Chapter 306: Gate of Despair

The voyage halted abruptly.

It wasn't because we hit something.

Rather, everything ahead has "vanished".

In a pure void that defies definition of even light and darkness, a "scar" stretches across, immeasurable by any scale.

It is a door.

A massive gate forged from pure blood‑red and solidified blackness.

It has no substance, yet feels more real than any star, as if an absolute concept imprinted here at the birth of the universe.

Gate of Despair.

Within Wang Zhitao's massive beastly body came a severely uncomfortable low growl, and his black‑golden scales lost some of their luster.

On the door, there are no carvings, no runes.

Only faces.

Countless billions of faces, painful, twisted, numb to the extreme, stacked layer upon layer, densely packed, forming every detail of the massive gate.

They do not wail.

Because even the strength to wail has been drained.

They simply stand there, gazing with hollow eye sockets, turning that epoch‑spanning ultimate despair into a tangible gravitational field that pulls all nearby matter and energy, crushing and absorbing them, turning them into a new, numb face on the door.

The living behemoth fortress "Demolition Office No. 1", the moment it draws near, its Law Shield on the hull begins to emit an overburdened sizzle, as if an ice block were being pressed by a branding iron.

A stream of data—no, a cold, unchallengeable edict—descends directly into the consciousnesses of Wang Zhize and Wang Zhitao.

"Invader."

Father of Void.

Its will projection coalesces above the gate.

This time, no longer a vague silhouette, but a towering divine shadow, a hundred times more solid than the one that formed by the Law Pool last time. Its gaze is like a server admin scrutinizing a piece of buggy code.

"This is the Termination Land."

"All your struggles, your so‑called hope, will become the sweetest nourishment for despair."

The grand thought, like a celestial decree, ripples visible law waves through the void.

On the bridge, Wang Zhize watches the door, watches the god‑like shadow of supreme authority on it, yet his face shows no hint of solemnity.

He even feels like laughing.

All this fanfare?

Isn't this just a server login screen with added visual effects and mental contamination?

"Brother, I'm hungry," Wang Zhitao's thought came, tinged with irritability and greed, "This broken gate looks… very filling!"

He can no longer restrain himself; his massive body tenses, as if ready to lunge in the next instant, to take a hard bite out of the gate etched with billions of despairs.

"Hold on."

Wang Zhize lifts his hand, gives a vague press, curbing his brother's impulse.

"This gate isn't meant to be eaten; it's meant to be opened."

He looks at the door, his gaze as if admiring a piece of art, yet also inspecting a program bug.

"See, what a brilliant design. Using the despair of countless failures to build a psychological and physical barrier that 'latercomers cannot surpass.' Any challenger arriving here first faces the 'death' of billions of predecessors. Even before the fight begins, morale drops by three percent."

"What a pity," Wang Zhize says, his familiar, mischievous smile curling again, "Here, this isn't called despair."

"This is… fuel."

He extends a finger and lightly taps the main console.

"I define: all negative energy emitted by the Gate of Despair as the highest‑priority supply for the Creation Engine."

"Define attribute: a grind toward hope."

Hum—!

The Core of the living fortress "Demolition Office No. 1", the Creation Engine powered by Wang Zhize's "Newborn Realm", roared greedily!

The shield, previously flickering under the pressure of despair energy, at this instant seemed to have found the most delicious food. Invisible energy conduits sprouted from the fortress, precisely piercing the suffocating field of despair.

That negative energy, capable of collapsing a great world in an instant, now, like countless rivers returning to the sea, is wildly siphoned and transmuted by the Creation Engine into the purest power driving the fortress forward!

The fortress, rather than being pushed back, behaves like a fuel‑filled sports car, its engine roaring as it charges toward the massive gate!

This scene causes the Father of Void's will projection atop the gate to momentarily freeze.

It cannot comprehend.

Like a programmer who cannot grasp why anyone would charge a computer with a virus.

"Absurd!"

The angry roar turns into a tangible will shock!

