Chapter 201 Jealousy? You're only fit to look up to them!

That red giant star, which had originally only been slightly restless, now looked like a human skin mask being pushed out from the inside by something.

Tens of billions of tons of black coronal matter roamed wildly across the stellar surface, finally converging into a twisted, ghost-like face so large it was suffocating. That face occupied half the star's surface, its features composed of collapsing gravitational vortices, and every time it opened its mouth, it spewed out deadly gamma-ray bursts.

"Mortals..."

The vacuum shouldn't carry sound, but this voice was forced directly into everyone's mind along gravitational waves.

"You think you've won just by destroying my body? I planted a soul virus in this star long ago! This is the grave I prepared for myself, and it's also the crematorium I prepared for this galaxy!"

The ghostly face laughed wildly, shaking the entire sun. The legendary-class gravitational capture net was stretched until it was nearly transparent, emitting teeth-grinding cracking sounds.

"Boss! The capture net energy circuit is overloaded by 900%! That's a logic lock left behind by 'Jealousy' before death; he's burning the star's lifespan to force a self-detonation!"

Alita's voice was full of electrical static, "If he explodes, that so-called Earth fleet from earlier, and us, will all turn into cosmic dust!"

The Earth fleet, having just arrived on the battlefield, hadn't even had time to form a formation before being stunned by this terrifying scene. That was the sun, for heaven's sake; now the sun was alive and wanted to drag everyone down with it?

Who the hell has ever seen a situation like this?

"So noisy."

Just when everyone was in despair, Lin Yuan didn't run. Instead, he took a step forward, facing the heatwave that could instantly vaporize a person.

He stood in space, appearing as insignificant as a speck of dust before that massive ghostly face covering half the starry sky.

"You were trash while alive, and now that you're dead, you're still acting like garbage by haunting the place." Lin Yuan casually squeezed the alarm-blaring control sphere in his hand until it burst, "Since you like this sun so much, I'll fulfill your wish today."

"However, from now on, this sun belongs to the Lin family, not that bullshit Mechanical Papacy."

Lin Yuan flung his arms open, and the void armor on his body instantly disintegrated, turning into countless streams of black liquid metal. Like some kind of black blood vessels, they slammed violently into the nearly shattered gravitational capture net.

"You want to detonate it? Did you ask my appetite if it agreed?!"

"System! Start the feast for me!"

Hum—!

There were no flashy light effects, only pure, overbearing void computing power flowing through Lin Yuan's body, pouring into the interior of the star like a mudslide.

He intended to treat himself as a humanoid CPU, forcibly taking over the operational logic of a star!

"Madman! You will die! That is the stellar will! That is the power of a god!"

The ghostly face on the sun's surface let out a shrill roar, and countless black coronal tentacles whipped toward Lin Yuan like lashes.

Every lash that struck could split a battleship in two on the spot.

Crack!

Lin Yuan didn't dodge.

The first lash struck him, scorching his skin black; the blood was vaporized before it could even flow out.

The second lash struck, cutting deep to the bone, charring half his body.

But he didn't even frown; instead, he grinned, revealing stark white teeth. His expression was even more ferocious and insane than the ghostly face on the star.

"Is that all you've got?"

Braving the high temperatures capable of melting mechs, Lin Yuan walked step by step toward that ghostly face.

"You say mortals cannot control a star? You say I must look up to the gods?"

With every step he took, the void projection behind him surged in size.

By the end, a giant projection, its entire body burning with dark red void flames, stood tall upon the star. The giant had no face, only a massive black hole for a mouth that seemed capable of devouring everything.

"Do you even deserve to have me look up to you?"

At this moment, Lin Yuan's voice drowned out the roar of the star.

"In this universe, I only know how to look down on others!"

Inside the mental world.

It was a sea of fire.

The residual consciousness of "Jealousy" was hiding in the stellar core, frantically destroying the stable structure of the fusion reactor. In just a few seconds, this star would turn into a spectacular supernova explosion.

Suddenly.

It went dark.

"Jealousy" paused, looking up.

It saw an incomparably huge foot obscuring the entire field of vision, carrying a terrifying gravitational force called "Gluttony," slamming down hard.

"Since you're dead, just be obedient and act as your feed! Don't cause trouble for the chef!"

Boom!

This kick crushed that arrogant ghostly face, extinguished the black fire attempting to detonate the star, and completely shattered the last shred of "Jealousy's" pride.

