242: Final system refresh before departure!

The edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, the end of the Orion Arm.

This is a desert of stars, the end of matter. Beyond this, there is an intergalactic vacuum spanning millions of light-years, a desperate abyss that even light would take countless years to cross.

But at this moment, this dead silent void was completely illuminated by the lights of human civilization.

Tens of thousands of interstellar warships silently floated in the darkness, their engines' ghostly blue light forming a brilliant sea of stars. They were arrayed in a tight attack formation, their muzzles uniformly pointing outward, directly at the massive wormhole ahead, which was slowly rotating and emitting distorted gravitational waves.

That was the gate to hell.

And the only path to hope.

On the flagship expedition, in the command center.

The air was terrifyingly quiet, with only the faint hum of instruments and people's suppressed breathing. Everyone's gaze was fixed on the young back standing before the viewport.

Lu Chen stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze deep as he watched the wormhole devouring the surrounding starlight. There was no trace of tension on his face despite the imminent battle, only a nearly ruthless calm. But those familiar with him knew that this calm was often the final suppression before a volcanic eruption.

"Is this the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy?"

Su Qingying walked up to him, looking at the desolate and heart-stopping darkness outside the window, her voice a little tight. "When I saw it through a telescope before, I thought it was beautiful. Now that I'm actually here, I realize how despair-inducing it is."

"Despair is the epitaph of the weak, but the whetstone of the strong."

Lu Chen didn't turn around, simply stating in a low voice that was clearly audible on the silent bridge.

"Qingying, are you afraid?"

"Yes," Su Qingying admitted, nodding. She reached out and gently held Lu Chen's somewhat cold hand. "I'm afraid we won't be able to return. I'm afraid Earth will be destroyed. And I'm even more afraid of losing you."

Lu Chen clasped her hand tightly, the warmth of his palm transferring through her skin, bringing a sense of reassuring strength.

"Don't worry, as long as I am here, humanity will not perish."

He raised his wrist and glanced at the special mechanical watch.

The second hand was ticking away, grid by grid. Only ten minutes remained until the scheduled time for the full army assault.

And only ten seconds remained until the weekly refresh time of that mysterious system.

"Ten, nine, eight…"

Lu Chen silently counted down in his heart.

This refresh held extraordinary significance for him. It was his last chance to acquire unknown power before stepping into the Galactic Center battlefield. Facing the terrifying civilization that dwelled around the black hole, feeding on stars, humanity's existing technology, though powerful, still seemed somewhat meager in the face of an absolute magnitude gap.

He needed a trump card.

An ultimate trump card that could overturn the chessboard, disregard rules, and make even gods tremble!

"Three, two, one…"

The moment the hour, minute, and second hands perfectly aligned at the twelve o'clock position.

"Buzz—"

The entire world seemed to freeze at that instant.

Lu Chen felt his consciousness violently torn from his body by an irresistible force, pulled into a kaleidoscopic, indescribable high-dimensional space.

There was no up, down, left, right, no past or future, only endless lines and color blocks madly intertwining, colliding, and annihilating.

[Ding—]

That familiar, cold, yet somewhat sacred system prompt finally exploded deep within his soul!

[Host detected to be entering a high-dimensional battlefield.]

[Host civilization level detected to have reached the 'quasi-divine' threshold.]

[Final authorization judgment in progress… Judgment passed!]

[“future technology system” Ultimate Module unlocked!]

Boom!!!

An unprecedented, massive information stream, like a breached stellar river carrying the aura of destruction and rebirth, surged frantically into Lu Chen's brain!

This infusion was more painful and prolonged than any before.

Lu Chen felt as if his brain had become a forcibly stretched black hole; countless pieces of knowledge, laws, and truths beyond human comprehension were crammed in, frantically tearing at his nerves and reconstructing his cognition!

It was about the secrets of time.

It was about the essence of space.

It was about the ultimate profound meaning of "cause" and "effect"!

In the real world, Lu Chen's body stiffened abruptly, his face instantly turning ashen. Beads of sweat as large as beans rolled down his forehead. But he gritted his teeth, not making a sound, only that his dark eyes were undergoing some heart-stopping change.

His originally stark black and white pupils now resembled two bottomless vortices, with countless tiny, complex golden runes rapidly spinning, arranging, and combining within them, exuding a majesty that no one dared to look directly at!

"Lu Chen? What's wrong with you?!"

Su Qingying immediately noticed his abnormality and anxiously tried to support him.

"Don't move!"

Lu Chen suddenly growled, his voice hoarse as if abraded by sandpaper. He slowly raised his hand, signaling Su Qingying to retreat, then slowly, little by little, straightened his back.

