Cultivator vs. Galaxy: Rebirth in a World of Mechas

Chapter 11: ch 11 The vault that housed a weapon

As Willima watched from the shadows, the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the Princess celebrated his death with laughter and joy—clinking their glasses, toasting what they believed to be a final, hollow triumph. They had orchestrated his fall, never realizing the scale of the mistake they had made.

His death had unsealed the vault.

The vault that housed a weapon of legend—an ancient construct born from the pinnacle of mechanical evolution, forged during the golden age of the Machine Races. A weapon of mass destruction, feared across star systems, with the power to reshape the fate of the entire galaxy.

Once, that weapon had been locked away in absolute secrecy—hidden by the Mechanical Race before their mysterious disappearance. After their fall, its location had become untraceable, lost to time and war, believed by many to be nothing more than myth.

But now... it had resurfaced.

On Utopia—the legendary cradle of the Mechanical Race, a planet thought to have been destroyed during the final days of the Machine War. Yet it endured, cloaked in anomaly and myth, and upon it, the weapon waited.

William Cross, Supreme Commander of the Terra Empire’s Naval Fleet, had been one of the few with the knowledge, clearance, and skill to locate and potentially seize control of it. He had stood on the precipice of unlocking its power—not for conquest, but for the salvation and resurgence of the Terra Empire.

But they stopped him.

His own people—the Emperor, the Crown Prince, the nobles blinded by their own ambitions—chose to silence him, fearing his influence more than they feared the enemies at their gates.

The Terra Emperor now stood upon a fragile path—caught between survival and destruction. The future of that universe hung in delicate uncertainty. And yet, here they were, honoring a victory they did not truly win. A victory that would cost them more than they ever imagined.

From a distant realm beyond death, the fallen being watched them with cold amusement. A low, bitter laugh escaped him—not from hatred, but from irony. There was a faint sting, though. It hurt, just a little, to have died at the hands of a mortal, tricked by cunning and deceit. But he blamed no one but himself.

He had grown soft. Rusted. In his arrogance, he had forgotten the nature of the human race.

Humans were, at their core, greedy. It was an unchanging truth. Many would disagree—argue that not all are the same. And they would be right in nuance, but wrong in essence. Greed wasn’t just about wealth. It could be about power, status, control, validation. It took many forms, but it was always there, like a quiet hunger within their souls.

Greed and cunning—these were the twin flames that forged humanity. Perhaps not every human bore them equally, but they were threads woven into the very nature of what it meant to be human.

He shook his head. The thought distracted him from what truly mattered. Still, that truth—he would not let it go unnoticed. As his story continued, that nature would rise again. It always did.

The vision faded. The scene of celebration dissolved into darkness.

He turned inward. The vengeance he had once sworn could not yet be fulfilled. His power—once vast and world-breaking—had been sealed by his own design. And now, though the seal was shattered, his strength was only beginning to return.

A quiet pause. A breath. He looked within.

His power had recovered to the level of a Spirit Emperor—impressive by most standards, but far from his peak.

With a faint sigh, the illusionary scene before him William faded into nothingness. Though William had come to terms with the past, he had no choice but to accept his defeat—for now—and focus on the present.

And that defeat had cost him more than power—it had cost him time, identity, and presence in a universe that now teetered on collapse.

He turned his attention to the present.

This new universe... it was vast. Broader than the last. But he knew nothing of its structure. Were humans here? Did they rule, or were they forgotten? Was power measured the same way?

These questions had no answers.

Someone might ask—if he could observe his old universe from afar, why not do the same here?

If only it were that simple.

When he chose controlled reincarnation, he built in a safeguard. If he died while his powers were sealed, then his residual energy could trace his killers—so that vengeance might be taken once strength returned. But he could not use that power to investigate the world into which he would be reborn. That limitation was deliberate.

To know the new world in advance would give him an unfair advantage. It would cheapen the struggle of rebirth, undermine the very essence of reincarnation itself.

So no—he didn’t know what this universe held. Not its systems. Not its enemies. Not even its purpose.

"Don’t ask me why," William muttered aloud, as if answering a silent questioner. He shrugged, his voice calm, almost amused by the absurdity of it all.

As if guided by the author himself, William walked toward a large wardrobe embedded in the wall.

Inside, he found a row of garments—all of them black. Yet none of them were ordinary. They were crafted from smart-fabric and special-grade materials, enchanted and engineered to withstand more than just wear and tear. These were combat artifacts, able to shift and transform into armored exosuits at a moment’s notice.

Without hesitation, he selected one at random.

The moment his fingers brushed the material, the garment came to life. Thin tendrils unfolded, wrapping around his body with precision. In seconds, it had formed to his frame—settling back into the form of a sleek, modern outfit. Subtle, but deadly. The armor rested, ready to awaken again when battle called.

And with that, William stood still.

Reborn in a galaxy he did not know, with power slowly returning, and a legacy left behind in ruins—he had no choice but to move forward.

The new Chapter of his legend had only just begun.