289: As the fusion began, Lu Chen's life form began to leap forward!

As Lu Chen's commanding words, "Package it up and take it away," fell, the golden torrent that had just calmed down inside him seemed to receive a summons, instantly boiling over again!

This time, it was no longer a gentle fusion, but a violent... reshaping!

"Ugh—!"

Lu Chen suddenly threw his head back, letting out a low growl that was suppressed to the extreme.

Pain!

Excruciating pain that penetrated the bone marrow and tore at the soul!

This pain did not come from physical injury, but from the forced elevation of his life level. It was like forcibly compressing a cup of water into a block of ice, or crushing a piece of coal into a diamond. It was a complete negation and shattering of the original life form!

"Lu Chen! What's wrong?!"

Su Qingying frantically tried to rush forward, but she was violently bounced back by an invisible golden light wall.

"Don't... don't come closer!"

Lu Chen struggled to raise his hand. His skin was undergoing horrifying changes at this moment. Beneath his originally fair skin, countless golden blood vessels bulged and shifted like swimming dragons, emitting a high temperature and light that no one dared to look at directly.

Immediately afterward, his body actually began to... become transparent!

It wasn't optical camouflage, but dematerialization at the physical level. Bones, muscles, and internal organs were gradually broken down by the golden light into the most primitive Light Quanta, and then reassembled into a more perfect, more profound structure!

[Warning! Warning!]

heavenly craft's anxious voice echoed throughout the bridge.

[The energy index within the Master's body is rising exponentially! It has broken through the tolerance limit of Carbon-based Life Forms!]

[Cellular activity... 1000%!]

[Genetic Lock... Collapse!]

[Forced Transcende is in progress... Life form restructuring!]

"Rumble—"

The entire "expedition" was shaking violently, as if unable to withstand the terrifying pressure overflowing from the Captain's body.

Deep within Lu Chen's consciousness, the system prompt tone belonging to the "Tinder" was roaring in his soul with an unprecedentedly solemn cadence:

[Detected that Host's mortal flesh cannot bear the authority of "genesis"!]

[Activating emergency protocol: Life Ascension!]

[Inefficient carbon-based structures are being eliminated...]

[High-Dimensional Energy Circuits are being injected...]

[Genetic Sequence is being rewritten...]

Lu Chen felt as if he had been thrown into a massive centrifuge; all his consciousness was shattered, only to be forcibly pieced back together.

He saw his DNA double helix structure break in the golden light, then rapidly restructure into more complex and perfect triple helix, or even quadruple helix structures!

He saw every one of his cells cheering, greedily devouring the infinite energy from the black hole, undergoing a qualitative transformation!

He no longer needed to breathe oxygen or consume food.

Every one of his cells had become a miniature Nuclear Fusion Reactor!

"Is this... evolution?"

Lu Chen muttered to himself in the ocean of consciousness.

He could clearly feel the heaviness that had constrained him for twenty years disappearing. Gravity was no longer a restraint to him, but a string he could pluck at will; space was no longer distance, but a piece of white paper he could fold freely.

He was moving from a "Three-Dimensional Creature" toward a "Four-Dimensional Creature"...!

"Ahhhhhh—!!!"

Accompanied by one final long cry, Lu Chen's body suddenly erupted in ten thousand rays of golden light, instantly illuminating the center of the entire Milky Way Galaxy!

At that moment, even the faint glow of the Sagittarius A* black hole was overshadowed by this golden light!

Everyone on the bridge subconsciously closed their eyes, afraid to look directly at the god being born.

Only Su Qingying, fighting back tears, stared intently at the center of the light, terrified that missing a single glance would mean losing him forever.

A long time passed.

The light dissipated.

Lu Chen's figure reappeared.

He was still wearing his simple white research uniform, and outwardly, there seemed to be no change. But if you looked closely, you would notice his skin had a warm, jade-like luster, as if completely free of impurities.

But the most astonishing thing was his eyes.

