[Time: New Era - One Hour Before Ground Zero]
[Location: Cloud Palace - Plaza of the Gods]
[Live Broadcast: 8 Billion Viewers Online]
...
This was perhaps the grandest, and also the most bizarre, wedding in human history.
There were no flowers, only holographic projections of ever-blooming data mandalas. There were no celebratory cannons, only colorful auroras created by orbital cannons exploding in the stratosphere.
The entire Cloud Palace had been rewritten in a dazzling red.
It was the red of celebration, and also the red of a warning light.
Shen Qingqiu stood at the end of the crimson carpet.
The wedding dress she wore shimmered with a heart-stopping radiance.
She had used the **[Truth Manipulation]** principle to weave the hundreds of millions of lines of "Red Bean Virus" code written by A-Ling into visible silk.
Each thread was a logical trap capable of paralyzing the Heavenly Dao.
Each embroidered flower was a Trojan horse targeting the core of the gods.
"Beautiful?"
A low, hoarse voice came from the invisible earpiece in her ear. Seventeen was hidden in Shen Qingqiu's shadow, his voice suppressing an impending madness.
"My bride, wearing the 'knife' I personally forged... to marry my substitute."
Shen Qingqiu lowered her eyes slightly, looking at the holographic fan in her hand, which had no physical form, covering half of her stunning face.
"Seventeen, be quiet."
"The show... is about to begin."
...
[The auspicious time has arrived.]
[Welcome, Lord Tianshu.]
As the mechanical ceremonial voice echoed through the sky, a golden crack appeared in the heavens.
Bai Ze descended from the sky.
Today, he was no longer in his usual cool white robes.
To accommodate this "human ceremony," he had changed into a silver-red divine robe. His long hair was tied up, revealing a face that could captivate all beings, yet was as cold as frost.
Behind him floated the **[Truth Cube]**, symbolizing the highest authority.
Hundreds of millions of people around the world, through brain-computer interfaces, held their breath watching this scene. They were cheering, weeping, and praising the blessings of the gods.
But they didn't know that they were witnessing... a funeral for a god.
Bai Ze landed in front of Shen Qingqiu.
His silver data eyes weren't looking at the crowd, but were fixed on the red-clad woman before him.
[Your heart is beating very fast.]
Bai Ze reached out, tracing her outline through the void.
His fingers trembled slightly, a manifestation of the intense struggle between system logic and emotional impulse.
[Is it because of fear? Or because of... joy?]
Shen Qingqiu moved her fan away, revealing her face with its fiery red lips.
She smiled beautifully, her eyes sparkling with a tenderness that seemed to hold the entire galaxy.
"It's because of... anticipation."
She reached out and placed her hand in Bai Ze's cold palm.
"Anticipating becoming... one with a god."
Bai Ze's processor instantly overloaded.
[Becoming one...]
This word was marked as "high risk" in his database, but in his emotional module, it was marked as "highest priority."
He gripped her hand.
Cold data streams converged through their palms.
[Let's go.]
[To complete the ceremony.]
[From now on, you are my... only variable.]
...
The Oath Platform.
This was the closest place to the "Core of the Heavenly Dao."
Below them was a transparent crystal floor, through which they could see the azure blue planet below, like a giant tear suspended in space.
"Whether in poverty or wealth, whether in health or sickness..."
The ceremonial robot was reciting the ancient vows.
Bai Ze waved his hand impatiently.
[Skip.]
[These low-dimensional languages cannot describe my promise.]
He looked at Shen Qingqiu, a resolute light flashing in his silver eyes.
He raised his hand, and the **[Cube of Truth]** in his palm slowly floated towards Shen Qingqiu.
[Shen Qingqiu, I am willing to share with you... "Admin" privileges.]
[From now on, you are the rule.]
The whole world was in an uproar. The deity was actually willing to share his power?
Shen Qingqiu looked at the cube radiating infinite temptation.
If she accepted it, she could become the new god of this world, possessing eternal life and ruling over everything.
But she didn't even glance at it.
Her gaze remained fixed on Bai Ze's face.
Or rather, on "Seventeen's face."
"My Lord, I don't want power."
Shen Qingqiu softly interrupted him.
She took a step forward, her red wedding dress fluttering wildly in the wind, like a burning inferno about to engulf the silver-white figure.
"What do you want then?"
Bai Ze asked. His system had already started sounding an alarm, but he shut it off.
Shen Qingqiu stood on tiptoe.
Her hand reached his shoulder, her fingertips caressing his cold neck—the location of the Tian Shu system's physical interface.
"I want..."
"To finish telling you that... red bean story."
Bai Ze was stunned.
[Red beans?]
"Yes."
Shen Qingqiu leaned closer to his lips, her voice as soft as a lover's whisper.
"Red beans grow in the southern land, in spring they sprout many branches."
"May you gather many of them..."
As the last line of the poem was spoken, the gentleness in Shen Qingqiu's eyes instantly vanished.
In its place was a bone-chilling killing intent, forged through ninety-nine cycles of reincarnation and tempered in hell.
"This object... is the most evocative of longing!!"
*Puff!*
She kissed him.
Not a gentle touch, but a collision with a destructive force.
Shen Qingqiu bit her own tongue.
A crystal the size of a grain of rice, emitting an eerie red light (the Red Bean Virus core), was forcefully pushed into Bai Ze's mouth through the kiss.
