The Belated "Void Engine"

Wei Zitong sat alone in a blue supercar, staring blankly ahead with one hand on the steering wheel.

This was the tenth day since he had transmigrated into this world...

Yet he had kept wondering whether something had gone wrong. Aside from his financial situation improving drastically, nothing else had changed...

If this were merely an ordinary world of wealthy families fighting for power and profit, he would not have worried about his current circumstances. But this was the world of Super Seminary!

As an anime fan in his previous life, he knew that Super Seminary was a world where technology reigned supreme. All kinds of technological gods ran wild across the universe, capable of wiping out an entire civilization at the drop of a hat!

Reborn into the world of Super Seminary as an ordinary person? Even he had been angered into laughter by such ridiculous nonsense. Forget gods and monsters—just some cannon-fodder little demon could kill him with a single finger!

He was not asking for some invincible system or all those encyclopedic libraries and whatever else. At the very least, couldn't he have been given a Super Gene? Let him become a Super Soldier and join the normal currents of this world. At least then he would have some means of protecting himself.

"This is such a scam. Starting out on hell difficulty!" Wei Zitong angrily stepped on the gas. The blue supercar let out a roaring rumble and shot forward...

No matter what, life still had to go on. Even a broken jar had to be smashed with enough force before it would break. With that mindset, Wei Zitong decided to properly enjoy the life of a rich second-generation heir before the world underwent its great upheaval.

Leaning lazily against the soft seatback, Wei Zitong listened to music while chatting with a private detective hired by the Original Body Owner.

"Young Master Wei, I've finished investigating the information you wanted," the private detective said over the phone. "Judging from Angel International's reports over the past few years, its investment projects, and the flow of funds, there really was a sum of money that disappeared. The books were handled very cleanly, but I hired professional accountants to verify them, and we finally got some results..."

"Skip the pointless stuff!" Wei Zitong said irritably. He did not really understand those things. Given how he had known a little about everything yet understood nothing in his previous life, he could easily get led around in circles by professionals. So he asked directly, "Just tell me, how much money was lost?"

"Approximately..." The private detective's voice trembled when he mentioned the figure. "Approximately more than seventy billion..."

"What?" Wei Zitong nearly jumped up as he shouted, "More than seventy billion? Are you sure? How did they cover up accounts involving that much money?"

"Angel International has invested in many projects..." the private detective said. "It's possible that some of them failed..."

"No, no. You need to send all the information to me!" Wei Zitong said. "There'll be a board meeting tomorrow. Once I hand this information to those directors, let's see how Wei Zixue explains herself!"

"That won't work, Young Master Wei. This information involves confidential matters. You have to come collect it in person!" the private detective refused.

Wei Zitong rubbed his brow. He did not want to go, but he had no choice.

He was helpless too. This was the Original Body Owner's final obsession: to drag down his older sister, Wei Zixue, whom he believed had caused his car accident. As for whether that was really true, Wei Zitong had no way to investigate further. Once major corporations and powerful families were involved, things became very complicated...

"Entering Highland Street ahead. Please slow down!" The car navigation system's voice made Wei Zitong pause.

Highland Street? That street name sounded awfully familiar!

He racked his brain, then suddenly remembered. This was where the original anime's protagonist, Ge Xiaolun, fought with Liu Chuang!

He was wondering whether it could really be such a coincidence. Just as he was about to slow down, an abrupt cry of "Silence" caused his mind to freeze for a moment...

This was Ge Xiaolun's signature skill, Brain Damage Slash—it could cause a brief mental short circuit, and once strengthened, it could even briefly halt other moving objects!

It was an incredibly powerful skill. At its strongest, it could overturn the Law of Conservation of Energy on a small scale!

Wei Zitong had never expected to get caught in the crossfire while driving. By the time he woke from that mental blackout, the shrill screech of tires scraping against the road stabbed at his ears. The moment his vision returned, he saw that his supercar had veered out of the right lane and was speeding headlong toward a double-decker bus!

