When the game shut down, I took my skills with me.

The moment Lu Yuan casually uttered the "delete" command, the whole world seemed to be muted.

Over the Pacific Ocean, the once-arrogant "Centurion" came to an abrupt halt. Its dark golden body, radiating an aura of destruction, began to flicker and distort violently, like an old television screen with a poor signal.

The dark gold metal and data patterns that make up its body are "dissolving" line by line, turning into the most basic 0s and 1s, cascading down like a waterfall, and finally dissipating into the air.

There was no explosion, no roar.

That terrifying existence that brought utter despair was... deleted, right before the eyes of billions of people around the world.

Like deleting an unimportant file.

"..."

Lin Wei tilted her head back, maintaining a wary stance, but the giant axe in her hand unconsciously drooped slightly. Her mind went blank; she was completely unable to process the scene unfolding before her.

That was a monster that even her full-force attack couldn't budge an inch from.

Dragon Shield, command center of the USS Kunlun.

Qin Shiyue and his think tank stared intently at the main screen like a group of petrified statues. On the screen, the Centurion's life signal changed from a red exclamation mark representing extreme danger to "Target not found".

On the flagship of the "Sword of Oracle," a crack appeared for the first time on Xiao Xue's perpetually cold face. Her fingers, gripping the armrest, turned white from excessive force.

Everyone around the world watching this scene via live stream, whether civilians in the survivor base or leaders of various factions, fell into a long, deathly silence.

If Lu Yuan's previous feat of destroying the Demon Dragon Emperor with a flick of his finger demonstrated godlike power...

So now, what he is displaying is a creator-like... authority.

This is not a crushing defeat on the level of strength, but a dimensional reduction attack on the level of rules.

"He's such a worry."

In the center of the battlefield, Lu Yuan looked down at the fleet that had begun to collapse and flee, and at the dozens of "sentinels" in the sky that were still slaughtering players, and shook his head helplessly.

He originally only wanted to be an examiner to see what level the students could achieve in this "monthly exam," but the students almost overturned the exam hall, forcing him to personally step in and grade the papers.

He didn't even look at the "sentinels" again, but simply raised his hand casually.

"Xiaoya, mark all 'Reaper' units on the battlefield."

"Command received. Marking complete."

The next second, in the eyes of all the players, the dozens of "sentinels" that were moving at high speed were all locked onto by a bright red data box.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Yuan's calm voice resounded in everyone's minds through the system announcement.

[World Announcement: Administrators have intervened. Battleground cleanup is underway... Cleanup begins.]

Before he could finish speaking...

All the "Sentinels" locked by the red data frame froze instantly, just like the previous "Centurion".

Then, one by one, they decompose, dissolve, and evaporate silently.

From the first to the last, the entire process takes no more than three seconds.

The sky became completely clean in an instant.

After doing all this, Lu Yuan looked up again at the "Pioneer Rift" that was still slowly rotating.

He stretched out his finger and gently traced a line at the center of the crack.

It's like closing a program on a touchscreen.

[World Announcement: The world event "Pioneer Rift" has been forcibly closed. Contribution points are being calculated...]

[Administrator intervention detected; final reward determination in progress...]

[Judgment completed. 】

[Ark faction reward: 100 million world contribution points.]

[Award: 50 million world contribution points to the "China Dragon Shield Bureau" faction.]

The remaining participating factions will receive between one million and ten million contribution points, depending on their performance.

A series of announcements left everyone dizzy and disoriented.

In particular, the "100 million points" reward propelled "Ark's" contribution points to the top of the leaderboard at rocket speed, leaving China, which was in second place, far behind.

But at this moment, no one is jealous or dissatisfied anymore.

Everyone had only one thought.

So this is the real way the administrator cleans up.

"Alright, that's a wrap."

Lu Yuan clapped his hands and turned to look at Lin Wei, who was still standing there in a daze.

"Good job, you played well." He smiled. "Go back and rest, leave the rest to them."

After saying that, his figure disappeared without warning, just as he had appeared.

It was as if he had never existed.

All that remained was a battlefield that had returned to calm, and a group of Earthlings whose values ​​had been shattered.

Lin Wei stood in the air for a long time before slowly gripping the giant axe in her hand. The previous fervent fighting spirit in her eyes was gone, replaced by an unprecedented firmness mixed with awe and longing.

"Kunlun" command center.

After a long silence, Qin Shiyue suddenly let out a long breath.

Unlike the others, he was not shocked. Instead, he slowly sat back down in his seat, his eyes shining with understanding.

"I understand... I understand everything!" he murmured to himself, his voice tinged with excitement.

"Commander?" an adjutant asked cautiously, "What do you understand?"

"Do you think that the master's intervention this time was to save us?" Qin Shiyue glanced at his subordinates and shook his head.

"No, this isn't salvation. This is... teaching!"

His voice suddenly rose, filled with fervor.

"This was the last piece of advice the master gave us! He showed us, in the most direct way, the true use of 'world authority'! Not to fight with force, but to erase with rules!"

"The test of 'The Age of War' is not to defeat the enemy, but to understand the rules, and ultimately... become the rules!"

Qin Shiyue's "interpretation" stunned everyone in the command center.

Upon closer examination, they realized... it really did make sense!

Yes, why didn't the administrator act from the beginning? Why wait until they were at their wits' end and in despair?

This is clearly forcing them to deeply realize the insignificance of their own power, so that they can comprehend a higher level of truth!

"Sir, your intentions are truly profound!" Qin Shiyue exclaimed with deep emotion, feeling that he had completely understood Lu Yuan's thoughts.

This big shot is not a simple guardian deity at all.

He is a guide, a mentor, leading human civilization down an unprecedented path of evolution in his own way.

"Pass on my orders." Qin Shiyue stood up, his expression becoming extremely solemn. "Immediately halt all military operations, focus all efforts on rescuing the survivors, and clean up the battlefield."

"Furthermore, immediately activate the highest-level 'Temple of Heaven' agreement. I want to... personally go to the Ark to pay my respects to you, sir!"

This time, it's not a request, it's not cooperation.

Rather, it is the most devout...seeking of the Way.