Super God Academy: Kabuto

The courtyard of Kita no Hoshi appeared exceptionally tranquil in the night, as if the conflicts and wars of the outside world were isolated by an invisible barrier. Lin Yu and Tsukasa Kadoya appeared almost simultaneously in the center of the courtyard, their robes fluttering slightly, carrying a hint of the dust of their long journeys.

Lin Yu turned his head to look at the person beside him and asked, "So, are you coming with me now, or are you going back to the Mangdang Mountain?"

Kadoya Tsukasa waved his hand, his gaze already drifting towards the Super Soldier Corps base, a smile unconsciously appearing on his lips: "No thanks, I'm not going to be a third wheel for your family of three. I'm going to find Qi Lin, that girl is probably still thinking about my sudden disappearance." Without waiting for Lin Yu's reply, he blurred into a blur and vanished from the courtyard, leaving only a faint ripple in the air, a ripple belonging to the dimensional barrier.

Lin Yu watched him leave, his face expressionless, seemingly already accustomed to Tsukasa Kadoya's carefree style. He didn't linger in the empty courtyard, but turned and walked towards the seemingly ordinary door deep within the courtyard, a door that connected to another world.

The moment his fingertips touched the door, subtle ripples spread silently through the space. He pushed the door open and entered, his figure disappearing into a hazy halo of light. He wasn't entering an ordinary house, but rather stepping into his own tranquil little world, where cherry blossoms bloomed in winter all year round.

The courtyard gate closed gently, instantly shutting out all outside sounds. The courtyard returned to silence, with only the moonlight spilling onto the ground like mercury, as if no one had returned or left.

As soon as they stepped into the lakeside cabin area of ​​the Winter Cherry Blossom World, two concerned gazes were immediately cast their way. Keisha and He Xi almost simultaneously put down what they were holding—Keisha's was an ancient book, and He Xi's was a data tablet—and came forward to greet them.

"How was it? Did you find anything on this trip?" He Xi spoke first, her azure eyes scrutinizing Lin Yu, as if trying to discern some clues from him.

Lin Yu walked to the center of the living room, gestured for the two women to sit down, poured himself a glass of water, and then slowly began to speak: "The situation... is more complicated than I expected." He paused, organizing his thoughts, "First of all, regarding the Triangles, it's almost certain that they have a deep connection with the Void, and may even have been infiltrated or reached some kind of deal. They are very likely the vanguard or inside agents of the Void's invasion of the known universe, and we must be on high alert."

Keisha's silver eyes narrowed slightly, her fingertip lightly tapping the sofa armrest: "As expected. Their abrupt 'cooperation' proposal was already highly suspicious. It seems that the undercurrents beneath the surface are more turbulent than what we see."

"Yes," Lin Yu nodded and continued, "After that, Tsukasa Kadoya and I went to the ruins of the Kamigawa civilization and met Principal Kiran, who was staying there in the form of a nebula."

"Kieran?" He Xi leaned forward slightly, showing great interest. "That legendary God of Time? He's still alive after all."

"It exists in some special form, guarding the seal." Lin Yu's expression turned solemn. "From him, we heard... the truth about the destruction of the Divine River Civilization."

"What is the truth?" Keisha's voice was calm, but her gaze was sharp as a sword.

Lin Yu took a deep breath and relayed Kieran's narration in a more concise yet equally shocking way: The Shenhe Civilization migrated to the star field where the ruins were located in order to explore the unknown, and accidentally discovered a rift connecting to the void; during the research, the rift opened without warning, and void insects and strange creatures poured in; when Kieran and Dinghei barely managed to stop the first wave of attacks, an indescribable "giant hand" that seemed to be made of pure darkness and chaos reached out from the other side of the rift and casually slapped down... The glorious and splendid main star of the Shenhe Civilization, along with billions of living beings and countless crystallizations of wisdom, was turned into the eternal, cold ruins and dust that are now under that palm.

After the narration was finished, a long silence fell over the room.

The cherry blossoms outside the window seemed to have stopped falling, and the lake water seemed to have stopped flowing. Only the faint crackling of the burning wood in the fireplace reminded us that time had not stood still.

"One palm strike... annihilates a top-tier civilization..." He Xi murmured repeatedly. Even with her knowledge and temperament as the Heavenly King, she felt a chill rise from the bottom of her heart, and her hand subconsciously gently covered her lower abdomen.

Keisha sat there, her back straight as a spear, but her hands, clasped on her knees, had a slight clench at the fingertips. "We couldn't even see the enemy's full form, just one strike... The power level of the void is terrifying." Her voice remained cold, yet carried an unprecedented heaviness. "To unleash such an attack, the owner of that 'hand' must have a life form and energy level far exceeding our current definition of a 'Fifth Generation Divine Body'."

