98: Star tears echo, a blood-soaked journey home.

The platform was deathly silent.

The faint golden speck of resonance light had completely extinguished, and along with it, the remnant will that had issued the final warning vanished into the cold void. Only the tilted, damaged dark-gold device remained, standing between ruins and shadows like a wordless tombstone.

"...Escape..." "...Trap..." "...star tear..."

The fragmented warnings sank slowly into Su Wanzhao's nascent spiritual sense like cold embers. There was no expression on her flawless face; only the Star Vortex rotating deep in her eyes slowed slightly, reflecting the massive, deathly silent, and slowly rotating vortex of ruins outside the window.

The Star Beacon was extinguished. The path home was a trap. Do not trust the Royal Court. The final directive pointed toward an unfamiliar term—star tear.

What was it? An object? A location? Or perhaps a codename for some entity? Where was it? And why was it the only hope?

There were no answers. There was only this dead ruin and the omnipresent, icy malice.

Beneath her feet, a faint hum emanated from the star remains pedestal. Chen Feng's willpower imprint still radiated a constant warmth, but it could no longer provide further guidance. The pedestal's own energy was nearly exhausted, and its self-repair had almost come to a standstill in such a deprived environment.

[star remains pedestal: Energy Level: 0.2% | Structural Stability: 41% (Continually deteriorating) | Environmental Energy Absorption Rate: 0.001%]

She had to leave this place. Although the lurking attacker had been startled into retreating, its final roar of "Power of Return to Silence" would likely attract even more troublesome things. Furthermore, the cold gazes cast from the deeper shadows of the ruins—disturbed by her use of the Power of Return to Silence—were becoming increasingly clear.

Su Wanzhao shifted her gaze away from the extinguished device. Her deep purple eyes scanned the dilapidated transportation hub, finally settling on a relatively intact but deeper corridor entrance leading further into the ruins. The entrance was mostly blocked by a massive metal wall fragment, and the darkness within was heavy, resembling the throat of a dormant behemoth.

Intuition, along with a faint sense of direction vaguely related to the term "star tear" left over from the recently extinguished resonance, pointed there.

Without hesitation, she controlled the pedestal, sliding into that profound darkness like a deep purple ghost, silent and stealthy.

The interior of the corridor was even more dilapidated than the outside. The air was as stagnant as a block of lead, permeated with the heavy scent of rusted metal and the sickly sweet stench of thoroughly decayed organic matter. Thick, ash-like dust of unknown composition piled on the floor; as the pedestal slid past, not a single speck of dust was stirred, as if all "motion" was swallowed by the deathly silence of the space.

On the walls on both sides, most of the relief carvings of astral runes were covered and dissolved by a highly corrosive slime, leaving only blurred and distorted outlines. Even more heart-stopping were the unnatural, massive, and hideous claw marks and impact craters on the walls, along with splattered dark green stains that had long since dried yet still emitted faint energy radiation.

A battle far more tragic than the one outside had taken place here. And the victor was clearly not the star vault side.

Su Wanzhao's spiritual sense acted like a precision radar, perceiving and evading the spatial rifts and energy traps hidden in the darkness in advance. Her movement was noiseless, blending perfectly with the environment.

Suddenly.

Her spiritual sense captured a trace of extremely faint... energy fluctuation.

It was not the star dome laws, nor the previous Path of Slaughter or Return to the Ruins energy, but a... more eerie, more distorted chaos fluctuation, as if countless negative emotions and filthy energies had been forcibly blended together.

The fluctuation originated from behind a massive corner in the corridor ahead.

She maneuvered the pedestal to approach slowly, hiding behind a large metal shadow at the corner.

Her field of vision suddenly opened up.

Beyond the corner was not a corridor, but a massive, hemispherical chamber. Half of the chamber had completely collapsed, exposed to the dim light of the ruin vortex outside. The intact half was covered by a nauseating, dark red fleshy membrane that pulsed slightly like a living creature! The surface of the membrane was covered with thick, throbbing vessel-like structures, secreting a viscous, dark yellow liquid with a pungent, acidic smell that was continuously corroding and digesting the chamber's original metal structure!

And in the center of that fleshy membrane, dozens of... corpses were actually "embedded"!

Those corpses were of various forms: some wore shattered, ancient-style star vault standard armor; others were alien races with skin of rock or crystalline texture; there were even several skeletal remains of massive astral behemoths... Without exception, they were all pierced and entangled by root-like tentacles extending from the dark red membrane. Their bodies were shriveling and rotting at a visible rate, turning into nutrients for the membrane's growth!

That distorted, chaotic energy fluctuation was radiating precisely from this massive, living fleshy membrane and the corpses it was digesting!

[Detected high concentration of Void Abomination active tissue: Devouring Rot-Nest (Growth Stage) | Energy Fluctuation: Chaotic and Distorted (High Contamination) | Threat Level: High]

Void Abomination? A terrifying existence that lived by devouring all things and contaminating laws? It had actually built a nest inside these Star Dome Ruins?

