233: Desperate Gamble

They had no retreat.

From the moment they stepped onto the Lightless, they had already staked their lives, and the future of their entire civilization, on this grand gamble.

And now, it was time to reveal their hand.

“Lin Qianqian.”

Su Lei’s voice was calm, without a ripple: “Maximize the Lightless’s energy shield, overload output.”

“Chen Mo.”

His gaze turned to the young man.

“Use your power to stabilize the last ten meters of space in front of us.”

“I need you to buy me one second. One second is enough.”

Lin Qianqian and Chen Mo were both stunned.

They didn't understand what a mere second could do in the face of such a desperate situation, one that could make even a God despair.

But out of their almost blind, absolute trust in Su Lei, they didn’t ask any questions.

“Yes!”

Lin Qianqian pressed the button without hesitation.

Buzz!!

The shadow shield on the Lightless’s hull instantly solidified several times over.

“Ah ah ah ah ah!”

Chen Mo burned all of his spatial power, his will, and his life, without reservation and frantically, in that instant!

An unprecedentedly powerful spatial stabilization field erupted from his body, like an invisible giant hand, firmly propping up the space ahead that was about to be completely corrupted!

That door to Hell was forcibly stabilized by him, with his own life, for that brief second.

And Su Lei moved at the same time.

He closed his eyes.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the dazzling Soul Core star, along with the newly formed golden Sand of Time ring, began to spin wildly at an unprecedented speed.

A power that could not be detected by any instrument, yet was undeniably real, subtly emanated from his body.

The Return to the Void rift, centered around the Lightless, which was being frantically corrupted and was on the verge of complete collapse, along with the wriggling dark energy threads within it, were all abruptly and forcibly frozen in that moment.

Time seemed to be completely withdrawn from this small area, and the entire world became a doomsday painting with the pause button pressed.

Now!

Su Lei suddenly opened his eyes, golden light bursting forth!

“Full speed, ahead four!!!”

Lin Qianqian’s reaction was incredibly fast.

Within a thousandth of a second of Su Lei’s words falling, she had already pushed the Lightless’s engine throttle to an unprecedented maximum power!

Boom!!

The Lightless, dragging its shield that was on the verge of shattering due to energy overload, carrying the young man who was bleeding from all seven orifices and on the verge of fainting from burning his life, rushed resolutely and without hesitation into that death passage frozen by time.

Just as the Lightless’s stern completely disappeared into the rift, the effect of “Instant Eternity” finally reached its limit.

The flow of time resumed.

The terrifying corrupting energy, forcibly frozen, erupted like a peerless Vicious Beast that had broken free from all restraints.

The entire entrance to the Return to the Void, along with the surrounding thousands of meters of sea, was completely erased, both physically and by Law, by that irresistible will in that instant.

East Sea, a calm sea area hundreds of kilometers away from that place of destruction.

A stealth submarine slowly surfaced from the deep sea, looking battered.

The Lightless, it had returned.

The bridge was in a mess.

Chen Mo had already fallen into a deep coma due to Mental Energy exhaustion, unconscious.

Lin Qianqian also leaned back in the captain’s chair, breathing heavily from exhaustion; her special combat suit was smoking in many places due to energy overload.

And Su Lei stood quietly in front of the porthole, his face as pale as paper.

That brief second of Instant Eternity had almost drained nearly eighty percent of his Divine Soul power.

This was even after he had achieved a new level of understanding of the Time Law after his Fusion with the Sand of Time.

It could be imagined how terrifying the consumption of such a rule-reversing Divine Ability was.

But, they had survived after all.

And, carrying the first cornerstone of civilization, enough to ignite the hope of the entire civilization, they had successfully escaped from that deadly trap.

He slowly raised his hand, and a handful of iridescent, golden Sand of Time, as if holding a miniature galaxy, quietly floated in his palm.

This was the only trophy they had exchanged for their lives and courage on this journey.

“We’re going home.”

Lin Qianqian struggled to her feet from the seat, walked back to the control panel, and began to set the course back to Kunlun Base.

Su Lei walked to Chen Mo’s side, extended a hand, and placed it on his forehead.

A gentle and pure Divine Soul power slowly flowed into Chen Mo’s almost dry Sea of Consciousness, nourishing his Soul, which was on the verge of shattering from excessive burning.

This young man had proven his worth with his actions; he was already a qualified, trustworthy warrior.

At the same time, in a secret sanctuary undetectable by any instrument.

The Abyss Eye mural, constructed from pure light, emitted a faint blue glow.

Dozens of high-ranking members of the Forgotten Ones Sect, clad in black robes, knelt devoutly on the ground, awaiting news of their great plan's success, awaiting the final divine oracle from the God Lord’s will.

At the forefront of the sanctuary, a figure in a black robe with golden trim, utterly different from everyone else, stood with his back to the crowd, quietly gazing at the mural.

He was the supreme leader of the Forgotten Ones Sect, the sole Cult Master.

Suddenly, the light from the massive Abyss Eye mural abruptly dimmed.

A will filled with rage and ferocity flashed from the mural, so quickly that everyone thought it was an illusion.

Immediately after, the Soul Lamp, located in the center of the altar and representing the Deep Sea Bishop’s life essence, had its flame suddenly surge, then, with a puff, it completely extinguished.

The entire sanctuary fell into a deathly silence.

All the black-robed figures kneeling on the ground raised their heads in disbelief.

They failed?

The Deep Sea Bishop had sacrificed himself, summoned a wisp of the God Lord's will to descend, and set up that flawless, absolutely impossible-to-fail deadly trap, and yet, it failed?

How was this possible? What power in this world could defy the God Lord's will?

He did not speak, but the space of the entire sanctuary began to tremble slightly, fearfully, under his wrath.

“Su, Lei...”

“You, once again, exceeded my expectations.”

“But, do you think you’ve won?”

“No.”

The Cult Master slowly turned around.

The face hidden beneath his hood, illuminated by the mural's eerie blue light, appeared incredibly pale and sinister.

“You merely prolonged the meaningless Qi of this decaying world, which should have been utterly forgotten. Next time, I will personally deliver to you the final death you cannot refuse.”

When the battered Lightless, under the gaze of all, slowly landed on the Kunlun Base's helipad like a scarred, triumphant hero, the entire Federation erupted.

News of Su Lei’s return, like a superstorm sweeping across the globe, spread to every corner of the Federation within a few short hours.

When that handful of iridescent, golden Sand of Time, seemingly containing the Universe’s galaxy, was clearly displayed to all Federation citizens through holographic projection, the immense joy of returning from Hell to Heaven instantly ignited everyone's emotions.

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