200: American Civil War Breaks Out

Shen Xiaochuan sat in the lounge on the east side of the main control room, with a freshly printed military briefing in front of him.

The paper was still warm, and as his fingers traced the line "Xuanwu Legion formation complete," he thought of Gou Dan's face, covered in sweat and blood.

It was no easy feat for that kid to reach eight hundred combat power.

He was just considering whether to equip the new legion with a modified fuel vehicle for training when suddenly—

Buzz!

The communication terminal on the table flashed red, the screen popped open automatically, and an image of White Snow Princess jumped out.

She wasn't wearing her usual gray-blue uniform, but a dark long coat, and the background was unclear, as if she were at a temporary intelligence outpost.

Her expression was grim, and she spoke immediately: "The United States is in civil war."

Shen Xiaochuan was stunned, and his pen dropped onto the table and rolled a little.

"What did you say?"

"The United States has split," White Snow Princess said urgently. "After the S-rank mission failed, Thor died, and the divine combat power collapsed. On top of that, the permanent cold wave arrived, resources weren't enough to go around, and the pro-war and peace factions argued for three days before completely falling out last night. The thirteen eastern states formed the 'North American Federation,' and the seventeen western states plus Alaska set up the 'United States of Freedom.' Both sides cut off energy supplies, the armies have engaged, and there have already been over forty small-scale battles."

Shen Xiaochuan stared at her without speaking.

White Snow Princess tapped her hand, and a holographic map appeared in the air. A red line separated the middle of the North American continent, with "Federal Control Zone" written on the left and "Free Zone" on the right. A list scrolled below: Denmark, Norway, Italy, Portugal... twenty-three countries in total, all marked with [Withdrew from NATO Joint Divine Realm].

Then, the Huaxia Alliance's logo began to grow, spreading like ink in water. The five Southeast Asian countries, the seven Middle East-African states, and the three Central Asian Alliances lit up with green light one by one. The number of members went from nineteen to forty-one.

"NATO has dissolved," White Snow Princess said. "They had long been unstable, and this time, taking advantage of the trouble in the United States, they all withdrew. Now the global divine realms are being reshuffled, and we are the biggest winners."

Shen Xiaochuan swallowed hard. "Does the Soviet Union have any moves?"

"None for the moment," White Snow Princess shook her head. "But they have closed the divine gates on the northern border, and all passages have entered Level 1 alert. Other small divine realms are watching, and no one dares to make a move."

Shen Xiaochuan was silent for a few seconds, tapping his fingers on the table. He knew the United States couldn't hold on, but he hadn't expected it to collapse so quickly. A great power splitting in two overnight—this kind of thing couldn't be solved with faith points.

"Is Thor really dead?"

"The body has been found," White Snow Princess pulled up a photo. "Deep in the Rocky Mountains, the divinity was shattered, and the Origin was gone. All his Believers have lost contact, and the divine realm collapsed on its own."

The image showed an icy field, with fragments of black armor scattered in the snow. A broken thunder spear was stuck in the frozen earth, tip down, like a tombstone.

Just as Shen Xiaochuan was about to speak, White Snow Princess pressed the terminal again.

A new projection appeared—an old leather wallet, which, when opened, contained two pieces of paper.

The first was a yellowed, handwritten document with the header "Application for Membership in the Communist Party of China," with a clear signature: Thor Odinson. The date was January 8, 2045.

The second was a scan of a book page; the cover was "Selected Works of Chairman Mao," and there were a few lines on the title page: "People's War is the ultimate divine technique—Thor, Winter 2045, at the Rocky Mountain Base."

Shen Xiaochuan stood up abruptly, causing his chair to slide backward.

"Are you sure this is real?"

"We've been investigating for three months," White Snow Princess lowered her voice. "The handwriting has been verified, and the age of the paper has been tested; there's no problem. The wallet was hidden in the inner layer of his battle robe, wrapped in three layers of radiation-proof cloth; the average person wouldn't find it."

Shen Xiaochuan stood still, his mind in a whirl.

Thor, the strongest divine being in the United States, the successor of Norse mythology, known as the "Son of Thunder," the man who could summon three hundred Lightning Tribulations in the sky... was actually an undercover agent?

And he read the "Selected Works of Mao."