He had no time to react, not even enough time to hit the brakes. He only felt the car jolt violently, his body pitching forward uncontrollably. Before the airbag deployed, his forehead slammed into the windshield...

He felt as though he had died, yet somehow he had not. Faintly, he heard a distant voice echoing around him.

As his consciousness gathered, that voice gradually became clearer...

"Void Energy response detected. Engine initiating... Fatal injury detected in host's body. Beginning host body repair..."

"Rewriting host genes... Rewriting... Warning. Insufficient permissions. Rewrite failed!"

"Activating current optimal solution... Calculating... Calculation successful. Initiating gene optimization program... Program progress: 10%... 20%... 30%... 40%..."

"50%... Greetings, Host!" As though it had sensed Wei Zitong's mental fluctuations, the voice changed and became less mechanical.

"Hello, who are you?" Wei Zitong sent out the thought uncertainly. In truth, he had already guessed what was happening, but the surprise had come too suddenly and caught him off guard!

"I am your Void Engine System in the Dark Plane!" the voice said. "First activation. Model designation... System files missing. Read failure!"

In an instant, the voice became mechanical and stiff again!

But Wei Zitong could not care less about that. Both shocked and delighted, he asked, "Then what abilities can you grant me?"

"The engine has suffered unknown damage. Current activation permissions are insufficient!" the system answered. "However, by 'denying' a false proposition, you can define and rewrite the states of certain matter!"

"That powerful?" Wei Zitong's emotions surged. "Wouldn't that mean whatever I say becomes reality?"

"It has nothing to do with 'whatever you say becomes reality'!" the system said. "This is merely the activation code for a complete set of low-level Technology Trees. Due to insufficient permissions, some Technology Trees cannot be triggered!"

"What kind of Technology Trees can't be triggered?" Wei Zitong hurriedly asked.

"System files missing. Unable to answer!" The system's voice turned mechanical once more. "90%... 100%. Gene optimization complete. Host successfully promoted to a First Generation Super Soldier. Returning consciousness..."

"Wait!" Wei Zitong hurriedly stopped it. "You said you're damaged. You need to tell me how I can repair you!"

"System files missing. Unable to answer!" The system's voice remained icy. "Some abilities can be restored by absorbing energy with lower entropy. Host consciousness has been outside the body for too long and must return immediately!"

"Damn it! How is this not under—" Wei Zitong tried to struggle, but by the time he broke free of that feeling of his consciousness being forcibly drawn together, he had already returned to reality. Yet the words he had wanted to say still burst from his mouth!

"—control?!"

Feeling a little tight in the chest, Wei Zitong looked up and realized he was being pressed against the steering wheel by the airbag. The windshield before him was covered in dense spiderweb cracks, probably from his forehead.

A crowd had gathered outside. Someone was trying to force open the driver's door to rescue him. Wei Zitong glanced over and saw a young man who looked decent enough but gave off an overwhelming loser vibe.

The young man had not noticed that Wei Zitong was awake. He was glancing sideways at him while frantically trying to open the door, because only he knew that he had caused this accident. He had shouted "Silence" at a terribly inappropriate moment. He had meant to uphold justice, but had unexpectedly caused a car accident. If someone died because of it, his conscience would torment him for the rest of his life!

So this was Ge Xiaolun? Wei Zitong lay sprawled over the steering wheel in a sorry state, watching the panic plainly written across Ge Xiaolun's face. Suddenly, a mischievous urge rose within him, and he grabbed the door handle with his left hand before shoving outward with all his strength.

Wei Zitong had intended to use the car door to slap Ge Xiaolun across the face. But he had not yet adjusted to a Super Soldier's strength and used too much force. The door opened, while Ge Xiaolun flew backward like a cannonball!

"You little bastard, what the hell was that loud noi—" A burly man with a vicious-looking face came cursing out of an alley. Halfway through his sentence, he abruptly dropped flat to the ground, avoiding Ge Xiaolun's flying body as he let out a strange cry. "Holy shit!"

