Two days had passed since the contract was signed. Today, Shen Wan found himself in a desert. Why was he here? Naturally, to attend the countdown and ignition ceremony for a rocket launch.
Following the classic ten-second countdown before ignition, the rocket erupted with a roar of fire. Everyone present, along with those watching the live television broadcast, broke into cheers.
Shen Wan, however, remained silent. Although the rising *River-1* felt almost like a child he had raised, he had witnessed rocket launches more than once in his past life and simply could not work up that much excitement.
Before long, Shen Wan seemed to slip into a profound, ethereal state. An invisible, vast web seemed to wrap around him in an instant. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself surrounded by a cosmos-like expanse. Though his feet felt firmly planted on the ground, the surface beneath him mirrored the starry night sky of deep space, casting a strange, suffocating chill over him.
"Raise your head." An arcane voice echoed in Shen Wan's ears. It was neither Chinese nor the official language of the Republic of Makas, yet he understood it without a second thought. Slowly, he raised his head and saw a colossal mechanical brain looming before him.
This massive mechanical brain was encased in some sort of unknown metal, with fragmented metallic shards suspended around it—by Shen Wan's estimation, certainly not mere sheet metal. Beneath the giant brain dangled a tangle of tentacle-like cables that swayed slowly. At the top of the brain was a single, gigantic red laser eye. At this moment, the laser eye shifted from looking toward the upper-left corner and fixed its focus squarely on Shen Wan, seemingly adjusting its focal length to ensure it could clearly examine this tiny insect before it.
After a long silence, the voice spoke again, using that same unfamiliar yet universally understood tongue: "You. What question do you wish for me to answer?"
Alarm bells rang furiously in Shen Wan's mind. He began calling upon the System two or three times a second. But this time, the System—which usually liked to troll him even without being summoned—remained completely silent.
"Stop shouting. That little fellow likely has other matters to attend to. Now, tell me, what is your question?" Nous spoke once more.
No one ever knew what question Shen Wan asked that day. The System only knew that ever since, Shen Wan had grown even more insufferable—perhaps because this fellow had genuinely managed to enter the Genius Society? Most likely. Wait, why on earth should that be? Given how absurd the feats of other geniuses were, how could he possibly win the favor of the Big Brain simply by leading a planetary civilization across the threshold into the interstellar era? The System refused to accept it, yet found itself entirely powerless to do anything about it.
Yet ever since Shen Wan had stepped onto the Path of Erudition, his brain had indeed become far sharper than before. Though it sounded like a joke, the System's previous claim of helping him find inspiration had been half-true: it was true that it had found inspiration for him, but false that it had sought it from Nous; rather, it had simply given his subconscious a tiny, timely nudge whenever needed. But now, after becoming an Emanator of Erudition, when he looked back at those books he had spent ten years reading, there were still parts that remained obscure and difficult, yet reading them at this moment was exceptionally effortless, and he could even naturally conceive of superior methods in certain areas.
With the successful launch of the *River-1* and its entry into its designated satellite orbit, the Republic of Makas had officially stepped into the interstellar era. Shen Wan's first task was thus rightfully and smoothly completed. As for the reward? Did illuminating the first Trail on the Path of Erudition count? Did unlocking the new series of missions, "Ascending the Winds (0/1024)," count?
What about the observation of civilization? Weren't they supposed to let Shen Wan observe the Makas civilization as it entered the interstellar era?
They had indeed observed it—though it amounted to nothing more than a passing glance as the System's prepared spacecraft flew beyond the Makas star. The System had casually remarked that the Republic of Makas was bound to collapse before long, because the Skaland star system, where Makas was located, contained several other planets that had long since entered the interstellar age, and they had already formed the Skaland Interstellar Alliance.
Having entered the new era much earlier, their technological level was naturally beyond what the Republic of Makas could hope to contest. Even considering the existence of transcendents—Pathstriders—who might to a certain extent narrow the gap between other civilizations and the Republic of Makas, their numbers were far too sparse to make much difference. At least from what Shen Wan had gathered over the years, there were only about a dozen native Makas Pathstriders whose names were widely known, and quite a few of them held high office—including the Pathstrider of The Hunt, old Kaludan. While a mediocre Pathstrider could easily rout a thousand mortals, without the registration and presence of an Emanator, they could never truly dictate the outcome of interstellar warfare.
Fortunately, the civilizations across these planets valued harmony and sought righteous pretexts for their actions. After taking control of the government of the Republic of Makas through methods somewhat akin to how Eastern empires of antiquity controlled their vassal states, they brought rapid development to Makas. As for what happened afterward—well, Shen Wan, having long since departed this region of the starry sky, naturally had no way of knowing.
To be honest, as an ambitious young man from a new world nurtured in the East, Shen Wan still felt a profound sense of regret upon learning all this. The future of an entire civilization had been snuffed out in an instant. When Shen Wan asked the System what would have happened to the Republic of Makas if he had never led them out of their planet, the System told him that, according to their projections, Makas would have eventually ventured out into the stars regardless. Even if they had emerged later, they still would have been no match for the Skaland Interstellar Alliance, and a later emergence would only have made things harder. The current rulers of the Skaland Interstellar Alliance were relatively benevolent; though they devoured without leaving bones, they genuinely brought development to Makas. Had the rulers been brutal and tyrannical, the future of the Republic of Makas would have been far darker.
As for whether letting Shen Wan merely take a single glance constituted "observing the evolution of the cosmos," and whether the System had some ulterior motive—such as seeking amusement, or suddenly recovering a long-lost conscience and sparing Shen Wan from a shattered state of mind upon witnessing the grim future of Makas—Shen Wan didn't ask, and the System didn't say.
By the time Shen Wan heard these explanations, he wasn't quite as emo anymore. But with one knot in his heart untied, another question moved to the forefront: Why did the System want to observe the development of civilizations? And why did it choose him? When he put this question to the System with the utmost seriousness, the System replied: "Ding! Tee-hee." Shen Wan retorted: "I knew you were a troll of a system." "Ding! The system isn't a troll; the host is."
In short, after a brief bout of being emo, Shen Wan resurrected at full health. Since the System's requirement was to observe civilizational development, observe it he would. However, another matter puzzled him greatly.
"Hey, why did the task requirement change from (0/1) to (0/1024)?" "Ding! The first task required the quantity to the power of 10 to the 1st, so the second task naturally requires it to the power of 10 to the 2nd." Shen Wan plunged back into his emo state. Did that mean the third stage would require the quantity to the power of 10 to the 3rd? Please, no! That would take until the end of time. But since one must bow the head when under someone else's roof, the optimistic Shen Wan quickly snapped out of his gloom.
"Hahahahaha, I'm dying! How could it possibly be calculated like that?" The System sounded ready to laugh to tears, if it had eyes.
"Huh?" Shen Wan asked, utterly bewildered. "Then how is it calculated?"
"Actually, both the first and second tasks are introductory tasks. The first is the basic version, the second is the advanced version. As for why the second task requires a quantity of 1024..." The System left him hanging again.
Having been burned more than once, Shen Wan took one look at the System's attitude and knew it was acting up again, so he immediately gave up asking.
Seeing that Shen Wan had stopped inquiring, the System didn't care at first, but after waiting a while and finding that Shen Wan still showed no reaction whatsoever, it instantly deflated.