if
The deathly silence of the ancient ruins weighed heavily on Chen Mengzhou's eardrums. The torrent of information about the "Final Legacy" surging through her mind hadn't yet fully subsided. The grandeur of the Tower of Law, the tragic grandeur of the Judgment Council, and the chilling truth of the Annihilation Beast's true nature threatened to rupture her consciousness.
But she didn't have time to digest it.
After absorbing the final wisp of energy from the dark red core, the "Key of Time" temporarily stabilized, but the tiny cracks on its surface remained alarming, and its connection to the fragments of the Ark's "lighthouse" was as weak as a candle in the wind. She had to return quickly! Every second she stayed put, and the risk of the compass shattering completely and her being lost forever in this "other shore" increased!
Following her memory of the journey, she quickly returned along the dusty metal passage. Her footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, adding a touch of mystery. She struggled to push the heavy manual valve open again, revealing the same bizarre, chaotic sea of colors of the "other shore."
Without hesitation, she focused all her attention on the "Key of Time", trying her best to activate the coordinate information from her hometown dimension and the faint residual energy of the previous civilization that she had just acquired.
Buzz!
The compass erupted with unprecedented light, forcibly tearing open an extremely unstable, constantly twisting and shrinking return channel in this chaos! At the other end of the channel, the familiar scene of the Ark's core command hall could be vaguely seen!
Now is the time!
Chen Mengzhou used up his last bit of strength and plunged in!
The world spun! The familiar tearing sensation returned, but with a distinct tug. The frantic noise and distorted colors of the "other shore" were rapidly left behind.
Bang!
She fell heavily on the hard ground. The violent impact made her eyes go dark, her throat feel sweet, and she almost fainted.
"Small boat!"
"Chen Mengzhou!"
The voices of father Shen Hua and Chu Li sounded almost at the same time, filled with anxiety and incredible ecstasy.
Through her blurred vision, she saw her father and Chu Li rushing to her side, surrounded by the Ark staff standing guard. The lights in the command center hall were a bit glaring, and the air was filled with the smell of burning energy overload and... a faint smell of blood?
She's back...really back...
"Hurry! Medical team!" Shen Hua's voice trembled as he carefully helped her up.
Chen Mengzhou endured the dizziness and severe pain, and suddenly grabbed his father's arm, his voice hoarse but urgent: "Dad... I... found... the real... answer..."
Before she finished her words——
Boom!!!!
The entire Ark suddenly shook violently! More violently than ever before! A shrill alarm instantly resounded in every corner!
[——Warning! Shield energy reduced to 41%! ——]
[——Warning! High-intensity space jump signal detected! Coordinates: Directly above the Ark! ——]
[——Warning! The flagship code of the Overseer's direct fleet has been identified! ——]
On the main screen, the surveillance footage outside the Ark instantly switched—a massive, mountain-like, sinister-looking, pitch-black warship obscured the blood-red sky! From its base, countless gun barrels blazed with destructive light! It was the Overseer's direct command, and they had unexpectedly warped directly above the Ark!
To the side of the battleship, an even more terrifying scene unfolded—the space there was violently rippling like water waves, a massive, unstable spatial vortex forming! In the center of the vortex, a gigantic claw covered in cold metal and wriggling flesh could be vaguely seen, attempting to force its way through!
They're the vanguard of the "Patrons"! They've been led directly to the coordinates of the Ark by the "Overseers"! They intend to attack from both inside and outside, destroying this last fortress in one fell swoop!
"They're crazy! Completely crazy!" Chen Hua stared at the screen, his face livid. "Do they want to die together?!"
"No... they want to... get... the Ark's legacy... before the 'Patrollers' completely destroy everything..." Chen Mengzhou struggled to stand up straight, looking at the warships that covered the sky and the terrifying claws that were about to be extended on the screen, a hint of understanding and cold ridicule flashed in his eyes.
She suddenly raised the "Key of Time" in her hand, whose light had begun to flicker unsteadily again, and spoke to her father at a very fast speed, condensing her discoveries in the ruins of "the other shore" - the Judgment Council, the Tower of Law, the nature of the Annihilation Beast, the truth about the repair of rules - into the most refined information, and conveyed it to Shen Hua like a mental shock!
The moment Shen Hua received the information, his body shook violently, and his eyes burst into disbelief, which then turned into a complex emotion mixed with shock, ecstasy, and deeper worry.
So that’s it! So that’s the truth!
"So... the 'Lighthouse' fragments... are the key!" Chen Mengzhou panted, pointing in the direction of the underground energy matrix, "We must... activate them... not to reinforce the 'wall'... but to... activate the rule patch!"
Just then!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Ark's energy shield, under the concentrated fire from the warships above, rippled violently, its light visibly dimming! Meanwhile, the "Patroller" had already extended its sharp claws more than halfway, its terrifying pressure making it difficult for everyone in the hall to breathe!
