160: Chapter 160 Concept Erasure, From Now On, You Are No More

"Charcoal-grilled Void—serving now!"

The Skeleton Doll's shrill voice echoed throughout the entire God Realm.

It was now wearing a custom chef's uniform, topped with a tall white hat, and holding a massive silver tray with both hands—on the tray lay that very Void Core, still spinning frantically in an attempt to break free.

The core's surface was covered in fine cracks, and from every crack seeped black "Void Pus." As the pus dripped, it even began to erase the tray itself!

However, a circle of golden runes was engraved on the bottom of the tray—the final seal left by the First Generation Underworld Lord. Combined with the energy of the samsara seal Lin Chen had just injected, it forcibly locked down this core that was capable of devouring all things.

"Step one," the Skeleton Doll explained in a professional tone, "remove the impurities."

It raised a kitchen knife condensed from light and aimed it at the core—

One clean cut!

"Aaaaagh—!!!"

A shrill scream, far beyond the comprehension of living beings, erupted from deep within the core!

That wasn't a sound; it was the agony of existence itself being sliced!

With that one cut, the core was split in two.

What gushed out from the incision wasn't blood, but the shattered afterimages of countless planes!

There were the final prayers of a burning stellar civilization!

There was the frozen despair of billions of believers from a devoured divine kingdom!

There was the final roar of an ancient dragon as it dissipated into the void!

Every afterimage represented a civilization that had been completely erased.

As these afterimages sprayed out, they did not dissipate. Instead, they were forcibly gathered, compressed, and purified by the seal at the bottom of the tray—

Finally, they condensed into pitch-black crystals with golden patterns on their surfaces—Plane Crystals!

"These are..." Zhang Hao looked at the crystals, his voice trembling.

"The 'Essence of Existence' of all the planes devoured by the void," Su Qingyu said softly. "Each crystal represents the ownership of an entire plane."

"Now," Lin Chen said, "they are mine."

He raised his hand, and the crystals automatically flew before him, lining up neatly into three rows.

The first row had ninety-seven crystals—all God-level planes where gods had once been born.

The second row had three hundred and sixty-four crystals—High-level planes that had birthed glorious civilizations.

The third row... one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three crystals.

All of them were small and medium-sized planes; some had been devoured by the void before they could even evolve intelligent life.

"A total of two thousand three hundred and fourteen Plane Crystals," Lin Chen finished his count. "Plus the God Realm and the Seventy-third Floor of the Abyss..."

He looked at Gramer, who was still stuck in mid-air:

"Your debt can now be settled with assets."

Gramer's giant mouth twitched violently. "My... my Abyss..."

"Your Abyss is mine now," Lin Chen said calmly. "As an asset for debt repayment, I'll acquire it at an eighty percent market rate—just enough to offset the 3,781 trillion nether talismans you owe me."

"Do you have any objections?"

Gramer: "..."

Did he dare to have an objection?!

Didn't he see that the Void Devourer had just been sliced into pieces?!

"No... no objections..." Gramer's voice was full of tears.

"Very good," Lin Chen nodded. "Sign it."

An "Asset Debt Repayment Agreement" flew to Gramer's mouth.

Using his last bit of strength, he bit down on it, leaving a tooth mark—the unique contract seal of an Abyssal Lord.

The agreement was established.

All assets under Gramer's name were officially transferred to the Underworld Group.

As for Gramer himself...

"Regarding you," Lin Chen looked at him, "as the former holder of 'non-performing assets,' I give you two choices."

"One, go serve your sentence in the Eighteenth Level of the Underworld Prison. The term... well, based on the number of gods you've devoured, it's about 9.7 million years."

"Two, sign an 'Indefinite Labor Contract' and work for the Underworld Group to repay your debt. Your salary will cover the interest, and once the debt is cleared, you'll be free."

Gramer didn't even think. "I choose two! I'll work!!"

He would rather work until the end of the universe than be locked in the Underworld Prison—he'd heard that place could drive even an Abyssal Lord insane with torture!

"A wise choice." Lin Chen waved his hand, and another contract flew out.

The moment Gramer finished signing—

His massive body began to shrink rapidly!

From a giant mouth spanning half the God Realm, he shrank to the size of a regular building, then to the size of a car, and finally...

He shrank into a two-meter-tall humanoid creature covered in black scales, dragging a scorpion tail behind him.

"This... this is my... human form?" Gramer looked at his hands, incredulous.

"For the convenience of working," Lin Chen said. "Report to the Underworld Group's HR department tomorrow. Your position is... 'Director of the Abyssal Resource Extraction Department.'"

"Work hard. There are bonuses for good performance."

Gramer: "...Yes, Boss."

The entire field was dead silent.

The remaining gods of the God Realm watched as the Abyssal Lord, who once struck terror into countless planes, now nodded obediently like a new hire. Their worldviews completely shattered.

A dramatic reversal:

"Alright, the main course is handled."

Lin Chen looked back at the silver tray.

The Skeleton Doll had finished the slicing—the Void Core was cut into exactly twelve slices, each as thin as a cicada's wing, arranged in the shape of a flower on the tray.

"Now, moving on to the cooking phase."

The Skeleton Doll picked up a blowtorch—not an ordinary one; the nozzle was engraved with the emblem of the Technological Cultivation United Empire.

"This is a 'Rule Blowtorch' modified from a Seventh-generation Conceptual Purifier," the doll explained. "It can perform 'harmless processing' on any conceptual-level existence."

