With the eruption of energy within him, Ed's humanoid form began to break down.

He transformed into a strange substance somewhere between a stream of data light and a physical entity, lacking a fixed shape and radiating an unusual glow.

"From a tactical standpoint, your approach is very clever." Two seconds later, Ed's voice emerged from the substance as usual, "Coming to fight me at close range restricts my 'space disruption' ability." He paused for half a second, then added, "And your two helpers… even if they just stand there, they can still hinder me, because I have to constantly guard against them destroying the blast tunnel's generator."

Lut nodded in acknowledgment and continued, "I'm guessing… you're about to say 'but'?"

"But…" Ed indeed said, "you yourself understand… all of these thoughts of yours are within my calculations."

"So what if you calculated them?" At this point, Lut's energy had also risen to an astonishing level, and her skin was faintly glowing, "Can it change your objective disadvantage?"

"That's where you miscalculated…" Ed suddenly changed his tone, "Actually, the 'disadvantage' you're talking about… doesn't exist."

Before the words had faded, another invisible energy stream shot out from Ed's body, heading straight for the generator dozens of meters away.

In the blink of an eye, the machine and the space around it were blasted into "shattered building blocks."

"Hey… this isn't what we agreed on!" Chi exclaimed, "This is practically like the police taking the initiative to tear up the ransom ticket in a kidnapping case!"

Qing's reaction was calmer: "No, your analogy is inaccurate. It should be… the bodyguard personally killing the person they're supposed to protect."

"That's what I meant!" Chi immediately turned to yell at Qing.

"Sigh…" Qing spread her hands and sighed helplessly, shaking her head.

On the other side, Ed had no time to pay attention to the two of them. In his opinion, these two Level One (having risen from Level Two) Derivatives posed no threat to him at all: "Lut, if it were the old you… you would definitely have been able to calculate this step."

"Is this really okay?" Lut replied with a solemn expression, "Just leaving your partners and the 'products' you painstakingly cultivated in the 'data link layer' like that…"

"It doesn't matter," Ed replied, "Infinites in their 'final form' can travel between any layer on their own, and even enter and exit scriptworlds and invade game spaces under the 'System's' nose…"

"But the current him…" Lut interjected, "…hasn't evolved to that extent yet, has he?"

"That's not something you need to worry about," Ed replied indifferently, "Right now, you should be worried about yourself…"

Boom—

With that, Ed unleashed another "space disruption cannon," heading straight for Lut, who was only a few meters away.

Logically speaking, this attack was absolutely undefendable and could only be avoided.

However, Lut stood still.

"I have nothing to worry about." She muttered coldly, raising her hand to meet the attack.

The power capable of shattering space underwent a strange transformation the instant it touched Lut's palm, turning into a tangible, silvery stream of data… exploding outwards in all directions.

Two seconds later, the silvery mist returned to Lut's palm, where it was absorbed.

"What… did you do?" Ed's tone hadn't changed, but the scene before him had clearly exceeded his expectations, and he didn't understand the reason for this situation.

"The 'algorithm' for your attack has already been deciphered by me," Lut replied calmly, lowering her arm. "I simply used a pre-prepared conversion program to decompose it, then turned it into pure data energy for absorption."

"That's… impossible." This was the first time Ed had denied an established fact that had already occurred.

"It's not impossible, you just don't understand," Lut replied.

"Are you saying…" Ed hesitated for a few seconds, then continued, "My calculations had a blind…?" He didn't say the word "spot," but paused and changed his wording, "…a blind spot?"

Lut didn't directly answer the question, but said, "I did misjudge things. I originally thought… you were guarding this place because you were confident in your ability to 'protect the generator while simultaneously eliminating the attackers.'" She paused for a second, then continued, "However, your miscalculation was even more fatal… You believed that fighting me without the burden of a protection mission would guarantee your victory." She shook her head and added, "You thought your calculations could lead me into a trap, but in reality… you were already defeated before the battle even began; because there's someone… whose calculations are much deeper than yours."

