Chapter 810: Code Duel

The cracks in the deep blue light curtain spread like a spiderweb.

Before the giant crow's second strike could fall, pure rule pressure already pushed the light curtain to the brink of shattering.

Behind the light curtain, Chen Wen's true body within the Iron Wall Command Tower trembled violently.

Blood flowed from his seven orifices.

But deep in his consciousness, the deep blue repair program was running at an unprecedented speed.

【Warning: Long-range Will Projection Overload】

【Warning: Carrier Vital Signs Plummeting Sharply】

【Suggestion: Immediately Disconnect the Link】

"No……"

Chen Wen gritted his teeth.

In his consciousness, the structure of the repair program began to dismantle itself.

The outermost auxiliary modules—the patterns responsible for analysis, calculation, and optimization—were stripped away one by one.

They turned into pure energy, injected into the core conduit sustaining the long-range link.

"Not enough……"

He peeled away deeper.

He touched the system's "Memory Bank".

There it stored a century's accumulated knowledge, technology, and all analytical data of this world.

At this moment, it all burned.

Turning into fuel to sustain a will phantom three hundred li away.

The price was that, after this battle, regardless of victory or defeat, he would lose these accumulations.

But Chen Wen hesitated not.

"Burn."

The deep blue light curtain suddenly burst forth with blinding light.

The cracks sealed instantly.

The light curtain even expanded backward, forcing the giant crow back half a step.

【Foolish】

The giant crow's consciousness remained icy cold.

【Burning its own foundation……just to buy time】

【You can't last ten breaths】

"Ten breaths……enough."

Chen Wen's will echoed in the hall.

At the same time.

Lin Chong had already embraced the breach-piercing cone and rushed to the active shield of the dark energy core sphere.

The shield, thinned by diverted energy, still existed.

"Break!"

He swung his blade down.

The momentum-edged blade collided with the shield.

It emitted a piercing screech.

The shield dented, but did not break.

"Again!"

The second strike.

The third strike.

Each strike expended his full strength.

Each strike caused his life fire to flicker violently.

Behind him, Zhao Si and the others fought desperately to hold back the construct.

But casualties were increasing.

A scout was cut in half at the waist by a dark energy blade.

A sorcerer was pierced through by a ray from the shaman platform.

Time flowed away in blood.

The seventh strike.

The shield finally showed a fine crack.

"Now!"

Lin Chong drove the sharp tip of the breach-piercing cone hard into the crack.

The moment the tip contacted the shield, the surface momentum patterns automatically activated.

Blue-white light spread like an electric current, forcibly widening the crack.

"Advance!"

Lin Chong braced the cone's body with his shoulder and pushed forward with all his might.

The breach-piercing cone inched into the shield.

But the resistance was enormous.

It felt like pushing a mountain.

And behind him.

Chen Wen's deep blue light curtain began to collapse.

The giant crow's beak struck down for the second time.

The light curtain shattered into countless blue stars.

Chen Wen's will-phantom twisted violently, almost dissipating.

【End】

The giant crow's wings rose for the third time.

This time, it will completely erase this annoying will remnant.

But just as the wings were about to swing down——

In Chen Wen's dissipating phantom, a thread of extremely fine deep blue light suddenly shot out.

It was not aimed at the giant crow.

But rather—it shot into the surface of the dark energy core sphere, at one point among the billions of flowing patterns.

An extremely concealed "node".

That was, when Chen Wen burned his memory library, found from the parsed data—the trigger point of the dark energy network's "self-diagnosis protocol".

The thread sank in.

The sphere's surface patterns suddenly showed a momentary "stagnation".

Like a precision watch, a fine needle jammed its most crucial gear.

Although only for an instant.

But this instant, for a system-level confrontation, was already long enough.

The giant crow's motion also lagged accordingly.

Its form began to fluctuate.

Because the energy constituting it entirely came from the dark energy network.

The network's brief stagnation caused it to lose its stable "foundation of existence".

【You……what did you do？】

The giant crow's will first showed a hint…… of confusion.

It could not understand why this "error" about to be erased by it could precisely touch the system's deepest maintenance protocol.

"I have found…… your 'blind spot'."