Only after that cry did the bystanders snap out of their daze. Realizing that opening a car door hard enough to send someone flying was probably not normal human strength, they all backed away.

Of course, a few bolder busybodies took out their phones to record it.

"No recording!" Wei Zitong knew it was not good to display supernatural abilities in front of ordinary people, so he suppressed his wild joy and climbed out of the driver's seat, shouting at the youths filming him as he walked over.

Naturally, those youths did not listen to Wei Zitong. Yet something strange happened: after Wei Zitong shouted "No recording," the recording function vanished from their phones. No matter how they swiped across their screens, they could not find it. For a moment, the group looked as though they had seen ghosts. They threw down their phones and fled!

Wei Zitong was somewhat puzzled as well. He picked up an undamaged phone and checked it. Upon discovering that its recording function had disappeared, he was overjoyed—this busted Void Engine of his was actually pretty useful!

While Wei Zitong was secretly rejoicing over how powerful his engine ability was, Ge Xiaolun lay motionless on the ground. Someone shouted, "Murder!" and sparked a massive commotion!

The burly, thug-like man had just gotten to his feet when that cry of "Murder!" scared him so badly that he nearly dropped down again. He quickly turned around and called to his lackeys, preparing to run.

Wei Zitong had not expected Ge Xiaolun, who was originally supposed to be beaten to death by Liu Chuang, to die at his own hands instead. Feeling helpless for a moment, he saw the burly man who was likely Liu Chuang trying to flee and hurriedly shouted, "No running!"

Liu Chuang shuddered all over and actually forgot what he had been about to do. He scratched his head hard with a puzzled expression and muttered to himself, "What was I gonna do again?"

"Chuangzi, run! That kid got beaten to death, and if we don't run, the cops will haul us down to the station," one of his lackeys quickly said, pulling at Liu Chuang.

Liu Chuang suddenly came to his senses. He glanced at Ge Xiaolun, who lay motionless on the ground, then turned around to run again.

But how could Wei Zitong possibly let Liu Chuang get away? Seeing that his ability was becoming increasingly useful, he could not help wanting to use it on Liu Chuang again.

When Liu Chuang and the others saw Wei Zitong striding toward them, they all felt a little guilty and backed away several steps.

"Chuangzi, what do we do? That guy's coming over!" one lackey asked, pale as a sheet.

Liu Chuang felt that, as the big boss of the streets, he could not show weakness. He steeled himself and met Wei Zitong head-on. "Brother, what road do you run with? Give me your name..."

But the grinning Wei Zitong suddenly crouched down, and Ge Xiaolun, in a frog-climbing-a-tree pose, pounced on Liu Chuang and sent him flying! He did not even have time to scream!

"Mm, finally complete. Everyone's died once now!" Wei Zitong said as he stood up and dusted off his hands.

Wei Zitong was relaxed, but Ge Xiaolun, who realized he had pounced on the wrong person, panicked. He did not even dare check Liu Chuang's pulse and instead flailed around, shouting helplessly, "I-I, I didn't mean to! He's a thug, I was doing the right thing, no, that's not it..."

The more he tried to explain, the worse it became...

Wei Zitong was in an excellent mood. He watched Ge Xiaolun desperately run about, trying in vain to explain himself. But when Ge Xiaolun turned his attention toward him, Wei Zitong began to feel that things were not so good!

Sure enough, after spotting Wei Zitong secretly enjoying himself nearby, Ge Xiaolun's expression changed from panic to fury.

"It's all your fault!" Ge Xiaolun shouted indignantly.

Without another word, Wei Zitong directly issued Ge Xiaolun a gag order. "You are not allowed to speak!"

Ge Xiaolun felt as though he had been hit by another Brain Damage Slash. He opened his mouth and made hoarse "huff huff" sounds, but no matter what he did, he could not speak!

Friendly reminder: A poison gas leak occurs in the first ten chapters. Readers with low poison resistance should put on gas masks. You may also skip ahead or click "x" to leave this book.