381: Chapter 316: The Queen Mother Appears, Suppressing the Peak of Middle-Level Divine Power

Day 5, noon. The sky was an unchanging dark red, like congealed, putrid blood.

Outside the Temple of the Eternal Flame, the S-Rank joint defense line had stood on this scorched earth for four and a half days.

Beyond the line, Zerg corpses piled up like mountains; broken carapaces, severed limbs, and foul-smelling streams of dried corrosive fluid formed a nauseating "landscape."

The air was filled with gunpowder smoke, residual arcane energy, and the faint, sweet pheromones unique to the Zerg, blending into a battlefield atmosphere that kept nerves on edge.

But inside the defense line, there was perfect Order.

Golden spirit barriers, silvery mechanical turret arrays, the Phantom Sound Academy's light blue spirit sound barriers, and the elusive Star Hunter Academy sentries formed a three-dimensional, high-efficiency web of death.

The Star Ocean Academy's Hundred Schools Kin acted like the most precise lubricant and emergency modules, weaving through the gaps, plugging holes, and neutralizing the Zerg swarm's relentless, sometimes cunning, sometimes violent assaults.

Inside the joint command link, the information flow was efficient and calm.

"Sector East 7, pressure normal, energy shields at 87%, no new units detected."

"Fifty meters below Sector West 3, weak digging vibrations detected, suspected incomplete cleanup of burrowing insects, two 'Digger' Mohist Mechanisms dispatched to handle."

"High altitude on the north side, the third wave of 'Blade Mantis' clusters has been cleared by Sharpshooters and anti-aircraft turrets, threat neutralized."

"Spirit sound resonance network stability 92%, happiness and morale in the 'Serenity Barrier' coverage area maintained at 'High' level."

Li Mo's voice occasionally sounded, reporting the integrated global data: "Current average defense line pressure index is 67 (max 100, peaked at 95 in the first two days). Zerg attack intensity assessed as 'sustained high pressure but patterned.' The Zerg Mother Empress's computing resources seem to be undergoing some kind of reallocation or charging; no new, unparseable attack variants have appeared in the last six hours."

The temporary headquarters was established in a relatively intact ancient watchtower on the outskirts of the Temple of the Eternal Flame.

The tower body had been reinforced by Mohist Mechanical Arts and the sacred runes of the Eternal Divine Court; its interior space was expanded, and several tactical sand tables condensed from Divine Power hovered in the air, reflecting every detail of the twenty-kilometer defense line in real-time.

Lin Zhou stood before the central main sand table, his eyes calm, his fingertips occasionally sliding across the light screen to adjust the defense weight of a certain area or issue fine-tuning Orders.

Under full load, his divinity faintly emitted a steady radiance, creating a subtle resonance with the entire S-Rank defensive formation.

Su Yueyao and Qin Qing stood on either side.

Su Yueyao was responsible for monitoring battlefield environmental energy fluctuations and spiritual pollution indices; her moonlight was like the most precise sensor, feeding even the slightest abnormality back to the headquarters.

Qin Qing maintained the "Law Foundation" of the joint defense line, ensuring that the five teams, while highly coordinated, would not suffer internal friction due to conflicting rules or Orders.

Both women looked slightly exhausted from days of high-intensity support, but their eyes remained bright and focused.

The projections of Elios, Evelyn, Ryan, and Kevin were also arranged around the tactical sand table, each handling their respective defense zone affairs while remaining ready to respond to Lin Zhou's coordination Orders.

After a few days, the initial barriers and testing had long since vanished, replaced by a solid trust and tacit understanding based on mutual recognition of strength and shared life-and-death stakes.

The powerful effect of the S-Rank formation made everyone confident in holding out for seven days.

"Lin Zhou," Elios suddenly spoke, pointing to a red area marked "High Energy Accumulation Zone" about fifteen kilometers outside the defense line, "My 'Eye of Eternity' has detected that the Void Realm energy concentration in this area has increased by 300% in the past hour, and there is no sign of the increase slowing down. Yet, Zerg activity in that area has dropped to freezing point. This is not normal."

