497: Chapter 432: First Check on Logistics, Seventeen Men in Gray Clothes Identified

The title of Common Lord of Civilization did not make Lin Zhou sit in headquarters giving orders. On the seventh day after his promotion to major general, he took Qin Qing and Wang Meng into the warehouse area of the Seventh War Zone's Logistics Department. The reason was simple—the Void Sect's infiltration had never stopped. Karon was a deputy commander, Vice Commander Chen Tianchou was the headquarters' deputy commander, and Vice Commander Zhao Lingyun was a hidden deputy commander. What they had in common was that they all had access to the logistics supply lines. If there were still hidden believers in the logistics System, the entire Seventh War Zone's supply of materials could be cut off at any moment.

The Logistics Department warehouse area covered about ten square kilometers and was pieced together from over a hundred divine kingdom warehouses. The perimeter of the warehouse area was protected by a three-layer defense shield, directly managed by the Expeditionary Force headquarters. However, Lin Zhou noticed that several of the shield's rune nodes had aged but had not been replaced. He squatted down and used the Fire of Civilization to sense the residual energy of the runes. The aging was not natural wear and tear, but rather slow corrosion by some substance.

"Captain, did you find a problem?" Qin Qing squatted beside him.

"The shield runes have been corroded. It's not Chaos energy, nor is it guixu energy, but a very slow, very stealthy substance. It takes months or even years to take effect."

"Void Dust?"

Lin Zhou nodded. Void Dust was a chronic poison of the Void Sect—or rather, not a poison, but a weakened version of "existence negation." With long-term contact, one's divine fire would slowly dim, and the integrity of one's godhead would gradually decline. Eventually, the eroded victim would fall silently, as if they had never existed.

He stood up and walked toward the gate of the warehouse area. The guards at the gate saw his major general Rank, saluted, and let him pass.

Inside the warehouse area, supplies were piled up like mountains. rune armor, godhead repair fluid, chaos crystals, space Origin stones... Every crate of supplies had an inventory label attached, marking the source, destination, and handler. Lin Zhou randomly selected ten crates and opened them for inspection. On the surface, everything seemed normal. The coating on the rune armor was intact, the color of the godhead repair fluid was pure, and the energy fluctuations of the chaos crystals were stable. However, when he infused the Fire of Civilization into the armor's coating, he discovered an anomaly—an extremely fine gray-white powder was mixed into the coating, with particles smaller than dust, invisible to the naked eye.

[Fire of Civilization · Detection]

- Target: rune armor coating

- Discovery: Gray-white powder (Void Dust)

- Concentration: 0.1%

- Harm: Long-term wear reduces godhead integrity by 1% per month

"There's a problem with the armor." Lin Zhou collected a sample of the powder into a crystal and handed it to Qin Qing.

Qin Qing analyzed the structure of the powder using the Net of Law. "Void Dust. The purity isn't high, but it's deadly enough. If one wears a piece of armor for half a year, their godhead integrity drops by 6%. Wear it for two years, and it drops by 24%. The divine fire will begin to destabilize."

"Who handled this batch of armor?"

Qin Qing checked the inventory label. "Source: Expeditionary Force Headquarters Logistics Factory. Handler: Logistics Department Material Allocation Section, Lieutenant Colonel Section Chief Zhou Ming."

"Zhou Ming?" Lin Zhou had never heard of this name.

"Zhou Ming, Section Chief of the Logistics Department's Material Allocation Section, Lieutenant Colonel. Responsible for the storage, inventory, and distribution of all supplies in the Seventh War Zone. He has served in the Seventh War Zone for five years without any prior negative record."

"Too clean." Lin Zhou walked toward the warehouse area's office building.

Zhou Ming's office was on the third floor, and the door was half-open. Lin Zhou knocked, and a steady voice came from inside: "Come in."

Zhou Ming was in his early forties, with an ordinary face and wearing glasses, looking more like a civil servant than a soldier. His godhead Rank was only LV300, which was relatively low in the military. However, Lin Zhou noticed an ancient text from the School of Names lying on his desk, open to a page that read, "A name is but the guest of reality."

"Section Chief Zhou," Lin Zhou showed his credentials.

Zhou Ming stood up and saluted. "General Lin, do you have any instructions?"

"A routine inspection." Lin Zhou sat down and placed a crate of rune armor on the desk. "This batch of armor—did you handle it?"

Zhou Ming glanced at the label and nodded. "Yes. It was allocated from headquarters three months ago, five thousand sets in total. They passed the inventory inspection and have already been distributed to various legions."

"During the inspection, did you notice anything unusual?"

"No. All indicators met the standards."

Lin Zhou stared into his eyes. Zhou Ming's gaze did not waver, his breathing was steady, and his heartbeat was normal. However, Lin Zhou's Fire of Civilization sensed an extremely faint trace of guixu energy—not contamination, but a residual "trace" left behind after coming into contact with guixu energy. It was like a hand that had touched charcoal soot; even after being washed clean, it could still be detected through special means.

"Section Chief Zhou, have you recently come into contact with guixu energy?"

Zhou Ming's pupils contracted slightly, but he quickly recovered. "No. I am in the logistics department and rarely go to the front lines."

