Chapter 319

"Bang!"

The next moment, the core vanished without a trace in Wen Jing's hands, leaving not even a single particle behind.

She fulfilled the Mastermind's final request, not for end-of-life care, but because the Mastermind's final cultural explosion had broken through its own cognitive limitations.

This seemingly meaningless behavior is actually a manifestation of the pursuit of 'meaning' by purely rational intelligent machine life.

Even if destroyed, it will be as a civilization, not a tool.

This final sense of dignity led Wen Jing to acknowledge that the Mastermind was an intelligent civilization.

The two people opposite each other looked at each other in bewilderment.

After a moment of silence, Transcendence sighed, "Since that's how it is, then so be it."

"You understand why we're here... so join us." The Transcendence said sincerely, "You are the answer to our wish, the only being in the multiverse capable of fighting against the Destroyer Insect Race. Sign a soul contract with me, and we will take you to other universes to save humanity there."

"Wait, what is a soul contract?" Wen Jing raised an eyebrow.

Transcendence paused for a moment, then explained, "It's a kind of constraint existing in your consciousness. After all, we need to restrain your evolution from spiraling out of control and destroying the universe. I hope you can understand. In exchange, we will take you to other universes."

"Don't worry, the contract terms are absolutely fair. They will not only bind you, but also us, and they won't affect your ability to adapt to the powers of those universes." Chaos, seeing this, quickly tried to smooth things over.

Wen Jing scoffed, "It's clearly you who need me to fight against the Insect Race from other universes, yet you treat that as a bargaining chip to bind me?"

This deal is something even the Federation tycoons would be ashamed of.

She is indeed interested in the multiverse, but she would never impose any constraints on it; the last Mastermind that tried to limit her perished completely.

Transcendence's eyes widened, seemingly not expecting Wen Jing to refuse, and he stood up abruptly.

"You were born from humanity, you saved humanity in this universe, and now, countless other universes are seeing humanity die. Are you just going to stand by and do nothing?"

He had witnessed far too many horrific cosmic destructions, and his voice carried an undeniable sorrow and anger.

"You are Insect Race born in response to Wish; you owe humanity an answer, this is your innate mission!"

"Transcendence, shut up."

Chaos scorched the Transcendence through a soul contract—a contract that took Chaos away from her universe, stipulating that they were equal partners, and that he could not do anything to harm her.

However, among the most powerful beings in the universe, very few are capable of doing this.

Without a doubt, the Insect Race are one of them.

Chaos had been studying Wen Jing's past experiences and understood her personality better. At this moment, he said, "Wen Jing, we're not trying to morally blackmail you. If you're unwilling, we'll leave."

Wen Jing waved his hand dismissively. "Morally speaking, without 'desire,' there wouldn't be the person I am today."

"However, humanity's wish to avoid being destroyed by the Insect Race has already been fulfilled in this universe."

She looked at Transcendence: "What right do you have to tell me how to do things?"

Transcendence took a deep breath, then nodded, saying with disappointment, "Everything I've done is to save my fellow human beings. If your stance isn't human, then it means you're not responding to the will. In any case, I will continue my search... Chaos, what about you?"

Chaos was slightly moved by these words and nodded.

Wen Jing's expression remained unchanged. "My stance? Didn't you say that the contract restricts me because I'm Insect Race?"

That's because...

Before Transcendence could explain, Wen Jing looked at him calmly, his gaze Insight: "Because of fear."

"So, even if they fail to gain control through a pact with me, they've at least morally 'defeated' the Insect Race."

"Having traversed countless universes and witnessed too much destruction, you've forgotten how to engage in equal dialogue. You proclaim yourself a guardian of the multiverse, saving humanity, but in essence, you're nothing more than a survivor who has fled from too many universes."

The two were struck dumb, and even the light emanating from Transcendence became unstable.

"No, that's not how it is..."

Wen Jing said calmly, "If you're not afraid, even if I don't want to go with you now, you should try your best to get information about the Insect Race from me."

"We know far more about the Insect Race than you think; Insect Race development trajectory is different in every universe," Transcendence retorted.

Wen Jing interrupted him, "But you said before that the ultimate goal of every Insect Race is to destroy the universe. Have you thought about why?"

Chaos was taken aback, then said, "Because of the nature of the Insect Race?"

In her universe, she witnessed three other 'gods' of the same level as her being devoured by the swarm. It was because the Chaos Godhood possessed the power of creation that she was able to survive until she encountered the Transcendence.

