Luo Shu was undeniably outmatched by the SMS meme's onslaught.
But was he truly without hope?
Absolutely not.
He still held one final card—unplayed until now.
The doppelgänger lounging on the throne of his Charlatan's Realm suddenly snapped open its eyes, divine light blazing.
Through relentless信徒 (believer) recruitment, this分身 (avatar) had long surpassed the original in psychic might. Only the risk of breaching Hume-3—and drawing the Foundation's orbital surveillance—had forced such restraint.
Now, the avatar began channeling its consciousness back to the main body, rebalancing their mental allocation.
Its glow dimmed, its aura dulling to that of a mere Hume-1 reality bender.
Meanwhile, Luo Shu's primary form surged: 350… 400… 450…
Jianjia, mid-CPR, gasped at the shift. She abandoned resuscitation, activating "Reeds in the Mist" to mask his skyrocketing Hume levels from Foundation satellites.
Ascension in the Psychic Realm
In the mental battlefield, Luo Shu's consciousness expanded.
Here, the size of one's astral form mirrored spiritual strength—and his now towered tenfold over its previous state.
No longer sluggish, his sharpened gaze locked onto the swirling memetic vortex.
He flipped open the Anomaly Archives and unleashed Antimeme Seal.
One heartbeat.
The vortex froze mid-spin, immobilized.
Yet Luo Shu's frown deepened. The Archives hadn't updated Page 125—this was merely a localized suppression. The meme's true essence still proliferated globally.
How to eradicate it completely?
Memes were self-replicating, like digital viruses with no central core. Trapped in his mind since the outbreak, Luo Shu knew nothing of the external carnage—until now.
Voices from the Waking World
"Jianjia—emergency! Wait… is Luo Shu DEAD?!"
"Don't be absurd! He's alive!"
"Then why's he comatose?! The world's collapsing! New Europa's gone, Huaxia's barely holding—"
Aiolos' panicked voice cut in. Patrols had shown Foundation personnel around Anomaly-100 dropping dead. Online chaos confirmed it: a global SMS meme apocalypse. Only luck (and phone-free lifestyles) had spared him and Jianjia.
Luo Shu's eyelids flickered—conscious enough to hear, but not yet awake. Free of the vortex's grip, he'd regained bodily control… and chose to stay submerged.
"He moved! I knew you'd pull through!" Aiolos, ever the fanatical信徒 (disciple), vibrated with faith. "The world's ending—FIX IT!"
Luo Shu processed the horror. "God" had escalated—sacrificing billions to kill him.
Every victim hosted their own psychic vortex. To truly seal the meme, all must be purged.
But how? Physically visiting each was impossible. The next 5-minute death wave would amplify the meme's power, likely shattering his fragile seal.
Desperate measures were needed.
Ripping Open the Memeverse
Luo Shu lunged at the frozen vortex. His colossal意识体 (astral form) plunged both hands into its core—and tore.
The rift revealed not emptiness, but a cosmos.
Countless swirling galaxies? No—each was a vortex.
A fractal network: one end rooted in victims' minds, the other in the meme's primal dimension.
Some vortices actively shredded consciousness. Others lay dormant—their hosts already dead. New ones budded like tumors, preparing for the next strike.
How to destroy this ecosystem?
Luo Shu feverishly scoured the Archives, deploying every plausible power:
"Great Sound Is Faint" (大音希声) — A resonance attack.
Charlatan's Authority — Divine posturing as bait.
"HERE I AM!" His voice boomed across the memeverse, echoing into every linked mind. "Come for ME! Spare the innocent! This 'God' forged you to kill me—so FACE ME! If he won't shield humanity, I WILL!"
Echoes of the Damned
From the abyss, fractured replies emerged—prayers of the doomed:
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son…" (John 3:16)
"Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un." (Quran 2:156) ["To God we belong, to Him we return."]
"The Buddha said: 'If not me, who descends to hell?'"
"Heaven and Earth are ruthless; the Sage is ruthless—" (Dao De Jing)
A chorus of faiths, a cacophony of despair.
The world's dying had answered.