Universal Unlock Passcode

At midnight, Bai Ge arrived at a substation in the outskirts of Xiangfan City.

Unless there was maintenance work, substations were generally unmanned.

His curiosity finally got the better of him, and he wanted to sample some high-voltage electricity...

Granted, he now had ten million yuan and could find a way to build a factory and apply to set up a factory substation. But that process would be too slow. He did not want to wait for half a year or more.

"High-voltage transmission contains an enormous amount of energy. Even if I draw a little, it shouldn't have any effect, right..."

When he reached the substation's large iron gate, he did not choose to climb over the wall this time. Instead, he tried using his ability.

His previous experiments had already confirmed his ability's latest application.

As a Setting Weaver, when the settings he imagined were acknowledged by the real world at the cost of real energy, he possessed, in a sense, the potential to do anything.

"Universal Unlock Passcode!"

Bai Ge tried to make reality acknowledge a purely imagined fantasy setting.

Any lock would open when he tapped it with his finger and said "Universal Unlock," regardless of what kind of lock it was.

It sounded somewhat like "Open Sesame." Although it was incredibly ridiculous, that was what a setting was. Once acknowledged, even something wildly out of place should be realizable.

However, that was not what happened.

It could not even be acknowledged when he limited the ability to lasting only a few seconds, which left Bai Ge extremely disappointed.

"How could this be? Is it because I don't have enough energy? But it won't work even if I only need it for a few seconds?"

Bai Ge pondered, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He modified the setting. The function remained unchanged, but he added a trait that belonged only to himself.

Bai Ge incorporated his own body into the imagined setting, implanting that trait in himself as an exclusive talent of "Earthling Bai Ge."

When he returned to reality, almost all the electricity in his body vanished in an instant. It had finally been acknowledged.

He reached out and tapped the lock, silently reciting, "Universal Unlock."

In an instant, the lock strangely unlocked and opened by itself. It looked almost magical.

But unlocked was unlocked. Bai Ge had merely said a sentence, without needing a key, and forcibly opened the lock...

Such a bizarre setting lasted only a few seconds, but...

"Reality acknowledged it..."

"It only works when added to myself? No, no... I understand now!"

"What I edited before was a universal setting, and it was too broad. Once realized, it wouldn't be limited to me. Every creature in the world that could speak Chinese would be able to use the passcode."

"That's equivalent to creating a universal law of nature for the universe. The required price is far too enormous—an astronomical figure. Of course I couldn't realize it."

What an immense concept an objective law was. Forcibly stuffing some inexplicable objective law into reality with only a hundred watt-hours of electricity was utterly absurd.

If the setting Bai Ge incorporated into reality was an anomalous trait, then a pan-spatiotemporally universal anomalous trait would naturally be far more difficult to realize than an anomalous trait belonging to an individual.

If "reality" were a living creature, an individual anomaly would be equivalent to adding a virus, or something even smaller. Reality could adapt to it, ignore it, and let it exist.

But an anomalous trait with broad, conceptual significance would affect the whole.

If it could be realized, it would inevitably require an unimaginably vast amount of real energy.

"So that's how it is. Settings like this range from individuals to the pan-universe and even pan-conceptual entities, and all of them require energy... I can only add anomalous traits to myself, or perhaps to an object. I shouldn't add them to... reality as a whole. Maybe it's possible... but that isn't something I should consider right now..."

Bai Ge was thrilled. He was already impatient to absorb more energy.

Of course, the mysterious energy escape phenomenon occurred once again.

Energy sufficient to destroy the world vanished without a trace.

Every time he forcibly imposed an anomalous trait on reality, this phenomenon occurred.

Once for Danmu, three times for storing electricity, and once for unlocking.

Altogether, five surges of super-powerful energy had flowed into reality. Combined, they were more than enough to destroy the Solar System.

"Since nothing happened, I'll just leave it alone."

Bai Ge entered the pitch-black substation, deftly avoiding every camera.

This professional habit had practically become instinctive.

"This won't do. If I want to store electricity, I can't avoid this camera..."

Bai Ge took out a sheet of paper, wet it, and stood in the camera's blind spot. Then he jumped up and plastered it over the lens.

"Let's check again..."

Bai Ge cautiously inspected the Safe Electricity Storage trait he had added to himself. To be safe, he once again emphasized his own "Safe Electricity Storage" trait.

No matter how high the voltage was, his body could withstand and contain it.

Of course, he could not realize a trait with infinite capacity, so he had set the capacity to the country's total electrical energy.

As long as it did not exceed that total, his body could withstand it.

"Drink!"

Bai Ge climbed onto the main transformer, which was operating in a high-voltage danger zone.

His hair had been dancing even when he entered!

He directly hung himself from the high-voltage transmission line, cut it with a knife, and hooked both legs around the steel frame. In an instant, an enormous current surged into his body.

"Ugh..."

Bai Ge let out a satisfied hum as dazzling electric light flashed beneath the night sky.

Flames rose—the electricity had ignited his clothes.

A pair of sneakers was pierced straight through by the high voltage. A large hole split open in each sole, leaving them charred black.

"Hiss..."

Bai Ge could store electricity, but he was still afraid of fire. Although it sounded strange, that was the truth.

He hurriedly threw away his burning clothes and shoes, then hung naked from the line, enjoying the sound of the electric light playing its melody.

High-voltage electricity and household electricity were worlds apart.

This was a 220-kilovolt transmission line, a thousand times the voltage of household electricity.

At that moment, Bai Ge felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring. Every cell in his body was cheering and leaping for joy.

The vitality surging through his body made Bai Ge almost forget the passage of time.

He was enjoying the electricity when he had no idea that his powerful Safe Electricity Storage trait had directly cut off power to the district served by this line.

Bai Ge had no idea how enormous an amount of electrical energy he had siphoned away.

That night, an entire street in Xiangfan City experienced a layered blackout.

In the bustling night market, that pitch-black, winding dragon was exceptionally conspicuous.

Everything was monitored automatically nowadays. The moment a short circuit occurred here, the main station immediately sounded an alarm, startling the personnel on duty into hurriedly checking the situation.

They did not need to go to the scene to know which section of the transmission line had malfunctioned.

While Bai Ge was immersed in the experience, emergency repair vehicles were already heading there.

In just one hour, the area outside the suburban substation was brightly lit and filled with noisy voices.

"Insulation degradation?"

"Don't approach yet! Cut the power first."

A large group of people stood some distance away, not daring to approach the accident line. They had to wait for the power to be cut before they could get close.

Because of this delay, they did not spot Bai Ge immediately.

Bai Ge was the first to notice that someone had arrived.

"Ah, so soon..."

Although Bai Ge had anticipated it, he was still reluctant to leave.

After all, the sensation was far too exhilarating. The amount of electricity he had absorbed in just one hour was tens of thousands of times what he could use at home, perhaps even more.

"I have to leave... I have money now. I can solve things myself, so I should solve them myself. There's no need to steal electricity. I mustn't do this again. At worst, I can endure it for a few months..."

Bai Ge hurriedly "pulled" his body off the line. Completely naked, he ran while clutching a pile of charred, tattered clothes.

He still would not climb the wall. With so much electrical energy inside him, he could simply turn invisible and leave.

He instantly edited a trait that would last one minute.

"Passive Optical Invisibility. One minute is enough."

This trait was stacked onto the body of an Earthling. Like a passive skill, it made him, as a human, naturally optically invisible.

He had stored far too much energy.

The trait lasted only one minute and consumed merely a tiny fraction of the electricity. Bai Ge calmly left the area.

P.S.: Happy Dragon Boat Festival, everyone.