272: Chapter 274 The Ultimate Weapon: Concept Erasure

The bridge of the luan niao starship was deathly quiet at this moment.

The screens on every instrument had turned a vivid red, and the hissing of electric currents sounded exceptionally harsh in the air.

Academician Chen Shuyin stared fixedly at the red button on the console, her breathing heavy, as if behind that small piece of plastic lay an abyss leading to the throne of gods.

"Jiang Chen, are you sure?"

She turned her head, a hint of fear in her usually calm eyes, "The Causality Weapon is the supreme judge of the universe. Once pressed, it is irreversible, unrevocable, and unrecoverable."

Jiang Chen did not reply.

He stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling porthole, hands in his pockets, his gaze deep and inscrutable.

Against the backdrop of the distant starry sky, the mothership of that God-level Civilization was performing its final charge; its cannons were already aimed at Earth, powerful enough to completely erase this planet from the map of the Milky Way Galaxy.

"Irreversible? That's exactly right."

Jiang Chen smiled, his eyes cold to the extreme.

He turned around and strode back to the console.

With an air of nonchalant composure, his hand rested lightly on the dull, rusty remote control.

"These guys think they are the managers of the universe. They stand high above, using those cold algorithms to decide our life and death."

"They think the gap in civilization levels is an unbridgeable chasm between gods and mortals."

"But they have forgotten..."

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone carrying a chilling arrogance:

"The greatest trump card in this universe has never been computing power or energy."

"It is—definition."

"I say you are a god, only then are you a god."

"I say you are trash, and you are worth less than dust."

"Do it."

These two words were as light as a breeze, yet as heavy as a mountain pressing down upon the starry sky.

"Command confirmed."

"Causality Weapon, activated."

"Target locked: God-level Civilization, Reaper Fleet."

"Delete parameter: [Concept of Divinity]."

Accompanied by a nearly illusory hum, the frequency of the entire universe seemed to stretch in that instant.

That was not light.

That was logic itself twisting.

The dust on the surface of the rusty controller vanished in the blue light, revealing its true form, crystalline like a galaxy.

An invisible wave swept instantly across most of the Orion constellation.

It pierced through the warship's armor, penetrated the barriers of dimensions, and even infiltrated directly into the subconscious core of the God-level Civilization's leader.

"Violation energy fluctuation detected!"

"Defense system ineffective!"

"Logic collapse... parsing failed... what kind of logic is this?"

"Why... why can I no longer feel my own 'eternity'?!"

From within that high-and-mighty God-level mothership came a final wail, its voice filled with an unprecedented, mortal terror and confusion.

That was no longer the wrath of a god.

That was the cry of a coward cast down from the altar.

Because under Jiang Chen's so-called "Concept Erasure" causality strike, its high-dimensional consciousness, which it was so proud of, was completely... "downgraded" in that second.

It became capable of feeling pain.

It became capable of feeling fear.

Most importantly, it became... capable of feeling death, just like an ordinary carbon-based lifeform.

At this moment, the once unreachable so-called "Reapers," in a single thought from Jiang Chen, were completely reduced to mundane dust.

"Boom!"

There was no spectacular explosion, nor any release of energy.

That warship, so massive it occupied nearly half the starry sky, was, under this cleansing of the Law of Causality, like an old oil painting being crudely smeared with a brush.

The colors changed.

The outlines disintegrated.

Those high-dimensional metals that shimmered with divine radiance instantly lost their support; like sandcastles blown away by a gale, they collapsed inch by inch, finally turning into a pile of ordinary, even slightly rusty, scrap metal.

"Bang!"

Thousands of tons of mechanical structure fell from the high altitude like trash, crashing into a desolate planet nearby.

Stirring up a cloud of yellowish dust.

"This is... a god?"

In the command room, everyone was dumbfounded.

Zhao Gang swallowed, feeling his worldview being repeatedly crushed by some indescribable force, "A moment ago, they were badass enough to blow up the Earth, how did they just... turn into a pile of junk?"

Academician Chen Shuyin leaned back against her chair, feeling drained.

She looked at the scattered data streams; the fear from moments ago was gone from her eyes, replaced only by a deep sense of absurdity.

"It has been 'erased'."

"Not physically destroyed."

