Sovereign of the Ashes

Could the Magic Cube be sentient?

The thought caught Sein somewhat off guard, though he had indeed considered the possibility many years ago.

Ever since learning that the Magic Cube could awaken Nexon’s intelligent robots, Sein had wondered whether the cube itself might possess some form of consciousness.

Such consciousness could perhaps be described as an artifact spirit.

In Magus World, some divine towers or magic towers incorporated tower spirits to assist with management and control.

As far as Sein knew, some weapons and equipment were also said to house artifact spirits of their own.

When Sein first brought the cube back to Magus World, it had not yet been a complete world-class secret treasure. At the time, it was merely a semi-finished artifact.

Later, however, the higher authorities of the Magus Civilization took possession of it. After undergoing a series of unknown upgrades, the cube was finally returned to Sein as a fully completed world-class secret treasure.

From that point onward, Sein began to sense subtle changes in the cube across multiple aspects.

It had also gained the ability to produce Energy Amethysts after those upgrades.

This time, the cube had expressed its desire to devour the broken radar.

Did this mean it was preparing for yet another upgrade?

World-class secret treasures themselves varied greatly in quality. By Sein’s estimation, the Magic Cube in his possession ranked at best in mid-tier among lower-grade world-class secret treasures.

Even so, its unique ability to awaken intelligent robots made it far rarer than most treasures of similar grade.

Through subsequent probing, Sein discovered that the cube’s consciousness was still incomplete.

It could not provide clear answers to his questions, expressing only a vague impulse to devour and assimilate the broken radar.

After considering the matter for a long time, Sein decided to let the cube try.

While Black Oblivion and the others continued pushing forward, eagerly exploring the ancient ruins, Sein had already begun a special experiment—one that might prove significant for his future.

Yuri was not the only one who noticed Sein’s unusual activity. HALL-E’s binocular-like eyes also followed Sein’s actions with open curiosity.

The experiment itself went remarkably smoothly.

After assimilating the radar fragment, the Cube showed no signs of instability or malfunction.

The only noticeable change was that its glow had grown slightly brighter.

At first, even Sein himself did not sense any major transformation in the cube.

However, when Sein activated the Magic Cube’s power to examine what new functional enhancements it had gained, he discovered that the cube had actually assimilated part of the radar’s capabilities.

It now possessed basic reconnaissance and exploration functions.

The cube’s method of reconnaissance was different from that of the Faceless Mask worn by Sein.

The Faceless Mask directly enhanced Sein’s overall perception and greatly amplified his pyro, lumen, and sonido law powers.

By contrast, the cube’s reconnaissance took the form of a light projection that appeared directly before Sein.

Within this image, flickering points of special energy marked anomalies detected by the Magic Cube in the surrounding area.

“Incredible,” Sein murmured, astonished by the cube’s ability to assimilate artifacts from technological civilizations.

The process had been remarkably peculiar. Right before Sein’s eyes, the Magic Cube split into countless smaller cubes and completely enveloped the broken radar.

After roughly two days, the Magic Cube expelled it.

Once the absorption was complete, the cube reassembled itself into its original form.

The broken radar’s metallic surface had faded to a dull grayish-white, and it no longer released any trace of special energy or law-based power.

From a technical standpoint, the broken radar should still have been operable after reactivation.

Yet without the special energy and law power once provided by the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, it was no longer a fragment of a world-class secret treasure but an ordinary, damaged radar.

Nevertheless, this outcome deepened Sein’s interest in further research.

He stored away the now seemingly worthless broken radar, intending to examine it more thoroughly at a later time, then turned his attention back to the reassembled Magic Cube, contemplating how he might dismantle it again.

When the Magic Cube had split itself into countless smaller cubes, Sein briefly glimpsed a peculiar blue light at its center, radiating the power of law.

As the cube’s owner, Sein understood well that this blue light was its true core.

Unfortunately, his research soon encountered a minor setback.

After assimilating the broken radar, the cube entered a period of dormancy.

Although Sein could activate it, he remained unable to establish any connection with its faint sliver of consciousness.

He had once hoped that the cube might be able to imbue the Faceless Mask with an artifact spirit, but now it seemed that the path toward uncovering such truths would be long and arduous.

“Can it only assimilate world-class technological treasures?” Sein mused, reflecting on the results of his recent experiments.

He had quite a few valuable items in his possession, including large quantities of energy crystals and inert crystals.

Yet the Magic Cube never showed any interest in devouring any of them.

Sein later borrowed the energy sphere Qixiu had discovered back then and tested the cube’s response.

However, it showed only the faintest inclination to assimilate it, so Sein promptly returned the sphere to Qixiu.

Perhaps the cube recognized that the sphere was not truly Sein’s possession and therefore did not insist.

“Interesting... This thing’s potential for growth and prospects may surpass even the Faceless Mask I inherited from Master Jorces,” Sein murmured, his gaze fixed on the Magic Cube.

Before entering the core ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, he had never expected the cube to possess such latent potential or unique capabilities.

“Do you feel any desire to devour them?” Sein asked, gesturing toward the Burning Flame Unit before him and HALL-E nearby.

Both the Burning Flame Unit and HALL-E were technological products and could establish a faint resonance with the Magic Cube.

This time, however, the cube offered no response, likely because it lacked the capacity to merge with or assimilate such entities.

To further verify the cube’s potential and uncover its other functions, Sein would need to find more relics left behind by technological civilizations.

Ordinary technological artifacts held no appeal for the cube. Only fragments of world-class secret treasures seemed capable of satisfying its appetite.

Sein’s research suggested that this preference stemmed from the unique law energy contained within such relics.

As for ordinary technological products, the cube likely had no means of consuming them at all.

After all, what the cube truly assimilated was not the product itself, but the law energy within those world-class secret relics!

That explained why the broken radar had ultimately been “expelled” after the assimilation.

Just as Sein reached this crucial research breakthrough, war arrived outside the subspace ruins.