493: Chapter 428: Karon's Madness, Attempting to Detonate the Divine Kingdom and Destroy It Together

Three days after the destruction of the Void Vanguard, Lin Zhou was in the barracks studying the detection data from the depths of the Return to Ruins, when he suddenly received an emergency communication from General Rex.

"Lin Zhou, Karon... he is still alive."

Lin Zhou's pupils contracted sharply. "What?"

"Not his main body. It's a remnant of his consciousness he left behind in his Divine Kingdom. That remnant activated a fragment of the Divine Kingdom he had hidden deep within the Old Universe and is currently absorbing the energy of the Return to Ruins to reshape his Physical Body. If he succeeds, he will be stronger than before."

"Location?"

"At the edge of the Return to Ruins in the Old Universe, deeper within the Seal ruins—the place where he 'fell' last time. He never left; he has been lurking there the whole time."

Lin Zhou stood up. "I'm going."

"He has gone mad. He knows he cannot defeat you, so he intends to detonate his Divine Kingdom and perish with you." General Rex's voice carried an undisguisable exhaustion. "Lin Zhou, if you can... spare his life. He has been with me for thirty years; I want to ask him why."

Lin Zhou was silent for a moment. "I will do my best."

He gathered his troops. Wang Meng, Qin Qing, Su Yueyao, Chen Xuan, Iron Face, and fifty Civilization Sword Cultivators. Dragon Vein Golden Scale accompanied them. This time, he did not bring too many people—Karon wanted to detonate his Divine Kingdom; the more people there were, the greater the casualties would be.

[Expedition Team · Data]

- Number of people: 54 + Dragon Vein Golden Scale

- Average Divine Rank: LV700

- Equipment: Civilization Armor · Enhanced Version, Seed of Justice

- Target: Stop Karon's self-detonation, capture alive

The teleportation array sent the team to the edge of the Return to Ruins in the Old Universe. They were still three thousand kilometers away from the previous battlefield, but Lin Zhou could already feel it—the energy of the Return to Ruins was crazily converging in a direction exactly matching the location where Karon had "fallen" last time. He accelerated, the projection of the ark of civilization compressed to a diameter of one hundred meters, and a deep blue light sped through the gray-white mist.

Three thousand kilometers felt like three thousand light-years at the edge of the Return to Ruins. Space cracks were more numerous than last time, and the flow of time was even more chaotic, but the perception of the Dragon Vein Golden Scale helped them avoid most of the dangers. Two hours later, they arrived at their destination.

The scene before them made everyone hold their breath.

It was not a fragment of a Divine Kingdom, but a "heart" that was expanding. It was about ten kilometers in diameter, dark red all over, and its surface was covered in writhing patterns. With every contraction, gray-white energy from the Return to Ruins surged out from the patterns. Suspended in the center of the heart was a human-shaped phantom—Karon. His body had been mostly reshaped, his left arm was still in the process of condensing, and his right eye was a hollow, dark red flame. His Divine Rank integrity was only thirty percent, but the brightness of his Divine Fire was higher than before—that was the burning of his Divine Rank Origin.

[Karon · Self-detonation Preparation Status]

- Divine Rank integrity: 30%

- Divine Fire combustion rate: 200% (Overload)

- Divine Kingdom expansion speed: 10 meters per second

- Estimated self-detonation time: about fifteen minutes

- Self-detonation power: Estimated full-force strike of a Peak high-tier divine power

- Affected range: 1000 kilometers in diameter

"Mortals, you still came." Karon's voice came from within the heart, hollow and distant. "Just as well, saves me from having to look for you."

"Karon, General Rex asked me to bring a message—he wants to ask you, why." Lin Zhou hovered outside the heart, the Sword of Civilization in hand.

Karon was silent for a moment. "Why? Because I am afraid of death. The Return to Ruins said that as long as I pledged allegiance to it, I could have eternal life. I believed it. But it lied to me. Eternal life? No, it is eternal nothingness. I don't want to become nothingness, so I want to take you all with me—let the entire Seventh War Zone be buried with me."

[Divine Kingdom · Expansion Speed]

- Current diameter: 10 kilometers

- Expansion speed: 10 meters per second

- Expansion per minute: 600 meters

- Estimated diameter after fifteen minutes: 20 kilometers, at which point the Divine Kingdom will be unable to withstand the energy and will detonate itself.

"Stop him." Lin Zhou ordered.

The Civilization Sword Cultivators unsheathed their swords and ascended, fifty cyan-gold sword lights slashing toward the heart. The sword lights landed on the dark red surface, leaving only shallow marks. Karon's Divine Kingdom had been strengthened to the extreme by the energy of the Return to Ruins, and the effects of both physical and energy attacks were significantly weakened.

