188: Chapter 188 Combating Piracy, Arresting the Main God Space

The news of the destruction of the Main God Space's 88th Branch exploded through the piracy circles like a virus.

But Lin Chen didn't want panic.

He wanted despair.

Seven minutes after the City Management Brigade's first victory, the number of 'surrender applications' on the platform's backend soared to 3,700. They were all small fry—individual system peddlers and small reincarnation squads trembling in the cracks between dimensions.

"Accept all of them," Lin Chen approved. "Process them under the second tier: unbind them, confiscate illegal gains, and repatriate them to their original worlds. Those willing to atone through service can be absorbed into the City Management Brigade's 'Informant System'."

Three thousand seven hundred 'informants' were instantly activated.

To reduce their sentences, they scrambled to divulge everything they knew—coordinates of superior organizations, money laundering channels, lists of protective umbrellas, hidden storage warehouses...

The data screen in front of Zhang Hao exploded with a waterfall-like stream of intelligence.

"President Lin," he organized the data quickly, "I've locked onto twelve Main God Space regional headquarters, thirty-four large-scale system distribution centers, and... a core. The 'Main God Space United Council' is hidden in the 'Sea of Disorder' deep within the dimensional turbulence. It's a law enforcement blind spot with chaotic rules; conventional means cannot enter."

"Sea of Disorder?" Lin Chen pulled up the platform map.

It was a black area labeled [High Risk · Unobservable], covering a void the size of three thousand standard worlds. Internal physical constants fluctuated randomly, and the flow of time changed tens of thousands of times per second. Any equipment entering would self-disintegrate within three seconds due to rule conflicts.

"No wonder they dared to set up their headquarters there," Su Qingyu frowned.

"But the Sea of Disorder has rules too," Mo Shan's voice patched in. "It's just that the rules are changing frantically. If we can master the patterns of change, we can find a safe path."

"Who has experience?" Lin Chen asked.

Database search initiated.

Results: Seven people.

All were 'mad scientist' types among former villain actors who had once proactively entered the Sea of Disorder to evade pursuit or study forbidden subjects. The one who survived the longest had stayed inside for thirty-seven years (three minutes of external time).

Lin Chen connected to the communications of these seven people.

Virtual screens unfolded, revealing seven bizarre entities—one with a mechanical gear for a head, one with a translucent body flickering between reality and void, and one with three mouths speaking simultaneously.

"The safe path through the Sea of Disorder," Lin Chen asked directly, "can you map it out?"

"It can't be mapped," the mechanical-headed expert spoke. "But it can be 'calculated'. The rule changes in the Sea of Disorder have pseudo-randomness—random on the surface, but with twenty-seven basic rules in a cycle of combinations at the bottom. If we can capture enough real-time data, we can predict the safe path for the next thirty seconds."

"What equipment is needed?"

"The platform's highest-level 'Rule Fluctuation Detectors', at least three hundred units deployed simultaneously to form a network," the translucent expert said. "But each of those detectors costs 50 billion dimension points to build. Three hundred units is 15 trillion. And once they enter the Sea of Disorder, they are basically unrecoverable—they'll be torn apart by the rule turbulence."

"Approved." Lin Chen clicked on the resource library. "Three hundred detectors, to be produced within thirty minutes."

"Wait," the three-mouthed expert spoke simultaneously, "even if there's a path, what do we do after entering? The Main God Council will definitely have defensive forces. Fighting in the Sea of Disorder will cause our equipment to fail."

"Then use things that won't fail." Lin Chen looked at Little Red Clothes. "Horror Special Effects Team, get ready."

Little Red Clothes floated over, her eyes shining: "Are we using that?"

"Use it."

Five minutes later.

At the edge of the Sea of Disorder, three hundred Rule Fluctuation Detectors activated simultaneously, casting into the black turbulence like a giant net. Data surged back like a tide, and the seven experts calculated frantically in the backend.

"First safe path generated!" the mechanical-headed expert shouted. "Duration: eleven seconds! Go in, fast!"

The City Management Brigade's First Squad—fifty elites led by the Greatsword Warrior—transformed into streaks of light and shot inside.

