377: Chapter 312: Mechanical Collapse, Logic Virus Gets Devoured

"Night" inside the instance dungeon was not a peaceful rest, but a hotbed for crises breeding in the shadows. At the base of the Eastern Observation Tower, the Xinghai University group seized the precious three-hour rest period, operating as efficiently as precision gears.

The Tiangong Dwarves engineering corps, under Bronzebeard's roars, worked like tireless worker ants, using scrap Materials to urgently repair damaged turrets and attempting to retrofit the wreckage of completely destroyed turrets into makeshift obstacles and traps. The Literary Heart Elves mage corps, led by Wen Yuan, took turns entering the [Spiritual Qi Purification Array] temporarily set up by Li Mo inside the base to meditate and recover. Several fragments of the Eternal Divine Court crystals were placed in the array, and the soft halo significantly accelerated their magic recovery and mental stabilization. Su Yueyao's moonlight not only healed the severely wounded but also washed away the soldiers' taut nerves and the Zerg filth they had contracted, like a clear spring. Qin Qing, with Li Mo's assistance, attempted to resonate the Net of Law with the weak, residual star observation energy circuits of the base—although the technology of the ancient civilization was far beyond their understanding, even this initial contact allowed the perception range of the Net of Law to extend outward by about 500 meters and to detect anomalies on the rule level more keenly.

Lin Zhou also sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing, recovering his consumed Divine Power (slowly rising to 172,000/200,000), while digesting the combat experience of the first day. The faint purple trace and the weak Taiji phantom in his Divine Fire core seemed to have solidified a bit after the intense battle, as if the flame of civilization had been tempered in the crucible of blood and fire.

"Captain," Li Mo's voice sounded in the internal channel, tinged with exhaustion yet excitement, "Preliminary analysis of the first day's combat data is complete. The Legalist Law Net's weakening effect on the Zerg's 'disorderly devouring' characteristic is stable in the 18%-22% range, and the suppression effect on 'chaotic erosion' is about 15%. Our dynamic defense System's comprehensive efficiency rating reached A-, about 41% higher than the efficiency of the 'standard defense model' provided by Elios. However, maintaining the Net of Law and dynamic scheduling imposes a huge burden on Qin Qing and the command System. Additionally, we have discovered that the Zerg's offensive seems to possess a hidden 'learning' behavior; the evasion efficiency of subsequent waves against our traps and fixed firepower points has increased by about 3%."

"Learning ability..." Lin Zhou mused. "As expected, as a swarm civilization, the Zerg's Mother Queen or collective consciousness possesses powerful information processing and evolutionary capabilities. It seems that in the subsequent battles, tactics need to be more varied and cannot rely on fixed routines."

Just then, in the temporary communication channel, Elios's cold voice rang out on time, interrupting the brief rest: "Rest is over. Each defense zone report your readiness. Zerg activity frequency has been detected to be rising; the second wave of attacks is expected to begin in 27 minutes. In this attack, the Zerg's energy reaction pattern shows significant changes. In the left flank (Mechanical Divine Domain Academy defense zone), abnormal, highly aggregated logic data flow fluctuations have been detected, suspected to be the Zerg attempting a new attack mode. Mechanical Divine Domain, stay vigilant."

"Understood." The Mechanical Divine Domain Academy captain's synthesized voice remained flat and emotionless. "The logic firewall has been raised to the highest level. Based on the first day's data, there are predictable logic loopholes in the Zerg unit behavior patterns. We have specifically developed the [Logic Disintegration Virus · Prototype β] and will attempt to perform reverse infection through the Zerg mental network to disrupt their action logic and even cause their internal Systems to crash. The expected success rate is 87.3%."

Logic virus attack! This was the Mechanical Divine Domain Academy's specialty; they had used this trick in previous competitions to make many opponents who relied on strict logic or magic arrays suffer. By invading the opponent's mental or energy network and planting self-contradictory logic instructions, they could trigger chaos, System crashes, or even self-destruction.

"Tactical test approved." Elios responded briefly, seemingly uninterested in such "technical means"; he was more concerned with whether the overall "Order" was stable.

The short preparation time passed quickly. On the eastern front, the Xinghai University defense line had finished reorganizing; about one-third of the turrets were repaired, the mage corps had recovered more than 70% of their magic power, and the soldiers had replenished their energy, standing by in full battle array.

However, the second Zerg wave did not surge from all directions as expected. The first to show a violent reaction was the left flank—the psionic hub defense line held by the Mechanical Divine Domain Academy!

Through shared battlefield perception (limited), Lin Zhou and the others "saw" that on the left flank, outside the steel defense line that was originally orderly and composed of countless automatic turrets, energy fences, and logic chains, the Zerg's offensive suddenly became extremely "weird"!

A large number of Zerg units, especially those Drones and Piercers, were no longer charging in a chaotic swarm, but presenting a... strange, geometrically beautiful, and orderly queue! They were like precisely programmed machines, advancing in layers at the exact same speed, angle, and even pace, and began to consciously avoid the crossfire coverage zones preset by the mechanical defense line based on logic prediction! Even the acid and bone spurs they fired became exceptionally concentrated and purposeful, specifically targeting the energy connection points and weak links of the defense nodes!