"When did he start?" Shen Xiaochuan asked.

"It's unclear," White Snow Princess shook her head. "But we discovered that he had contact with an Eastern archaeological team twenty years ago and had visited Sanxingdui three times in a private capacity. The last time, he left behind a sentence: 'I hear the Bronze Tree singing.'"

Shen Xiaochuan slowly sat down, resting his hand on his forehead.

He remembered the first time he saw Thor in action on the Blue Star Channel—the man stood on the clouds, holding a thunder hammer, with twelve halos rotating behind him, his roar shattering the divine formations of seven countries. Back then, everyone thought he was the child of destiny, the symbol of the new Western era.

But in his heart, he was thinking, "A single spark can start a prairie fire."

"Has he ever passed on intelligence?"

"Yes," White Snow Princess nodded. "We found an encrypted database in the ruins of his divine realm, which contained NATO's deployments over the last thirty years, the locations of faith points, the weaknesses of the legal barriers... even records of Joseph Black privately raising shadow beasts."

"So..." Shen Xiaochuan looked up, "when we were able to smoothly secure the dominant position in the exotic beast meat trade earlier, did he help with that too?"

"Very likely," White Snow Princess said. "Before he died, he changed the parameters of three international agreements, buying us at least seventy-two hours. Otherwise, the inspection report from France wouldn't have come out."

The room fell silent.

Outside the window, Skydome City was brightly lit. Smoke rose from factory chimneys in the distance, and the lights on the top floor of the Hospital flickered like stars that had fallen. Everything looked the same as usual, as if the news they had just heard wasn't about the collapse of an Empire, but just that the weather had gotten a bit colder.

But Shen Xiaochuan knew it was different.

The world had changed.

If a country could split from within, and a hero could wear a mask for a lifetime, then what else was impossible?

He looked down at the military briefing on the table; the words "Xuanwu Legion formation" suddenly seemed very light, as if they would vanish with a puff of wind.

This was no longer a contest on the Training Ground.

This was a power reshuffling of the entire divine realm era.

"What is the Alliance's reaction?" he asked.

"The top brass is in a meeting," White Snow Princess said. "The diplomatic team has already started contacting new member countries, preparing to sign a mutual defense treaty. The Economic Committee proposed launching the transcontinental energy grid project immediately to extend our power grid over there."

Shen Xiaochuan nodded, then shook his head. "Don't be too hasty. The United States is chaotic right now, but it's not weak. With both sides combined, there are still over twenty S-rank divine beings alive; if they really start fighting, it won't be easy for anyone."

"I know," White Snow Princess said. "So we are only doing three things: accepting defectors, guarding the border, and stockpiling supplies. We won't make a move; we'll observe first."

Shen Xiaochuan looked at the red line on the map for a long time.

"Why did he do this?" he suddenly asked.

"Who?"

"Thor," he said. "He was a divine being of the United States; why would he join our Party? And secretly read the 'Selected Works of Mao'? What was he after?"

White Snow Princess paused for a few seconds before saying, "We saw a passage in his diary—'I have seen them use faith points to ignite nuclear bombs, and I have seen children holding their frozen mothers as they died. I know which civilization deserves to survive.'"

Shen Xiaochuan didn't speak.

He picked up his teacup and took a sip. The tea had long since gone cold, and the taste was very astringent.

At this moment, the terminal beeped again.

A message popped up: [Lilia has arrived in the kitchen and is preparing breakfast].

He glanced at the time; it wasn't dawn yet.

"I know," he replied, closing the notification.

When he looked up again, his gaze had changed.

It wasn't surprise, nor was it anger, but a settled sense of vigilance.

He stood up and walked to the window. The wind and snow outside had lessened, the patrol teams were still walking on the streets, and the streetlights stretched their shadows long.

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?" he asked.

White Snow Princess paused. "Yes. Thor's last order before he died was to send the fragments of his divinity to an ancient battlefield site in southwest Huaxia. We haven't figured out the purpose yet. Also, he left a last will, consisting of only two words—"

"What?"

"Wait for you."

Shen Xiaochuan's pupils constricted.

He turned his head to look at the map, his gaze resting on that rift in North America, remaining still for a long time.

His right foot stepped forward half a step, and his fist clenched tightly.