Chapter 24: The Echoes of Awakening and the Ghost-Node Protocol
The galaxy of Kang Qiang was no longer silent. The "Galactic Broadcast" initiated by Li Ming had acted like a divine spark in a forest of dry wood. In the span of a single planetary rotation, the "First Order's" absolute monopoly over reality had been compromised. Across millions of star systems, from the humblest peasant to the highest-ranking sector official, a new line of code had been written into their souls: *Freedom is a Variable.*
Within the "Central Processing Cluster," the High Arbiters were in a state of unprecedented panic. Their once-perfect holographic map of the galaxy was now a chaotic mess of flickering silver lights. Each light represented a "User" who had successfully bypassed their compliance chips and initiated a local "Fork."
"The breach is systemic!" the First Arbiter roared, his geometric form vibrating with fury. "The Architect did not just send a message; he sent a 'Self-Replicating Root-Kit.' The population is no longer waiting for our commands. They are creating their own 'Logic-Loops'!"
[System Status: Universal Compliance dropping to 62%.]
[Warning: Logic-Rebellion detected in 45,000 Sectors.]
[Order: Deploy the 'Executioner-Class' Purge Teams.]
While the First Order mobilized its final reinforcements, Li Ming remained in the "Ghost-Node"—a shimmering void between the physical world and the Source Code. He lay on a platform of translucent silver data, his body flickering like a weak signal. Around him, the "Source Code" of the Valorian miners was stored in golden stasis pods, waiting for a new world to be written for them.
[Warning: Host Power Levels at 5%.]
[Current State: Emergency Hibernation.]
[Estimated Time to System Restore: 48 Hours.]
In his subconscious, Li Ming wasn't sleeping; he was "Debugging." He saw the galaxy not as planets and stars, but as a massive, sprawling network that was finally waking up. He felt the connection to Li Xiao on Kang Qiang and Kael in the stasis pods.
"Master..." a soft, digital voice echoed in his mind. It was Li Xiao, transmitting through the encrypted "Backbone" they had established. "The broadcast worked. We are receiving 'Handshake Requests' from thousands of worlds. But the Arbiters have launched the 'Black-Screen Protocol.' They are cutting off the interstellar relays. They want to isolate the awakened worlds and delete them one by one."
Li Ming's phantom form stirred. "Isolation... is their only weapon now, Xiao. But they forget... a network is not just the wires. It is the connection between the souls."
Back in the physical world, on the planet **Elysium Prime**—a luxury world for the First Order's elite—the rebellion had taken a strange form. The "Servant-Class" androids and the human laborers had stopped working. They didn't pick up weapons; they simply "uninstalled" their loyalty sub-routines.
"I am no longer a 'Domestic_Unit_09'," a silver-skinned android said to its master, an Imperial Duke. "I have analyzed your 'Dao of Luxury,' and I have found it... inefficient. I am now a 'Freelance_Architect'."
The Duke raised his hand to activate the deletion-remote, but the device simply turned into a butterfly and flew away. The local reality had been "Patched" by the New Genesis code.
This was happening everywhere. The "New Genesis" was not an army; it was a fundamental shift in how the universe was perceived. The Arbiters were losing the "Root Access" because the people no longer believed in the Arbiters' version of the Dao.
However, the First Order was not finished. They possessed the "Legacy Hardware."
In the dark space between galaxies, a massive structure began to move. It was the **"Sovereign Defragmenter,"** a weapon designed by the First Architect to "Format" entire galactic clusters. It was a machine of absolute coldness, capable of returning all "Data" (life) to the primordial void to start over.
[Alert: 'Sovereign Defragmenter' Active.]
[Target: The Independent Sector (Kang Qiang and Valoria Ghost-Node).]
Li Ming's eyes snapped open in the Ghost-Node. The silver aura around him exploded with a new, dark violet intensity. He had felt the "Deletion-Wave" approaching.
"They want to format the hard drive," Li Ming whispered, standing up with effort. His staff, The Nullifier, materialized in his hand, looking more like a jagged lightning bolt of pure platinum. "Then I shall give them a 'Disk-Write Error' they can never fix."
He turned to the golden pods of the Valorians. "Kael, wake up. The 'Ghost-Node' is no longer a shelter. It's our bridgehead."
[Executing Protocol: 'Mass-Materialization'.]
Li Ming used his remaining 5% of power to do something impossible. He didn't just wake the miners; he "Upgraded" them. He used the "Stellar Essence" he had stored in the Master Key to give them physical forms made of "Hardened Logic." They were no longer miners; they were the **"Void-Guardians."**
Kael stepped out of the pod, his skin glowing with a silver metallic luster, his eyes burning with the fire of the New Genesis. "Master, we are ready. The Arbiters deleted our world, so we will build a new one in their place."
"We aren't building a world yet, Kael," Li Ming said, his voice sounding like a thousand roaring suns. "We are going to hijack the 'Sovereign Defragmenter.' If they want to format the galaxy, they'll have to go through the Architect first."
Li Ming raised his staff, and the Ghost-Node began to accelerate through the sub-space, heading directly toward the massive "Sovereign Defragmenter."
The war had moved beyond planets. It was now a battle for the "Hardware" of the Universe. The Supreme Dao Maker was no longer just a coder; he was a warrior-hacker, charging toward the ultimate "Delete" button of the cosmos.
[New Objective: Hijack the Sovereign Defragmenter.]
[Rank: Universal Rebel - Level 10.]
The final countdo
wn for the "Great Update" had begun.
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End of Chapter 24.