368: The law of entropy increase in the universe, and ultimate annihilation.

*Pfft—*

The Dreammaker was slammed onto the mirror-smooth black crystal floor like a tattered ragdoll.

A mouthful of blood sprayed high into the air, staining his originally meticulous white suit red.

But he wasn't dead.

In fact, he was laughing.

"Cough, cough... Hahaha..."

The laughter shifted from a low rumble to madness, echoing in the empty office and making one's skin crawl.

"You won?"

"Lu Chen, you think because you defeated me, you've won?"

The Dreammaker struggled to roll over, lying on his back and watching the waterfall of data flowing across the ceiling.

There was no fear in his eyes, only a kind of... deathly stillness that comes from seeing through everything.

"You have no idea why we established the 'metaverse'."

"You have no idea what... exactly is outside the wall."

"What is there?"

Lu Chen carried his longsword, which still radiated golden light, and walked up to him step by step.

The tip of the sword pressed against the Dreammaker's throat.

"No matter what is outside."

"It cannot be a reason for you to treat tens of billions of people as batteries."

"Batteries?"

The Dreammaker looked at Lu Chen mockingly, as if looking at an ignorant child.

"If they weren't batteries..."

"...they would have become ashes long ago."

The Dreammaker suddenly raised his hand and, with all his strength, pressed a red button beside him.

"Since you want to see..."

"Then I'll let you see..."

"...the **truth** of this world."

*Rumble—*

The walls, the ceiling, and even the floor beneath their feet became transparent in an instant.

The original holographic disguise vanished.

The "City in the Sky" that had been suspended in the clouds disappeared.

Even the colorful neon lights were all extinguished.

All that remained was... **darkness.**

An endless, suffocating darkness without a single trace of color.

"Where... where is this?"

Wang Peng was so scared he slumped onto the ground, his whole body trembling.

"Where are the stars? The sun? The moon?"

"How is everything gone?"

Lu Chen suddenly looked up.

Golden light exploded from his pupils as he tried to pierce through this layer of darkness.

But he failed.

Because it wasn't that there was no light here.

It was that... **there was no heat**.

The entire universe was like a bonfire that had already burned out, with only the last bit of residual warmth lingering in the cold wind.

"Heat Death."

Su Qingying's voice was trembling.

She looked at the detector in her hand; the reading on it was a number that inspired despair:

**-273.15°C.**

"Absolute zero..."

Su Qingying's face was deathly pale. "The entropy of this universe has reached its maximum."

"All the stars have gone out, and all the black holes have evaporated."

"Energy no longer flows, and time has lost its meaning."

"This isn't just night."

"This is... **the corpse of the universe**."

Lu Chen fell silent.

He looked at this deathly still world.

No vitality, no hope, only eternal cold.

No wonder.

No wonder the people of this world wanted to hide in the "metaverse".

No wonder they would have their lobes removed, choosing to live in a virtual dream even if it meant becoming the walking dead.

Because reality... was too cruel.

So cruel that people didn't even have the courage to open their eyes.

"Do you see clearly now?"

The Dreammaker's voice sounded exceptionally harsh in the darkness.

"This is the 'truth' you wanted."

"A world that is rotting, stinking, and heading toward its end."

"We established the metaverse to concentrate our limited energy on the last spark of fire."

"We are extending civilization!"

"And you..."

The Dreammaker pointed at Lu Chen, his eyes filled with venom.

"You destroyed all of it."

"You woke them up just so they could watch with their own eyes... how they freeze to death!"

"You are a butcher!"

"You are the greatest demon of all!"

Dead silence.

This time, even Wang Peng didn't dare to speak.

Faced with this level of cosmic despair, any rebuttal seemed pale and weak.

"Butcher?"

After a long time.

Lu Chen suddenly spoke.

He withdrew his sword.

But he didn't look at the Dreammaker. Instead, he walked to the transparent barrier and reached out his hand, pressing it against the cold void.

"Old Ye, Wang Peng, Qingying."

Lu Chen's voice was very soft, yet very steady.

"Do you believe in fate?"

"No!"

The three of them spoke in unison.

Even at this end of despair, they still instinctively chose to believe in Lu Chen.

"I don't believe in it either."

Lu Chen turned around.

There wasn't a trace of dejection on his face.

Instead, a fire crazier and hotter than any before was ignited.

"The Law of Entropy Increase?"

"Heat Death?"

"Irreversible physical laws?"

Lu Chen let out a scoff and felt around in his pocket. Though he didn't find a cigarette, he still made the motion of lighting one.

It was a gesture of style and disdain.

"Those are for mortals."

"Since the fire of this universe has gone out."

Lu Chen suddenly clenched his fist.

The golden energy within him, coming from his home and from billions of living beings, was completely detonated at this moment!

"Then I will..."

"...**light another fire!**"

"You... are you crazy?"

The Dreammaker looked at him like he was a fool. "This is a physical law! It's the lifespan of the universe! How can you light it? With your head?"

"Physical laws?"

Lu Chen walked step by step toward the console that represented the company's highest authority.

He reached out and pressed his hand onto the [Core Code] that controlled the entire metaverse.

"In this 'Second Layer' world."

"Aren't these so-called physical laws just lines of code?"

The corner of Lu Chen's mouth curled into an extremely dangerous arc.

"Dreammaker, you said just now that this is a 'brain in a vat' experimental field."

"Then..."

"Since it's an experimental field."

"There must be... **a power cord**."

"What?!"

The Dreammaker's pupils shrank violently. "What are you trying to do?! You won't find the power cord! It's in a higher dimension! In the 'Third Layer'!"

"Can't find it?"

Lu Chen laughed.

His laughter was incredibly arrogant.

He raised the "pangu sword" in his hand, the blade pointing straight at the empty darkness above.

"Who said I was going to look for it?"

"Wang Peng! Hold on to me!"

"Qingying! Calculate the coordinates!"

"Since this universe is dead."

"Then we'll..."

Lu Chen suddenly thrust his sword into the core of the console!

Golden light followed the data lines, spreading frantically toward the underlying logic of this world!

"...blow this 'corpse' up!"

"I'll use the energy of the explosion to punch through the ceiling of the 'Third Layer'!"

"I want to go meet that..."

"...bastard who pulled the circuit breaker!"

*RUMBLE—!!!*

With Lu Chen's action.

This sky city, which had been deathly still for billions of years, suddenly began to burn intensely.

It wasn't flames.

It was... **the collapse of rules**.

Lu Chen was—**sacrificing the entire Second Layer world**!

"Madman! You madman!"

The Dreammaker screamed amidst the light, "You're going to kill us all!"

"No."

Lu Chen stood at the center of the light, like a phoenix reborn from the ashes.

He looked back at this world full of despair.

"I am taking you all on..."

"...**a prison break**."

"Su Qingying."

Lu Chen's voice became incredibly gentle.

"Are you ready?"

Su Qingying gripped his hand tightly, not a trace of fear in her eyes.

"I'm ready."

"Even if it means being smashed to pieces."

"Good."

Lu Chen looked up at the layer that was about to shatter, the boundary representing "reality" and "higher reality."

"Then let's see."

"What kind of ghost..."

"...is hidden in this Third Layer world!"