The Mechanical Divine Domain Academy's defense line immediately responded. The logic firepower network quickly adjusted, attempting to capture the new attack mode. At the same time, an invisible "information flow" composed of pure logic data, like an invisible spike, pierced backward into the depths of the Zerg swarm along some fluctuation in the Zerg mental network—this was their proud [Logic Disintegration Virus · Prototype β]!

At first, the effect seemed immediate! A portion of the Zerg units charging at the very front suddenly became stiff, collided with each other, and even began to attack their own kind indiscriminately, as if their internal action instructions had fallen into logic paradoxes and chaos! The pressure in front of the mechanical defense line eased.

"Logic virus effective. Target unit logic System crash rate is 64.2%, consistent with expectations." The Mechanical Divine Domain captain reported calmly.

But less than thirty seconds later, a sudden change occurred!

Those Zerg units that were originally in chaos and even began to kill each other suddenly stopped in unison! They stood stiffly in place, the originally chaotic light in their compound eyes flickering and reorganizing rapidly, then turning into another kind of... cold, precise, and calculated light!

Immediately after, these "chaotic" Zerg units actually began to counter-charge in a more efficient and coordinated manner than before! They no longer attacked their own kind but aimed their spears entirely at the core nodes of the mechanical defense line! What was even more terrifying was that their attack method had undergone a fundamental change—no longer relying on brute force or acid, but releasing a pale purple data flow composed of countless tiny logic runes, precisely striking the logic firewalls and energy circuits of the mechanical defense line!

"Warning! Unknown logic attack detected! Firewall suffering high-intensity homologous data impact!"

"Logic virus... being reverse-analyzed?! No, it's being absorbed, reconstructed, and enhanced, then backfiring!"

"Defense nodes A-7 to C-12 logic chains collapsed! Automated turret array out of control!"

The Mechanical Divine Domain captain's synthesized voice showed obvious urgency and distorted static for the first time!

Through battlefield perception, Lin Zhou and the others watched in horror as, in an area on the left flank of the mechanical defense line, dozens of automatic turrets suddenly turned their muzzles and fired fiercely at their own defensive energy fences and friendly units! The energy circuits experienced large-scale overload and chaotic sparks! Some mechanical constructs (evidently the Mechanical Divine Domain's vassal units) began to move stiffly and strangely, and even started attacking the engineering units repairing them!

"Mother Queen... it's the Zerg Mother Queen!" Li Mo cried out. On his monitoring equipment, a massive, chilling mental fluctuation full of cold calculation and terrifying learning and evolutionary capabilities came from the left flank! "In a very short time, it completely parsed the logic structure of the Mechanical Divine Domain's logic virus, not only becoming immune to its effects but also transforming it into a super virus targeting mechanical logic Systems! And by infecting part of the front-line units instantly through the swarm network, it caused their defense line's logic System to collapse from the inside! This speed of learning and evolution... is too terrifying!"

In the temporary communication channel, it was instantly drowned by alarms and collapse reports coming from all over the Mechanical Divine Domain defense line!

"Logic core area invaded! Backup System startup failed!"

"Third firepower platform fallen! All turrets have defected!"

"Requesting emergency support! The defense line is disintegrating from within!"

The Mechanical Divine Domain captain's voice had lost its flatness, carrying a rare shock, anger, and powerlessness: "Zerg Mother Queen... logic level... beyond estimation... virus backfire... defense line about to collapse! Repeat, left flank defense line is about to collapse!"

Everyone was stunned! The Mechanical Divine Domain Academy, ranked 22nd and known for its rigorous logic and solid defense, was actually on the verge of collapse so quickly under one "learning counterattack" by the Zerg Mother Queen? And it was backfired upon by its own "logic virus"?

"Eternal Divine Court! Immediately dispatch the Spirit troop to support the left flank! Purify the infected logic area!" Elios's cold voice rang out, finally carrying a hint of gravity and urgency.

"It's too late!" The Mechanical Divine Domain captain roared (synthesized voice simulation), "The virus infection speed is beyond imagination! And... the Mother Queen has locked onto our logic core location! It is guiding the main force of the Zerg swarm... toward there! The defense line... cannot hold!"

Sure enough, through perception, it could be seen that the Zerg swarm that was originally attacking the eastern front and other directions seemed to have received some kind of instruction and began to turn in large numbers, like sharks smelling blood, surging toward the area on the left flank where signs of collapse had already appeared! Once the mechanical defense line completely collapsed, the Zerg swarm would drive straight in from this gap, directly threatening the psionic hub located to the rear left, and might even bypass to attack the central temple!

"Star Hunter Academy! Attempt to hunt the Mother Queen or interfere with its mental network!" Elios ordered again.

