559: Chapter 494: Military Training, Five-Year Service Completed, Meritorious Service Award

On the south wall of the Iron Wall Fortress council chamber hung a full-scope Star Map of the New Universe.

Five years had passed, and the markings on the Star Map had been updated three times; the latest version showed the complete outline of the Great Wall of Civilization, with three thousand nodes connected by fine gold lines into a long arc spanning the Star Domain.

Lin Zhou stood before the Star Map, a military merit record book spread out on the desk in front of him.

The book had been delivered by Li Mo this morning, and its cover was already somewhat worn—five years of military merit records were contained within, with every page noting the date, mission number, and amount of military merit.

He turned to the first page, his gaze sweeping over the numbers.

Five years, fifty-seven missions.

Clearing the edges of the Chaos Star Domain, reconnaissance of the Guixu Rift, rooting out strongholds of the Void Sect, reinforcing and supporting nodes in various combat zones—all missions had been categorized and marked by Li Mo using different colored inks.

The handwriting on the first page still carried the scrawl of those early years, but as it went on, the handwriting became neater and the data more detailed.

The last page recorded a mission completed three days ago: clearing the last residual point of guixu energy on the edge of the Old Universe, with a military merit reward of three hundred points.

That was the lowest-rewarding mission among the fifty-seven, and also the only one without any combat engagement.

Five years, over eighteen thousand days; he had risen from Brigadier General to Lieutenant General, from Godhood LV500 to LV1000, and from a commander of twelve thousand troops to a commander of fifty thousand.

Three days ago, his total military merit had surpassed one hundred million points.

Wang Meng walked in from outside and placed a ceramic bowl on the corner of the table.

The bowl contained freshly brewed spiritual tea, its steam condensing into a thin thread of white smoke in the twilight.

"Captain, do you still keep those military merit books you brought out from the Old Universe? Back when we fought our first battle in the Chaos Star Domain, you had only accumulated three hundred points. Now it's one hundred million."

Lin Zhou did not reply, merely closing the book and placing it on the corner of the table.

Wang Meng glanced at the "100,300,000" number on the cover, did not press further, and turned to walk out.

The sound of his footsteps gradually faded in the corridor, drowned out by the wind from afar.

Lin Zhou reopened the book, turning to the end of the last page, where there was a note marked in dark gold ink—Current Total Military Merit: 100,300,000 points.

Redeemable Item: Godhood Promotion Ceremony Qualification (requires 100,000,000 points).

[Military Merit · Final Data] - Total: 100,300,000 points - Total Missions: 57 - Average Military Merit per Mission: approx. 1,759,000 points/mission - Highest Single Mission Merit: 12,000,000 points (Guixu Rift Assault) - Lowest Single Mission Merit: 300 points (Old Universe Edge Cleanup) - Currently Redeemable: Godhood Promotion Ceremony Qualification (100,000,000 points)

He looked at it for a long time, not at the number, but at the blank space next to that note.

It had originally been empty, but three days ago, when Li Mo was entering the data, he had casually added a line of small text: "Historical Ranking on the Military Merit Board: Seventh. The top six are all God Kings."

Lin Zhou closed the book, raised his head, and looked out the window.

The walls of the Iron Wall Fortress still stood tall in the twilight, and the Firewood Sword on the ramparts was still rotating slowly.

The plaque above the city gate shimmered with a bronze rust-colored light in the evening glow.

He stood up, his steps not faltering as he crossed the threshold of the council chamber.

On the ramparts, Wang Meng was leaning against the crenellations watching the sunset glow.

Hearing the footsteps, he did not turn his head, merely saying in a muffled voice: "Captain, you're ranked seventh on the Military Merit Board, and the six ahead are all God Kings. With you holding a Mid-Tier Divine Power and ranking seventh, shouldn't this board change its name?"

Lin Zhou did not answer, nor did he quicken his pace.

As he passed the corner of the ramparts, the evening wind blew from the Void Realm, carrying the cyan-gold light dust from the Great Wall of Civilization.

The ramparts no longer had the urgent, brightly lit atmosphere of years past, remaining only with a few low inspection lamps set at intervals along the wall base, swaying slowly in the evening breeze.

From the streets of the inner city came the sound of children chasing each other, their laughter bouncing off the stone walls several times before dissipating.

In the direction of the distant Bingge Cave, the low roars of war spirits were still faintly audible from miles away.

That sound no longer made people tense up like it did years ago; instead, it was like a stable background noise, blending with the sound of the wind, footsteps, and the metallic friction of the city gates closing.

Lin Zhou stopped at the end of the ramparts, leaning against the wall bricks to look into the distance.

The edge of the Great Wall of Civilization was moving slowly, with the cyan-gold halo flowing gently along the contour of the wall, like the Star Sea itself breathing.

He watched for a long time, until that halo gradually sank into the night at the edge of his vision.

Then he turned and walked slowly back along the way he had come.

Passing by the Wall of Heroes, the names on the wall glimmered with a faint silver hue under the moonlight.

He did not stop, continuing to walk forward.

There was no need to decide anything tonight.

That one hundred million points of military merit was still there; it would not disappear.

When he needed it, it would be waiting there.

The wind on the ramparts was still blowing, the lights in the inner city were extinguishing one by one, the war spirits of the Bingge Cave were gradually quieting down, and the entire city was sinking deep into the night.