314: The new crisis is ten thousand times more terrifying than the asteroids!

Three days.

For ordinary people, that is just the time it takes for three hotpot meals and two movies.

But for the current Earth Federation leadership, these seventy-two hours are a countdown to the civilization's death with every passing second.

Lingxiao Hall, Strategic Deduction Room.

The air was filled with a burnt smell—the scent of circuit boards from over a dozen quantum computers melting due to overload.

"Bang!"

Su Qingying slammed her electronic pen onto the table.

This usually calm ice goddess now had red-rimmed eyes, messy hair, and an unprecedented tremor in her voice.

"It's useless."

"No matter how we run the simulations, the win rate is... zero."

She pointed at the holographic screen where a simulation was looping endlessly.

The image was simple, almost boring.

It was a star.

Then, an invisible light swept across it.

No explosion, no flash of fire, not even a ripple of gravitational waves.

The star simply "vanished" into thin air.

It was as if an artist had gently erased a pencil dot from a piece of paper with an eraser.

Clean, thorough, leaving not a trace behind.

"This is the attack method of the Seraphim fleet."

Su Qingying took a deep breath, her voice raspy, "They don't carry conventional weapons; they launch 'Causality erasure commands'."

"Once locked on, the object's timeline is forcibly rolled back to a state of 'non-existence'."

"Even memories will be deleted."

"In other words, if we are unfortunately hit, we won't just die—we will never have lived at all."

The conference room fell into a deathly silence.

Ye Qingcang sat in the corner, the battle blade he treasured like his own life thrown at his feet.

This iron-blooded tough guy was now clutching his hair, looking utterly defeated.

"How... how are we supposed to fight this war?"

Ye Qingcang raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, "When we fought the Star Devourer, we could at least hear a sound, see a health bar. But now?"

"They just flick their fingers, and we turn into a pile of corrupted data?"

"This is more than ten thousand times scarier than the Star Devourer! The Star Devourer just eats meat, but these bastards are pulling up the roots!"

"Pulling up the roots?"

Wang Peng (the fatty) cowered in his chair, his face pale, "Then... what about my money? My corporation? Will they be rolled back too?"

"Money?"

Su Qingying sneered, "By then, the concept of 'currency' won't even exist. Do you still want money?"

Wang Peng rolled his eyes back and almost fainted on the spot.

Despair.

A despair born from being utterly crushed at a cognitive level engulfed everyone like a black tide.

This wasn't a war; this was a Dimensionality Reduction Strike.

It was an ultimatum from gods to insects.

Just then.

"Crunch."

A crisp sound of biting into an apple felt completely out of place in this deathly silent room.

Everyone turned their heads sharply.

Lu Chen was sitting on the command console, holding a bright red apple, eating it with relish.

He had his legs crossed, looking as relaxed as if he were watching a boring soap opera.

"I say, everyone."

Lu Chen swallowed the fruit flesh and spoke lazily, "It's just clearing the database and running away. Is it really worth being this scared?"

"Commander Lu!"

An Old General couldn't help but shout, his voice filled with grief and indignation, "This is a disaster that could wipe out our entire race! How... how can you still eat?"

"If I don't eat, how will I have the strength to work?"

Lu Chen casually tossed the apple core, landing it precisely in the trash can.

He stood up and stretched, the lazy air instantly vanishing.

In its place was a sharp, biting edge that made it impossible to look him in the eye.

"Su Qingying is right. If we fight head-on, our win rate is indeed zero."

Lu Chen walked to the star map and tapped his finger on the light point symbolizing "Asgard".

"But who said we were going to fight head-on?"

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, a wicked curve forming on his lips.

"Have you ever seen antivirus software kill a virus?"

The crowd was stunned, confused.

"Antivirus software is powerful, capable of detecting and killing all known viruses."

"But what if..."

Lu Chen's voice lowered, carrying a chilling, eerie tone.

"What if this virus disguised itself as a 'core patch' for the system?"

"What if this virus not only didn't damage the system but actually made it run 'faster'?"

Su Qingying suddenly raised her head, her eyes brightening, "You mean... deception?"

"No, assimilation."

Lu Chen snapped his fingers.

"heavenly craft!"

"Present, Father."

"Send the detailed parameters of the 'Trojan Horse Project' to everyone."

"Yes!"

The next second, a top-secret file was transmitted to everyone's terminal.

Looking at the contents of the file, Ye Qingcang's eyes widened, and he jumped up.

"Damn it! Commander Lu, you... you're risking everything!"

"Injecting the 'logic lock' from the 'pangu archive' into everyone's soul?"

"Turning ourselves into 'living viruses'?!"

"Exactly."

Lu Chen nodded, his eyes wild yet determined.

"Doesn't that 'Purification Council' want to format us?"

"Don't they want to roll back the timeline?"

"Then we'll deliver ourselves right to their doorstep."

Lu Chen pointed to his own head.

"As long as we plant this logic lock in their system..."

"The moment they press that 'format' button..."

"It won't be us that gets formatted."

"It will be their so-called 'Asgard'!"

The room was in an uproar!

A madman!

This was a completely insane plan!

This was using all of humanity as a bomb to blow up the gods' fortress!

"But... how do we get in?"

Wang Peng raised his hand tremblingly, "They are a High-Dimensional World; we can't even find the door..."

"Who said we can't find it?"

Lu Chen laughed.

He clapped his hands.

The laboratory door opened.

Two robots dragged in a massive life-support pod.

Inside, the glowing octopus was rolling its eyes, looking completely hopeless.

Lu Chen walked to the life-support pod and tapped the glass.

"Wake up, stop playing dead."

"Didn't your boss tell you to mark the coordinates?"

The octopus shuddered, looking at Lu Chen in horror, "You... what do you want to do?"

Lu Chen leaned close to the glass, the light in his dual-colored divine pupils swirling like a demon's whisper:

"What do I want to do?"

"Naturally, I want you to lead the way."

"Aren't you an 'Adjudicator'? Aren't you here to take us back for trial?"

Lu Chen straightened up and spread his arms, as if embracing the cruel battlefield about to come.

"We surrender, unconditionally."

"Fix up your broken ship and take us to 'Asgard'."

"We're going to accept... 'judgment'."

The octopus was stunned.

Everyone was trembling.

Only Lu Chen had a smile growing on his face—an excitement as if he were about to tear the sky apart.

"Lu Chen..."

Su Qingying walked to his side and held his hand tightly, "If we go, we might not come back."

Lu Chen held her hand back, feeling the warmth in her palm.

He turned his head, looked at the vast galaxy outside the window, and said softly:

"Su Qingying, do you know what 'finding life in death' means?"

Su Qingying shook her head.

Lu Chen lowered his head, blew gently in her ear, and said something that would make the entire High-Dimensional World tremble:

"It means..."

"Since they won't let us live."

"Then we'll all embrace death together."

"Except, I'm betting my life..."

"That it's harder than their god-throne!"