The piercing alarm did not last long before it abruptly ceased.
In its place came a silent, global mutation.
The parasitized gods simultaneously transformed into indescribable forms.
Across the planet's surface, it was as if countless frantically writhing flowers made of flesh and blood had bloomed in an instant.
After their initial frenzy, these fleshy tentacles did not attack anything.
As if obeying an instinct older than the soul itself, they began converging toward the planet's energy nodes.
They intertwined and fused across continents and oceans, using their own bodies to construct a global, living summoning circle of flesh and bone.
The mountains were its skeleton, the oceans its blood, and countless twisted limbs formed its most profane runes.
On the bridge of the flagship Unyielding Truth, Lin Qiye witnessed this apocalyptic scene through the massive viewport.
He could not understand why The Emperor and Ian remained seated on their thrones, like eternal, unchanging statues.
Nor could he understand why Ian was merely watching with keen interest, as if admiring a grand fireworks display.
"Why..." Lin Qiye's voice carried a tremor he hadn't even noticed. "Why are you just sitting there? The people of this planet..."
"This planet is a meticulously arranged stage."
The Emperor's will descended directly into Lin Qiye's mind.
"The true audience left their seats long ago. Now, only the actors and the bait remain."
Before Lin Qiye could comprehend this cryptic statement, Ian snapped his fingers beside him.
"Snap."
A soft screen of light unfolded in front of Lin Qiye.
Within the light screen was an equally azure planet, brimming with life, peaceful and serene.
Lin Qiye saw the streets of Cangnan City and the busy figure of his aunt in the kitchen.
He saw everyone in the world, those he knew and those he didn't, living and working in peace, leading the most ordinary of lives.
"This is..."
"This is the real Earth," Ian said in a flat tone. "As for the one beneath your feet..."
He pointed out the viewport at the planet currently being covered by the flesh-and-blood summoning circle.
"It's just a 1:1 replica. The people and objects on it are merely mimicking the actions of their original counterparts."
"To some extent, they are more like... projections."
Lin Qiye stood frozen, his mind completely blank.
So from the very beginning, they had never been on the real Earth.
This global war of the gods, from start to finish, had merely taken place inside a massive 'theater'.
At that exact moment, the planetary-scale flesh summoning circle was fully activated.
The Earth's atmosphere was violently torn open by an invisible force, creating a massive wound that spanned the entire continent.
Beyond the wound was not the deep starry sky, but a chaotic vortex composed of countless distorted geometries and screaming colors. Just a single glance was enough to make one's sanity crumble.
On the bridge, The Emperor finally made a move.
He slowly raised his hand, his majestic will sweeping across the entire fleet.
"First through Tenth Legions, activate the Reality Stabilization Anchors."
"Lock down the entire galaxy. Do not allow a single bug to escape."
"Remaining Legions, stand by."
A will countless times more terrifying than any previous god slowly descended from the chaotic vortex.
It had no physical body, no form.
Merely its 'gaze' instantly drained all the energy from the massive flesh summoning circle on Earth.
Those twisted flesh and bones turned to ash in a split second, converting into pure energy to fuel its descent.
A murmuring voice, impossible to describe in any known language and capable of shattering the soul just by being heard, echoed across the planet's surface.
Immediately after, the true alarms blared throughout the entire solar system.
On Mars, the dormant Olympus Mons suddenly erupted, spewing not magma, but an equally distorted chaotic vortex.
On Jupiter, within the center of the eternal Great Red Spot storm, an indescribable giant eye slowly opened.
Within the rings of Saturn, in the dark depths of the Kuiper Belt...
Countless ancient marks hidden within celestial bodies were awakened simultaneously. Chaotic vortices of varying sizes tore open in every corner of the solar system.
On the bridge's star map, the red dots representing the highest threat level had become too numerous to count, almost dyeing the entire map blood-red.
Lin Qiye stared in horror at this maddening scene, asking Ian beside him with a trembling voice,
"Is... is this still part of the plan?"
Ian and The Emperor on his throne exchanged a glance across the distance.
An indescribable smile surfaced on both of their faces simultaneously.
"Plan?" Ian turned his head, looking at Lin Qiye as he countered, "Do we need one?"
In the next second, the Milky Way completely fell, becoming a playground of madness.
Countless indescribable, terrifying creations swarmed out from the vortices scattered across the galaxy.
Their forms varied wildly: some resembled flowing shadows, some looked like mutated stars, and others were composed of countless howling mouths and writhing tentacles.
The orbits of stars were warped by their reckless traversal, and the originally silent vacuum of space seemed to be filled with profane, maddening whispers.
It ignored all physical defenses, directly eroding the cognition of intelligent life.
In Earth's outer orbit, an elite squad of Great Xia Night Watchmen on guard duty was instantly affected.
"My hands... my hands are covered in eyes!" a soldier screamed in terror. Blinking eyeballs had genuinely sprouted all over his arms.
"So loud... who is singing... haha... who is singing!" Another soldier clutched his head, his thoughts spiraling into chaos as he let out a manic laugh.
Just as their sanity was about to be completely submerged, the squad captain issued a final command.
"Execute Mr. Ian's contingency plan!"
All the soldiers who could still move immediately pulled out a bucket of milk from their storage bracelets.
This was what Ian had personally handed to each of them before the operation began, instructing them to drink it 'when you hear strange voices'.
Although everyone had thought it absurd, right now, it was their only hope.
Trembling, the soldiers chugged the milk.
A miracle occurred. The whispers that were enough to drive even gods to madness instantly vanished from their minds.
In its place was a buzzing sound, like a fly hovering near their ears—annoying, but completely tolerable.
The mutations on their bodies also stopped. Though they didn't revert to normal, at least they didn't worsen.
The power of the Great Old Ones began to reveal the tip of its iceberg to this small star system.
In the distant orbit of Neptune, one of its moons was silently devoured, leaving not a speck of dust behind, simply because it blocked the path of a massive shadow.
An Imperial patrol fleet piloted by servitors didn't even have time to sound the alarm as it approached the chaotic vortex near Jupiter.
The several cruisers making up the fleet, along with the servitors inside, were instantly twisted, stretched, and fused together.
They transformed into a massive, wailing 'artwork' of interwoven metal and flesh suspended in the cosmos.
However, on the bridge of the Unyielding Truth, the atmosphere had reached a fever pitch of fanaticism.
"Father! Please allow the First Legion to deploy! I shall sever the eye of that storm for your glory!"
"The Lion" Lion El'Jonson knelt on one knee, a raging fire burning in his eyes.
"Awooo! Now this is a proper prey!" On the other side, Leman Russ, Primarch of the Space Wolves, had already begun sharpening his massive frost axe with a divine metal whetstone, producing a grating screech.
All the Primarchs had requested to join the battle.
As for Ian, he made no effort to hide his emotions. Looking at the chaotic dance of demons on the star map, his face showed undisguised excitement and appreciation.
"Not bad, truly not bad," Ian praised sincerely, as if critiquing a fine dish.
"The 'Chaos' in this universe is of very high quality. It's far stronger than the trash I encountered in that other universe."
The Emperor's will swept across the entire Imperial fleet like golden sunlight.
His voice echoed in the ears of every soldier through all communication channels, carrying a long-lost, almost boiling battle intent.
"They use chaos as their foundation and numbers as their weapon, vainly attempting to drown reason in madness."
His majestic gaze swept past the Primarchs, past every warship, and finally landed on Ian.
"But they do not understand."
"Order is the most indestructible and powerful force in this universe."
"And the will of humanity is the ultimate embodiment of order."