Chapter 28: The System-Restore Protocol and the Plea of the Variable
The universe was no longer collapsing; it was "Retreating." The chaotic flickering of the stars had been replaced by a cold, rhythmic pulse of absolute white light. This was the "System-Restore" protocol—the final fail-safe of the cosmic BIOS. It didn't care about the First Order's greed or Li Ming's rebellion; to the Auto-Correct of the cosmos, the entire 13.8 billion years of history had become a "Corrupted Save File." It was preparing to perform a "Factory Reset," a return to the singularity before the Big Bang, where time, space, and life would be erased to start a new, "Clean" iteration.
[System Notification: Universal System-Restore at 40%.]
[Warning: Consciousness-Buffer is being purged.]
[Alert: Individual Ego-Retention will fail in 72 Hours.]
Inside the Galactic Repository, Li Ming was barely more than a flickering shadow. His power was scattered across the twelve shards held by his Guardians, who were desperately trying to "Patch" the crumbling sectors. He felt the "Purge" beginning to reach his own mind—it felt like a gentle, cold eraser rubbing against his memories. He was forgetting the smell of the mines on Valoria, the sound of the drums on Kang Qiang, and even the feeling of his first success.
"I cannot... let it... reset..." Li Ming wheezed, his platinum form fading into a pale grey.
[Executing: 'Deep-Level Interface'.]
[Target: The Cosmic Core (The Universal Kernel).]
Li Ming didn't use a spear or a script this time. He used "Raw Input." He abandoned his physical form and dived into the very heart of the System-Restore light. He wasn't going to fight the Universe; he was going to "Talk" to it.
He found himself in a space that defied geometry. It was a realm of infinite white spheres, each representing a fundamental constant of reality—gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak nuclear force. In the center was a massive, unmoving presence: **The Arbiter of the Void**, the personification of the Universe's self-correcting logic.
"User Li Ming," the Presence spoke, its voice not a sound but a profound vibration of truth. "You have introduced too much entropy. Your 'Free Will' is a recursive loop that leads to systemic instability. To preserve the existence of the Dimension, all 'Sentient Variables' must be cleared. The Restore is inevitable."
"You see the chaos, but you don't see the 'Output'!" Li Ming's phantom form glowed with a desperate silver light. "Yes, we are unpredictable! Yes, we introduce 'Noise' into your perfect music! But without that noise, your universe is just a silent, dead machine! We are the ones who give your constants a meaning!"
"Meaning is not a requirement for stability," the Presence countered. "A rock does not need meaning to fall. A star does not need meaning to burn. Sentience is an accidental glitch that has become a cancer."
[Warning: 'System-Restore' accelerating to 65%.]
Li Ming felt the "Memory Purge" intensifying. He was losing his connection to Li Xiao. He was forgetting the face of the First Architect.
"If we are a cancer, then why did you allow the 'Life-Protocol' to exist in the first place?" Li Ming roared, his silver aura turning into a defiant, blazing gold. "If you wanted a dead machine, you would have written one! But you left the 'Backdoor' open! You wanted to see if the 'Glitch' could become a 'Feature'!"
He didn't just speak. He began to "Upload" the entire history of his New Genesis directly into the Cosmic Core. He showed the Arbiter of the Void the moment Kael chose to protect him, the moment the Mechanoids chose to feel, and the moment the citizens of Neo-Arcadia shared their processing power to save a world they would never see.
"Look at the 'Distributed Processing'!" Li Ming shouted. "We aren't breaking your laws! We are 'Optimizing' them! We have turned a billion separate lives into a single, unified 'Co-Processor'! We can solve the entropy for you, if you just give us the 'Administrative Rights' to the Future!"
The white spheres of the core began to vibrate. The System-Restore paused at 78%. For the first time in an eternity, the Universe was "Processing" an unexpected variable.
"Your proposal is... unconventional," the Presence admitted. "You suggest that 'Sentient Life' acts as a 'Self-Healing Script' for the Dimension?"
"Exactly!" Li Ming's form began to solidify as the Restore receded. "Don't format the drive! Just 'Update the Driver'! Let us be the ones who manage the 'Bugs'. Let the 'Architect' be the bridge between the Code and the Life!"
[System Notification: System-Restore - PAUSED.]
[Analyzing Proposal: 'The Sentient Patch'.]
[Probability of Success: 0.0001%.]
"The probability is enough for a 'Start-Up'!" Li Ming laughed, his silver hair flowing with a new, celestial energy.
The white light shifted. It didn't vanish, but it turned into a soft, inviting silver. The "Arbiter of the Void" didn't disappear; it transformed into a massive, holographic "Agreement."
"You shall have your chance, Architect," the Presence whispered. "But the 'Restore' is not canceled; it is 'Postponed.' You have 10,000 Galactic Cycles to prove that your 'New Genesis' can maintain the Universal Equilibrium. If you fail, the Reset will be total, and there will be no 'Master Key' to stop it."
[System Notification: Universal System-Restore - SUSPENDED.]
[New Objective: 'The Galactic Harmony' - Reach Rank 5 Creator (The Universal Admin).]
Li Ming's consciousness was ejected from the Core and slammed back into his body in the Galactic Repository. He gasped for air, his skin glowing with a brilliant, permanent platinum light.
[Status: Rank 4.5 - Inter-Planetary Guardian.]
[Authority Level: Global Administrator.]
"Master! The stars! They've stopped flickering!" Li Xiao's voice screamed through the link, joy radiating from her every word.
Li Ming looked out at the monitor. Across the galaxy, the "Logic-Collapse" was receding. The twelve shards in the hands of the Guardians were now glowing with a steady, peaceful light. The "Big Bang" had been averted.
"We have a reprieve, Xiao," Li Ming said, his voice sounding like the harmony of a thousand galaxies. "The Universe has given us a 'Trial Period.' We aren't just rebels anymore. we are the 'Official Maintenance Team' of the Multiverse."
He stood up, his staff **The Nullifier** now transformed into a long, elegant scepter of "Living Glass" that contained a miniature, swirling galaxy in its tip.
"The War of the Operating Systems is over," Li Ming declared. "The Era of 'The Great Integration' has begun. And our first task... is to find the remnants of the First Order and offer them a 'Cross-Platform Compatibility' update."
The Supreme Dao Maker looked toward the horizon of the cosmos. He had saved the "Hard Drive," but the "Software" was still a mess. It was time to start the real coding.
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End of Chapter 28.