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The Salvation Ark is aware of the existence of gods.

At the moment when Thought Power entered the human field of vision, regardless of whether it was out of human will, the gods had already been conceived and born.

They usually have two characteristics: they are made up of Thought Power; and they can bestow abilities on humans.

Their strength is not the standard for measuring them—instead, these god-like entities, despite being generally more powerful than an average adult, differ significantly from the invincible figures in myths; some newly born entities can even be easily killed by bullets and artillery when they reveal their true form.

However, as long as humanity does not perish, the gods will continue to emerge.

Because they are echoes of human civilization, a way for Thought Power to manifest its existence.

Additionally, being killable does not mean these gods are insignificant; the abilities they grant have extremely high ceilings and it is not uncommon for them to occasionally surpass human understanding. In fact, the abilities of the shopkeepers of the Computation Well, up until now, have been closely related to gods.

Due to this uncertainty, the leadership of the institute reached a consensus early on: They must collect these abilities for their use while also containing them in cages to prevent irreparable harm. If the Computation Well detects that an ability may originate from a god, it marks it as forbidden; the more difficult it is to analyze, the higher the forbidden level.

When Liang Mingzhe heard Chen Xuan mention the ascension enemy, he naturally linked it to the gods—these tainted echoes are a more special type of gods that also long for ascension, eager to break free from the shackles of this mundane world.

Yet, he could not imagine why an ascension enemy from another world line could break through layers of barriers and invade the Computation Well without warning.

The souls of the qualified have long become streams of information, only in this way can they be contained by the Computation Well. Moreover, in a sense, the Computation Well itself possesses power comparable to gods; otherwise, it could not prohibit the qualified from using abilities.

What puzzled him even more was why the ascension enemy would reach an agreement with a human.

This had never happened before!

Yet now, it had become a reality.

"Format immediately!" Liang Mingzhe ordered his assistant, "Abandon the data stored in the Chen Xuan unit!"

Zhao Qian was shocked, "Professor, are you sure? He carries information about ascension!"

"Do as I say." He suppressed his inner anger and coldly repeated the order, "The Salvation Ark cannot take this risk!"

The current invasion is only contained to a single database; who knows if it will spread throughout the entire Computation Well. After all, this is the first time encountering such a situation, and handling it with the most conservative method can’t go wrong.

"Yes, activating the formatting ability!" Zhao Qian had no choice but to comply.

Liang Mingzhe looked again at the display screen filled with gibberish, once more facing Chen Xuan, "Look at what idiocy you’ve done. You could have been a hero celebrated by humanity, but now you’ve destroyed your own future. To protect the Salvation Ark, I have no choice but to erase your information. Rest in eternal slumber, Mr. Chen."

"Old man, I didn’t permit you to do that." The Star God adjusted his bow tie, "Everything about him belongs to me; if I disagree, no one can lay a finger on him."

"Stop pretending to be refined." Chen Xuan noticed large patches of flickering snow-like static appearing in the space; he grumbled, "If you don’t take me away now, I’m going to be deleted!"

"Oh? You don’t believe in the weight of my promise?"

Seeing his confident demeanor, Chen Xuan started to doubt himself, "Do you understand computer technology?"

"That’s not my domain." The Star God smiled slightly—if that grotesque insect face could truly smile, "But change is inherent in everything."

Suddenly, Chen Xuan heard a rustling noise.

He looked down and couldn’t help but shudder!

Countless bugs emerged from the bare ground, crawling in all directions!

"Report, a fire has broken out inside Computation Well No.42! The automatic fire suppression system has been activated!"

"There’s a leak in the cooling system of Computation Well No.42, oh my god... what is this thing!?"

The researchers were horrified as they saw the inexplicable images captured by the cameras inside the Computation Well: various bugs crawled out of the electronic devices, causing circuit boards to short circuit, pipes to be chewed through, and heat exchange grilles to be clogged... these bugs were destroying the stability of the Computation Well with their bodies.

The issue is that all Computation Wells are in closed environments with constant temperature and humidity, with maintenance personnel performing checks daily; in such conditions, not to mention bugs, even microorganisms can hardly survive long-term.

Liang Mingzhe was astounded.

The information stream inside the Computation Well... is affecting reality?

"No, the control system of Well No.42 has collapsed!" Zhao Qian reported back, "The delete command can’t be sent to the computation core!"

"Then why are you standing around, send someone over to operate it on site!" He feigned calm as he instructed, "Inform the maintenance engineers of Well No.42 to take security robots into the well to work, and by all means, clear out any storage devices related to Chen Xuan."

It’s nothing... just a bunch of bugs.

They appeared no different from ordinary bugs; humans could crush them with a single finger. The bug bodies may damage machines, but they would never be able to stop the engineers.

While Liang Mingzhe was comforting himself, a researcher exclaimed in surprise, "Professor, Computation Well No.35 is executing the unseal program!"

"Wells No.29 and No.56 have also issued unseal commands!"

"Who’s messing with operations?" The old man couldn’t help but roar, "Shut down those processes now!"

Unsealing will awaken the conscious information sealed at the bottom of the database, which also means that a large number of qualified individuals will be sent into the active regions of the Computation Well.

When he thought they might see copies and replicas simulated by the Ark itself, Liang Mingzhe felt a chilling sensation run down his spine.

"No, the command was refused! Insufficient permissions!"

"Insufficient permissions?" he said in surprise, "Who initiated the unseal program?"

The person stared at the screen in a daze for half a second before replying blankly, "It’s the Computation Well itself."

...

Changes occurred once again in the snow-white space.

The lush green grass quickly spread over the entire ground, and above their heads, the sky turned back into a bright blue... In the blink of an eye, Chen Xuan found himself back in the virtual world of the Computation Well. The sofa and coffee table were still there, but the old man and his assistant were nowhere to be seen.

He looked back, noticing that the luxurious villa behind him was his residence; the earlier negotiation with the administrators seemed like a gaudy dream, only to wake up and realize nothing had actually happened.

He even had an illusion that perhaps if he waited a few more seconds, Xu Enya and Luo Dan would peek out from the door, smiling and wondering why he suddenly ran out by himself.

But such an illusion was destined to be short-lived.

Because the insect-faced figure, utterly incompatible with the surrounding environment, still stood beside him.

"Be careful," the Star God’s four eyes glanced over, "The enemy is here."

Without his reminder, Chen Xuan also saw it—on a nearby hillside, more than a dozen figures were rushing toward them, their faces twisted into ferocity, brimming with a murderous aura as if they held a deep-seated grudge against the residents. Without a doubt, those who appear in this world are all qualified candidates of the Ability Store.