The path extended beneath their feet, flanked by violent rule turbulence: the left side suddenly turned to absolute zero, while the right burned with conceptual-level flames. One team member was half a step slow; his heel was grazed, and the 'existence attribute' of his entire leg was instantly rewritten to 'non-existent'.

He fell screaming, but the medical team immediately activated an emergency plan—forcibly purchasing 'Existence Repair' with dimension points. Thirty million dimension points were thrown in, and the leg returned.

"Keep moving!" the Greatsword Warrior roared.

Eleven seconds later, the path vanished.

The First Squad was stuck in the first layer of the Sea of Disorder's shallows.

"Calculating second path... need more data!" the translucent expert said urgently.

"Then give them data," Lin Chen ordered. "Second and Third Squads, break in from different directions and deploy detectors in a scattered pattern!"

Another two hundred detectors were thrown in.

The data stream surged.

The second path was generated—this time lasting twenty-three seconds.

The Second and Third Squads rushed in.

Deep within the Sea of Disorder, the Main God Council Headquarters.

It was a grotesque building constructed from countless bubble spaces stitched together, floating in a relatively stable 'Rule Void'. In the Council Hall, twelve Main Gods (actually twelve fugitives from high-level civilizations) were arguing.

"Branch 88 was wiped out! The platform is purging us!"

"What are you afraid of? We're in the Sea of Disorder; they can't get in!"

"But our peripheral outposts are being picked off one by one! If this continues—"

Alarms suddenly blared.

[Illegal intrusion detected]

[Quantity: Three squads, approximately 150 people]

[First layer of turbulence defense breached]

"What?!" one Main God jumped up. "How did they get in?!"

"It's a safe path! Someone is calculating the rule changes!"

"Activate the defense system! Divert the turbulence toward them—"

Too late.

The three squads of the City Management Brigade had already reached the headquarters' perimeter.

Battle was imminent.

But at that moment, Little Red Clothes' Horror Special Effects Team made their move.

It wasn't a physical attack.

It was horror on a rule level.

In the turbulence of the Sea of Disorder, countless pale human faces suddenly emerged—the lingering thoughts of beings killed by the Main God Space. Little Red Clothes extracted these thoughts from the 'Resentment Database' of various worlds and, combined with the rule characteristics of the Sea of Disorder, transformed them into living horrors.

Those faces let out silent screams.

Wherever the screams passed, the rule turbulence was 'infected', turning into personalized nightmares for the members of the Main God Council.

One Main God saw worlds he had once plundered, with billions of beings crawling out of the void to grab him.

Another Main God found that the systems he controlled had all mutinied, turning back to drain his energy.

The third Main God had it worst—he saw his own true end: permanently sealed by the platform, his consciousness trapped in eternal darkness.

"Mental attack!" the Main Gods roared. "Use Rationality Barriers—"

But Rationality Barriers had their effectiveness halved in the Sea of Disorder.

And the nightmare had only just begun.

"Now!" Zhang Hao ordered over the command channel. "All squads, breach the headquarters! Priority on capturing Council members, followed by seizing the core database!"

The three squads cut in like sharp blades.

The battle was one-sided.

The Main God Council's defensive forces were like paper in front of the regular City Management Brigade. More importantly, these Main Gods were essentially just 'high-level pirates'; their power came from plunder, and their foundations were hollow.

The Greatsword Warrior cleaved open the door to the Council Hall with one swing.

Of the twelve Main Gods, three had already gone mad—their consciousnesses completely destroyed by the horror effects. The remaining nine were putting up a desperate struggle, but they were being caught one by one by the urban managers using 'Ability Stripping Devices'.

"The database is here!" a hacker expert found the core server.

It was a massive sphere of light, storing all the data plundered by the Main God Space over three hundred years: resource maps of nine thousand worlds, seven million system templates, and the soul contracts of 1.7 billion reincarnators...

"Pack it all up and take it away," Zhang Hao ordered. "Watch out, some data might be encrypted or embedded with viruses—"

"Already cracking it," the data stream in the hacker expert's eyes flashed frantically. "The encryption method is the old 'Soul Binding', but the platform has higher authority and can override it directly."

Three minutes later.

The Main God Council Headquarters was completely cleared.

Captured: nine Main Gods (including the three who went mad, for subsequent treatment). Seized: core database. Confiscated: reserve resources valued at 98 trillion dimension points.

