Chapter 229: Fortress of Despair

After shaking off the entanglement of the patrol fleet, the expedition fleet, like fish sneaking into the deep sea, crept for several days in the asteroid belt fraught with danger.

Every time the sensors picked up an abnormal energy signal or spatial fluctuation, everyone's nerves were stretched to the limit.

As they went deeper, the surrounding environment became even more bizarre.

In the void began to drift some indescribable shadow fragments, as if condensed from pure malice, which silently attached to the warships' shields and continuously eroded their energy.

The Elf Druids had to constantly maintain the operation of the "Life Pure Land" barrier, using life energy to purify these attachments, otherwise the shields would soon collapse.

What was even more unsettling was the incessant mental whisper.

It was no longer a vague background noise, but grew increasingly clear, as if countless voices filled with resentment and madness were howling, cursing, and sneering directly in the mind.

Even with the double protection of the "Life Imprint" and the barrier, some members with slightly weaker spiritual power began to show symptoms of insomnia, auditory hallucinations, and emotional dysregulation.

"We are approaching the Rift Seven area," the Xingyuzhe Elder said in a hoarse voice; inside the crystal ball in his hand, the dark‑red region representing chaos and destruction had taken up most of the field of view, "Energy readings are spiking, the spatial structure is extremely unstable…… we may have already entered the direct influence zone of the Ancient God Whisper."

Li Qingxuan stood at the porthole, gazing into the distance.

There, what should have been endless dark void now presented a horrifying sight—a massive "scar" stretching across the field of view, endless, tearing apart the cosmic backdrop!

That was not a simple spatial rift, but a terrifying entity formed from countless twisted, writhing energy tendrils emitting dark‑green and foul‑purple light, together with shattered laws.

This is the "Rift Seven," a huge breach in the seal!

Within the rift, it seemed as if billions of mad eyes were flickering, and endless spiteful whispers were gathering into a tide!

Merely gazing at it from afar made one's soul tremble, sanity plummeting!

And outside the rift lay an even more despairing sight—a colossal, unimaginable "bulwark" forged from countless warship wrecks, asteroids, and even the skeletons of gigantic creatures forcibly spliced together, like a rough and menacing beehive, firmly blocking the rift ahead!

Countless warships of the Realm Breaker Legion shuttled and patrolled around this "Fortress of Despair" like worker bees, and thick dark‑red energy beams shot from the numerous gun emplacements on the bulwark, incessantly bombarding the rift's interior and widening the breach!

On the bulwark, vague hulking, twisted figures could be seen moving—likely elite legionnaires superior to the "Destroyer," or even……mutants deeply corrupted by the Ancient God Whisper!

"This……is the 'Rift Seven'……" Huang Rong sucked in a breath of cold air; even with her resolve, seeing the scale of that enemy force and the terrifying rift, she couldn't help feeling a wave of helplessness.

"The beacon source's energy signal……is coming from inside the bulwark, deep within, near the rift interface." Yanxin Runesmith reported the detection results with a pallid face.

This meant that, to shut down the beacon, they had to breach this "Fortress of Despair" composed of countless enemies and monsters and penetrate its core region!

This was fundamentally an impossible mission!

"Forcing a breakthrough equals suicide." Xingren's voice was icy, but his hand gripping the sword hilt whitened from exertion, "We need a plan, a plan that lets us slip in silently."

"The stealth system's effectiveness is greatly reduced here." The pilot reported, "The detection network around the bulwark is too dense, and it's flooded with various unknown energy interferences."

Everyone fell into silence.

Faced with such a heavenly chasm, any scheme appeared pale and powerless.

Li Qingxuan stared fixedly at that "Fortress of Despair" and the terrifying rift behind it, his brain racing.

A frontal assault won't work, and lurking seems futile……Is there truly no recourse?

Just then, the "Weird Encyclopedia" that had lain dormant within him suddenly flipped open on its own, and a weak stream of information flowed into his mind.

It was not about the enemy, but about……space!

【Detecting high‑density chaotic laws and unstable spatial structure……analyzing……】

【Detecting large amounts of unnatural spatial folds and temporary dimensional slits……cause: high‑intensity energy impact and law collapse……】

【Hint: Extremely unstable spatial structure may form brief, random "space undercurrents" or "dimensional gaps," usable to evade regular detection and blockade, but with extreme risk (getting lost, disintegration, encountering unknown entities)……】

Space undercurrent?

Dimensional gap?

Li Qingxuan's eyes suddenly shot out a gleam of sharp light!

The risk is extremely high, but this might be the only hope to bypass the front line and sneak into the bulwark's interior!

"Yan Xin! Xingyuzhe Senior!" Li Qingxuan immediately turned to the two members who studied energy and space the most, "Analyze the spatial structure around the rift and the bulwark at once! Look for any existing unstable spatial folds or temporary dimensional passages! We might be able to worm our way in by exploiting the instability of space itself!"

The two heard this, first startled, then immediately grasped Li Qingxuan's intent, their faces simultaneously showing shock and a resolve to go all‑out.

"Too crazy……but……worth a try!" Yan Xin lunged at the console, began mobilizing all detection equipment, and fully scanned the surrounding spatial parameters.

The Xingyuzhe Elder also closed his eyes, merging his spiritual power with the crystal ball deeply, attempting to capture that ethereal spatial ripple.

A gamble with space and fate quietly unfolded in this desperate land.

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