"I didn't mean to hit you, oh no, I did mean to hit you, no, I didn't mean..." Zheng Zha stammered, utterly dumbfounded, unsure what words were even leaving his mouth.

"I was dreaming."

Chu Xuan ignored him, merely pushing up his glasses and standing. He silently walked toward the edge of the vessel, the others following out of curiosity. The man spoke no word, simply stepping onto the deck and gazing up at the sky.

"...Stars?" Chu Xuan murmured under his breath.

"Stars? Are you kidding me? With a storm like this, you can see stars?" Zheng Zha stood right behind him, looking up as well. The sky was shrouded in oppressive black mist, giant drops of rain hammered down, and purple lightning flashed, like thunder dragons swimming within the clouds. Under such a perfect storm, forget seeing stars—if one wasn't careful and fell into the ocean, they might as well become a star in the heavens themselves.

"...Zheng Zha, the East Sea team is over there."

Chu Xuan pointed toward the extreme darkness in the distance.

...So Xiao Hong-Lü was telling the truth? You figured all this out long ago, damn it! Isn't this situation extremely dangerous? Why didn't you say anything? Even if you didn't say anything to us, couldn't you have at least given Xiao Hong-Lü a hint? Ah!" Zheng Zha roared in sudden fury, grabbing the collar of Chu Xuan's shirt and hauling him forward to shout directly in his face.

Chu Xuan showed no sign of annoyance.

He looked at Xiao Hong-Lü and asked, "Have you... matured?" Xiao Hong-Lü froze, then after a long silence, he slowly nodded.

"Though I hate to admit it, you won this time by sheer luck. Without the clone Zheng Zha providing backup... how else could you have obtained information that useful? If we followed your theory of probability, you truly could have been completely fooled by the East Sea team this time, and I, following my intuition, would have made some strategic adjustments—changes that absolutely could have saved the Central Continent team!" Xiao Hong-Lü murmured, head bowed.

"A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. There is no such thing as 'what if.' Furthermore, probability is not as mechanical as you imagine; it encompasses all speculation and intuition. Precisely because we are the protagonists, even if a flaw in probability were to appear, there would be other ways to patch it up. This is something you have never grasped."

Chu Xuan remained looking at the sky, though his words left everyone feeling bewildered.

"Don't be confused. I found this saying during the decryption of the cultivation classic texts. Initially, I thought the interpretation of the term 'Protagonist' meant someone who dominates a certain period, but as I deciphered more, I discovered the meaning was entirely different from what I imagined. It means exactly what it says. The protagonist of a novel..." Chu Xuan glanced at the sky as he spoke, let out a faint, almost inaudible sigh, and then told the others, "Let's go inside. This discussion will take a long time to complete... and right now, the priority is conserving energy. The time to clash with the East Sea team is fast approaching."

With that, he walked straight back into the cabin without waiting for the others.

The group could only follow him helplessly, one step at a time. Only Lin Jun-Tian asked Cheng Xiao with obvious confusion, "Is he always so... er, solitary?" Cheng Xiao paused, scratched his head, and replied, "Solitary? No, you should call it pathologically obsessive, perhaps. He’s always been like this. Keep your voice down, okay? If he overhears, there will definitely be retaliation..." "Uh... isn't your voice a little loud now?" "Ahem, ahem..." Regardless of the doubts and murmurs in their minds, the group followed Chu Xuan into the cabin. As soon as they sat down, Chu Xuan spoke as if continuing a personal monologue: "What I said just now was not incorrect. The term 'Protagonist' mentioned in the cultivation texts is literally accurate. The unique protagonist of a novel can be a single person, a group of people, or even an entire nation or race; in short, it means 'Protagonist.'"

Wang Xia, being the most avid reader of such material, quickly pulled out the Xuanhuan novel he had been reading. "Do you mean the 'Protagonist' from these? The one who can't be killed, who can survive the destruction of one world by moving to another? That's impossible, right?"

"While not that exaggerated, understanding it by its literal meaning... the 'Protagonist' mentioned in the cultivation texts means exactly that," Chu Xuan affirmed with a nod.

"I have been contemplating for a very long time why the 'Main God' Space was created, or rather, what purpose its creator intended for it. Judging from what we already know, the first purpose of the 'Main God' Space is to create new Saints or cultivators. With the complete loss of ancient power, we, this current batch, or those who have already returned to the real world, regardless of strength or weakness, even if they completely overturn human society and destroy current technological evolution, as long as humanity itself is not entirely wiped out, their power will increase to some extent. This is also why 'farming teams' are permitted within the 'Main God' Space; this is its first function."

