I Took the Universe Apart

On Garbage Star, acid rain corrodes everything, and scavengers risk their lives for scrap metal. This is the graveyard of the universe, and also the "consciousness farm" of Huan Yu Technologies.

They release test subjects and harvest the brain energy of those who awaken. No one knows the truth, and no one gets out alive.

Until Zhang Yang finds a neural chip.

He discovers that he can take apart the structure of anything: the joints of mechs, the engines of warships, even the coded laws of virtual worlds. What others see as scrap metal, he sees as a blueprint waiting to be dismantled.

Ten years later, a note is added to a confidential Huan Yu Technologies file:

"He took our mothership apart and turned it into his flagship. Recommend abandoning the pursuit."

Someone adds a line in red pen at the end of the file:

"Too late. He's taking the universe apart."