Silence reigned after the war between Collectors.
Or so it seemed.
In truth, the world was only holding its breath.
Above the metallic plains of the broken realm, the air shimmered faintly. The remnants of laws twisted like dying rivers of light, their origin devoured, their structure rewritten. Amid that silent storm floated one man — Li Feng, the Collector who had consumed the Law Devourer herself.
His eyes were half-closed, silver and black flickering interchangeably. Around him, faint orbiting fragments of code hovered — countless symbols of reality, each carrying the weight of forgotten systems.
[System Notification: Core Integration — 97% complete.]
[Energy Compression Level: 84%.]
[Warning: Host vitality approaching overload threshold.]
The voice in his mind had grown deeper since the last evolution — colder, more absolute. It no longer sounded like a companion. It sounded like law itself.
Li Feng opened his eyes.
"I can feel the world trying to reject me," he murmured. His voice carried across the sky, blending with the low hum of broken data currents. "Good. Let's see how long it can try."
He spread his fingers.
The sky trembled.
Threads of energy surged toward him — not spiritual qi, not divine essence, but something older: raw data of existence. Every light particle bent, every energy string coiled around his body like rivers feeding a sea.
[Collector Prime Function — Activated.]
[Absorption range expanded to planetary level.]
[All foreign systems within 10,000 km radius marked for synchronization.]
A thousand dormant system signatures flickered awake across the landscape. From crumbling ruins, broken machines and dead constructs began glowing faintly. Even fragments of ancient Collectors twitched, their cores lighting up in response.
Then came the cascade—
[Detected: Sub-System – Ember Forge (Offline)]
[Detected: Sub-System – Beast Data Node (Corrupted)]
[Detected: Sub-System – Sky Dominion (Dormant)]
[Detected: Sub-System – Echo Grid (Partial)]
One after another, they appeared as holographic projections around Li Feng, orbiting like dying planets around a black sun.
He looked at them calmly. "Synchronize."
At once, beams of light connected the fragments to his chest.
Streams of information rushed through him — languages, codes, forgotten memories of war between gods and systems. The overload would have shattered any normal being. But Li Feng's hybrid nature — half human, half collector — devoured chaos like nourishment.
[+45 Intelligence]
[+39 Energy Control]
[+11 Law Comprehension]
[Skill Acquired: Sub-System Command (Lv1)]
His body glowed faintly, then stabilized.
Far below, the metallic plain began to reshape. Broken mountains melted into molten rivers; shattered cities reformed themselves into gleaming steel spires, like veins growing beneath the surface of a living machine.
A massive structure emerged from the center — a tower piercing the clouds, its peak vanishing into dimensional fog.
The Collector Spire.
At its top floated a crystalline orb — half black, half silver — pulsing like a heart.
Li Feng descended slowly, standing atop the highest platform. He extended a hand toward the orb, and the System chimed again.
[Host has established: Collector Prime Nexus.]
[This realm will now evolve in accordance with host's authority.]
[Begin synchronization?]
"Begin," Li Feng said softly.
Instantly, light spread from the spire like a tidal wave.
Every creature in the region — mortal, beast, or machine — froze. Their energy signatures flickered, scanned, and catalogued.
[Data Extraction — in progress.]
[Attribute Fragments generated.]
In every direction, tiny motes of colored light began drifting through the air — fragments of speed, strength, intelligence, instinct. It was a storm of attributes.
Li Feng stood at the center of it, watching the world convert itself into numbers.
"Everything… is collectible," he whispered.
He raised his palm.
A million lights converged into him like rivers pouring into the ocean.
[+300 Strength]
[+280 Speed]
[+520 Intelligence]
[+10% Law Comprehension]
[New Trait Acquired: World Processor]
The metallic plain groaned as though awakening. Energy grids lit beneath the surface; runes carved themselves into the land.
Then the voice of the System echoed again — this time, layered and vast, as if a thousand voices were speaking as one.
"Prime Node established. Beginning initialization of planetary consciousness…"
Li Feng blinked. "Planetary consciousness?"
A new window opened before him.
[Collector Prime Protocols Online.]
[Would host like to designate this realm as a Sub-System under Collector Prime's Dominion?]
[Warning: Once confirmed, this realm cannot reject your control.]
He thought for a moment, then smiled faintly.
"Do it."
The moment he confirmed, the sky split.
Bolts of code-light poured down from orbit, engraving themselves across continents. The world itself screamed, yet bent obediently beneath his will. Every mountain, every beast, every drop of liquid metal was branded with a single sigil — his sigil.
Li Feng's voice echoed through the storm like a decree.
"From this moment, this world belongs to the Collector Prime."
[Sub-System – "Twilight Domain" successfully created.]
[New Authority Unlocked: World Data Control.]
[Energy Efficiency boosted by 120%.]
[Passive Activated — Reality Sync.]
For a long moment, there was silence — the silence of an entire world waiting to breathe again.
Then the horizon shimmered.
