544: Chapter 479: Node Crisis, Encountering Attacks from Remnants of a Cult

The refinement project for the Civilization Principle Defense Line entered the final month of its second year, and Lin Zhou began his monthly routine inspection.

Three thousand nodes are distributed along the defense line encircling the New Universe for one hundred million kilometers; even using teleportation arrays, it takes at least ten days to complete the entire tour.

He took Golden Scale and Su Yueyao, starting from the first node, and headed east.

Everything went smoothly for the first seven days; the node platforms were reinforced correctly, the rune inscriptions met standards, and the brightness of the guardians' seed of civilization was stable.

On the eighth day, when he arrived at Node No. 1873, Li Mo's emergency communication cut into his consciousness.

"Captain, the energy fluctuations at Node No. 2401 are abnormal. It's not guixu energy, it's... traces of guixu energy being artificially activated. Someone has used a guixu energy weapon near the node."

Lin Zhou's pupils contracted sharply. A guixu energy weapon—that was the signature of the Void Sect remnants.

The White-Clothed · Yin was dead, Night Owl was dead, the Cardinal was dead, and most of the Black-Clothed Deacons had been purged.

But the philosophy of the Void Sect would not die; those bottom-level gray-robed believers, those hidden pawns that had never been exposed, were still hiding in the dark.

They knew that the Civilization Principle Defense Line was the final barrier of the New Universe, and they also knew that the nodes were the most fragile parts of the defense line.

As long as one node was destroyed, a breach would appear in the entire barrier, and guixu energy would surge in through that gap.

Although the main barrier would not collapse, repairing the breach would take time, and time was exactly what the Void Sect remnants wanted.

"For Node No. 2401, who is the guardian?"

"A veteran of the Civilization Guardian Legion, Zhao Tie. Divinity Rank LV600, seed of civilization intensity LV650. He has served in the Seventh War Zone for eight years and has never missed a single battle. His loyalty is unquestionable. But the unknown energy source appearing around the node doesn't look like an internal attack; it looks more like external infiltration."

Lin Zhou turned and walked toward the teleportation array. "Golden Scale, Yue Yao, follow me."

The three of them arrived near Node No. 2401 via the teleportation array.

The node was located in a patch of void on the edge of the New Universe, surrounded by floating fragments of meteorites and debris from divine kingdoms.

The high platform stood in the void, with the Fire of Civilization burning at its top.

The guardian Zhao Tie stood on the high platform, Flying Sword in hand, with the Fire of Civilization burning on the blade.

He had not yet detected any anomalies because the fluctuations of the guixu energy weapon were extremely faint, masked by the node's own energy fluctuations.

[Node No. 2401 · Data]

- Location: Edge of the New Universe, boundary between the Seventh War Zone and the Third War Zone

- Platform Height: 170 meters

- seed of civilization Intensity: LV650

- Guardian: Zhao Tie (LV600)

- Energy Anomaly: Faint guixu fluctuations, coming from about ten kilometers below the node

Lin Zhou did not alert Zhao Tie. He had Golden Scale and Su Yueyao wait on the periphery of the node, while he concealed his presence, used the Fire of Civilization to simulate the fluctuations of the void, and snuck toward the anomaly source.

Ten kilometers was nothing but an instant in the void.

He saw the source of the anomaly—a dark red crystal, about one meter in diameter, floating in the void, with guixu runes flowing on its surface.

Around the crystal stood ten people wearing gray-white cloaks.

Their faces were hidden by hoods, but Lin Zhou's Fire of Civilization sensed the residual guixu energy in their divinities—the level of contamination ranged from ten percent to fifty percent.

They were not forced; they were voluntary believers of the Void Sect.

[Void Sect Remnants · Data]

- Number of People: 10

- Rank: LV200 - LV500

- Contamination Level: 10% - 50%

- Equipment: guixu energy grenades, guixu energy daggers, dark red crystal (guixu energy source)

- Goal: Destroy Node No. 2401

The leader was a tall man; he raised his hand, and a fist-sized dark red crystal floated in his palm—a guixu energy core. Although it was only the size of a fist, it contained enough guixu energy to blow up a node platform.

