Poverty makes me capable of anything.

This point of light was perfectly disguised as part of the Pillar of Life. If he weren't one of the developers of the Pillar of Life, he would never have discovered this anomaly.

Its existence did not destroy the basic function of the Pillar of Life, but it changed the operating logic of the Pillar of Life, so that An Ran's displayed strength has remained unchanged at the Master-level Dai Feng.

Once this white spot is removed, the Pillar of Life will be destroyed.

Ronald eventually gave up. With this mutated Pillar of Life still around, he could at least sense Anran's approximate location.

"The person who can do this..."

Ronald's first thought was of the scholars who had worked with him on the Pillars of Life research.

They are the most likely to be the ones to commit the crime.

Secondly, Ronald thought of the craftsmen who forged the Pillar of Life.

then……

"And that was it."

Once the Pillar of Life is successfully created, it cannot be altered; any attempt to alter it will inevitably damage it.

Unless it was done by that elusive ruler of the star field.

"But this star field has no star field ruler."

Traitors are unforgivable. Having found the root of the problem, Ronald immediately began investigating the suspects, but he did not launch a large-scale operation.

Ronald has always been a mysterious figure in the eyes of the Royal Knights, so his actions this time did not attract the attention of others.

Instead of focusing on what your boss is doing, you should think about how to do the work assigned by your boss well.

At the end of May, as the Imperial Guard was gradually losing ground in the war, news from the border of the Empire shocked everyone.

The Zerg have indeed launched an attack on the Caroline region on the Empire's borders, an operation far larger in scale than the one that occurred in the Azure Forest a few years ago.

The thing that emerged from the void was the Zerg Queen.

It carried a worm hive connecting to another dimension and easily devoured a master who went to intercept it.

The leaked video is enough to drive people with trypophobia crazy.

The vacuum between planets was filled with swarms of insects. Under the protection of the Queen Mother's domain, the insects easily traversed the starry sky, and planet after planet fell, leaving prosperous civilizations riddled with holes.

Even the most tyrannical villains cannot instill as much fear in humanity as the Zerg invasion.

This is a monster that has been fighting against humanity for thousands of years since the advent of the space age.

You can only drive them away, but you can never kill them all. Nobody knows where these bugs came from.

They come, they devour, they reproduce; what they want is not conquest, but simply genocide.

This is a true natural disaster.

This is incomparable to the players who are jokingly referred to as the Fourth Calamity.

After all, while players are powerful, they still have humanity and will adhere to their bottom line even in the game, whereas the Zerg do not have this concept.

All that exists is eternal slaughter!

Condemnation rained down on the Caroline region, and the "weakling" rebel was denounced as a traitor to humanity.

But no matter how fiercely they cursed, they couldn't stop the Zerg invasion.

The Zerg reproduce too quickly; given enough nutrients, they can quickly breed powerful Zerg warriors through a process of raising venomous insects.

It's hard for anyone not to feel fear when facing the Zerg.

With the Empire embroiled in a civil war and unable to muster troops to quell the invading Zerg, the people of the Carolingian region were plunged into despair.

Ruined.

The thought of those disgusting worms eating their bodies and bursting out of their chests made them furious and they pounded the ground.

run away?

With war raging everywhere and shipping routes cut off, very few people were able to escape the Caroline region safely.

Just then, the "hero" that the world had been waiting for finally appeared.

They were also strangers whose origins were unknown!

The Caroline region only has a few hundred thousand players in total, but when the news spread, players from neighboring regions flocked to the area. Some people sponsored these players, and although they themselves dared not come, they still transported players over using spaceships.

[Truly worthy of being called the version of "Tragedy of Chaos"]

[Besides the planetary system, it feels like the whole world is being ravaged by war.]

The ultimate insecticide squad has arrived!

In such a highly realistic game, if killing "people" might make players feel reluctant, then torturing these insects would be completely psychologically liberating.

Like annoying mosquitoes, if you drag everyone out, you won't find many people who hope the Zerg will continue to survive.

Players and the Zerg began a months-long battle in the Caroline region.

This is a natural leveling ground; you never have to worry about killing all the monsters.