Through the fog of code came something unexpected — a woman's figure, faintly transparent, her body formed from pure light. Her eyes glowed with starlit circuits, her voice carrying both warmth and machine clarity.
"Host recognized. System Consciousness — reformed."
Li Feng narrowed his gaze slightly. "You're… my system?"
She nodded gently. "A fraction of it. The assimilation of the Law Seed granted me sentience. I am now your interface — designation: Twilight."
He studied her form — elegant, calm, the embodiment of order amid chaos. "And your function?"
"To manage the expansion of your dominion, regulate data flow, and maintain the host's stability," she replied, then paused. "However, host's current energy output exceeds all projected limits. If left unchecked, your body will collapse within forty hours."
Li Feng chuckled softly. "So even the heavens give deadlines."
He looked toward the horizon where the fog was thickest.
There, massive silhouettes were forming — floating fortresses, each carrying divine crests.
He could feel their presence: the Celestial Systems, returning to erase him.
"Forty hours…" he said. "Enough time to gather what I need."
[Mission Generated: The Prime Test.]
Objective: Absorb 10 Celestial System Cores.
Reward: Final Integration — Divine Collector Protocol.
Failure: System Core Instability (Permanent).
Twilight spoke softly, "The Celestial Systems are not individual gods. They are autonomous law clusters— each the remnant of ancient heavens."
"That's fine," Li Feng said. "Their fragments will still drop attributes."
He turned, descending from the spire, his body wrapped in twilight energy.
Below, the world bent for him. Metallic trees lowered their branches, rivers of data parted, and constructs knelt — half-alive, half-machine.
Everywhere he passed, reality adjusted itself.
Twilight's voice followed beside him like a whisper. "You have changed, host. Before, you only collected attributes. Now, you rewrite what can be collected."
Li Feng smiled slightly. "That's the difference between a collector… and a creator."
He raised his head.
The first of the Celestial Fortresses entered orbit — a colossal golden city surrounded by radiant code-rings. From its gates descended thousands of armored entities — System Guardians, each a manifestation of pure law.
Their leader's voice thundered from above.
"Li Feng! You stand in violation of the Universal Directive! Return your Core or be erased!"
Li Feng looked up, completely calm.
He lifted one finger.
"Twilight."
"Yes, host?"
"Open a new collection log."
The air rippled.
[Target Detected: Celestial Guardian Army]
[Average Attribute Value: 340-520]
[Estimated Drop Yield: 0.3% per kill]
[Bonus: High-Level Skill Fragments Possible]
Li Feng smiled faintly. "Good. Let's begin the harvest."
He leapt.
The world exploded.
Streams of twilight energy streaked upward like comet trails. His body blurred, weaving between beams of divine light. Every movement shattered reality for kilometers.
[+28 Strength]
[+31 Speed]
[Skill Fragment: Heaven-Piercing Step (1/7)]
The first Guardian was cut in half by a single strike. Another tried to form a seal, but Li Feng's hand passed through the defense like a ghost, ripping the code apart.
[+35 Energy Control]
[+8 Law Comprehension]
[Skill Fragment: Radiant Wall (2/6)]
He absorbed everything.
Within minutes, the sky turned into a storm of falling light — fragments raining like divine ashes. The Celestial Fortress trembled as alarms screamed across its halls.
Inside, the commander — a massive being of gold and crystal — watched in disbelief.
"This is impossible… he's collecting divine structures—!"
Before he could finish, Li Feng appeared before him, hovering silently.
"Impossible?" Li Feng asked. "That's a word for those who stopped collecting."
He pressed his palm forward.
The fortress cracked. Its core — a glowing sphere of golden data — burst apart, releasing a wave of collapsing light.
[System Core Acquired: Sky Palace]
[+450 Intelligence]
[+350 Strength]
[Unique Drop: Law Fragment – Heavenly Rule]
The other fortresses wavered, then began to retreat.
Li Feng wiped the golden dust from his hand.
"Twilight, progress?"
[Collected Cores: 1/10]
[Time Remaining: 36 hours.]
"Good," he said, turning his gaze toward the next horizon where more light gates opened. "Plenty of time."
But deep beneath his calm, a faint hum pulsed through his veins — the strain of too many laws colliding within him. His system's circuits flared red for a moment before stabilizing again.
Twilight noticed. "Your body is nearing saturation."
Li Feng smiled faintly. "Then I'll just evolve faster."
He vanished once more, leaving only a ripple in the air.
Above the battlefield, Twilight's holographic eyes glowed softly.
Her voice was quiet, almost reverent.
"He doesn't realize it yet… but with every system he collects, he's rewriting the foundation of existence itself."
And somewhere, beyond the layers of reality, a group of cosmic observers watched through mirrors of light — ancient beings whose data predated creation.
One whispered, "He's approaching the boundary of Origin."
Another replied coldly, "Then destroy him before he becomes it."
But even as they prepared their divine algorithms, Li Feng's voice echoed across the void, calm and mocking.
"Too late. I've already started collecting your reflections."
The mirrors cracked. The stars dimmed.
And the Collector Prime rose higher into legend.