Chapter 1 The Magnificent and Terrifying Battlefield

The alien battlefield that suddenly appeared in the sky was only a fleeting moment, but its magnificent and terrifying madness had already been deeply imprinted in Constance's mind. She remained in the posture of looking up at the sky, even though the sky had returned to being covered by clouds. The distorted space-time that was burning fiercely in flames and thunder still seemed to be imprinted on her retina.

Finally, she retracted her gaze and looked around a little blankly, only to find that the ordinary soldiers around her were still doing their own things. Not a single person was staring at the sky, and not a single person showed a look of panic or helplessness, as if they hadn't heard the loud noise just now, nor had they seen the scene that appeared after the sky cracked.

Could it be that the others couldn't see what happened just now?

Constance instantly understood and looked down at Leah beside her, who was nervously rubbing her fingers at this moment.

"What was that just now?" Constance couldn't help but ask, "That thing in the sky..."

"It's an illusion," Leah instantly looked up and said with a serious face.

Constance blinked, "But I clearly saw..."

"It's an illusion," Leah said with a straight face, trying to make herself look serious.

Constance: "..."

"Okay, it's not an illusion," Leah thought for a moment, then gave up the idea of using divine words to distort reality. "What you saw just now was another layer of what's happening in this world."

"As I thought..." Constance frowned tightly, and countless thoughts flooded into her mind in an instant. "I know... I've seen that space before, although only from a distance, but I know that it's the Gorgon Abyss... But the Gorgon Abyss in my memory doesn't have such a battlefield..."

Leah glanced at the arm ring she had thrown on the ground in a hurry just now. The arm ring flowed with a faint light under her gaze, and then she picked it up and put it on her arm. This time, there were no strange phenomena in the sky: "I didn't want you to know too much in advance... because Hao Ren was worried that your will would waver, which would affect the final battle. After all... you may be the last inheritor with the ability to end the Annihilation Cycle. Your battle will be the last hope of this world."

Constance was very smart. In fact, even if she wasn't smart, relying on the experience and training accumulated over countless reincarnations would be enough to give her sufficient wisdom. She sighed softly: "So... Hao Ren and the others should be in the Gorgon Abyss, right? What I saw just now should be them... What is that? Another battlefield existing in parallel with this world?"

"Just like what you said, the inheritors experience countless reincarnations, and each reincarnation will cause a portion of their memories to be stripped away, so naturally you wouldn't know about the existence of another battlefield... That's not just the Gorgon Abyss, but the back of the world," Leah shook her head. "Come on, I'll tell you the truth in detail."

...

"The second echelon of the Guardian Legion's warships has suffered severe damage. Retreat for repairs. The third echelon, move into firing positions!"

"The drone swarms have already released the pulse clouds. Confirmed that the enemy fleet's activity has decreased – Annihilation Spears, prepare to fire!"

"High-energy reaction detected. All ships, prepare for impact – 3, 2, 1, impact incoming!"

A violent shaking came from underfoot, and a large swath of white flashes also appeared on the screens showing external surveillance. The shields of the Giant Tortoise Rock Table vibrated violently under the bombardment of a high-energy beam, but quickly regained stability.

Hao Ren steadied himself in his seat and asked, while watching the images transmitted from the various reconnaissance probes, "Nolan, report damages."

"The shields were not penetrated. This ship sustained minor damage," Nolan's voice came from the bridge's broadcast. "In addition, this space-time construct is still expanding continuously. The existing reconnaissance probes can no longer meet the surveillance needs – the expansion speed of the space-time construct exceeds the probes' replenishment and deployment speed."

"That's normal. We can't possibly scan the entire space-time construct," Hao Ren was not surprised by this result. "This space-time construct was reorganized after this universe underwent countless annihilations and rebirths. It contains the fragments and obsessions that the universe stripped away after each doomsday... Our probes can scan a battlefield, but they can't scan every change in the world."

Vivian looked at the large holographic projection in the center of the bridge, her brow furrowing slightly: "Some things different from the Gorgon warships are emerging."

At the edge of the chaotic battlefield, space-time had become extremely chaotic. Large swathes of clouds were torn apart in the roar of artillery fire, and countless crisscrossing dark stripes floated in mid-air, forming a bizarre and terrifying structure that resembled a spider web. And in those dark stripes, one could vaguely see the flickering ancient stars and the chaotic, illusory figures that were gradually rising.

Those illusory figures gradually solidified into entities, finally revealing their original appearance: they were huge starships that resembled inverted pyramids. The surface of each starship was inlaid with massive amounts of crystals and rune arrays, and around the starships, one could see countless floating turrets and spires of unknown purpose.

After these newly emerged ancient phantasms solidified into entities, they began to change rapidly. Their silver-white armor was almost instantly covered in darkness, and a large number of mutated and proliferating tentacles spread out from the inside of the ship, wriggling and extending in the starry sky in a terrifying posture. As the starship armor opened, countless warp-capable carrier aircraft and heavy warp missiles also poured out like bees guarding a hive, rushing towards the Guardian fleets and the armed drones everywhere on the battlefield.

