45: Chapter 45 Core Detonation, Corruption Enters the Heart

The battle reached a stalemate. The Corrupted Ant guards seemed endless, and the Corrupted Ant Queen's continuous spewing of the [Corrupted Annihilation Beam] formed a dangerous balance with the [Absolute Purification Domain] supported by Zhang Hao and Lin Wan.

Every collision and annihilation of energy made Zhang Hao and Lin Wan's faces paler; the consumption to maintain the Domain was far beyond imagination.

"Silver Star, Overclocked Scan! Find its absolute core, the start and end point of its energy circulation!" Zhang Hao ordered through the mental link; he knew they could not afford to continue this consumption.

The data streams in the eyes of [Silver Star], in its metal hamster form, boiled instantly as if burning, and the complex array on its forehead, constructed jointly by the "heart of the ocean" and the power of order, rotated at an unprecedented speed.

Ignoring the violent external energy interference, its perception penetrated the Corrupted Ant Queen's bloated, massive body filled with energy conduits, reaching deep into the heart of its energy flow.

"Target locked!" A few seconds later, Silver Star's cold voice sounded with a hint of urgency. "Detected an ultra-high concentration Corrupted energy aggregate, located at the junction of the target's reproductive sac and digestive cavity, protected by multiple layers of biological energy armor and a corruption force field.

This node is the final convergence point for all external energy conduits and is the core hub for its corruption power circulation and regeneration—the [Corrupted Core]!"

A crystal-clear, pulsating dark red dot was marked by Silver Star and projected onto Zhang Hao's visual interface, hidden just above the exit on the Corrupted Ant Queen's abdomen where it constantly contracted to lay eggs—a position extremely difficult to target.

"Found you…" A flash of determination crossed Zhang Hao's eyes. Conventional attacks would struggle to penetrate the layers of protection to hit that point accurately, and the Corrupted Ant Queen would certainly not sit idly by.

The only chance was to break through the surface with a single point, using extreme purification energy that exceeded its instantaneous defense threshold to pierce through in one go!

He recalled the dangerous yet powerful technique taught by Li Mubai—[Overload Mode].

"Lin Wan, the rest is up to you!" Zhang Hao shouted in a low voice. Without waiting for Lin Wan's response, he abruptly cut off most of his energy supply to the Domain, maintaining only the minimum [Order Barrier] to protect himself.

The previously stable Absolute Purification Domain fluctuated violently, its range shrinking by nearly a third. Lin Wan groaned as the pressure spiked, but she immediately understood what Zhang Hao intended to do, gritting her teeth as she pushed [Hymn of Life] to its limit, single-handedly supporting the crumbling Domain.

"Silver Star, Overload Mode initiated! Target: Corrupted Core! Condense all Order and purification energy into a [Purification Pulse]!" Zhang Hao's Mental Energy surged like a floodgate opening, pouring without reservation into the sprite on his shoulder.

At the same time, the meager fragments of Origin he had temporarily accumulated from the purification process were fully stimulated and integrated into it.

"Command confirmed. Overload Mode initiated. Energy compressing... Warning, load exceeds safety threshold by 300%..." Silver Star's voice carried a hint of electronic static.

Its dark silver scales instantly turned scorching red, as if about to melt, and the array on its forehead shone blindingly, like a miniature sun.

The next moment, Silver Star's tiny body seemed to become an uncontainable energy furnace. A pure beam of light, indescribable in color and seemingly containing the concepts of all "Order," "Life," and "Purification" in the world, blasted out from the array on its forehead!

This beam was condensed to the extreme, only the thickness of a finger. Wherever it passed, space warped slightly, and the violent corruption energy seemed to be parted by an invisible force, unable to get close even in the slightest!

[Purification Pulse]!

This beam, which condensed the majority of Zhang Hao's Mental Energy, Silver Star's overload energy, and the meager fragments of Origin temporarily absorbed, shot at a speed beyond thought, hitting the point marked by Silver Star with pinpoint accuracy—the [Corrupted Core] on the Corrupted Ant Queen's abdomen!

"Pfft—!"

There was no deafening explosion, only a slight yet Soul-piercing sound, as if something had been forcibly punctured. The Purification Pulse, like a red-hot branding iron piercing through ice and snow, easily penetrated the outer biological armor and corruption force field, hitting the violently pulsating dark red core with precision!

"Awoooo—!!!"

The Corrupted Ant Queen let out the most shrill, painful, and maddening shriek since the battle began! Its entire massive body arched and spasmed violently.

The energy conduits on its body snapped one after another, and dark red corruption energy sprayed wildly from the wounds and broken ends like out-of-control blood! The sea of pus below seemed to lose its support, beginning to boil and evaporate violently.