Evelyn's ethereal voice carried a hint of gravity: "My 'Spirit Sound Echo' has also captured an extremely low, almost abyss-like 'pulsation' coming from that area. The frequency is extremely low, but every 'pulsation' causes unnatural distortions in the surrounding spirit sound field."

Ryan was concise: "Recon scouts cannot get within three kilometers of the core of that area. All infiltration attempts are blocked by an invisible 'barrier' or 'repulsive force.' Team members who tried to force a Breakthrough reported feeling a fear that stemmed from life's instinct."

Kevin's mechanically synthesized voice analyzed steadily: "Based on the energy accumulation speed, scope, and the accompanying rule perturbation model, there is an 87.3% probability that the Zerg Mother Empress is performing some kind of large-scale energy aggregation or morphological transformation in that area. It is recommended to raise the entire defense line alert level to the highest and prepare a contingency plan for super-spec impacts."

Lin Zhou's pupils contracted slightly.

He had long sensed the terrifying malice that was constantly swelling and solidifying in the distance through his connection to the river of civilization.

That malice was cold, vast, and filled with pure greed for Order and life.

Its essence far surpassed any Zerg unit encountered before, and it even faintly transcended the rules of this dungeon space itself!

It was like an iceberg slowly surfacing from the deep sea; before it even fully revealed itself, the oppressive feeling it brought made the space for a hundred miles around seem to become viscous and heavy.

"Notify all units, immediately execute 'Level A Highest Alert Contingency Plan'!" Lin Zhou's voice was decisive, instantly spreading to every corner of the defense line via the command link, "All non-essential buildings enter energy-saving or reinforcement mode! Front-line defense units activate maximum power! Long-range fire arrays charge and prepare! Support units apply buffs! Mobile reserve teams enter designated sortie positions! Repeat, Level A Highest Alert!"

The moment the Order was given, the entire defense line roared like a giant beast awakened from its slumber!

The Eternal Divine Court's spirit barriers shone with brilliant golden light, their thickness increasing by a third out of thin air, and countless ancient sacred runes appeared on the surface!

The [Spirit Heavy Guardians] roared in unison, activating their talent skill [Indomitable Will] (significantly increasing defense and abnormal status resistance for a short time).

Behind them, [Spirit Sharpshooters] condensed blinding Holy Light on their arrows, and [Spirit Demon Breakers] began chanting large-scale dispelling prayers.

The remaining turret matrix of the Mechanical Divine Domain hummed, muzzles adjusting to aim at the red area in the distance; energy readings soared, entering an overload standby state.

Several large [Titan Fist Siege Arrays] (Epic-level War buildings, high-range damage, long cooldown) also emerged from hiding and began their long charge.

The Phantom Sound Academy's Spirit Sound Singers' voices suddenly rose in pitch, shifting from support buffs to the Battle Intent-filled [Song of Valor] and [Ode to the Iron Wall].

The pale blue sound waves covered every warrior like tangible armor.

At the same time, another ethereal, solemn [Requiem] began to echo to stabilize any severe mental shocks that might occur.

The Star Hunter Academy's Shadow Hunters vanished in place like ghosts, entering maximum stealth status, their weapons coated with [Demon-Breaking Toxin] and [Soul-Ripping Potion] specifically for high-energy life forms.

On the Star Ocean Academy side, Wang Meng's Behemoth Warriors let out a heaven-shaking roar, their bodies expanding again as they entered the [Ancient Frenzy] state (All attributes +35%, intelligence drops, but influenced by civilization ideology, basic tactical awareness is retained).

The Mohist Mechanisms cluster tightened its formation, their surfaces shifting as they entered [Absolute Defense Mode] (Defense significantly increased, mobility decreased).

The great Confucians and scholars among the Literary Heart Elves gathered, their rhythmic chanting began, and Vast Righteous Qi started to converge, preparing to deal with potential mental corruption.