During the moment Su Wanzhao was observing, the fleshy membrane seemed to have finished digesting the previous batch of "nutrients." Its surface writhed, and several of the thickest vessel-like structures suddenly shot out like hyenas scenting blood, ruthlessly piercing into a pile of Star Dome warrior remains in the corner that had just been buried by the collapse and hadn't been fully corroded yet!

Puchi!

A tooth-aching sucking sound rang out! That pile of remains rapidly shriveled up!

With the injection of this batch of "nutrients," among the embedded corpses in the center of the membrane that had not yet been fully digested, a human corpse wearing exceptionally tattered armor—though a squad commander's insignia was still faintly visible—suddenly had two spots of murky, dark red light ignite within its empty eye sockets!

"Ugh... Aaaahhh—!!!"

That "corpse" actually let out a distorted, pained howl and jerked its head up! Its body struggled violently, but it was tightly entangled by the membrane's tentacles, with even more tentacles piercing into its body! The sound coming from its open mouth was no longer a voice, but a distorted and chaotic energy fluctuation mixed with endless pain and malice, echoing through the dead chamber like a forced broadcast:

"...Alert... Seventh Spiral Arm... Sector C... Fallen..." "...Repeat... Not... Path of Slaughter... It is... something... even... darker..." "...They... crawl... from... the shadows... and... corpses..." "...Energy... attacks... ineffective... physical... attacks... minimal... effect..." "...Retreat... to... 'Star Tear Temple'... gather..." "...Hold... the final..."

The broadcast ended abruptly.

The murky red light in the commander's "corpse" eyes completely extinguished, and its body went limp like mud, being rapidly swallowed and decomposed by the fleshy membrane.

Star Tear Temple!

This term was like a bolt of lightning, cleaving through the fog in Su Wanzhao's consciousness!

Could the "star tear" mentioned by the extinguished resonance point at the very end refer to this "Star Tear Temple"? Was it a region within these ruins that was still resisting? A gathering place for survivors?

At the very moment she captured this key information—

Buzz!!!

Beneath her feet, the previously silent star remains pedestal—specifically Chen Feng's willpower imprint at its core—erupted with an unprecedented scorching fluctuation without any warning!

This fluctuation was no longer a gentle resonance, but an extremely intense... burning sensation carrying an urgent warning and prompting!

Almost simultaneously!

Behind Su Wanzhao, deep within the deathly silent dark corridor she had just passed through!

Chiss! Chiss! Chiss!

Dozens of points of eerie green, crimson, and murky light ignited without warning, like ghost eyes suddenly snapping open!

Immediately following was a scalp-numbing sound of countless thin legs scraping against the metal floor, mixed with the sound of viscous liquid dripping, surging from the shadows in all directions like a tide!

Those lurking "things" that had been disturbed by her earlier use of the Power of Return to Silence... had arrived! And their numbers were far beyond imagination!

They crawled out from collapsed crevices, from corroded pipe openings, and even from piles of corpses that had long been dead!

They were monsters whose ugliness and repulsiveness defied description! Some were like giant spiders with their skin peeled off and countless severed limbs stitched together, their mandibles opening and closing as corrosive slime dripped; others were writhing masses of shadows covered in eyeballs and tentacles; even worse, some were the corpses of Star Dome warriors or alien races that had been half-digested but were now driven by void energy, their movements distorted and murky flames burning in their eye sockets!

Their energy fluctuations shared the same source as the "Devouring Rot-Nest," yet they were more violent, filled with ultimate malice toward all living beings and orderly creations!

[Encountered Void Abomination: Stalking Swarm (Low Tier) | Quantity: 87... Continually increasing! | Threat Level: Extremely High (Swarm)]

She was surrounded!

Ahead was the Devouring Rot-Nest digesting corpses and liable to erupt with more monsters at any moment, and behind was the surging tide of the Stalking Swarm!

The Star Vortex in Su Wanzhao's eyes suddenly contracted! That trace of cold indifference was instantly replaced by a surging, icy killing intent!

She did not hesitate for a second!

An instant before the monsters behind her pounced, she stomped her foot down!

Buzz!

The star remains pedestal erupted with its last remnants of energy. Deep purple light instantly enveloped her and the pedestal—it was no longer a defense, but a... charge!

Target—the massive, membrane-covered hemispherical chamber directly ahead!

Rather than being trapped in the corridor and pincered from both sides, it was better to... charge through! Use that rot nest as a temporary shield, break out, and search for that "Star Tear Temple"!

The pedestal turned into a burning deep purple meteor. Ignoring the pouncing shadow tentacles and corrosive slime, it slammed ruthlessly into the writhing, foul-smelling dark red fleshy membrane!

"Ssss-kreeee—!!!"

As if sensing a threat, the fleshy membrane let out a sharp, piercing screech. Its surface suddenly split open with countless maws filled with sharp teeth, spitting out massive amounts of viscous dark yellow acid carrying strong mental pollution and corrosiveness! At the same time, the corpses embedded in the membrane were forcibly driven, waving their severed limbs like marionettes to grab at the pedestal!