At the site of the hit Corrupted Core, the blinding purification light clashed intensely with the stubborn dark red corruption energy; spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the core, and its light dimmed rapidly!

Did they succeed?!

However, the desperation and madness of the dying are often the most terrifying.

The Corrupted Ant Queen's empty compound eyes were instantly filled with endless resentment and a cold will that transcended its own existence.

It gave up on repairing itself, gave up on struggling, and frantically compressed and condensed all the remaining corruption energy in its body, along with the vast, unconverted vitality it had drawn from its connection to the entire corruption network, in a self-destructive manner!

It was no longer a scattered beam, but rather, in front of its hideous mouthparts, an energy ball formed that was only the size of a fist, yet pitch black like the deepest night, as if it could devour all light.

Immediately after, the energy ball stretched violently, turning into an ultimate corruption ray that was condensed to the extreme and exuded an absolute malice that froze the entire space, ignoring spatial distance and firing instantly!

Its target was only one—the human who had severely damaged its core and exuded an aura of Order and purification that it (and the existence behind it) found incredibly repulsive—Zhang Hao!

"Protect him!" The four queens' expressions changed drastically, and they all moved in unison!

Queen Chaoyang brandished the solar dual swords, slashing out a blazing wall of light; Queen Yetan's figure flickered, constructing layers upon layers of moonshadow barriers; Queen Zhufeng fired dozens of highly condensed walls of airflow; Queen Qinglian even struck the ground with her azure wave staff, summoning the thickest crystalline water curtain.

But this ultimate corruption ray seemed to possess its own life and will! It traced a strange, physically impossible arc in the air, like a wise dark viper, accurately bypassing the solar light wall, penetrating the weak points of the moonshadow barriers, twisting to avoid the obstruction of the airflow walls, and finally, as if it were intangible, it directly "seeped" through the seemingly solid water curtain!

The four queens' desperate interceptions were all "dodged" by it in a despair-inducing way, as if it had foreseen everything!

In the final moment before the ray was about to hit Zhang Hao, Zhang Hao felt a cold will, completely different from the Lord of the Deep Sea, more direct and filled with more invasive and twisted desires, sweep across his body like tentacles carrying viscous malice, as if he had been clearly "gazed" upon by another equally terrifying existence.

[Status Acquired: Gaze of the Lord of Corruption (D-Rank)]

[Status Description: You have been clearly marked by the Lord of Corruption. The power of Order and purification contained within you has aroused His intense 'interest.' Effect unknown, fate unknown.] (This status exists independently and does not affect [Gaze of the Deep Sea Lord])

The cold notification seemed to be branded directly onto his Soul, but he had no time to worry about it.

"Pshhh!"

The condensed ultimate corruption ray sank accurately and unerringly into Zhang Hao's left chest—the location of his heart!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Zhang Hao's body jolted violently, his pupils contracting sharply. He clearly felt a flood of corruption, cold, dead, and filled with destructive and twisted intent, rush into his heart like countless tiny venomous insects, and using this as a base, crazily rush toward his limbs and bones, eroding his flesh, Meridians, and even his Soul!

However, at the very moment this corruption energy attempted to completely transform and devour him from the inside out, the [Order Barrier] Talent within him, which had been exhausted by the overload but still had its Foundation intact, along with the warm vitality left in his body by Lin Wan's [Hymn of Life], erupted spontaneously and violently, like a lion whose territory had been invaded!

The pure emerald green life energy and the cold silvery-white power of Order used his heart as a battlefield, engaging in a life-or-death struggle against the invading dark red corruption energy! The three energies of completely different natures clashed, collided, and annihilated within him, bringing pain that far exceeded any physical injury, as if they were going to tear his body and Soul to pieces.

"Aaaah—!"

Zhang Hao only had time to let out a short, painful roar before his vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness, his body falling forward limply.

The aura on his body surface became extremely chaotic; at times, a weak light of purification would flicker, and at other times, it would be covered by the dark red aura of corruption, his vital signs rapidly declining amid violent fluctuations.

"Zhang Hao!!!" Lin Wan let out a heart-wrenching scream, rushing forward recklessly to catch his falling body.

In the distance, the Corrupted Ant Queen, having suffered a fatal blow, saw its massive body—after unleashing its final strike—collapse and melt as if all its support had been drained, flowing back into the sea of pus that was gradually losing its activity and beginning to slowly solidify.

The source of the corruption seemed to have been cleared, but the price paid was so heavy it was suffocating. Inside Zhang Hao, a war concerning his life, death, and future path had only just begun.