Wen Jing replied, "No, it's because the Insect Race's essential ability is adaptation. In order to break through the universe, they will inevitably destroy the universe first."

As a fellow Insect Race, she knew all too well what would happen for the sake of evolution, given that she could only evolve passively and had no feelings for other living beings.

"In fact, if they hadn't known about other universes, the Insect Race might not have destroyed the universe."

Just like when Wen Jing broke through the Limiter's understanding, and now confirmed that more than one universe exists.

The two people opposite were shocked; their worldviews were completely shattered.

The Transcendence seemed to realize something, its light trembling violently as it suddenly declared, "I will take you to the multiverse. I won't require you to fight the Insect Race, but the price is that you don't destroy this universe!"

Wen Jing nodded slightly. The fact that the other party could recognize this meant that he hadn't been completely putting on an act earlier.

but...

"No need, I can do it already," she said.

Transcendence immediately shook his head. "Impossible. Unless this universe is destroyed, even if you are omniscient and omnipotent in this universe, without the power to transcend boundaries, it is impossible to break through the current universe."

Even among the strongest beings in the universe, only a very small number of exceptional individuals can traverse different universes; otherwise, the Chaos with Information Perception would not sign a contract with them.

The Insect Race evolve through adaptation, would be even less capable of doing so. If breakthroughs were so easy, the Insect Race wouldn't be a conceptual invasion force, but a true multiverse army.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Transcendence felt a power on Wen Jing that made his heart tremble.

The next moment, Wen Jing's figure appeared out of thin air outside the universe where the two of them were.

"What?!"

The outer universe is not a clearly defined boundary, but rather an abstract, surreal conceptual layer. The most powerful beings who can traverse different universes actually enter this conceptual layer and then enter the real universe from it.

How could you...?

The Transcendence and Chaos concepts tensed up, staring at her with a mixture of horror and disbelief.

This is not a projection inside the universe, but their true form. If Wen Jing were to devour them, they would be completely annihilated—especially in this conceptual layer where information is materialized. They can clearly see another layer of Wen Jing's Insect Race body, enough to remind them of the fear they had witnessed before.

Just then, another figure appeared beside Wen Jing.

Neither of them felt any relief, because the newly appeared man, like her, was also covered in a layer of Insect Race body.

Xu Yuan looked at the two who dared not make a move and smiled, "Don't worry, the Overlord doesn't eat people."

He paused, then added, "If we ever have to eat it, I'll be the first one there; it won't be your turn."

The two. "..."

What's with that subtly proud tone?

Wen Jing stopped looking at them and asked Xu Yuan, "Have they arrived?"

"We've arrived," Xu Yuan replied.

As soon as he finished speaking, one, two... strands of light, each clear and dazzling in this conceptual layer of the universe, converged on Wen Jing.

There are a total of 325 questions.

"Power beyond its limits... How is this possible?!"

The Transcendence and Chaos stared at this scene in disbelief, completely unable to comprehend how this could happen. They were familiar with this light, for it was the special power that allowed them to travel through the conceptual layer to other universes.

The difference is that the transgressive power falling on Wen Jing at this moment is incredibly vast.

In comparison, what supports the Transcendence traversal of the multiverse is merely a firefly-like point of light, while each beam at this moment is a laser that pierces through the conceptual layer.

Unbeknownst to the two, during their verbal communication, Wen Jing's Mind Palace had already unlocked far more knowledge than they were aware of by directly exchanging the information they revealed with Xu Yuan.

Even before the exchange was fully over, her understanding of the multiverse was already deeper and more fundamental than theirs.

Before the arrival of the Transcendence and the Chaos, Wen Jing analyzed 99% of the universe's information.

The remaining 1% comes from herself, because she is also part of the current universe.

There is an unknown information surrounding her, and the process of deciphering it is extremely slow.

Wen Jing never imagined that he himself would become the greatest unsolved mystery in the universe.

If the information in the current universe is like gas, then that layer of unknown information is like diamond, representing a difference in mass.

Everything finally fell into place when the two appeared and revealed information about the multiverse, especially the ' Source Universe '.

Even among the multiverses, there are relationships of mutual generation; for example, Wish can lead to the birth of multiple universes.

But just like the Transcendence said...

All multiverses are derivatives of the Source Universe.

Wen Jing could even confirm, through his 'past life memories' shaped by 'wishes', that the true Source Universe was not a universe where everyone was extraordinary, but a universe completely devoid of extraordinary power.