The broken interstellar corridor stretched through the void like the spine of a beast gnawed apart by some ancient monster. De Shui stood at the front of the bridge of the Deep Diver, gazing out at the shattered starfield beyond the viewport. The starlight here was not continuous, but fragmented arcs, as though the universe itself had been forcibly cut and reshaped by some incomprehensible force. From Zhuangzi · Autumn Waters:
"You cannot speak of the sea to a frog in a well; it is constrained by its dwelling. You cannot speak of ice to a summer insect; it is bound by its season."
At this moment, De Shui felt like that frog — faced not with a mere chasm, but with a "fractured corridor" spanning time and space, its very existence defying common sense.
"Commander, jump window locked," came Navigator Xiao Tang's voice over the comm, tinged with excitement. "Though… the system recommends everyone buckle up. This route might pass through the 'commercial district.'"
"Commercial district?" De Shui frowned.
"Yeah, Void Energy Corporation's cross-dimensional trade lane," Xiao Tang said as if introducing a shopping mall. "They've set up toll stations here. Don't pay the 'passage fee,' and you'll get forcibly redirected to an ad universe."
De Shui took a deep breath, recalling the cold cup of void coffee from the end of Chapter 8, and the tiny line beneath it — "The Seventh Cross-Dimensional Office will reopen in another universe."
He knew this battle had expanded from apocalyptic wastelands to an interstellar scale.
The crew of the Deep Diverwas a unit unlike any other — special in composition, unconventional in style.
Technician Zhou Ming could hack any system in three minutes, yet during lulls in combat would study how to write love poems in void code.
Assault Specialist Zhang Yifan was a marksman without peer, but loved covering his armor with anti-commercial graffiti.
Medic Li Yuan could perform surgery in zero gravity, yet insisted on using herbs instead of certain pharmaceuticals, claiming they were "natural and advertisement-free."
Lu Xiao, tactical analyst, habitually interpreted shopping promotions through the lens of ancient military stratagems.
They were not "warriors" in the traditional sense, but survivors — people who could find a way to live even where rules had collapsed.
De Shui looked at them and knew — this team might be the perfect weapon against the "commercialized apocalypse" embodied by Void Energy Corporation.
As the jump began, the bridge lights dimmed abruptly, and dazzling arcs of light exploded outside the viewport.
De Shui's consciousness was dragged into a strange space — here there was no up or down, only countless floating billboards bearing the names of cross-universal products:
Void Face Mask: One application, celebrity face.
Void Loan: Interest rates so low they're negative.
Void Jelly: Experience flying in your dreams.
Void Soap: Invisible for one hour after washing.
Between the billboards zipped mechanical salesclerks, pushing carts full of goods, endlessly chanting promotional slogans.
This was Void Energy Corporation's "Ad Universe" — a world governed entirely by commercial rules, where even breathing required payment.
De Shui snapped awake. Bridge lights were normal again, but Xiao Tang wore a peculiar expression.
"Commander… we seem to have been 'registered.'" "What does that mean?"
"System shows we've automatically become 'potential customers' of Void Energy, and we now owe a 'cross-dimensional passage fee.'"
De Shui smirked. "Apparently, they won't even spare interstellar lanes."
According to the last logs of the allied ship Gray Falcon, they had once established a temporary outpost here — now nothing but ruins.
De Shui led his squad to the abandoned site. Most equipment had been dismantled; the walls covered in slogans:
"Fear is a resource; happiness is a product." "
Life can be insured; consciousness can be uploaded."
"Destruction is merely a process; business opportunity is the goal." At the center lay a shattered holographic recorder.De Shui repaired it and played the final footage —
The commander of Gray Falcon, pale-faced and trembling:
"They are not enemies… they are rules themselves. We are fighting 'definitions.' Void Energy Corporation turned the apocalypse into business, war into marketing… What we lost wasn't weapons — it was cognition."
The image cut off.
De Shui fell silent for a long moment, then murmured:
"The enemy is not in deep space, but in the definitions light-years away."
In the outpost's library, he found a damaged ancient book titled The Fable of the Fractured Corridor.
It told of an old legend —
At the dawn of the universe, there was a complete stellar road connecting all worlds. But one day, a merchant came and realized every step along the road could be priced. So he used gold coins to cut the road into countless segments, placing toll stations on each.
From then on, travelers faced not only the dangers of the journey, but endless bills. And those who refused to pay were exiled to a fractured corridor, wandering forever among the fragments.
De Shui closed the book, understanding — Void Energy Corporation was that merchant.
Back on the bridge, De Shui gathered his crew.
"Our mission isn't simple rescue," he said, eyes sweeping across them. "We must discover the truth of Gray Falcon's disappearance — and stop Void Energy from spreading disaster to more worlds."
Zhang Yifan grinned. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hit them!"
Li Yuan added, "But first, we'd better figure out how to pay our 'passage fee,' or we'll be stuck in the Ad Universe.
"Zhou Ming was already searching for system vulnerabilities. "Relax. I'll hack their billing system."
Lu Xiao unfolded a star map. "According to Gray Falcon's logs, their next target is an uncommercialized primordial universe — no fear, hence no void energy."
De Shui nodded. "Then we'll go there. Before they spread the disaster further, we'll end them."
The jump engines roared again. Fragments of the fractured corridor flashed past the viewport, like countless broken mirrors reflecting infinite possible futures.
De Shui stood at the bridge, silently reciting a line from The Strategy of Boundless:
"Man plans; heaven disposes. Yet heaven too has gaps — and only the brave may pass through them."
He knew this battle would redefine the word "regular."
When orders clash with humanity, and regulations contradict survival, a choice must be made —
Complete the superior's command, or fulfill the warrior's duty?
De Shui did not hesitate. The warrior's duty is to protect those who cannot protect themselves — even if the enemy is rules themselves.