"Hoo—"

He exhaled a turbid breath, as if expelling the dust of an entire old era.

When he opened his eyes again, the golden runes had receded, replaced by a gaze of indifference and profundity that saw through all things in the world and comprehended the creation and destruction of the universe.

That gaze no longer belonged to a human.

It was the gaze of a god.

[Refresh complete.]

[This week's black technology: A general-purpose weapon based on 'High-Dimensional Interference' and 'Probability Collapse']

[Macro Causality Tampering Weapon (Theoretical Prototype)!]

"Causality…"

Lu Chen murmured these three words, a crazy, intoxicated arc slowly forming at the corner of his mouth.

He had finally waited for it.

This was the true face of the system, the final gift left to humanity by that high-dimensional civilization!

No longer simple energy accumulation, no longer crude physical destruction.

But direct editing of the real world from the logical and causal levels!

This was no longer a weapon.

This was…

The authority to "speak and the law follows"!

"heavenly craft."

Lu Chen's voice was frighteningly calm, like the quiet before a storm.

[Present, Master.]

heavenly craft's figure instantly appeared, but this time, even this super AI with infinite computing power, when facing Lu Chen, instinctively lowered her head, displaying a submission and tremor originating from the depths of her core code.

She felt it.

Her master had changed.

He had become stronger, more mysterious, and more dangerous.

"Clear out half of the main control core of the expedition."

Lu Chen said lightly, as if speaking of a trivial matter.

"I need to upload something new."

"Also, inform the entire army that the planned offensive has been canceled."

"C-canceled?!"

“War Wolf” and Academician Qin Shan, who were standing nearby, nearly had their eyes pop out when they heard this!

"Commander Lu! We're right at their doorstep, and you're canceling the attack now? Does that mean our journey was for nothing? What about the morale of the soldiers? What about the safety of Earth?"

“War Wolf” was sweating profusely with anxiety. If not for his absolute trust in Lu Chen, he would have probably started cursing.

"Who said I'm not fighting?"

Lu Chen turned and glanced at him.

That single glance made “War Wolf”, a hardened veteran who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, feel his entire body's blood freeze!

What kind of gaze was that!

There was no killing intent, no anger, only a detached indifference, high above, looking down on ants. As if in his eyes, those terrifying Star Devourers, or even the entire Milky Way Galaxy, were nothing more than data that could be manipulated at will!

"What I mean is, the original 'frontal assault' plan was too foolish, too many casualties, too inefficient."

Lu Chen withdrew his gaze and looked back at the massive wormhole outside the window.

"Since we have a 'hammer' in our hands, why bite with our teeth?"

He reached out and gently grasped at the void.

With his movement, the tactical map on the holographic screen instantly changed. All the dense attack routes disappeared, replaced by a shockingly simple red arrow.

Pointing directly at the Galactic Center black hole!

"What we need to do is very simple."

Lu Chen's voice echoed eerily, with a chilling smile.

"No need to bother with those countless bugs, and no need to dismantle those damned fortresses."

"We just need to…"

"Rewrite the rules of this game."

"heavenly craft, prepare to receive the data package."

"Codename—"

"'Pen of God'!

"

[Yes, Master!]

As heavenly craft responded, a data stream so immense it nearly overloaded the expedition's main control supercomputer instantly transmitted from Lu Chen's brain to the ship's central system!

At the same time, all the scientists present were horrified to discover that the data representing physical constants on their display screens began to flicker erratically!

The speed of light was slowing down!

The gravitational constant was fluctuating!

Even quantum randomness was being forcibly corrected by some power!

"This… this is impossible…"

Su Qingying covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes wide, staring at the wildly fluctuating data on the screen as if watching an absurd nightmare.

"This violates basic physical laws! This is… this is modifying the axioms of the universe!"

"In this universe, no axiom is eternal."

Lu Chen turned around, looking at the chief scientist who was utterly stunned, and smiled gently.

"As long as your dimension is high enough, as long as your energy is great enough."

"So-called axioms…"

"Are merely modeling clay in the hands of gods."

He walked to the command console, placing his hands on the table, his gaze sweeping across the room, his voice resonant and powerful, instantly igniting the fire in everyone's hearts!

"Everyone!"

"I know you are confused, afraid, and bewildered."

"But please believe me, this upcoming battle will completely subvert your understanding of 'war'!

"We will no longer be barbarians charging with spears!"

"We will become…"

"The scribes who write history!"

"All forces, listen to my command!"

Lu Chen waved his hand abruptly, pointing at the rotating wormhole!

"Target: Sagittarius A*!"

"Mission: Alter Causality, Erase Existence!"

"We advance!!!"