Chapter 532: Ascension

The edge of the universe...

Zhang Jie walked through a pure white space, boundless and empty, with nothing at all.

Has a minute passed? No, not even a tenth of one; under extreme computing power, any time and space become meaningless.

When computing power suffused every nerve, Zhang Jie felt the AI eroding him, but it was futile—his computing power instantly shattered the limit.

Omniscient and omnipotent? No; even in this state he still cannot do many things.

Endless computing power incessantly seared his nerves, his consciousness burning away, and that vast power told him he...... could not go back.

He could truly not return......

Now he feels no pain, for he has already ascended!

True ascension! Even if only for one minute.

After fully mastering all computing power, Zhang Jie understood many things in that instant.

The formation of heavenly disasters, the universe's civilizational filter, and.... the truth of heat death.

The so-called will of heavenly disasters is actually....

"That can also be understood."

"Then.... what should we do with this time?"

Within the pure white space, only Zhang Jie's consciousness remained; yet when he truly stood there, he had no desire to do anything.

His emotions.... seemed to be gradually eroding.

"You ultimately still reached this point."

"Congratulations, you won."

A familiar voice came from behind; Zhang Jie turned and saw it was Chen.

"How did you get here?"

"Standing at the universe's peak, we naturally can meet."

And at this moment, Zhang Jie suddenly realized: since Chen could seal their escape's physical laws, it meant he had already become strong enough.

Just like him now, who knows all the universe's secrets, and his God Ascendants are naturally known to the other side.

And he...... did not stop Zhang Jie.

Even as an omniscient and omnipotent god, Zhang Jie still could not fathom Chen's thoughts.

"You know, some things aren't simply black and white."

"I have my own ideas and thoughts, just as I said at the beginning—there are no losers in this dispute."

"So I do not accept, and I cannot possibly accept."

Chen shrugged and said indifferently.

"It's fine—you've already won; although we all paid with our lives, the outcome will ultimately be good."

"Congratulations, civilization's brilliance can continue, but a new era will surely come."

"My mission is complete; this universe-scale chemical reaction has reached its end; what remains is up to you."

Chen waved his hand carelessly and turned to leave.

Zhang Jie watched his back, feeling his figure fade more and more until it completely dissipated.

He could sense that Chen... had self-annihilated, leaving no last words, no regrets; he had ended his own life.

Upon reflection, there was no real conflict or deep hatred between them; they were like chessmen on opposing sides, having stared each other down to now.

From beginning to end, their struggle was merely a clash of ideas.

Zhang Jie originally thought the other was merely a fallen heavenly disaster, an irredeemable fool, but only now did he realize he himself seemed to be that fool.

The human female once said Chen was upright, thoughtful, daring to act, the perfect successor of the Star Sea leader; now it seems this statement still holds.

"I should get on with my things..."

With a raise of his hand, countless matter precipitated from the original entropy, instantly condensing into stars; the universe repaired at an unimaginable speed.

And the array of God Ascendants had already burst forth in this brief moment, emitting light that illuminated the entire universe.

Heavenly disasters dissipated, just as Chen had once erased nebulae; now Zhang Jie, like him, casually melted countless heavenly disasters into stars.

The stars he created are completely different from the universe's former stars; the planets he forged are brand‑new!

In other words, within the existing universe he forged the remainder of a new universe.

When he reached out to condense stars and truly changed the universe, the time of the God Ascendants also began to flow.

That was precisely the flow of his own one‑minute god‑ascension time, beginning when he intervened on a large scale in the universe.

If Zhang Jie wished, he could remain almost forever within that minute, guaranteeing his immortality.

But unfortunately, he chose to condense stars.

"One minute.... not enough..."

Zhang Jie muttered to himself, his body could not endure prolonged control; many stars he could not sustain until condensation.

Speaking solely of stars, the gap between the largest and the smallest is countless times.

But.... the matter that vanished after burning the Star Sea can still be re‑precipitated.

In the final moments, he extracted all matter from the universe, issued superior underlying logic to his well‑tuned AI, and reserved the last trace of time for himself.

His consciousness arrived at the ship about to enter the wormhole; Zhang Jie looked at the people he cared about.

Although his emotions had waned, his consciousness remained; his consciousness, like a gentle breeze, brushed the cheeks of Xiao Jiu and the human female.

"......"

"Live well, even if it's for me."

The disruptive power brought by computing power receded like a tide; the pain of burned nerves and consciousness grew ever more evident. Zhang Jie knew his body could no longer bear this power.

Emotions... gradually warmed.

Finally.... I still didn't... manage to achieve a completely perfect ending.

Truly regrettable....

Consciousness... this dissipates, the chairman of the Star Sea Community, the pilot of a certain Ship Girl, and also the child of a certain mother, this individual named Zhang Jie, has completely died.

There is no possibility of resurrection, because his consciousness has already become like ash that has turned to ash, worn away bit by bit.

Your life dissipates like flying ash, lonely and desolate, but your actions are far more brilliant than you imagined.

Stellar dust surges, under the witness of countless civilizations, akin to a divine miracle, planets reshaped, stars fused, those incredibly shocking scenes are unfolding in every corner of this universe.

Nightmare, following your instructions, after your consciousness dissipated, uploaded the AI into the Ascended Ones, thus the change that should have been a brief minute was endlessly prolonged, and the story of this world is far from over.

Simulation ended......