Chapter 239: Iron Crow's Lament

Unknown dark space.

Here there is no sun, moon, or stars, no up, down, left, or right—only an eternal void that seems able to swallow all light.

At the core of this void floats an indistinct agglomeration made of countless tiny azure light points and twisting shadows.

It is the mysterious "master" behind the Iron Crow Army.

Right now, this agglomeration violently undulates and churns, emitting faint but teeth‑grating sounds like shattering glass from within.

The azure light points representing the energy of the Nether Energy Crystal Ore flicker at an unprecedented frequency, appearing extremely unstable;

while the twisting shadows writhe like wounded poisonous snakes, radiating furious rage and a … deep‑seated pain.

"Deviating…… further……"

A voice neither male nor female, ice‑cold and devoid of emotion, yet distorted by the violent undulations, echoes in the darkness.

"Chan Prefecture node…… completely collapsed……"

"Chen Bridge node…… tampered……"

"Northern Frontier node…… severely interfered……"

"Data overflow…… logic conflict intensifying……"

"Cleanup plan…… encountering irresistible force……"

Each time a node anomaly is reported, the agglomeration's undulation intensifies a fraction.

The azure light points flicker ever more chaotically; even the tiniest points sputter out like candles in the wind, vanishing into deeper darkness.

Chen Wen's sudden emergence and his rapid rise in a way the Iron Crow Army's master could never comprehend—founding a new dynasty—was like a massive stone tossed into a calm sea, utterly disrupting the carefully maintained "historical process."

What it upholds is not any specific dynasty or person, but a set of established underlying logic that ensures the world runs along a certain "correct" course.

And Chen Wen is the greatest "variable" in that logic, a fatal error capable of causing the entire system to suffer "logic collapse."

What makes it even more troublesome is that this "variable" is bound by a special rule‑protection it cannot directly touch or erase.

"Backlash……"

The distorted voice carries a tremor almost imperceptible.

Maintaining the nodes' original state and eliminating the variable is its core mission and the very reason for its existence.

Now the nodes keep falling, the variable not only remains uncleared but grows stronger, directly causing the underlying rules that constitute its existence to begin self‑correction and punishment.

This pain, originating from the source, far exceeds any bodily or mental torment.

"Target…… Chen Wen……"

"Threat level…… raised to 'Annihilation‑level'……"

"Standard correction measures…… proven ineffective……"

"Agent (Zhao Kuangyin)…… lost value……"

"Indirect intervention…… low efficiency……"

It coldly assesses the situation.

That special rule‑protection is like an invisible wall, keeping its most direct means of eradication at bay.

It can only act by supporting proxy forces, providing intelligence, indirect intervention, etc., to carry out "correction."

But now, against Chen Wen's unreasonable "Ability Granting" and ever‑growing "Fortune Momentum," these methods appear utterly feeble.

The probing assassination attempt in the Northern Frontier failed;

the meticulously plotted Chen Bridge mutiny was turned back;

the joint external pressure from multiple sides seemed unable to shake its foundation;

even the power it relied on, drawn from the Nether Energy Crystal Ore, has been found a counter to!

"Rules…… limits……"

It feels the invisible shackles binding it and lets out a silent hiss filled with resentment and grudge.

It is precisely this rule that prevents it from stepping in personally, forcing it to watch helplessly as the variable grows stronger and the set course slides step by step into an unfathomable abyss!

"Must…… before total collapse…… eliminate the target……"

The agglomeration's undulation settles into an extreme of icy cold and madness.

It begins to mobilize all remaining resources at any cost, squeezing every still‑contactable Iron Crow Army unit, even overdraining the deepest, most critical hidden agents.

"Activate…… 'Blood Moon'……"

"Execute final order……"

"Authorize use…… 'Blood‑Flesh Furnace'……"

"Detonate…… all reserve crystal cores……"

Streams of instructions laden with destruction and madness, transmitted in a way beyond material comprehension, pierce the void.

They precisely strike deep into the minds of Iron Crow Army members still linked to the material world, especially the few core leaders tasked with carrying out the "Blood Moon" plan.

These instructions carry its twisted will and immense energy.

Like the deadliest poison, they instantly erode the recipients' consciousness.

They wipe away the last trace of humanity and hesitation, turning them into pure instruments of destruction that know only to obey orders.

Yet each time such an instruction is sent, the agglomeration's own light dims a fraction, and the twisting shadows seem to be torn away by an invisible force.

It is draining the very foundation of its existence to exchange for this final, most desperate gamble.

It is challenging the limits of the rules, attempting to bypass the protection on Chen Wen by this extreme, wide‑reaching method.

Since it cannot directly kill him, it will destroy his foundations, annihilate everything he guards, and drag him down into the abyss where the whole chaotic world perishes together!

"Eliminate…… must eliminate……"

"For…… the world's 'correctness'……"

"For…… the logic's 'purity'……"

Its intention finally coalesced into an extraordinarily obsessive and mad focal point.

All plans, all sacrifices, all overdrafts point to the same goal—on the night of the dark moon.

In Bianliangcheng, at any cost, kill Chen Wen, destroy the new dynasty's core, and let history return to its "proper" course!

Even if it expends its last trace of energy for this, even if it turns all of Bian Liang into an Asura hell, even if it endures a harsher backlash from the rules, it will spare nothing!

In this eternal darkness, the aggregate representing the master of the Iron Crow Army, like a star about to burn out, bursts forth with its final and most dangerous light.

That is a resolve for mutual destruction, an ultimate madness born of a logical error.

The Iron Crow's sorrow is now inevitable.

And it will repay this grief a hundredfold, a thousandfold, to the "variable" that caused all this!

And to the city that dared to bear the "variable"!

The order has been given.

The countdown to slaughter moves silently toward its end.

On the night of the dark moon, the blood moon draws near.