312: The terror of numbers

A full six hundred and twenty-two [Multiplication] cards!

Lin Yu's brain froze for half a second.

How was that possible?

At that terrifying consumption rate from before, let alone six hundred, even thirty cards would have been enough to drain him dry instantly!

Unless... a crazy thought, one that even he found absurd, exploded in his mind.

His previous judgment had been wrong from the very beginning!

The Spiritual Power consumption required to maintain the cards' existence wasn't an exponential explosion at all.

It was a... freaking linear growth!

A linear growth calculated based on 22 cards for 500 points of Spiritual Power!

Ha!

Who could understand this feeling?

One second, you've already prepared for the worst, accepted the harsh reality, and braced yourself for a negligible improvement.

The next second, reality tells you there are no damn limits at all!

Your meal is only limited by the size of your bowl!

That seemingly indestructible "ceiling" constructed by the laws of the world simply didn't exist!

A massive surge of ecstasy, like a volcanic eruption, instantly swept away all his reason.

Six hundred and twenty-two cards.

Excluding the two Source Cards used for activation.

That left... six hundred and twenty cards.

Two to the... six hundred and twentieth power!

Lin Yu's body began to tremble uncontrollably from extreme excitement.

He looked at the golden sea of cards before him, a number forming in his mind.

Two to the six hundred and twentieth power.

This number echoed repeatedly in his mind, every syllable carrying a weight enough to crush the stars.

Lin Yu wasn't a mathematician.

But once, to quantify his own abilities, he had specifically studied the units used to describe massive numbers.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands, hundred-millions, trillions, quadrillions, quintillions, sextillions, septillions, octillions, nonillions, decillions, undecillions, duodecillions... He once thought these ancient and obscure units were enough to measure everything in the world.

Ganges Sands, Asamkhyeya, Nayuta, Acintya, Aparimana, Mahasankhya.

Even "Mahasankhya," which exhausted the limits of human imagination, only represented ten to the seventy-second power.

An astronomical unit already vast enough to require seventy-three digits to write down.

But what about now?

Two to the six hundred and twentieth power.

Approximately equal to 4.56 times ten to the one hundred and eighty-sixth power.

Something that would barely fit within one hundred and eighty-seven digits.

For the first time, Lin Yu's thinking experienced a sort of lag.

He couldn't even construct the full form of this number in his mind.

It was too long.

So long that it exceeded the limits of thought.

To understand this power more intuitively, he subconsciously looked for a reference point in his mind.

A reference point grand enough to represent the concept of "vastness."

Soon, he found it.

In his memory, scientists had once estimated a number.

The total number of atoms within the current human-observable universe.

It was approximately ten to the eightieth power.

This number was once considered the ultimate concept of "quantity" reachable by human civilization.

Every grain of dust in the universe, every star, every nebula, all matter broken down into its most basic units—the sum was ten to the eightieth power.

However.

Lin Yu looked at the golden sea formed by the [Multiplication] cards before him.

Ten to the one hundred and eighty-sixth power.

Divided by.

Ten to the eightieth power.

Equals... ten to the one hundred and sixth power.

A number with a one followed by one hundred and six zeros.

The quantity of the final product he could replicate was... a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion times the total number of atoms in the entire universe.

"..."

Lin Yu opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

In that instant, the previous volcanic eruption of ecstasy was replaced by a more extreme and profound emotion.

It wasn't excitement.

It wasn't even thrill.

It was a... cold, absolute shudder originating from the depths of his soul.

An instinctive, uncontrollable... fear that arises when a carbon-based lifeform suddenly glimpses the true form of a higher-dimensional existence.

This was a number that, just from its numerical scale, was enough to trigger the uncanny valley effect.

It shouldn't exist.

It shouldn't be calculated.

And even more so, it shouldn't be held in the hands of a "human."

Under these circumstances, if he really replicated something, would its quantity instantly fill the universe?

What would it bring? Destruction?

A world reboot?

Could it even be replicated?

Would the energy required to replicate it drain the entire universe dry?

Would an ability of this level attract the gaze of certain unspeakable existences?

Lin Yu suddenly felt empty.

He forgot time, forgot space, and forgot the original intention of this crazy experiment.

His entire mind was consumed by that number called "two to the six hundred and twentieth power."

It was no longer a simple number.

It was a concept.

A materialized deity named "Infinity" and "Absoluteness."

Time lost all meaning at this moment.

He didn't know how much time had passed.

Perhaps a second, or perhaps a century.

A sudden wave of weakness forcibly dragged Lin Yu out of that endless numerical abyss.

It was the potion's effect.

The world-destroying power within him began to dissipate rapidly like a receding tide.

The effect of the first [purified potion] had ended.

[All Attributes +14,000]!

That Spiritual Power, as vast as a sea of stars, instantly dried up by a significant portion.

Immediately following.

The second, the third... the amplification effects within his body disappeared one by one.

14,000, 13,000, 12,000... As his power rapidly faded, Lin Yu's consciousness gradually returned.

He suddenly snapped back to his senses.

Then, he saw it.

The outermost layer of the golden sea, composed of six hundred and twenty-two stably suspended cards, began to flicker violently.

The light pulsed, and the physical forms of the cards rapidly switched between transparent and solid.

Spiritual Power... was no longer enough.

As his total Spiritual Power plummeted from 15,500 points back to his original 500 points.

That "ceiling" constructed by the world's laws, which he had seemingly shattered completely, descended once more, cold and ruthless.

Crash!

A faint sound, like the shattering of glass.

That golden sea, spectacular enough to eclipse even the gods, collapsed in an instant.

Over six hundred [Multiplication] cards simultaneously turned into golden light particles dancing in the air, dissipating into nothingness as if they had never existed.

The entire space instantly became empty.

Everything returned to its original state.

The potion's effect had completely worn off.

The soul-tearing pain and the feeling of being completely drained vanished without a trace.

Lin Yu floated quietly in place.

Before him, only twenty-two grayish-white cards remained, floating desolately.

Two were the Source Cards, and the other twenty were the limit his original Spiritual Power could maintain.

Two to the twentieth power.

One million.

This number, which he was once proud of and considered his greatest trump card, seemed so... insignificant at this moment.

Lin Yu reached out and gently touched one of the cards.

A cold sensation was felt.

The magnificence of that golden sea and that demon god named "two to the six hundred and twentieth power" were still clearly imprinted in his mind.