World Keeper-Chapter 1222: The Limits of Energy Cultivation

The entire explanation of the events took just under an hour, during which Priscilla was growing more and more uncertain about what was going on. From what she could piece together, one of their best machines just suddenly had a major dip in performance for no apparent reason. There was no problem with the internal components, no software problem, and she was currently ruling out any memetic influence.

The only thing that she knew at this point was that she didn’t know enough to properly diagnose the problem. However, by the time that the group was done explaining, she was certain that they were not under any memetic control. Standing up, she walked over to the security officer to get his attention.

“There’s no influence on these three.” She said confidently. “You can let them out. I need to investigate the machine in question, now.”

There was still the possibility that a memetic hazard had been involved, it would just apparently not have been a contagious one if that was the case. Realizing this, the guard nodded his head and removed the barrier, allowing the four individuals out of quarantine. As they passed by, the floor manager placed his hand on the security officer’s shoulder to thank him with a smile.

Priscilla walked towards the factory floor, her eyes roaming over the nearby machines. Even now, she couldn’t see any hint of memetic influence. When the floor manager led her to the machine in question, she stared at it, unable to spot any potential problems.

Some part of her told her that she needed to get to the bottom of this. So, she looked at the engineers. “Is this refinery ready to be turned on?” She asked, and the siblings nodded their heads in unison. “Then, please do so.”

Thankfully, Priscilla had learned how to use World Sight since becoming the Priestess of the Keeper. As the machine hummed to life, she spread her World Sight out to envelop the machine, focusing on every facet of its operation.

With this, she finally had an idea of what was going on. Without looking back to the engineers, she spoke up, her senses continuing to maintain focus. “Please explain to me exactly how this machine is meant to operate.”

“It’s quite simple, really.” The sister spoke up with a smile. “We have six Digital Conversion modules within the heart of the machine, set to produce raw mana. Because the system then looks for a material to craft that with, it is using the void as a resource. In other words, it is a clean power production, drawing energy straight from the void.”

“A lot of people were concerned about the risk of memetic infection doing this, but we had the machine tested and approved at every level. Even the Another World Research Group confirmed that there is no more risk with this device than there is any other form of mana generator.”

Priscilla gave a small nod. “This module, would it take the form of a four-looped Mobius strip, producing mana in a gaseous form that the rest of the machine then refines into a different form?”

“That’s right.” The brother nodded his head. “Though, we checked the module before anything else, and there did not appear to be any form of problem with it.”

“Quite. The modules are activating, but there appears to be some interference. The energy within them is flickering and fading.” After saying that, Priscilla lowered her head in thought. “At the very least, I can confirm that there is no memetic problem with the machine. I’ll need to check the void to ensure that there isn’t something wrong on the outside.”

The floor manager blinked in confusion, but nodded his head. “I see. Please, keep in touch. If there’s anything that could prove dangerous, we need to be able to respond promptly.”

Priscilla looked over at the man curiously. “You don’t seem all that unwilling to shut down an entire power plant, regardless of the dangers. Typically, people in your position would claim that any risk should be handled quickly to ensure continuous operation.”

The floor manager let out a hearty laugh at that. “Oh? Perhaps you’re right. However, despite the size of our refinery, this is only one of the main power stations of Desbar. We’re more of a supplementary plant, if anything. Our refined mana gems ship out to all corners of the globe to help supplement local power systems. Although it would be an inconvenience to some if we were down for too long, there is enough of a reserve to last for a short while.”

Priscilla nodded her head in understanding. “In that case, please excuse me. I’ll try to have an answer shortly. For the sake of this examination, please leave the affected machine running until you receive a reply from me.”

After saying that, Priscilla left the building, tearing open a portal into the void once she was outside. There was no point in risking the wave of energy interfering with the machines, after all. On the other side of the portal, Priscilla found herself standing just outside of the Desbar universe.

She stood within the defensive barrier surrounding the universe, observing the main barrier of the universe itself. The more she did, the more confused she became. If there are that many machines drawing power directly from the void, it stands to reason that there should be at least some sign of it from the outside. I had expected to find a small vortex of energy, and perhaps something had clogged that vortex.

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Instead, what Priscilla saw was… nothing. There was absolutely no sign that any energy was being extracted from the void to maintain the many refineries. And Priscilla knew that there was not just the one building doing this.There should have been dozens, maybe even hundreds of facilities with similar setups.

