The Era of Gods

Lin Xiao unapologetically agreed to Colonel Sun’s arrangement and officially took the position as the captain of the Seventh Action Fleet.

It might seem impossible to outsiders, but in official operation, it was entirely feasible. It was just a part-time job after all, holding the position of the Furious Flame Battalion Commander of the Third Division of the Army’s First Expeditionary Army and concurrently serving as the captain of the Seventh Base of the AX-14 Crystal Wall Seventh Action Fleet. Though it sounded unreasonable, it was procedurally sound and executable, and even if someone were to nitpick, they couldn’t find any faults.

After receiving the commission and the ceremonial sword representing the commander, Lin Xiao turned to face the members of the Lin and Zhang families, who were either seething in anger and unwillingness or completely dumbfounded, and spoke solemnly:

“I am honored to be trusted and appointed by Commander Sun as the captain of the Seventh Action Fleet. I am now assuming my position to carry out the first mission of this action fleet, overseeing the judicial process of the bet confrontation between the Lin Clan and the Zhang Clan in the Heya Plane.”

With a malicious gaze, he looked toward the Zhang family members and said:

“Since I am the referee of this bet, I won’t hold back. I will now establish the rules for this confrontation.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the Zhang Clan Leader, Zhang Yan, exclaimed aloud:

“Captain Lin, the rules of the confrontation have already been set and approved by the former captain, Li. You only need to officiate.”

Lin Xiao raised his eyebrow and retorted:

“That was the business of former Captain Li. Now that I have newly taken over, I will naturally redefine the rules.”

As he spoke, he stretched out his right hand, and a guard next to Lieutenant Colonel Lin brought over an electronic light screen for him to unfold, displaying the previously established confrontation rules.

Lin Xiao expanded the light screen for all to see, his eyes sweeping over the Zhang Clan members, who looked upset, and the Lin Clan members, who were now reacting with uncontained joy. He swept his hand over the screen, erasing a row of text, then touched the screen lightly, adding new text.

“Fantastic!”

Lin Qinghai, clenching his fist and swinging it energetically, said excitedly:

“Lin Xiao, my younger cousin, has redefined the rules. Let’s see if the Zhang family can survive this.”

The other cousins were cheering as well, overwhelmed with excitement.

However, the elders had different considerations than the younger generation. While the youngsters were only thinking about the change in rules made by Lin Xiao, the elders were considering his current status.

To be so young and already a captain, as well as the captain of the Seventh Action Fleet, was a very high military rank for them, capable of directly influencing the struggle between the Lin and Zhang families for the Heya Plane.

The eldest son of the third uncle, Lin Zheng, his face radiating, said to his grandfather:

“Who would have thought that Hao Lin’s son would bring us such a great surprise? So young to have the rank of captain, and also the captain of the Seventh Action Fleet. As long as he makes no mistakes, he is bound to rise even higher. Grandfather, this is the hope for the rise of our Lin Family!”

Everyone nodded, looking at Lin Chenglei and Lin Haolin with envy, while their mother stood tall and proud.

But no one thought her demeanor was out of place. As his mother, she had every right to be proud.

The grandfather stroked his beard, nodding and said:

“I have long felt that Lin Xiao and Lin Xu, these two children, had prospects. Indeed, they have lived up to the family’s expectations. Hao Lin, Yunzhu, you’ve raised good sons.”

The praise from the grandfather lifted his father’s spirits, while his mother, a bit embarrassed, delicately replied in a ladylike manner:

“It’s what a daughter-in-law should do.”

The grandfather nodded, then changing the subject, said:

“We’ll discuss the affairs of Lin Xiao and Lin Xu, the two Qilin sons, after the confrontation is over. For now, let’s focus on the confrontation.”

Everyone agreed heartily, looking towards Lin Xiao with full confidence.

By this time, the original rules on the light screen had been completely changed by him, replaced with the new rules he had established.

The more the Zhang family members looked, the uglier their expressions became, while the Lin family was increasingly joyful, some even bursting into laughter, presenting a sharp contrast to the somber Zhang family.

“This is too much! Aren’t these changes just blatant bullying?”

Zhang Yan’s eldest son frowned and swore under his breath, but he didn’t dare to speak out loud. It was clear now that Colonel Sun of the Seventh Base was siding with the Lin Family. Even such blatant favoritism went unchecked, so their opposition would definitely be futile.

Zhang Clan Leader Zhang Yan had an expressionless face, showing neither joy nor anger, but those who knew him could guess what he was plotting.

Lin Youde glanced at his old rival and had a thought.

Soon, the new rules were finalized, and Lin Xiao read through them again, considering whether he needed to add anything.

The original rules had mainly four restrictions:

Random drawing of lots.

No restrictions on the confrontation, no limit to the number of Clan members on either side.

Randomly determined venue.

Age limit under a hundred years old.

Now, he had changed them to—

Designated combatants.

Limited to a population of a hundred thousand.

Designated venue.

Age limit under fifty years old, directly excluding Zhang Taihua, the strongest of the Zhang family.

Add an external ally.

The major original rules were essentially overhauled, and a new rule concerning an external ally was added.

After revisiting the rule sheet, even Lin Xiao himself felt it was somewhat excessive.

When he republished the rules, there was an uproar from the Zhang Family’s side, with many unable to hold back from shouting:

“This is too much.”

“That’s too underhanded.”

“Don’t push people too far.”

Some even called out to Colonel Sun:

“Commander Sun, Captain Lin’s new notary rules are overly biased toward the Lin Family and lack fairness. I request that Captain Lin’s notary qualification be revoked.”