Qin Qing's Temple of Law projection solidified above the headquarters, with chains of Law descending to reinforce the definition of "Order" in this space.

Su Yueyao's moonlight was no longer gentle but turned into cold, sharp halos, vaguely condensing into a crescent moon shadow behind her; she actively stimulated the power of her Moon God Bloodline to a higher level.

Everyone felt it—a terrifying existence that would make heaven and earth change color was about to descend!

Less than thirty seconds after the defense line completed its highest alert—

Rumble—!!!

In the center of the red energy accumulation zone in the distance, space collapsed without warning, like a shattered mirror!

It was not tearing, not twisting, but the most complete annihilation!

A spherical Void Realm area with a diameter of over five hundred meters—pure, dark, and so devoid of light that even light could not escape—appeared out of thin air!

Immediately following, an indescribable, terrifying hiss, as if from the dawn of the Universe—or rather, a mental shriek formed by the forced aggregation of billions of Zerg hisses according to some rule, raised to a level beyond the reach of hearing—erupted from that sphere of Void Realm like an invisible tsunami, instantly sweeping across the entire battlefield!

Ahhhhh—!

Almost the instant the shriek rang out, everyone on the defense line except Lin Zhou, including Elios, Evelyn, Ryan, Kevin (whose projection fluctuated violently), and all their kin and hero units, felt their bodies shake violently!

Elios let out a muffled groan, his perfect, statue-like face instantly losing its blood color, and light flickered chaotically in his golden pupils.

He felt the Eternal Sacred Fire within him suddenly stall, and his Divine Power circulation speed dropped by at least 40%!

The solid golden Divine Light around him dimmed and shook.

The phantom of the Eternal Throne behind him groaned under the unbearable weight, showing fine cracks.

Evelyn's ethereal singing stopped abruptly, as if her throat had been strangled.

Her slender body trembled violently, her face turned pale as paper, and the spirit sound halos around her shattered inch by inch.

The "Spirit Sound" she relied on for survival and combat couldn't even maintain transmission under this terrifying mental shriek!

Ryan's strong body swayed, and he knelt on one knee; the longbow "Star-Slayer" he tightly gripped hummed in sorrow.

His proud, hawk-like sharp perception and locking ability were now in Chaos; he had a splitting headache, and double images even appeared before his eyes.

The stealth, sniping, and fatal strikes relied upon by the Star Hunter Academy were greatly diminished under this indiscriminate mental pressure.

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

Kevin's mechanical projection flickered violently, nearly dissipating. From the core of the Mechanical Divine Kingdom, far behind the defense line where his true body resided, a piercing alarm sounded. A cold, ruthless electronic synthetic voice rang out in the headquarters at a rapid pace: "Warning! Ultra-high intensity mental-rule hybrid shockwave detected! Intensity Level: World-ending (Predicted)! Logic core interfered with... Computing power decreased by 31.5%... Mechanical unit basic instruction cycle delayed by 0.07 seconds... Some precision instruments overloaded and burned out..."

On the defense line, the situation was even more tragic. A large number of low-tier (below LV40) kin units—whether they were Heroic Spirits, mechanical creations, Spirit Sound Creatures, or Star Hunter kin—directly had their eyes roll back and blood spill from their noses and mouths under this screech, fainting or even having their Souls collapse and die! Even elite units above LV40 were stumbling, with their combat power reduced to less than half. Hero units barely held on, but their faces were pale, their Divine Power circulation was sluggish, and skill activation became difficult and obscure.

The entire S-class defense line fell into a state of semi-paralysis under this sudden, pervasive mental pressure! Only units relying on structures (such as reinforced barriers or turrets) or those with naturally high resistance to mental attacks could still maintain partial combat capability.

The only ones not significantly affected were Lin Zhou and the core kin of the Xinghai Society under the direct protection of his Fire of Civilization and Hundred Schools of Thought.

