61: Dimension Collapse, Twilight of the Pioneers

Detonation countdown: 5 hours 59 minutes

The Deep Blue's engine hummed lowly, and faint blue energy patterns flowed through the armor seams of the entire battleship. Old Chen stood before the control console in the core research lab, his fingers a blur on the holographic keyboard, while Lin Feng stared at the completely modified Deep Blue Heart in the center—it no longer pulsed steadily, but twitched erratically like a heart about to explode, the red glow at its core growing brighter and brighter.

"The resonance module has been reconfigured, but the energy output is extremely unstable!" Old Chen's voice was hoarse. "If we detonate it now, it might directly tear apart the Pacific Plate!"

Lin Feng's gaze swept over the holographic projection of the Earth model—seven purple light points shimmered in the deep sea, marking the known Leviathan lurking spots. And in low Earth orbit, that colossal purple vortex had expanded to a size capable of swallowing a city.

"Then let them get a little closer," he said coldly. "Once the main fleet has completely passed through the dimensional portal… we'll give them a grand gift."

---

Detonation countdown: 4 hours 30 minutes

The Free City States' research vessel, the 'Dawn', suddenly emitted a sharp alarm.

"Spatial distortion detected! Coordinates E3 zone—Ark wreckage location!"

Lin Feng immediately pulled up the monitoring footage. He saw countless cracks suddenly appear on the surface of the silver-gray Ark battleship, and purple energy spread like blood vessels. The next second, the entire ship twisted and deformed as if kneaded by an invisible hand, finally exploding into countless metal fragments—and at the center of the explosion, a purple orb of light, less than two meters in diameter, floated, slowly extending into a humanoid silhouette.

"It's an Observer… no, it's more complete than before!" Old Chen cried out.

When the energy lifeform fully formed, everyone held their breath—it had a nearly perfect humanoid shape, its face covered in smooth purple crystals, and a miniature Deep Blue Heart embedded in its chest. When it "looked" at the monitoring probe, a cold mental wave directly pierced everyone's brains:

The Pioneer has received an anomaly report from the experimental field.

Purge protocol upgraded to highest priority.

The Leviathan main fleet will arrive in 2.7 hours.

Lin Feng clenched his fist: "It's transmitting data to the Pioneer in real-time!"

"We must destroy it immediately!" roared the one-eyed female warrior of the Iron Brotherhood. "Otherwise, our plan will be exposed prematurely!"

But before the order could be given, the Observer suddenly raised its hand—a purple light beam pierced through the Dawn's engine room, and the entire research vessel broke into two in the explosion!

"Fire! Full firepower!"

The Deep Blue's main cannons roared, spewing out blinding white light beams, while ground-based missile arrays simultaneously launched, and the Iron Brotherhood's remaining ships aimed all their cannons at the shimmering orb of light—

However, all attacks were strangely deflected before contact, as if hitting an invisible wall.

Low-level weaponry cannot destroy the Pioneer beacon.

Surrender to be granted the status of an auxiliary experimental subject.

Resistance will result in civilization-level erasure.

Lin Feng sneered and pressed a red button on the control console.

Deep within the base, a giant turret, never before revealed, slowly rose—it was a phase-disruption cannon reverse-engineered from the Blood Ark's wreckage. The blue-purple energy converging at its muzzle was identical to Leviathan technology.

"You like dimensional technology, don't you?" Lin Feng's voice vibrated across the sea through the loudspeaker. "Taste your own medicine."

"Boom—!!!"

A twisted blue-purple beam of light tore through the air, directly hitting the purple orb! This time, there was no deflection, no resistance—the orb shattered like a broken mirror, and the Observer let out a silent shriek, its body disintegrating inch by inch. But before it completely vanished, a final mental wave, like a venomous snake, burrowed into Lin Feng's brain:

You have been marked as a civilization destroyer.

The Pioneer will personally judge.

The sea surface returned to calm, but everyone knew—the real war had only just begun.

---

Detonation countdown: 1 hour 00 minutes

The purple vortex in low Earth orbit suddenly contracted violently, and then…

A black vessel, comparable in size to the moon, slowly extended its tip.

The Deep Blue's radar screen instantly overloaded, and all survivors' communicators worldwide blared with harsh static. The ship's surface had no turrets, no portholes, only countless writhing black tentacle-like structures. With each gentle sway, asteroids were crushed into powder.

Old Chen slumped into his chair: "This isn't a fleet at all… this is a living 'World Devourer'."

Lin Feng, however, laughed.

"Perfect," he said, turning to walk towards the Deep Blue Heart's control terminal. "Such a large target… it would be hard to miss."

His finger hovered above the detonation button, his gaze sweeping over every pale face in the command room.

"Last confirmation—this will cause Earth to detach from the Pioneer's dimensional network. We might be forever trapped in this temporal island."

The female warrior of the Iron Brotherhood grinned, revealing blood-stained teeth: "Rather than being an experimental subject, I'd rather be a savage."

The surviving scholar from the Free City States raised a trembling hand: "Knowledge… should not be used for enslavement."

Lin Feng nodded and pressed the button.

"Then, everyone…"

"Welcome to humanity's new era."

The Deep Blue Heart's core instantly reached its critical point—

An indescribable shockwave erupted from the base, and everywhere it passed, the purple vortex solidified, the black behemoth's tentacles snapped inch by inch, and all Leviathan units on Earth simultaneously let out mournful wails…

When the light faded, only the floating wreckage of the giant ship remained in orbit.

And in the minds of all survivors, the last message from a distant dimension echoed:

Experimental field TX-1178… lost.

Marked civilization: Dangerous.

Recommended permanent isolation.

Lin Feng gazed at the suddenly unfamiliar starry sky—there were no longer familiar constellations, only a strange sea of stars.

He whispered to the void:

"Now… we are free."