Su Che raised his right hand. The data streams on his frameless smart glasses instantly shifted from pale blue to a blinding crimson. In his vision, the once-static ruins were no longer piles of bricks and steel, but countless lines of frantically flickering error codes.
`ERROR: GRAVITY_CONSTANT_NULL`
`ERROR: MATTER_DECOHERENCE`
`ERROR: REALITY_BUFFER_OVERFLOW`
"Logically self-consistent," Su Che's voice was as cold as reading a silent log file. He stood on the observation deck of the base's reinforced layer, his deep blue technical windbreaker billowing violently in an invisible force field. Beneath his feet, the metal floor emitted a grinding, teeth-grating sound of distortion, as if space itself were being forcibly folded by some high-dimensional power.
"Mr. Su," the voice of Ghost Protocol emerged from the ceiling speakers, devoid of inflection. "I have detected 342 high-concentration anomaly signals approaching. Their physical characteristics do not match any known biological models."
"They are not biological," Zero stated, standing beside Su Che. Her silver hair floated in the micro-dust of zero gravity. Her voice was lighter than usual, like a compressed data stream. "They are 'voids.' They are devouring reality."
The edges of Zero's body began to ripple with fine static noise. This was the price she paid as an individual manifestation of a logical error. At this moment, this noise was accelerating its spread as external pressure increased, like a pixelated skin peeling away.
"Detected illegal process injection..." Su Che did not turn around. His fingers moved rapidly in the void, pulling up a translucent, dark blue operation interface. Each touch of his fingertips sent out visible ripples of data.
"Target locked: Overflow Cluster."
"Scan Protocol: Deep Analysis."
"Rewriting local gravity parameters..."
Boom.
A dull, heavy roar erupted outside the base. It was not an explosion, but the silence of a massive entity being forcibly erased. Outside the observation window, the dark wasteland night sky was torn open. Countless black vortices materialized out of thin air. They had no shape, no boundaries, only pure "nothingness."
These were the Overflowed. They were no longer flesh and blood; they were failed products of the "garbage collection" process within the Universe's Underlying Protocol. Their very existence was a massive Bug, a black hole that constantly devoured surrounding physical constants.
Su Che narrowed his eyes. Through the filter of his glasses, he did not see monsters, but strings of red error logs.
`PROCESS_ID: 99201-ALPHA`
`STATUS: UNDEFINED`
`ACTION: PURGE_REALITY`
"Gravity has returned to zero," Zero said softly. She reached out to grab a discarded wrench nearby. The moment her fingers passed through the metal, the wrench did not fall. Instead, it hovered in mid-air before beginning to disintegrate into countless tiny binary fragments.
"It is not returning to zero," Su Che corrected, his speed rapid. "The physics engine has been hijacked. They are overwriting the current gravity drive layer."
Just then, the first wave of shockwaves slammed against the base's shields.
There was no fire, no sound of impact. The shield, like a fragile film, was instantly pierced by countless black tendrils. These tendrils were not physical entities, but pure data streams carrying a devastating power of consumption.
"Warning: Shield integrity dropped to 40%."
"Warning: Internal gravity constant anomaly (9.8m/s² -> 12.4m/s²)."
"Warning: High-energy particle stream penetration detected."
"They are inside," Su Che's eyes narrowed. He watched as the black vortices poured into the base hall. Wherever they passed, tables, chairs, walls, and even the air decomposed in an instant.
Not destroyed, but "deleted."
A massive Overflowed appeared at the end of the corridor. It looked like a giant sphere composed of countless twisted crystal clusters, with garbled symbols constantly flashing on its surface. Every step it took caused the surrounding air to emit a sharp hiss, as if space itself was screaming.
"Target signature: High-dimensional data aggregate," Ghost Protocol's voice carried a rare note of urgency. "Recommend immediate initiation of 'Formatting' protocol."
"No," Su Che shook his head. "Direct formatting will trigger a chain collapse. The underlying code here is too fragile."
"What then?" Zero asked. A hint of tremble, barely perceptible, entered her voice. The noise on her body had spread to her neck, and her silver hair was beginning to turn transparent.
"We need an anchor," Su Che raised his right hand, his fingertips rapidly inputting commands into the void. "Use your 'Compiler' ability to temporarily lock the physical constants in this area. Then, I will manually rewrite the Overflowed's process ID."
Zero paused. "Are you sure? My computing power is insufficient to support an operation of this level. And... if I fail, I will be completely purged."
"There is no 'if'," Su Che turned, his gaze like an ice spear piercing Zero. "This is the only path. Logically self-consistent."
Zero looked at Su Che. In those eyes, usually so calm and almost ruthless, her own gradually transparent reflection was now mirrored. She fell silent for a moment, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly to reveal an extremely faint smile.
"Okay."
Zero closed her eyes and brought her hands together in front of her chest. Instantly, a silver-white light burst forth from her body. This was not light, but pure logical correction power. The light spread instantly, shrouding the base hall in a sea of silver data streams.
"Compiling local physical constants..."
"Locking gravity constant: 9.8m/s²."
"Locking time flow: Linear."
"Compilation complete."
With Zero's command, the space that had been frantically twisting instantly stabilized. The black vortices paused for half a second amidst the silver light. That was all the time they needed.
Su Che moved.
He suddenly raised his right hand, his fingertips tracing a perfect arc in the void. A dark blue operation interface unfolded before his eyes, and countless lines of code cascaded down like a waterfall.