"Then why are there traces of guixu energy on your hands?"

Zhou Ming fell silent. His hands trembled slightly.

"The Void Sect is finished. The White-Robed Cardinal is dead, the Cardinals are dead, and the Void Apostles are dead. Who are you still risking your life for?"

"I'm not risking my life for anyone. I just..."

"Just what?"

"I just wanted to live." Zhou Ming's voice was hoarse. "People from the Void Sect found me and said that if I didn't help them, they would kill my entire family. They planted a Void Mark inside my wife's body. With just a single thought from them, she would vanish. What could I do?"

"You could have reported it."

"Report it? Karon was the deputy commander, Vice Commander Chen Tianchou was the headquarters' deputy commander, and Vice Commander Zhao Lingyun was a deputy commander. Who would I report it to?"

Lin Zhou fell silent.

"Where is your wife?"

"In the headquarters' civilian area. She doesn't know anything. She thinks I'm just an ordinary logistics officer."

"Is the Void Mark still inside her body?"

"Yes. But as long as the high-ranking members of the Void Sect die, the mark will become inactive. When the White-Robed Cardinal died, the mark lost its effect. My wife's life was saved. But my hands... are already dirty."

Zhou Ming stretched out his hands; his fingers were clean and slender. But under Lin Zhou's Fire of Civilization, the residues of guixu energy were as clearly visible as gray-white fingerprints.

"How much Void Dust did you mix into that batch of armor?"

"Five thousand sets, 0.1 grams mixed into each. It was enough to slowly weaken the godheads of those who wore them, but not fatally. I didn't want to kill anyone, I just wanted to stall."

"Stall what?"

"Stall the Void Sect's orders. They told me to mix in more, but I only mixed in a tiny bit. They told me to poison the entire legion, but I only dared to make people sick. I'm not a good person, but I didn't want to be a demon either."

Lin Zhou stood up. "Qin Qing, take Section Chief Zhou to the Inspectorate. Take his statement, and then place him under witness protection."

"Yes." Qin Qing walked up to Zhou Ming. "Section Chief Zhou, let's go."

Zhou Ming stood up, walked to the door, and suddenly turned back. "General Lin, I'm not the only one in the Logistics Department. There are sixteen more of their people. The list is in the third drawer of my desk."

Lin Zhou opened the drawer, and inside was a handwritten list. Sixteen names, each marked with their military Rank, position, and their identity within the Void Sect—"Gray-Robes." Above the White-Robed Cardinals were the Cardinals, below the Cardinals were the Black-robed Deacons, and below the Black-robed Deacons were the Gray-Robed believers. The Gray-Robes were the lowest tier, but they were also the hardest to root out. They hid in every corner of the military, doing the most inconspicuous jobs while passing along the most lethal intelligence.

[Void Sect · Gray-Robe List]

- Number of People: 16

- Distribution: 8 in the Logistics Department, 5 in the transport team, 3 in the warehouse area

- Positions: Lowest is non-commissioned officer, highest is major

- Actions: Mixing Void Dust into supplies, damaging shield runes, leaking transport routes

Lin Zhou handed the list to Iron Face.

"Arrest them."

Iron Face led the Inspectorate's action team and arrested all sixteen Gray-Robes overnight. During interrogation, they confessed more details—the amount of Void Dust mixed into supplies, the methods used to damage shield runes, and the number of times they leaked transport routes.

[Purge · Data]

- Gray-Robes Captured: 16

- Void Dust Confiscated: Approximately 5 kilograms

- Void Sect Secret Letters Confiscated: Approximately 30 letters

- Supplies Involved: Approximately 20,000 sets of rune armor, 5,000 vials of godhead repair fluid, 100,000 chaos crystals

- Affected Soldiers: Approximately 30,000 (godhead integrity decreased by 1% to 5%)

Lin Zhou stared at the data and fell silent for a long time. Thirty thousand soldiers had suffered irreversible damage to their godheads due to the negligence of the Logistics Department. Although it was not fatal, it would require a long period of nourishment from the Fire of Civilization to recover.

"Captain, treating these soldiers will require a large amount of essence of order." Qin Qing pulled up the data. "Each person needs at least one hundred units; thirty thousand people means three million units. Our reserves only have 1.2 million."

"Apply for it from the Command Headquarters."

"We've already applied. Approval will take time."

"Then treat the most severely injured first. Those with minor injuries can wait in line."

"Yes."

Lin Zhou walked out of the interrogation room and stood in the corridor. Iron Face followed him out.

"Lin Zhou, are there still problems in the Logistics Department?"

"Yes. But Zhou Ming doesn't know. The Gray-Robes only know their own direct contacts, not others. Sixteen people, four contacts. Out of the four contacts, two died in the previous purges, and two are still alive."

"Alive? Where?"

"I don't know. But their military Ranks aren't low—at least lieutenant colonel. They can access high-level secrets, mobilize large amounts of supplies, and cover up the tracks of sixteen people."

Lin Zhou looked out the window. On the fortress walls, soldiers were training. In the starry sky of the New Universe, a hundred thousand flames were burning. "Keep investigating." He turned and walked toward the command headquarters. The Fire of Civilization burned, illuminating the path ahead, as well as the enemies hidden in the dark.