Chapter 33: The Pacifier of the Gods
Location: The Void Piercer – The Captain's Quarters (Nursery)
The most dangerous vessel in the galaxy, capable of destroying stars and bridging dimensions, had been reduced to a daycare center.
"He's crying! He's going to cry!" Feng Xi panicked, diving behind a sofa made of S-Rank leather. "Everyone take cover! Sonic boom imminent!"
In the center of the room, Jiang Xing—the Crown Prince of the Galaxy—was scrunching up his face. His tiny fists, capable of crushing diamonds, were clenching. His Golden Crown pulsed ominously.
"He's just bored," Jiang Chen said, sweating. He was holding a rattle.
It wasn't a normal rattle. It was the Skull of the Crimson Emperor, washed, polished, and filled with Adamantite beads.
"Look, Xing'er! Shake shake!" Jiang Chen waved the skull.
Baby Xing looked at the skull. He reached out and crushed it into powder.
Then he opened his mouth.
"WAAAAAH!"
BOOM.
A shockwave of pure Spirit Realm energy exploded from the crib. The S-Rank sofa disintegrated. The reinforced walls of the ship buckled outward. The artificial gravity generator groaned and shut down.
"Shields!" Mo You screamed, tackling Jiang Chen to protect him (even though he was EX-Rank).
The Void Piercer tumbled through space, its sensors blinded by the tantrum of a toddler.
"He needs a pacifier!" Jiang Chen yelled over the psychic screaming. "Something he can't break!"
"I have one!" Mo You crawled across the floor, fighting the gravity waves. She pulled out a hilt.
It was the handle of a broken Divine Sword she had looted from the Machine King's vault. The blade was gone, but the hilt was made of Neutronium.
"Chew on this!" Mo You jammed the hilt into the baby's mouth.
Chomp.
Jiang Xing bit down. The Neutronium held.
The crying stopped.
Jiang Xing sucked on the sword hilt contentedly, his eyes (one black hole, one blue sun) blinking slowly. The destructive aura retracted back into his body.
"Safe," Jiang Chen collapsed on the floor. "Raising a God is harder than fighting a war."
"He has your temper," Mo You noted, smoothing her disheveled hair.
"And your appetite," Jiang Chen retorted.
"Captain," the Ship AI's voice crackled, sounding traumatized. "We have arrived at the coordinates. The Great Barrier is ahead."
Jiang Chen stood up, dusting off his clothes. He picked up his son, who was happily gnawing on the Divine Hilt.
"Let's go see the neighbors," Jiang Chen said. "Hopefully, they have baby food."
Location: The Galactic Core – The Broken Barrier
The view from the bridge was apocalyptic.
The Great Barrier—the red wall that had separated the Outer Rim from the Core for a million years—was gone. In its place was a massive field of debris: shattered red crystals floating in the void.
Beyond the debris lay the Galactic Core.
It was a region of blinding white light, surrounded by a nebula of pure darkness. The density of mana here was suffocating. It wasn't gas; it was liquid mana floating in space.
"Warning," the AI announced. "Multiple signatures detected. Rank: Divine."
Jiang Chen looked at the tactical map.
Blocking the path to the White Light were nine massive shadows.
The Nine Remaining Void Lords. (Since #11 and the Crimson/Machine proxies were gone).
They weren't hiding. They were waiting in a phalanx formation.
"THE MOUSE... BRINGS ITS SPAWN," a voice boomed across the vacuum. It sounded like a thousand mirrors shattering.
Stepping forward from the line of shadows was a humanoid entity made entirely of reflective chrome. It had no face, only a smooth, mirrored surface.
[Boss Detected: Void Lord #9 – The Mirror King]
[Rank: Mid-Tier Divine]
[Ability: Absolute Reflection.]
"YOU CANNOT PASS," The Mirror King declared. "THE SOURCE IS OURS. WE WILL CONSUME IT, AND THEN WE WILL CONSUME YOUR CHILD."
Jiang Chen stood on the bridge, Baby Xing strapped to his chest in a Tactical Baby Carrier made of Void Dragon leather.
"They want to eat you, Xing'er," Jiang Chen cooed. "Isn't that rude?"
Jiang Xing spat out his Neutronium pacifier. He looked at the shiny Mirror King. He reached out his chubby hands.
"Shinyyyy!" The baby gurgled. The word carried a psychic command that shook the stars.
"He wants the shiny toy," Jiang Chen interpreted. "Well, Daddy will get it for you."
"Mo You, take the helm. Keep the other eight Lords busy with the main cannon. Feng Xi, boost the shields."
"I'm going out."
Jiang Chen teleported.
Battle: The Sovereign vs. The Mirror King
Jiang Chen appeared in the void, floating ten kilometers away from the Mirror King.
The Mirror King laughed. His body shifted, reflecting Jiang Chen's image perfectly.
"I AM YOU," The Mirror King mocked. "I REFLECT ALL DAMAGE. STRIKE ME, AND YOU STRIKE YOURSELF."
