384: I became who I am today by creating who I was in the past.

Night fell.

The purple twin moons hung in the sky, draping the primeval forest in an ethereal, sinister veil.

A group of four, plus a dismembered Flying Dragon (now a pile of meat on Wang Peng's back), were walking on the dirt road leading to Black Iron City.

"Hoo... Fat Master is exhausted."

Wang Peng tossed the several hundred jin of dragon meat onto the ground, plopped down onto a roadside stone, and gasped for breath.

"Brother Chen, I still don't understand."

Wang Peng wiped his sweat while asking with a troubled expression.

"You just said that you sent the System back to the past."

"But if you didn't have the System, your past self would just be an ordinary student. Where would you get the ability to create the System and send it back?"

"Isn't this... the classic chicken-or-the-egg problem?"

Su Qingying was organizing the collected plant samples. Hearing this, she also stopped her actions and looked at Lu Chen.

This was indeed a logical paradox.

"Fatty, you've fallen into a misconception."

Lu Chen stood by the roadside, gazing at the huge, brightly lit city in the distance.

His gaze was profound, as if penetrating the mists of time.

"Time is not a straight line."

"It is a loop, or perhaps, a spiraling staircase."

Lu Chen stretched out his hand and drew a circle in the void.

"In the first timeline, perhaps there was no System."

"That version of me might have struggled in despair his entire life, and though he achieved nothing, he was unwilling to accept it."

"His obsession was strong enough to distort space and time, sending out the most intense call toward the past."

"And the me of the present heard that call."

Lu Chen's fingers clenched suddenly, and a golden light flashed at his fingertip.

"So I created the 'Spark,' and threw it into the River of Time."

"It responded to that young man's obsession and became his 'System'."

"Thus, a new timeline was born."

"That young man gained the System, avoided detours, became stronger, and finally stood here, sending the System back again."

Lu Chen turned around, looked at Wang Peng and Su Qingying, and a proud smile curled his lips.

"This is not a closed loop."

"This is, time and time again... **self-iteration**."

"With every cycle, I become stronger than the last."

"Until today..."

Lu Chen pointed to his chest.

"I no longer need the System."

"Because I have already..."

"**Transcend it**."

"Only by creating my past self could I achieve my present self."

"I am both the cause and the effect."

"Boom!"

Wang Peng felt as if something had exploded in his mind.

He looked at the man before him.

He was wearing an ordinary Earth jacket, standing on the soil of another world.

Yet, the aura emanating from him was more dazzling than the twin moons in the sky.

This was their leader.

A man who dared to take fate in his hands and mold it like clay.

"Awesome!"

Wang Peng struggled for a long time and only managed to squeeze out those two words.

He picked up the pile of dragon meat again, feeling that his steps were much lighter.

"Following a boss like this, forget about just another world."

"Even if it's Hell, I can develop it into a tourist area!"

...Two hours later.

The border stronghold of the Black Iron Duchy—**Black Iron City**.

This was a giant city filled with a mixture of steampunk and magic styles.

The fifty-meter-high obsidian city walls were covered with sparkling magic runes.

Behind the city walls, massive chimneys spewed black smoke, and the roar of interlocking gears echoed through the sky.

"Stop!"

At the city gate.

Two rows of soldiers, clad in heavy armor and wielding enchanted spears, blocked their path.

The leading Guard Captain glanced at the dejected Dragon Knight, then at Wang Peng carrying the dragon meat, and his eyes instantly became greedy and fierce.

"Is that... Green Poison Flying Dragon meat?"

"Is that Knight Auden's armor?"

The Guard Captain raised his spear, pointing the tip at Lu Chen's nose.

"How dare you!"

"You dared to attack a Knight of the Duchy! And you're trying to bring the stolen goods into the city?"

"Leave the items here! As for the people... arrest them!"

"Clang—"

The surrounding soldiers instantly swarmed forward, their spears flashing with cold light.

The captive Dragon Knight Auden finally raised his head at this moment.

He looked at the fierce guards, about to explain that these three people were untouchable monsters.

But Lu Chen stopped him.

"Shh."

Lu Chen raised a finger and placed it over his lips.

He looked at the greedy soldiers, without a trace of fear on his face.

Instead, he showed a look of... amusement, as if **looking at primitives**.

"We are entering the city to conduct business."

"Harmony brings wealth; we don't want to fight."

"Don't want to fight?"

The Guard Captain sneered, "Then leave your lives here!"

"So, no room for negotiation?"

Lu Chen sighed.

He reached into his pocket.

This time, he pulled out a small silver metal cylinder.

It was a spare part from the spaceship name—the **[High-Intensity Flashlight]** (Magically Modified Version).

"Since you like things that shine brightly."

Lu Chen aimed the flashlight at the massive Magical Brazier above the city gate, which was used for illumination.

"Then I'll show you."

"What is meant by..."

"**Light**."

"Click."

The switch was pressed.

"Woooosh—!!!"

A terrifying white light, pure and concentrated like a laser, reaching hundreds of millions of lumens in brightness, instantly erupted!

That was no ordinary beam of light.

It was practically a sharp sword slicing the darkness apart!

The Magical Brazier on the city gate instantly paled into insignificance before this light, like a firefly encountering the sun.

The intense light shot straight into the sky, even illuminating the twin moons above the clouds!

"Ah! My eyes!"

"A miracle! This is divine light!"

"It's daytime? Why is it suddenly daytime?!"

The city gate instantly descended into chaos.

The soldiers screamed, covering their eyes. Some were so terrified they immediately knelt down, believing the God of Radiance had descended.

The Guard Captain was so frightened he collapsed onto the ground, dropping the spear in his hand.

He stared in horror at the small metal cylinder in Lu Chen's hand.

No need for a spell?

No need for mana fluctuations?

Just by pressing it once, it could unleash light comparable to a Forbidden Curse?!

"W-What kind of Divine Artifact is this?!"

"Divine Artifact?"

Lu Chen turned off the flashlight.

The world returned to darkness, but the white light remained imprinted on everyone's retina, refusing to fade.

Lu Chen casually tossed the flashlight up and down, walking step by step toward the Guard Captain.

"This is called..."

"**Science**."

"Now."

Lu Chen bent down, showing a warm smile.

"May we enter the city?"

"Y-Yes! Of course, you may!"

The Guard Captain nodded frantically, wishing he could knock his head into the ground.

"Please enter, my Lord! Please!"

Lu Chen straightened up and adjusted his collar.

He led Su Qingying and Wang Peng, swaggering across the city gate.

Behind them.

Wang Peng bounced the dragon meat on his back and grinned at the stunned natives:

"Hicks, get your wallets ready."

"The people of Earth's..."

"**Industrial Revolution**."

"is here!"