Chapter 1 The Truth Unveiled

For tens of millions of years, the central region of the Dream Plane Universe has been shrouded in an "event horizon," a dark barrier that isolates the flow of information and completely encloses the oldest and most mysterious area of this universe. No one can know what happens within the horizon. Even if a few mortal civilizations develop supremely advanced technologies, they can only discover a near-eternal darkness at the center of the universe, and the luckiest (or unluckiest) of them might, by chance, cross the horizon and see the truth behind this dark barrier. However, without exception, they will have their minds completely annihilated by the sights on the other side of the horizon, becoming pure madmen or pure monsters.

Therefore, no one knows the true appearance of this "central region" except for the jailers who guard this prison.

But today, the event horizon vanished, the barrier disappeared, and the most insane and terrifying aspect of this universe was finally revealed to everyone.

It was a scene that defied description. All logical vocabulary and mathematical expressions lost their meaning in this area. The various spatial structures and optical phenomena familiar to humans also disappeared. Behind that horizon, were chaotic structures stacked and entangled together, so vast that they could devour the entire galaxy. Countless crisscrossing dark shadows loomed in space, and insane, disordered dark celestial bodies lived and died in those shadows. Tangible and intangible things appeared in patches, then vanished in an instant. At the same time, this insane region was spreading madly.

Hao Ren saw those indescribable shadows wriggling and multiplying, their boundaries rapidly shifting towards the orderly universe, with tidal waves of derivatives forming wave after wave of sharp points at the boundary.

An army of drones rushed forward, and glaring artillery fire tore through the darkness, ripping countless holes of all sizes in the derivatives and the forces of madness. However, all the gaps were filled within seconds, and after a few breaths, the drones disappeared into the vast expanse of space, followed by new drone swarms taking their place...

Such a terrifying sight would be enough to instantly collapse any ordinary army, but it could not shake the bloodless and tearless drone swarms. The collective consciousness seemed to have no awareness, constantly filling its swarms into those gaps, while issuing new instructions without emotion:

"First combat cluster annihilated, replenishing forces according to preset procedures."

"Annihilation lances fully charged, target—sharp point nodes of the chaotic structure, commencing first salvo."

"Corruption forces have arrived at designated locations, activating 'vaccine.'"

Far away in the depths of the X-Cluster, in the hall of the World Tree Temple, a black obelisk floated in mid-air. Several crisscrossing beams of light shot out from the tops of the pillars around the hall, focusing on the top of the obelisk, and beneath each pillar stood a solemn-faced guardian giant.

As the command to activate the vaccine was issued, all the guardian giants simultaneously raised their long staffs, and the beams of light released by the pillars instantly intensified. Countless complex patterns emerged on the surface of the black obelisk. This ancient device, bearing the obsession of countless generations of the Lahrien civilization, guarding the civilization's heritage through countless cycles, was activated once again. The complex data it contained was extracted, translated, and transformed into a stream of information that could suppress the pollution of madness. It was then transmitted to the front lines through the drone network that spanned the entire Dream Plane, amplified by the antenna systems of fortresses on the front lines, and ultimately became a mathematical weapon powerful enough to suppress the entire battlefield.

In the vast expanse of space behind the fortress clusters, starlike points of light lit up one by one, forming a Great Wall of Desperation in space. The giant antenna arrays in the center of the Watch Fortresses were also activated simultaneously. The fan-shaped structures, like giant wings, slowly opened, and almost at the same instant, Hao Ren noticed that the chaotic structures that were constantly spreading in space had noticeably slowed their advance. They seemed to have encountered an invisible barrier, presenting a comical scene of slow motion as they struggled to break through.

"The vaccine is working!" the data terminal cheered excitedly.

"This is just the first step," Hao Ren remained calm. Although he also wanted to cheer, having read countless novels, movies, and TV series, he knew one thing: any cheering in the first half of the progress bar was courting death. Getting too happy too early was a surefire way to get rubbed on the ground by the villains. "What's the situation in the rear?"

Several holographic projections instantly opened in front of him, showing images of Izhaks, the Nangong siblings, Lily, and others. The backgrounds behind each of them were different, some were the Royal Mage Tower of Holleta, and others were the endless oceans of Aioi.

"There's no movement on Holleta's side yet," Izhaks said, standing behind him was Lanina, who had come from the Demon King's Castle to help. Due to the limitations of the Wall of Reality, only a few dozen people, in addition to the half-undead, half-mechanical Einherjar, could come to support from the surface world, so Izhaks carefully selected the most useful assistants. "No need to worry here. All the countries on this planet have mobilized. The monks of the Radiant Order completed the construction of the defensive line a few days ago, and their divine arts will be a great help."