"The second function, I believe, is as a sanctuary. This is also something we have long guessed. When humanity reaches the most dangerous, species-ending moment, this 'Main God' Space will serve as a refuge. This also proves that the Saints and cultivators were utterly defeated and truly cannot contend with the Box's Creator. At that time, the only retreat path is this box within a box. Whether it can withstand the Box's Creator is another question, but regardless, this is the second function of the 'Main God' Space."

Zheng Zha exchanged glances with the others. Their eyes still held countless expressions of confusion. It was no longer just a matter of not understanding what they heard; more accurately, they felt Chu Xuan must have done something extraordinary again, and it was definitely related to them.

"Then the third possibility... initially, this was just my speculation, but it has gradually been affirmed. Until this time, when I should have failed, your clone suddenly appeared in this horror movie world and gave me crucial information. Therefore, this third possibility has become increasingly certain for me—no, it is basically confirmed. We are the 'Protagonists'!" This time, Chu Xuan did not pause.

He stated directly: "According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the universe's state of disorder, 'Entropy,' has been continuously increasing since the beginning... To put it simply, the universe started as a point of infinite mass and infinite smallness; everything was orderly then. With the Big Bang, the matter, space, and time that were generated all expanded rapidly, and the universe's state of disorder continuously increased. This state of disordered chaos is called 'Entropy.' The Second Law of Thermodynamics posits that this state is irreversible, just like hot water cooling down or a clock spring unwinding. To reverse this state, external energy must be injected."

"...I saw a Causality Weapon in the 'Main God' Space."

Chu Xuan suddenly snapped his fingers, and an intensely brilliant light burst between his digits. This was the exact coloration of light produced when he used his Causality Weapon, the Lambda Drive.

"A Causality Weapon, also known as a philosophical weapon, its appearance almost overturned my scientific concepts from the modern world. Although both Relativity and Quantum Theory vaguely suggested the possibility of such a weapon, it remained only a possibility. When that possibility becomes reality, then Relativity and Quantum Theory simultaneously articulate one fact: the future is mutable."

——————Chu Xuan looked around at the group.

Everyone's expression was now even more bewildered; even Xiao Hong-Lü looked like he hadn't understood a word. Chu Xuan frowned slightly but did not stop, continuing: "Causality Weapons truly exist. The user of such a weapon will experience one thing... they will be rejected by that universe. Because the universe's Entropy keeps increasing, while a Causality Weapon is the opposite: its existence is solely about turning disorder into order. One change at a single point in time, through the butterfly effect, alters countless subsequent time segments. However, the world itself, or time itself, possesses inertia and will repair the generated changes after a certain period until the entire timeline returns to its original state. During this process, the person holding the Causality Weapon will be repelled by the universe and time—its manifestation... will be constant bad luck."

"Funny, isn't it? I don't find it funny at all. Through the continuous progress of the ancient Saints and cultivators, the Causality Weapon was finally developed, and this phenomenon was simultaneously discovered by them. Until the Box's Creator was confirmed later on, that repulsion could never be avoided. I suspect a major reason for the demise of the Saints and cultivators was the widespread proliferation of their Causality Weapons. That's the first part. Then we come to the term 'Protagonist' that I mentioned. Whether it's a TV show, a book, a movie, or a game, there is always a so-called 'Protagonist'—the being that runs through the entire constructed object, possessing invincible luck and opportunity within it. At the same time the Causality Weapon was created, the Saints and cultivators also understood the existence of these 'Protagonists.' No matter what box we inhabit, perhaps to the Box's Creator, we are nothing more than characters in a movie, a TV show, a game, or even a book—that matters little. But what if we are the 'Protagonists' of this box? Just like the 'Protagonists' in a novel, then the Causality Weapon will not interfere with us. This is how the term 'Protagonist' appearing in the cultivation texts is explained... This is the part of my third point that has not been completely verified: this 'Main God' Space is very likely the place where 'Protagonists' are manufactured. As long as you perform well enough and are strong enough, you can become a 'Protagonist' across the countless worlds within this 'Main God' Space. I don't know how this connects to the box of our real world, but if we can become 'Protagonists' in the real world too... then confronting the Box's Creator might not be impossible."

"That is why I continuously seek confirmation of whether we are 'Protagonists,' or whether this theory of mine truly exists. In Tian Sha, in Dragon Knight, in one horror movie world... I was supposed to fail this time, but by coincidence, I received that extremely vital information from my clone. If 'Protagonists' truly exist, then our Central Continent team is the protagonist of this novel. Of course, whether we are in a novel, a movie, or a game is unknown."