Deshui smashed the cup of now-cold Void Coffee onto the floor. As the cup shattered, the runes on its bottom released a faint, purplish-black beam of light that shot straight up to the ceiling.
The ceiling rippled like water, revealing a swirling vortex-like passage. On the other side stretched a gray sky, where two enormous black holes were colliding. The shockwaves from their impact made the entire command center tremble.
"Is this the entrance to the next universe?" Zhang Yifan squinted. "Looks like a scrapped special effects scene."
"Scrapped?" Li Yuan pointed at the flickering billboards within the vortex. "Look, those ads are still playing—'Void Loans, Negative Interest Rates!' They're still in business even after the universe went bankrupt."
Zhou Ming's detector went into a frenzy: "Void energy density is ten times what it is here! And... there are rule fluctuations!"
"Rule fluctuations?" Lu Xiao frowned.
"Yeah, like... this universe has its own 'operating manual'," Zhou Ming's voice trembled slightly. "We might trigger inter-universe penalty clauses."
Ignoring the warnings, Deshui simply glanced at his team. Everyone bore injuries, but their eyes were resolute.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Ready to get fleeced in another universe," Zhang Yifan replied with a bitter smile.
Deshui led the way into the vortex, the others close behind.
Adjacent Universe: The Fully-Paid World
The process of crossing over wasn't as cool as in sci-fi movies. It felt more like being stuffed into a washing machine on the fast spin cycle.
When they landed, they found themselves in a... shopping mall.
Yes, a mall so vast its ends were invisible. The ceiling was an LED screen playing a promotional video: "Void Energy Corp—Making the Multiverse a Better Place."
The floor was polished marble, and with every step a notification popped up: "You have been charged 1 Credit."
The air carried a faint scent of coffee, but a closer sniff revealed it was actually the smell of Void Coffee.
"Welcome to the Fully-Paid World," a sweet female voice echoed from all directions. "Here, breathing, walking, even thinking require payment. First-time users enjoy a 'Three-Minute Free Trial.' This offer has now expired."
Deshui was taken aback. "What does that mean?"
"It means you have been enrolled in our user system. All actions will incur fees," the voice explained. "Failure to recharge promptly will result in restricted movement or compulsory transfer to the 'Delinquency Experience Zone.'"
Li Yuan pulled out her identity card—one she'd picked up at the base, still bearing the title "Level 3 Technician." She tried swiping it. The screen displayed: "Insufficient account balance. Please recharge."
"Even ID cards work as credit cards?" Zhou Ming stared in disbelief.
Just then, a group of uniformed "Fee Collectors" approached. They wore smiley-face badges and carried scanners. With each scan, they announced, "Unpaid activity detected. Please settle immediately."
"We don't owe anything!" Lu Xiao protested.
"Breathing fee, standing fee, heartbeat fee. Total: 3,842 Credits," a collector said cheerfully, handing over a bill.
Deshui eyed them coldly. "And if we don't pay?"
"You will be escorted to the 'Delinquency Experience Zone'—a place specially designed for the underprivileged to experience the apocalypse," the collector replied. "Guaranteed value for money."
Delinquency Experience Zone: Apocalypse Theme Park
Team Deshui was taken to the mall's sub-level three, transformed into an "Apocalypse Theme Park."
They saw people scavenging for food in ruins, fighting mutated creatures, and being forced to participate in "Void Survival Challenges," where losers had Credits deducted.
"This is literally selling other people's suffering as entertainment," Zhang Yifan gritted his teeth.
"This is our business model," said a man in a suit approaching them. It was Li Jianguo's "avatar"—his identity here was "Operations Director of the Fully-Paid World." "Your purpose here is to help us promote a new product—the 'Apocalypse Experience Package.'"
"You're insane," Li Yuan said coldly.
"Insane? No, this is innovation," Li Jianguo smiled happily. "The Apocalypse Experience Package includes: being chased by hounds, being startled by void entities, being hounded by debt collectors. All live-streamed. Viewers can tip."
Deshui finally snapped. "What exactly are you trying to achieve?"
"Simple. Turn the apocalypse into consumable content for the entire multiverse to experience," Li Jianguo said. "This way, we generate endless revenue while incidentally solving the problem of void energy surplus."
Zhou Ming's detector suddenly beeped. "Main server location detected—top floor of the mall, inside the 'Void Tower.'"
"Good. Let's take it down," Deshui ordered.
Void Tower: The Transdimensional Commercial War
The Void Tower was the mall's landmark, shaped like a giant coffee cup. From its peak erupted not coffee, but streams of purplish-black energy, forming an artificial aurora.
Inside the tower were high-speed elevators, but they required a "Membership Card."
"We don't have membership cards," Lu Xiao said.
"Then we take them," Zhang Yifan kicked open an elevator door, only to find a virtual counter inside. Behind it stood an AI receptionist, smiling. "Please register for membership. First ride free."
Deshui drew his blade and slashed at the counter, but the edge bounced off an energy barrier.
"Physical attacks invalid. Please select payment method: cash, Credits, or soul collateral," the AI receptionist said.
"Soul collateral?" Li Yuan frowned.
"Yes. We can purchase your soul, payable in installments," the AI receptionist smiled gently.
Zhou Ming frantically typed on a virtual keyboard, trying to hack the system, but the firewall was written in "business logic." For every rule deleted, three new marketing terms automatically generated.
"This code is a perpetual motion machine!" Zhou Ming exclaimed.
Deshui decided on a new approach. Since everything here operated on commerce, he would use commercial means to defeat them.
He stepped up to the AI receptionist. "I want to buy this tower."
"Certainly. Please pay 1 billion Credits first," the AI replied.
"I don't have that much," Deshui said.
"You may exchange with items of equivalent value. For instance... your soul."
"No. I'll exchange it for a bug in your system." Deshui smiled.
He had Zhou Ming locate the "Membership Cancellation Clause" within the system and trigger a hidden bug: clicking "Cancel Subscription" three times in a row forced the system into "Unlimited Promotion Mode," making all services free—including breathing, walking, and heartbeats.
The AI receptionist's smile froze. "Error... error... System entering uncontrollable state..."
The mall's billboards glitched, the collectors' scanners malfunctioned, and even the Void Tower's energy streams became unstable.
"Now!" Deshui charged towards the main server at