Inside the "Xiao Clan Fortress" in the Free Verse Universe, Xiao Feng gazed at the red alerts flashing on the holographic star map. The Ancient Emperor Jade fragment in his hand was growing warm. Code Girl's projection suddenly appeared in the middle of the conference table, the hem of her pixel skirt still speckled with binary dust from the Template Universe. "Brother Xiao, the Creation God is locked up in the Template Universe's 'Setting Prison'! They're going to trade him for your freedom code!"
Medusa immediately rose to her feet, her mechanical serpent tail striking the floor with a sharp metallic clang. "I suggest we launch the True Love Fleet at once and blast through the Template Universe's barriers with the Emperor Flame Cannon!"
Xun'er turned the Seed of Life in her hand. "Let's not rush. The Template Universe's inhabitants might all be 'setting serfs' forced to work against their will. Perhaps we can rescue them peacefully..."
Yun Yun leafed through the Wasteland Codex. "Diplomacy comes first—I'll draft the Anti-Template Peace Initiative."
Gu Ling was already hammering away at the keyboard. "Don't worry. I hacked into their Villain Recruitment System, and it's playing the Xiao Family's true-fragrance highlights right now~"
Xiao Yan bit into an energy bar he'd picked up in the Wasteland and mumbled, "Third Brother, I bet their warden is a tsundere. The kind who explodes if you poke him."
Xiao Feng raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how do you know that?"
Xiao Yan grinned. "Skeleton Teacher from the Villain Training Class said that BOSSes in the Template Universe all have the hidden trait 'says no but means yes.'"
When the Anti-Template Alliance's fleet reached the Template Universe, they saw a sky made entirely of "system notifications." On the ground, the citizens of the Long Aotian Kingdom stood in line to receive "face-slapping scripts" and "harem tokens." Medusa's mechanical fleet had barely entered the airspace when it was stopped by a group of "Dao Protectors" wearing sequined capes. Their leader was none other than God Emperor Long Aotian, whom Xiao Yan had once sabotaged during a talent show.
"Xiao Clan brat!" God Emperor Long Aotian gripped the Invincible Long Aotian Blade, its edge inscribed with the words "Slay Heaven, Slay Earth, Slay the Air." "Hand over the freedom code, and I'll leave you with your whole bodies!"
Xiao Yan leaned out of the spaceship's window and gave him the middle finger. "Bring it on! Let's hurt each other! I hear you're afraid of heights and allergic to pollen?"
God Emperor Long Aotian shuddered, and his blade nearly slipped from his hand. "Y-You... how did you know?!"
Gu Ling's voice rang out over the loudspeaker. "We also know you've secretly been writing fan fiction for The Overbearing CEO's Wife-Chasing Chronicles under the pen name 'Little Princess Long Ao'~"
The sky instantly filled with pixel emojis reading "shocked" and "hilarious." God Emperor Long Aotian's face turned liver-red. He suddenly raised his blade toward the sky. "System! This script is wrong! I'm supposed to be the invincible male lead, so why do I have a history like this?!"
Code Girl's projection appeared in front of him. "Because you're a template character. All your weaknesses exist to make the protagonist's power trip more satisfying~"
God Emperor Long Aotian stood frozen as his blade clanged to the ground. "So... I've been forced by the system to slap people in the face thirty times a day? Even my three hundred wives were part of the setting?"
Xiao Feng seized the opportunity to fly out of the spaceship, Emperor Flame flickering in his palm. "Brother Long Ao, true invincibility isn't acting out a script. It's being able to choose your own life—like joining our Anti-Template Alliance."
God Emperor Long Aotian looked at Medusa, Xun'er, and the others behind Xiao Feng, then at his own empty harem (which was actually made up of template-generated NPCs). Suddenly, he dropped to his knees and burst into tears. "I've had enough! Every morning I have to recite 'cool guy catchphrases,' and even when I eat, I have to strike a 'charmingly wicked smile' pose! Brother Xiao, take me in!"
The system notification rang out right on cue:
Ding! Successfully recruited God Emperor Long Aotian. Gained the "Template Traitor" buff (Template Defense -50%)!
