140: Chapter 140, First Stage: Don't answer the void's questions, change its syntax.

Origin Outpost, Starry Sky Ancient Road Main Channel — First Stage Entrance.

As the farce of the "Civilization Quarantine" ended, pangu-003 finally obtained official qualification to compete. At this moment, in front of the massive Star Ring, a track paved with pure ribbons of Law light stretched into the depths of the Universe. This was not a physical racetrack, but a "Conceptual Channel."

"All participants, please pay attention!" The grand voice of the Star Alliance resounded through the communication channels of all civilizations. "First Stage: [The Sea of Cognition] is about to begin." "Rules for this stage: This is a dimension where thought and reality intersect. The Void Realm will ask you questions. Only civilizations that provide the 'correct' answer will gain propulsion. If the answer is wrong or self-doubt arises, you will be assimilated by the Void Realm and become the dust of history." "Countdown: 3, 2, 1... Set sail!"

Boom—!!! As the signal lights flared, thousands of civilizations parked at the starting line launched simultaneously. The warships of the Light Spirit Race transformed into beams of light, instantly plunging into the light ribbon. The Titan Race fleet relied on powerful calculation shields to push forward against the storms of Law. There were also the Insect Race, the Elemental Race... the major S-rank civilizations each displayed their own Divine Ability.

As for the ship, it was like a massive steamroller, rumbling as it crushed its way into this bizarre Sea of Cognition.

Inside The Sea of Cognition. There were no stars here, only countless floating symbols, formulas, and whispers. The surrounding space seemed to be a mixture of ink wash and data streams, constantly shifting its shape.

"Captain! Something is invading our System!" T-9 screamed in panic, "It's not a virus! It's... it's a philosophical question!" "My processor is asking me: 'Do machines have a Soul?' If I can't answer it, my logic circuits are going to collapse!"

Not just T-9, but the teachers and students throughout the ship heard the questions from the Void Realm. "What is the end of cultivation?" "Where is the boundary between justice and evil?" "What is the meaning of your existence?"

These questions had no standard answers, but they pointed directly at the heart. Once the respondent wavered, their body would begin to blur, becoming part of The Sea of Cognition. Even someone as strong as General Gu was now clutching his head, roaring in pain: "I... what was I fighting for again? Am I already dead?"

The speed of the ship began to slow down visibly. The surrounding Laws became as thick as glue, attempting to keep this planet here forever.

Tianhe Command Room.

Li Mo watched the massive question marks constantly surfacing outside the window, as well as those alien ships that were disintegrating due to wrong answers. "Cognitive attack?" "Using worldviews to strike opponents?" "Interesting."

He stood up and walked to the command console. He held no weapon in his hand, but instead picked up the spring and autumn brush. Before him floated a massive Heavenly Dao Book (Administrator Backend Interface) composed of golden light.

"Star Spirit Navigator, steady the course." Li Mo's voice was calm and powerful, instantly dispelling the confusion in everyone's hearts. "In this world, there has never been an absolutely correct answer." "There is only... who holds the right of interpretation."

Li Mo raised his brush and wrote a large character for "Reviewed" in the void. Then, he activated the [Administrator Annotation Mode].

Buzz—! A golden light shot out from the summit of Tianhe Peak, instantly covering The Sea of Cognition surrounding the ship.

The Void Realm asked: "What is the essence of energy?" The Titan Race answered: "E=mc²!" (Correct, gained acceleration). Li Mo annotated: "Too wordy. [Energy = Battery]." Result: The Void Realm energy around the ship instantly materialized, turning into countless massive "Void Batteries" that were joyfully moved into the warehouse by the Tentacle Monsters. The ship didn't just stop slowing down; instead, because it was fully charged, its speed skyrocketed.

The Void Realm asked: "Is death the end or the beginning?" The Undead Race answered: "It is eternal peace." (Correct, gained protection). Li Mo annotated: "[Death = Changing household registration to continue working]." Result: The confused General Gu instantly snapped out of it. Looking at his Titan Alloy Armor, he slapped his thigh: "That's right! I'm the Security Director of Tianhe Academy! I'm on the official payroll! Die my ass! Let's get to work!" The Corpse Soldier legion's morale surged, and their resentment turned into thrust, pushing the planet into a mad dash.

The Void Realm asked: "What is truth?" The Light Spirit Race answered: "Light is truth." Li Mo annotated: "[Truth = The brick in my hand] (Physical Persuasion)." Result: A massive cognitive obstacle blocking the way ahead (a monster composed of paradoxes) was directly flattened into a two-dimensional sheet of paper by an invisible rule-brick, becoming a floor carpet for the ship.

...

At this moment, The Sea of Cognition was boiling. Other civilizations were answering questions cautiously, fearing that a single wrong word would lead to eternal damnation. But Li Mo was here to grade the papers. Not only did he not answer the questions, he changed the questions themselves! He even took the opportunity to mock the examiner (the Void Realm Law)!

"Warning! Illegal logic injection detected!" "This civilization is tampering with the underlying definitions of The Sea of Cognition!" "Unable to assimilate! Unable to analyze! Unstoppable!"

Under the terrified gaze of the Star Alliance Judging Panel, pangu-003 was like a bulldozer that had barged into a library. Wherever it passed, the originally obscure and difficult storms of Law all turned into easy-to-understand... plain language. The originally fatal cognitive traps all turned into... supply stations.

"Is this what you call S-rank difficulty?" Li Mo stood at the bow, looking at the track he had modified beyond recognition, and shook his head. "Too simple." "Questions of this level aren't even qualified to be Ling'er's summer homework."

He waved his hand: "Full speed ahead!" "Target: Second Stage!" "I heard there's a 'Dimension Maze' there? I hope it's a bit more fun than this."

Boom—!!! The ship trailed a pink tail flame, leaving all the alien civilizations questioning their lives as it left everyone in the dust, being the first to charge out of the First Stage. Behind it, it left a bizarre Sea of Cognition that had been "modified." Countless lines of golden annotations floated there: [No dumping of data here (referring to discarding garbage data)] [Construction ahead, please detour (actually, Li Mo felt the road was hard to travel, so he directly folded the space)].

The Star Alliance Chief Judge watched this scene and lowered his observation lens with trembling hands. "Record this..." "This civilization... didn't come to compete." "It came to... crash the party."