Chen Wen's will-phantom had faded like blue smoke, yet his voice remained clear.

"You rely too much on this system."

"You thought that by mastering all the rules, you could crush all resistance."

"But any system…… has its inherent 'flaw'."

"The more precise, the more so."

The giant crow's dark green flames flared violently.

It was rapidly calculating.

Trying to understand what had happened.

Trying to restabilize its form.

But this instant of stagnation, for Lin Chong, was already a heaven-sent opportunity.

"Wall-piercing Cone——full power injection!"

He roared.

He poured all his remaining momentum, together with the last heat from the fire of life, entirely into the Wall-piercing Cone.

The cone's surface spiral patterns burst forth with unprecedented blue-white light.

The light surged like a substantive liquid, rushing wildly along the channel stabbed out by the cone tip into the sphere's interior.

Target——the seventh-layer matrix, that "loophole" coordinate.

The Wall-piercing Cone began to melt.

The heat instantly scorched Lin Chong's hands black.

But he did not let go.

"For…… breaking through!"

The light completely sank in.

The cone turned to ash.

From within the sphere came a dull rumble, as if from the world's foundations.

The sphere's surface patterns began to become disordered.

The originally orderly flowing purple-black light became chaotic.

Some patterns suddenly went out.

Some patterns became excessively bright, even beginning to "overload burn".

The energy flow lost its balance.

The hall began to shake violently.

"Success?!"

Zhao Si panted, looking toward the core sphere.

The giant crow's form could no longer be maintained.

It dissipated into a vast expanse of dark green misty energy, attempting to recondense but continually failing.

【Error……Error……】

【Vulnerability activated……】

【Law conflict……】

【System stability……dropping to critical point……】

Its thoughts became intermittent, filled with static.

Chen Wen's will phantom had faded until it was almost invisible.

But his voice sounded one last time in the hall.

"Lin Chong……withdraw……"

"Its collapse……will trigger a chain reaction……"

"Here……it will soon become the center of an energy storm……"

"Your Majesty! What about you?!"

"I……"

The phantom completely dissipated.

The link was severed.

Inside the Iron Wall Command Tower, Chen Wen's true form spat out a mouthful of blood and fell backward.

Zhang Cheng and Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly supported him.

"Your Majesty!"

Chen Wen's gaze was unfocused, his breath weak as a spider's silk.

But at the corner of his mouth, he drew a faint smile.

"The vulnerability……has been activated……"

"Next……it's up to you……"

Having said that, he fell completely unconscious.

Core Hall.

Lin Chong knew they had to withdraw immediately.

"Zhao Si! Take the wounded and go first!"

"Return the way we came!"

"Captain! What about you?!"

"I'll cover the rear!"

Lin Chong turned, facing the three constructs whose movements had stiffened due to system disorder, as well as the cluster of dark green mist frantically trying to reassemble.

He knew he might not be able to leave.

But at least, he needed to let the others survive and return.

Bring the intelligence back.

Bring back the 'victory'.

"Hurry up!"

Zhao Si gritted his teeth, hoisted a severely wounded comrade, and led the remaining troops toward the repair passage entrance.

Lin Chong stood alone, blade held horizontally.

Behind him.

The disorder of the Dark Energy Core Sphere had reached its peak.

The patterns on its surface twitched like seizures.

An energy storm began to form.

The first bolt of purple-black lightning struck, shattering a crystal pillar into powder.

Storm center.

From within the dark green mist came the Iron Crow Army master's final icy, furious, yet now fragmented thought——

【Variable……Error……】

【System……will restart……】

【You……can't escape……】

The mist sea suddenly contracted inward.

Then——

It exploded with a boom.

The shockwave swept everything away.

Lin Chong was flung by the blast, slamming heavily into the wall.

His vision went black.

In his final consciousness, he saw the passage entrance, and Zhao Si's face as he turned and roared.

And, the devouring purple-black light.

The hall collapsed.

The core battle ended in mutual destruction.

But the breaching cone had already been driven deep into the system.

The crack began to spread.

And the allies far at the Iron Wall Fortress were about to encounter what they had long awaited——

The moment of counterattack.