467: Chapter 402: The Chaotic Frontline, Shattered Rules Are Shocking

The Seventh War Zone of the Chaos Star Domain is located in the buffer zone between the edge of the New Universe and the Return to Ruins of the Old Universe.

Under the deployment order of General General Rex, Lin Zhou led the vanguard of the Civilization Guardian Legion to penetrate this battlefield, which had been eroded by the Return to Ruins for millions of years, for the first time.

Setting off from the Iron Wall Fortress and passing through three spatial fold jumps, they arrived at the edge of the war zone.

The scene before them silenced everyone.

It was not a starry sky, nor was it the Void Realm, but a gigantic "graveyard."

[Seventh War Zone · Macro Data]

- Area: Approximately 10,000 kilometers in diameter

- Number of Divine Kingdom wreckage: Approximately 300 (ranging from Faint Divinity to high-tier divine power)

- Spatial rifts: Approximately 5,000 (ranging from 100 meters to 1,000 kilometers in length)

- Rule Chaos level: 15 times that of the outside

- Return to Ruins energy concentration: 50 times that of the outside

Countless Divine Kingdom wreckage floated in the Void Realm, like shattered porcelain.

Some had only a small piece of foundation left, with half a wall still remaining.

Others were relatively intact, and the outlines of former palaces could still be distinguished.

But most had crumbled into dust, mixed with the dust of the Void Realm, indistinguishable from one another.

Between the wreckage, spatial rifts were like black lightning, tearing through the Void Realm from time to time and rapidly healing.

Grayish-white Return to Ruins energy surged from the rifts, slowly eroding everything around them.

[Divine Kingdom Wreckage · Typical Data]

- Origin: Old Universe era, original garrison of the Seventh War Zone

- Cause of fall: Return to Ruins erosion + Chaos Beast tide

- Time of fall: Approximately 100 years ago (Old Universe time)

- Residual rules: Weak (some wreckage still retains traces of the original owner's divine duty)

Lin Zhou stood at the bow of the ark of civilization projection, and a deep blue light enveloped the team.

His gaze swept over the wreckage, and he remained silent for a long time.

There had once been hundreds of Divine Kingdoms here, hundreds of gods, and millions of dependents.

Now, only fragments remained.

"Captain, the level of rule Chaos here is more than ten times what I experienced at the academy," Li Mo's voice came through the communication link, carrying a rare solemnity, "Moreover, a new phenomenon has been detected—Rule Corruption."

"Rule Corruption?" Lin Zhou asked.

"Yes. The long-term erosion of rules by Return to Ruins energy causes the rules themselves to 'deteriorate.' Originally neutral rules will gradually lean towards 'nothingness,' accelerating the collapse of the godhood. If a god stays here for too long, their divine fire will be polluted, or even extinguish on its own."

[Rule Corruption · Data]

- Principle: The 'nothingness' attribute in the Return to Ruins energy conflicts with the 'existence' attribute in the rules for a long time, causing the rule structure to distort.

- Manifestation: Rule efficacy weakened, skill release failed, godhood integrity continues to decline.

- Consequences of prolonged contact: Divine fire pollution (reversible, but requires Fire of Civilization purification).

"What is the warning range?" Lin Zhou asked.

Li Mo quickly calculated: "Taking our current position as the center, there is Rule Corruption within a diameter of 3,000 kilometers. The closer to the core of the war zone, the more severe the corruption. The corruption level in the core area is ten times that of the edge."

"In other words, we cannot stay for too long."

"Correct. Each time we go deep into the war zone, we cannot exceed three days. Otherwise, the divine fire will be polluted."

Lin Zhou nodded.

"Three days, that's enough."

He ordered the team to advance.

The team passed through the gaps in the Divine Kingdom wreckage and moved deeper into the war zone.

Under the reflection of the deep blue light, the wreckage looked like silent tombstones.

The soldiers looked at those fragments, and no one spoke.

Some of them had known the original owners of these Divine Kingdoms—they had competed in the Star Domain League of the Old Universe, or had been comrades-in-arms during military training.

Now, only their wreckage remained.

[Team · Mental State]

- Morale: 85% (Declining)

- Reason: Witnessing Divine Kingdom wreckage, generating empathy

- Lin Zhou's response: Deploy Fire of Civilization, group mental buff

Lin Zhou raised his hand, and the Fire of Civilization burned in his palm.

The cyan-gold light sprinkled on every soldier, warm and firm.

[Fire of Civilization · Mental Buff]

- Effect: Morale of friendly forces within range +20%, fear resistance +50%.

