"Su Nian!"
Xie Chen's voice, for the first time, lost the absolute calm befitting a god, tinged with a clear, almost space-tearing panic. He caught Su Nian's limp body; that soft, warm shell was now as light as a feather, all vitality and consciousness seemingly drained away in an instant, leaving only a chilling coldness that made one's heart race.
That gray thread was the final counterattack of the "Zeroing Protocol," a causal attack that transcended time and space, launched by the main god after condensing its own "Ending" rule to the extreme, targeting Su Nian, the "unique constant"! It did not destroy her body, but directly acted on her concept of "existence" itself, aiming to banish and disintegrate her consciousness into the void of rules.
Almost at the same instant Su Nian's consciousness plummeted, the divine power around Xie Chen, which had just been stabilized by the bond, suddenly erupted! It was no longer a gentle flow, but a torrent bursting its banks! Holding Su Nian, he took a step forward, his figure instantly blurring, directly breaking through the spatial limitations of the divine domain fragment, and appearing at the core of the golden rule network that was being supported by the light of his bond with Su Nian and was fighting against the "void"!
"Protect her."
He whispered to the void, not to 088, but to the very rules that had been born from their emotions. The next moment, countless more dazzling and complex golden divine runes surged from his body, like the most loyal guardians, layer upon layer, enveloping and sealing Su Nian's body, forming a golden cocoon of light that was absolutely isolated from the outside and solidified time and space, suspended at the most stable node of the rule network.
Having done all this, Xie Chen didn't even glance back. He closed his eyes, and all his consciousness, will, and even the core of his soul transformed into a pure golden stream of light. Following the faint trajectory of the remaining gray thread pointing to the origin of Su Nian's consciousness, he recklessly crashed into that abyss of consciousness—a place where even gods could lose their way!
Su Nian felt herself falling.
Endlessly, she plummeted into the endless darkness. All around her was a cold, deathly void—no light, no sound, no concept of time, not even a sense of self. Memories, emotions, everything belonging to "Su Nian" were like grains of sand thrown into the ocean, silently being decomposed and assimilated by this void.
Is this what "zeroing out" means? It's not death, but something far more terrifying than death... never having existed at all.
Just as her consciousness was about to be completely extinguished in this abyss of absolute "nothingness", a blazing golden light, like the first ray of light after the creation of the world, tore through the eternal darkness and forcibly entered this desolate place!
The golden light exploded in her almost frozen consciousness, warm, familiar, and carrying an undeniable domineering power and... a kind of anxiety that made her want to cry.
"Su Nian!"
Xie Chen's voice no longer penetrated her eardrums, but resounded directly in the deepest part of her consciousness, like a great bell, shattering the surrounding nothingness that was trying to erode her.
Golden light, centered on her consciousness, rapidly spread, constructing a small, temporary domain defined by his divine will and rules within this abyss of nothingness. Here, there was faint light, flowing energy, and the foundation upon which the concept of "Su Nian" could temporarily exist.
His divine consciousness materialized "before" her, still possessing that incomparably handsome appearance, but his eyes were as sharp as an unsheathed peerless divine weapon, tightly "locking" her illusory consciousness.
"Grab me!" His divine sense reached out to her, his tone carrying an unyielding command.
Su Nian's almost fading consciousness instinctively moved toward the only source of light and warmth, reaching out her "hand".
Just as their thoughts and consciousness were about to touch—
The entire abyss of consciousness was violently distorted and transformed!
The cold nothingness receded, replaced by a boundless, cold ocean of data composed of countless flowing 0s and 1s! In the center of this ocean, a colossal, cold creation, composed of pure logic circuits and chains of rules, pulsating and calculating like a brain, slowly emerged.
The Core of the Main God!
It actually projected a portion of its will directly into the depths of Su Nian's consciousness! This place was no longer a simple space of consciousness, but had become the ultimate battlefield of rules and logic!
"Target: Xie Chen (Ancient God Codename: Entropy). Final Protocol Activated: Consciousness Cage, Logical Decomposition." A cold, emotionless, synthesized electronic voice resounded from all directions, each syllable carrying absolute power of rules, transforming into countless gray data chains that coiled towards Xie Chen's divine sense! These chains were not offensive energy, but rather rule-based weapons containing ultimate concepts such as "logical paradox," "existential questioning," and "emotional nullification"!
At the same time, Su Nian heard the whispers of the Supreme God, filled with seductive and twisted power, directly affecting the core of her consciousness:
"Special sample Su Nian, the core emotional link 'constant' is unstable. Initiate the final purification process."
"Cognitive Coverage: Target Xie Chen, definition corrected to 'highest priority abnormal virus that needs to be removed'."
"Execute the command: assist in the cleansing to obtain 'true freedom' and 'perfect rebirth'."
A powerful, foreign force began to surge in, attempting to overwrite and alter all of Su Nian's memories and feelings toward Xie Chen, twisting that deep-seated bond and "need" into cold hostility and a purge order!
"Don't even think about it!"
Xie Chen's divine sense roared in fury! His body shone with golden light, and the data chains that had been binding him trembled and collapsed the moment they touched the golden light, as if they had encountered their nemesis! His authority over the "definition" of rules, even at the level of consciousness, still had a natural suppression over the logical weapons of the main god!
However, he could not immediately and completely eliminate the erosion of Su Nian's consciousness by the main god! He saw Su Nian's illusory consciousness begin to tremble violently, her face showing a struggle and pain, and the hand that was reaching out to him became hesitant and even began to retreat slightly!
The Supreme God is attacking their weakest and most crucial link—Su Nian's will—in the most vicious way!
"Su Nian! Look at me!" Xie Chen's divine sense ignored the even more powerful data attacks that were gathering around them again. His gaze was fixed on those eyes that were beginning to show confusion and bewilderment. His voice pierced through the seductive whispers of the main god, directly striking her soul:
"Remember who you are!"
"Remember the you who laughed at my clumsiness!"
"Remember the one who told me 'I need'!"
"Remember that... no matter how many times we reincarnate, we are destined to meet—Su Nian!"
Every word he uttered seemed to carry the weight of the worlds they had experienced together, the chains and tests of the world of domineering CEOs, the ice and redemption of the world of immortals and heroes, the eternal covenant of the vampire castle, the standing shoulder to shoulder of the slave dynasty... All the images, all the emotions, all the "reality" transformed into a warm current, forcefully crashing against the cold commands that the main god had imposed!
The confusion and bewilderment in Su Nian's eyes rippled violently like a lake tossed with a stone. Her pain became even more pronounced, a fierce struggle for control of her consciousness was underway!
Xie Chen watched her struggle in agony, his eyes churning with a mixture of overwhelming rage and heartache. He knew this couldn't continue. Passive defense would only cause Su Nian more pain.
He suddenly raised his head and looked at the cold data core composed of the will of the main god. In his golden eyes, the last trace of hesitation and gentleness completely disappeared, leaving only pure, divine killing intent that transcended all things!
"You want to play by the rules?"
"You want to touch her?"
His divine consciousness began to burn! Not in destruction, but to transform his own existence, will, and all his emotions and ties to Su Nian into the purest and most ultimate "definition" authority!
Instead of trying to crack those data attacks, he concentrated all his power, all his thoughts, all his madness and obsession into a single point, transforming it into an invisible and intangible spear that seemed capable of judging the heavens and rewriting everything—the Spear of Rules!
The spearhead points directly at the core of the main god!
The ultimate showdown in the abyss of consciousness is about to begin!
And this is merely... the prelude to the war to slay the gods.
(End of Chapter 171)
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