He was embedding the crystal into the foundation of the node platform.

Once the crystal was embedded, the guixu energy would corrode the essence of order bricks of the platform, causing the platform to collapse, the seed of civilization to extinguish, and a breach to appear in the barrier.

Lin Zhou did not hesitate. He rushed out from the void, Sword of Civilization in hand, and slashed toward the crystal.

The moment the sword light struck the crystal, it shattered, and the dark red guixu energy spread in all directions.

The ten believers were sent flying by the shockwave, and the leader's right arm was blown off, but there was no fear on his face, only madness.

"Lin Zhou! You cannot stop us! The Void Sect shall never perish!"

Lin Zhou swung his sword at him, and the sword light pierced through his chest.

His body dissolved into gray-white light particles, and the guixu energy in his divinity was purified by the Fire of Civilization.

[Void Sect Remnants · Purge]

- Killed: 7

- Captured: 3 (critically injured)

- guixu energy Core: Destroyed

- Node No. 2401: Undamaged

Lin Zhou handed the captives over to Iron Face of the Inspectorate, who arrived shortly after.

He crouched down to check the foundation of the node platform.

There was a tiny crack on the bricks of the essence of order—it was a trace of corrosion from the guixu energy. Although it was not deep, if not repaired, the crack would slowly expand.

He took out the Fire of Civilization and filled the crack.

[Node Platform · Repair]

- Crack Depth: 3 cm

- Repair Method: Filled with Fire of Civilization

- Repair Time: 3 minutes

- Platform Durability: 100%

Zhao Tie flew down from the high platform and knelt on one knee. "Legion Commander, I have failed in my duty! I did not discover the intruders in time!"

Lin Zhou helped him up. "It is not your fault. The fluctuations of their guixu energy weapons were too faint, masked by the node's energy fluctuations. From today on, each node will have two additional guixu energy detectors installed to specifically monitor for abnormal fluctuations."

"Yes."

Lin Zhou returned to the Wall of Heroes and convened a meeting of the entire army.

Iron Face presented the interrogation results—among the three captives, one had confessed the hiding place of the Void Sect remnants.

They were hiding on an abandoned asteroid at the edge of the New Universe, numbering about fifty, possessing several guixu energy cores, and planning to launch simultaneous attacks on one hundred nodes of the Civilization Principle Defense Line within the next three months.

[Void Sect Remnants · Attack Plan]

- Target Nodes: 100 (distributed in weak positions along the defense line)

- Attack Method: guixu energy core self-detonation

- Time: Within the next three months

- Number of People: About 50 (10 exposed, about 40 remaining)

Lin Zhou sent the plan to the commanders of each war zone, ordering double guards for every node and sending out reconnaissance teams to search for that abandoned asteroid.

Three days later, the reconnaissance team discovered the stronghold of the Void Sect remnants on the asteroid.

The scale of the stronghold was not large, with only a few simple stone houses, but beneath the stone houses was hidden a huge warehouse, filled with guixu energy cores—at least one hundred, each the size of a fist.

If these cores exploded simultaneously, it would be enough to destroy one hundred nodes, and one hundred breaches would appear in the defense line.

guixu energy would surge in through the breaches, and the edge of the New Universe would fall within three days.

[Void Sect Remnants · Stronghold Data]

- Location: Edge of the New Universe, abandoned asteroid

- Number of People: About 40

- guixu energy Cores: About 100

- Other Supplies: guixu energy weapons, food, water sources

Lin Zhou led five thousand elites of the Civilization Guardian Legion to surround the asteroid.

Golden Scale's Dragon Breath destroyed the stone houses on the surface of the asteroid, forcing out the remnants hiding underground.

Forty gray-robed believers rushed out from the ruins, wielding guixu energy weapons, and charged at Lin Zhou.

They did not surrender because they knew that surrender also meant death. Rather than being judged by the Inspectorate, it was better to die in the Fire of Civilization.

"Civilization Judgment—Define!"

Lin Zhou raised his left hand, and the golden Hand of Order condensed in his palm.

