91: A thought blooms, and the king reigns over the world

00:03

Time seemed to stretch into viscous amber.

Inside the command center, Su Mucheng slowly closed her eyes. On her captivating face, there was no fear, no unwillingness, only a desolate yet peaceful stillness. She had given up all resistance and all hope.

00:02

On the city wall, the heavily injured Long Ao struggled to stand again, but his fractured bones and depleted energy core made it impossible for him to even move a finger. He could only watch helplessly as the "Star of Destruction" in the sky, brighter and more dazzling than the sun, approached, feeling the terrifying energy capable of reducing everything to ashes.

00:01

In the plaza, the "Duke's" face revealed the elegant yet cruel smile of a victor. He was ready to admire the sight of this disobedient city, along with all the humble lives within it, transforming into magnificent fireworks.

00:00

The countdown reached zero.

The main cannon at the bow of the odin, the energy core condensed with enough power to destroy everything, instantly contracted to its extreme, and then—

...There was no 'then'.

There was no earth-shattering pillar of light as expected, no apocalyptic explosion as imagined, not even the slightest sound.

The entire world, at this instant, was paused.

The "Star of Destruction" about to be fired was frozen at the muzzle, in a state of being almost released. In the plaza, the "Duke's" elegant smile was rigid on his face. Below, the mercenary soldiers, ready to charge into the city for the final slaughter, remained in their charging poses, like lifelike sculptures.

The wind stopped. The flames solidified. Sound vanished.

Time, as if by a supreme, unquestionable will, was forcibly frozen.

Immediately after, a strange phenomenon occurred.

One.

Two.

Thousands upon thousands of lotuses, composed of the purest golden energy not belonging to this dimension, bloomed out of thin air above the silent battlefield, above the head of every frozen soldier, and across every inch of land ravaged by war.

They bloomed silently, their petals unfurling in layers, emitting an Aura of divinity, majesty, and compassion, as if performing a grand and merciful ceremony of transcendence for this brutal slaughter.

With a single thought, lotuses bloom, and a king descends.

Within this sacred yet eerie tableau of golden lotuses, a figure, without any warning or spatial fluctuation, silently appeared before the floor-to-ceiling window of the command center, standing before Su Mucheng.

He reached out and gently, tenderly, wiped away the already cold tear stain on her cheek.

Su Mucheng's consciousness, locked in despair, seemed to be touched by this sudden warmth. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Then, she saw that face, which had appeared countless times in her dreams, and which now brought her more comfort than any deity.

"Lin... Tian..."

Her voice trembled with disbelief.

Lin Tian looked at her pale face and the lingering shock in her eyes. After confirming that she had not suffered any substantial harm, the monstrous killing intent that had surged within him due to the slaughter of his subordinates and the destruction of his assets, calmed slightly.

He nodded, his voice not loud, yet it seemed to carry a power that could bring stability to heaven and earth.

"I'm back."

After speaking, he slowly turned. His eyes, which had just held a hint of gentleness, instantly became cold and indifferent, like two stars burning with black flames, as he turned towards the "Duke" in the plaza, who still maintained his smiling posture.

At the same time, behind him, the frozen sky shattered inch by inch, like a broken mirror!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Hundreds of enormous space-faring channels forcibly opened in the sky above the city! A sky-obscuring shadow, larger, more ferocious, and more oppressive than the previous odin, instantly enveloped the entire battlefield!

A legion of steel, composed of three hundred ferocious black mechs, descended from across dimensions, like demon gods returned from Hell!

The "Bulwark" Mech Squadron!

The pure, destructive Aura, coalesced from three hundred war machines, instantly overwhelmed all the elegance and composure the "Duke" had previously projected, like a tsunami of billions of tons!

Time resumed its flow.

Below, all the mercenary soldiers who had maintained their charging postures, upon seeing the "sky curtain" formed by the black mechs above their heads, had the ferocity and bloodlust on their faces instantly replaced by extreme terror!

The "Duke's" smile finally vanished. For the first time, a hint of solemnity appeared in his eerie violet eyes.

Lin Tian looked at him as if he were a condemned prisoner, and in an unquestionable tone, as if stating a universal truth, he coldly declared:

"You dare to touch my people?"

The "Duke's" expression shifted slightly, but he still maintained his aristocratic demeanor. He even performed an impeccable hand-over-heart salute towards Lin Tian.

"Long family's 'Alpha', I've heard much about you. It seems I underestimated your value." He smiled, as if everything that had just happened was merely a harmless joke. Then, he issued a concise and cold command to the four Shadow Guards behind him, "Go, shut him up."

"Yes, master."

Four phantom-like black shadows separated from behind the "Duke". They made no sound, yet with a speed that surpassed sound, even thought, they attacked Lin Tian simultaneously from the east, south, west, and north, transforming into four black lightning bolts imperceptible to the naked eye!

Each attack contained the terrifying S-rank Peak power, enough to tear apart continental plates! They intended to erase this arrogant provocateur, along with the city behind him, from this world in an instant!

Facing this certain-kill combined attack, which would drive any S-Class Expert to despair, Lin Tian didn't even bat an eyelid.

He merely slowly raised his right hand and, as if swatting an annoying fly, casually and gently slashed at the Void Realm in front of him.

[Dimensional Slash].

No sound.

No light.

Only four black fissures, thinner than a strand of hair and colder than absolute zero, flashed across the air.

Then, everything ended.

The four S-rank Peak Shadow Guards, who had charged so aggressively as if to destroy everything, their forward-moving bodies, stopped abruptly in mid-air.

The ferocity and coldness of their attack were still etched on their faces.

The next second.

Their bodies, along with the power armor made of unknown alloy that was said to withstand nuclear explosions, and the space locked behind them, all... split neatly and smoothly down the middle.

Like butter cut by the sharpest knife.

No blood, no explosion, not even a scream.

Their upper bodies and lower bodies silently separated under gravity, then dissolved into fundamental particles, dissipating into the air.

One strike.

Four S-rank Peak experts instantly killed.

The entire battlefield once again fell into a deathly silence.

In the plaza, the "Duke's" handsome, eerie face, for the first time, completely lost its composed elegance. In its place was an unprecedented, somber solemnity, like still water.

He looked at the young man, who still stood in his original spot as if he had only done a trivial thing, and slowly, word by word, said:

"You... are very good."