Chapter 800: Strange cube

"Ah," Michael groaned, massaging his eyes. "What the hell was that?"

[Hmmm... that thing’s designed so that no one can look at it,]

Harbinger said.

[Not even those above the Nascent Spirit realm can pry its secrets unharmed.]

Michael was surprised to hear such a description from Harbinger. It seemed that the secrets hidden within this strange cube were incredibly profound, something that wasn’t meant for the eyes of mortals and Maugnetics alike. He was incredibly lucky that all he got was sore eyes after inadvertently trying to figure out the secret to the universe.

What even is this and why is it so secretive?

Harbinger shrugged.

[No idea.]

ChatJK5, any ideas?

[You don’t need to ask her. If I don’t know anything, then she certainly won’t.]

ChatJK5 went silent, which was atypical given how much she hated Harbinger.

[See? She doesn’t know anything—]

[Tsk. You cannot be more mistaken, idiot robot.] ChatJK5 responded. [Michael, I was able to ascertain a certain hidden coded message within the cube.]

Harbinger’s insults prompted ChatJK5 to step up her game.

[Hoh? You’re calling me that, you bi—]

Michael immediately muted Harbinger.

What kind of message?

Suddenly, a new window appeared in his vision, showing the subtle details in his surroundings.

All around the floating cube were the debris and chunks from the crumbled obelisk.

Upon first glance, the way these chunks shattered and created debris looked typical of the way that a normal stone structure would collapse. Some turned into powder, most into slabs and blocks.

But then Michael remembered. This place had no gravity. There were already collapsed structures floating in the dark skies even before he got here.

So, if the obelisk were to truly crumble in this zero-g environment, then it should have spread apart in all directions. It shouldn’t have fallen apart in the ground.

There was only one explanation for this.

The placement for these debris was deliberate.

No normal person would be able to decipher this puzzle so easily. But as expected, ChatJK5’s incredible processing power was able to take in all of these details into her database and churn out all the hidden patterns that its designer left for them.

Suddenly, those points of interest lit up in his vision, before a line was drawn from their positions towards the floating cube and intersecting in the middle.

And now, a new pattern emerged from those lines.

Michael’s eyes widened.

In front of him, he saw a brain, with the points of interest becoming the neurons that made up the entire system in a human mind.

A brain...

[It seems that this cube is some sort of central processing unit for a magical system.]

That was the only logical explanation that he and ChatJK5 could come up with. It explained that feeling of deep knowledge it had when he observed the cube for the first time.

Why would they put this here?

Clearly, this entire thing with the obelisk had been an arduous test to see if he was worthy or not. And once he showed his worthiness, it should have given him a great reward for all of his troubles.

This didn’t seem like a reward. He didn’t even know what to do with this.

Curious, he allowed one of his Unity clones to approach the cube. He deployed the only clone who didn’t have a GodForge piece in its heart so that they wouldn’t be wasted if something bad happened.

The Unity clone walked forward with no hesitation and bent down to touch the cube.

As soon as it did, the cube lit up in a golden light, spinning two times faster than it did before.

But a few seconds later, the golden light subsided and its rotation returned to a normal pace.

After that, nothing happened. Michael waited for a few more minutes to be sure, but as far as he could tell, nothing happened to the cube nor his clone.

However, something must have happened or else the cube wouldn’t have reacted that way. He just didn’t know what.

It was very hard to be perceptive when he couldn’t use his [Drone Vision]. So, he had to rely on his own senses to decipher this new puzzle.

Next, he tried to have one of his Maugnetic Unity clones approach the cube.

And just like before, as soon as the clone touched the cube, a golden light emanated from its core and spun a hundred times per second, subsiding only a few seconds later.

So there’s no difference between a Maugnetic and a non-Maugnetic clone. They both elicited the same reaction.

After a few more experiments, he found out that each clone could only induce a reaction from the clone once. Multiple touches had no results.

I guess it’s time for me to touch it myself.

Just like last time, the obelisk only started its test once he personally made contact with its surface. Maybe this was the same.

I wouldn’t mind new tests, honestly. As long as I get more clones at the end of it...

With the white cube right in front of him, he couldn’t help but squint his eyes. He knew his eyes would only get burned if he looked at it through his drone’s vision, but he didn’t want to take that chance.

His hands slowly approached the cube, his hands gingerly making contact with the edges of the cube.

The strange floating object stopped rotating, his grasp halting its momentum.

But it didn’t light up.

As soon as he let go, the cube continued to rotate as it did before.

Why is it not reacting?

It didn’t make sense why his clones elicited a response from the cube, while he didn’t.

He thought this was an inheritance meant for him since he was the one who defeated the test. Yet, the cube basically rejected him.

Is it because the clones are a spell? Does this cube only react to magic?

Normally, throwing magic into an ancient powerful object was nothing less than suicide, but in this occasion, he was willing to try it.

He started with a simple [Fireball] spell and let it gently graze past the cube’s edges. Nothing happened.

He tested the other elements, and none of them elicited a reaction as well. It was a fruitless endeavor, but at least now, he knew that the cube wouldn’t explode even if it had magic thrown directly towards it.

Is it Unity?

He raised his hand, finger emitting a prismatic light as he shot the [Unity Gun] towards the cube’s center.

The Unity beam ricocheted off of its edges and into the ground, burning a deep hole.

It didn’t work. The cube didn’t light up even once. Even his Unity Saber elicited no reaction.

So it’s only my clones?

No matter how he looked at it, none of this made any sense.

He was starting to get annoyed. He spent more time trying to elicit a reaction from the cube than finishing the obelisk’s test itself!

He had half a mind to simply take the cube into his pockets and leave this place now, trying to procrastinate solving this puzzle.

But just as he was at his wits’ end, ChatJK5 suddenly had an idea.

[Michael... may I make contact with the cube?]