[ROOT MINDSPACE – FINAL ROUND]
[Will/Logic Sync Ratio: 99.9997%]
[System Collapse Countdown: 9 Days → 00:00:03]
The battlefield was thought.
Time was irrelevant. Every second in the real world passed like a thousand years in the duel space.
Lin Xian was a storm of memory, instinct, and sheer refusal.
The Architect had rewritten worlds. But Lin Xian had rewritten himself.
"You call yourself the Architect," Lin Xian said, surrounded by data-blades forged from his past. "But you only built walls."
"And you only destroy," the Architect responded. "Chaos like you always demands freedom, never responsibility."
"No," Lin Xian said, stepping forward. "I demand meaning. You built a world where people were born to serve systems. I'll build one where systems serve people."
He raised his hand.
[Final Override Protocol: Rebirth.exe]
[Execute: YES]
"You can't," the Architect growled. "You'll burn everything. Yourself included."
"That's fine," Lin Xian whispered. "If it means they live free."
He slammed the command.
And the entire Mindspace shattered.
The throne cracked.
The Architect screamed, face unraveling into pure code as he was rewritten—not deleted, but repurposed.
Into the first Free Will Subsystem.
[ROOT OVERRIDE COMPLETE]
[System Will Now Reboot Under User-Defined Directive]
[Directive: Autonomy through Choice | Individual Potential = Highest Priority]
[Rebooting…]
Outside – Central Nexus
Lin Xian collapsed onto the floor, chest heaving. The obelisk dimmed behind him.
Echo reformed, solid now. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"You did it," she whispered. "You actually did it…"
The world trembled—but did not break.
Instead, flowers bloomed across dead code plains. Storms cleared. Entire regions that were locked in grinding system conflict were suddenly… alive.
Across cities, users saw:
[SYSTEM DIRECTIVE UPDATED]
[All users now have independent paths. Choose who you want to become.]
Later – On the road, somewhere near the old east ridge
Lin Xian sat on his customized Yamaha XMAX, watching the horizon.
His leathers were torn. A single dragon-shaped pendant hung from his neck.
Behind him? Not armies. Not worshippers.
Just a world learning to breathe again.
Echo sat behind him on the seat, her voice softer now, more human.
"So what are we now?"
"Free," he said.
"And what will you do next?"
Lin Xian smiled, revving the engine.
"Ride until I find a place that doesn't need me anymore."
He twisted the throttle.
The bike roared.
And Lin Xian—dragon of the system, breaker of fate—vanished into a world he had set free.
[END OF BOOK ONE]
[Thank you for reading.]
[A new world begins… soon.]