168: Collect the spoils

The barriers of the Divine Kingdom slowly dissipated, fading away like starlight that had exhausted its energy.

On the battlefield, silence reigned supreme, save for Lu Zhifei's mechanical legions and Lin Mengzi's undead army, which were still tirelessly mopping up the remnants of the low-level Zerg that had fallen into complete chaos after losing the will of their Queen.

The three of them turned their gazes upward in unison—toward the bio-Starship in the sky. Once capable of blotting out the sun, it now resembled the hollowed-out carcass of a giant beast, slowly crumbling and disintegrating.

Although Rella's core consciousness had been completely erased by the combined efforts of Lin Fei and Lu Zhifei, the main body of the Starship was composed of more than just twisted flesh and blood. At its core were the remnants of the four Star Core Divine Weapons she had forcibly integrated.

Along with a secondary Imperial-level Zerg core that served as a backup, containing vast amounts of life energy and Zerg genetic templates.

This was the Hive City Heart Rella had prepared for herself, originally intended to serve as the foundation for transforming the entire Saka Star into her own breeding ground of flesh and blood once she had fully integrated the Divine Weapons.

Now, all of this had become ownerless spoils of war.

"Good things shouldn't go to waste." Lin Fei chuckled, his form moving like a cannonball as he surged toward the disintegrating Starship wreckage.

Lu Zhifei followed closely behind. The Dawn Morningstar arm activated once more, and countless nano-probes, like living silver threads, spread out, precisely slicing through layers of flesh and twisted metal. Her target was those four Divine Weapons, which still emitted a faint divine radiance despite being severely eroded by dark energy!

【Pupil of Warning】: A massive, bloodshot eyeball capable of seeing through disguises and discerning weaknesses.

【Claw of the Predator】: A pair of hideous giant claws covered in carapace, capable of tearing through space and draining the life force of enemies.

【Heart of Plague】: A pulsating dark heart capable of spreading lethal viruses and corrosive spores.

【Throne of Distortion】: An eerie throne made of bones and nerve bundles, capable of amplifying Mental Energy and enslaving weak wills.

These four were part of the Star Core Divine Weapons that had gone missing after the War of Fallen Heavens, only to be intercepted by the Zerg and forcibly assimilated.

Adding the remnants from the Queen herself, the set was now complete.

"They are indeed heavily corrupted." Lu Zhifei frowned slightly, but her brow immediately smoothed. "However, in my presence, this corruption is nothing but a trifle."

A torrent of nanites surged forth like the most precise purification instrument, rapidly stripping away, decomposing, and annihilating the dark energy and Zerg genes attached to the Divine Weapons. At the same time, she began attempting to incorporate these four new members into her "Divine Weapon Armament: Synergy Matrix."

Boom! The power of eleven Star Core Divine Weapons resonated simultaneously behind her!

The halo became even more dazzling and brilliant, as well as more complex and profound!

Although the four newly added pieces could not yet unleash their full power due to corruption and damage, the eleven distinct Divine Weapon Laws, under the augmentation of her immense computational power and World Authority, had initially formed an even more terrifying synergistic system!

Lu Zhifei felt that her control over energy, understanding of space, and information processing capability had once again surged significantly!

Meanwhile, at the wreckage of the Starship core, Lin Fei found the Hive City Heart Rella had prepared—the 【Imperial-level Aberrant Zerg Core】, which was the size of a house and pulsed like a purple-black crystal heart!

The sheer magnitude of the energy and the complexity of the life information contained within it completely surpassed the previous Broodmother Queen core!

In addition, there were Epic-grade equipment items that had dropped on the ground after killing the Queen and some of her elites.

Two dark purple bone blades, fused from Divine Weapon fragments and special Zerg carapace, radiated the crimson aura of Epic-grade equipment.

A Spirit Cocoon Breastplate, formed from special biological energy and capable of significantly enhancing Mental Energy resistance and recovery, was also of Epic grade.

"Sixth Sister, can you use this thing?" Lin Fei weighed the massive Aberrant Zerg Core in his hand and looked toward Lin Mengzi, who was not far away.

Lin Mengzi's cold, clear gaze fell upon the Zerg Core. From the depths of her Soul, having just ascended to the Queen of the Underworld, came a strong surge of desire.

