Endgame 01

Fang Zhiyi felt his soul being torn apart the entire time. He knew Little Hei was transporting him at top speed to leap onto one of his own avatars. They had very little time—perhaps no time at all.

The scenes before him kept shifting: erupting volcanoes, bustling streets, and bitterly cold ice peaks.

After passing through who knows how many worlds, Fang Zhiyi's vision suddenly went black.

"We're here!" Little Hei's voice was filled with the joy of victory.

Fang Zhiyi opened his eyes. What greeted him was a pitch-black space. He looked down at his feet—he was standing on a black, transparent platform with no visible boundaries. When he looked up at the sky overhead, Fang Zhiyi was stunned.

Above him stretched a vast canopy of stars, but upon closer inspection, they weren't stars at all—they were world portals, densely packed beyond count!

"Just as I thought. Trying to cut off its energy source to deal with it would take ten thousand years and still not be enough."

Little Hei said nothing, merely tugging at Fang Zhiyi. When Fang Zhiyi turned his head, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

Not far away, a figure was standing there. The person seemed not to have noticed their arrival, simply staring absorbed at a massive circular disk before him. When Fang Zhiyi laid his eyes on that disk, a wave of familiarity washed over him.

Mechanical wiring intertwined with pulsing flesh formed the disk's base. It looked like a monster of machine and meat combined—just like... the systems Little Hei had devoured before.

A flash of light streaked down from one of the world portals. A system descended rapidly and landed smoothly on the disk. The man raised a withered finger and tapped on the disk's surface. In no time, the system changed course and flew off toward another world.

Fang Zhiyi also noticed that countless thin threads extended from the disk, their other ends connecting to the portals of various worlds.

But just as Fang Zhiyi stepped closer, the man let out a grotesque chuckle.

"Heh... heh... heh..." His voice was grating, carrying a nails-on-chalkboard screech. "So you came after all."

Fang Zhiyi halted, staring at the man.

The man slowly raised his head. It was a shriveled face, like a corpse left too long without moisture. It startled Fang Zhiyi. The man glanced at Fang Zhiyi, then finally settled his gaze on Little Hei.

"Did you really think your little trick could fool me?" He laughed again. "Using that defective's petty methods, corroding my systems to track me down—hahahaha."

Little Hei's eyes went wide as saucers.

"The hell you call me defective! Who are you calling defective!"

The mummified man shook his head. "No, you are defective. I never expected you to survive, let alone evolve your own consciousness. But that doesn't change the fact that you're a failed experiment..."

"Enough talk! Let's fight!" Little Hei ground his teeth. Fang Zhiyi suddenly lunged forward as well. If they waited for that thing to return, they'd lose their chance. For now, the priority was to subdue this man...

But as his fist came down, the man let out an "Oh?"—half curious, half mocking.

Fang Zhiyi's punch was caught effortlessly in the man's desiccated palm. Fang Zhiyi's heart skipped a beat. This punch could have felled even a Golden-Winged Roc! He hadn't held back—he'd thrown it with one hundred percent of his strength!

And this man had caught it like it was nothing?

No time to dwell on it. Fang Zhiyi immediately changed tactics. After all, his mind contained nearly every fighting style imaginable.

But no matter which angle he attacked from, the man blocked it with a single hand.

"Hiss..." Fang Zhiyi sucked in a sharp breath.

The man finally deigned to look at him properly. But the next instant, Fang Zhiyi's vision blurred. Before he could react, the man's palm was already pressed against his chest.

A colossal force slammed into him, nearly shattering Fang Zhiyi's soul.

The man didn't pursue Fang Zhiyi as he crumpled to the ground.

"How nostalgic... these moves of yours. I know them all."

Fang Zhiyi stared at the man in shock, then a thought struck him: "You—you're a transmigrator too!"

The man paused briefly, then nodded with a smile. "It's been ages since I heard that word. To be precise, I am the god of all you transmigrators."

"God? Bullshit—" Little Hei suddenly lashed out with his tentacles. But a thunderous roar cut him off. The colossal monster they'd briefly trapped tore through space and crashed headfirst into the area! Little Hei was sent flying.

The man didn't even glance that way. He kept his eyes on Fang Zhiyi. "A long time ago, I transmigrated into a world full of danger. I didn't understand why I'd been brought there—perhaps it was electrocution, a car accident, or something else. Not that it matters anymore."

He stepped closer, one pace at a time.

"What matters is this: I discovered the thing that had summoned me." He glanced at the massive creature now pursuing Little Hei. "It carried the energy to let people transmigrate, and it needed transmigrators themselves to fuel it."

"Later, through one transmigration after another, I came into contact with more civilizations, greater worlds." The man tapped his own head, his face twisting into a maniacal grin. "And it began to slip out of control. But it didn't matter. I'd already figured out a solution."

"The power of technology is the root that can solve everything."

"I created more systems, recruited transmigrators from all worlds, gave them missions, and had them contribute the energy of their respective worlds."

The man grew more and more animated, even spreading his arms wide as if to embrace the endless sea of portals above.

"Do you know what that feels like? That is the feeling of being a god." The man was clearly in a frenzy. "I am the one true god! The only god!"

Little Hei was caught firmly in the black monster's tentacles.

Fang Zhiyi wanted to help, but the man blocked his path.

"Saving it won't do you any good. It's just a defective product—a failure meant to be destroyed. It has no divine power. Trash!"

"This so-called divine power of yours—is that what you call those points malls?" Fang Zhiyi asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Exactly. Hahahaha. What a magnificent invention, wouldn't you say?" The man laughed with wild abandon.

"Trash," Fang Zhiyi said.

The man's laughter cut off sharply.

"You don't understand. You're nothing but a pitiful ant." The man's tone dripped with condescension.

Little Hei was being devoured bite by bite by the monstrous creature. The man turned to watch.

But Fang Zhiyi suddenly spoke up: "Where is Yue Anyao?"

The man turned back around. "Yue Anyao? Yue Anyao..." He thought for a long moment before finally recalling such a person.

"The one who dared to defy a god? She has already been punished."

A faint glow emanated from Fang Zhiyi's body. All his spiritual energy ignited, and his presence surged skyward.

The man blinked. "Poor fool. You too wish to defy a god?"