351: Chapter 351 An Ancient Warning! The Darkness Before the First Era

The Resurrection Plan had reached its seventh day, and the first batch of 1,000 civilizations had all awakened.

They floated in the void of the Tenth Dimension like countless newly ignited stars, emitting a soft radiance. Those lights were all different—some warm as spring, some cold as ice, some blazing like fire, and some as deep as an abyss. Each ray of light represented a once-forgotten civilization that had now regained its existence.

Lin Chen stood in the center of the void, looking at those lights with a slight curl of his lips.

Zhang Hao leaned in and whispered, "Boss, is this it? Is it over?"

Lin Chen shook his head.

"It's just the beginning. Awakening is only the first step. Rebuilding a civilization takes hundreds or even thousands of years."

Zhang Hao scratched his head.

"So, do we have to stay here and watch over them the whole time?"

Lin Chen looked at him.

"No need. The Foundation will handle it. We're only responsible for the funding and the plans."

Zhang Hao breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good. I thought I'd have to stay here for ten thousand years."

Just as he finished speaking, Lin Chen's communicator suddenly rang.

It was Alpha.

"Boss, I've detected an abnormal energy fluctuation."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of fluctuation?"

Alpha's voice carried a rare hint of gravity:

"It's coming from... before the first epoch."

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes.

"Before the first epoch?"

Alpha nodded.

"Yes. According to our current cosmic model, the first epoch was the starting point of the universe's birth. But the data just now shows that before the first epoch, there existed an even older spatiotemporal layer."

"In that spatiotemporal layer, something is moving."

Lin Chen fell silent for a second.

Then, he smiled.

That smile sent a chill down Zhang Hao's spine—though he didn't know what was happening, he knew that something big was about to occur again.

"Location?" Lin Chen asked.

Alpha pulled up a set of coordinates.

"In the deepest part of the Tenth Dimension, near the Boundary of Nothingness. There's a rift there, and behind it... is an area we cannot detect."

Lin Chen looked at the coordinates and remained silent for three seconds.

Then he opened his communications, connecting Arrogant Dragon, Morgana, and Balrog at the same time.

"Assemble. We've got a new job."

Three minutes later, the six of them stood before the rift in the deepest part of the Tenth Dimension.

The rift was about thirty feet long and five feet wide, its edges shimmering with a ghostly blue light. Behind the rift was a patch of pure darkness—a darkness deeper than nothingness, emptier than Oblivion, and quieter than death.

Arrogant Dragon stared at the rift, clenching his fists.

"Boss, what's inside there?"

Lin Chen didn't answer.

He just watched the rift, as if waiting for something.

Three seconds later, a voice came from within the rift.

The voice was very faint and light, as if drifting from an extremely distant place, yet it also seemed to ring directly in everyone's minds.

"Lin Chen."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow.

"You know me?"

The voice laughed.

The laughter was hair-raising—not because it was terrifying, but because it was too calm, as if chatting about daily life, completely devoid of any other emotion.

"I do. I've known you since the first time you used the Capital Law."

Lin Chen fell silent.

Arrogant Dragon instinctively moved to block Lin Chen.

Frost began to coalesce in Morgana's palm.

Balrog's flames instantly engulfed his entire body.

Alpha's light screen flickered frantically, attempting to analyze the source of the voice.

Zhang Hao clung tightly to Lin Chen's arm, shaking like a leaf.

Lin Chen patted his shoulder, signaling him to let go.

Then he took a step forward and stared at the rift.

"Who are you?"

The voice went silent for a second.

Then it said:

"I am the sole existence from before the first epoch."

"You may call me—'Source'."

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes.

"Source?"

The voice—Source—continued:

"Before the first epoch, the universe was a sea of chaos. There was no time, no space, and no concepts. I was the only consciousness within that chaos."

"I existed for an unknown amount of time, and then, I created the first epoch."

"I created time, space, matter, energy, rules... everything originated from me."

Lin Chen fell silent.

After three seconds, he asked:

"So, what do you want now?"

Source laughed.

For the first time, a hint of emotion appeared in that laughter—was it... admiration?

"I wanted to see you."

"To see what kind of person could use the Capital Law to defy nothingness, resurrect Oblivion, and even dare to speak with me."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow.

"That's it?"

Source fell silent.

Then it said:

"That's it."

Lin Chen laughed.

That smile left Arrogant Dragon and the others stunned—the Boss was actually laughing back at this monster from before the first epoch?

"Well, you've seen me. Are you satisfied?"

Source was silent for a long time.

So long that Zhang Hao thought it had disappeared.

Then it said:

"Satisfied."

"You are very special. More interesting than I imagined."

"Therefore, I have decided to give you an opportunity."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow.

"What opportunity?"

Source's voice became solemn:

"Become my successor."

"Inherit everything from before the first epoch—chaos, nothingness, origin, and end."

"Become the next 'Source'."

There was a deathly silence.

Arrogant Dragon's sword nearly fell to the ground.

Morgana's frost melted instantly.

Balrog's flames were extinguished immediately.

Alpha's light screen went black for three seconds.

Zhang Hao's jaw nearly dislocated.

Lin Chen was silent for three seconds.

Then, he laughed.

That smile was exactly the same as when he faced Oblivion—calm, composed, as if everything was within his grasp.

"Successor?"

Source nodded.

"Yes. I have lived for too long, and I am tired. I need someone to take over."

Lin Chen shook his head.

"I'm not doing it."

Source was stunned.

"You're not doing it? Do you know what a massive stroke of fortune this is?"

Lin Chen looked at him.

"I know. But I'm not doing it."

Source fell silent.

After three seconds, it asked:

"Why?"

Lin Chen pointed to the civilizations reviving behind him.

"Do you see those?"

Source took a look.

"I see them."

Lin Chen continued:

"They waited for three million years for a chance at resurrection. I promised to stay with them for ten thousand years."

"Now you want me to go off and be some 'Source'? What happens to these civilizations?"

Source fell silent.

Lin Chen continued:

"Besides, I have someone waiting for me at home."

"Ten thousand years isn't enough time for me to spend with her."

Source fell silent once more.

For a long, long time.

So long that Zhang Hao thought it was about to snap.

Then it laughed.

In that laughter, there was both relief and respect.

"Lin Chen, you are the first person to ever refuse me."

Lin Chen shrugged.

"You'll get used to it."

Source looked at him with a complex gaze.

"Then I will give you another choice."

"What choice?"

"I won't force you to inherit. But I will leave a mark on you."

"In the future, if you change your mind, you can come find me at any time."

A beam of ghostly blue light shot out from the rift and vanished into the center of Lin Chen's forehead.

Lin Chen only felt a flash of heat at his brow, and then everything returned to normal.

Source's voice rang out one last time:

"The mark will remind you that you still owe me an answer."

"In ten thousand years, I will return."

"By then, I hope you will have made up your mind."

The rift slowly closed.

That patch of pure darkness vanished into the void.

Lin Chen stood where he was, touching the center of his forehead.

Zhang Hao leaned in and asked cautiously:

"Boss, are you okay?"

Lin Chen shook his head.

"I'm fine."

Arrogant Dragon breathed a sigh of relief.

"What exactly was that 'Source'?"

Lin Chen thought for a moment.

"Probably... an old antique, older than all of us."

Morgana looked at him.

"You refused it; weren't you afraid it would get angry?"

Lin Chen laughed.

"Angry? It's lived for so long, what hasn't it seen? My refusal was probably a novelty to it."

He turned and looked toward the civilizations that were currently reviving.

"Let's go. Back to work."

"Ten thousand years... it's only just beginning."