Being called in for a private meeting, Adam was seriously on edge. The last time this happened, his entire worldview got demolished on the spot. Ever since then, he’s been downright terrified of Sophia’s one-on-ones.
Sophia’s Seven Presumed Limits, the Infinite Sand of High-Dimensional Matter, the possibility of life in hyperspace—just one of these is enough to drive a regular person insane. But the real kicker? More construction. Endless, never-ending construction!
Back then, the progress on the Gate of Science project wasn’t even a quarter done when suddenly, the Theory Lane proposal popped up. Adam knew it was all about boosting their family’s legacy—great for the present, even better for the future—but being a long-term foreman was making him seriously irritable. Worst of all, the foreman (that’s him) had to pay out of his own pocket for everything.
Is this meeting going to shatter my worldview again? And don’t tell me she’s planning another construction project!
On the way over, Adam ran through every possible scenario in his head. Especially after going over all the current and upcoming projects one by one, he made up his mind: no matter what Sophia says, there’s absolutely no way he’s starting any new projects.
Does anyone realize how much it cost America just to land on the moon? And now we’re about to build a telescope up there.
Does anyone realize how jaw-dropping the Zade House’s spending has gotten? Money comes and goes in insane, mind-boggling amounts.
Does anyone realize that every major faction and organization in the US now has people stationed at my front door? If things are going smoothly, sure, they’re all trying to cozy up. But the second we slip up, these bastards will show up ready to carve me into pieces.
Why else do you think I’ve been hiding out in hyperspace for so long? No matter how nice the entertainment area is, it still drives you crazy after a while.
I’m just one small Zade House—there’s no way I can handle another new project!
The meeting spot was, surprisingly, not Sophia’s lab, but Adam Zade’s office. Ever since Theory Lane was built, Adam set up an office here—though, to be honest, he spent most of his time schmoozing with big shots and barely ever stayed in.
But when he arrived, he was genuinely surprised to see Sophia already waiting for him.
Sophia never waits for anyone, so Adam made sure to show up three to five minutes early.
Sophia never wastes time, so you’ll never catch her sitting idle.
But what Adam saw was someone just sitting there, doing nothing, all alone in a chair—and honestly, Sophia looked kind of down.
She looked so dejected—what on earth happened? Adam’s heart skipped a beat. Had something gone wrong?
Please, Great Aunt, don’t let anything go wrong. All my fortune and glory, everything I’ve got, is riding on you.
"Adam..." Sophia looked up, her expression gloomy. "I’ve got bad news."
Bad news, for real?!
Cold sweat poured down Adam’s back, soaking his jacket in seconds. He forced himself to stay calm, gave a stiff, awkward smile, and stammered, "Wh-what kind of bad news? If it’s some kind of problem, two heads are better than one—we’ll figure it out, no hurdle is too big for us."
But this time, the usually confident Sophia wasn’t comforted at all. She was still downcast: "It’s impossible. This problem—we just can’t solve it."
An unsolvable, massive problem?
Thump-thump. Adam felt like he needed a pacemaker—he was speechless.
"I’ve spent a lot of time exploring this hyperspace," Sophia confided, clearly needing someone to listen. "I’ve used every tool I could to scan it, and I’ve managed to clear away some of the fog. But the deeper I dig, the more I realize a painful truth."
"What is it?" Adam’s voice was dry.
A painful truth about hyperspace itself? The worst thing Adam could imagine was that someday this hyperspace would vanish. All his glory, all his grand dreams, would disappear with it.
Sophia isn’t one to make a fuss over nothing.
So whatever this painful truth is, it’s got to be even worse than he imagined.
Just thinking about it made him feel dizzy.
Sophia, looking utterly exhausted, finally said it: "There’s no life in hyperspace."
"Huh?"
What?
What did she just say?
I didn’t catch that—what exactly is the bad news?
"There’s no life in hyperspace." Sophia looked utterly lonely and downcast. "It’s not just an observation—it’s the result of research. I tried every way to find some sign, but in the end, it all pointed to the same thing: we’re alone."
"Wait, wait, wait—hold on... What? No life? There’s no other life in hyperspace?"
This is bad news?
How is this bad news?
From what angle did you decide this counts as bad news?
A painful truth?
Holy mother, you sure know how to surprise me!
The idea that hyperspace might have an original owner had haunted Adam for ages. He’d even had nightmares about someone coming to take everything back—and destroying it all.
So many times, he’d woken up drenched in cold sweat, unable to sleep for nights on end.
So many times, the fear of losing everything at any moment squeezed his heart, left him breathless, unable to eat, and forced him to numb himself in the entertainment zone’s endless partying.
But today, at the very moment Sophia gave her conclusion, a huge weight dropped from Adam’s heart. Sophia was thorough and never made mistakes. If she said there’s nothing, then there’s nothing. His heart started beating again—lively as ever.
He wanted to scoop Sophia up, give her a big kiss, and spin her around three times before yelling at the top of his lungs. But seeing her so down, now wasn’t the time to celebrate too loudly.
He decided: as soon as he got back to the entertainment zone, it was party time!
For now, though, he had to keep up appearances.
Thoughts raced through his mind, and even Adam’s legendary self-control could barely keep his feelings in check. The joy hit him so hard, he could hardly handle it.
Just then, his face suddenly went pale. He clutched his chest, grimaced, and slowly dragged a chair over to sit down.
Sophia jumped in surprise. "What’s wrong?"
"Old problem, old problem..." Back when that bullet hit his heart, it wasn’t for nothing. The joy made his chest ache. But with Tiberius’s current medical tech, it’s really no big deal. So Adam rubbed his chest, caught his breath, and used pain to disguise his weird expression: "Sophia, about this news... I... I don’t even know what to say..."