Chapter 435

Following the Star-Caster Artelius out of the space crack, Jie Ming returned to that core time branch world.

The scene before his eyes was completely different from when he left.

That huge mechanical sphere was still suspended on the temple altar, but the energy wires on its surface had returned to stability at this moment.

The entire sphere emitted a slightly dull, yet exceptionally stable blue-white light.

The will pressure that originally filled the space had disappeared without a trace, leaving only the low humming sound unique to the operation of huge machinery.

Artelius stood in front of the sphere, his gray robe fluttering, and said to Jie Ming with his side face: "The 'noise' inside has been cleaned up. The chaotic consciousness aggregate with strong bias has been erased, leaving only the underlying logic protocols that maintain the operation of the core functions of the time paradox generator."

His tone was flat, as if he had just dealt with a trivial matter.

But Jie Ming could imagine what that "erasure" meant—it was the remnants of a civilization's final struggle being completely formatted.

"Next," Artelius's gaze cast toward the sphere, and it seemed to penetrate it, seeing a deeper time structure, "I am going to strip the 'time crack world' where this sphere is located from the timeline as a whole while starting a time reversal once. Let this sphere, as a core control unit, 'fall' back to the real main plane with its complete functions."

He turned to Jie Ming and instructed: "You need to go back first to notify Frost and prepare for the next round being the final reincarnation. When the sphere returns, the entire time paradox generator will operate in the main plane in a 'complete form' for the first time. Although its aggressive will has been removed, its basic functions will still operate according to preset rules. We need to complete the comprehensive takeover, testing, and preliminary sealing of the entire system in this reincarnation."

Jie Ming nodded, understanding in his heart.

From the information obtained before, he already knew that the design of this plane as a "super weapon" should have been a tight collaboration between the "core control unit" (sphere) and the "external execution unit" (Sickle-Skull tribe and plane environment).

But that fearful will, for the sake of "safety," forcibly pulled the core unit into an independent time interlayer, causing the weapon system to be in a semi-paralyzed state of "control core offline" for a long time.

It could only rely on basic instincts and limited preset protocols to operate inefficiently.

Now, the core is about to return, and this time-space weapon that has been dusty... or rather, has never been truly fully activated, will show the appearance it was originally designed for for the first time.

"I understand, my lord." Jie Ming responded in a deep voice.

Artelius did not say anything more, raised his hand and drew lightly in the void beside him, and a space crack leading to the wizard camp in the main plane opened quietly.

Jie Ming took one last look at the stably operating mechanical sphere and stepped into the crack.

Jie Ming had not been away for long, but the chaos in the camp had basically subsided.

The raiding Sickle-Skull army, after losing subsequent command and support, was quickly cleared and annihilated by the wizards who reacted.

At this moment, a large number of wizards were advancing deep underground, clearing remaining digging units and repairing the damaged ley line structure.

Jie Ming soon found Frost, who was deploying tasks at a temporary command node, and conveyed the order of the Star-Caster Artelius.

After hearing this, Frost's eyes flashed with light, without any nonsense, and immediately issued the highest-level combat readiness instruction to the entire army through the magic network.

【All units pay attention, enter the 'Endgame Protocol' preparation state. Repeat, Endgame Protocol preparation state. After all units complete current combat missions, immediately shrink to the main camp, build a final defense circle, and wait for further instructions.】

The order was short but heavy as a mountain.

All wizards who received the order, whether they were in fierce battle or resting, had their expressions become incomparably solemn instantly.

They knew that once the Endgame Protocol was triggered, it meant that this long and weird reincarnation battle was finally about to welcome a decisive moment.

Jie Ming returned to the research area in the center of the camp and began to organize and encapsulate all core research data and recording crystals accumulated in the past fifteen rounds in an orderly manner.

Not long after the order was issued, without any warning, that familiar pulling feeling originating from the root of the world swept the entire plane again.

The sixteenth reincarnation began.

But this time, the process and feeling of reincarnation were completely different from the past.

Past reincarnations were like the zeroing of a precise clock, the process stable and mechanical.

But this time Jie Ming could vaguely "feel" that in the torrent of time reversal, there seemed to be a trace of stagnation, a trace of disharmony.

It was as if something huge and heavy was being forcibly "dragged" down from a higher dimension and embedded into the inherent time structure of this world.

When the dizziness passed and Jie Ming "appeared" on the edge of the familiar camp again, he immediately noticed the weird change in the battlefield atmosphere.

In the distance, the black Sickle-Skull tide was still gathering, but their formation seemed unprecedentedly chaotic.

There was no longer the layered and clearly divided advance formation of the past, and they were more like headless flies squeezed together, emitting chaotic and noisy hissing.

Even more astonishing was that above the insect tide, those figures of Tier 6, Tier 7, and even Tier 8 Sickle-Skull leaders who exuded powerful pressure and commanded with ease were still hovering there.

But these high-level creatures were like puppets with broken strings, motionless.

The light in their compound eyes was dim, and although their aura was still powerful, they had lost all lively "will" and "activity"!

