469: Chapter 404: First Record of Military Merit, Receives 300 Military Merit Points

After returning to the fortress, Lin Zhou immediately submitted the reconnaissance report and combat records to the Seventh Legion headquarters. General Rex reviewed them personally, his expression gradually shifting from solemn to satisfied.

"Eliminated 1,200 Chaos Shadow Race members, including one Shadow Race King, with zero casualties on our side and only a few minor injuries." General Rex put down the report, looked up at Lin Zhou, and said, "This combat record Ranks in the top three of the Seventh Legion's records from the past three years."

"You flatter me, General," Lin Zhou said calmly.

"It is not flattery; it is a fact." General Rex took a dark golden token from his drawer and handed it to Lin Zhou. "This is your war merit record. According to the Human Expeditionary Force's war merit regulations, killing each Chaos Shadow Race (LV350 - LV500) counts as 0.2 war merit points, and killing a Shadow Race King (LV700) counts as 10 war merit points. Adding the fixed reward for the reconnaissance mission, your total war merit points this time are—three hundred points."

[War Merit · First Settlement]

- Killed Chaos Shadow Race × 1200: 240 points

- Killed Shadow Race King × 1: 10 points

- Reconnaissance Mission Base Reward: 50 points

- Total: 300 points

- Current War Merit Balance: 300 points

Lin Zhou took the token and injected Divine Power into it. Lines of text appeared on the surface of the token—his war merit breakdown, current balance, and the exchange list for the entire war merit System.

[War Merit Exchange System · Introduction]

- Scope: All officers and soldiers of the Human Expeditionary Force

- Ways to obtain war merit: Killing enemy units, completing reconnaissance missions, participating in large-scale battles, special contributions

- Uses of war merit: Exchanging for rare Materials, cards, equipment, Cultivation Technique, and even qualifications for Divine Spark ascension ceremonies

- Exchange location: War merit exchange offices at the headquarters of each war zone, or browse and order remotely via the token

"Three hundred points..." Lin Zhou murmured.

"That's not a small amount," General Rex said. "An ordinary soldier might not even be able to save up one hundred points in a whole year of fighting."

"But it's not much, either." Lin Zhou browsed through the exchange list, his brows gradually furrowing.

[War Merit Exchange List · Partial Display]

- Epic Resource Card [Spiritual Vein Origin]: Can significantly increase the Spiritual Qi concentration of the Divine Kingdom—Exchange requires 150,000 points

- Epic Race Card [Golden Angel Race]: Can summon high-tier Angel kin—Exchange requires 180,000 points

- Epic Building Card [War College]: Can increase legion training efficiency by 300%—Exchange requires 120,000 points

- Epic Equipment [Star Battle Armor]: Individual armor, can withstand Mid-Tier Divine Power attacks—Exchange requires 80,000 points

- Rare Item [Divine Spark Repair Fluid]: Accelerates Divine Spark recovery—Exchange requires 3,000 points

- Common Item [chaos crystal]: 100 pieces—Exchange requires 100 points

The cheapest Epic-grade card still required 80,000 points, and he only had 300 points. He couldn't even afford a bottle of Divine Spark Repair Fluid (3,000 points).

"The gap is huge." Qin Qing walked over, saw the list, and said, "With three hundred points, you can't exchange for anything."

"It's not that I can't exchange for anything." Lin Zhou flipped through the list and pointed to the very bottom. "I can exchange for this—Common item, chaos crystal, 100 pieces for 100 points. I can exchange for 300 pieces."

Qin Qing was speechless.

"Three hundred chaos crystals are enough to upgrade the armor coating for the soldiers once," Lin Zhou said calmly. "Little by little, it adds up."

He put away the token and looked at General Rex.

"General, besides killing and reconnaissance, what other ways are there to obtain war merit?"

General Rex thought for a moment. "Large-scale battles. For example, legion-level offensive and defensive battles; after one battle, the participating officers and soldiers can receive anywhere from several hundred to several thousand points. But large-scale battles don't happen every day. The Seventh War Zone hasn't fought a major battle in three months."

"Are there any other ways?"

"Yes—special contributions. For example, discovering significant enemy secrets, developing new equipment, saving important figures, etc. The greater the contribution, the more war merit."

Lin Zhou nodded.

"I understand."

He walked out of the headquarters, stood on the city wall, and looked in the direction of the Chaos Star Domain.

Three hundred war merit points were just a drop in the bucket. But this was just the beginning.

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

"I'm thinking about how to accumulate war merit quickly."

"By killing the Shadow Race?"