"Roar!"

Wang Zhitao has been waiting for this!

His massive black‑golden beastly silhouette instantly breaks free from the fortress, like a black lightning flowing upstream, boldly confronting the will tentacle extending from the gate, composed of the pure concept of "Erasure".

"Invader, you think this little cleverness lets you challenge the supreme Void Law?"

Wang Zhize ignores the lofty proclamation; his gaze already pierces the gate's façade, locking onto the core law node driving its interior.

There, countless law chains intertwine like a spider's web, the core logic singular—absorb despair, fortify itself, isolate everything.

"The firewall is indeed thick."

Wang Zhize chuckles lightly, spreading both hands into the void as if to embrace the entire gate.

Behind him, a phantom of the Newborn Realm flickers. That sprout, symbolizing infinite possibilities, after absorbing a massive amount of "fuel", unfurls its leaves, radiating unprecedented vigor.

"Central fire‑control system, lock on target."

Target: Gate of Despair, Core Law Protocol.

Attack command…

Wang Zhize's voice, at this moment, became immensely resonant, as if proclaiming a new axiom to the entire universe.

I define: the despair of this gate is my passport!

A beam of "light" beyond any description shot from Wang Zhize's will, striking the Core Law node with precision!

This is neither an energy attack nor a physical impact.

It is a … code injection with the highest privileges!

Rumble—!!!

The entire Gate of Despair trembled violently!

The countless numb faces on the gate, at this moment, seemed to come alive. They emitted silent shrieks, the laws solidified for eons resisting, wailing!

Detected intrusion of Core Protocol…

Activating highest‑level countermeasures…

Error! Error! Insufficient privileges!

Definition conflict… being forcibly overwritten…

Wang Zhize's "definition", like an overwhelmingly domineering command, forcibly alters the very foundation of this gate's existence.

It is no longer "Absorb Despair".

But "Repel Despair"!

It is no longer "Termination Land".

But "Hope Starting Point"!

Crack! Crack crack!

Cracks spread wildly across the blood‑colored gate body.

But what seeped from the fissures was not deeper darkness, but strands, threads… of multicolored light!

Those are the remnants of the "Hope" law, devoured and suppressed by this gate for countless ages, long eroded away!

At this moment, they are reactivated by Wang Zhize's definition!

"You! Are! Looking! For! Death!"

The will projection of Father of the Void erupted in fury!

He abandoned his lofty stance, and hundreds upon thousands of willful tendrils surged from behind the gate, from all directions of the void, like a black storm, raining down upon Wang Zhize's fortress!

"Well timed!"

Wang Zhitao's roar reverberated through the void.

He transformed into a true Devouring Demon God! A massive black‑gold maw opened, snapping dozens of willful tendrils in unison and swallowing them. The forces composed of the "Erasure" concept were forcibly digested and absorbed within his "Devouring Primordial Overlord Body".

Under Father of the Void's assault, his body not only remained unharmed but expanded and solidified at a visibly rapid pace!

Each scale grew deeper, and every swipe of his claw carried a hint of Father of the Void's domineering "Erasure" flavor!

He, devouring the opponent's essence, fuels war with war!

On one side, Wang Zhitao, transformed into a glutton, treats Father of the Void's attacks as a self‑serve banquet, ravenously feeding.

On the other side, Wang Zhize, with absolute will, forcibly rewrites the universe‑scale "Firewall".

Caught between internal and external assaults.

Finally—

Boom!!!!!!!

Accompanied by a thunderous sound as if the universe were opening.

That blood‑colored giant gate, symbolizing Termination and Despair, burst open amid the bloom of countless multicolored rays!

The countless anguished faces on the gate, in the final moment of shattering, seemed to each reveal a hint of relieved smile.

Beyond the gate, no longer blood‑colored.

An ancient region of chaos, mystery, harboring infinite possibilities and endless peril unfolded before the two brothers.

Primordial Void.

Father of the Void's lair.

Close at hand.