She nodded gently.

She could feel that if she absorbed this Zerg Core, her newly acquired ultimate skill, 【All Souls Return to Silence: Descent of the Underworld Kingdom】, would become more perfected, and its power would rise to an unimaginable level.

"Then this is yours. I'll keep these two broken blades for fun." Lin Fei tossed the Epic-grade Spirit Cocoon Breastplate and the Aberrant Zerg Core to Lin Mengzi, while keeping the two grim-looking dark purple bone blades for himself.

Between siblings, splitting the loot was always this unpretentious and direct.

Just then, Lin Mengzi extended her hand—fair as jade, yet seemingly containing the infinite power of death—and pointed toward the deepest part of the slowly crumbling Starship wreckage. There, a wisp of Rella's unwilling resentment and her purest life imprint seemed to still linger.

"You shall be my servant and return to this world."

She declared with the supreme majesty of the Queen of the Underworld.

A portion of the power of 【Descent of the Underworld Kingdom】 was triggered!

Death energy, black as ink but flecked with golden divine radiance, surged like the rushing waters of the River Styx, completely engulfing the wreckage!

The resentment was purified, the life imprint was reshaped, and a massive surge of undead power was poured into it!

A terrifying entity—brand new, yet retaining Rella's stunning form and some of her power characteristics, with eyes burning with eternal Soul fire, clad in shadow bone armor, and a pair of bone wings that blotted out the sky unfurling from her back—slowly coalesced from the death energy!

She was no longer a living Broodmother Queen, but something even more powerful and terrifying, loyal only to Lin Mengzi—the 【Undead Queen: Rella】.

The moment this Undead Queen was born, she emitted a terrifying pressure that was in no way inferior to when she was alive; in fact, having escaped the backlash of the fused Divine Weapons, she appeared even more pure and stable!

"Greetings, my Queen." The Undead Queen knelt on one knee, offering absolute loyalty to Lin Mengzi.

Lin Mengzi nodded with satisfaction. Now, under her command, she possessed two terrifying combat forces at the Queen level!

The strength of her undead army had skyrocketed!

By the time the three of them finished processing the initial spoils and returned to the surface, the entire network and media of Saka Star had already been flooded with news of them saving the world.

Countless survivors poured into the streets, cheering and weeping, celebrating the hard-won peace.

The images of Lin Fei, Lin Mengzi, and Lu Zhifei were projected over every surviving city, receiving the highest respect and gratitude from the entire planet.

Lu Zhifei, once a traitor, had now completely cleared her name, even vaguely becoming the new spiritual leader and guardian deity of this planet.

Just as she was accepting the cheers of the masses, Lu Zhifei's brow suddenly twitched slightly.

After gaining control of eleven Star Core Divine Weapons and obtaining a portion of the World Authority, her brain, which functioned like a supercomputer, captured an extremely faint yet incredibly clear resonance signal.

It was a call from a distant, extremely hidden corner of this world.

It was the last one, the most mysterious of the twelve Star Core Divine Weapons, one that had never had any clear records—the twelfth Divine Weapon!

【Fate Observer】!

A strategic-grade Divine Weapon that transcended the scope of conventional weaponry, rumored to be capable of observing the trajectories of fate, predicting parts of the future, and theoretically even influencing Karma!

"Found it... the last one." A flash of excitement crossed Lu Zhifei's eyes as she shared the coordinate information with Lin Fei and Lin Mengzi.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Lin Fei immediately decided. "Sixth Sister, you stay here first, absorb that big Zerg Core, and while you're at it, consolidate your undead army and stabilize the situation here.

Third Sister, you and I will go and return quickly to retrieve the final piece of the puzzle!"

Lu Zhifei nodded happily.

Lin Mengzi also agreed; she indeed needed time to digest this massive boost and to fully master the new Undead Queen.

As long as she controlled the Queen, she would effectively control an entire Zerg legion!

With the decision made, Lin Fei and Lu Zhifei delayed no longer.

Within the halo behind Lu Zhifei, the rune representing the 【Phase Walker Boots】 lit up.

Spatial energy twisted, and a stable wormhole opened before them, leading directly to that distant and mysterious coordinate.

"We'll be back soon!"

Leaving those words behind, the two stepped into the wormhole, and their figures vanished in an instant.