Time is running out! When the shield breaks, the Ark will be destroyed!
"Activate all Lighthouse fragments! Energy overload! Connect the authority to the Key of Time!" Chen Hua practically shouted the order. He looked at Chen Mengzhou, his eyes filled with a father's reluctance and a leader's determination. "The boat... the Ark... and the future of this world... are in your hands!"
The technicians worked frantically, and a dull roar and the roar of rushing energy emanated from underground! All the sealed "lighthouse" fragments were forcibly activated. Like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, the enormous energy flowed through the transmission array and madly rushed towards the "Key of Time" in Chen Mengzhou's hand!
The compass instantly erupted with a brilliant light like a supernova! Cracks began to spread across its surface, as if it would disintegrate at any moment! Chen Mengzhou felt as if his body was about to burst from this force, and every cell in his body was wailing!
She gripped the compass tightly, pouring all her will into it, guiding this tremendous force that gathered the heritage of Kronos and previous civilizations, not to throw it at the warship above her head, nor at the claws of the "Patrol" that was about to break through, but... to slam it hard into the constantly rippling space vortex itself!
Goal - to repair the rule loophole that was forcibly torn apart and is about to form a stable channel!
"In the name of judgment... rules... reconstruction!"
She let out a cry from her soul!
Buzz——!!!
A beam of light that could not be described in color, containing the dual meanings of order and chaos, creation and destruction, shot up from the "Key of Time" into the sky, ignoring the Ark's energy shield and directly hitting the space vortex!
No explosion, no impact.
There was only a silent wail and tremor as if the foundation of the universe was shaken!
The vast spatial vortex rippled violently like water after a stone was dropped, and then... began to close at a speed visible to the naked eye! The chaotic rules that formed the vortex were forcibly straightened and smoothed out! The "Patroller" claw, which had already extended more than halfway, roared in anger and unwillingness, but was stuck firmly by the rapidly contracting rules, and then... was abruptly severed from the main dimension!
A huge mountain-like broken claw, half covered with metal and flesh, fell from the rapidly closing space crack, slammed heavily on the Ark's shield, causing a circle of energy ripples, and then fell to the ground below!
The passage of "The Patrol"... was forcibly closed!
At the same time, without the restraint of the "Patrol", and frightened by the huge movement at the rule level below, the attack of the "Monitor" flagship above was delayed for a moment!
"Now! All weapons! Target the enemy flagship engine! Fire at once!" Shen Hua seized this fleeting opportunity and roared the order!
All the turrets hidden in the Ark lit up instantly, and the long-accumulated energy was like an angry torrent, bombarding the relatively fragile tail engine area of the black battleship!
Boom——!!!
A huge explosion erupted at the rear of the battleship! The battleship tilted violently, lost its balance, and the attack came to an abrupt end!
Success! They temporarily repelled the Overseer's flagship and closed off the Patroller's passage!
However, the cost is huge.
The "Key of Time" compass in Chen Mengzhou's hand finally couldn't bear the weight after it unleashed that final blow. With a crisp cracking sound, it turned into countless glittering fragments and slipped from her hands. Before it even hit the ground, it had dissipated into the most basic energy particles and returned to the void.
She felt as if all her bones were pulled out, and she fell backwards softly, and was caught by the quick-eyed and quick-handed Chu Li.
"Xiao Zhou!" Shen Hua rushed over, and seeing his daughter's pale appearance and weak breath, he felt heartbroken.
Chen Mengzhou opened his eyes with difficulty, looked at the anxious faces of his father and Chu Li, then looked at the temporarily retreated black warship and the completely closed space on the main screen, and struggled to pull out a faint arc at the corner of his mouth.
"...For now...it's safe..."
Her voice was as thin as a thread.
"But the 'key'... is broken..." Chu Li looked at the last speck of light that dissipated in the air, his voice choked with sobs.
Chen Mengzhou shook his head and looked into the void, as if he could see the ancient ruins in the distant "other side".
"...'Key'...there is never more than one..."
"...Judgment's mission... is... not over yet..."
She slowly raised her hand and pointed to the coordinates of other possible fallen "Tower of Law" fragments marked on the star map on the main screen.
"...find...them..."
"…complete…'Final Purification'…"
As soon as she finished speaking, she could no longer hold on and fell into a deep coma.
Chen Hua hugged his daughter tightly, looking at the vast star map on the screen and the coordinates his daughter finally pointed to. Tears finally fell from his eyes, but more of it was a determination that came from having undertaken a heavy mission.
He raised his head and looked at all the staff members in the hall who had survived the disaster and were looking sad and confused. His voice was hoarse but with unquestionable power:
"Pass the order down—"
"Ark, enter the highest combat readiness!"
"Goal - Search for the coordinates of all 'Tower of Law' fragments!"
"Our war...is far from over!"
"For the dead, for the living, for... this world beneath our feet, it's worth saving!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