Deep within those pupils, there was no longer simple black, but a faint flow of golden starlight. When he looked at you, you felt that all your secrets, all your karma, had nowhere to hide from those eyes.

He was no longer Mortal.

He was... a Demigod!

"Hoo..."

Lu Chen gently exhaled. The breath, the instant it left his lips, condensed into a small, crystal-clear ice flower, which then instantly vaporized.

This was a sign that he had not yet fully adapted to his control over energy.

"Lu Chen..."

Su Qingying called out tentatively, her voice tinged with unfamiliarity and fear. "Are you... still you?"

Lu Chen turned his head and looked at the girl whose face was streaked with tears.

The golden starlight in his eyes slowly faded, reverting to the familiar black pupils filled with tenderness and doting affection.

"Silly girl."

Lu Chen smiled slightly, and his figure flickered, instantly crossing a distance of more than ten meters to appear right in front of Su Qingying.

There was no sound of wind, no inertia.

It was like... Instant Movement.

He reached out and gently wiped the tears from Su Qingying's face. The warmth emanating from his fingertips was still comforting, even hotter than before.

"No matter what I become—whether I turn into light, electricity, or even a god..."

"I will always be your Lu Chen."

"Always the man who would punch a hole in the heavens for you."

Su Qingying couldn't hold back any longer. She lunged into his arms and burst into tears.

She didn't care about gods or evolution.

She just needed him to be alive.

As long as he was still here, that was enough.

"Alright, stop crying. Everyone is watching."

Lu Chen gently patted her back, then raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the dumbfounded subordinates on the bridge.

Zhan Lang's mouth was wide enough to fit a lightbulb, and Academician Qin Shan's glasses had fallen to the floor and shattered.

"Ahem."

Lu Chen cleared his throat, and the dignity belonging to a leader returned.

"What are you all staring at?"

"Haven't you ever seen a handsome guy transform?"

"Hahaha!"

Zhan Lang was the first to react, letting out a hearty laugh. "Commander Lu! That wasn't a transformation, you became an immortal! That golden light just now almost blinded my Old Zhang's Titanium Alloy Dog Eyes!"

"Stop running your mouth."

Lu Chen chuckled and scolded him, then his expression turned serious as he walked to the command console.

Although the physical evolution was complete, he could feel the power of the "genesis engine" integrated into his body continuously modifying his genes.

Now, his brain operated ten thousand times faster than before!

Many problems he couldn't solve before could now be unraveled with a single thought; many technologies he couldn't achieve before could now be realized with a wave of his hand.

This feeling... was truly exhilarating!

"heavenly craft."

Lu Chen spoke, his voice carrying a magnetic quality that he had never possessed before, one that seemed to resonate with space itself.

[Present, Master! Congratulations on the successful Transcende of Master's life form!]

heavenly craft's voice was extremely excited. As part of the system, she knew better than anyone how terrifying Lu Chen's current state was.

The current Lu Chen was no longer just a user.

He was the system's... Incarnation!

"Since I no longer need to sleep or rest."

Lu Chen looked at the distant red dot on the holographic star map representing "the cleaners," a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Then let's not waste any time."

"Transmit my order!"

"The 'expedition' Legion, set sail immediately!"

"Since 'the cleaners' wants to come and clean us up, we will meet them head-on!"

"I want to use this brand new body to personally gauge..."

"How much weight that so-called Level Four Civilization actually carries!"

"Yes!!!"

Everyone's morale reached its peak at this moment!

With such a god-like leader, what did they have to fear?

Even if Hell lay ahead, they dared to follow Lu Chen and Charge In and Out Seven Times!

"Move out!"

With a wave of Lu Chen's hand.

The massive fleet activated once more, transforming into countless streams of light, rushing toward that unknown starfield.

And within that vast star river, Lu Chen stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze profound.

He knew that the true challenge had just begun.

But he was ready.

"Fix the genesis engine with a single thought!"

"Such a thing..."

"I want to try it too."