550: Chapter 485: The War of Gods, the Flame of Civilization vs. Nothingness

Vera's memory fragments had been floating in the river of civilization for three whole days. That dark red sea of data was like a dormant nebula, and every rule pattern was the underlying code of the Gate of Guixu. Lin Zhou sat cross-legged under the dome of the second level of the Temple of Civilization, with a projection of the river of civilization floating before him—the river water had already turned from pure cyan to an interweaving of cyan-gold and dark red; that was the trace of the Gate of Guixu's rule patterns being parsed. It took him three days to initially understand the structure of the Gate of Guixu. It was not a complex algorithm, but a set of extremely simple rules— "When the Civilization Index exceeds the threshold, initiate the harvesting program."

[Gate of Guixu · Underlying Code (Partially Parsed)]

- Core Logic: IF Civilization Index > Threshold THEN initiate harvesting

- Harvesting Method: Erase all existence, extract essence of civilization, Seal as seeds

- Trigger Condition: At least one civilization in the Universe reaches the "great divine power" level

This program was maddeningly simple, and also maddeningly cold. Every civilization in the Universe that reached the great divine power level would trigger the harvesting of the Gate of Guixu. And the New Universe had already reached the trigger condition. The opening of the Gate of Guixu was not an accident, but an inevitability. Because Lin Zhou's Fire of Civilization had pushed the New Universe's Civilization Index above the threshold.

The Fire of Civilization itself was the trigger for the Gate of Guixu.

Lin Zhou was silent for a long time. He sat there, looking at that line of simple code, looking at the Fire of Civilization he had ignited with his own hands. He had lit the fire, and he had opened the door. This thought had swirled in his consciousness for a long time, but he did not stop. Su Yueyao stood beside him; she had been standing there for a long time. She did not speak, only the moonlight in her palms flowed around him; that was what she had always been doing.

"Captain, the fire is not yours alone. It is everyone's fire. What the Gate of Guixu wants to harvest is not just your fire, but everyone's fire. You lit the fire, but the fire has already been passed into everyone's hands. You alone cannot stop it, and no one else will stop. All you can do is make the fire burn brighter. Faster than the harvesting of the Gate of Guixu."

Lin Zhou raised his head. Su Yueyao's figure seemed somewhat blurry in the light of the dome, but her eyes were clear. She made him think of many things: the Firewood Sword on the Wall of Heroes, the gaze of the Marshal's statue, the final smile when Vera dissipated, and that stone still listening to the lecture in Jixia Academy. The fire had already been passed to many people; it really could not be stopped.

"Yue Yao, if I inject the Fire of Civilization into the underlying code of the Gate of Guixu, what will happen?"

"It will happen... the Gate of Guixu will no longer be a harvester, but a guardian. It will remember us, instead of forgetting us."

Lin Zhou stood up. His godhead integrity had recovered to twenty percent, and the water level of the river of civilization had recovered to ten percent. It was still far from his prime, but it was enough to do one thing—parse all the code of the Gate of Guixu, and then inject the Fire of Civilization into it.

"Li Mo, help me parse all the rule patterns of the Gate of Guixu."

Li Mo's projection unfolded under the dome, and the data stream swept past like a waterfall. "Captain, the complete structure of the Gate of Guixu contains about one billion rule patterns. With my computing power, it will take about one hundred years."

"One hundred years, it's too late."

"Therefore, I cannot rely on myself alone. I need the computing power of a hundred God Kings."

Lin Zhou contacted Acting Marshal Qian Weiguo. Acting Marshal Qian Weiguo was silent for a moment in the communication. "General Lin, a hundred God Kings are willing to lend you their computing power. But the price is that their godheads will temporarily enter a 'low-power' state, unable to fight for three months."

"Three months later is the time when the Gate of Guixu opens. Just right."

"Then let's begin."

The godheads of a hundred God Kings were connected in parallel with Li Mo's projection through the river of civilization. Their computing power flowed into the ocean like a hundred great rivers, and the parsing speed soared. The rule patterns of the Gate of Guixu were stripped, translated, and reorganized one by one in the river of civilization. One billion rule patterns were being parsed at a speed of ten million per day under the combined computing power of the hundred God Kings.

[Gate of Guixu · Parsing Progress]

- Total number of rule patterns: approx. 1 billion

- Parsing speed: 10 million per day

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

- Estimated complete parsing: approx. one hundred days

- Countdown to the opening of the Gate of Guixu: approx. one hundred and twenty days

One hundred days was enough to parse all the rule patterns, and there were twenty days left to inject the Fire of Civilization. The time was just right.

The parsing lasted for three months. On the one hundredth day, the last rule pattern was parsed. The complete structure of the Gate of Guixu appeared in the river of civilization—not code, but a virtual "City of Programs." Every street in the city was a rule logic, and every building was a set of rule functions. In the center of the City of Programs was a tall tower—the core controller of the Gate of Guixu.

[Gate of Guixu · Complete Parsing]

- Structure: City of Programs (virtual)

- Core: Tall tower (controller)

- Underlying logic: Simple, but the operating environment is extremely stable

- Rewriting condition: Inject the Fire of Civilization into the core controller

Lin Zhou walked into the City of Programs. The city was empty, with only streets and buildings made of rule patterns. He walked toward the tall tower, every step landing on the rule patterns, every step making the riverbed of the river of civilization tremble slightly. The door of the tall tower was unlocked, because the Gate of Guixu did not need defense. It assumed that no one could walk here. Lin Zhou pushed open the door and walked into the tall tower. Inside the tall tower was a huge space, and a dark red crystal was suspended in the space—the core controller of the Gate of Guixu, and it was running. There was no sound in the operation, only the rule patterns slowly flowing; that was its heartbeat.