Lin Zhou only felt his Divine Soul waver slightly as the projection of the Temple of Civilization in his Sea of Consciousness vibrated gently. The flowing river of civilization washed away the terrifying screech that attempted to invade, freeze, and confuse his spirit and Divine Power. Within the river, the radiance of the Hundred Schools of Thought shone: "As Heaven’s movement is ever vigorous, so must a gentleman ceaselessly strive for self-improvement," "Control the Mandate of Heaven and use it," "I am good at nurturing my Vast Righteous Qi"... The wisdom and spiritual imprints of countless ancient sages formed the sturdiest of dams. His Divine Power circulation was only slightly sluggish by less than 5%, which was almost negligible.

Behind him, Su Yueyao and Qin Qing, being closest to him, were also protected by the wake of the river of civilization. Combined with their own resilient divinity and will, they only turned pale and let out a muffled groan before forcibly stabilizing themselves, though their eyes were filled with horror.

"Is this... the pressure of the Mother Empress's true body?!" Su Yueyao exclaimed. She had never felt such pure, vast malice and mental oppression. Even the ancient and powerful Moon God ancestors of her Family had never given her such a feeling of despair.

Qin Qing gripped her Law sword tightly, her knuckles turning white. Her Law Domain shrank until it could only cover the core area of the headquarters. She said with difficulty, "It’s not just mental pressure... it's mixed with... suppression on the level of rules! It is declaring 'dominance' over this battlefield!"

Just then, at the center of that light-swallowing sphere of nothingness, a speck of dark purple light ignited. The light expanded rapidly, outlining a silhouette so massive it was suffocating.

It... slowly "swam" out.

It was a terrifying existence that could not be described using conventional biological forms. Its main body was a massive, roughly ellipsoidal sac with a diameter exceeding three hundred meters. Its surface was covered not by a carapace or skin, but by a constantly flowing and shifting dark purple void matter, as if it were wearing a solidified abyss of the starry sky. On the sac were embedded tens of thousands of compound eyes of varying sizes, each flashing with a cold, absolutely rational purple light. They were not arranged randomly but formed an extremely complex three-dimensional array that seemed to contain the ultimate truths of the Universe, coldly "gazing" at the entire battlefield, including the Temple of the Eternal Flame.

Extending from beneath the sac were twelve incredibly thick limbs, like pillars supporting the heavens. Each limb had a diameter of over ten meters and a length of over a thousand meters. The surfaces of the limbs were covered with constantly opening and closing suction cups, rotating sawteeth, holes spraying blue energy streams, and some incomprehensible organs that looked like living runes. These limbs were not used for movement but were like roots, deeply piercing into the shattered earth and void below, frantically absorbing all available matter and energy.

In front of the sac were over a hundred mouthpart tubes of varying lengths, flexible as tentacles yet shimmering with a metallic cold light. They danced slowly in the air, their ends featuring layered, meat-grinder-like teeth structures, with depths that seemed to connect to bottomless black holes. Simply gazing at these mouthparts caused a phantom pain in one's Soul, as if it were about to be torn apart and devoured.

And most heart-stopping was the dark halo revolving slowly like a black hole vortex directly above its sac. In the center of the halo, three complex symbols could be vaguely seen constantly appearing and disappearing, emitting an Aura that made even the rules twist and tremble!

It was the supreme ruler of the Zerg in this realm, the Void Zerg Mother Empress! Merely by appearing, without yet launching any substantial attack, its very existence caused the spatial Laws within a hundred-mile radius to wail and the S-class defense line to teeter!

Lin Zhou's pupils shrank to pinpricks. In his perception, the Temple of Civilization actively sent a violent warning wave. Simultaneously, some basic information about the Mother Empress was "decoded" by the Sanctuary in a way that transcended rules and projected into his consciousness—this was the [Insight] function activated by the Temple of Civilization using civilization points when facing a high-level threat!