Xiao Yan gained the title "Master of Snark" and unlocked the "Roast Critical Hit" skill!
Yun Yun struck while the iron was hot and handed over the Freedom Alliance Charter. "Mr. Long Aotian, just sign this agreement and you'll be free to decide what to eat today and how many wives to take—or whether to take any at all."
God Emperor Long Aotian signed immediately, even pressing a bloody handprint onto the page. "I want the first mission! I want to beat up the screenwriter who gave me that dark history!"
Gu Ling raised her hand. "I know where he is! The Setting Editorial Department in the Template Universe, the most boring place in all the universes~"
When the fleet reached the Editorial Department, they saw a group of bespectacled code people writing template plots at an assembly line: "The male lead falls off a cliff and finds a secret manual" and "The villain dies from talking too much." Xiao Yan suddenly pointed at a bald code man. "That's him! He wrote me as 'the villain who's jealous of his older brother' back then!"
The bald code man raised both hands. "Don't kill me! I'm just a wage slave! The Creation God's second personality forced us to do it!"
Xiao Feng frowned. "Where's the Creation God?"
The code man pointed to the Setting Furnace deep within the Editorial Department. "Locked in there! Every day, he keeps shouting, 'Let me out so I can write free stories!'"
Medusa swung her mechanical serpent tail, easily smashing through the Furnace's doors. Inside, she found the Creation God bound to the Template Throne, with a "forced power fantasy" gag stuffed in her mouth. The moment she saw Xiao Feng and the others, she let out a muffled cheer. "Quick! Destroy the Throne! It's the core of the Template Universe!"
Xiao Yan pulled out the Flame of Roast and unleashed a tirade at the Throne. "What a lousy throne. It can't be comfortable to sit on! The villain dies from talking too much? I'll make the villain talk the protagonist to death! The male lead falls off a cliff? Why not open a barbecue stand at the edge instead!"
The Throne let out an unwilling shriek in the flames, then turned into countless fragments of power-fantasy tropes, like "divine weapon recognizes its master" and "the useless one turns his life around." They exploded in the air like dazzling fireworks.
The system notification rang out with the exhilaration of release:
Ding! Template core destroyed. The Creation God has been rescued!
Reward: "Multiverse Pass," achievement "Story Freedom MAX"!
God Emperor Long Aotian picked up a fragment of "divine weapon recognizes its master" and suddenly burst into tears. "So... I never had a real divine weapon. They were all props generated by the system..."
Xiao Feng patted him on the shoulder. "Now you can forge your own divine weapon—like a blade that can grill skewers?"
God Emperor Long Aotian's eyes lit up. "Great idea! I'll call it the True Fragrance BBQ Blade!"
The Creation God flexed her numbed hands and feet and gave Xiao Feng a grateful smile. "Thank you, guardians of free stories. Now the story tree of the multiverse can finally grow again—and you will become the inspiration behind every free story."
Medusa suddenly dropped to one knee and opened a ring box with her mechanical fingers. "Xiao Feng, after being reborn once in the Template Universe, I'm even more certain—you're the one fate chose for me."
Xun'er's vines offered a Ring of Life. "Brother Xiao, this seed was nurtured with the Creation God's tears. It symbolizes our eternal coexistence."
Yun Yun unfurled a new marriage announcement. "After a vote among the survivors, you've become the honorary sect master of the White Cloud Sect—and my husband."
Gu Ling raised her upgraded keyboard. "This betrothal gift was made from the template core. From now on, I'll code your story into the greatest one yet!"
Xiao Feng looked at the four rings, then at the expectant faces of the heroines, and finally at Xiao Yan, who was smirking off to the side. At last, he burst out laughing. "All right! I'll accept them all—but first, we need to give the alliance a name that'll make some noise."
Xiao Yan immediately raised his hand. "Let's call it the Xiao Family Anti-Trope Troupe!"
God Emperor Long Aotian raised his hand too. "Count me in! I want to be vice captain!"
The Creation God shook her head with a wry smile, then wrote a line in the air with her fingertip: the Free Story Alliance was officially established.
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