Silence dominated my office as I analyzed every possible way to accomplish my goals. Every second, endless strategies, simulations, and outcomes unfolded in my mind, each resulting in unique possibilities—some beneficial, others failures.
While I was deep in thought, I didn't notice that hours had already passed.
Richelieu waited patiently for me to snap out of it, but after more than four hours with no response, she finally decided to speak.
"Commander, tell me your purpose when you started the survey mission. I can't see any possible reason for it. The Black Tower is already capable of producing boundless resources and even has countless rooms containing unquantifiable numbers of spatial constructs—each holding a limitless number of replicas of all things. Technically, we will never run out of resources. So why?"
Upon hearing Richelieu's words, I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to her. "To awaken my memories and unseal my powers."
"I don't see any connection to that," Richelieu replied.
"You can't see it because I made it so—before doing this to myself—so that you and the others couldn't interfere, other than helping in combat and crafting," I paused for a moment, letting my words sink in, then continued. "No matter how hard you try to think about it or interfere, you won't be able to suggest anything or help me. The same goes for everyone else."
"I understand. But can you explain it to us, Commander, so we can help you as much as possible?" Richelieu asked.
"I certainly agree!" Taihou shouted excitedly after overhearing our conversation.
I smiled gently at their reaction and said, "From what I remember, I need to conquer or explore at least fifty 7th-Tier dungeons to awaken or unlock fifty percent of my powers and memory."
"And if I want to know the next step, I need to take care of that first."
"So that's why you conducted the survey mission," Taihou said.
"Bingo," I replied.
"Commander, everything is ready," Rapi said, handing me a flash drive.
"Thank you, Rapi," I responded.
"What's that?" Taihou asked.
"That's the Omniversal Map," Richelieu answered in my place.
"Like she said," I added.
"This is the result of the combined effort of the Space Force," Rapi said.
"Last time I checked, our equipment couldn't even scan the entire star system we're currently in, all thanks to the unfathomable scale of everything. The Great Change truly made all aspects of reality incomprehensible—and now you're telling me they scanned the entire omniverse? That's a terrifyingly vast distance they managed to cover."
"If I'm not mistaken, even if you replicated all existence endlessly before the Great Change and stacked it together to measure up to a post-Change planet, it still wouldn't rival the size of a small mountain on its surface. Knowing how massive a single universe is now… just imagining it would collapse my mind. What would even happen if I tried to comprehend the omniverse now? This is insane," Taihou said.
"If the original size of All of Existence was at a Eteranal Level, and everything was around ???… what would happen if you endlessly replicated and stacked it together to result in an even larger ??? And what if I go further?" Richelieu murmured, lost in her calculations after hearing Taihou's words.
Richelieu was about to dig deeper into the formula, but someone managed to stop her—preventing the manifestation of a horrific, never-ending equation.
"Stop, stop! Richelieu, are you trying to kill us with that gibberish nonsense?!" Taihou rushed to Richelieu with a horrified look, covering her mouth.
Richelieu removed Taihou's hands. "Oh please, don't be so dramatic. Even that formula earlier was just child's play compared to the Commander, you know."
"Just shut up," Taihou snapped.
"Calm down," Rapi said.
Taihou calmed herself. Seeing that, Rapi turned her attention to me and asked, "You can go now, Commander. Don't worry—we'll handle everything while you're gone."
"Huh? Are you leaving, Commander?" Taihou asked.
"Yes. If you want to know more, you can ask Richelieu and Rapi," I replied.
Upon hearing my words, Taihou turned her gaze to them.
"I'll explain later," Richelieu said.
"You are all dismissed. I'll leave everything in your hands, Rapi and Richelieu," I said, then used teleportation and vanished, heading to my room.
After I left, the three women began to converse.
"Richelieu, where is the Commander planning to go?" Taihou asked curiously.
"He plans to go to the neighboring multiverse," Richelieu answered.
"The Commander is looking for a weaker and less dangerous dungeon," Rapi added before Taihou could respond.
"Are all the dungeons in this multiverse too dangerous? When did we get this info? I don't remember the expedition unit conducting exploration operations. They don't even use the scanner," Taihou said.
"They did—you just didn't notice it."
"Is that so? What multiverse did the Commander choose?" Taihou asked.
"ER-d Zackraw Multiverse. If I were to use a familiar name under Earth's influence, that multiverse would be known as Danmachi. The name alone makes it obvious what to expect," Rapi explained.