332: A long war spanning multiple dimensions!

"Changed it to your birthday?"

On the holographic screen, the geometric face composed of pure white light—Executive Officer [Heavenly Punishment]—stared fixedly at Lu Chen.

There was no rage.

No hysteria.

It was just silent for a second.

That second felt as long as a century.

"Foolish."

Heavenly Punishment's voice became devoid of any fluctuation, as if reading an autopsy report.

"Do you think that by tampering with the underlying code, you can steal divine power?"

"You are only... accelerating your demise."

"Command: Physical layer network disconnection."

"Initiate [Dimension Stripping] program."

Zzt—!

No more nonsense.

The screen went black immediately.

Following that, the entire high-dimensional star sector where the Slaughterhouse was located began to tremble violently!

It wasn't an earthquake.

It was space peeling away.

Like a puzzle piece originally fitted onto a map being forcibly gouged out by an invisible giant hand!

"Alarm! Alarm!"

The data pad in Su Qingying's hand flashed red light frantically. "External coordinates are disappearing! We are being 'isolated'! They've cut off all connections between here and the Multiverse!"

"Are they trying to trap us like rats in a hole?"

Ye Qingcang gripped his newly forged high-dimensional war blade, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"No."

Lu Chen stood on the command platform, watching the edge of the collapsing starry sky outside the window.

The cigarette he had lit wasn't finished yet, the sparks flickering at his fingertips.

"They want to take this 'virus folder'..."

Lu Chen took a deep breath and exhaled smoke.

"...and completely crush it."

"Pass down my orders!"

Lu Chen slammed the cigarette butt onto the ground, a divine light surging in his eyes.

"Notify the Earth Federation, all personnel at Level One combat readiness!"

"Open the 'South Heaven Gate' passage and bring up everything we've got!"

"Since they want to fight a war of attrition..."

Lu Chen grinned, a hint of ruthlessness in his smile.

"Then I'll play along with them!"

"Let's see if their 'antivirus software' is tougher, or if our 'stubborn stain' is more persistent!"

...The war broke out.

It wasn't just for a few days, nor a few months.

This was a long, meat-grinder of a war that spanned dimensions.

If you stood above the river of time, you would see such a magnificent and tragic picture.

High-Dimensional Calendar, Year One.

Asgard's "Seraphim" legion submerged the Slaughterhouse's outer defense lines like a white tsunami.

Ye Qingcang led the first batch of modified "Xing Tian" mecha units, constructing a Great Wall of Steel in the void.

That battle shattered three thousand small worlds, and the ruins filled the galaxy.

High-Dimensional Calendar, Year Three.

The Earth Federation completed a great leap forward in technology.

Su Qingying cracked the "Dimensional Cutting" technology, and Earth's warships began to be equipped with "Two-Dimensional Foil" defensive armor.

Wang Peng (Fatty) took his business to the war zones, even starting to sell "Earth Residency" to those scattered high-dimensional wanderers.

High-Dimensional Calendar, Year Ten.

The Slaughterhouse was no longer just the Slaughterhouse.

It had turned into an indestructible war fortress—the [New Heavenly Court]... "Rumble—!!!"

A loud explosion shattered the silence of the command room.

Lu Chen raised his head from a pile of documents.

Ten years had passed.

His appearance hadn't changed at all, but the touch of vicissitude in his eyes looked as if it had been washed in high-dimensional storms for tens of thousands of years.

"What happened now?"

Lu Chen rubbed his brow. "Did the eastern defense line leak, or was the western supply line cut?"

"Neither."

The door was pushed open.

Dressed in military uniform and covered in the scent of gunpowder, Ye Qingcang strode in.

The Old General was sturdier than ten years ago, his whole body emitting a heart-palpitating murderous aura. He carried a mechanical head that was still dripping with light-fluid.

"Commander Lu, this is the 'Executive Officer' clone that just ambushed us."

Ye Qingcang tossed the head onto the table, the metallic impact sounding dull and powerful.

"These bastards have learned to be smart."

"They no longer face us head-on; they've started playing dirty."

"Oh?"

Lu Chen picked up the head, his fingers lightly tracing over it.

"How so?"

"They released a 'Causality virus'."

Su Qingying followed closely behind, her expression grave.

"Just now, an entire division at the front line suddenly... went mad."

"It wasn't that they were controlled, but their memories were tampered with. They firmly believe they are loyal guards of 'Asgard' and turned around to attack our allies."

"Even..."

Su Qingying bit her lip. "The bodies of some soldiers began to mutate, turning into half-silicon, half-carbon monsters."

Lu Chen's fingers paused.

"Assimilation?"

Lu Chen cold-laughed, his fingers suddenly exerting force.

"Crack!"

The mechanical head shattered instantly in his hand.

"If they can't win the fight, they start infiltrating?"

"These methods are getting more and more despicable."

"Where's Fatty?" Lu Chen suddenly asked.

"He's over there messing around with the black market,"

Ye Qingcang said irritably. "That dead fatty actually sold our decommissioned first-generation 'Dragon Gall Cannons' to those wandering civilizations resisting Asgard."

"He said it's called... what was it, a united front?"

"Well done."

Lu Chen stood up and walked to the massive star map.

The star map today was no longer what it used to be.

Centered around the [New Heavenly Court], hundreds of green light points were lit up in the surroundings.

Those were the subsidiary civilizations 'liberated' (or rather, tricked) by the Earth Federation.

"It seems Supervisor is getting anxious."

Lu Chen looked at the core area of 'Asgard' marked with red lines.

"Ten years, and not only have they failed to kill the virus, they've allowed it to spread."

"So, they plan to change the way they play."

"What way?" Su Qingying asked.

Lu Chen didn't answer directly.

He turned around and looked at the two of them, his eyes flashing with the excitement of a hunter seeing a trap.

"Have you noticed?"

"In this past month, has the pressure on the front-line battlefield decreased?"

"Has the attack frequency of the Seraphim legion dropped by 30%?"

Ye Qingcang nodded. "I was wondering about that too. Did these bastards run out of fuel?"

"No."

Lu Chen shook his head.

He walked to the window, looking at the somewhat distorted high-dimensional sky outside.

"This is called... the calm before the storm."

"heavenly craft."

"I am here, Father."

heavenly craft's voice was still crisp, but compared to ten years ago, it had a bit more of the vibrancy belonging to a true lifeform.

"Monitor the status of the 'Multiverse Bubbles'."

"Especially our home—Universe No. 9832."

"Monitoring..."

A few seconds later, heavenly craft's voice suddenly became urgent.

"Father! Data anomaly!"

"The 'bubble walls' of Universe No. 9832... are thinning!"

"Not just us! All the surrounding low-dimensional universe bubbles are accelerating... merging?!"

"Merging?"

Ye Qingcang and Su Qingying were stunned at the same time.

"Exactly."

Lu Chen turned around, his expression becoming more serious than ever before.

"They don't want to kill the viruses one by one anymore."

"It's too slow and too much trouble."

Lu Chen pointed overhead, where it seemed as if a pair of invisible giant hands were stirring the clouds of the entire Multiverse.

"They are going to..."

"...smash all the plates."

"Drive all the fish into one pond."

"And then..."

Lu Chen took a deep breath and spoke the cruel truth.

"Let us slaughter each other."

"Raising Gu."

"This is Supervisor's real game."

"This is also..."

A staggering fighting intent suddenly erupted in Lu Chen's eyes.

"...our only chance..."

"...to break into the core area!"

"Pass down the order!"

"All forces assemble!"

"Tell Fatty to stop selling junk!"

"We're going to attend..."

"...a Ragnarok party!"