Colonel Sun said with a smile:

“The decision to appoint the captain of the Seventh Action Fleet as the notary was yours, and the specific rules were set by Captain Lin. I, the commander, am only a witness and will not intervene.”

His face was smiling, but his words felt like a cold plunge to Zhang’s Clan People.

The intention of Colonel Sun was very clear: I am favoring the Lin Family, and you can’t object to it.

“Father, what should we do?”

Everyone looked toward Clan Leader Zhang Yan; it was time for the clan leader to make a decision.

Zhang Yan’s brows were tightly knit, and after a long silence, he sighed heavily and said with an expressionless face:

“Surrender.”

“Surrender?”

“Yes, surrender. We have no chance of winning; we can’t defeat both our opponent and the referee.”

But his sons were somewhat unwilling, and they exclaimed:

“Father, those are the only two B-grade planar dimensions our clan has; are we just giving them up like that?”

Zhang Yan gave his son an indifferent look, flipped his sleeve, and walked away.

The son he had glanced at shivered suddenly, swallowing the words he was about to say. The others exchanged looks, and finally, Zhang Yan’s eldest son, Zhang Xinyan, clenched his fist and said to the clan members:

“Let’s go back. I will announce our surrender.”

“Surrender?”

As expected, Lin Xiao asked with a smile:

“I need to confirm once more, does your Zhang Family really decide to forfeit and surrender?”

Zhang Xinyan nodded heavily with a green face:

“Yes, the Zhang Family surrenders.”

Lin Xiao nodded:

“If that’s the case, then I hereby announce, the victor of this wager is the Lin Clan. Zhang Clan, you are to hand over the B5 planar dimension to the Lin Clan within three days. Oh, and as the notary, I would like to remind the Zhang Clan not to tamper with the planar dimension during handover, and not to cause any damage, otherwise as the captain I have the authority to demand the Zhang Clan to re-segment and hand over a new planar dimension of equal value to the B5.”

His statement shattered any little schemes some of the Zhang Clan’s people might have had in mind.

Such an act was entirely plausible—if not forbidden, there would surely be members of the Zhang Clan overwhelmed by wrath and discontent who would wreak havoc on the dimension during the handover, and he did not want to receive a wreckage.

Although there was no fight and a slight sense of disappointment, they had won in the end, successfully securing the B5 planar dimension.

After all, there were only five B-grade planar dimensions in the entire Heya Plane, originally two with the Lin Family and three with the Zhang Family. Now the Zhangs had lost one, which was a significant blow to them.

Most crucially, with Colonel Sun’s protection, future wagers would only see them as victors. In time, they would drain the Zhang Family and eventually drive them out of the Heya Plane, leaving the Lin Clan to dominate it exclusively.

Don’t say that such actions were unscrupulous—it’s just the nature of conflict for interests. It’s either the east wind prevails over the west wind or vice versa. Had he not stepped forward, the victor of this wager would have been the Zhangs, and the already strong Zhang Family would have become even more powerful, eventually expelling the Lin Clan.

And with the emergence of Lin Xu and himself in the Lin Clan, it could be considered a rise in fortune, allowing them to surpass the Zhangs in one fell swoop, which was entirely normal.

In fact, even without him and with only Lin Xu, it would be the same. As long as Lin Xu developed after graduating from the Dark Moon Higher Education Institution, his inevitable potential and high ceiling meant that the Lin Family, under his leadership, could easily suppress the Zhang Family.

The wager thus ended with one side rejoicing and the other in anger, with the Zhang Clan members dejectedly departing while the Lin Clan members were elated and overjoyed.

The grandfather immediately invited Colonel Sun to visit the Lin Family castle, and Colonel Sun gladly accepted.

Three days later, a military force of the Lin Clan moved into the B5 planar dimension, taking half a month to review the condition of the dimension before officially taking over.

Afterward, the clan held a meeting, and aside from celebrating the victory over the Zhangs and the acquisition of a B-grade planar dimension, the most important matter was the allocation of ownership of this dimension.

Only about twenty key members of the clan attended the meeting. Among the younger generation, only Lin Xiao and Lin Xu were present; the rest were at least of his father’s generation.

If it were a normal occasion involving the allocation of a B-grade planar dimension, it would have certainly sparked a scramble among the clan members. However, this time, not a single person broached the subject.

The grandfather directly said:

“It seems everyone anticipated this. So, I won’t beat around the bush. I have already discussed with Chang Hong, and the B5 planar dimension taken from the Zhang Family will be allocated to Hao Lin’s son, Lin Xiao.”

No one objected to this, not even his great-uncle, who had always been at odds with everyone.

The same went for Lin Xu, who, like Lin Xiao, did not care for a medium-sized planar dimension, even though he did not currently possess a personal dimension.

It wasn’t that a medium-sized dimension was too small—even the smallest dimension is an independent space that can be effectively managed, such as being completely developed into farmland or pastures. The main reason he wasn’t interested was that this dimension was located within the familial territory, surrounded by the dimensions of other clan members, leaving no room for expansion.

For them, it was almost certain that they would achieve Divine Enthronement in the future. At that stage, a medium-sized dimension would certainly not suffice; they needed to expand their dominion. Being enclosed by fellow clan members’ dimensions would leave no room for expansion.

The most ideal personal dimension for them naturally centered around a group of planar dimensions with a large-sized dimension at its core, similar to the Heya Plane, which would be adequate for their use.