- Consumption: 1,000 Divine Power per minute.

The soldiers' mental state recovered, and their footsteps became firmer.

Advancing about 500 kilometers, they encountered the first area dense with spatial rifts.

The rifts were like spiderwebs, densely packed in the Void Realm within a radius of 100 kilometers.

The largest rift was about 1,000 kilometers long, wide enough to swallow a starship.

Grayish-white Return to Ruins energy surged from the rifts, twisting the surrounding space into a spiral shape.

[Spatial Rift Dense Area · Data]

- Number of rifts: Approximately 300

- Return to Ruins energy concentration: 100 times that of the outside

- Rule Chaos level: 20 times that of the outside

- Difficulty of passing: High

"Go around," Lin Zhou ordered.

The team detoured 200 kilometers, avoiding the dense rift area.

But on the detour route, there were more Divine Kingdom wreckage floating.

This time, there were people in the wreckage—no, they were corpses. The corpses of gods.

They did not rot, because the bodies of gods do not rot.

But their divine fire had been extinguished, their godhood had been shattered, and only their shells remained floating in the Void Realm, with the expressions they had before death still preserved on their faces—fear, anger, unwillingness.

[Debris of Gods · Data]

- Quantity: Approximately 30

- Rank before death: LV300 - LV800

- Cause of fall: Divine fire was polluted by Return to Ruins energy and then extinguished itself.

- State of remains: Intact (can be used as research Materials)

Lin Zhou stopped in front of one of the remains.

It was a middle-aged male god, wearing the standard armor of the Seventh War Zone, with the Rank of Colonel on his epaulets.

His eyes were wide open, and his pupils had turned grayish-white—a sign of Return to Ruins energy pollution.

He was still holding a weapon in his hand, a broken longsword.

"His name is Zhao Tiebi," General Rex's voice came from the communication link, with a trace of imperceptible trembling, "He is my son."

Lin Zhou was silent.

"The Iron Wall Fortress is named after him. Three years ago, he led an army deep into the Chaos Star Domain, encountered a Chaos Beast King, and the entire army was wiped out. His godhood was devoured by the Chaos Beast King, and not even his body was left. So, his body was here."

General Rex's voice stopped.

Lin Zhou saluted the remains.

The 500 soldiers behind him saluted at the same time.

"General, do you need us to bring him back?" Lin Zhou asked.

"No need," General Rex's voice returned to calm, "Let him be with his comrades. They held this Void Realm and did not let the Return to Ruins break through the defense line. They should be remembered."

Lin Zhou nodded.

He turned and continued moving forward.

The team traveled in the Void Realm for three days.

They marked 37 dangerous areas, collected 12 samples of Divine Kingdom wreckage, and recorded the fluctuation patterns of Return to Ruins energy.

Every time they approached the wreckage, Lin Zhou would stop and salute silently.

[Reconnaissance Mission · Three-Day Data]

- Exploration range: 3,000 kilometers in diameter

- Marked danger points: 37

- Collected samples: 12

- Decrease in soldiers' godhood integrity: Average 2% (controllable)

- Lin Zhou's godhood integrity: 90% → 88%

On the evening of the third day, the team returned to the fortress.

General Rex was waiting for them at the headquarters.

"Thank you for your hard work," he looked at the report submitted by Lin Zhou and remained silent for a long time, "You found Zhao Tiebi's body."

"We found it," Lin Zhou said, "It was in the southeast direction of the war zone, about 800 kilometers from the edge. His remains are well-preserved, and I had someone bring them back."

General Rex nodded and said nothing.

Lin Zhou turned and prepared to leave.

"Lin Zhou," General Rex called him.

Lin Zhou turned back.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Lin Zhou walked out of the headquarters.

He stood on the wall of the fortress, looking in the direction of the Chaos Star Domain.

The grayish-white mist was surging, and the darkness of the Return to Ruins was lurking in the depths.

Those Divine Kingdom wreckage were still floating in the Void Realm.

The corpses of those gods were still waiting.

"Captain, what are you thinking about?" Qin Qing walked over.

"Thinking about those who sacrificed," Lin Zhou said, "They held the defense line and blocked the Return to Ruins. Without them, the New Universe might have already been eroded."

"Their sacrifice will not be in vain."

"Yes," Lin Zhou turned around, "We will inherit their legacy and guard the New Universe."

He walked down the wall and returned to the barracks.

The Fire of Civilization was burning.

It illuminated the road ahead and also illuminated the journey home for the deceased.