When that colossal, illusory golden pupil snapped open upon the horizon, the leaden gray sky of the Northern Wasteland was instantaneously plated in a layer of divine and terrifying golden radiance. This was no natural light source; it was the physical manifestation of Sacred Rules forcibly overwriting the material laws of this world. The chaotic wasteland environment, usually teeming with electromagnetic noise, fell into an eerie, violent stillness under this divine pressure. Nitrogen molecules in the air began to ionize under high-frequency oscillations, forming countless hair-like filaments of golden lightning that crackled across every inch of the scorched earth.
The Wasteland refugees—the "biological rejects" who had spent their lives cowering in the shadow of theocratic power—fell to their knees in massive waves. Even as they gripped the AR-15 rifles Su Zhe had gifted them, a primal, genetic suppression carved into the depths of their souls caused their strength to drain away like sand through their fingers. They trembled, the cold steel in their hands appearing to lose all dignity in this moment. Before the gaze of a god, all things were but ants.
"[Sinner, kneel.]"
It was a grand wave of sound that overlapped millions of voices—prayers and curses combined—exploding directly within the cerebral cortex of everyone present rather than traveling through the air. As the sonic wave fell from the clouds, the earth groaned, and the ancient mineral strata began to crumble. The two T-54 tanks stationed on the surface issued agonizing groans from their cast-steel hulls; spider-web cracks spread across their thick armor plates as if they could no longer support the sheer weight of that voice.
[System Warning: Warning! High-dimensional information interference detected. The entity is attempting to redefine physical constants. Host, it intends to define 'Steel' as 'Rotten Wood.' Your 'Five Pairs of Road Wheels' are about to turn into a pile of scrap metal! This dimensional strike exceeds the structural limits of conventional armor!]
"Redefining physical constants? Does He think this is a fairy tale!" Su Zhe roared against the crushing weight. The carbon-fiber struts of his steel exoskeleton emitted a tooth-grinding screech of imminent failure, every synthetic ligament stretched to its breaking point. He spat out a glob of blood mixed with visceral fragments, his eyes bloodshot from ruptured capillaries. "Before that, ask my generator sets if they agree! All units, retreat to the underground fortress! Activate the 'Tin-Lead Protective Layer' and seal the vaults!"
At Su Zhe's command, the members of the God-Slayer Regiment exploded with survival instinct, stumbling into the deep mine shafts prepared in advance. The walls of these shafts were lined with specialized lead-tin alloy foil—a material originally meant for radiation shielding that now served as the only salvation against divine spiritual radiation. Heavy lead doors slammed shut with a thunderous boom, isolating the divine pressure that sought to erase their very wills.
Su Zhe stood alone on the isolated observation tower of the surface fortress, the storm tossing his black hair. He stared coldly at the expanding golden eye that seemed poised to consume the entire firmament. In the center of that pupil, he saw an absolute, crystalline disdain.
"System, dump all points into the pool. I want the 'AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System (Shipborne Enhanced Variant)' and the 'Land-Based Full-Spectrum Electronic Interference Array.' Since He wants to play with rules, I'll teach Him the meaning of 'Wave-Particle Duality'!"
[System Sarcasm: Host, you're gambling your life on these points. If we fail to stop Him, you won't even have money for a coffin—your soul will be torn into fuel for His furnace. However, seeing as you're planning to headbutt a god, I've applied a 'Mad Scientist' discount. Ding! 80,000 points deducted. Acquisition successful! Helios High-Energy Laser Defense Array and Big-Noise Full-Spectrum Jammer unlocked.]
RUMBLE—! The ground buckled with a heavy, subterranean thrum. Beneath Su Zhe's feet, three futuristic silver towers rose from the camouflaged bunkers, pushed upward by hydraulic lifts. Simultaneously, dozens of massive, strangely shaped parabolic antennas began to rotate at extreme frequencies, their focal points locking onto the golden divine eye in the sky.
"Since You are a god, You should get used to silence instead of acting like a broken megaphone." Su Zhe's fingers blurred across the holographic interface before he slammed the red execution key.
In that instant, the world fell into a bizarre, unnatural silence.
The grand, brainwashing frequency of the Divine Voice was suddenly flooded with a massive, illogical torrent of electronic noise. The golden eye flickered violently, like a lightbulb suffering from a power surge, as if infected by an invisible toxin. This was violent interference at the physical level. Su Zhe pushed the underground generators to the brink of a meltdown, converting tens of thousands of kilowatts of electricity into a frantic electromagnetic maelstrom that threw the spiritual frequencies of the entire region into absolute chaos.
"[What... what profane sorcery is this? I cannot see... I cannot see the mortals!]" A panicked, confused roar echoed from the clouds. The will of a god relied on the precise locking of spiritual energy to manifest miracles. Under the interference of the "Big-Noise" array, the deity was like a man in a pitch-black storm being blinded by a thousand flashbangs. All transmission paths for the Divine Rules were smashed by these berserk electron flows.
"You don't need to see the mortals. You only need to see the funeral I have personally prepared for You." Su Zhe stared into the sky through the auto-dimming visor of his tactical helmet. "Laser arrays, multi-axis lock on the center of the pupil. Overload power to 150%. All units, FIRE!"