The erasure of the will inside the sphere caused them to lose consciousness, leaving only powerful bodies and energy to maintain hovering instinctively.

"How could this be... what happened to the leaders?!"

"Quick! Go wake up the leaders!"

Among the low-level Sickle-Skulls, some individuals with slightly more wisdom emitted anxious information.

They tried to approach those high-level fellow clansmen who were like exquisite statues.

However, with a huge gap in strength between the two sides, this behavior was undoubtedly fatal.

Having lost active consciousness control, the bodies of those high-level Sickle-Skulls operated entirely on instinctive nerve reflexes and preset energy defense mechanisms.

Any approach without permission was judged as a "threat."

Pfft! Chirp! Boom!!

The Sickle-Skulls that tried to touch were shaken into powder by the energy shield automatically stimulated on the surface of the high-level individuals; some were cut into several segments by the sharp limbs waved unconsciously.

Even worse, they triggered certain aggressive reflexes and were directly evaporated by an energy beam released instinctively!

The low-level Sickle-Skulls instantly fell into greater panic and chaos.

They could not understand what had happened, only knowing that the highest command layer they relied on had suddenly become death statues that could not be approached!

Just at the moment when this chaos reached its peak...

The sky suddenly darkened.

It was not cloud cover, but a more profound "darkness" that seemed to be the starry sky itself pressing down.

A will that could not be described as vast swept across the entire battlefield gently but irresistibly.

It was the Star-Caster Artelius.

His true body seemed to be overlooking and interfering with this plane from a higher level.

Immediately after, under the shocked gaze of all wizards and Sickle-Skulls, those high-level Sickle-Skull shells that had lost consciousness were pulled by invisible threads, flying toward the wizard camp in unison, their speed as fast as light, and then disappeared one by one behind a space that rippled slightly in the center of the camp.

They were "recycled."

The chaos of the Sickle-Skull tribe, at this moment, completely turned into desperate collapse.

Some individuals with higher wisdom immediately understood something and emitted shrill and unwilling hissing.

They collapsed to the ground, all spirit lost in their compound eyes.

They read that signal.

The highest layer was taken in one pot, and even the shells were taken away; this war had finally ended.

They... were completely abandoned, or rather, treated as "war trophies" waiting to be processed by existences at a higher level.

Inside the wizard camp, after a brief silence, there was an irrepressible commotion.

Artelius's figure did not appear directly, but his voice sounded clearly in the soul of every wizard, calm and majestic:

"All recycled high-level Sickle-Skull 'shells' will be distributed as extra war trophies for this plane conquest battle. Commander Frost will formulate a distribution plan based on the military contributions recorded in the past reincarnations."

As soon as this was said, a sound of gasping for air rang out in the camp instantly, followed by countless gazes that became scorching!

Those are the shells of high-level Sickle-Skulls at least Tier 6!

Even if they lost consciousness, they themselves were excellent research materials and powerful biological weapon bases.

And Artelius's next order made the atmosphere even more boiling:

"In addition, issue a long-term war mission: all combat wizards, under the premise of ensuring their own safety, capture and bring back Sickle-Skull individuals as much as possible, regardless of level. During the mission, I will exchange living individuals for low-level military contributions without limit."

The order was clear and concise.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see at a glance that this mission meant that Wizard Artelius should intend to use these Sickle-Skulls as a servant race.

However, it was also normal, after all, although the reincarnation plane is a "failed" weapon, it is a strategic weapon after all, and has great value for further transformation and strengthening.

And the Sickle-Skull tribe, as part of this weapon, naturally should be collected as much as possible.

Almost the moment the order's echo faded, countless figures shot out from all directions of the camp like arrows from a bow.

After all, once this order was issued, it meant that those Sickle-Skulls scattered all over the mountains and plains, having lost unified command and fallen into chaos, instantly turned into walking military contribution vouchers!

The battle wizards had green light in their eyes, like hungry wolves rushing into a flock of sheep, scrambling to rush toward that black ocean that had fallen into desperate chaos!

The light of spells, the roars of summoned beasts, and excited war cries instantly replaced the previous killing, and the battlefield turned into a hot "harvesting" scene.

Jie Ming did not follow the crowd out.

He stood in place like other logistics wizards, but his gaze was cast toward the Star-Caster in the center of the camp, full of undisguised expectation.

Sure enough, Artelius's voice sounded again, this time directly targeting all wizards in the logistics research sequence:

"Issue a highest-priority research mission: form a 'Time Paradox Generator Analysis and Control Project Team.' Comprehensively research, analyze, test, and preliminarily control the recycled 'Time Paradox Generator' core unit and the plane system that is about to be completed. The mission has no fixed military contribution reward."

As the words fell, the breathing of the logistics wizards became heavier, and a light more intense than the combat wizards seeing military contributions burst out in their eyes!

Although this mission sounded like it had no reward, everyone actually knew that all the knowledge generated during the mission was the reward itself.

Research permission for a complete time-space weapon is the greatest reward for logistics wizards!

(End of chapter)