Cutting-edge Technology: I Provide the Brains, the State Provides Everything

352: Looking back, it all started with just that little house.”That... Your Eminence? No, Commander Lu?”

Wang Peng (Fatty) was wearing a suit made of high-dimensional silk as he cautiously approached Lu Chen’s side. At this moment, Lu Chen was standing on the bank of the ”River of Myriad Realms,” staring blankly at an inconspicuous spray of water beneath his feet.

”You’ve been standing here for three days.”

Wang Peng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. ”The old fogies from the Myriad Realms Chamber of Commerce are going crazy with anxiety. They say they’re waiting for you to cut the ribbon for the ’Universe’s Number One Bank.’”

”Cut the ribbon?”

Lu Chen snapped out of it, his gaze shifting from deep to clear. He casually handed the thermos, which symbolized supreme authority, to Wang Peng.

”Go do those boring things yourself.”

”Right now, I want to go somewhere.”

”Where to? The Abyss? Or some newly discovered high-energy plane?” Wang Peng immediately got excited, pulling out a small notebook to record the destination.

Lu Chen shook his head.

He raised his hand, his fingertips lightly touching that spray of water.

In that instant, phantoms of countless universes collapsed and reorganized behind him. Finally, the image froze on a blue planet.

”I want to go home.”

...Earth, Huaxia, outside the Fifth Ring Road of Beijing.

This place had been classified as the ”Pan-Universe Highest Restricted Zone.”

Forget about aliens; even the President of the Earth Federation wouldn’t dare approach a single blade of grass within these ten square kilometers without special permission.

Because this was the former residence of ”God.”

An old residential building that looked quite aged stood quietly in the sunset.

Boston ivy covered the red brick walls, and the old locust tree downstairs was still lush. One could even hear the chirping of cicadas.

*Click.*

The peeling security door made a tooth-aching grinding sound.

Lu Chen pushed the door open and walked inside.

There were no earth-shattering phenomena, nor was there golden light paving the floor.

He had restrained all his divine power. At this moment, he looked like an ordinary office worker who had just finished work.

The room was very dark, and the air was filled with the smell of old dust.

But for Lu Chen, this smell was better than any high-dimensional incense.

”Still the same as ever.”

Lu Chen reached out and wiped the wall.

A piece of wall paint fell off, revealing the cement underneath.

Everything here had its temporal state locked by the ”pangu project” system with the highest authority.

Even if ten thousand years had passed outside, this place still looked exactly as it did the day he left.

It was just a small single room of about a dozen square meters.

There was a slightly sunken single bed with an unmade quilt piled on top.

A wobbly computer desk held a dilapidated laptop that had been obsolete for countless generations.

There was even half a bucket of unfinished... Old Chen’s Pickled Cabbage Beef Noodles on the corner of the desk.

”Pfft.”

A light chuckle came from behind him.

Su Qingying walked in.

She had taken off her divine queen’s finery and changed into a simple white shirt and jeans. Her ponytail was tied high, making her look as pure as the campus belle who had just stepped into the laboratory years ago.

”Who would have thought?”

Su Qingying pointed at the cup of instant noodles, her eyes shimmering.

”The ’Sovereign of Myriad Universes’ who now reshapes the universe at the slightest disagreement and receives the worship of billions of civilizations.”

”Back then, his dream was merely to be able to afford instant noodles with an egg every day?”

Lu Chen walked over and picked up the dried-out cup of noodles, his eyes a bit dazed.

”Yeah.”

”At that time, I thought this was the most delicious thing in the world.”

”To save money for research, I couldn’t even bring myself to add a ham sausage.”

He put down the noodles and sat on the creaking computer chair.

His fingers lightly stroked the keyboard, which had been worn shiny.

”Qingying, do you remember?”

Lu Chen’s voice was very soft, as if he were afraid of disturbing the old times here.

”That evening, it was a sunset just like this.”

”I typed the last line of code on this computer, and then...”

”Ding!”

Lu Chen imitated the system’s notification sound.