Three beams of pure white light, invisible to the naked eye and transcending optical perception, sliced through the sky. There was no sound, no delay. Over a distance of three kilometers, the speed of light was the most ruthless, unavoidable killer in the universe.
HISSS—! High-energy lasers collided with the golden divine rules in mid-air. The heat generated instantly flash-heated the surrounding atmosphere into a plasma state, creating spectacular blue-white halos of fire. The golden eye issued a shrill, dimension-tearing shriek. The extreme thermal energy, capable of melting meters of composite steel in a heartbeat, precisely scorched the core of the Divine Rule.
"Commander... is he burning the heavens? He is attacking a god?" Deep in the mines, Old Crip watched the CCTV monitors, his palms drenching the grip of his rifle in sweat. They watched as the once-invincible god, a being that represented eternity, began to dissolve like a block of salt under the glare of those silver towers.
The refugees' expressions shifted from terror to stunned silence, then to an unprecedented fever of fanatical devotion. In their understanding, a god was untouchable. But now, the man they called their Leader was using man-made machinery to sear that god black.
[System Sarcasm: Host, look, the 'God' is bleeding. Scientifically, it's highly compressed liquefied energy, but from a medical and psychological standpoint, He is currently suffering from 'Third-Degree Retinal Burns.' His wrath is draining; His fear is growing.]
"Not enough! This only drives Him away. I want Him dead!" Su Zhe stared at the red-lining dashboard. The power systems were humming with an ominous vibration, and the cable insulation began to emit wisps of acrid blue smoke. "He's trying to repair the rule-patches. System, do we have anything harder? Don't talk to me about points—this thing dies today!"
[System Sarcasm: We do, but it's called a 'Neutron Jammer,' and if you use it, not a blade of grass will grow on this wasteland for fifty years. But... since you're already dissecting a god, I doubt you care about the green environment. Or... you could try something more 'hands-on.']
"I don't need that. I have my own hands." Su Zhe took a deep breath, feeling the sharp pain in his lungs. He made a final exchange. "Swap the remaining points for the 'Anti-Spiritual High-Frequency Vibrating Drill' attachment. I'm going to pluck that eyeball out of the sky myself."
Su Zhe activated the emergency solid-rocket boosters on the back of his exoskeleton. With a deafening boom, he transformed into a black shooting star rising against the tide. He wove through the golden lightning that lashed out in a desperate counter-attack. His right arm, previously equipped with a high-frequency vibrating blade, was now fitted with a conical drill shimmering with eerie blue light.
Julius, kneeling on the scorched rocks below, watched as his lifelong faith dissolved into nothingness. What was he seeing? A mortal without a trace of spiritual energy, clad in oil-scented iron armor, was acting like a professional surgeon, carving the divine will out of the sky piece by piece. Those holy golden fragments fell upon the wasteland not as blessings, but as "high-energy experimental materials" in Su Zhe's words.
"[Mortal... How dare you... Desecrate...]" For the first time, the divine voice wavered and broke.
"I told You, if this world won't listen to reason, I'll make my physics louder." Su Zhe's silhouette appeared in the center of the massive pupil, close enough to see the complex energy veins within.
The anti-spiritual drill spun at sixty thousand rotations per second, driving the most powerful piercing force of the physical world. Under the cover of the electromagnetic jamming, it slammed—unrelentingly—into the core of the golden rules.
BANG—!
An explosion echoed through the very soul of the world, causing every transcendent within a thousand miles to feel a sharp pang of dread. The golden eye shattered completely, dissolving into a torrential rain of golden energy. The previously gilded sky returned to its oppressive, leaden gray—but the weight that had threatened to snap every spine was gone.
Su Zhe fell from the sky, the thrusters on his exoskeleton emitting a final puff of smoke to cushion his landing as he stood firm on the charred earth. His breathing was heavy, like a bellows, and his steel palms still sizzled with the heat of divine energy.
[System Tip: Deicidal Operation (Avatar Destruction) concluded. Deducted 50,000 for Helios Laser Array, 30,000 for Jammer, and 10,000 for Drill Attachment. Ding! Heavily wounded an Oracle-level Will Avatar. Points earned: 150,000 (including Deicide First-Blood and Rule-Breaker bonuses). Achievement Unlocked: [Witness of Ragnarok]. Current Balance: 158,000 points. System Note: Host, you have six broken ribs, a damaged right lung, and moderate neural overload. I suggest lying in a hole immediately; this was just a remote projection. The real deal is likely crossing planes right now to strangle you.]
Su Zhe looked at the golden divine blood flowing across the ground, wiped a smear of red from his face, and bared his teeth in a manic, ferocious grin.
"An avatar? Good. Tell Him my 'Dongfeng' series express delivery is currently being loaded with specialized nuclear warheads. Tell Him not to bother with avatars—next time, I expect His Majesty to sign for it in person. I, Su Zhe... will give Him a surprise He'll never forget."
A long silence fell over the wasteland. Then, the hatches of the bunkers and mines slowly creaked open.
The refugees emerged one by one. They no longer knelt; they no longer prayed. they looked at Su Zhe's proud, solitary back, then at the black, cold gunpowder weapons that had given them the courage to defy a god.
In this moment, the "God" who had ruled their world for millennia collapsed. In His place rose a new totem of steel, chemical energy, and physical laws.
The industrial dawn of the Northern Wasteland had officially arrived, heralded by the dying screams of a deity.