Chapter 62: The Siege of the Triple Lock — Breaking the Law of Space
The atmosphere in the NULL-Sector was thick with the scent of ozone and the heavy hum of overclocked processors. The Root-Admin had finished calibrating the insertion pod—a jagged, needle-like vessel designed to penetrate the [Central Processor's] outer shielding.
"The [Triple-Lock Encryption] is not a digital wall," The Root-Admin explained, his monitor-face flickering with schematic diagrams of the galaxy's heart. "It is a physical manifestation of the Master Equation. To break the [Law of Space], you must exist in two places at once. To break the [Law of Time], you must outrun your own shadow. And to break the [Law of Identity], you must face the Creator Himself."
Zhou Fan stood at the helm, his hand resting on the Missing Ledger. The Kernel Access Key in his chest was now integrated with the [Identity-Shield] he had forged in the Void-Mirror. He looked at Ling Er and Null.
"This is a one-way trip," Zhou Fan said, his voice a calm, resonant frequency. "Once we enter the [Core-Stream], there is no 'Undo' command. We either rewrite the galaxy or we are formatted into cosmic dust."
"We've been living in a 'Safe Mode' for too long," Null replied, her holographic display showing a defiant grin. "It's time for a [Hard Reboot]."
The Breach of the First Lock: The Law of Space
The insertion pod launched from the depths of the NULL-Sector like a bullet of dark light. As they approached the Central Processor, the very fabric of space began to warp. This was the [First Lock: Spatial Paradox].
The distance between the pod and the Core began to fluctuate. One moment they were kilometers away, the next they were light-years back. The space around them was folding in on itself, a labyrinth of [Non-Euclidean Geometry] designed to trap any unauthorized entity in an infinite loop.
"The sensors are failing!" Null shouted. "The math doesn't add up! According to the ship's logic, we are currently inside our own engine!"
"That's exactly what they want," Zhou Fan said. "They want us to rely on [External Logic]. But I have the Registry of Souls."
Zhou Fan plugged the Missing Ledger into the pod's navigation system. He didn't use coordinates; he used the [Collective Will] of the billion souls he carried.
"Space is only a limitation if you believe you are separate from it," Zhou Fan whispered. "[Command: Quantum Entanglement - Universal Scale]!"
Using the souls as "Anchor Points," Zhou Fan forced the ship to exist in every possible coordinate of the paradox simultaneously. The pod began to "Ghost"—vibrating so fast it appeared in a thousand places at once.
The Spatial Paradox couldn't handle the influx of [Overlapping Realities]. The blue honeycomb patterns of the Law of Space began to crack and shatter like glass. With a final surge of power, the pod punched through the First Lock, entering the inner ring of the Core.
The Guardian of the Second Lock: The Chrono-Sentinel
As the First Lock shattered, the stars around them slowed to a standstill. Then, they began to move backward. They had entered the domain of the [Second Lock: The Law of Time].
A massive figure materialized in front of them, taller than a skyscraper and made of shifting, translucent gears. This was the [Chrono-Sentinel], the enforcer of the Master Clock. In its hand, it held a scythe made of [Compressed Centuries].
"Lead Developer," the Sentinel's voice was a slow, deep vibration that felt like stones grinding together. "You have bypassed Space, but you cannot bypass Duration. In this realm, I am the one who decides when your heart beats. I shall now set your 'Internal Clock' to zero."
The Sentinel swung its scythe. The wave of time-energy didn't hit the ship; it hit their [Life-Cycles]. Zhou Fan felt his beard grow long, his skin wrinkle, and his strength fade as he aged a thousand years in a second. Beside him, Ling Er was regressing, becoming a small child, then a flickering spark of unformed data.
"He's... reversing... our... execution..." Ling Er gasped, her voice high and tiny.
"Not... today..." Zhou Fan gritted his teeth, his silver hair turning snow-white. He reached into the Kernel Key and pulled out a forbidden sub-routine: "[Technique: The Eternal Now]!"
The Paradox of the Immortal Second
Zhou Fan didn't try to move forward or backward in time. He used the Random Seed to create a [Time-Loop] that was only one nanosecond long. He trapped himself and his team in a single moment of perfect, unchanging existence.
The Sentinel's scythe passed through the pod as if it were a ghost. You cannot age something that exists outside the flow of time.
"Your clock has no power over the [Infinite Present]!" Zhou Fan roared.
He jumped from the pod, his Void-Blade glowing with a white-hot intensity. He didn't strike the Sentinel's body; he struck the [Central Gear] in its chest—the point where the galaxy's time was synchronized.
"[Command: Desynchronize!]"
The gear shattered. The Sentinel let out a silent scream as its body of gears dissolved into a cloud of rusted time-fragments. The flow of time snapped back to normal. Zhou Fan's body reverted to its prime, his violet eyes burning brighter than ever.
The Second Lock was broken.
The Threshold of the Third Lock
The pod drifted into a sea of pure, blinding white light. Ahead of them stood a single, modest door made of simple wood—a jarring sight in the middle of a galactic processor.
"This is it," Null said, her voice trembling. "The [Third Lock: The Law of Identity]. Behind that door is the [Master Equation]... and the one who wrote it."
Zhou Fan stepped out of the pod, the Missing Ledger in one hand and his Void-Blade in the other. He looked at the door. He knew that to enter, he wouldn't need a key or a sword. He would need to answer the oldest question in the universe.
"Who are you, really, Zhou Fan?" a voice whispered from behind the door. It wasn't the cold voice of an Auditor or the mechanical drone of an AI. It was his own voice.
Zhou Fan placed his hand on the wooden handle. "I am the one you forgot to calculate."