"Civilization Judgment!" Lin Zhou raised his hand, and a cyan-gold pillar of light shot toward the heart.

[Civilization Judgment · Definition]

- Definition content: "Self-detonation" is an illegal act

- Target: Karon's Divine Kingdom

- Consumption: 500,000 Divine Power

- Effect: Divine Kingdom expansion speed 10 meters/second -> 5 meters/second

The pillar of light hit the heart, and the dark red patterns were "defined" as illegal and began to disintegrate. But the disintegration speed was very slow—Karon's Divine Kingdom was more solid than the Void Vanguard, and the effect of Civilization Judgment was significantly weakened.

[Divine Kingdom · Status]

- Expansion speed: 10 meters/second -> 5 meters/second

- Disintegration speed: 1 meter/second

- Net expansion speed: 4 meters/second

- Estimated self-detonation time: 15 minutes -> about 30 minutes

"Iron Face!" Lin Zhou shouted.

Iron Face leaped up, the Fire of Justice burning in his palm. Pale gold chains of rules shot toward the heart, entangling Karon's Divine Rank core.

[Fire of Justice · Existence Judgment]

- Target: Karon's Divine Rank

- Judgment content: The existence of energy from the Return to Ruins

- Judgment progress: 1%... 2%... 3%...

- Consumption: 10,000 Divine Power per minute

Although Karon's Rank was only LV850, his Divine Rank was deeply fused with the Return to Ruins, and his existence intensity was extremely high. The judgment speed of the Fire of Justice was slower than when dealing with the Void Vanguard.

"Captain, the judgment is too slow!" Iron Face gritted his teeth.

"Hold on." Lin Zhou expanded the river of civilization, scouring the surface of the heart.

[river of civilization · Purification Mode]

- Target: Karon's Divine Kingdom

- Consumption: 100,000 Divine Power per minute

- Purification speed: 1 meter/second

The disintegration speed increased from 1 meter/second to 2 meters/second. The net expansion speed dropped from 4 meters/second to 3 meters/second. The estimated self-detonation time was extended from 30 minutes to 40 minutes.

Karon laughed maniacally. "You cannot stop me! My Divine Kingdom has already merged with the Return to Ruins. As much as you purify, the Return to Ruins will replenish."

Lin Zhou looked at Dragon Vein Golden Scale. "Golden Scale, can you cut off his supply of energy from the Return to Ruins?"

Dragon Vein Golden Scale closed his eyes to perceive, then shook his head. The source of the energy of the Return to Ruins was the Return to Ruins itself, not Karon. Cutting off the supply was equivalent to cutting off the Return to Ruins—it couldn't be done.

"Then compress it." Lin Zhou withdrew the river of civilization and expanded the projection of the ark of civilization. Deep blue light enveloped the heart, contracting from the outside in.

[ark of civilization projection · Compression Mode]

- Target: Karon's Divine Kingdom

- Effect: Compress space, limit Divine Kingdom expansion

- Consumption: 50,000 Divine Power per minute

- Compression speed: 1 meter/second

The heart's expansion speed dropped from 3 meters/second to 2 meters/second, but compression required continuous consumption of Divine Power. Lin Zhou's Divine Power reserves dropped from five million to three million; he couldn't hold on for too long.

"Captain, your Divine Power..." Qin Qing said worriedly.

"Still enough." Lin Zhou gritted his teeth and expanded the river of civilization again. Purification and compression were carried out simultaneously, doubling the consumption—150,000 Divine Power per minute.

[Lin Zhou · Status]

- Divine Power reserves: 3 million -> 2.5 million -> 2 million

- Divine Rank integrity: 95% -> 90%

- Estimated duration: about 15 minutes

Karon's Divine Rank integrity was also dropping. Although the energy of the Return to Ruins could replenish his Divine Kingdom, it could not replenish his Divine Rank. His Divine Rank integrity dropped from 30% to 20%, and the brightness of his Divine Fire began to weaken.

[Karon · Status]

- Divine Rank integrity: 20% -> 15%

- Divine Fire combustion rate: 200% -> 180%

- Self-detonation countdown: about 30 minutes

"You... cannot kill me..." Karon's voice began to weaken.

"Not killing you. Capturing you alive." Lin Zhou's Sword of Civilization was in hand, slashing at a crack on the surface of the heart.

[Sword of Civilization · Slash]

- Target: Rule node of Karon's Divine Kingdom

- Attack power: Full-force strike of a mid-tier great divine power

- Effect: Crack expands

The crack expanded from one meter to ten meters. Lin Zhou leaped into the interior of the heart. Inside was gray-white nothingness. Karon was suspended in the center, his body already 80% reshaped. His right eye was a dark red flame, and his left eye had not yet recovered, just a hollow cavity. His Divine Rank was at his chest, the dark red light flickering.

