The void storm above the Jiuzhou Borderlands was entering its end-post, total phase.
High in the stratosphere, the bruised purple tears in reality had swelled into a nonstop vortex of screaming entropic winds. Billions of tons of razor-sharp spatial glass shards continued their fiery descent, cutting through clouds like falling guillotine blades. Across three provinces, air pressure had plunged by twenty percent. Mortal soldiers choked on rotten-egg fumes. Their lungs burned as world-size air slowly vented into the freezing cosmic empty pocket.
“The air is dying!” Commander Zhao gasped, clutching his chest as he stumbled along the stone castle walls. “The soldiers... They can’t breathe! The sky is turning black!”
Beside him, two dozen formation elders were slumped against the stone low roof walls, their faces blue from oxygen starvation. “We have barely two hours...” Grandmaster Feng wheezed, his lips dry and cracked. “Even if the earth-shaking fault is pinned... The heavens are empty! Without an active spiritual dome... We’ll all asphyxiate in our sleep! The empty pocket of the void cares nothing for mortal heroism! The northern continent is on the verge of living extinction!”
Down at the rim of the 100-mile Void Deep gap, Frank stood atop the steel bed of the heavy transport wagon. He adjusted his yellow spun-glass hard hat. He pulled a fresh stick of white lumber crayon from his vest. Then he sketched a rapid wiring diagram across the wooden surface of a wire spool drum.