The ever-unemotional tactical support AI once again began broadcasting: "Unknown units detected materializing in the current space-time – hostile intent confirmed, developing engagement plan – basic combat plan has been issued, Heavy Drone Squads 1 through 195 move into interception positions, Wide-area Warp Interference Field deployed."

"The echoes of another era have materialized," Hao Ren placed his hand on the console, his expression grim. "This is the rule of this parallel battlefield – as long as order is not destroyed, the power of madness will continue to awaken the echoes from one era after another and send them to the battlefield. The continuous expansion of this space-time construct is also due to the same reason. As long as we persist here, even more ancient and powerful ancient civilizations will appear. We were only dealing with Helsonja's low-tech armed satellites at the beginning, but now these... are clearly more powerful than the Gorgon starships."

Lily's eyes widened instantly: "Doesn't that mean it will get harder and harder to fight? Anyone who comes will die?!"

"There is a maximum difficulty," Hao Ren grinned. "At most, it will only reach the Ancestral Civilization."

Lily thought for a moment and almost jumped out of her chair: "You said the Ancestral Civilization might be even better at fighting than the Guardian Legion!"

"So our mission on this battlefield is to persist, to persist through as many waves as possible, until Constance completes this era transition," Hao Ren said quietly. "And as she gets closer and closer to the Imperial Capital, closer to the final battlefield, the enemies in our space-time will also appear and evolve at a faster rate – the two parallel battlefields interfere with and influence each other. When one advances, the other will accelerate, and when one collapses, the other will also plummet. And once both battlefields fall at the same time, that will be the total collapse of the ordered world, the moment of era reset."

"In the countless annihilations and reincarnations before this, the era transitions were ultimately caused by the total collapse of the two battlefields, right?" Vivian said. "And since this civilization completely lost its defenses in the deeper layers of the world, they have lost their chance to turn the tables under normal circumstances – no matter how hard they struggle, they can't achieve true victory."

"So that's what the Inspectors are for," Hao Ren smiled. "This civilization has potential, resilience, courage, and faith. They just lack an opportunity – now, we're giving them that opportunity."

Just as he finished speaking, Leah's voice suddenly sounded in his mind: "Hao Ren, I've discovered something on my end."

"What's wrong?"

"Constance saw the scene on your side – but only she and I saw it."

"Huh?" Hao Ren was taken aback. "How could this happen? What happened?"

"It seems that what my runaway divine power left behind in this world after splitting Lahein in two thousands of years ago was more than just a world rift," Leah's voice sounded a little helpless. "We discovered some 'artifacts' near the Imperial Capital, personal items of mine that were lost from the Creation Temple."

Leah's voice didn't just sound in Hao Ren's mind, so at this moment, the three people on the bridge looked at each other in confusion.

"My divine power reshaped this world, and it was inevitable that some traces would be left behind in the process, but I didn't expect these traces to be so strong as to materialize," Leah said. "Constance and I came into contact with that thing at the same time, and as a result, we accidentally opened the boundary between the surface and deep layers of the world for a short time. The principle should be the resonance of divine power running through space-time. In short, Constance has witnessed your battlefield, and I've told her everything."

Hao Ren pondered for a moment: "Then... what was her reaction?"

"She decided to continue advancing towards the Imperial Capital, just as planned, to end all the era transition wars. I don't think she's wavering at all."

"... Did you tell her the truth about her personally? She didn't waver either?"

"No. That surprised me too."

"Then... very good," Hao Ren breathed a sigh of relief. "She has chosen the path she wants to take, so let her continue on. Leah, give me the data from when you activated the divine power resonance just now. I have a plan."

"Okay. I'll also give you the 'thing' we found. I can roughly guess what you're going to do – but be careful, the power of the gods is not so easy to control."

"Don't worry – at least at this stage, I've read more books than you have."

"Eww..."

Leah's mental power left Hao Ren's mind, and at the same time, a ray of light appeared on the bridge's console. When the light dissipated, a small arm ring appeared in front of Hao Ren.

And at the same time that this arm ring was transmitted to the "deep battlefield," Hao Ren felt as if this space-time had undergone a faint "shift." This feeling was extremely difficult to describe, transcending human senses and thoughts. Hao Ren felt that if he had to describe it, it would be that at that instant, he felt that the entire space-time outside the Giant Tortoise Rock Table had suddenly turned into nothingness, and everything on the battlefield except for the Guardian Fleet and the Drone Legion had lost its physicality. And in the next instant, this feeling vanished like smoke.

Even just this fleeting feeling made him certain of one thing: his guess was correct.

The divine power shockwave that split Lahein in two thousands of years ago... Its aftereffects had not yet dissipated.

Its power could still be used once more.