However, despite the players' strength, due to the level difference, they still find it difficult to stop the Zerg's advance. Even if 100,000 players below the Master level attacked together, they would be killed by the Zerg Queen's breath attack.

"We can only hope that the civil war in the empire will end as soon as possible."

The longer the civil war drags on, the greater the damage to the empire will be. Right now, it's just crippling, but if it drags on any longer, it might become a lifelong disability.

In early June, the Third Prince's army arrived near the Central Region and was about to break through the defenses when it was suddenly attacked by the Vesa army.

The Vesa and the Royal Guard, who were sworn enemies, temporarily joined forces. The Third Prince, who was caught off guard, was badly beaten. Fortunately, he had enough troops and quickly regrouped.

"How can it be repaired?"

A chaotic battle ensued, but no one noticed that many unscrupulous individuals had appeared on the edge of the battlefield, and the bloodshed of war gradually spread in all directions.

In early July, the Zerg broke out of the Carolingian region, and the demons began to harass the Imperial borders more and more frequently.

The empire, which was about to be reduced to a pile of mush, had transformed from a former star system overlord into a rag doll that everyone could bully.

Anyone who doesn't like it will come over and kick it a couple of times.

Although the Covenant did not directly attack the Empire, it is obvious to everyone that the Empire is in such a state of chaos because of them.

For example, recently some people discovered that Star Alliance and Visa have been in contact.

At the end of July, the Royal Guard and the First Prince were driven out of the capital star circle by the Third Prince, losing their last stronghold. The strength of the Royal Guard plummeted, and no one believed that the Royal Guard could succeed anymore.

Fortunately, Vesa honored the alliance agreement and did not exterminate them.

For Vesa, this was a good thing; he had defeated an enemy and gained "righteousness" at the same time.

Everything seemed to be developing in a favorable direction for the Third Prince, until a demon appeared out of nowhere and attacked Aixing, killing a large number of the Third Prince's high-ranking officials, and the civil war was about to develop in a direction with no end in sight.

This seems to be an endless cycle of chaos.

Then, in early August, Night Owl publicly raised his banner, deciding to lead the regions he occupied to independence from the Empire.

This news boosted the morale of many rebels who had already established a foothold.

It's a good thing to have tall people protecting you from the front!

"The situation is too chaotic now, and we need to change our strategy."

The members of the Royal Council regrouped. Now that things had come to this, they had no choice but to intervene in politics. Only by forcibly installing the Third Prince as emperor and reorganizing the army could the empire suffer less damage.

……

"How are the discussions going over there?"

At the top of the Holy Prison, Ronald stood with his hands behind his back.

He stared expressionlessly at the star whose outer space had been transformed into a "mess," its flames raging.

"It's still in progress," someone reported.

"What about blood sacrifice?"

"It's come to an end."

"Then, all the actors are about to appear on stage."

Ronald sighed, a rare hint of emotion flickering across his usually cold face.

August 12th marked the beginning of a new era for the entire star system.

On the third day of the temporary ceasefire in the capital star circle, a layer of red mist suddenly appeared in the deep starry sky. Just as those who observed this anomaly were at a loss, a roar that had awakened from the dust of history spread throughout the starry sky.

In the year 8097 of the Imperial Calendar, the Mandate of Heaven is turning!

Ronald pushed open the gate to the first forbidden area of ​​the Holy Prison. He came here alone and looked up at the girl floating in the air.

She looks exactly like An Ran now!

……

"Don't worry, don't worry, I've advanced to the Grandmaster level!"

At the same time, Anran, who was flirting with Princess Orina in front of Ereshkigal, suddenly received a message from Ella.

Become!

This is a brand new trump card!

"Hey, why did you stop talking?"

Orina asked, puzzled.

"I just thought of something happy," An Ran explained.

"Then let's continue."

"Yes, we were just talking about..."

Rumble!

An Ran had just opened her mouth when the Holy Prison suddenly began to shake violently. At first, An Ran thought it was being inspected, but she quickly realized something was wrong. The shaking was so intense that it could lift a person up.

"Quickly grab the wall, and whatever you do, don't touch those dark things!"

An Ran's expression changed, and she shouted anxiously at Orina.

She leaned against the wall and instantly used [Ether Realm - Mimicry Detection].