"Indeed," Lin Yu said in a deep voice, "that was no longer 'strong' in the conventional sense, but rather a 'erasure' at the level of rules. The fact that Kieran and Dinghei were able to survive was mostly due to luck, and also because they were in a special position where the energy of the rift was disturbed at the time."

"Then we..." He Xi raised her head, her eyes flashing with the rationality of a researcher and the decisiveness of a strategist, "Should we try to stop Karl? If he succeeds in opening the void passage and allows beings of that level to descend on a large scale, the known universe... will probably not even have a chance to struggle."

Lin Yu shook his head, rejecting the suggestion: "Being unable to stop it might not be a good thing. Kieran's seal has been maintained for tens of thousands of years, its power constantly dwindling, on the verge of collapse. Even without Karl, the cracks would eventually reopen due to internal pressure or external erosion. Karl's actions might just be accelerating this process and attempting to control or utilize this power in his own way. Rather than passively waiting for the unknown collapse, it's better to seize that possible, brief window of opportunity when he actively 'opens the door.'"

He looked at the two women, his tone carrying a strange certainty: "Besides, we're not entirely unprepared. That guy, Tsukasa Kadoya... he should be able to 'call for backup' in a pinch."

"Call for help?" He Xi blinked, intrigued by the down-to-earth term. "You mean, summon someone like him... a 'knight'? Does he know many such powerful individuals?"

"There should be quite a few." Lin Yu nodded, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his tone. "That guy has traveled through too many worlds, and the number of strange people he's met... cough, powerful people is probably beyond imagination. Although we can't rely on him completely, he's still a trump card."

Keisha nodded slightly, accepting this viewpoint, and then offered a more practical suggestion: "Then, before the 'Gate' is forced open, we must do everything possible to improve our response capabilities. A large-scale invasion of void creatures cannot consist entirely of those 'hand-sized' beings. Low- to mid-level monsters will require conventional but efficient forces to clear them out."

He Xi immediately understood her meaning, and the light of research rekindled in her eyes: "That's right! We can combine some of the technologies of the Angels and the Divine River, plus some cross-system inspirations gleaned from the G3 system and Kabuto Zecter, to develop some targeted, large-scale clearing conceptual weapons or wide-area rule-disrupting devices. We don't need to be able to deal with top-tier beings, but at least we should be able to effectively suppress hordes of miscellaneous soldiers and create an environment for the duel of top-tier combat forces."

Lin Yu looked at them approvingly: "That suits me perfectly. I'll leave this to you two, my two queens. Just let me know if you need any materials, data, or testing grounds."

The warm yet slightly urgent discussion continued inside the room, and ideas for weapon design gradually took shape.

Over the next few days, the style of the lakeside cottage in the Winter Cherry Blossom World quietly changed.

Lin Yu still often accompanied He Xi, carefully protecting her increasingly obvious pregnant belly, but most of the time, he sat quietly to the side, watching Keisha and He Xi devote themselves to their new "topic".

In the living room, holographic projections replaced the tea sets and sheet music of the past. On one side was a vast star map and complex energy models, where Keisha was deducing the feasibility of a large-scale celestial-level attack; on the other side were scrolling streams of dense void energy data and biological structure analysis diagrams, where He Xi was trying to reverse-engineer the possible weaknesses of that "Mantis Clan".

"Honey, look at this energy decay model," He Xi would occasionally excitedly pull Lin Yu over, pointing to a winding curve on the screen. "If the armor of the void creatures is particularly sensitive to high-frequency oscillating energy, we might be able to develop a regional 'resonance bomb'..."

"Ayu, come over and test the strength of this force field." Keisha might suddenly call him, unfolding a thin yet incredibly strong divine energy shield in front of her. "I'm trying to incorporate some spatial folding technology to see if I can deflect or disperse that pure 'annihilation' energy impact."

Lin Yu then cheerfully acted as a "human testing device," gently tapping the shield with his attacks imbued with the power of rules, or simulating the corrosive properties of void energy. Although the cabin was small, it seemed to have become a cutting-edge weapons laboratory concerning the future of the universe.

Of course, the warm and cozy daily life didn't disappear. At night, Lin Yu would hold He Xi close, his hand gently resting on her lower abdomen, feeling the faint yet tenacious pulse of life, and recount the stories of the "Knights" from his memories, stories full of passion and protection, as a unique form of prenatal education. Sometimes Keisha would listen quietly from the side, and sometimes she would join in the discussion, analyzing the rules and principles that might be hidden in the fighting styles of those "Knights" from a tactical perspective.