Lin Zhou walked to the crystal and injected the Fire of Civilization into it. The moment the flame touched the crystal, the entire City of Programs shook. The rule patterns began to flicker crazily, the streets twisted, the buildings collapsed, and the core controller was rejecting the injection of the Fire of Civilization.

[Gate of Guixu · Rewriting in Progress]

- Core controller: Rejecting (self-protection mechanism of the Gate of Guixu)

- Fire of Civilization injection progress: 1%... 2%... 3%...

- Stability of the City of Programs: 100% → 95% → 90%...

- Estimated complete injection: approx. ten days

- Gate of Guixu opening progress: 45%... 50%... 55%...

Lin Zhou pressed his right hand on the crystal and condensed the golden Hand of Order with his left hand. Both hands exerted force at the same time, and the injection speed of the Fire of Civilization doubled. The stability of the City of Programs dropped from ninety percent to eighty percent, and the rejection intensity of the core controller was weakening. It was not because it accepted the Fire of Civilization, but because it was being overwritten—not destroyed, but overwritten. Just like a new layer of paint covering the old paint, the old paint was still underneath, but the surface had already changed to a new color.

[Gate of Guixu · Rewriting Progress]

- Core controller: Rejection weakening

- Fire of Civilization injection: 30%... 40%... 50%...

- Stability of the City of Programs: 80% → 70%

- Gate of Guixu opening progress: 55%... 60%... 65%...

On the tenth day, the Fire of Civilization was completely injected into the core controller. The streets of the City of Programs no longer twisted, and the buildings no longer collapsed. The color of the core controller changed from dark red to an interweaving of cyan-gold and dark red—the Fire of Civilization and the Gate of Guixu coexisted. The Gate of Guixu was no longer a harvesting program, but a guardian program. Its underlying logic had been rewritten: it no longer triggered harvesting, but protected civilization. As long as civilization existed, the program would record it and protect it, rather than harvest it.

[Gate of Guixu · Rewriting Complete]

- New core logic: Civilization Guardian (not harvester)

- Stability of the City of Programs: 100% (reconstruction complete)

- Fire of Civilization coverage: 100%

- Gate of Guixu opening progress: 65% (stopped, no longer automatically opening)

Lin Zhou walked out of the City of Programs. He stood on the Wall of Heroes, looking at that sea of stars. The opening progress of the Gate of Guixu stopped at sixty-five percent, and it would not open automatically again. But it was still there, and someone needed to close it. Not Seal it, but close it. Let the door never open again.

"Captain, the opening progress of the Gate of Guixu has stopped at sixty-five percent." Su Yueyao's voice came from the communication link.

"It stopped. But the door is still open. Someone needs to walk in and close it."

"Who will go?"

"I will go."

Lin Zhou walked down the Wall of Heroes and walked toward the Gate of Guixu. Behind him, fifty thousand people knelt on one knee at the same time, and no one spoke. Wang Meng's fists were clenched tightly, Qin Qing's eyes were filled with tears, Iron Face lowered his head, and Lei Zhan's shield slammed onto the ground. Lin Zhou did not look back and walked into that door.

The scene inside the Gate of Guixu was similar to that blank area of the Withered Star Realm; space, time, and rules were all slowly disappearing. Lin Zhou unfolded the river of civilization, and the river water flowed inside the door, covering every inch of the disappearing space. Wherever the river flowed, the streets and buildings of the City of Programs reappeared—not the rules of the Gate of Guixu, but the rules of the Fire of Civilization. The river of civilization became the new "lining" of the Gate of Guixu; inside the door was no longer nihility, but a "City of Memory" composed of the Fire of Civilization. Every street in the city was a piece of civilization history, and every building was a civilization achievement.

Lin Zhou walked to the center of the City of Memory, where there was a small door—the inner side of the Gate of Guixu. He pushed open the small door, walked out, and returned to the New Universe. Behind him, the Gate of Guixu slowly closed. The dark red patterns on the door frame faded, and the cyan-gold light lit up. The door was no longer a door, but a monument—the Gate of Civilization Guardian. A line of words was engraved on the monument: "Civilization shall not perish. The fire is passed on."

Lin Zhou stood before the monument for a long time. Su Yueyao flew down from the Wall of Heroes and threw herself into his arms; the moonlight and the Fire of Civilization intertwined, illuminating the entire Void Realm. Wang Meng raised his battle axe, and fifty thousand people roared at the same time: "Civilization shall flourish forever!"

Lin Zhou raised his head and looked at that sea of stars. The Fire of Civilization of one hundred thousand towns was like a sea of stars in the night sky, and every star was a memory of civilization. The Way of Civilization, the fire is passed on. The program of the Gate of Guixu had been rewritten; it was no longer a harvester, but a guardian. The memory of civilization would be forever preserved in the underlying code of the Gate of Guixu. The fire would not be extinguished, and civilization would not perish. Because the Gate of Guixu had become a part of civilization.