297: Chapter 297 Morgana's Choice! Burning her essence to absolute zero.

The moment Yuanshi refused, the hand of formatting accelerated its grasp.

Before Lin Chen could react, Zhang Hao's scream came through the comms: "Boss! The storm intensity is spiking! The diversion service isn't going to hold!"

Lin Chen looked up.

In the sky, that grayish-white giant hand had already reached the border of the Dead Silence Star Domain. Its five fingers were spread wide, each engraved with blood-red words: 'Format', 'Delete', 'Clear', 'Reset', and 'Zeroing'.

In the center of the palm, the insignia of the Epoch Administration Bureau was glowing.

Wherever the light reached, the shield of the tree of heavenly dao began to melt.

System notifications popped up frantically:

[Warning! diversion service time remaining: 3 minutes!]

[Warning! concept reinforcement service remaining energy: 47%!]

[Warning! The hand of formatting is breaking through the first line of defense!]

Lin Chen opened the comms: "Morgana! Alpha! How much longer can you hold?"

Alpha's voice was intermittent: "Data Star Domain... defense... only 12% left... I'm almost... at my limit..."

Morgana's channel was deathly silent.

Lin Chen switched to the surveillance feed of the Icebound Star Domain.

In the image, Morgana stood upon the icebound throne, her entire body covered in frost. Beneath her feet, cracks on the throne had already spread across the entire base. Above her head, the five fingers of the hand of formatting were pointed right at her star domain, ready to descend at any moment.

But she did not flee.

She looked up at that hand, her gaze exceptionally calm.

"Lin Chen," her voice came through the comms, clear and cool.

"I'm here!"

"The diversion service needs coordinates, right?"

Lin Chen blanked for a moment. "Yes. Someone needs to stand at the eye of the storm and use their own energy to guide the storm's redirection."

"Then I'll do it."

Lin Chen's pupils constricted. "Are you crazy?! That means—"

"It means I will die," Morgana interrupted him. "I know."

She stood up, and the cracks on the icebound throne began to glow.

"Lin Chen, I have lived for three million, two hundred and seventy thousand years. I have seen the rise and fall of countless civilizations, experienced three Zeroings, and two rebirths. It has been long enough."

"But the civilizations within the Icebound Star Domain have only just come back to life. They shouldn't die here."

Lin Chen grit his teeth. "There must be another way! I'll take another loan, buy another diversion—"

"It's too late," Morgana shook her head. "The hand of formatting has already locked onto the Icebound Star Domain. In three minutes, it will fall. Diversion requires coordinates to be set in advance; it's too late to set them now. The only way left is for someone to stand directly at the impact point and use themselves as the coordinate."

She paused and smiled.

There was frost in that smile, but also warmth.

"Lin Chen, thank you."

"Thank me for what?"

"Thank you for letting me know that three million years of loneliness can be broken."

She raised her hand, and an ice-blue light rose from her palm.

The light grew brighter and more blinding.

Lin Chen realized what she was about to do and roared, "Morgana! Stop!"

But it was already too late.

Morgana's figure began to burn—not with fire, but with a pure ice-blue light that spread outward from her core. With every inch it spread, her body became a fraction more transparent.

The icebound throne collapsed completely.

The fragments did not fall; instead, they floated in the air, swirling with the light to form a massive ice-blue vortex.

Morgana stood at the center of the vortex, looking up at the hand of formatting.

"Come then," she said softly. "Let me see if three million years of frost can freeze your Zeroing."

The light exploded.

A pillar of ice-blue light shot into the sky, stabbing directly at the grayish-white giant hand.

The moment the pillar of light made contact with the palm, the entire sky froze.

The grayish-white light and the ice-blue light clashed violently, eroding and devouring each other. The roar of the storm and the sound of shattering frost intertwined, vibrating until ears throbbed with pain.

Three seconds later.

The light dissipated.

The hand of formatting stopped in mid-air, its five fingers spread, motionless.

An ice-blue crack appeared in the center of its palm.

That was the mark Morgana had left with her life.

Lin Chen stared fixedly at that crack, not saying a word.

Morgana's final voice came through the comms:

"Lin Chen... help me take care of the Icebound Star Domain..."

The voice grew weaker and more distant.

Finally, it vanished completely.

Lin Chen looked up.

In the sky, that ice-blue pillar of light was fading. At the end of the pillar, there was nothing left.

Only a void.

And a crack that would never heal.

Arrogant Dragon rushed over, looked at the sky, opened his mouth, but could say nothing.

Zhang Hao's communication patched in, his voice tearful: "Boss... Morgana, she..."

"I know," Lin Chen said.

He opened the system to check the status of the Icebound Star Domain.

[Icebound Star Domain]

Preservation Rate: 79% (Far exceeding expectations)

Core Civilizations: All survived

Morgana Status: Dissipated

Dissipated.

Those words were light, as if nothing had happened.

But Lin Chen knew that behind those words lay three million years of loneliness, a newly regained life, and an unhesitating sacrifice.

He remained silent for a long time.

Then he opened the comms and connected to Alpha.

"Alpha."

"I'm here," Alpha's voice was low.

"Use your computing power to save Morgana's last transmission. Keep it for as long as you can."

"...Understood."

The communication cut off.

Lin Chen looked up at the ice-blue crack in the sky.

Inside the crack, the hand of formatting was still there.

But its five fingers would never fall again.

Because a person named Morgana had used her life to freeze it.

Arrogant Dragon asked quietly, "Boss, what do we do next?"

Lin Chen didn't answer.

He just looked at that crack for a very long time.

Then he said:

"When the storm passes, we go to the Icebound Star Domain."

"We find her legacy."