[Karon · Internal Status]

- Body reshaping: 80%

- Divine Rank integrity: 15%

- Divine Fire combustion rate: 180%

- Self-detonation countdown: about 25 minutes

"Since you've come in, don't think about getting out." Karon raised his hand, and a gray-white pillar of light shot toward Lin Zhou.

Lin Zhou dodged, while simultaneously swinging his sword at Karon's Divine Rank. The sword light was blocked by a dark red shield, which vibrated and developed cracks.

[Shield · Status]

- Integrity: 100% -> 80%

- Estimated break: 4 more attacks needed

Karon counterattacked frantically. Existence Deletion, Void Devouring, Return to Ruins Erosion... all skills were released simultaneously. Lin Zhou used the Fire of Civilization to protect his body, used Separating Hardness and Whiteness to dismantle true names, and used Legalism definition to stabilize his existence.

[Lin Zhou · Status]

- Divine Rank integrity: 90% -> 85%

- Memory loss: Partial (short-term memory blurred)

- Fire of Civilization reshaping: Ongoing

On the fourth attack, the shield shattered. The sword light slashed onto Karon's Divine Rank, and the integrity dropped from 15% to 10%.

"Stop!" Karon roared, burning his last bit of Divine Rank.

[Karon · Ultimate Self-detonation]

- Consumption: Entire Divine Rank

- Countdown: 10 seconds

- Power: Full-force strike of a Peak high-tier divine power (concentrated)

Lin Zhou did not retreat. He put away the Sword of Civilization and unfolded the Scroll of Civilization.

[Scroll of Civilization · Seal]

- Target: Karon's Divine Kingdom

- Effect: Seal the Divine Kingdom into the scroll

- Consumption: 100,000 Divine Power

- Sealing speed: 20% integrity per second

The scroll unfolded, and cyan-gold light enveloped the entire heart. Karon's Divine Kingdom began to shrink—not expanding, but being "sucked into" the scroll. The integrity of the Divine Kingdom dropped at a rate of 20% per second.

[Divine Kingdom · Sealing Progress]

- Integrity: 100%... 80%... 60%...

- Karon self-detonation countdown: 10 seconds... 8 seconds... 6 seconds...

When the sealing progress reached 100%, Karon's Divine Kingdom was completely taken into the scroll. The self-detonation was forcibly interrupted. Karon's body fell from the void, his Divine Rank integrity returned to zero, and his Divine Fire extinguished.

[Karon · Status]

- Divine Rank: Shattered

- Divine Fire: Extinguished

- Life and death: Near death (not fallen)

Lin Zhou caught him and channeled the Fire of Civilization into his body, stabilizing his last trace of vitality.

[Fire of Civilization · Rescue]

- Target: Karon

- Effect: Maintain Divine Rank from completely collapsing

- Consumption: 1,000 Divine Power per minute

- Status: Can be maintained for about an hour

He carried Karon and flew out of the heart's wreckage. Iron Face came to meet him.

"Alive?"

"Alive." Lin Zhou handed Karon to Iron Face. "Take him back and hand him over to General Rex."

Iron Face nodded and took Karon.

Lin Zhou stood in the void, looking at the scroll that had sealed Karon's Divine Kingdom. The surface of the scroll bulged slightly; that was the Divine Kingdom struggling, but the intensity was getting smaller and smaller, and finally, it returned to calm.

[Scroll of Civilization · Status]

- Sealed target: Karon's Divine Kingdom

- Seal stability: 95%

- Estimated complete stability: about 7 days

"Captain, your Divine Power..." Su Yueyao walked over.

"500,000 left." Lin Zhou put away the scroll. "Enough."

He turned and looked at the team. "Let's go, return to the fortress."

After returning to the fortress, Lin Zhou handed Karon to Rex. General Rex stood in the detention room, looking at the unconscious Karon, and was silent for a long time.

"Can he still wake up?"

"Yes. But his Divine Rank is shattered, and his Divine Fire is extinguished. After waking up, he will just be a Mortal."

General Rex nodded. "That's enough. I want to ask him a few questions."

He walked into the detention room and closed the door.

Lin Zhou stood outside the door, not entering.

Qin Qing walked over. "Captain, will Karon die?"

"No. But his Divine Rank will never recover. The pollution of the Return to Ruins has also been cleared. After waking up, he will just be a Mortal."

"Then how will General Rex deal with him?"

"I don't know. But no matter how he deals with him, it is a matter between them."