can block are incapable of interfering with the Nexus Connection. The Nexus Connection works through different means, which your airplane cannot stop.-
"Hum... are you certain?" Rean asked, scratching his chin. "I mean, we consider this place nothing more than a collection of ruins because of its age and state. Pretty much everything except this tower and a few other facilities has fallen into complete disrepair. Can you truly say that a place this old couldn’t have developed some issue while I was working on the core?"
The AI fell silent at that moment.
Rean could see the energies inside the Nexus Core revolving more rapidly than before, perhaps because it was running some kind of diagnostic process. He couldn’t tell for sure, so he simply waited. At the very least, his suggestion that the ruins themselves might be at fault seemed to have produced some kind of effect.
-This AI cannot discard the possibility that the entity called Rean is correct.-
Rean smiled in response. "You saw the arrays themselves. We don’t have anything else here. By the way, what happens to that energy once it is separated? It simply disappeared soon after it was left behind. Does it return to you?"
-Analyzing... Nexus Control Seed did not return. Current location unavailable. Probable conclusion: Nexus Control Seed dissipated due to the lack of a host.-
"Oh... no wonder it simply vanished then." Rean nodded as if everything suddenly made sense. "My airplane didn’t have a storage capable of preserving it, so I suppose that explains it. Even Spatial Rings seemed useless. Of course, you are free to check our Spatial Rings yourself if you feel like confirming it."
-Cooperation accepted. Please do not block the scanning process while this AI verifies the contents of your Spatial Rings.-
Normally, no cultivator would willingly allow someone else to inspect the contents of their Spatial Ring.
Unfortunately, they obviously didn’t have much of a choice here. If they refused, the Nexus Core could simply seize the rings by force anyway. There was no point in provoking it over something they couldn’t stop.
Everyone watched as threads of white and golden energy entered each of their Spatial Rings one after another. Several ugly expressions immediately appeared inside the airplane, yet no one voiced any complaints. Fortunately, the Nexus Core only inspected their belongings and didn’t remove a single item.
-Confirmation acquired. All Spatial Storages have been verified. None contain the Nexus Control Seed. This AI concludes that the Nexus Control Seed has dissipated.-
"So..." Rean scratched the back of his head. "What do we do now? Can you let us go?"
-For security purposes, the threat shall be eliminated.-
The moment the Nexus AI finished speaking, tens of thousands of the same lasers used by the guardian cores materialized around the enormous Nexus Core. Every single one of them began accumulating terrifying amounts of energy.
There was simply no way they could dodge an attack on that scale.
"Shit!" Harksha and the others immediately circulated their Godly Energy, making one final attempt to break through the barrier imprisoning them inside the airplane.
Even Rean and Roan quietly prepared themselves to activate the Sanctuary.
But before either of them could move...
Kentucky suddenly raised one wing.
"Wait!" he called out. "You keep calling us a threat. Can you define exactly what threat we pose?"
-Unknown life forms inside a restricted facility.-
"But we do have permission to be here," Kentucky argued confidently.
Everyone immediately turned to stare at him.
We have permission?
Since when?
The countless lasers, already charged and ready to fire, suddenly stopped.
The energy gathered inside them hadn’t dissipated yet, but at least they didn’t fire.
-Please provide proof.-
Kentucky pointed one wing toward the Nexus Core.
"Well, I mean... why would you let us come all the way here if you hadn’t given us permission yourself?"
Everyone inside the airplane felt completely helpless.
That wasn’t permission.
They had been lured here by the Nexus Core. Besides, the one being recognized before wasn’t even them—it was Rean’s disguise array.
There is absolutely no way that ridiculous excuse will work...
-Analyzing... proof accepted.-
*Bang!*
Everyone immediately collapsed face-first onto the floor.
Is that okay?
Is that really, really okay?!
What kind of proof was that?!
It sounded much more like a flaw in the AI’s reasoning than an actual argument.
Kentucky nodded proudly, puffing out his chest. "I’m really smart."
The hell you are!
That was what everyone wanted to shout. Unfortunately, the results spoke for themselves.
Could it be...
...that they were the ones lacking intelligence instead?
No! They absolutely refused to admit that possibility.