It pulled the trigger.

Boom!

Pure white flames erupted, enveloping all the core slices!

"Aaaaagh—!!!"

An even shriller scream broke out!

The slices twisted and struggled frantically in the flames, and countless faces surfaced on them—the remnant souls of all the beings the Void Devourer had ever consumed!

They wailed and cursed in the fire, and then, one by one...

They began to smile.

Smiles of liberation.

"So..." Michael murmured, "those devoured souls... didn't completely disappear..."

"They were just imprisoned deep within the Void Core," Su Qingyu said. "Now, they can finally be free."

The flames burned for exactly three minutes.

When the fire died out, what remained on the tray—

Were twelve pure golden, semi-transparent "crystal slices" emitting a soft light.

Each slice contained at least two hundred liberated souls.

They slept peacefully inside, waiting for the chance to re-enter the cycle of reincarnation.

"Charcoal-grilled Void, complete."

The Skeleton Doll brought the tray to Lin Chen.

Lin Chen picked up a slice, looked at it, and then—

Popped it into his mouth.

Everyone: "!!!"

"Boss, you—!" Zhang Hao almost fainted.

But Lin Chen chewed a couple of times and swallowed.

Then, he closed his eyes.

Three seconds later, he opened them.

Countless fragmented memories flashed in his eyes—the history of all the planes the Void Devourer had consumed.

"The taste... is not bad."

He said.

Then, he did something even more shocking—

He pushed the remaining eleven slices to the center of the table.

"Let's all eat together."

He looked at all the surviving God Realm beings, Reformist Faction, and even Gramer:

"This is a 'conceptual-level supplement.'"

"Eating one slice grants permanent immunity to void erosion and provides an opportunity for 'conceptual evolution.'"

"Who wants some?"

After a brief silence—

"Me!" Michael was the first to raise his hand.

"Me!" Nightingale followed closely behind.

"Me!" "Me!" "Me—!!"

Even Gramer asked cautiously, "Boss... can I eat one too?"

"Sure," Lin Chen said. "You're an employee now; there are benefits."

The distribution began.

After each crystal slice was swallowed, golden light erupted from the consumer, and their aura surged at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Michael's broken six wings regrew, becoming even more solid and divine!

Nightingale evolved directly from an angel into a "Holy Flame Arbiter," mastering a portion of the Laws of Judgment!

Even the abyssal aura on Gramer was mostly purified. His scales turned dark gold, and the barbs on his scorpion tail disappeared. He actually looked... somewhat majestic?

A sense of thrilling horror:

The moment the last crystal slice was distributed—

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]

The system in Lin Chen's mind suddenly erupted with an unprecedented red alert!

It wasn't the usual mechanical voice, but a shriek filled with clear terror!

[High-dimensional existence detected awakening!]

[Coordinates: Outside the multiverse, deep within the 'Conceptual Graveyard'!]

[Target characteristics: Same origin as the 'Void Devourer,' but energy level is at least three orders of magnitude higher!]

[Reason for awakening: Detected the disappearance of the 'Void Devourer' signal!]

[Inference: The target is the 'Void Devourer's'... Mother Body!]

[Estimated arrival time: Unknown (Target has broken through conventional space-time concepts)]

[Threat Level: World-Ending+]

[Recommendation: Immediately flee the current plane and initiate the 'Kindling Project' to preserve the seeds of civilization!]

The moment the system's prompt fell—

The entire God Realm suddenly began to lose its color.

It wasn't the gradual fading from before; it was instantaneous!

It was as if someone had pressed the world's "grayscale button." Within a second, all colors vanished!

Only pure black, white, and gray remained!

Immediately after, all living beings felt—

Their "sense of existence" was being diluted!

Like a drop of ink falling into the ocean, they were rapidly disappearing!

"This... this is..." Michael looked at his semi-transparent hands, his voice trembling.

"Another one..." Gramer's face was pale, "and... much stronger... than the one just now..."

Even Su Qingyu began to turn transparent!

"Lin Chen..." She looked at him, true fear showing in her eyes for the first time. "We..."

Lin Chen sat in his chair, motionless.

He stared at the system prompt for a long time.

Then, he smiled.

It wasn't a forced smile; it was a genuine... smile of relief.

"Finally..."

He said softly:

"The main player has arrived."

The hook:

He stood up and walked to the center of the now completely grayscale world.

He looked up at the sky—

There was nothing there.

No eyes, no vortex, no crack.

Only an absolute... where even the concept of "void" did not exist...

Blank space.

But Lin Chen knew It had come.

That ultimate existence that had devoured countless Void Devourers, countless planes, and perhaps even the concept of the "multiverse" itself...

The Ultimate Existence.

It had no form, no consciousness, no purpose.

It was simply... feeding.

And now, It had noticed this plane that was particularly rich in "food."

It also noticed...

In this "food," there was a particularly conspicuous—

Little bug.

Lin Chen took a deep breath—even though air no longer existed.

Then, he raised his hand.

Not to defend, not to attack.

Instead...

He pulled a coin from his pocket.

A coin with a face value of 1 nether talisman.

He flipped the coin and looked at that blank space.

His voice was calm, yet it made the entire grayscale world tremble:

"Since you're already here..."

"How about..."

"Making a deal?"

The coin was tossed lightly by him.

It traced a perfect arc in the air.

Flying toward—

That absolute blank space.

And from deep within the blankness.

For the first time.

Came the sound of...

Chewing.