341: I, Lu Chen, am more than just a guardian of the universe!

Dead silence.

Absolute dead silence.

Lu Chen stepped onto that shattered continent floating in the center of the void.

The sensation underfoot was strange, like stepping on thick volcanic ash.

But Tiangong's scan results showed that this dust was entirely the weathered powder of higher-dimensional biological skeletons.

With every step, he trod upon the bones of billions of living beings.

“This place... is really damn sinister.”

Wang Peng (Fatty) shrank behind Lu Chen, the detector in his hand shaking incessantly.

“Brother Chen, the resentment value here is off the charts! My mental stabilizer is about to burn out!”

“Don't talk.”

Lu Chen walked up to that golden throne.

Getting closer, he could feel the terror of that skeleton when it was alive even more.

Even after being dead for billions of years, a faint golden light still emanated from the withered bones, and the spatial rules around him were distorted by his very presence.

This was a truly powerful individual.

Even stronger by several dimensions than the previous 'Big Boss'.

“Senior, please forgive my intrusion.”

Lu Chen did not bow, but simply spoke a few words indifferently.

Then he reached out and grabbed the black stone tablet in the skeleton's hand.

“Crack.”

The moment Lu Chen's fingertips touched the stone tablet.

As if it had completed its final mission, the skeleton instantly turned into dust that filled the sky, dissipating into the void.

Only the stone tablet remained, lying coldly in Lu Chen's hand.

“Tiangong, decode it.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Accessing pangu's underlying protocol... translating higher-dimensional wavebands...”

A few seconds later.

A desolate, indignant voice, yet filled with endless regret, exploded directly in everyone's minds.

“I am... 'Yuan Chu'.”

“A sinner of Universe No. 0001.”

“Do not trust the Abyss! Do not trust Augustus!”

“The so-called 'Myriad Races Hegemony' has no winner at all!”

“I once won too.”

“I led my people and slaughtered all the other 999 competing universes.”

“I thought I had become the Gu King, I thought I could get the 'World Origin' and lead our civilization to ascension.”

The voice suddenly became hysterical, filled with blood and tears.

“A scam! It's all a scam!”

“That 'World Origin'... is poison!”

“It is a virus used by the Abyss to assimilate the rules of the universe!”

“The moment I brought it back to my homeland...”

“It devoured our sun, disintegrated our physical laws, and turned my people into... nourishment!”

“We were not the winners...”

“We were just... the final course on the Abyss's dinner table!”

“Run! Take your civilization... run as far as you can!”

“Never look back!”

Zzzzt—!

The voice stopped abruptly.

In the command room, there was a deathly silence.

Ye Qingcang's hand holding the blade had veins popping out, his breathing heavy like an injured beast.

“Scum...”

“Tricking people into killing each other, then eating their home?”

“This is worthy of being called a high-level civilization? This is worse than a damn animal!”

Wang Peng was already paralyzed with fear.

“Brother Chen... are we... are we still going?”

“This is clearly going to our deaths! That 'World Origin' is a virus, we die if we win, and we die if we lose...”

“Who said we were going to win that 'Origin'?”

Lu Chen suddenly spoke.

His voice was very calm, so calm it was frightening.

He looked down at the black stone tablet in his hand.

Suddenly, an eerie red light lit up on the stone tablet.

“Hehehe...”

A cold laugh came out from the stone tablet.

Immediately after, a holographic projection emerged out of thin air.

It was a blood-red eye, the very symbol of the Abyss.

“You found out, huh.”

“Little mouse of number 9832.”

It was Augustus's voice, with a hint of playfulness and mockery.

“I originally wanted to let you live for a few more days.”

“But since you've seen this 'suicide note', there's no other way.”

“Inside this stone tablet, a 'Dimensional Collapse Bomb' is buried.”

“Countdown... three seconds.”

“Be buried with Universe No. 0001.”

“Three, two...”

Wang Peng and Ye Qingcang's faces changed drastically, and they wanted to rush forward to protect Lu Chen, but it was too late.

