Mecha Era, Punch the Stars

Heng felt a strange pulling force.

After experiencing the endless loneliness of a long space journey, this sudden pull made him cling to it like a lifeline.

His 'humanoid armor' quickly entered the interior of that star.

This star is enormous, more than ten times the size of the blue sphere of his homeland.

As he descended into the vast sky above the continent, he saw a figure that was clearly not human.

This is a strange creature shaped like a gourd.

"Welcome, my countless generations of creation."

A strange thought entered his mind, and Heng immediately understood its meaning.

Even though this idea was constructed in a language he couldn't understand, he understood it instantly; it was truly amazing.

"Don't be surprised, this is just a very common synesthetic transfer ability. If you live to my age, you will naturally learn it too."

The gourd continuously conveys a sense of warmth and comfort:
“Tell me your name. Your presence here proves that the selfish wisdom factor I left behind is effective. This is a major discovery.”

"My name is Heng, senior. Did you foresee my arrival? What major discovery are you referring to?"

"Don't worry, I'll tell you what you need to know, one question at a time. After all, you've helped me verify my conjecture, so I'll give you some preferential treatment."

The existence of the gourd conveys an emotion called joy.

Although Heng couldn't understand what the other person's existence was, he felt that he could inexplicably understand the other person's emotions.

Yes, he must be very lonely.

Even though he seems omnipotent and possesses boundless power, he is still bound by something.

"Okay, please tell me the purpose of summoning me here, senior. I want to know that first."

"Oh? Why do you want to be the first to know this?"

“I don’t know why. Maybe I’m questioning my own existence because I’m an oddball in our community.” “An oddball? That’s great. Only by being different from the group can you stand out and achieve transcendence. If you just cater to the group, you’ll only end up mediocre and unremarkable.”

"But I feel quite mediocre right now."

“That’s normal, because you’re not special at all. You just happened to awaken the selfish wisdom factor that I gave to your human world, and you just happened to find the divine core that can be activated by this wisdom factor, which is why you became extraordinary. And coincidentally, your extraordinary qualities are quite ordinary to me.”

"So that's how it is. So I was born ordinary, and it was my predecessors who bestowed upon me the extraordinary, right?"

"That's not entirely true, because in the past few hundred years, I've only seen one case of someone activating the selfish intelligence factor: you. That means you're quite special in some ways."

"But why is it selfish? I never think of myself as selfish."

"That's complicated. Let me see what you've been through in the past."

As soon as he finished speaking, a thought suddenly shot out from the gourd, rushed into Heng's mind, and then immediately disappeared back into the gourd.

“Interesting. Isn’t this the ultimate selfishness? You could have broken through to become a stronger and greater being, but unfortunately, after you became invincible in the human world, your selfish thoughts weakened, so you were unable to become stronger.”

"Can I keep getting stronger just by being selfish?"

"You could have done it before, but you can't now."

"Senior, why?"

"Because the wisdom I retain is limited, if you become selfless, the budding seed will wither, and you will have lost your chance."

"so what should I do?"

"That's your problem. I'm not your biological father. I'm just someone who casually sows seeds. I'm already being very kind by giving you face by seeing you and answering some of your questions. Go back now. If you can gain further insight, I can give you another chance to see me. Make the most of it."

The gourd remained still, but Heng suddenly realized that everything in front of him had changed drastically.

So... I've returned to my home planet, that distant planet that's so far away, a journey that could take countless years?

An overwhelming sense of fear surged within Heng. (End of Chapter)