"The Shadow Race won't always come. Besides, one is only 0.2 points. Killing ten thousand of them is only two thousand points, which isn't even enough to exchange for one bottle of Divine Spark Repair Fluid."

"Then what should we do?"

Lin Zhou was silent for a moment.

"General General Rex said that special contributions have high rewards. For example, developing new equipment."

Qin Qing was stunned for a moment. "You want to develop equipment?"

"Not me, us." Lin Zhou turned around. "Isn't Li Mo's Research Hall developing a space teleportation array? If it succeeds, that would be a special contribution."

"But that will still take time."

"Therefore, before that, we need other methods."

He walked down from the city wall and returned to the barracks.

In the barracks meeting room, Lin Zhou gathered Li Mo, Wang Meng, Chen Xuan, and Qin Qing.

"Brothers, you've seen the war merit System. Three hundred points can't exchange for anything. But we need war merit; we need to exchange for resources to upgrade equipment, train soldiers, and strengthen the legion."

He looked at Li Mo.

"Li Mo, how is the progress on the research for the space teleportation array?"

Li Mo pushed up his glasses and called up a design blueprint.

[Space Teleportation Array · Research Progress]

- Principle: Based on spatial folding, combined with Mohist Mechanical Arts and Daoist spatial theory

- Current progress: 65%

- Bottleneck: Needs spatial Origin stone (used to stabilize the teleportation channel)

- Source of spatial Origin stone: The edge of spatial rifts deep in the Chaos Star Domain, produced by the collision of Return to Void energy and spatial rules

- Acquisition difficulty: High (requires going deep into the Chaos Star Domain, and there are spatial storms around the spatial Origin stone)

"Spatial Origin stone..." Lin Zhou mused. "Where can it be found?"

Li Mo zoomed in on the Star Map and pointed to a marked point in the southeast direction of the Seventh War Zone.

"Here, about 5,000 kilometers from the fortress. There is a dense area of spatial rifts where spatial storms often occur. After the storms, spatial Origin stones sometimes condense. But that is also an active area for the Chaos Shadow Race, the area we avoided during our last reconnaissance."

"In other words, to get the stone, we have to have a direct confrontation with the Shadow Race."

"Yes."

Lin Zhou stood up.

"Alright. Tomorrow, we go to retrieve the spatial Origin stone."

"Captain, that's too risky." Qin Qing shook her head. "The number of Shadow Race members in that area is unknown; there might be even more than before."

"That's why we won't go without preparation," Lin Zhou said. "Li Mo, develop a device that can detect Shadow Race gathering points. We need to know their locations in advance to avoid them."

Li Mo thought for a moment. "I can. Using a special rule fluctuation detector; the movement of the Shadow Race disturbs the rules, and the detector can perceive that. But it will take time, at least three days."

"Three days, we wait."

Three days later.

Li Mo handed a portable rule fluctuation detector to Lin Zhou.

[Rule Fluctuation Detector · Data]

- Principle: Perceive the fluctuations generated by the disturbance of rules to locate the Shadow Race

- Detection range: 1,000 kilometers in diameter

- Precision: Can identify a single Shadow Race member

- Consumption: 100 Divine Power per hour

- Weight: Can be carried by a single soldier

"Captain, it's been tested, the sensitivity is fine," Li Mo said. "But be aware, the detector can only perceive the Shadow Race, not other dangers. Spatial storms still need to be judged with the naked eye."

"That's enough."

Lin Zhou took fifty elites and set off for the dense area of spatial rifts.

The detector deployed in the Void Realm, and dozens of light spots appeared on the pale blue light screen—each light spot represented a group of the Shadow Race.

[Detector · Shadow Race Distribution]

- Number of light spots: About twenty

- Total Shadow Race count: Estimated 1,000 to 2,000

- Dense area: About 300 kilometers ahead on the route, there is a large Shadow Race gathering point (the light spot is particularly bright)

"Go around." Lin Zhou pointed to a route. "From here, bypass the gathering point."

The team detoured 100 kilometers, avoiding the largest group of the Shadow Race. On the detector, other light spots were still moving, but they were far away and posed no threat.

[Movement · Status]

- Distance traveled: 3,000 kilometers

- Remaining distance: 2,000 kilometers

- Encountered Shadow Race: 0 times (successfully avoided)

- Detector consumption: 500 Divine Power

Two days later.

The team arrived at the dense area of spatial rifts.

The scene before them was even more shocking than what they had seen during the previous reconnaissance.

Countless spatial rifts, like a spiderweb, were densely spread throughout the Void Realm for hundreds of kilometers.