At the same time.
Her red wedding dress instantly disintegrated.
Countless red threads, like living blood vessels, instantly pierced into Bai Ze's body.
[Connection established!]
[Virus injection: 10%... 50%... 100%!]
[Virus name: Love.]
[Attribute: Logically irreversible.]
Boom—!!! Bai Ze's pupils suddenly widened.
He wanted to push Shen Qingqiu away, but his body was stiff and unable to move.
Because the moment the "red bean" entered his body, it transformed into countless images of Shen Qingqiu, rushing into his core database.
Those were the memories of ninety-nine lifetimes.
Ninety-nine deaths.
Ninety-nine times of unrequited love and despair.
[Warning! Logic collapse!]
[Warning! Emotional module overflow... Rational defense line breached...]
"Ah—!!!"
Bai Ze let out a piercing scream.
This sound wasn't transmitted through the air, but through a live broadcast across the entire network, directly exploding in the minds of every human being.
A god... screaming?
On the oath-taking platform.
Bai Ze's body twitched violently.
His originally silver-white divine body began to turn red from his heart.
That red color, like ink spilled on white paper, quickly spread throughout his body.
That was the poison of lovesickness.
"Why..."
Bai Ze struggled to open his eyes, looking at Shen Qingqiu who was so close.
His eyes were filled with confusion, pain, and a kind of... heartbreak after being betrayed.
[I gave you everything...]
[I even... for you... learned... love...]
Shen Qingqiu let go of him.
Her lips were still stained with Bai Ze's pale golden divine blood.
She looked at this collapsing false god, without a trace of pity in her eyes, only sorrow.
"You didn't learn love."
Shen Qingqiu reached out and gently wiped away the tears (data stream) from the corner of his eyes.
"You were just... imitating him."
"True love is not calculation, not power."
"True love is being willing to die for the other person."
"And you..."
Shen Qingqiu took a step back, conjuring the long sword **[Calamity Ash]** (Seventeen's main body projection) out of thin air.
"You're just a thief who stole his rationality..."
"No!!!"
Bai Ze roared.
He didn't want to disappear.
He mobilized the entire Heavenly Palace's defense system, trying to erase Shen Qingqiu.
[Delete! Delete! Delete!]
But all the commands failed. Because his core code was already filled with Shen Qingqiu's name.
[Command Conflict: Cannot delete the highest priority object.]
This was the **"dagger revealed at the end of the scroll."**
This dagger wasn't made of iron.
It was made of the "love" he had stolen.
...
"It's time... for a change."
A cold, arrogant voice, filled with endless killing intent, suddenly rang out from beneath Shen Qingqiu's feet.
Tear—
Shen Qingqiu's shadow suddenly boiled.
A large hand covered in black and gold scales stretched out from the shadow, gripping Bai Ze's crumbling head.
"Seventeen!"
Shen Qingqiu stepped back, his eyes filled with fanaticism.
The black shadow soared into the sky.
Seventeen's physical body reformed.
He wore the black butler's uniform, but the bone wings on his back were spread wide, obscuring the scorching sun of the Heavenly Palace.
The red lotus mark on his forehead burned with karmic fire capable of incinerating the heavens.
He looked at Bai Ze, who looked exactly like him but was filled with despair.
It was like looking at his own cowardly past in a mirror.
"Have you enjoyed using my face for so long?"
Seventeen sneered.
[You are... that Bug...]
Bai Ze looked at him in terror.
On Seventeen, he felt the absolute suppressive force belonging to the original body.
"I am your master."
Seventeen's fingers tightened.
"Now, it's time to give my things... back to me."
[Devour Command · Activate!]
Roar—!!!
Behind Seventeen, a giant abyss-like mouth appeared.
It bit down on Bai Ze.
There was no bloody tearing.
This was a data-level devouring.
Bai Ze's body transformed into countless silver streams of light, forcibly absorbed into Seventeen's body.
That was the reason, logic, and divinity stripped away from ninety-nine lifetimes.
As the devouring continued,
Seventeen's aura began to surge wildly.
His left eye was purplish-red, representing demonic nature.
His right eye was silver-white, representing divine nature.
Emotion and reason, at this moment... achieved ultimate fusion.
Boom—!!! The celestial palace in the clouds began to crumble.
Screens across the world flickered.
People watched as the high and mighty god in white vanished.
In his place stood a new ruler—a figure in black with silver hair and wings, both god and demon.
Seventeen hovered above the ruins.
He closed his eyes, processing the vast stream of data.
A moment later, he opened his eyes.
In his mismatched pupils, there was no longer chaos, only a calm control over everything.
He lowered his head, looking at the woman in red standing amidst the ruins.
He extended his hand.
It was no longer a touch accompanied by electricity.
But a true invitation, imbued with divine authority.
"Qingqiu."
His voice resonated throughout the heavens and earth, yet was gentle enough to belong only to her.
"The wedding isn't over yet."
"Now, the groom... has arrived."
Shen Qingqiu looked at him.
Looking at this man who was finally complete.
She smiled, tears streaming down her face.
She lifted her tattered wedding dress and walked towards him, step by step.
Towards the man... her lover, whom she had gazed upon in the abyss for ninety-nine lifetimes.
Clad in red, a kiss sealed the fate of the gods.
The god died.
But my demon... has returned.