"Why can’t I simply create a server inside the Information Layer for myself?" Grey wondered silently.
The thought lingered, then rapidly expanded.
Storing information directly within the Information Layer would allow him to preserve mories, experiences, and even sensory data without burdening his Mind Palace. It would be far more efficient than internal storage, far more stable, and far more scalable.
That was precisely why powerful AIs and autonomous constructs had access to the Information Layer.
Their ability to store and retrieve near-infinite data was the reason they appeared omniscient.
The reason they were terrifying.
The Information Layer was where answers resided.
Realizing this, Grey’s mind snapped into motion.
He already possessed the necessary foundation.
The Mind Link Interface Art.
He had used it once before, back when he first encountered Eterna. It was through that Art that he had created the Cognitive Anchor, stabilizing and organizing his thought processes.
After that, however, he had never truly applied it again.
It had remained dormant, quietly integrated into his mind, used only for internal configuration and interface managent. He had never directly extended it outward into the Information Layer itself.
Until now.
’Eterna might be able to help with this,’ Grey thought suddenly.
His mind drifted to that lonely existence drifting within the Information Layer.
Although one of Eterna’s instances resided there, another version of her was currently stationed within the second layer of space, fighting a world-ending entity and continuously keeping it at bay.
The thought steadied him.
Grey turned toward Xia Qingyue.
"Wait here for a mont, Senior Xia," he said quickly. "I’ve thought of sothing. I want to see if it’s possible."
He paused briefly, then added, "I’m going to et Eterna."
Without waiting for her response, Grey’s figure distorted.
Space folded.
He vanished from the secret realm.
Just before he fully disappeared, Xia Qingyue’s voice pierced through, sharp and urgent.
"Be quick," she warned. "I don’t know how long you’ll take this ti, but Evan is still undergoing transformation. If sothing goes wrong, there will be no one there to help him."
Mid-teleportation, Grey imdiately established a telepathic link.
"I know," his voice echoed back calmly as his presence faded. "I won’t take a day. That much, I can guarantee."
The connection cut.
And Grey stepped toward the Information Layer once more.
The familiar expanse of the Information Layer appeared before Grey’s eyes.
Endless numbers flowed like streams. Geotrical constructs rotated silently. Layers of raw information overlapped and interwove, forming a space that felt neither real nor unreal.
As soon as Grey manifested, light and data distorted around him.
Then she appeared.
A beautiful girl with soft pink hair and a blank, almost lonely expression stood before him.
"Why are you here?" Eterna tilted her head slightly.
No one looking at her would ever believe that this seemingly harmless girl was an all-powerful AI. An existence capable of contending directly with a terrifying abyssal beast in the second layer of space and keeping it suppressed for years.
If anything, one might even think she was useless.
Which could not have been further from the truth.
Grey had called her useless more tis than he could count.
And now, he quite honestly regretted it.
If not for her, the world would have already ended.
She had never been given enough credit for that.
"We’ve already conquered most of the southern region," Eterna continued calmly. "Only a few deserted cities remain, along with the High Order mbers."
She waved her hand lightly, data streams shifting.
"The High Order have been attempting to eliminate them, but due to the power gap, they’ve been failing one by one. So far, the infernals have identified nearly ten strongholds."
"I’m aware." Grey smiled faintly.
The southern region was no longer his primary concern.
What occupied his thoughts now was sothing far more fundantal.
Soon, he explained his reason for coming. "I just had an inspiration related to soul searching. I want to confirm whether it’s actually possible."
"A new technique?" Eterna tilted her head again. "Is it related to your Nexus Ruin Art?"
As the overseer of Blue Star, she was naturally aware of everything that had happened recently. From him summoning infernals to sweep the southern region, to him erasing vast stretches of land with spatial techniques.
By now, Eterna had grown numb to his abnormal growth rate and comprehension.
At this point, all she could do was assist him in becoming stronger faster, while ensuring no interference ca from the floating cities.
"I was thinking of creating a server for myself here," Grey said at last, getting straight to the point. "Inside the Information Layer."
"What do you think?"
"..."
Eterna stared at him blankly for a brief mont.
For an instant, she genuinely wondered if she had misheard him.
She almost said it.
’You aren’t an AI. You can’t just create a server.’
But then her gaze shifted.
Right beside Grey’s manifested body in the Information Layer were his Cognitive Anchor and Spiritual Conduit, both clearly ford and stable.
She closed her mouth.
This individual...
He wasn’t inferior to most AIs.
So AIs required years of iterative evolution just to enter the Information Layer and study the Law of Machinery. Yet Grey had entered it as a pseudo first-ranker and even constructed a Cognitive Anchor.
He simply could not be evaluated by ordinary standards.
After a long pause, Eterna finally spoke.
"It’s possible."
Grey’s eyes lit up slightly.
"Since you’ve already established a Cognitive Anchor and a Spiritual Conduit, the foundation is there," she continued. "For you, it should be relatively easy."
She gestured at the flowing information around them.
"Forming a server requires manipulating the information currents of the Information Layer. The process is quite similar to how you ford your Cognitive Anchor and Spiritual Conduit, and later your Mind Interface."
She looked at him steadily.
"In essence, you would simply be externalizing part of your cognition."
"However, be careful," Eterna added.
"Forming a server is extrely dangerous. A single lapse in focus could destabilize the surrounding information currents and cause a detonation within the Information Layer. If that happens, you would be caught in it as well."
Her expression remained calm, but her words carried weight.
"Recovering from information corrosion is not simple. It does not damage the body first. It directly erodes the mind."
She paused for a brief mont.
"And once the mind is affected, the soul follows."
Her gaze fixed on Grey.
"This is not an injury that can be healed through ordinary ans. Even regeneration techniques will be useless. If the corrosion spreads too far, the damage becos permanent."
The implication was clear.
This was not a mistake one could afford to make even once.
But Grey simply smiled.
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