60: Heroes gather, Deep Blue makes his choice

6 Hours Before the Summit —

The sea glowed with a cold light before dawn, and thecordon around the Deep Blue base had shrunk to its limit.

Three crippled Iron Brotherhood warships, flying black flags, were anchored in the designated area, their decks crowded with silent warriors; the Free City States’ research vessel, the ‘Dawn,’ slowly docked, its deck filled with white-haired scholars holding data pads, their expressions solemn; further out, the Ark’s silver-gray fleet was arrayed like ghosts, without flags, without lights, only cold metal hulls reflecting the morning light.

And right in the center of all the ships, on a temporarily erected alloy platform, a Deep Blue flag flapped fiercely in the wind.

Lin Feng stood before the holographic sand table in the Commander’s room, watching the light points representing various factions gradually converge. Elder Chen stood beside him, his fingers flying across the holographic keyboard, adjusting the coverage of the energy shield.

“Shield coverage complete, but it can only last for six hours,” Elder Chen whispered. “If the Leviathan attacks during the summit—”

“Then let them come.” Lin Feng’s voice was terrifyingly calm. “It’ll be a good opportunity for everyone to see with their own eyes what we’re up against.”

He turned and walked to the clothes rack, taking down his Deep Blue Commander’s uniform. The golden patterns on the cuffs shimmered in the light; it was the Deep Blue Alliance emblem he had designed himself—a warship piercing through a storm.

“Elder Chen, is the ‘special version’ blueprint ready?”

The old scientist nodded, taking a data chip from his pocket: “As per your request, the core resonance module has been replaced with a self-destruct program. Anyone attempting to reverse-engineer it will, at the last moment, discover… they’re holding a bomb.”

Lin Feng took the chip, his fingertips gently caressing its cold surface.

“Excellent.” A cold arc played on his lips. “Let’s see who will be the first to reach for this ‘candy’ today.”

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1 Hour Before the Summit —

The doors of the central conference hall of the base slowly opened.

Lin Feng stood on the high platform, looking down at the representatives from various factions filing in. The representative of the remaining Iron Brotherhood forces—a one-eyed female warrior with a serrated short knife at her waist; the Free City States scholars wore faded lab coats, their expressions wary; the Ark’s delegation, uniformly dressed in gray uniforms, with Albatross walking at the forefront, a programmed smile on his face.

And in the corners, several small survivor groups, not officially invited, also squeezed in, their eyes a mixture of longing and fear.

Lin Feng wasted no words.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” his voice echoed through the hall via the amplification system, “we only have six hours.”

He raised a hand, and a holographic projection lit up in the center—it was combat footage of the Blood Ark.

Purple energy cannons tore through the sea, Iron Brotherhood warships disintegrated in flashes of fire, black darts consumed armor like locusts… The image finally froze on that terrifying “face” made of metal and flesh.

The hall was silent.

“The Leviathan isn’t a mutated creature, nor an alien invader,” Lin Feng’s voice, like an ice pick, pierced everyone’s eardrums. “They are cleaning tools created by the Pioneer, and Earth… is just one of countless failed experimental grounds.”

The Free City States scholars suddenly stood up, some knocking over water cups; the Iron Brotherhood female warrior gripped her knife hilt; the Ark’s delegation remained expressionless, as if they had known all this long ago.

“But the Deep Blue Heart can change everything.” Lin Feng took out the chip from his pocket and held it high above his head. “It’s not an energy core… it’s a weapon.”

The holographic image switched, displaying a model of the modified Deep Blue Heart—the originally stable energy circuit had been replaced with some kind of pulse structure, with a dangerous red light flickering at its core.

“Reverse resonance technology,” Lin Feng’s voice was low and firm. “If we can’t close the dimensional portal… then we’ll blow it up.”

The hall instantly erupted into chaos.

The Free City States scholars frantically recorded data; the Iron Brotherhood warriors whispered to each other; and Albatross… his expression showed a crack for the first time.

“You’re insane!” an Ark representative suddenly stood up. “This will cause a chain reaction; the entire Earth could be engulfed in a dimensional collapse!”

Lin Feng’s gaze, like a knife, pierced him: “Didn’t you already know this outcome?”

He called up an encrypted data—information extracted from the Observer’s wreckage. In the image, countless Earths shattered like bubbles in purple energy… and at every shattered moment, there were trajectories of Ark ships escaping.

“The Ark had already planned it,” Lin Feng’s voice resonated throughout the hall. “When the Leviathan descends, you will abandon Earth, taking the Deep Blue Heart technology to other dimensions… and the rest of us will only become experimental waste for the Pioneer.”

Dead silence.

Everyone’s gaze turned to the Ark delegation. Albatross’s face turned pale, and his hand slowly moved to his waist—

“Bang!”

A gunshot.

A burst of blood bloomed from the Ark representative’s right arm, and he stumbled to his knees. Lin Feng, at some point, had an electromagnetic pistol in his hand, its muzzle still emitting a faint wisp of blue smoke.

“Take them down.”

The Marines, who had been ambushed around, instantly rushed out, pinning the Ark delegation to the ground. After a brief shock, the other people in the hall, the Iron Brotherhood warriors were the first to draw their weapons, while the Free City States scholars retreated to the wall, their eyes filled with fear and realization.

“Six hours,” Lin Feng’s voice rang out again, overriding the commotion. “In six hours, the Leviathan’s main fleet will arrive in Earth’s orbit. We can choose to run, as the Ark planned…”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over every face.

“Or, we can turn the ‘key’ into a ‘bomb’ and give the Pioneer a lesson they’ll never forget.”

The one-eyed female warrior was the first to step forward.

“The Iron Brotherhood… joins.” Her voice was hoarse and firm. “We may be barbaric, but we never desert.”

The Free City States scholars exchanged glances, and finally, the oldest one stepped forward.

“If this is humanity’s last stand,” he pushed up his glasses with a trembling hand, “then at least… let us die with dignity.”

Lin Feng nodded, then turned and walked to the control panel.

“Then let’s begin.”

The holographic projection switched to a global map, with dozens of red dots flickering in the deep sea and low Earth orbit—those were the Leviathan’s vanguard units. And further out in space, a massive purple vortex was slowly forming…

The summit ended. The war began.