"Aioi is peaceful, da!" Lily said, followed by Izhaks. Behind her stood the imposing Einherjar Guards. "Here, there's just sea after sea. The few seaside cities are all under my nose, so nothing can happen."

"Master, Tanagrus was briefly invaded," in the third holographic image, Valkyrie, clad in silver armor, appeared. As the highest command node for all Einherjar, she was stationed in Tanagrus and was also personally responsible for the defense of the planet itself. "Minor contamination occurred in the Holy Spring Valley, which has now been cleared."

As Valkyrie finished speaking, Nangong Wuyue in the adjacent holographic projection said, "There were also small-scale chaotic monsters appearing on Coro—but they were wiped out by Veronica and the Black Crow Knights as soon as they showed their heads. The Coro people are very good at dealing with these 'minor contaminations,' so it seems like we're not needed here at all."

After hearing the situation from the various planets, Leah showed a thoughtful expression: "As soon as the blockade was broken, they immediately reached out to those planets with intelligent life... It seems that even with the ability to think, you haven't become much smarter."

"Vaccine coverage has reached one hundred percent, and the broadcast system is currently at seventy-two percent load... There is ample margin," the voice of the drone swarm came from the liquid metal cluster above the fortress command hall. "Scanning chaotic structures... A shallow breakthrough has been discovered, uploading to the *Giant Tortoise Rock Platform*."

"Nolan," Hao Ren switched communication channels, "How are the preparations?"

"Shields are full, power is abundant, boss," Nolan's voice sounded confident, "Ready to depart at any time."

"Check your systems carefully. This time, we're on a one-way trip."

"Yes, yes, yes, you're the boss—don't worry, I've checked it many times. This ship is now waiting in port, come and get your one-way ticket!"

Hao Ren and Vivian exchanged a glance and smiled tacitly.

Leah had already stood up before them: "Let's go, the path has been opened."

On a battlefield measured in light-years, a small spaceship only a few hundred meters long could not be described as small.

It was a speck of dust that could almost be regarded as cosmic dust, ignored by everyone.

The central tower of the Watch Fortress opened an inconspicuous launch channel, and the silver-white Inspector's flagship slid out of it lightly and silently, then accelerated into a stream of light, charging towards the chaos and darkness in the distance with an indomitable momentum. The crisscrossing artillery fire and debris flying everywhere on the battlefield formed a storm around her and were gradually left behind.

"Forward command authority transferred to the drone swarm AI and the commander of the Saraman Legion, command authority for the defense lines of each ecological planet transferred to Izhaks and Valkyrie," Hao Ren sat in the captain's seat, issuing instructions one by one. "The World Tree Temple switches to autonomous mode and monitors the situation at all times."

"Mulu, Lehmendusa, Loken, remember your tasks," Vivian said into her communicator, "Once the situation deteriorates to the worst possible point... don't hesitate, take those who can evacuate and leave this world. The teleportation network built by the drone swarms will be fully unlocked at that moment, and you will be the new guides."

"We are about to enter the chaotic zone, and those huge spatial structures are already close at hand," Hao Ren raised his head and looked at the real-time images transmitted from the external monitors. Around the *Giant Tortoise Rock Platform*, countless vast and hazy gray-black smoke columns and rifts were pressing in like mountains. In the darkness, countless eyes, countless hands and feet, and countless tentacles could be vaguely seen wriggling blindly, but upon closer inspection, it would be discovered that they were all illusions. "Wish us luck."

"In fact, in the beginning, only the deepest layer of the Dark Abyss was like this," Leah said softly. "All of these structures have only proliferated in the last few months—in the battle ten thousand years ago, I ultimately lost one step. The Lord of Madness has drawn endless nightmare power from the extinction of countless ecological planets throughout the universe, and it is this power that has allowed it to grow to this point."

Nolan's voice came from the bridge's broadcast: "Shielding system activated, entering stealth operation mode."

A hazy light floated on the armor plates of the *Giant Tortoise Rock Platform*, and then the light around the entire ship began to bend and collapse. The amount of information released by the ship itself also decreased rapidly. After only a few breaths, it "disappeared" on the battlefield.

The artillery fire and debris were already far behind. Now, the images transmitted from the external monitors showed only disordered and insane cosmic space.

If one closed their eyes, the tranquility on the bridge might even give the illusion that the war was over.

But the data jumping on the consoles showed the truth: the shields were fluctuating every minute and every second, and the damage control sensors throughout the ship were almost constantly issuing various alarms.

Even if no enemies could be seen around, the attack had never stopped from the beginning.