164: Chapter 165 I bought the Heavenly Dao, and this stupid game is now cleared instantly.
The edges of the photo were curled.
A dried-up patch of chili bean paste was stuck on it, giving off a sour, rancid smell.
Qin Yuan pinched the corner of the photo with two fingers.
In the photo was a thin, scrawny young man wearing a dirty white coat, standing in front of a shabby hole-in-the-wall restaurant, tossing a wok.
The flames in the wok shot up half a meter high.
"Just this?"
Qin Yuan tossed the photo onto the desktop. The piece of paper slid a short distance and stopped after hitting a half-finished cup of cold coffee.
He pulled out a wet wipe from the table and scrubbed his thumb vigorously.
The wipe left a yellow grease stain.
"He—he's not simple, Boss."
Gu Qianqian huddled in her gaming chair, chewing on a spicy gluten strip, with specks of oil splattered on the corner of her mouth.
She muttered indistinctly.
"This kid is called something like the Successor of the God of Cooking. The egg fried rice he stirs up in that wok can cure any illness with just one bite."
"Just a while ago, an old man who was on the verge of death ate a bite of his rice and jumped up to run three kilometers."
Gu Qianqian swallowed the spicy strip and burped, the scent of garlic trailing behind it.
"Disgusting."
Qin Yuan tossed the used wet wipe into the trash can.
There was no liner in the bin, and the ball of paper stuck to the grime on the inner wall.
"He uses special effects just to cook? Does he think he's the glowing 'Little Master Chef'?"
Qin Yuan leaned back into his leather chair, the surface emitting a creaking sound of friction.
Afu was picking his teeth with his fingernail nearby.
A piece of meat was stuck between his teeth; after fiddling for a long time, he finally got it out and flicked it onto the floor.
"Young Master, how about I go and sever his hand tendons? Let's see what he uses to toss the wok then."
The old man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
Qin Yuan ignored Afu.
He felt annoyed.
This past month, he had felt like an assembly line worker paid by the piece.
After killing one Soldier King, another cook appeared.
Once the cook was killed, it was likely that someone doing farming, pig raising, or entertainment would pop up next.
It was endless.
The Heavenly Dao was like a crazed photocopier, printing these cheap cheats day and night.
It was too tedious.
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
His fingertips were a bit cold, and the bridge of his nose ached from the pressure.
"System."
Qin Yuan cursed in his heart, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Present."
The synthesized voice in his head had a bit of metallic, electrical static, tickling his eardrums.
"How much Favor Value do I have in my account now?"
Qin Yuan opened his eyes.
A deep blue panel popped up in the top right corner of his vision.
The numbers on it looked like a string of garbled code that never seemed to end.
Various zeros were crammed together, making one's eyes dizzy.
After cleaning out all the global underground forces, financial conglomerates, and the Ancient Martial Arts world, this balance had long since overflowed.
"Is it enough to buy the property rights to the entire Earth?"
Qin Yuan tugged at his tie; the knot was stuck below his Adam's apple, feeling a bit tight.
He ripped off his tie and threw it on the floor.
The System was silent for two seconds.
The humming of the computer tower fan was especially distinct in the quiet study.
"Host authority has reached the highest level: [Causality Law]."
"Available for exchange: Ultimate Authority: [Blue Star Plane Administrator]."
"Price: Clear all current balance."
Qin Yuan laughed.
He rubbed the dark stubble that had just sprouted on his chin; it felt prickly.
He was tired of playing hide-and-seek with this bunch of bugs carrying cheats.
Buying the developer directly and pulling the plug on the server would be much easier.
"Exchange."
Qin Yuan squeezed the two words out from his throat.
"Boss, what—what are you muttering about?"
Gu Qianqian held half a bottle of cola, watching Qin Yuan giggle to himself, feeling a bit creeped out.
"Nothing."
Qin Yuan stood up.
His thigh hit the corner of the desk, causing a sharp pain, and he hissed in a cold breath.
"Ding!"
It felt like a bronze bell in his mind had been struck hard.
The jolt made stars dance before Qin Yuan's eyes, and a wave of nausea washed over him.
"Deducting all Favor Value."
"Causality Law engine overloaded; forcibly stripping the current plane's Heavenly Dao will."
Outside the window, it suddenly turned black.
In broad daylight, the sun was instantly covered as if by a black cloth.
The unlit study was pitch black.
A wild wind whipped up from the ground.
The window glass rattled and slammed against the frame with a "clack-clack" sound in the wind.
"What the f*ck!"
The cola in Gu Qianqian's hand dropped to the floor, black liquid spilling everywhere and bubbling with white foam.
"Did the power go out?!"
She scrambled to find her phone, her elbow knocking over the keyboard on the table.
It wasn't a normal darkness outside.
The clouds were like a pot of overcooked black sesame paste, pressing down very low.
So low that they were about to touch the lightning rod of the office building.
Faint red lightning darted through the clouds, without a sound.
Dogs throughout all of Jiangzhong City were barking frantically, their voices filled with panic.
"Young Master, this celestial phenomenon is not right."
Afu walked to the window in the dark, his hand pressing against the handle of the gun at his waist, the leather of the holster creaking.
"The Heavenly Dao is making a final death struggle."
Qin Yuan walked to the window.
A few withered leaves blown up by the wind were stuck to the glass, covered in mud spots.
He could feel that some core consciousness of this planet was being forcibly dragged by an unreasonable force.
It was resisting.
It summoned lightning, wanting to strike down Qin Yuan, this malignancy.
But it was useless.
The chains of the Causality Law were already around its neck.
Far away on a dilapidated street in the suburbs.
The cook, known as the Successor of the God of Cooking, was holding an iron wok, preparing to stir-fry.