A beam of light shot toward the group of believers, engulfing the ten in the front.

The guixu energy in their divinities was stripped away, and their bodies dissolved into gray-white light particles.

[Battle · First Wave]

- Killed: 10

- Remaining: 30

- Our Losses: 0

Wang Meng led the Vanguard Battalion to charge, his battle axe shattering the guixu energy shields of three believers.

Qin Qing's Net of Law entangled five believers, and Iron Face's Fire of Justice carried out an existence judgment.

Su Yueyao's moonlight illuminated the entire void, suppressing the believers' guixu energy.

[Battle · Second Wave]

- Killed: 20

- Remaining: 10

- Our Losses: 3 lightly injured

The last ten believers retreated into the warehouse, piled the one hundred guixu energy cores together, and prepared to detonate them.

The power of the detonation would be enough to blow the entire asteroid to pieces, and the shockwave would affect three nearby nodes.

Lin Zhou rushed into the warehouse, and the river of civilization surged out from his divine kingdom, wrapping all one hundred cores.

The waters of the river of civilization stripped away the guixu energy; the cores turned from dark red to gold—the guixu energy was purified, and the cores became crystals of the essence of order.

[guixu energy Core · Purification]

- Quantity: 100

- After Purification: Crystals of the essence of order (about 10 units each)

- Total essence of order: About 1000 units

The last ten believers lost their final bargaining chip and were rounded up by Wang Meng.

[Void Sect Remnants · Purge Complete]

- Killed: 30

- Captured: 20

- Seized guixu energy Cores: 100 (purified)

- Node Damage: 0

Lin Zhou stood on the ruins of the asteroid, looking at the captured believers.

Their eyes were hollow; the guixu energy in their divinities had been stripped away by the Fire of Civilization, but their consciousness had not yet recovered.

"Iron Face, take them back and interrogate them slowly."

Iron Face nodded and escorted the captives onto the teleportation array.

Lin Zhou returned to the Wall of Heroes and stood before the Marshal's statue.

The statue's gaze looked toward the direction of the New Universe, the corners of its mouth slightly upturned.

"Marshal, the remnants of the Void Sect have been purged. But perhaps there are more. As long as there are people who fear death and fear the void, the Void Sect will be reborn."

The statue did not answer, but the Fire of Civilization at the statue's feet flickered.

Lin Zhou turned and faced the fifty thousand soldiers.

"Brothers, the Void Sect remnants have been purged. But the threat to the Civilization Principle Defense Line is not just the Void Sect. The Gate of Guixu will return in six months; we have another six months to reinforce the defense line. From today on, each node will have one additional guixu energy detector installed, and every ten nodes will have a mobile patrol team added. Do not let any guixu energy core get close to a node."

"Yes!"

In the days that followed, Lin Zhou continued his routine inspection of the nodes.

Three thousand nodes; he went to them one by one, checking them one by one.

Node No. 1873, normal. Node No. 2401, normal. Node No. 3000, normal.

He did not discover any new Void Sect remnants, but he knew they might still be in the dark.

As long as the Gate of Guixu remains, the Void Sect will not perish.

Six months later, the Gate of Guixu will return. The Sea of Void will surge into the New Universe.

The Civilization Principle Defense Line will face its true test for the first time.

Lin Zhou stood on the Wall of Heroes, looking at that sea of stars.

The Fire of Civilization of one hundred thousand towns was like a sea of stars in the night sky.

In six months, he will walk into the Gate of Guixu and seal the Sea of Void with the river of civilization.

Perhaps he won't be able to return, but his fire will remain in the New Universe, in the heart of every person.

"Captain, what are you thinking about?" Su Yueyao walked over.

"Thinking about myself in six months."

"You will come back."

Lin Zhou looked at her and was silent for a moment. "Okay."

The two stood side by side on the Wall of Heroes, looking at the sea of stars.

The Fire of Civilization was burning, illuminating the road ahead and also the direction of the Gate of Guixu.

In six months, he will walk into that gate. But right now, he is standing by her side. That is enough.