Lin Xiaohe squeezed out every last drop of potential from her body’s cells, managing only to pry that crack open a little wider.
The ten giant graves beneath her feet churned at full tilt, and the nine smaller ones were already splitting with fissures. If this kept up, they would collapse sooner or later.
Chu Huaizhi felt somewhat relieved, though a hint of regret crept into his voice. “What a pity. Lin Xiaohe’s development time was too short, and her foundation wasn’t solid enough. If she’d been given enough time and energy, she might actually have broken through the First Gene Lock.”
The other deities…
“Oh dear, what a shame. What a waste of Lin Xiaohe’s remarkable body. Some people tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice—looks like their plan is going up in smoke.”
“Don’t say that. Some people say they’re regretful, but deep down they’re probably breathing a sigh of relief. After all, if Lin Xiaohe did break through the First Gene Lock, the Chosen One of this era might not even be who we think it is.”
Chu Huaizhi offered a polite, restrained smile.
Are you all okay, my companions? Whose side are you even on? Why does everything you say sound so dripping with sarcasm?
The other deities made it clear—in the absence of any external enemy, Chu Huaizhi was their common adversary.
Compared to that insufferable pest, Lin Xiaohe actually seemed far more likable.
It was just a pity, though. Lin Xiaohe was about to die.
“Xiaohe, I’m going to miss you.” Tian Tian gave Lin Xiaohe a reluctant hug.
With Doudou’s sacrifice still fresh in her memory, Lin Xiaohe immediately understood what Tian Tian was intending to do.
She wrapped her arms tightly around Tian Tian, holding on with all her strength, refusing to let go. “Tian Tian, don’t do this.”
Tian Tian’s voice was as sweet as ever. Normally gentle and soft-spoken, she was unusually stubborn this time.
“Xiaohe, the Zerg carapace can withstand more damage than I can. The corn harvest on Jiuzhou Star has been plentiful—you can make popcorn anytime you want.”
Lin Xiaohe’s throat tightened, and she couldn’t utter a single word.
Though Tian Tian was shy and rarely spoke much, she was like a caring older sister, always protecting Lin Xiaohe and the other stardust mutant plants.
Even though she was afraid of bugs, whenever Little Black came under attack, she would still throw herself into danger without hesitation, layering shield after shield around him.
Even if those shields weren’t really necessary—given Little Black’s defensive capabilities, he probably wouldn’t get hurt anyway—Tian Tian always felt that if she absorbed more damage, Little Black and Lin Xiaohe would have a lower chance of getting injured.
She was simply that kind of person—the one who silently watched over everyone.
Lin Xiaohe’s mind drifted back to the Grand Theater on the Wasteland Star, where Tian Tian had firmly shielded her and her second sister.
And then there were the memories from Miluo Star, Gonggong Star, Haige Star…
Without Tian Tian, Lin Xiaohe never would have made it this far!
“Tian Tian, you mean so much to me. Truly, so much.”
Tian Tian smiled through her tears, reluctant to part. “Xiaohe, I can’t walk the rest of the road with you. Little Black—you must protect Xiaohe, okay?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Tian Tian charged fearlessly toward Lin Xiaohe’s heart.
Ear after ear of corn transformed into tiny yellow specks of light, drawn into the heart and converted into pure, refined energy, which then launched another assault against that door!
But still—the energy was just a little short!
Fan Fan didn’t even have time to say goodbye. With her whole tree laden with tomatoes, she surged straight into the heart.
Xiao Hong was dumbfounded. Were they all that loyal?!
Don’t get her wrong—she really liked Xiaohe. But she didn’t like her enough to sacrifice herself body and soul.
A pang of shame flickered through her heart. She just wanted to live. She didn’t want to die.
The dandelion felt the same way.
To be honest, Lin Xiaohe was the best owner she’d ever had.
If the System were still alive, and she were still bound to Lin Xiaohe, then she’d have no choice but to fight tooth and nail for her.
