The whispers started small. Quiet. Easy to miss.A mortal in the market mentioned it to his friend. "I heard Chen Feng killed thousands during the God Wars. Entire cities burned."The friend looked uncomfortable. "That was war. Different times.""But he never apologized. Never faced justice for it. Now he leads us? A mass murderer?"The conversation spread. Similar talks happened across the realm. Always subtle. Always just concerned citizens asking questions.Chen Feng noticed when Mei Lin brought it to his attention."People are talking about your past. The wars. The killing. Asking if someone with blood on their hands should lead a democracy.""I never claimed to be innocent. Everyone knows what I did." Chen Feng frowned. "Why bring it up now? After two years of government?""I do not know. But it is spreading fast. Too fast. Like someone is pushing the narrative deliberately."Chen Feng called a council meeting. Addressed it directly."I am hearing questions about my past. About t

The explosion happened at midnight. A massive blast in the mortal district. Buildings collapsed. Fire spread. People screamed.Chen Feng arrived within minutes. So did emergency responders. The damage was catastrophic. At least forty dead. Hundreds injured.And in the center of the blast zone, void energy residue. Thick. Unmistakable. The signature was fresh."Void corruption." A divine investigator said. "Massive release. Uncontrolled. This was not an accident."Chen Feng felt ice in his veins. "Where is Ling?""At home. Asleep according to her guards.""Get her here. Now. And check her void energy signature. Compare it to this residue."They brought Ling ten minutes later. Still in sleeping clothes. Confused and frightened."Father, what happened?""An explosion. Void energy. We need to verify it was not you.""It was not! I was sleeping! I would never..." Her voice broke.The investigators tested her energy signature. Compared it to the blast residue. Chen Feng watched their faces.

Null woke screaming. The sound echoed through the research facility. Guards rushed to its cell. Found the Primordial thrashing. Its void form unstable. Flickering between solid and smoke.Lyria arrived minutes later. "Null! What is wrong?""They are waking! All of them! My brothers and sisters! I feel them stirring!" Null's voice was panicked. Raw. "Someone is breaking the seals! Releasing the fragments!""How many fragments?""Thirty. Maybe more. Scattered across the prison dimensions. All waking at once. This is not natural. This is deliberate." Null grabbed the cell bars. "You must prepare. When they wake fully, they will be confused. Angry. Hungry. They will consume everything near them."Lyria ran to alert Chen Feng. Found him in a council meeting. Pulled him aside. Explained Null's warning."Thirty Primordial fragments. All releasing simultaneously." Chen Feng felt cold. "That is not a test. That is an extinction event.""Null says we have maybe two days. Three at most. Before t

The crisis stretched into its fifth day. Fifteen fragments now contained or allied. Fifteen still rampaging. The realm held together but barely. Food shortages. Medical supplies running low. People exhausted.Chen Feng stood in the command center. Maps covered every surface. Red marks showed active fragment locations. Blue marks showed safe zones. Too much red. Not enough blue."We are losing ground." Shen Wu pointed to the western territories. "Fragment Eight's void storm is expanding. It will reach the city of Silverport by nightfall. Twenty thousand civilians there.""Evacuation status?""Impossible. The roads are blocked. The storm moves too fast. We need to stop it. Not contain it. Stop it completely.""How? We have tried everything. Divine barriers. Elemental counters. Nothing slows it down."Fragment Twelve looked up from its studies. "Fragment Eight is despair. It creates storms because it feels empty. Hopeless. Fighting makes it worse. Reinforces its belief that existence is

The cleanup took weeks. Nine Primordial fragments were contained. Four were integrated into society. The death toll reached eight hundred and forty seven. Thousands more injured. Entire regions devastated.But they survived. Democracy held together under impossible pressure.Chen Feng stood in a destroyed village. Volunteers worked everywhere. Gods and mortals side by side. Clearing rubble. Building shelters. Distributing supplies. No one gave orders from above. People just helped. Organized themselves. Cooperated naturally."This is what they cannot understand." Mei Lin said beside him. "The True Gods think order requires authority. But look at this. Pure voluntary cooperation. No hierarchy needed.""It helps that everyone just survived an apocalypse together. Crisis builds unity.""Then we build on that unity. Make it permanent. Show that cooperation during crisis can become cooperation always."They held memorial services for the dead. Eight hundred and forty seven names read aloud