"Withdraw," Zhang Hao looked at the mess on the ground. "Take everything that can be moved. For what can't be moved... blow it up."

"Wait!" a Main God who hadn't gone mad yet suddenly crawled over. "I... I can atone through service! I know where other piracy organizations are hiding! And... and who within the platform is supporting us!"

Zhang Hao stopped in his tracks: "Speak."

That Main God spilled seventeen names like pouring beans—all of them people on the platform's shareholder list. Eight of them had already lost power in Lin Chen's reforms, but nine were still in office.

"Interesting," Zhang Hao finished recording. "Take him away. If the intel is true, his sentence can be reduced."

"And..." the Main God hesitated for a moment, "I also know a secret of the Epoch Administration Bureau."

Zhang Hao's pupils constricted.

"In the deepest part of the Sea of Disorder, there is an 'Epoch Fissure'. It's a scar left from the destruction of the previous cosmic epoch. The Administration Bureau hid something there... possibly a weapon to deal with you."

The news was sent back to the platform headquarters.

Lin Chen looked at the intelligence and was silent for a moment.

"Handle the immediate matters first," he ordered. "Based on this list, arrest those nine shareholders still in office. The charge: colluding with illegal organizations and damaging the platform's interests."

The City Management Brigade split half its forces to storm back into the platform's internal sectors.

Those nine shareholders were still enjoying themselves in their private dimensions, never expecting the reckoning to come so quickly. When they were arrested, some begged in tears, some made threats, and some tried to activate self-destruct sequences—but all were suppressed.

"Ninth target captured," Zhang Hao reported. "All involved shareholders have been controlled."

"Good," Lin Chen nodded. "Now, deal with those captured reincarnators and system hosts."

He opened the disposal interface.

According to the regulations, the more than 17,000 illegal intruders were divided into three tiers:

Tier 1 (caused major losses): 3,200 people, assigned to labor reform scripts.

Tier 2 (forced participation): 9,500 people, unbind and repatriate or place under supervision.

Tier 3 (minor offenses): 4,800 people, can choose to join the 'Platform Customer Service Training Program'.

"Customer service?" Su Qingyu looked at this option. "Make them customer service representatives?"

"Yes." Lin Chen pulled up the customer service system data. "The platform now has seven million worlds, and the daily requests for assistance exceed one billion. The original customer service team can't handle it at all. But these reincarnators—they are familiar with various world rules, proficient in cross-dimensional communication, and have a strong desire to survive (to reduce their sentences)."

"Letting them serve the worlds they once harmed," Zhang Hao understood, "is both a punishment and a form of atonement."

"Furthermore," Lin Chen smiled, "we can set up a 'satisfaction rating' mechanism. If the worlds they serve give them high scores, their sentences can be reduced; if they get low scores, their sentences are extended. They will work their hardest to be good customer service reps."

The first batch of three thousand reincarnators was sent to the Customer Service Training Center.

The curriculum included:

"How to Politely Communicate with Victim Worlds"

"Detailed Explanation of Platform Regulations (Stop Doing Illegal Things)"

"Emotional Management (Don't Crumble Just Because You're Being Scolded)"

After training, they would be assigned to various worlds to handle complaints, answer questions, and assist in repairs.

And their work performance would directly determine when they could regain their freedom.

"As for those Main Gods," Lin Chen looked at the nine sealed fugitives from high-level civilizations, "all the technology and resources they possess are confiscated. Technical Department, dismantle their system templates and see if there's anything we can use."

"Already dismantling them," Mo Shan reported. "Discovered several interesting technologies: cross-dimensional consciousness binding, high-efficiency resource extraction, and... a 'low-consumption dimensional jump' technology that can save us 80% in transportation costs."

"Very good." Lin Chen closed all interfaces. "Phase one of the cleanup is complete."

"Phase two," he looked at the intelligence regarding the depths of the Sea of Disorder, "is to go see that 'Epoch Fissure'."

Outside the window, the captured shareholders were wailing, the reincarnators were memorizing customer service codes, and the Main Gods were being dismantled for research.

The order of the platform was being reforged.

But the countdown in the shadows only had 76 days left.

The thing inside the rift...

What would it be?