”The ’future technology system’ was activated.”

”At that moment, I thought I had just gotten a cheat code that would let me make some money so I wouldn’t be hounded for rent by the landlord anymore.”

Lu Chen looked up, his gaze passing through the window to the starry sky outside—a sky that had been transformed beyond recognition, yet remained familiar.

”I never imagined.”

”That this tiny starting point would eventually lead to such a distant end.”

”I’ve walked across the Milky Way, crossed the Abyss, and punched through high dimensions.”

”I’ve seen stars go out and witnessed the reboot of the universe.”

”But actually...”

Lu Chen turned around and looked at this narrow, cramped, and even somewhat shabby little room.

”What I miss the most are the days when I sat here, unable to sleep all night with excitement over even the smallest technical breakthrough.”

Su Qingying walked to his side, crouched down, and rested her head gently on his knee.

”Because back then.”

”You weren’t a god.”

”You were just Lu Chen.”

”A young man with light in his eyes and fire in his heart.”

Lu Chen reached out and gently stroked her long hair.

That real sensation made him feel more at peace than any high-dimensional rules.

”You’re right.”

”When you’ve been a god for too long, it’s easy to forget your roots.”

”It’s easy to become cold, to become aloof, to become like that ’Divine Lord,’ treating life as mere numbers.”

Lu Chen closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The air here smelled of dust, of books, and... of dreams.

”So, I’m back.”

”I wanted to come back and check.”

”If that young man is still here.”

Just then.

A series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door, accompanied by Wang Peng’s signature loud voice.

”Brother Chen! Brother Chen!”

”I knew you’d be in this room!”

”Quick, quick, quick! Stop being sentimental! Something big has happened!”

Wang Peng rushed in panting, holding several steaming plastic bags in his hands.

”I just passed the alley entrance and saw that Old Li’s Barbecue is actually still in business!”

”That old man actually lived for ten thousand years! He must have secretly taken some of our life-extension potions!”

”I bought a hundred skewers of pork kidneys and some chilled beer while I was at it!”

Wang Peng tossed the bags onto the broken computer desk, grease instantly staining the surface.

But he didn’t care at all. He skillfully pulled over a small stool, sat down, opened a beer, and handed it to Lu Chen.

”Come! Let’s have a drink!”

”To celebrate our... what was it? The King’s Return?”

Lu Chen looked at the cold beer in his hand, then at Wang Peng, who was devouring the kidneys without any regard for his image, and then at Su Qingying, who had a gentle smile on her face.

Suddenly.

He felt a sense of relief.

Sovereign of Myriad Universes, High-Dimensional Overlord—whatever.

At this moment, none of it could compare to this mouthful of beer with the taste of the mundane world.

Is that young man still here?

Of course he is.

He has always been here.

”Okay.”

Lu Chen took the beer and tilted his head back for a large gulp.

The icy liquid flowed down his throat, sparking a long-lost sense of refreshment.

”Cheers!”

”But Fatty, did you pay for these kidneys?”

”I remember I still owed Old Man Li thirty yuan for barbecue back then.”

”Paid, paid!”

Wang Peng’s mouth was covered in grease. ”I gave him the title deed to a planet. The old man almost fainted from shock!”

A burst of unbridled laughter erupted in the small room.

This laughter pierced through time and dimensions.

It was more pleasant to the ear than any divine oracle.

After a few rounds of drinks.

It was late at night.

Lu Chen stood by the window, looking at the moon outside, which was as bright as ever.

The moonlight spilled over his face, illuminating the flame in his eyes that had never gone out.

”Qingying, Fatty.”

Lu Chen suddenly spoke.

”What’s wrong?” The two of them looked up at the same time.

”I was thinking.”

Lu Chen pointed to the vast, boundless, and unknown starry sky above.

The corners of his mouth curled into a familiar arc, filled with ambition and challenge.

”Since we’ve already cleared this ’server,’”

”Then next...”

”Should we go to the world ’beyond the screen’...”

”And see the sights?”