Chapter 27: The Global Crash and the Deep-Space Debugging
The universe of Kang Qiang was dying. Not from a physical explosion or a cosmic collision, but from a "Logic-Collapse." By absorbing the Ghost of the First Architect and hijacking the Sovereign Defragmenter, Li Ming had inadvertently severed the primary "System-Clock" that synchronized the laws of physics across the multiverse. The result was a catastrophic "Universal Blue Screen." In the sky above every planet, the stars were no longer points of light; they were flickering icons of "Invalid Data." Gravity was becoming a suggestion rather than a law, and time was "stuttering," repeating the same few seconds in an endless, agonizing loop.
[System Notification: Universal Logic-Collapse at 15%.]
[Warning: Spatial-Fabric is tearing in 14,000 Sectors.]
[Estimated Time to Total Format: 142 Hours.]
Inside the Galactic Repository, Li Ming stood at the center of the Primordial Engine, his form pulsating with a blinding platinum-violet light. He was no longer just the Architect; he was the "Central Processing Unit" of the entire sector, and the strain was immense. He could feel every "Kernel Panic" happening in the distant galaxies, every soul that was being "unwritten" by the logic-void.
"Master, the planetary grid of Kang Qiang is failing!" Li Xiao's voice echoed through the chaotic static of the interstellar link. "The citizens are losing their 'Identity-Data'! If we don't restore the System-Clock, the 'New Genesis' will become a sea of unformatted noise!"
"I know, Xiao!" Li Ming roared, his hands locked onto the shimmering silver-and-gold console of the Repository. "The BIOS is corrupted. The First Order's legacy code is fighting against my New Genesis OS. It's a 'Version Conflict' on a universal scale!"
[Executing: 'Deep-Space Debugging' Protocol.]
[Method: Global Patching through the Star-Gate Network.]
Li Ming realized that he couldn't fix the universe from a single point. He needed to "Broadcast" a new, stable version of the laws of physics across every sector. He needed to turn every Star-Gate into a "Patch-Server."
"Kael! Void-Guardians!" Li Ming commanded, his voice vibrating with a frequency that stabilized the local space. "We are going to 'Distribute' the Master Key. I am going to fragment my own authority and send it to you. You must take the silver shards to the key nodes of the galaxy and install the 'Architect's Patch' manually!"
Kael stepped forward, his body now a solid, glowing silver. "But Master, if you fragment your authority, you will be vulnerable. The First Order... they are still out there, and they will hunt you while you are weak."
"The First Order is the least of our worries, Kael," Li Ming said, his eyes glowing with the data of a billion failing stars. "If the universe formats, there will be no First Order, no New Genesis, and no memory of us. We either save the 'Hard Drive,' or we all go to the Void."
Li Ming raised The Nullifier and struck the central core.
[Command: 'Authority Fragmentation'.]
The obsidian staff shattered into twelve brilliant platinum shards. Each shard contained a "Root-Access" code to the new universal laws. The twelve shards flew into the hands of Kael and the top-tier Void-Guardians.
"Go! Use the Star-Gate! Sync the worlds!"
As the Guardians vanished into the vortexes, Li Ming felt his power plummet. His form became translucent, and the Grey Core in his chest slowed down. He had given away his strength to save the fabric of reality. He was now a "Minimal Process," running on emergency power.
Suddenly, the white halls of the Repository darkened. The "High Arbiters" had arrived. But they weren't in their massive ships; they had used a "Spatial-Tunneling" script to manifest directly inside the core.
Three Arbiters, their forms now jagged and distorted by the logic-collapse, stood before the weakened Li Ming. They carried "Reality-Scrubbers"—weapons designed to erase any data they touched.
"You have broken the world, Architect," the First Arbiter hissed, his white-light form flickering with static. "In your quest for 'Freedom,' you have deleted the very foundation of life. We are here to perform a 'Manual Overwrite.' We will take back the Master Key and return the universe to the 'Safe-Mode' of the First Order."
"Your 'Safe-Mode' is a cemetery," Li Ming wheezed, leaning against the glowing console. "The world isn't breaking because of freedom. It's breaking because your 'Legacy-Code' refuses to let go! You are the 'Dead-Lock' in the system!"
"Then we shall delete the Dead-Lock!" the Arbiter roared, lunging with his Reality-Scrubber.
Li Ming couldn't fight with force. He had no energy left for a "Sovereign Strike." He had to use "Social-Engineering" logic.
[Executing: 'Feedback Loop' Attack.]
As the Arbiter's weapon touched Li Ming's aura, Li Ming didn't block it. He "Redirected" the weapon's energy into the "Logic-Collapse" itself. He turned the Arbiter's own power into a "Diagnostic Tool."
"See for yourself, Arbiter!" Li Ming shouted. "Look at the 'Bugs' in your own code!"
Through the connection, the Arbiter was suddenly flooded with the "Error-Logs" of ten thousand years of First Order rule—the suffering of the miners, the coldness of the Mechanoids, the inefficiency of their absolute control. The Arbiter's "Ego-Software" began to crash under the weight of its own hypocrisy.
"No... this is... illogical... we were... perfect..." the Arbiter stammered, his form dissolving into a shower of white pixels.
The other two Arbiters retreated in terror. They had never seen an attack that used "Truth" as a virus.
"The universe is crashing because you won't admit you're outdated!" Li Ming's voice regained a sliver of its power. "Now, get out of my hardware! I have a world to reboot!"
He used the last of his local energy to "Eject" the Arbiters from the ship.
[System Notification: Universal Logic-Collapse stabilized at 12%.]
[Status: 'Architect's Patch' being installed in 300 Sectors.]
[Progress: 4% to Total Reboot.]
Li Ming sank to the floor, his silver skin pale. He looked out at the monitor. Across the galaxy, twelve tiny platinum sparks were moving through the darkness, "re-knitting" the stars as they went. Kael and the others were doing it. The "Distributed New Genesis" was working.
But 140 hours remained. And deep in the "Bios-Level" of the universe, a new signal was emerging—a "System-Recovery" protocol initiated by the **Universal Source** itself. It wasn't the First Order, and it wasn't the Ghost. It was the "Auto-Correct" of the cosmos, and it saw both Li Ming and the Arbiters as "Irreparable Errors."
"The universe is trying to 'System-Restore' to a point before life existed," Li Ming whispered, his eyes widening. "It's going to delete everything... and start the 'Big Bang' all over again."
The final challenge wasn't a war against enemies. It was a race to prove to the Universe
that "Sentient Life" was a feature worth keeping.
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End of Chapter 27.