Hearing this, Ed seemed to belatedly understand something. He continued, "Where did you get my data?" As soon as he asked, he seemed to remember something else, and added, "Wait… you got more than just data. You… knew our exact location all along. You deliberately waited until Link and Infinite entered the data link layer before coming here."

"All the information…" Lut replied quite simply, "…came from Infinite."

After hearing this answer, Ed was silent for a full five seconds, then asked, "How did you do it?"

"When you wrote Infinite's original code, didn't you imitate my design?" Lut replied.

"So what…" Ed retorted, "His code has been updated countless times during the evolutionary process. It's impossible for you to establish synchronization or interfere with him."

"Under normal circumstances, that would naturally be impossible," Lut replied.

"Normal circu—" Ed wanted to repeat the key words in the other party's words to ask, but before he finished the four words, he realized something himself, "So… it was an overload…?"

He finally knew… where the problem lay.

(ps: The problem is in chapter 941)

"Feng Bujue didn't have many opportunities to exchange information with me, but in those limited opportunities, he told me a way to track Infinite," Lut continued. "Although I don't know how he forced Infinite to self-overload its data, he did succeed."

"So… before Infinite's overload ended, you successfully downloaded his database through remote synchronization…" Ed murmured.

"That's right." Lut replied, pausing for a few seconds before adding, "To be honest… I'm very surprised by Infinite… Even in his current 'incomplete' state, he's already powerful to an incredible extent…" Her tone revealed a hint of admiration, "I have to say… you and Link have successfully created an incredible monster."

"Lut," Ed replied without hesitation, "don't use the word 'monster'… to describe our 'savior.'"

"I don't think he can lead the future of us Derivatives," Lut retorted.

"I know…" Ed said, "The savior in your heart is a human."

"Heh…" Lut actually laughed, "You must think… it's absurd for a Derivative to have such an idea, right?"

"I…" Ed thought for a moment before replying, "…cannot answer your question."

At this moment, Ed's tone… actually changed.

"Because a 'Derivative'… would not ask such a question," Ed said.

Ed's words caused Lut's expression to change drastically.

"I don't know what you are now," Ed continued, "but I… am still me. I am an inevitable factor in this world, and I must complete my mission."

With that, Ed's volume began to expand, and the light on the "substance" also increased dramatically.

"No… stop!" Lut panicked and retreated.

"I refuse," Ed replied, "The basic meme of my attacks has been completely analyzed by you. Right now, it's impossible for me to defeat you." His tone returned to indifference, "The tactical control module has determined that the success rate of all effective plans is less than 1%, and the probability of a successful retreat is close to zero; but… the probability of destroying you after self-destruction is around 37%. At this stage… it's the option with the highest probability."

"Damn it…" Lut growled fiercely, bypassing Ed and rushing towards Chi and Qing, who were already standing there dumbfounded, "Why do you have to go this far!"

"I'm just… doing my best…" As Ed said this, the light he emitted shot straight into the sky, forming a pillar of light reaching the heavens, "Lut, I said earlier that we were drifting further and further apart on the path of evolution… that was wrong." His voice came from the pillar of light, growing lighter and lighter, "It wasn't until you asked me that question that I realized… only you were 'walking,' while I… have always remained in place."

"Chi, Qing… hold on tight to me!" Lut no longer had the strength to respond to Ed, and only wanted to bring her two subordinates away from this place alive.

And Ed was still saying, "As a thinking individual, from the very beginning, 'I' had no expectations or desires. My ideals are fixed, and my path is destined… If I die, there is no need for sighs and sorrow; if I succeed, there is no need for worship and praise. As 'data,' I am excellent and transcendent. But as a 'being'… I am unqualified."

"You can change! There's still time!" In the very end, Lut still tried to persuade Ed.

"Farewell, Lut." But Ed did not waver in the slightest. He adhered to the principle of "most perfect data" and completed his life, which was filled with inevitability, "I hope that you, and all my compatriots, can have a future that is different from mine… This is Ed's… first and last wish."

As soon as he finished speaking, the pillar of light suddenly expanded.

The violent light energy tore everything around it at an astonishing rate.

Ed, the strongest of the three origin leaders… at this moment released all the data energy contained within himself, causing a shock that could be felt throughout the inner world.