But now… the System hadn’t appeared for a very, very long time.
With two companions already thrown into the fray, that door was on the verge of collapse.
Lin Xiaohe then drew upon the last wisp of chaotic energy she had seized from Zhou and stored within her body—and with a thunderous boom, she finally pushed that door wide open!
Zhou’s attacks grew fiercer by the second. It even took matters into its own hands, commanding the giant graves to press down upon Lin Xiaohe.
Wave after wave of Zerg swarmed in like ants, surrounding Lin Xiaohe so densely that not a sliver of light could pass through.
From afar, it looked like a giant tree crawling with ants.
The ants were the Zerg creatures. The giant tree was the vacuum zone formed by the energy Lin Xiaohe had absorbed.
The humans who had fled far away huddled inside their battered space warships, watching the scene with growing anxiety.
“Boss, what do we do?!”
“There’s nothing we can do! We can’t even get close to the energy vacuum zone.”
“Oh heavens! All you gods out there, please—please protect Lin Xiaohe!”
Whether any deities actually heard their pleas remained to be seen. But after losing three companions in a row, Lin Xiaohe had fully embraced her dark side!
She refused to accept this. Her grief and fury transformed into an unending wellspring of strength, driving her to become even more powerful!
She didn’t want to lose anyone else who mattered to her. She would make those who had schemed against her—those civilizations that had tampered with her—pay a devastating price!
Once that door was thrown open, Lin Xiaohe no longer held anything back.
On the other side of that door lay the purest, densest essence of life itself.
A tiny figure, identical in every way to Lin Xiaohe, materialized, gripping a black spear in hand, descending into the Fourth-Dimensional Sacred Domain.
The Sacred Codex flipped through its pages as if stirred by a breeze, flying on its own into the hands of that life-essence being.
She slowly alighted upon the chessboard, and in an instant, the entire lattice of the board blazed eight times brighter!
Zheng! Zheng!
In the Fourth Dimension, the darkness surrounding the Sacred Domain trembled and scattered. Those hazy, shadowy regions, as if blown away by wind, revealed their true forms.
They were alien spaces—some existing alone, others leaning against one another in pairs.
The emergence of the life-essence being not only allowed Lin Xiaohe to see her surroundings clearly—it also exposed her own presence.
In the Third Dimension, the energy vacuum zone around Lin Xiaohe came to a sudden halt.
And then, in the next instant, the dense swarm of Zerg creatures crowding around that zone burst into clouds of dust.
The energy vacuum twisted violently, and all physical laws within it broke down completely.
From a distance, Lin Xiaohe appeared clad in crimson battle armor, her aura surging higher and higher, like an ancient deity descending upon the battlefield.
The black whip in her hand coiled and twisted, reshaping itself into a long spear.
The spear flickered with pulses of dark light.
Lin Xiaohe raised the spear and hurled it forward. Like a bolt of black lightning, it tore through the energy vacuum zone, piercing through a swath of Zerg in an instant, and hurtled straight toward the giant grave!
Zhou’s mind shuddered violently. It transformed into a green glow, frantically urging the giant grave to dodge aside.
The information hive churned at breakneck speed, streams of light flickering wildly.
Zhou cast aside all other data processing, focusing every ounce of its attention on Lin Xiaohe.
Lin Xiaohe had become part of the Abyss Mother sequence—but her presence far surpassed that of any Abyss Mother. Especially that spear in her hand—though it was forged from fragments of Zerg genes, it radiated a hair-raising, dangerous aura.
As if it concealed a power capable of annihilating heaven and earth!
What was that?!
At the distant edge of the Fourth Star Ring, several deities were gripped by doubt and alarm.
“Is that… that thing?”
“Impossible! How could it be?! Even in the Outer Domains, this is—”
“Something’s wrong!” A deity with immense Fourth-Dimensional spiritual power cried out in terror, panicked and frantic. “Kill! Kill her now! This is not permitted to exist!”
