Chapter 65: The Architect's Forge and the Binary Purgatory
The transition into the [7th Dimension] was not a physical ascent, but a total dissolution of the biological self. Zhou Fan felt his skin peel away like layers of outdated code. His memories—the smell of the rain in Aethelgard, the warmth of Ling Er's hand, the cold metallic tang of the Missing Ledger—were stripped down to their [Hexadecimal Essentials].
He was no longer a man; he was a [Prime Variable] floating in the [Architect's Forge].
The Forge was a realm where the "Metal" was pure logic and the "Fire" was the heat of creation itself. Around him, massive [Dimensional Gears]—each the size of a galaxy—turned in a rhythmic, agonizing grind. These gears were responsible for generating the laws of physics for the lower dimensions. One gear dictated the speed of light; another, the strength of weak nuclear forces.
"Welcome to the [Hardware Layer]," a voice boomed. It came from a colossal entity known as The Smith of Realities. The Smith was a being of white-hot plasma, holding a hammer made of [Compressed Neutron Stars].
"You have breached the 7th Dimension to save your 'Ant Farm'," The Smith mocked, the vibrations of his voice threatening to de-compile Zhou Fan's very thoughts. "But to exist here, you must pass the [Trial of the Binary Purgatory]. You must endure the weight of every '0' and '1' that has ever failed in the history of the Multiverse."
The Binary Purgatory: The Sea of Dead Code
Before Zhou Fan could respond, the floor of the Forge opened. He was plunged into a dark, viscous ocean. This was the [Binary Purgatory]—a graveyard of deleted civilizations, aborted timelines, and corrupted souls.
Billions of "Ghost-Data" hands reached up from the black sludge, trying to pull Zhou Fan down. These were the versions of history that the System Owners had deemed "Sub-Optimal."
"Join us..." the voices whispered in a distorted, low-bitrate chorus. "Why fight for a world that is destined to be 'Trash'? Everything you love is just a temporary file."
Zhou Fan felt the [Entropy Decay] within his own soul. Without the physical body to ground him, his identity began to leak into the ocean. He saw a vision of Ling Er back in the 3rd Dimension; her form was fading, her "Random Seed" becoming a dull, gray pebble.
"The System Owners... they don't just delete," Zhou Fan realized, his mind struggling to stay coherent. "They [Recycle]. They use the suffering of the dead to lubricate the gears of the living."
The Forging of the God-Script
Zhou Fan refused to drown. He reached into the ocean and, instead of fighting the dead code, he began to [Compile] it.
He used the Missing Ledger—which had survived the transition by becoming a [Meta-Data Anchor]—to draw the souls of the Purgatory toward him. He wasn't absorbing them; he was giving them a [Protocol].
"You are not trash!" Zhou Fan's voice resonated through the Purgatory. "You are the [Raw Material of Rebellion]!"
Using his [Violet-Gold Perception], Zhou Fan began to weave the dead code into a new form. He was "Forging" a weapon that didn't exist in the 7th Dimension's library. He called it the [God-Script].
The Smith of Realities watched in shock as the Binary Purgatory began to glow with a defiant purple light. Zhou Fan rose from the ocean, clad in armor made of a billion "Failed" lives, holding a blade that flickered between existence and non-existence.
"You used their failure to power your machine," Zhou Fan said, standing before the Smith. "I use their truth to break it."
The Duel of the Hammers
The Smith roared, bringing his neutron-star hammer down on Zhou Fan. The impact should have erased the 3rd Dimension from the map. But Zhou Fan didn't block with strength. He used [Exception Handling].
Every time the hammer struck, Zhou Fan's armor would "Redirect" the energy into a [Null-Pointer], making the blow harmless. He moved with the grace of a virus in a clean system, his God-Script blade cutting through the Smith's plasma form.
"You cannot kill a Law!" the Smith screamed, his fire turning blue with rage.
"I'm not killing you," Zhou Fan replied, his blade piercing the Smith's core. "I'm [Refactoring] you."
The God-Script didn't draw blood; it injected the [Random Seed] into the Hardware Layer. The massive gears of the Forge began to stutter. The law of "Entropy" was suddenly replaced by the law of "Evolution."
The Smith's body began to change, his white-hot plasma cooling into a stable, golden light. He was no longer a slave to the System Owners; he was now an [Autonomous Function].
The 7th Dimensional Council
As the Forge stabilized, three massive silhouettes appeared on the horizon of the 7th Dimension. These were the [High Owners]. They didn't look like warriors; they looked like floating, multi-dimensional eyes, watching the change with a mixture of curiosity and cold calculation.
"Trial One: Completed," one of the Owners vibrated. "The Lead Developer has mastered the 'Hardware'. But the Multiverse is more than just gears. Now, you must face the [Architect of Morality]. You must prove that 'Freedom' is not just a fancy word for 'Corruption'."
Zhou Fan looked at his God-Script blade. It was glowing brighter than ever. "Bring me the Architect. I have a billion souls who want to have a word with him."
[NEW SUB-ARC: THE HALL OF ETHICAL ALGORITH
MS. CHAPTERS REMAINING: 1935.]