Frontline

The battlefield was no longer a simple slaughter ground, but a twisted living hell.

Ye Chuan observed his surroundings.

The wreckage of destroyed mechas jutted out of the scorched earth at crooked angles, with the torn clothes of soldiers still hanging from the breached cockpits.

The corpses that could not be recovered in time were undergoing terrifying mutations at a visible rate—

Perfectly sound limbs twisted into bizarre angles, and dense black pustules bulged beneath the skin. Finally, the pustules opened like eyes, revealing a murky grayish-white.

In just a few minutes, a human corpse transformed into a monster with dozens of tentacles and a mouth full of sharp teeth, roaring as it lunged at the nearest human soldier.

Bang!

With a loud blast, the head of the newly born aberration exploded, splattering black, foul blood all over the ground.

The young soldier who fired the shot was trembling all over, gripping his weapon tightly, his face covered in tears and grime.

The one he had just shot was his comrade from the same squad.

"You will get used to it," Lei Zhan's voice was hoarse.

"Those polluted by the Outer Gods cannot be saved. As long as they have a breath left, they will turn into monsters. That is why we have a rule: anyone who gets polluted must be executed immediately, even if it is your own blood brother."

He pointed to a ruin billowing with black smoke in the distance:

"See that place? Three days ago, it was a frontline outpost. Ten thousand soldiers, all polluted. In the end, the outpost commander detonated a psionic bomb, perishing together with them."

Ye Chuan looked thoughtful. "Why not use missiles or orbital cannons for long-range bombardment? That way, soldiers would not have to engage in hand-to-hand combat."

"It is useless," Lei Zhan let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. "The power of the Outer Gods operates at the level of laws and rules."

"All energy attacks, whether missiles, particle cannons, or lasers, will be twisted by its power and lose their aim the moment they enter within three kilometers of the rift."

"They either miss entirely or backfire on us. What is even more terrifying is that this energy becomes its nourishment, allowing it to spawn even stronger aberrations."

"We can only fight them in close combat."

"Seventy years ago, we refused to believe it and dropped a hundred-billion-ton psionic nuclear bomb into the largest rift." His voice grew much deeper.

"The nuke did not detonate; instead, it was absorbed by the rift. Three hours later, a Level 10 Calamity emerged from it. We sacrificed two S-class heroes just to barely hold it back."

"In that battle, we lost three districts, the defense line was pushed back by three hundred thousand kilometers, and over two hundred million people died."

"Since then, the Federation has strictly forbidden the use of any large-scale energy weapons to attack the rifts. We can only use the most primitive methods, using superalloys and flesh and blood, to wear them down bit by bit."

"Because only humanity's own psionic energy and lifeblood cannot be easily twisted by the Outer Gods."

Ye Chuan put on a thoughtful expression.

Outer Gods, huh.

Rules?

Wait.

Could it be that the creators of those eerie worlds, those administrators, were actually Outer Gods?

Because Ye Chuan was very familiar with these aberrations. Having experienced so many eerie instances, seeing the exterior of these aberrations felt just like coming home.

It was all about rules. Without complying with the rules, those guys could not be killed.

"Then how... have you held on for so many years?" Ye Chuan looked at Lei Zhan. "Fighting like this, your forces should have been depleted long ago."

A bitter smile appeared on Lei Zhan's face. He pointed to the ID tag on his chest. "By relying on people. A never-ending supply of people."

"In the Federation, ordinary people without cultivation talent have two choices when they turn eighteen."

"Either accept an assignment as a worker to produce weapons and supplies, or answer the Federation's call for childbirth, where a couple must have at least ten children."

"The more they have, the higher the subsidies. All expenses for the children from birth to adulthood are borne by the Federation."

Lin Xi added from the side, "With current incubation technology, a pregnancy only takes a month before birth, and it causes almost no harm to the mother."

"So many couples can have twenty to thirty children in their lifetime."

"It is like pulling gacha cards, is it not?" Ye Chuan said flatly.

Lei Zhan froze for a moment, then nodded, his eyes full of helplessness. "Yes, it is exactly like pulling cards."

"We do not have gene sequencing technology. The Outer Gods' pollution twists genetic sequences, and forcefully editing them will only give birth to monsters."

"So ordinary families can only rely on numbers to gamble on the odds, betting that out of dozens of children, one with cultivation talent will emerge."

"As long as they can produce a Transcendent of B-class or above, the entire family can escape the bottom rungs of society and move to the safe zone to live."

"What about the children without talent?"

"When they come of age, they either accept assignments or join the army and go to the frontline." Lei Zhan fell silent. "Most of those who go to the frontline do not live past a year."

A long silence ensued.

Only the continuous sound of artillery fire and the roars of monsters from afar echoed in their ears.

Ye Chuan looked down at the soldiers fighting in the mud and blood, watching them fall one by one, only for others to charge forward. For the first time, a complex emotion welled up in his heart.

In the continent of Aether, he was the lofty Demon King and Hero; in the Profound Sky Continent, he was the peerless cultivator who swept across the world.

He was fearless of the perishing of living beings. To Ye Chuan, refining an entire small world was perhaps a very normal thing.

Yet the frontline of flesh and blood piled up with human lives before him touched something deep within Ye Chuan's heart.

He saw the insignificance and resilience of humanity struggling to survive in despair.

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

"Mr. Ye, you have seen what there is to see..." Lei Zhan turned around and spoke respectfully to Ye Chuan.

"I have already arranged a place for you to stay, right in the safe zone behind the command center. If you are tired, please go rest first. If you need anything, let me know at any time."

In his view, Ye Chuan coming to the frontline to take a look was not at all to help.

As for asking him to take action, Lei Zhan did not even dare to think about it.

After all, this person was a walking natural disaster that even the Federation had to carefully cater to. If he was offended and casually tore down the defense line in response, that would be the real end of everything.

However, Ye Chuan shook his head.

He turned around and looked at the massive black rift stretching between heaven and earth in the distance.

The space around the rift was distorting, countless black mists spewing out from within, and an endless stream of aberrations pouring out like a tide.

"There is no need to rest."

Ye Chuan's voice was light, but it clearly reached the ears of Lei Zhan and Lin Xi.

"I can put an end to this war."

Lei Zhan jerked his head up, his face full of disbelief.

"Mr. Ye, you... what did you say?"

"I said, I can put an end to this war," Ye Chuan repeated, his tone flat but carrying an unquestionable power.

"I can close that rift and send all those monsters back."