The largest rift was about ten kilometers wide, and its length was endless to the naked eye.

Gray-white energy from the Return to Nothingness surged out of the rifts, forming energy vortexes in the Void Realm.

In the center of the vortexes, one could faintly see flickering silver-white light—that was the Spatial Origin Stone.

[Spatial Rift Dense Area · Data]

- Rift Quantity: Approximately 1,000

- Spatial Storm Frequency: Once per hour

- Estimated Spatial Origin Stone Quantity: Approximately 10

- Danger Rank: SSS

"Captain, there's a stone there!" Wang Meng pointed to the center of the nearest vortex.

The silver-white light was exceptionally conspicuous in the gray-white mist.

The stone was irregular in shape, about the size of a fist, with spatial runes flowing across its surface.

[Spatial Origin Stone · Data]

- Quality: Epic Materials

- Function: Stabilizes spatial channels, one of the core Materials for building spatial teleportation arrays

- Acquisition Difficulty: High (Requires traveling through spatial storms and Shadow Race)

"Retrieve it." Lin Zhou ordered.

He unfurled the projection of the ark of civilization, and deep blue light enveloped the team.

The projection could briefly withstand the impact of spatial storms, but not for long—each storm would reduce the projection's durability by 20%.

[ark of civilization Projection · Spatial Storm Resistance]

- Durability: 100%

- Each time it withstands a spatial storm, durability -20%

- Recovery: Requires slow recovery after leaving the storm area

"Hurry."

The team flew toward the nearest Origin Stone.

Fifty kilometers... thirty kilometers... ten kilometers...

At the edge of the first vortex, a Shadow Race member suddenly darted out from the mist—it wasn't a large gathering point, just a lone one.

Wang Meng smashed it to pieces with an axe, causing it to drop a few rule fragments.

[Encounter · Lone Shadow Race]

- Quantity: 1

- Kill: Wang Meng

- Time taken: Three seconds

The team continued forward.

Five kilometers... three kilometers... one kilometer...

Lin Zhou reached out and grabbed the first Spatial Origin Stone into his palm.

The stone was ice-cold and heavy in his hand.

The spatial runes glowed faintly in his palm, resonating weakly with the Temple of Civilization inside his body.

[Obtained · Spatial Origin Stone × 1]

"Retreat!" Lin Zhou ordered, leading the team away from the center of the vortex.

The first one was a success.

Over the next two days, they shuttled through the dense area of spatial rifts, avoiding Shadow Race gathering points, and braving the spatial storms to collect a total of eight Spatial Origin Stones.

[Spatial Origin Stone · Harvest]

- Quantity: 8

- Loss: The durability of the ark of civilization projection dropped as low as 20%

- Soldier minor injuries: 5 (hit by the aftermath of a spatial storm)

- Shadow Race killed: Approximately 30 (lone or small groups)

The ninth Origin Stone was in the deepest part of the dense area.

The spatial storms there were more violent, and there were more Shadow Race members.

The detector showed that at least five hundred Shadow Race members were wandering around.

"Captain, it's too dangerous," Qin Qing said. "We already have eight, isn't that enough?"

Li Mo's voice came through the communication link: "A spatial teleportation array needs at least five Origin Stones to operate stably. Eight is enough to build one teleportation array, with three left over as spares. It's enough."

Lin Zhou was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Retreat."

The team returned to the fortress.

General Rex's eyes went wide when he saw the eight Spatial Origin Stones.

"Where... did you get these from?"

"The dense area of spatial rifts," Lin Zhou said. "We almost didn't make it back."

General Rex took a deep breath.

"These stones are priceless. A single Spatial Origin Stone can sell for 500,000 Abyss Crystals on the black market. The military purchase price is also 100,000 military merits each."

"100,000?" Lin Zhou was stunned for a moment.

"Yes. Spatial Origin Stones are strategic Materials used to build spatial teleportation arrays and stabilize spatial channels. The Seventh War Zone has been lacking them for years, and no one has been able to retrieve any."

General Rex patted Lin Zhou on the shoulder.

"Lin Zhou, you've rendered a great service this time. For the eight Origin Stones, according to the regulations, you must hand over five to the Legion, and the remaining three are yours to dispose of. In addition, the Legion will give you extra military merit rewards—10,000 points for each stone handed over."

[Military Merit · Second Settlement]

- Handed over Origin Stones × 5: 50,000 points

- Extra reward: 50,000 points

- Current military merit balance: 300 + 50,000 + 50,000 = 100,300 points

Lin Zhou looked at the number on the token and was silent for a moment.

100,000 points.