Suddenly.
A crisp sound, like glass shattering, rang out in his mind.
That [Chinese Cuisine System] that had always been directing him to cook shattered directly into dust.
"Damn it, where's my system?!"
He yelled, and the iron wok in his hand slammed onto the gas stove.
Scalding chili oil splashed out, burning his hand and creating a large patch of red blisters.
He rolled on the ground in pain.
In an internet cafe a few streets away.
A young man with dark circles under his eyes was typing code, preparing to hack into a certain country's Pentagon.
"Sizzle."
The computer screen emitted a puff of black smoke, the smell of burnt plastic causing him to cough uncontrollably.
The [God-level Hacker System] in his mind also vanished without a trace.
He sat dazed in the tattered gaming chair, having become a loser who didn't even know how to reinstall a system.
The entire Earth.
All the surviving, miscellaneous cheats, in this instant.
Were all forcibly uninstalled.
"Boom!"
Finally, a clap of thunder sounded in the sky.
A dull rumble.
Like an old man sighing.
The thick, heavy black clouds slowly dispersed, revealing the gray sky behind them.
A white ball of light, only the size of a fist.
Fell down from a crack in the clouds.
Like a ball with a hole in it, it floated downward slowly.
Finally passing through the gap in the half-open window, it landed on the carpet.
It rolled twice and stopped after hitting the toe of Afu's old cloth shoes.
The surface of the light ball was pitted and uneven, flickering with a faint white light, looking like it was about to extinguish at any moment.
"Wha—what is this thing?"
Gu Qianqian turned on her phone's flashlight.
The harsh white light shone on the ball of light.
"This is the Heavenly Dao that has always been causing us trouble."
Qin Yuan walked over.
His leather shoes stepped on the large, wet patch of carpet, making a "squelch" sound.
He lifted his foot.
The hard-soled leather shoe stepped unceremoniously onto the light ball.
The light ball emitted a faint hum, as if begging for mercy.
Qin Yuan ignored it, applying a bit of pressure with his sole and grinding it twice.
He crushed it until it deformed, like a flattened piece of dough.
"Alright, stop playing dead."
Qin Yuan lowered his head.
"From today on, this place belongs to me. You just honestly act as a decoration, understand?"
The light ball flickered twice and then stopped moving completely.
It obediently surrendered.
"Boss, you just stepped on the Heavens?"
Gu Qianqian's mouth hung open, a trace of cola still hanging from the corner of her lips.
"What's so strange about that?"
Qin Yuan moved his foot away.
He bent down to pick up the shriveled light ball and tossed it into his pocket.
There was half a pack of unfinished cigarettes in his pocket, squeezed together with the light ball.
"Go on, turn on the lights; it's bad for the eyes in the dark."
Qin Yuan kicked the chair that had fallen over nearby.
Afu walked to the wall in the dark and pressed the switch for the backup power.
"Click."
A few emergency lights turned on, the light a bit yellowish.
The room was in a mess.
Everywhere were scattered documents and overturned snack bags.
"Creak."
The study door was pushed open from the outside.
The door hinge lacked oil, the sound dry and harsh.
Su Qingxue and Liang Ainuo walked in.
Su Qingxue was wearing a thin silk nightgown, a coat draped over her shoulders.
The buttons on the coat were fastened incorrectly.
Liang Ainuo's high heels clicked sharply on the wooden floor.
The heels were a bit worn, causing her to walk with a slight limp.
"Master, the power went out just now; it was quite frightening."
Liang Ainuo swayed her waist as she walked over.
The strong scent of perfume on her masked the smell of dust in the room.
She directly hooked her arm into Qin Yuan's, rubbing her chest against him.
Su Qingxue bit her lower lip at the side.
There was a small piece of cracked, dead skin on her lip, and she bit it until a trace of blood appeared.
She stepped forward and reached out to help Qin Yuan straighten the collar he had messed up earlier.
"It's fine; the voltage was just unstable."
Qin Yuan reached out and put his arm around Su Qingxue's waist.
His fingers pinched the soft flesh on her waist.
Su Qingxue blushed, lowering her head without pulling away.
"Afu."
Qin Yuan looked at the butler, who was picking up the trash can nearby.
"Go book plane tickets. I'm tired of staying in this crappy place; let's go to another country for a vacation."
"Very well, Young Master."
Afu threw the paper ball into the trash can and straightened his somewhat hunched back.
"Which country would you like to go to?"
"Just find any tropical island, one with a beach."
Qin Yuan, with his arms around the two women, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
The sky outside had completely brightened.
Without the dark clouds, the sky was a dazzling blue.
The morning rush hour in Jiangzhong City had begun, and the roads were lined with long queues of cars.
The sound of car horns blared together, annoying to the ear.
On this planet, whether it was hidden sects or cheaters with systems.
They had all been cleaned up by him completely.
Even the management rights of the Heavenly Dao were tucked in his pocket, placed alongside that half-pack of cheap cigarettes.
There would be no more damn Child of Destiny coming to bother him.
He had effectively cleared this Earth dungeon.
"Boss, no one on Earth can beat you anymore; how boring will it be from now on?"
Gu Qianqian held a mop, wiping up the cola on the floor.
The mop gave off a sour, rancid smell.
Qin Yuan didn't turn back.
He looked at his own blurry reflection on the glass window.
Deep in his eyes, a bit of unfulfilled ambition was hidden.
He reached out and pointed at the sky through the glass.
In broad daylight, the faint outline of a half-moon could be seen in the sky.
"Earth is cleared."
Qin Yuan grinned, smiling and revealing his white, sharp-looking teeth.
"Up there in the sky, aren't there still so many stars I haven't been to yet?"
(End of Book)