259: Order strikes back

The countless points of light, like fireflies on a summer night flowing back into the sky, converged into a brilliant river of life leading into the unknown.

They no longer wailed, no longer felt lost.

Every point of light had washed away the dust of despair, leaving only a pure longing for rebirth.

In Li Dong's perception, they left behind a faint yet sincere trace of gratitude, then immediately broke free from the shackles of this ruin, rushing towards the new worlds deep within the Universe that awaited them.

An indescribable warm current surged back from the depths of the Universe's Origin, flooding into Li Dong's limbs and bones.

This was not merely an increase in power, but more like a form of... recognition.

The life cycle of the entire Universe seemed to have become more complete and vibrant because of his small 'innovative feat'.

At this moment, his Law of Attunement had received unprecedented completion and sublimation.

Comfortable.

Just as Li Dong wanted to stretch and enjoy this rare sense of accomplishment, a chill shot straight from his spine to the top of his head.

The cold, indifferent will that had been hanging over his head changed.

If it had previously been an emotionless supercomputer silently observing and calculating, now, all the indicator lights on this computer had turned a glaring red, and the cooling fans emitted a buzzing sound of impending overload.

An emotion, something Li Dong had never felt from it before, descended.

Anger.

It was not the anger of living beings, mixed with humiliation and unwillingness, but rather a... rage caused by a fatal bug that the System could not process, with the System's core logic on the verge of collapse.

"Error... Error... Error!"

"Life data illegally tampered with, unknown Variable in the circulation path, balance model compromised..."

A grand, cold, yet slightly impatient will transformed into tangible pressure, squeezing in from all directions.

The entire galactic space, along with the surrounding light and dust, groaned under the weight of this will.

It was no longer observing; it was moving to purge.

A Law of Order, vast and irresistible, flooded this area instantly like an invisible tide.

It was not trying to attack Li Dong, but rather to "format" this "contaminated" galaxy, along with Li Dong inside it, and everything else.

Returning to the most primitive "Return to Zero".

Just then, the gaze from the "Observer" above also fluctuated violently.

It was like an anxious searchlight, flashing frantically, seemingly trying to convey some kind of warning.

But that information was interfered with by the more powerful Law of Order, and when it reached Li Dong, only meaningless noise remained.

"Anxious now? You seemed pretty happy watching the show just a moment ago."

Li Dong muttered, but he had no time to deal with that mysterious guy.

The pressure of formatting was increasing, and he felt as if he had been thrown into a hard drive undergoing low-level data wiping, with all traces of existence around him being rapidly erased.

But he was not erased.

The ancient stone slab on his chest emitted a warm glow, like a reef that remained unmoved despite the raging waves, firmly anchoring his concept of "existence".

"Want to format me? You'll have to see if your algorithm is up to the task."

Bearing the immense pressure, Li Dong did not collapse; instead, he concentrated all his focus and began reverse-engineering this terrifying Law.

Like a top-tier hacker, in the last second before the System crashed, he was frantically reading the opponent's source code.

As expected.

This so-called "formatting," its core logic was simple and brutal to the extreme—"Return to Zero".

It wanted to reduce everything to the most basic, simplest, and impossible-to-exist "nothingness".

But precisely because of this extreme purity, it could not tolerate any Impurities.

As long as there was one Variable that could not be returned to zero, the entire formatting process would fall into a logical dead loop.

Found it.

However, just at the moment he found the way to break the deadlock, a sudden palpitation made him jerk his head around, looking in a certain direction of the Void Realm.

That was... the direction of home.

An identical, cold, and harsh "calibration" force, spanning endless distances, was trying to erode the protective mark he had left outside his home world, intending to "correct" everything he cherished under its lifeless, stagnant rules.

It was moving against his home.

Li Dong's eyes went cold in an instant.

A rage, far more violent than the Hand of Order, exploded from the bottom of his heart.

"I'm here playing with you, and you damn well want to sneak attack my home?"

"Want to touch my home?"

"Did you ask my wrench first!"

A roar that shook his Divine Soul, no longer passive defense.

The Blade of Judgment emerged at his call, but in his hand, it was no longer in the form of a sharp blade, but transformed into a pen, a pen of Law shimmering with vibrant brilliance.

Using the power of "Attunement" he had comprehended as ink, and this Void Realm about to be formatted as paper!

"Didn't you want absolute 'Zero'? I'll add some ingredients for you!"

He waved the pen of Law in his hand, frantically engraving on this "blank paper" composed of the Law of Order.

These were not profound runes, nor were they mysterious Formations.

All there was, was the purest of Variables.

The first cry of a newborn baby.

The joy of a seed breaking through the soil.

The palpitation of lovers holding hands for the first time.

The calm smile of a hero before dying.

All these Variables representing "life," "emotion," "accident," and "uncertainty" were forcibly injected by him into the "formatting" Law in an unreasonable manner.

It was like pouring an entire bottle of colorful ink into a cup of pure water.

Hum—

The vast "formatting" Law instantly fell into disorder.

Its "Return to Zero" logic fell into complete chaos when encountering these Variables that could not be quantified or defined. The powerful torrent of Law lost its target and began to surge uncontrollably, with some parts even rushing directly into the depths of the Void Realm, disappearing without a trace.

"BUG! Ultimate Variable detected that cannot be cleared!"

"Calibration program... failed!"

"Initiating... highest authority... materialization... liquidation!"

That grand will seemed to have been thoroughly enraged to the limit by Li Dong's resistance.

It was no longer satisfied with descending its will from across the entire chessboard.

Boom!

The Void Realm ahead was torn open like a giant gap by an invisible hand.

A blurry, massive figure radiating absolute pressure began to slowly squeeze out from that gap.

It had no specific facial features or form, just a humanoid outline condensed from the pure Law of Order, but its appearance made the entire Universe chessboard start to tremble slightly.

A true, supreme "player" had entered the field in person.

The figure extended its hand, and a giant "Ruler of Judgment" composed of countless chains of Law condensed and formed in its hand.

On the ruler, the markings were distinct, representing the most stringent, precise, and unquestionable rules in the Universe.

"In the name of Order, I declare."

Its voice was no longer the System notification tone from before, but carried a supreme authority that defined all things.

"Variable 'Li Dong', Rank: Ultimate. Behavior: Contaminating Universe data, destroying the balance model, tampering with the life cycle."

"Verdict: Liquidation."

The giant "Ruler of Judgment" was raised high, locking onto Li Dong.

Facing this unprecedented, materialized threat that would make any god feel despair, Li Dong laughed instead.

He put away the pen of Law, and the Blade of Judgment transformed back into the shape of a sword, which he gripped tightly in his hand.

The power within his body boiled as never before. The ancient stone slab on his chest emitted a light so blinding it reached the extreme, as if responding to the arrival of an old enemy.

He knew this was no longer a trivial "Attunement".

This was a true "Judgment" that would determine the future direction of the two Universes.

And he was both the prisoner, his own defense attorney, and... the executioner.