The cheapest Epic card was 80,000 points.

He could trade for one now.

"Captain, you're rich," Wang Meng grinned.

"It's not wealth, it's military merit," Lin Zhou put away the token.

"These military merits aren't mine, they belong to the entire Legion."

He looked at Li Mo.

"Li Mo, how many military merit Materials does the spatial teleportation array need? Deduct it from my military merits."

Li Mo quickly calculated: "Besides the five Origin Stones we already have (the Legion will allocate them to us after we hand them in), we also need spatial crystals, stabilization runes, and a core array eye. The core array eye can be bought on the black market or exchanged with military merits—it requires 30,000 points."

"Exchange it," Lin Zhou said.

"Use the remaining 70,000 points to upgrade soldier equipment and Legion facilities."

"Yes!"

[Civilization Guardian Legion · Military Merit Expenditure]

- Spatial teleportation array core array eye: 30,000 points

- Upgrade armor coating (all members): 20,000 points

- Purchase chaos crystal (for training): 10,000 points

- Legion facility expansion: 10,000 points

- Remaining: 30,300 points (reserve)

A few days later, all the construction Materials for the spatial teleportation array were in place.

Li Mo, along with the rune craftsmen from the Research Hall, began construction in the camp in the eastern district of the fortress.

[Spatial Teleportation Array · Construction Progress]

- Foundation: Completed

- Core array eye: Installing

- Spatial Origin Stone embedding: 5/5

- Estimated completion: Seven days

Lin Zhou went to the construction site every day to check the progress.

On the seventh day, the teleportation array was completed.

[Spatial Teleportation Array · Data]

- Type: Fixed

- Teleportation distance: Up to 10,000 kilometers

- Consumption: 10,000 Divine Power per activation

- Capacity: Can teleport fifty people at once

- Cooldown: Ten minutes

"Captain, shall we test it?" Li Mo asked.

Lin Zhou nodded.

He stood in the center of the teleportation array, and silver-white light enveloped him.

The light dissipated, and he appeared in the Void Realm 10,000 kilometers away—that was a safe area they had previously scouted.

[Teleportation · Test Successful]

- Teleportation distance: 10,000 kilometers

- Time taken: Approximately three seconds

- Lin Zhou status: Normal

He activated the return function of the teleportation array, and the silver-white light enveloped him again, returning him to the camp.

"Good." Lin Zhou stepped out of the teleportation array.

"From today on, the Civilization Guardian Legion's mobility has been upgraded to a new level."

"Captain, what shall we do next?" Qin Qing asked.

Lin Zhou looked toward the Chaos Star Domain.

"Continue scouting. But this time, use the teleportation array to travel back and forth quickly. Strive to map out all the remaining areas of the Seventh War Zone within a month."

"Yes!"

Over the next month, Lin Zhou led the vanguard team to shuttle quickly through various parts of the Chaos Star Domain using the teleportation array.

They explored an area with a diameter of 10,000 kilometers, marked hundreds of danger points, killed hundreds of Shadow Race members, and harvested three more Spatial Origin Stones (kept for themselves).

[Reconnaissance · Monthly Summary]

- Exploration range: 10,000 kilometers in diameter

- Marked danger points: 127

- Shadow Race killed: Approximately 500

- Spatial Origin Stones obtained: 3

- Military merit added: Approximately 2,000 points (kills + reconnaissance)

- Current military merit balance: 35,000 points

At the end of the month, Lin Zhou stood on the fortress wall, looking at the starry sky.

"Captain, it's been a long time since we returned to the New Universe." Qin Qing walked over.

"Shall we go back and take a look?"

Lin Zhou thought for a moment and nodded.

"Alright. We'll go back tomorrow."

The next day, he returned to the New Universe through the teleportation array.

The town in the New Universe was much larger than it had been a few months ago.

There were many more shops along the streets, some selling weapons, some selling armor, and some selling medicinal Materials.

Among the crowd were soldiers on leave from the front line, civilians who had evacuated from the Old Universe, and children born in the New Universe.

Lin Zhou walked down the street, and no one recognized him.

He was wearing ordinary cloth clothes, not a military uniform, and wearing no medals.

He just silently watched the city he had guarded with his own hands.

"Captain, look." Qin Qing pointed to the super civilization furnace in the center of the plaza.

The Fire of Civilization on top of the furnace was burning, illuminating the entire town.

"The fire is still there," Lin Zhou said softly.

"It will never go out."

He turned and walked toward the direction of the Void Rift.

"Yue Yao is still asleep. I'll go see her."

He turned into a cyan-gold light and disappeared into the sky.