Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4382: The Civilization of Mana! III

The question made Noah pause, his expression showing slight trouble as if performing calculations.

He had existed in multiple time frames. Had moved to the Earliest Folds before returning to the current era, with eons passing between those transitions. But he hadn’t lived those eons...

In totality, his actual age was still measured in dozens of years.

Less than thirty, if he was being precise about subjective experience.

He looked at this member of his Civilization...this being who was millions of years old from her perspective, who had lived through generations of development, and spoke simply.

"I can be considered less than a hundred years old."

Riya’s mouth opened in shock, her eyes widening with genuine surprise.

Then she moved toward him, floating closer to examine him with renewed interest, actually sniffing his figure again as she processed this information.

"The Ancestor was actually a baby," she said, her voice holding wonder mixed with amusement. "Wow. Don’t tell anyone else this, or they might lose all their respect for you, Little Ancestor."

Little Ancestor?

Noah shook his head at the audacity of the title, but amusement touched the edges of his expression.

He looked at this strongest member of his Civilization and asked calmly, "Were you and the Seed Members able to come up with any method of avoiding catastrophe, as I instructed?"

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

Riya’s playful expression vanished.

She looked at Noah in silence, the weight of nearly years of preparation settling across her features.

Finally, she sighed.

"Maybe," she said quietly. "And maybe not, O Great Ancestor."

She turned away slightly, her gaze drifting toward the countless Repositories floating around them.

"You know, many of those here have been expectantly waiting for your call. We all believed that you would eventually come and call us out of isolation. Everyone was so fucking excited about it...Uncle Kael most of all. They’ve been preparing for this moment for millions of years."

Her voice took on a different quality.

"But while so many others were looking forward to this moment, I actually dreaded you appearing. Because it meant that even though the thing I wanted most would finally come...that our isolation would end and we’d be able to see existence in its fullest...your call to us would also mean that whatever catastrophe you’ve been preparing us for, whatever catastrophe this entire Civilization was built to fight off, is also near."

She turned back to face him directly, her jewel-blue eyes blazing with emotion.

"So I was dreading your arrival because it meant everything I love and hold dear also has a chance of ending soon after we’re finally freed. Everyone I’ve known for millions of years. Every place I’ve helped build. All of it... potentially gone."

She moved closer, her expression intense as seas of heavy Mana pulsed around her.

"So I want to ask you, O Powerful Ancestor...you are now here at this glorious moment. Can you promise? Can you promise me that with everything this Civilization can give you, with all the power that you have with your Infinite Mana, that I will not lose all those I hold dear?"

Her voice burned with desperate weight.

"That with your lead, we will survive this coming catastrophe? Can you promise me that?"

She asked him for an extremely heavy promise.

Noah looked at this strongest member of his Civilization...this being who could probably solo entire Folds, but who stood before him now asking for assurance he couldn’t guarantee.

His expression remained steady, his tyrannical gaze meeting her desperate one without flinching.

"I can only promise things that I am certain of," he said.

"And I do not yet have certainty when it comes to surviving The Fallout. When it comes to surviving THE Loom and whatever forces they command."

He paused.

"But even though I do not have certainty, I will continue to do everything that I can to make sure that my Civilization...that my family, of which this Isolated Civilization is now a part, survives. I will continue to do everything that I can, give My Everythings, to ensure our survival in the coming Fallout."

Everything.

His Everythings!

Oh!

"I cannot promise victory. But I can promise that I will exhaust every possibility, violate every limitation, and defy every predetermined outcome to create a path forward. That is what I do. That is what I am. And I will not stop until either we have survived, or I have been completely unmade in the attempt."

HUUM!

Riya became silent.

Eventually, she gave a light nod.

Then she sighed, stretching her arms above her head as if physically shaking off the heavy mood.

"Okay, Ancestor," she said, her characteristic irreverence returning. "Let’s fucking do this."

She waved her hands, and in front of them, an illusory diagram bloomed into existence.

It showed a complex circular structure made of interwoven mana patterns...layers upon layers of defensive architecture, Glyphs, Haki.... all integrated into a unified whole that made Noah’s mind immediately engage.

"I give you," Riya said, her voice holding pride and concern in equal measure, "the theoretical model to survive any catastrophe, built around our own Isolated Civilization as its core."

The diagram rotated, revealing additional complexity with each revolution.

"The Bastion of Mana...the protective construct designed to house an entire Civilization. We’ve been refining the theory for 400,000 years, running simulations, testing components in isolation. But the last ingredient to potentially bring it to full fruition, to test if it will actually withstand a potential catastrophe..."

She looked at Noah directly.

"You are that last ingredient, O Ancestor."

...!

Noah’s perception locked onto the diagram, drinking in every detail as Riya continued.

"The Bastion of Mana, at its most theorized success, is a shelter powered by one hundred entities functioning as Nodes of Mana. Each Node must hold at the very minimum 1,000 Quintillion in both Complexity and Purity...enough power to maintain the defensive architecture even under catastrophic assault."

She gestured at specific points on the diagram where concentrated power signatures were marked.

"These hundred Nodes form the foundational structure, the pillars that hold everything together. But at its forefront, at the absolute center of the entire construct, there needs to be someone who holds boundless weavings of Mana. Someone whose reserves are functionally infinite, who can feed power into the system continuously without ever depleting."

Her gaze remained fixed on Noah.

"That someone would be you, Ancestor. Your Infinite Mana is the only thing we’ve theorized could power the Bastion at full capacity indefinitely. Without that central pillar, the hundred Nodes would eventually exhaust themselves. With you at the center..."

She paused, hope entering her expression.

"With you at the center, the Bastion could theoretically withstand anything. Existential collapse. Reality unmaking. Whatever form The Fallout takes. As long as the structure holds and you maintain the power flow, everyone inside would be protected."

Noah studied the diagram, his mind racing through calculations!

One hundred Nodes at minimum 1,000 Quintillion each. That was 100,000 Quintillion in aggregate defensive power, distributed across the structure!

And at the center, himself...providing the endless energy that would keep the entire system operational.

It was ambitious. It was audacious. It was glorious of a possibility!

"With the resources of external existence, with access to whatever advancement opportunities exist in the First Folds and beyond, we could probably elevate enough beings to the necessary threshold within... I don’t know, depends on the timeline we’re working with. Years? Decades?"

Her expression turned questioning.

"How long do we have before we all die, Ancestor? Before The Fallout arrives?"

Noah’s expression became contemplative.

"Unknown," he said calmly. "Could be years. Could be months. Could be days."

Riya stared forth blankly before she cursed.

"That fucking sucks ass."

...!

He looked at the diagram again, his tyrannical mind already working through it.

"Haa. then let’s get started, Little Ancestor," she said, smiling despite the weight of what they were discussing. "We’ve got a lot of fucking work to do, and apparently not much time to do it in..."