Standing atop the pedestal, Su Wanzhao slammed her hands together in front of her!

The deep purple Star Vortex at her heart spun frantically in reverse! A majestic power, merging Guardian Starlight with the Ashen Intent of the End, surged out, condensing in front of her into a rotating deep purple Star Vortex with edges as sharp as blades!

The Star Vortex acted like a drill, slamming ruthlessly into the oncoming torrent of acid!

Chiss chiss chiss—!!!

Terrifying sounds of corrosion and energy annihilation exploded! The acid was forcibly shredded and evaporated by the Star Vortex! The reaching severed limbs of the corpses were instantly turned to ash!

The pedestal's momentum did not decrease as it slammed into the fleshy membrane!

Puff—!!!

Like a red-hot knife cutting into solidified grease! A massive gap was torn in the dark red fleshy membrane, and viscous, foul-smelling interstitial fluid and half-digested corpse chunks splattered out! The fleshy membrane let out pained and furious screeches as more tentacles and teeth coiled and gnawed from all directions, attempting to completely submerge and digest the intruder!

Behind her, the tide-like Stalking Swarm had also pounced, but they were temporarily blocked by the gap the pedestal had smashed open and the frantically flailing membrane tentacles, leading to a brief, chaotic skirmish with the rot nest itself!

Su Wanzhao controlled the pedestal, moving with difficulty through the interior of the frantically writhing fleshy membrane! All around was suffocating darkness and viscosity, with countless distorted resentments and pained screeches impacting her spiritual sense like physical blows! The pedestal's shield had long since shattered during the impact, its surface sizzling from corrosion as cracks spread rapidly!

[star remains pedestal: Structural Integrity: 35%... 33%... 3%! Warning! Imminent collapse!]

She couldn't stop! She had to break out!

Her gaze was locked firmly ahead, her spiritual sense piercing through the writhing fleshy walls to perceive the direction of the exit!

Finally!

The color of the fleshy wall ahead lightened, and the light from the ruin vortex outside was faintly visible!

The exit!

She gathered her final strength, and the pedestal's speed soared again. Like a desperate trapped beast, it slammed ruthlessly toward the direction of the light!

Boom—!!!

The viscous fleshy wall was completely smashed through! Carrying a large amount of flesh fragments and slime, the pedestal shot out from the other side of the rot nest like a cannonball!

Her vision suddenly cleared!

They had broken out of the corridor, out of that chamber, and arrived at a... broader and even more dilapidated open-air plaza!

The plaza was paved with the same astral metal, but it was long since cracked and collapsed, with massive metal plates twisted and jutting up like a monster's fangs. At the edge of the plaza was the bottomless void and the slowly rotating ruin vortex that swallowed everything. In the distance, the remains of even more massive buildings were faintly visible, standing silently under the dim sky like dead giant gods.

And right in the center of the plaza, a relatively intact, dilapidated temple made entirely of some pure blue crystal, yet covered in cracks and stains, stood alone.

The temple's style was ancient and sacred. Its top, where something should have been placed, was now empty. However, the temple's gates were sealed by an energy barrier emitting a faint starlight. The barrier was covered in web-like cracks, flickering as if it could shatter completely at any moment.

Above the temple gates hung a tilted plaque, inscribed with two dim yet still legible large characters in an ancient Star Dome script:

star tear.

She found it!

However, before she could even catch her breath—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

From the shadows of the twisted metal ruins surrounding the plaza, dozens of figures radiating icy malice and murderous intent slowly... stood up.

They were no longer those low-tier, chaotic Stalking Swarms.

They were taller and more solid, covered in dark bone armor that looked like dried scabs. In their hands, they held twisted weapons made from the ground-down spinal bones of some creatures, flowing with filthy energy. Their eyes were pure, emotionless black, like two bottomless black holes.

Their aura was far colder and more... orderly than the previous monsters. They carried the scent of pure killing machines that had undergone rigorous training.

[Detected high-tier Void Abomination: Bone-Plucking Blades (Elite Unit) | Quantity: 34 | Energy Fluctuation: Condensed (Lawful Evil) | Threat Level: Extremely High!]

These were the true elites of the Void forces guarding this area!

They silently spread out, forming a perfect perimeter and sealing off all paths leading to the Star Tear Temple. Their pitch-black eyes collectively locked onto Su Wanzhao, who had just burst out of the rot nest with her pedestal on the verge of shattering and her energy exhausted.

The leading Bone-Plucking Blade slowly raised the long, spine-like twisted blade in its hand, pointing the tip at Su Wanzhao.

An icy, rigid thought, sounding like metal grinding, smashed directly into her sea of consciousness like a death sentence:

"Intruder..." "Halt." "This place..." "Belongs to... Void..." "Violators..." "Bones plucked... souls devoured..."

A desperate situation once again!