Priscilla withdrew her terminal from her inventory, sending a message to the floor manager that she had just left. She asked him to leave the affected machine off, but to turn off another machine that was currently working.

It took a few minutes for Priscilla to get a reply. When she did, she discovered that the first machine was now operating normally, but it was the second machine that was showing problems.

She quickly sent him a message to disable a single machine, and if any other machines begin to show similar problems, turn off that specific machine. Afterwards, she posted a similar message to the investigation team for memetic influences, instructing them to offer the same response if another such call comes in from Desbar.

After that, she tore open another gate, finding herself standing before a pristine, white concrete building. Walking up to the door, she looked at a nearby security camera. “I am the Priestess of the Keeper. For matters of planar security, I must speak with the head researcher immediately.”

The camera zoomed in on her for a moment, before the door in front of her opened. “The researcher will be with you shortly.” An electronic voice spoke up, and she stepped inside.

Priscilla nodded her head, stepping inside the complex and finding herself within a large lobby. Behind a nearby counter were a pair of receptionists, and Priscilla could sense a powerful mana coming from them. From what she could tell from her initial impression, both of them were magical intelligences, likely created by the research group itself.

After a few minutes, the door leading further into the facility opened up, and the dark-skinned James emerged with a curious expression. “You’re not a face I expected to ever see around here.” He said in a tone of wonder. “What brings you here today?”

Priscilla offered the man a polite bow. “I was once informed that if there were any matters related to energies, which could potentially affect a universal scale, I should immediately inform this facility.”

James’s expression immediately stiffened, and he nodded his head. “Go on, then.”

Priscilla explained the situation that she had just observed, from arriving to the power plant all the way until she finished her observation in the void. “Correct me if I’m wrong. Your group tested this device, so you should be aware. If I am not mistaken, the module that they are using draws from the world’s essence, which should then be replenished from the void naturally, correct?”

“That’s right.” James confirmed. “We deemed the process safe, as the energy wasn’t actually being pulled directly from the void. If a void beast managed to get to the world’s mana core, then it wouldn’t matter where the energy came from in the first place.”

“In that case… is there a chance that Desbar’s mana core is unable to keep up with the current consumption of its universe?” Priscilla offered. “It may have been believed that the mana core would simply absorb more energy from the void to make up for the deficit, but that does not seem to be the case.”

“What?” James asked in confusion. “Desbar was one of the universes hit during D-day. There aren’t that many inhabited worlds left. And certainly no alien civilizations. That would imply that the entire universe’s mana supply is being spent on those few planets.”

Priscilla nodded her head in agreement. “I believe that is likely the case. Out of all of our universes, Desbar is the smallest. Therefore, it would stand to reason that their mana core would have the smallest output.”

“She’s right.” Chelsea’s voice suddenly called out, the door opening to let the kitsune researcher in. “I knew that there was something wrong with the way things were going.”

Unlike James, Chelsea had a more frustrated look on her face. Seeing this, James looked at her in confusion. “You know what’s going on, Chel?”

“Yeah. It’s the reason Cultivation-type worlds are so big.” Chelsea nodded her head. “They need a much higher reserve of energy to supply all of their cultivators. Meanwhile, Desbar has the energy consumption of a cultivation world, but not even one percent of the supply to match it. That’s the pitfall of an energy cultivation world like ours.”

“In other words, the other universes will also be encountering similar problems over time?” James asked, and Chelsea confirmed.

“Yeah. Lorek will probably be the last one hit, but it’s only a matter of time until others start showing the signs. I think the only one that is safe would probably be Fyor.”

Hearing this, James had a look of concern on his face. “Is there anything that we can do to alleviate the problem, or is it just a matter of needing additional universes to secure more energy potential?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll try to work something out.” Chelsea said with a slight nod. “For the time being, this problem won’t threaten the universe itself, unless people try to forcibly extract large quantities of mana. The normal modules that they’re using right now don’t have the strength for that, but a god related to mana potentially could.”

After she said that, Chelsea looked at Priscilla. “Can I ask you to deliver the message to Olympus? Between our existing projects and now this, it would be easier to have you explain things to them. Olympus is the best bet to send out a warning to related individuals not to act rashly.”

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Priscilla nodded her head, immediately turning to leave. Regardless of Chelsea saying that this wasn’t incredibly urgent, this was still a matter that affected the fate of an entire universe, so she would treat it with the utmost care.