"Is that so?" Jiang Chen smiled.
He drew Nightfall.
"Trinity Art: Star Breaker."
He slashed. A beam of white Sovereign energy shot toward the Mirror King.
The Mirror King didn't dodge. He puffed out his chest.
PING.
The beam hit the mirror surface and bounced back instantly, with double the speed.
Jiang Chen tilted his head. The reflected beam grazed his cheek, cutting a lock of hair.
"SEE?" The Mirror King gloated. "YOU CANNOT DEFEAT YOUR REFLECTION."
"Interesting," Jiang Chen touched the cut. It healed instantly. "You reflect energy and physical attacks."
"But can you reflect... hunger?"
Jiang Chen looked down at the baby strapped to his chest.
"Xing'er. Dinner."
Jiang Chen flew closer.
"FOOL!" The Mirror King shouted. "I WILL REFLECT YOUR APPROACH!"
A massive wall of force—Jiang Chen's own flying momentum reflected back at him—slammed into them.
But Jiang Chen didn't stop. He activated Grandmist Authority.
"Law: Bypass."
He phased through the reflected force. He appeared right in front of the Mirror King's chest.
"Say ahhh."
Jiang Chen held the baby up to the Mirror King's smooth, shiny face.
Jiang Xing saw his own reflection in the Void Lord.
The baby blinked.
The reflection blinked.
The baby frowned. Why was the other baby not playing?
Jiang Xing got annoyed.
"MINE!"
The baby opened his mouth.
A vortex—a Spirit Realm Singularity—opened in his throat.
The Mirror King tried to reflect it. He tried to reflect the suction back at the baby.
But you cannot reflect a Black Hole. A Black Hole eats light. It eats reflections.
"WHAT... WHAT IS THIS?!" The Mirror King panicked. His chrome surface began to ripple. "MY REFLECTION... IS BEING Eaten?!"
The suction force ripped the chrome plating off the Void Lord's face. It wasn't metal; it was condensed Void Essence.
The essence streamed into Baby Xing's mouth.
Slurp.
"NO! STOP! I AM A GOD!" The Mirror King shrieked, flailing his arms.
"You're a lollipop," Jiang Chen corrected.
The baby inhaled deeply.
SCHLOOP.
The entire upper torso of the Mirror King—the head, the chest, the core—was sucked into the tiny infant's mouth.
The baby swallowed. He looked a bit dazed.
Then, he hiccuped.
HIC.
A beam of pure rainbow light shot out of the baby's mouth, vaporizing the lower half of the Mirror King's corpse.
[Enemy Defeated: Void Lord #9]
[XP Gained: 0 (Host is max level)]
[Baby XP Gained: Level Up!]
[Jiang Xing: Spirit Lamp (Stage 1) -> Spirit Lamp (Stage 2)]
Jiang Chen patted the baby's back. "Good job. Did it taste like glass?"
He looked up at the remaining Eight Void Lords.
They had stopped advancing. They were staring at the baby with genuine terror.
"THE CHILD..." Void Lord #1, a massive shadow wreathed in blue flames, spoke. "THE CHILD IS... THE PREDATOR."
"RETREAT! TO THE SOURCE!"
The Eight Lords turned and fled. They didn't fight. They ran back into the white light of the Core.
"They're running," Mo You's voice came over the comms. "Cowards."
"They aren't cowards," Jiang Chen said, looking at the blinding white light. "They're guarding the pantry."
He teleported back to the ship.
"Set course for the White Light," Jiang Chen commanded, putting the sleeping (and full) baby back in the crib.
"We're going into the Source."
Location: Inside the Primordial Source
The Void Piercer passed through the wall of white light.
The sensors went blind. The cameras showed only static.
"Visuals lost!" Feng Xi yelled. "I'm flying blind!"
"Trust the bloodline," Jiang Chen said, closing his eyes. "The ship knows the way."
Slowly, the white light faded.
They emerged into a... garden.
It wasn't a planet. It was a flat plane floating in nothingness. There were waterfalls made of liquid gold. Trees made of crystal. And in the center stood a massive Tower.
The Tower of Origin.
But surrounding the Tower were the Eight Void Lords.
And floating above the Tower... was a figure.
It wasn't a monster. It was a man.
He had grey skin, six wings, and a halo of broken black stars.
[Boss Detected: The Void Emperor]
[Rank: ???]
[Identity: The Fallen Sovereign.]
Jiang Chen walked to the viewport.
"Cang Yu," Jiang Chen whispered, recognizing the face from the library hologram. "The First Sovereign."
"He didn't die," Mo You realized, horror in her voice. "He was corrupted. He became the Void."
The Void Emperor opened his eyes. They were pitch black.
"WELCOME, BROTHER," The Emperor smiled. "I SEE YOU BROUGHT DESSERT."
He looked straight at the baby.
[Final Arc Begins: The War of Two Sovereigns.]
Jiang Chen drew Nightfall.
"He wants the baby?" Jiang Chen's aura exploded, cracking the viewport glass.
"He'll have to go through me."