It was just like stepping on a cockroach crawling on the dinner table.

In the real world.

The star, which had been violently raging and blood-red, was suddenly grabbed by an invisible hand and smoothed out.

The black patches dissipated instantly, and the erupting corona was forced back to the surface. The twisted ghostly face let out one last unwilling wail before completely disintegrating, turning into pure energy that dissipated.

Immediately after, a magical scene occurred.

The color of the restless red giant star actually began to change.

The dark red color representing aging and destruction was fading, replaced by an extremely stable, extremely dazzling golden yellow.

It was no longer a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any moment, but had become an obedient and well-behaved giant light bulb.

In that golden radiance, a crystal-clear, fist-sized diamond-shaped crystal slowly floated in front of Lin Yuan.

That was the final residue left after "Jealousy" burned its soul, and also the core essence of this star after being purified.

Lin Yuan was covered in wounds, looking no better than "Jealousy" had a moment ago; there was hardly a piece of intact flesh on him. But as he looked at the crystal, his eyes shone like searchlights.

"I thought it tasted a bit salty; turns out it was missing dessert."

He didn't even wipe the blood crusts off his face, but grabbed the crystal containing the demigod soul and stellar energy, and crunched it like a piece of candy.

"Tastes alright, a bit like Pop Rocks."

Gulp.

Swallowed.

Rumble—

A thunderous explosion came from within Lin Yuan's body.

Those terrifying burns from earlier healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The newly grown skin shimmered with a faint golden light, and even deep within his originally black pupils, two miniature stars seemed to be burning at this moment.

【Ding! High-energy nutrient intake detected!】

【void engine charging complete.】

【Congratulations, host! Life-form level transition successful!】

【Current level: stellar-class life-form (juvenile phase).】

【Evaluation: Now, you wouldn't get burned even if you went skinny-dipping on the surface of the sun without your underwear. Additionally, your appetite has grown larger; please work hard to earn money for food.】

Lin Yuan clenched his fists, feeling the vast, ocean-like power within him, and let out a satisfied burp.

This feeling of being filled with power is truly great.

In the distant space, whether it was the Earth fleet or the believers on the ground who had managed to save their lives, everyone stared blankly at this scene.

If kicking down the idol earlier was blasphemy.

Then now, as he swallowed the stellar essence and suppressed the runaway sun in front of everyone...

What does this count as?

This has got to be the true god, right?

"Long... Long live!"

It was unknown which communications officer from the Earth fleet shouted first.

Immediately following, cheers erupted like a tsunami.

"That's our boss! See that! That's our boss!" A Ji jumped high in the cockpit, tears and snot streaming down his face, "Boss is awesome! Boss is the number one eater in the world!"

"Long live Earth! Long live the Boss!"

"Send those grandsons from the Papacy back to their mother's womb!"

Countless signal flares and illumination rounds exploded in space, as the Earthlings celebrated their survival.

Lin Yuan floated in space, stretching his newly grown joints, which emitted cracking sounds. He pulled a coat from the system inventory and draped it over his shoulders—after all, it was a bit chilly to be showing off to tens of thousands of people while shirtless.

He lowered his head and looked down.

There, the remnants of the Papacy fleet and the coalition of pirates were huddled together, shivering. They couldn't run, and they couldn't stay.

Even the sun was suppressed by this ruthless man; what were their few broken ships worth?

Lin Yuan straightened his collar, the corners of his mouth curling into a familiar smile that would make A Ji tremble with fear.

It was that uniquely kind smile a capitalist has when seeing leeks.

"Hey, you lot driving ships down there."

Lin Yuan's voice rang out through the full-band broadcast in the bridge of every warship, his tone as lazy as if he were greeting a neighbor in his own backyard.

"Was the show just now good? Shouldn't it be time to settle the ticket price?"

He pointed to the golden sun behind him, then pointed to his clothes, which had been torn during the fight earlier.

"Besides, I'm a very reasonable person. You made this place a mess, with all this trash and scrap metal; the environmental cleanup fee, emotional distress fee, lost wages..."

Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes, looking at those ships filled with supplies and wealth, stretched out his right hand, and rubbed his thumb and index finger together.

"Since you've already come, anyone who dares to leave empty-handed..."

"I'll invite him to be a guest in my stomach; room and board included, and you'll never check out."