The Face at the Center of the Vortex turned toward Lin Ye. The Zeroers' voice rang out simultaneously from the Definition Systems of every civilization:
"Lord of Embers. You have walked out of the Core of Definition. You have deprived the Definition System of its stabilizer."
Three hundred and seventy million civilizations simultaneously sensed their own definitions trembling—locked in place.
Lin Ye stood before all civilizations, thirty million stars revolving steadily. "You came. I have been waiting for you for a long time."
"Waiting to die?"
"Waiting for you to witness how the Ember Era disappoints you."
The first wave of negation descended—not against Lin Ye, but against the weakest civilization behind him. The Zeroers were testing whether he could protect everyone.
The impact stopped one light-second away from that civilization. The light in Lin Ye's palm transformed into a thread of definition, one end connected to his heart, the other to the negation impact itself. He was redefining the meaning of "negation."
"Negation is not erasure. Negation is a choice."
The negation impact turned into a faint light and fell upon the weak civilization's home planet. Every member dreamed the same dream—seeing the possibility of being negated, then seeing Lin Ye standing in front of them.
That civilization's leader spoke through the Resonance Network. "We have been remembered."
The Zeroers' vortex stopped spinning. "How did you do that?"
Lin Ye took a step forward. Thirty million stars burned—not extinguishing, but transforming into an entirely new definition: "Unyielding."
"Source Definition left me an inheritance. Your weakness."
The Zeroers' vortex began spinning faster—not to attack, but to defend.
"You cannot negate something that has already been negated once and still exists. Because that would mean you need to negate yourself."
Lin Ye raised both hands, and light shot toward the vortex—not