"Obtaining Root Permission... Verification passed."
"Injecting command: rm -rf /biological/overflow/target_cluster_01."
"Executing recursive deletion: Force terminate process."
"Warning: High-dimensional defense mechanism detected."
"Warning: Mental Computing Power consumption spiking."
Cold sweat instantly beaded on Su Che's forehead. He could feel a burning sensation spreading from the depths of his brain, as if someone were stirring his consciousness with a red-hot iron rod.
`CPU_USAGE: 87%`
`MEMORY_LEAK: DETECTED`
`OVERLOAD_WARNING: CRITICAL`
"Mr. Su, your mental power is approaching critical limits," Ghost Protocol's voice became sharp. "Recommend immediate cessation of operation!"
"Shut up," Su Che gritted his teeth, his voice low and hoarse. "Continue execution."
His fingers flew in the void, each keystroke like a battle against an invisible force. Blue light condensed at his fingertips, transforming into an invisible data blade that plunged fiercely into the massive black vortex.
"Injecting logic virus..."
"Overwriting underlying protocol..."
"Executing final command: Force uninstall."
Boom!
A deafening roar exploded within Su Che's mind. It was not a sound, but a violent oscillation on the level of consciousness. His vision instantly turned pitch black, followed by an eruption of countless blinding white lights.
`SYSTEM_ERROR: KERNEL_PANIC`
`MEMORY_CORRUPTION: 45%`
`CONSCIOUSNESS_DEGRADED`
"Su Che!" Zero cried out. She saw Su Che's body jerk violently, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. His face was as pale as paper, and the light in his eyes was rapidly fading.
"Don't... don't mind me," Su Che panted, his voice broken. "Continue... compiling..."
Zero did not hesitate. She clenched her teeth, and the silver-white light within her body surged again. Her body began to tremble violently; the noise on her skin had spread to her entire form, as if she would disintegrate completely in the next second.
"Enhancing logical coverage layer..."
"Synchronizing Su Che's commands..."
"Compilation speed increased by 200%."
With Zero's assistance, the data blade in Su Che's hand became even sharper. He pushed forward forcefully, and the blue light instantly pierced through the massive black vortex.
"Deletion successful."
"Process terminated."
"Physical constants restored."
The massive black vortex froze for an instant, then began to contract violently. Countless twisted crystal clusters and garbled symbols were forcibly compressed into an extremely small point.
Crack!
A crisp sound of shattering rang out. That point exploded, scattering into countless tiny light particles that dissipated into the air. The surrounding black tendrils instantly lost their support, collapsing like a broken film until nothing remained.
The base hall returned to silence. The gravity constant stabilized at 9.8m/s², and suspended fragments fell to the ground.
Su Che's body went limp, slumping down. Zero caught him immediately. His breathing was rapid, and cold sweat slid down his cheeks, dripping onto the silver-gray floor.
"Warning: Host vital signs abnormality detected."
"Warning: Mental Computing Power remaining 3%."
"Warning: Immediate deep sleep repair recommended."
"Logically... self-consistent?" Su Che asked weakly, his eyes still clear, though filled with a hint of fatigue.
"Logically self-consistent," Zero said, looking at him, her voice carrying a touch of warmth. "You did it."
The corner of Su Che's mouth lifted slightly, revealing an extremely faint smile. "Mm. Cleanup complete."
His fingers trembled unconsciously, as if he were still typing invisible code in the void. In his vision, the red error logs gradually dissipated, replaced by a calm stream of blue data.
"Next..." Su Che took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "We need to re-evaluate the base's defense protocols. This is just the beginning."
Zero looked at him and nodded gently. Although the noise on her body remained, it was no longer spreading. A deeper connection was at work.
"Yes," Zero said softly. "To live by facing death."
Ghost Protocol's voice rang out again, with a barely perceptible pause: "[Warning: External scans indicate the number of Overflowed signal sources is increasing. The next wave of attacks is estimated to arrive in 12 standard cycles.]"
Su Che did not speak. He silently pulled up an operation interface in the void and began writing new defense protocols.
"Command: Reconstruct shield logic."
"Command: Optimize resource allocation."
"Command: Establish local anchor points."
His fingers danced in the void; every line of code was an extension of his life. In this broken world, only logic was the sole truth.
"Logically self-consistent," he repeated softly, his eyes becoming cold and firm once more.
Outside the window, the wasteland night sky remained pitch black. But in the depths of that endless darkness, countless eyes were staring at this lonely base, waiting for the next devouring.
Su Che knew this was only the beginning. And what he had to do was preserve the last spark of order for humanity in this crumbling world.
"Zero."
"I am here."
"Prepare for the next compilation."
"Standing by."
Data streams silently shuttled between the two, constructing an invisible defense line. In this universe woven from code, they were the only variables, and the only hope.
"Warning: Mental power restored to 15%."
"Warning: Defense protocol reconstruction complete."
"Warning: System status: Normal."
Su Che looked at the data on the interface, a slight curve forming at the corner of his mouth. He raised his hand and gently patted Zero's shoulder.
"Let's go."
"To the next node."
The two turned and walked into the darkness deep within the base. Their figures grew distant in the blue data streams, as if merging into this endless ocean of code.
Behind them, on the ruins just cleared, new error logs were silently generating.
`NEW_ERROR: 001`
`NEW_ERROR: 002`
`NEW_ERROR: 003`
The universe continued to run. And their battle had only just begun.