The fragments of the Starfall Divine Realm returned to silence, as if the appearance and erasure of that cold eye of rules were merely a quietly cut piece of film. Xie Chen led Su Nian along the temple corridor paved with starlight veins, beyond which lay the eternally flowing, magnificent nebula, tranquil and vast.
However, an invisible, heavier pressure, like pervasive stardust, quietly enveloped this isolated island. It was the anger and scrutiny of a higher dimension, something even the realm of gods could not completely shield before the storm.
Xie Chen's expression returned to its usual calm, even more restrained than before, but Su Nian could feel that his grip on her hand was tighter than ever before—an unquestionable, almost instinctive protective gesture. He seemed relaxed as he showed her around this temporary place, introducing the pavilions, terraces, and trees—all formed from divine power and possessing both aesthetic appeal and practical function—but most of his attention was clearly focused on sensing any abnormal fluctuations in the rules of the boundless universe beyond the divine realm.
“This can be used as a study in the future, where you can write your stories.” He pointed to a quiet room surrounded by the illusion of a flowing sea of books, his tone gentle.
“You can see the tides of different star systems over there if you feel bored.” He pointed to a protruding observatory at the end of the corridor, where two spiral star belts intersected, creating a spectacular sight.
His arrangements were meticulous and thoughtful, as if they were truly going to live here permanently. But Su Nian knew that this was just a temporary illusion in the eye of the storm.
[Host, this system has just intercepted an extremely faint, ridiculously high-level encrypted broadcast!] 088's voice trembled uncontrollably. Despite being repeatedly silenced by Xie Chen, it stubbornly found a gap to communicate with Su Nian under the threat of life and death. [It's a notification from the Main God Space... the 'Most Wanted' order' and... the 'Zeroing Protocol' activation announcement! The target... is us!]
Su Nian's heart sank. "Zeroing Protocol"? It didn't sound like a good thing.
As if to confirm 088's fear, just as Su Nian was feeling uneasy because of this word, a sudden change occurred!
On the ground beneath her feet, formed by veins of starlight, at a tiny point, a murky gray, utterly out of place with the surrounding sacred radiance, suddenly flashed by without warning! The gray flashed by so quickly it was almost impossible to catch, but the familiar yet repulsive aura of rules contained within it instantly sharpened Xie Chen's eyes to a razor's edge!
It is a deeper "fuse" left behind by the main god's mark! It was not completely isolated by the barrier, but was activated by the concept of the "zeroing protocol" in a way that is almost "causal"!
"Ugh!" Su Nian felt as if a cold needle had pierced her brain, and a sharp, soul-wrenching pain shot through her! It wasn't physical pain, but a tearing sensation as if her memories were being forcibly pried open and her consciousness was being invaded by external rules!
Countless chaotic and fragmented images, like a flood bursting its banks, assaulted her consciousness—
It's no longer the experience from previous mission worlds, but... something from much earlier and much further back!
The cold experimental chamber, the nerve probe gleaming with an eerie blue light inserted into her temple…
Countless figures in white uniforms, their faces blurred, were recording data around her, their eyes cold as if they were looking at an object...
A massive, heart-pulsating ball of light composed of pure energy (the core of a supreme god?) cast a scrutinizing gaze, its icy voice resounding directly in her mind: "Special sample 'Su Nian,' soul compatibility anomaly, initiate 'Origin Tracing Project'..."
And then... an endless, warm, chaotic light, and within that light, a vague, sorrowful, and resolute figure belonging to Xie Chen (?)...
These fragmented memories surged forth, carrying a huge amount of information and emotional impact, almost overwhelming and destroying Su Nian's self-awareness!
"Su Nian!"
Xie Chen's deep voice was like a stabilizing force, instantly piercing through her chaotic sea of consciousness. He pulled her trembling body tightly into his arms, one hand covering her back. His warm and powerful divine energy acted like the strongest dam, forcefully blocking the impact of those foreign memory fragments and instantly shattering and purifying the gray "fuse" that was trying to activate the mark!
As the flood of memories receded, what remained was a severe headache like a hangover and a bone-chilling cold. Su Nian, pale and exhausted, leaned against Xie Chen's chest, panting heavily, her forehead covered in cold sweat.
"What...what is that?" Her voice trembled. Those unfamiliar fragments of memory, filled with the feeling of being manipulated and experimented upon, filled her with unprecedented fear and...anger.
Xie Chen's face was terrifyingly grim. His divine eyes churned with a killing intent powerful enough to freeze the stars. He gently patted her back, calming her erratic breathing, but his voice was icy cold:
“It’s the ‘memory anchor’ buried deep in your soul,” he explained, each word seemingly pulled from an icy abyss. “It’s not just for location, but also for altering, overwriting, or even formatting your consciousness when necessary, turning you into the ‘shape’ it wants.”
Su Nian felt a chill run through her body. She had always thought she was just an ordinary mission participant who had been unfortunately caught up in something, but now it seemed that she herself might be a link in some grand plan of the Main God! The so-called "quick transmigration mission," the so-called "deceiving someone's true feelings," the truth hidden behind them might be far darker and crueler than she imagined.
“The source tracing plan…” she murmured, reciting that cold word from her memory.
Upon hearing this word, Xie Chen tightened his grip on her arm, a flash of extreme pain and realization crossing his eyes.
“So that’s how it is…” he murmured to himself, as if connecting some key clues, “It has been searching for… a ‘container’ that can hold and ‘awaken’ a specific divine fragment…” He looked down at Su Nian’s pale face, his eyes filled with extreme complexity, a mixture of fear, relief, and a devastating rage.
"And you, Su Nian, you are the 'key' and 'cage' that it meticulously prepared for me."
His initial soul shattering, Su Nian being chosen as a mission taker, their seemingly accidental entanglement... all of this could very well be a grand scheme orchestrated by the God of War to achieve some unknown purpose!
Just then, the entire fragment of the Starfall God Realm trembled violently without warning!
It wasn't an attack from the outside, but rather stemmed from... the collapse of the internal rules!
At the edge of the temple corridor, the light in a small area began to dim and collapse rapidly, like a painting being erased, revealing a void behind it, devoid of any rules or concepts! That void continued to spread slowly but steadily in all directions!
“‘Zeroing Protocol’…” Xie Chen looked up at the area being “erased”, his eyes grave. “It has begun to directly erode the underlying rules of the Divine Realm. It’s not an attack, but rather… ‘denying its existence’.”
This is a more intractable and terrifying tactic than a direct attack. It doesn't compete with you in terms of energy strength; instead, it fundamentally declares that you "should not exist."
As Su Nian gazed at the ever-expanding, chilling "void," she felt a despair even deeper than when facing the "Eye of Judgment." This was no longer a contest of power, but the ultimate judgment of existence or non-existence.
Xie Chen shielded her behind him, facing the spreading "nothingness," and once again, divine power containing the essence of creation and destruction began to flow from his body. But this time, his expression was no longer as relaxed and willful as before.
"Looks like the break is over," he said in a low voice, as if talking to himself, or as if announcing to Su Nian.
He raised his hand, and the golden divine power swirling around his fingertips was no longer just warmth and light, but also carried a resolute sharpness that seemed capable of splitting the heavens and earth and redefining the rules.
"Since it wants to 'reset'..."
His gaze pierced through the crumbling divine realm, as if he could see the core of the supreme god hidden behind countless dimensions. His voice was cold and calm, yet carried an undeniable declaration of war:
"Then I will redefine a 'beginning' for it."
The Starfall God Realm is wailing; the prelude to returning to zero has begun.
The gods' retaliation will not be as simple as just erasing an eye.
(End of Chapter 169)
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