[Target Analysis (Information incomplete due to high-tier interference)]

Name: ??? (Zerg Mother Empress / Void Devourer Form)

Rank: LV 950 (Mid-Tier Divine Power Peak, half-step into high-tier divine power threshold)

divine office:

1. [Void] (Main divine office): Deeply controls void energy and partial spatial rules. Capable of Void Walk, stealth, creating a Void Domain, and releasing Void Cuts. Within the range of this divine office, non-void units suffer suppression to all attributes (Estimated suppression: 15%-40%).

2. [Devour] (Core divine office): Possesses the terrifying authority to devour all things (matter, energy, Soul, rule fragments) and convert them into its own nutrients and evolutionary resources. Attacks carry a 'Devour' effect, capable of eroding and stripping target attributes and rules.

3. [Evolution] (Core divine office): Possesses the ability to analyze, learn, mimic, and optimize itself and its subordinate Zerg units in an extremely short time. Can quickly evolve specific forms, abilities, and resistances against specific enemies or environments.

Life Form: Void Creature / Rule Aggregate (High-dimensional Life Projection)

Estimated HP: ??? (Far exceeding conventional Mid-Tier Divine Power, estimated at over 50 million)

Estimated Divine Power Reserve: ??? (Unfathomable)

Traits:

- [Void Body]: 70% physical damage reduction, 50% energy damage reduction, extremely high resistance to mental and Soul-based attacks.

- [Infinite Evolution]: Can continuously evolve during battle, with no obvious weaknesses (or weaknesses change with Evolution).

- [Swarm Will]: Can absolutely control all Zerg units within range, sharing vision and computing power for perfect coordination.

- [Rule Pollution]: Its attacks and presence itself will pollute surrounding rules, causing them to shift towards a direction favorable to the Zerg (Chaos, Devour, Evolution).

Danger Level: World-ending (To current defense line and mission objectives)

Current Target Lock: Temple of the Eternal Flame (seed of civilization) — Highest priority devour target.

LV950! Three divine offices! World-ending danger!

This information made Lin Zhou's heart sink heavily. Although he had long expected the Mother Empress to be powerful, the impact of actually "seeing" this status panel was still unparalleled. This had already exceeded the scope of a "Dungeon Boss"; this was simply an unequal, nearly hopeless trial! No wonder the Zerg tide over the past four and a half days, though fierce, always felt like it was missing something. It turned out the Mother Empress had been gathering strength, or rather, had never truly turned its full attention here until this moment, when it deemed the time was ripe, or... the "scent" of the Temple of the Eternal Flame had made it unable to endure any longer!

"Steady!" Lin Zhou's low shout rang out like thunder in the minds of everyone who had fallen into a daze and fear. "Don't be overwhelmed by its Aura! Its target is clear: it's the Temple! All units that can still move, fire at will to stop it from approaching! Long-range arrays, focus fire on its mouthparts and the joints of its lower limbs! Eternal Barrier, hold the front against possible spatial cuts! Phantom Sound, give your all to stabilize the mental field and sing the 'Voice of Breaking Delusion'! Star Hunters, find the nodes of energy flow on its body surface and attempt destructive sniping! Members of Xinghai, prepare to intercept head-on with me!"

His voice was infused with the power of the Fire of Civilization, carrying a strange, calming strength that forcibly woke everyone from the paralysis brought by the Mother Empress's terrifying pressure.

Just then, all the purple light in the Mother Empress's tens of thousands of compound eyes suddenly focused, falling entirely upon the Temple of the Eternal Flame on the distant horizon, which emitted a faint but stubborn glow.

A thought of pure, undisguised greed and hunger swept across the battlefield again like a tangible shockwave!

Then, its massive body, rooted in the void, began to move.

It wasn't moving; it was... crushing!

Twelve pillar-like limbs exerted force simultaneously, churning the earth and space, pushing its mountain-like sac "slowly" towards the Temple of the Eternal Flame. Every step (if those could be called steps) caused the earth to crack and space to vibrate. Everything in its path—whether Zerg corpses, rocks, or residual energy fields—was ruthlessly devoured and annihilated by the void matter flowing on its surface!

The true catastrophe descended at this moment.

The S-class defense line faced its most severe, and possibly final, test since its inception.