"Its 'definition' has changed."

"Jiang Chen, what on earth..."

She turned her head to look at Jiang Chen, her voice trembling: "What on earth did you dig up in that pit in the Wasteland? This thing doesn't belong to the scientific logic of this universe at all!"

Jiang Chen casually stuffed the remote control, which had been restored to "factory settings" and now felt heavy, into his pocket.

He walked to the window, looking at the empty starry sky outside, as if nothing had happened, his eyes devoid of any ripples.

To him, this was just like stepping on an ant; it didn't require much emotional coloration.

"This isn't something from aliens."

Jiang Chen stood with his back to them, his voice revealing a truth that even he found absurd: "I dug this out of a 'package' from a while ago."

"According to that female courier..."

"This was custom-made by a certain delivery guy who used to 'deliver takeout' across the interstellar universe, because he kept running into these rude robbers..."

"A little self-defense tool."

"What was it called again?"

Jiang Chen thought for a moment, "I think it's called the 'Logic Corrector for Brats'."

"Anyway, it's a pretty handy device."

"It's perfect; in the future, if anyone dares to come and cause trouble."

"No need to carpet bomb them with missiles."

"Just change their logic directly."

"Let these guys also experience what 'malice of the universe' is."

In the command room, everyone's expression went blank.

That is a logic modifier! It's a Causality Weapon! It's an artifact capable of rewriting the fate of civilizations!

You actually call it a "little self-defense tool"?

You used it to correct the enemy's logic just to save yourself some money on missiles?!

"Boss..."

Zhao Gang scratched his head, looking completely broken, "If we do this, will anyone in the Milky Way Galaxy dare to do business with us in the future?"

"That's not necessarily true."

Jiang Chen turned around, a devious smile on his face, "As long as we maintain this level of 'unreasonable' intensity, business will only get better and better."

"After all, who would refuse a business partner who can turn you into building blocks at any moment?"

He patted Zhao Gang on the shoulder.

"Get ready."

"Since these 'The Keepers' have been cleared out, it's time for us to go and harvest the rest of that gold."

"Also..."

Jiang Chen walked toward the cabin door, a meaningful arc curling at the corner of his mouth: "I still need to go see if that 'Empress' has arrived."

"This shuraba..."

"If I'm not there to keep things under control, she'll probably tear this warship apart."

He strode out of the cabin door.

In that vast sea of stars, his retreating figure appeared both lonely and powerful, as if he alone represented the future of the entire human civilization.

Academician Chen Shuyin watched his back, her eyes flickering.

She seemed to understand something.

This man never cared about being an overlord, nor did he care about the sea of stars.

He was just a, in the endless void, trying to establish his own rules... madman.

One who walks through the dark forest of the universe, holding a Causality Weapon... madman.

Meanwhile.

Within the communication channel of the luan niao starship, a stuttering, fear-filled signal suddenly came through.

It did not come from the Sweeper Civilization.

It came from a higher level, something that even spatial parameters could not normally parse—the Dimensional Abyss.

"Detected... rule collapse..."

"Detected... unauthorized use of a Causality Weapon..."

"Jiang Chen."

The voice skipped over the firewall of the luan niao starship, even bypassing the system's defenses, and exploded directly in everyone's minds.

It was the whisper of a true god:

"You have touched a taboo you should not have touched."

"This debt."

"We are going to start settling it."

Jiang Chen stopped in his tracks.

He raised his head, and in those pitch-black eyes, there was no longer a hint of a smile.

He slowly turned around, looking at the void background, and sneered:

"Settling the debt?"

"The thing I fear least in this life is settling debts."

"If you've got the guts."

"Then come down here yourself, and let's talk face to face."

"Let's see whose life is tougher!"

He did not look back, striding toward the spatial door that was about to open, leading to the deeper darkness.

Behind that door.

Are gods, dimensions, and the ultimate truth.

And it is also what Jiang Chen, through all the killing and madness he has walked along this path, must face... the strongest opponent.

This was no longer a business war.

This was a... battle concerning the survival of the universe, and also whether he, Jiang Chen, could be a good "daddy"—the final showdown!

The door opened.

Behind the door was a light that devoured everything, and that endless void, waiting for him to define—the New World!