However.

Lu Chen didn't move.

He didn't even blink an eye.

Just as the countdown was about to hit zero.

“pangu.”

Lu Chen whispered.

Buzz—!!!

A chaotic-colored light instantly erupted from his palm, tightly wrapping the black stone tablet within it!

That terrifying energy, enough to blow up a galaxy, was actually suppressed by Lu Chen into a fist-sized space!

“Thud.”

A muffled sound.

Like a dud.

The stone tablet shattered, turning into fine powder.

But Lu Chen's hand didn't even have a scratch.

The red eye in the projection was clearly stunned.

“You... you can actually suppress a dimensional collapse?!”

“Augustus.”

Lu Chen patted the dust off his hands, looked up, and stared directly into that blood-red eye.

His eyes had now turned into a dual-colored divine gaze, one gold and one white.

“Your methods are too old-fashioned.”

“Is this your meeting gift to me?”

“Since you're being so polite, I'll return a great gift to you as well.”

Lu Chen suddenly opened his arms wide.

The phantom of 'pangu' behind him suddenly appeared, transforming into a giant that stood between heaven and earth, looking down upon this dead universe.

“Tiangong!”

“Activate the 'Soul Siphon' program!”

“Yes! Father!”

The next second.

The entire Universe No. 0001 began to tremble violently.

Countless skeletons, remnant souls, and resentments floating in the void seemed to hear a call at this moment.

They turned into billions of streaks of light, frantically converging towards Lu Chen!

“What are you trying to do?!”

Augustus's voice finally carried a hint of panic, “You are absorbing the will of the dead? You'll go insane!”

“Insane?”

Lu Chen was bathed in the radiance of billions of souls, appearing like a demon god returned from hell.

“I'm not insane.”

“I am simply... inheriting.”

Lu Chen suddenly clenched his fist.

Those billions of streaks of light instantly merged into his body, becoming a part of his power.

That was not energy.

That was the **fire of vengeance** from all the living beings of Universe No. 0001 against the Abyss!

“Augustus, listen well.”

Lu Chen's voice became incredibly grand, as if billions of souls were roaring simultaneously.

“Before, I fought for Earth.”

“For my family, my friends, and my home.”

“But from today onwards.”

Lu Chen pointed his finger at the trembling red eye.

“What I carry is not just Universe No. 9832.”

“But also this No. 0001, and those countless souls that were devoured and toyed with by you!”

“I, Lu Chen.”

“Am not just the Navigator of Earth.”

“I am the...”

“Debt Collector for all the oppressed!”

Boom—!!!

Lu Chen threw a punch.

The wind from his punch directly shattered the spatial barrier, blowing the red eye projection into fragments!

The communication was cut off.

Lu Chen stood in the void, feeling the power within his body that was as vast as the sea, yet as sorrowful as bone-deep grief.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Seniors, rest in peace.”

“Your hatred.”

“I will avenge it for you.”

“The path you didn't finish.”

“I will walk it for you.”

Lu Chen suddenly opened his eyes and turned back to the Xuanyuan.

“Old Ye!”

“Present!”

Ye Qingcang's eyes were filled with tears, and the blade in his hand was buzzing.

“Full speed ahead!”

“Target: The Abyss!”

“I'm going to turn that so-called 'Myriad Races Hegemony'...”

“Into their...”

“Crematorium!”

...Abyss Core Area, Dark Temple.

Augustus suddenly opened his eyes, the wine glass in his hand crushed to pieces.

The blood-red wine flowed down between his fingers, looking very much like blood.

“Debt collector?”

He stood up, looking down at the countless civilizations below that were fighting and going crazy for a bit of petty profit.

A cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

“Interesting.”

“Then come.”

“Let me see.”

“Whether your life as a debt collector is tougher.”

“Or if the depths of my Abyss...”

“Are deeper!”

“Pass down the order.”

“Release the 'Ultimate Weapon'.”

“Since a guest has arrived.”

“We must have some decent... hospitality!”