?This brilliant universe has 10 billion planets.

  ?If we compare this entire macro-reality to "Universe Building 01," then those 10 billion planets are its 10 billion rooms. When the timeline is bent or altered, the disruption only occurs locally within the confines of Building 01. Meanwhile, in the other "Universe Buildings" out there, time continues to pass coldly and silently, completely unaffected.

  ?Right now, Universe Building 01 is cracking.

  ?To collapse this entire colossal structure, one doesn't need to waste effort destroying every single room among those 10 billion planets. You just need to crack its core, sabotaging it from both the inside and the outside. The space-time explosion of 2066 is exactly that kind of crack.

  ?And at that very crack, humanity is frantically rushing toward its death.

  ?Stone screamed like a mad beast amidst the ruined battlefield: "Run! Faster! Fucking run!!!"

  ?The elderly, women, men, children... they screamed and trampled over each other, leaping into the swirling, blood-red tear in space.

  ?The rules of the Time Hole are incredibly cruel and bizarre. It crushes inorganic and non-biological matter at a terrifying speed. The moment those desperate humans cross the edge of the spatial tear, all their clothes, armor, and belongings are instantly devoured by time.

  ?Spatial pressure strips them naked in a split second. Biological bodies are slightly more resilient than inorganic matter; they manage to hold on for a few brief, agonizing seconds... but the limit inevitably arrives.

  ?If you don't run fast enough to fully cross the rift, you explode.

  ?BOOM! BOOM!

  ?Thousands of naked bodies, having just barely crossed over, were instantly crushed by the pressure. Guts, eyeballs, and brains splattered everywhere, raining down a cruel shower of fresh red blood before turning into suspended clouds of blood mist and vanishing completely into the void. Some unlucky ones only made it halfway through, their bodies cleanly sliced off right outside the spatial gate.

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  ?Seeing the catastrophic situation, Broly took a drag of his cigarette and ordered a squad of armored troop carriers to charge straight through the breach.

  ?But he was wrong. Things only got worse. The greater the physical impact and mass, the more horrifying the spatial blowback. The heavy armored vehicles were twisted and crushed the second they touched the edge of the gate. The soldiers inside were burned alive, their agonizing screams echoing before everything—both men and machines—burned down to white bones, instantly vanishing along with the fiery dust.

  ?Nearly a hundred thousand people had committed suicide. A hundred thousand lives leaped into the meat grinder called the "Time Explosion." But looking up at the dark sky, a devastated General Zang realized... nothing had changed yet.

  ?He slumped down on a concrete slab, his cloudy eyes exhausted. Maybe that time rift was real. But just like what the old scientists used to ramble about: Even assuming it's real, this current timeline of theirs is "Future 1." When the past is altered, will the universe branch off to create a completely new future for those in that branch, or will this "Future 1" of theirs be directly rewritten?

  ?A terrifying screech echoed from afar. The Crustaceans had caught the scent of blood. They were heading this way to start a hunting game just for fun.

  ?The old General Zang sighed. Whatever happens, happens. The old man slowly picked up his assault rifle, cocked it, and prepared for the final battle of his life.

  ?But right at that moment, a piercing scream rang out.

  ?It was Zelot.

  ?General Zang frowned. That female mercenary was infamous for being a scheming, ruthless, and ice-cold killer. What the hell could make a bitch like her scream so uncontrollably?

  ?Zang turned his head to look. The rifle in his hands dropped to the ground with a clatter. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped:

  ?"Holy shit..."

  ?Right before his eyes, the bodies of the refugees, the battered soldiers... were developing invisible hollow holes. No blood. No pain. Their bodies were breaking apart into clusters of tiny glowing particles, slowly fading into the void, like pencil strokes being erased from the canvas of reality by an invisible hand.

  ?Zelot looked down at her hands, which were gradually turning transparent. Her trembling lips let out a stunned curse:

  ?"Motherfucker... This is fucking surreal!"

  ?Unlike everyone else's panic, Stone collapsed onto her knees amidst the rubble, looking up at the sky. The trash-gene janitor burst into manic laughter, then covered her face and sobbed. Her body was also fading away, but her eyes burned with fierce conviction. She screamed with all her remaining strength:

  ?"Time is real! AAAAAAA! We did it! Everyone, we'll meet again in another future! This time... humanity will win!!!"

  ?Broly stood there; his lower half had already dissolved into dust. The practical mercenary gave a faint smirk and adjusted his torn collar. He slowly raised his hand to his forehead, facing General Zang, Stone, and Zelot... and offered a solemn, standard military salute.

  ?The old General Zang smiled back and returned the salute.

  ?In the next blink of an eye, everyone vanished.

  ?Will humanity really win? No one knows for sure. But it seems the great SOS from the future actually reached its destination. That civilian SSS+ coffee shop owner, or whoever it was, did something that changed everything from the roots.

  ?Perhaps... right at this very moment, he is running around like a headless chicken, screaming at the top of his lungs that "humanity is going to fucking die in the future," and who knows where things will go from there.