"Can't do it!" The Scar-faced brute from Star Hunter Academy was furious, "The Mother Queen is hiding in the deepest part of the Zerg swarm, surrounded by high-level units! Our infiltration team was almost driven to kill each other by that damn logic data flow just as we approached!"

The Phantom Sound Academy female captain's voice trembled: "Our mental interference has a weak effect on the Mother Queen... its mental structure... is too complex..."

The situation took a turn for the worse! The left flank defense line was about to collapse, and the Zerg swarm was about to gain a huge Breakthrough! And the only thing that could effectively restrain this "logic virus" backfire and the Mother Queen's computing power... seemed to be...

Almost everyone's thoughts, coincidentally, turned to the eastern front—the defense line that had shown amazing resilience and "rule definition" ability on the first day, and its commander, Lin Zhou.

Elios was silent for a very short moment, his cold will seemingly weighing things intensely. Finally, he had to face reality and issued the first... non-command communication to Lin Zhou since entering the instance:

"Lin Zhou." His voice was still cold, but it lacked that condescension and had a bit more undeniable urgency, "The left flank mechanical defense line is about to collapse, and the Zerg Mother Queen has demonstrated logic learning and counter-ability beyond estimation. Can your 'Law definition' interfere with or purify this backfire virus based on logic rules? Can the eastern front hold independently for now, or... spare a part of your forces to assist in stabilizing the left flank gap?"

He didn't say "Order," but "ask" and "negotiate." This was the greatest concession this arrogant Eternal captain could make under the pressure of reality.

On the Observation Tower base, Lin Zhou slowly opened his eyes, his gaze calm. He had long since perceived the crisis on the left flank through the Net of Law and battlefield perception. The terrifying ability of the Zerg Mother Queen also shook his heart. But he knew better that hesitation at this moment would only lead to the destruction of the entire defense line.

"Captain Elios," Lin Zhou's voice was steady and clear, "My Legalist Edicts' definition of 'illegal' can extend to 'unauthorized rule tampering and logic occupation.' Theoretically, it can suppress that backfire virus by 'defining it as invalid.' But the effect needs to be verified on-site, and the range is limited."

He changed the subject: "The pressure on the eastern front is still huge. If I split troops to support the left flank, the risk to my own defense line will increase sharply. I propose: I will personally lead a lean elite team (including Qin Qing, Su Yueyao, and a small number of elites), carrying the Law core runes, to urgently go to the core area of the left flank collapse, attempting 'rule purification' and 'defense line hemostasis.' At the same time, I need the Eternal Divine Court, Phantom Sound Academy, and Star Hunter Academy to spare no cost during my absence to provide remote firepower support and harassment to the eastern defense line, ensuring that the eastern front is not lost! In addition, the Mechanical Divine Domain must immediately cut off the physical and energy connections between the infected area and the main logic core, even if it means abandoning part of the defense line, to prevent the virus from spreading further!"

His plan was clear and decisive, not only proposing a way to solve the left flank crisis but also clarifying the risks he needed to take and the support he needed, showing excellent on-site decision-making and a big-picture view.

Elios barely hesitated: "Agreed! Execute according to your plan! The Eternal Divine Court will mobilize the 'Divine Judgment' array to remotely cover the dense areas of the Zerg swarm on the eastern front! Phantom Sound Academy, concentrate mental interference on the Zerg command nodes on the eastern front! Star Hunter, do your best to harass the rear of the Zerg swarm on the eastern front! Mechanical Divine Domain, execute the isolation Order! Lin Zhou, you only have 15 minutes (in the instance)! You must stop the left flank from collapsing!"

"Understood!" Lin Zhou stood up abruptly, "Yue Yao, Qin Qing, come with me! Li Mo, Zhao Hao, Bronzebeard, Wen Yuan, Qingye! The eastern front is in your hands! Defend according to the predetermined emergency plan, hold on!"

"Yes!" Everyone replied in unison, their eyes determined.

Su Yueyao and Qin Qing quickly came to Lin Zhou's side. Lin Zhou's mind moved, the phantom of the river of civilization appeared slightly, and a wisp of pale gold rune fused with the essence of Law was condensed in his palm. He looked at his two companions: "This trip is dangerous; the Mother Queen will surely be prepared. Yue Yao, your moonlight purification is the key to resisting virus erosion. Qin Qing, your Law Domain is the core for 'defining.' Let's go!"

The three of them turned into three streams of light, under the brief cover of Zhao Hao's Dragon swarm, broke through the thin Zerg blockade on the eastern front, and sped toward the collapsing defense line on the left flank, which was already ablaze with fire and raging with logic turbulence!

Behind them, the sound of artillery on the eastern front became dense and violent again, and remote support firepower from the other three directions began to fall into the Zerg swarm. And the cloud of collapse on the left flank was waiting for them to turn the tide.

The Zerg Mother Queen, with one sharp counterattack, completely disrupted the deployment of the five teams and forced the originally divided command System to start attempting real... collaboration.

And Lin Zhou will face the Zerg Dominator that has shown terrifying wisdom and learning ability. Can Way of Civilization redefine Order on the ruins of logic?