The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

“You two shouldn’t disturb him. We are not here to joke around,” Queen Lunara called out, knowing Anaki and Inaki wouldn’t back down from wanting to know what Klaus contributed to Oracle before he became a co-creator.

Such revolutionary creation wasn’t something a high school dropout, as Inaki said, could easily help create.

Of course, Klaus likely did help, but they didn’t have enough information to suggest that he had what it takes to create an AI/VR system.

They also knew that for someone to become a co-creator, it meant their contribution had greatly impacted the project. So they were curious but not willing to appear that way.

However, hearing Queen Lunara’s words, they decided to let the question slide. But they will certainly pick it up later.

“Welcome to our workshop. I am Anaki, and this is my twin brother, Inaki,” Anaki said, extending her hand for a handshake.

Klaus took her hand, then shook her brother’s too.

“Why don’t we go inside first?” Inaki said, and Klaus nodded. Soon, they were inside. They appeared in a room filled with countless random symbols on whiteboards, screens, walls, and papers.

Standing inside, Klaus could only turn and scan every last piece of the symbols, finding them fascinating.

Queen Lunara, however, just sat on the side and started waiting for the twins to begin explaining why she and Klaus were there.

Anaki pulled a screen and turned it on.

A second later, a sleek spaceship shaped like a high-caliber bullet appeared on the screen. It had a smooth, polished metal surface with a mirror-like finish.

It had two wings holding the propulsion systems. Looking at the four propulsion systems, Klaus knew the spaceship would maneuver like a bird in space.

That’s all he is after: to be able to get to Mars and back.

“This is the Star Bullet, the ship that will get you to Mars and back,” Inaki said. “It’s beautiful, isn’t he?” he asked.

Klaus nodded. “Beautiful doesn’t even cut it. What is this thing?”

“The Star Bullet is our baby; we’ve been working on it for close to twenty years. You can call it our passion project,” Anaki said, tapping her brother on the shoulder.

“Then I guess I can indeed go to Mars and return.” Klaus wasn’t about to deny that the ship on the screen indeed had the potential to get him to Mars and back.

He doesn’t know where this confidence is coming from. But deep within, a part of him could tell the ship indeed has some potential.

“Why don’t we tell you what this beast is made of?” Inaki tapped his watch, and the screen changed.

“This is just a prototype, but this beast is loaded with four NovaCore-X7 engines that run on hybrid cycles and use compressed plasma fusion mixed with stellar crystal.

Basically, this bad boy is running on something akin to rocket fuel on steroids.” Inaki laughed, and so did her sister.

Klaus smirked, finding the reference rather funny. Queen Lunara doesn’t share their sentiment.

This was their passion project, and as such, having the chance to give it to one of the most respected warriors on Earth to test made them very happy.

“Of course, you may be wondering whether something this delicate can withstand such power. Fear not, the core of the engine is built using titanium-thermite lattice, one of the hardest yet most durable materials in the world.

We even made it so that while the engine is running, the core will start regulating its temperature until it reaches zero degrees. We’ve achieved twenty degrees so far, but with a few more tests, we can raise it to the desired degree.

This means that when we are done, you can fly through space with the engine at zero degrees.”

“That is impressive,” Klaus couldn’t help but appreciate their effort. Still, those words came from a side he finds fascinating.

“However, I can’t help but ask: if the core of the engine is cooled to zero degrees, what are the chances that the material used in creating it wouldn’t break?

If it’s too hot, it will melt, but when it’s too cold, it will break. So, how can the desired temperature be achieved while still maintaining the integrity of the material?”

The twins turned and looked at each other, clearly taken aback by Klaus’s question. The brat who dropped out of school couldn’t possibly ask such a question.

But they don’t have time for that now. They will examine his brain later.

“The reason it wouldn’t break is because although the material is made from a titanium-thermite lattice, we’ve coated it with layers of Aetherweave Nanoplasta, which repairs all damages in real-time.

Basically, if you don’t get crushed to splat, then this ship would never stop running. The nanotech we used in this coating repairs all damages down to the core in real-time.

We’ve programmed them to handle every damage, whether major or minor. The goal is to achieve zero-degree cooling.

You have to know that achieving zero-degree cooling means more G-force, which means more Speed.

At this rate, even at twenty degrees, the speed is already 500,000 miles per hour. We estimated that by achieving absolute zero-degree cooling, the speed could shoot up to 1.5 million miles per hour.”

“Then, with these engines, getting to Mars could take as long as twelve days, perhaps longer,” Klaus scratched the back of his head.

“It has to be faster than that,” he muttered.

“That is what we have achieved so far, engine-wise. However, aside from that, we also made some progress on the jump drives. We couldn’t figure out how to enter the dark space channels and travel at light speed.

Well, we have yet to achieve light speed—very far from it—so we can’t enter the dark space channels, which would have made this journey much shorter.

However, that also doesn’t mean we haven’t made progress. We managed to create a Void Drive that allows an instantaneous jump of 12 million miles every two hours.

This means every two hours, you can jump 12 million miles ahead. This is possible because we managed to harness the power of the void. So far, that is how far we can take it.

Don’t worry, the hulls are lined with void plasma so that every jump won’t have any effect on your body.

So, the Star Bullet can, in its current stage, take you to Mars within six to seven days, give or take,” Inaki ended there, knowing that going more technical wasn’t advisable.

“This is great. However, six days is still too long to get there.”

Klaus turned and looked around the room, focusing on the many mathematical symbols littered everywhere, yet no math teacher could recognize them.

They would look like gibberish to many. However, the more Klaus kept staring at them, the more intrigued he felt. It felt like something he should pay attention to.

Like something he should be able to easily figure out.

All 27 minds and even the almost 28th-forming mind went into overdrive as he continued to examine the symbols.

After a few minutes of observing the symbols, he turned to the twins and asked a question that caused them to widen their eyes.

“If I can help you solve the cooling problem, can you imbue the runes into the core within the next fourteen days?”