Was "Cosmic Energy" important to Riku?
Undoubtedly.
Whether it was to clear away the Nirvana or to help the [Longhuang Universe] grow, the support of "Cosmic Energy" was essential.
However.
That was a complicated matter.
While "Cosmic Energy" was certainly important, it was not Riku's top priority. After all, he held the "Gate of the Universe."
If this place didn't work out? He would just go somewhere else.
Can't farm resources here?
Fine.
He would just go for a "big harvest." He could open his maw, take a massive gulp, or set off some fireworks, and then leave.
But talent?
That was the true core. It was a fundamental necessity.
Saori Kido from the [Saint] world.
Saeko Busujima from the [Highschool of the Dead] world.
Borrowing the terminology from the gacha games Riku played before he transmigrated:
Saori Kido was an absolute SP-tier top-grade card, while Saeko Busujima was an SR-tier.
That was the most important core. As for cultivating talent himself?
The difficulty was simply too high.
Time is the least valuable commodity to an immortal being.
Especially when one is busy with certain matters, nine months pass in the blink of an eye.
From the moment the "Gate of the Universe" opened until today, exactly one year had passed.
During this year, aside from occasionally returning to the [Saint] world to check on the situation, Riku had spent almost all his time in the [Highschool of the Dead] world.
However, Riku spent most of his time drinking tea and watching the show. As for the actual work? He didn't participate in it at all.
There were people at home. If he had to do everything himself, what were the others for?
An emperor can be brilliant and mighty, but he cannot do everything himself. Otherwise, what would be the point of having subordinates?
Besides, that would be far too exhausting!
"Finished!"
Alice clapped her fair hands. A thick smile curled her lips, and she was brimming with confidence.
"Finally finished..." Yuriko Takagi also lifted her head, murmuring.
Saya Takagi whispered in agreement, "Indeed!"
[Dead Central Device].
Completed.
It was a tower of deep, ghostly blue. It stood over several thousand meters tall, with pitch-black, ink-like patterns tracing its surface.
Hmm...
They no longer called the zombies "zombies"; they called them "Dead." It was just a change in terminology.
After all, Alice felt the name "zombie" didn't sound very pleasant.
If it doesn't sound good, then they would change the name.
With the [Dead Central Device] as the core, one could perfectly control every single "Dead" on Earth.
Of course, if that were its only function, it would have been finished long ago.
The [Dead Central Device] had the ability to allow the Dead to gestate more Dead—yes, single-cell reproduction, or rather, fission.
As for who researched this?
Naturally, it was Alice.
Beyond that, the [Dead Central Device] had "Magic Circles" embedded within it capable of mining "Cosmic Energy." It would automatically control the Dead to carry out extraction. It also contained "Teleportation Gates." As long as they were deployed on other planets, they could continue to harvest "Cosmic Energy" from across the stars.
One could only say that Alice's imagination was truly vast, with all sorts of functions added one after another.
If she hadn't eventually felt that it was "good enough," Alice's wild, unconstrained imagination might have conjured up even more.
As for the mother-daughter duo, Yuriko and Saya Takagi?
Believe it or not, they had quite a talent for this. After learning diligently under Alice, they could barely be considered qualified novice witches.
Rei Miyamoto and Rika Minami had decent talent regarding the Cosmo—they could be considered R-tier cards.
As for the last one, Shizuka Marikawa?
A beautiful vase; she definitely needed to be well-cared for and polished from time to time.
"Finished?" Riku's figure appeared, and he asked.
Alice put her hands on her hips, confident. "Isn't that obvious? A small project like this is easy to handle!"
*A small gesture, "Cosmic Fingertips.jpg"*
"Sir!" x2
Yuriko and Saya Takagi nodded in greeting.
Riku simply smiled and nodded back.
In a sense, Riku wasn't the type of person who craved power or the feeling of being superior to others. It was just a title; it didn't matter.
Even if they called him by his name, Riku wouldn't really care.
It was just that sometimes, just because he didn't care didn't mean others felt the same.
"Darling, I did some research and found something very interesting~" Alice said with a grin.
"What is it?" Riku asked, following her lead.
Alice looked very satisfied as she explained, "The [Highschool of the Dead] universe is in its developmental stage. In other words, it will continue to give birth to other civilizations, which will naturally produce 'Cosmic Energy.' If we manage the frequency of our mining well, we can thoroughly drain the entire universe of its energy."
A universe also develops gradually.
It goes from infancy to adolescence, and finally to the mature stage.
During this process, the universe naturally produces "Cosmic Energy" to maintain its stable development.
This continues until it reaches maturity.
The transformation and development of civilization create feedback, evolving step by step. If the evolution succeeds, it continues; if it fails, it faces Nirvana.
And the [Highschool of the Dead] universe was currently in its first stage.
For a long time to come, it would naturally produce "Cosmic Energy." This had to be done slowly; there was no need to waste it.
"Sir, we extract the energy step by step. After the universe enters its mature stage, we use the Dead as the core to form a cycle, introduce a technological system, and continue the cycle of extraction."
"When the universe approaches Nirvana, we perform a final extraction of all its Cosmic Energy and harvest the 'Seed of the Universe'."
Yuriko and Saya Takagi, the mother and daughter, spoke one after another, planning things out for who knows how many years into the future.
Riku smiled and nodded, quite satisfied with this.
Although...
Plans can never keep up with changes.
No one knew what would happen next.
But!
Having a plan mapped out in advance—so that even if changes occurred, they could adjust at any time—was crucial.
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