Chapter 957: Chapter 121: Mission Objective: Survive
West Continent, Light City.
The glow of sunset lingered, filling the temple; a magnificent Divine Statue with a solar disk above its head stood atop the Holy Mountain. Below the statue, the Holy Judges worshipped day and night, grateful for the light this great Divine Throne brought to the West Continent.
Not far from the temple was a side hall where the “Blessing Power” was enshrined.
These side halls housed the West Continent’s Taboo Seal, the Blessing Tablet, and outside the hall, a wishing prayer pool was built where secular wishes could be carried.
Sincere faith brings about miracles.
Lord Divine could listen to the voices of the people of the West Continent. As long as one ca here with a wish, it was possible to receive “Divine Favour.”
Besides, the Great Sacrificial Rite, responsible for prayers and preaching within the Holy Judge Army, would periodically bring offerings to maintain and clean the peace of the Divine Shrine.
The Light God’s Seat would occasionally descend with Divine Thought into the Divine Shrine in the side hall, providing guidance to the Holy Judges and ordinary believers.
In the Divine Shrine today.
The lit incense produced dense black smoke.
The priest praying nearby looked pale. He persisted in reciting the holy scriptures, but the dense smoke shrouded the great hall, dimming the last ray of sunset glow… This was the Land of Sunset, the Mountain of Eternal Day, protected by Divine Power, which for hundreds of years had never seen true darkness.
But at this mont.
The hall was unprecedentedly dark.
“Clatter!”
In the Blessing Shrine, a tablet suddenly fell!
“Ah!”
This unexpected scene startled the believers serving beside it, causing them to exclaim.
The priest’s lips were dry, and he was bewildered as he looked at the now dark shrine. A great sense of foreboding arose in his heart. Following the anomaly, the nearby believer imdiately stepped forward, trying to lift the fallen tablet.
Then a sharp, terrified voice echoed through the hall.
“The soul of the Blessed Son has shattered!”
…
…
Duolu River Disaster Realm.
The sound of Thunder Shock resonated through the heavens.
Lin Lin stood up and began to wear the Source Armor, preparing to depart. As the Commander, his primary task was to ensure the smooth operation of the mission, with the various team leaders able to coordinate under the Spirit Network.
But now… the connection of the Spirit Network had been declared severed.
The main control boat had beco an isolated island.
The Commander had completely lost his intended role.
A firm hand pressed on his shoulder.
“Lin.”
Osmond asked in a deep voice, “Are you planning to leave the main control boat?”
“Lord Osmond, forgive , but I can no longer wait like this.”
Lin Lin’s voice was resolute: “During this period, there are no signs of repairing the severed Spirit Network… Clearly, the previously laid ‘Deep Sea’ link points have been damaged. Waiting like this, what else can we expect, the bodies of our comrades?”
Indeed.
This was a difficult wait.
After Lu Zhe set out, not a single team had sent back any ssages.
Twelve teams all disappeared at the ends of the branches of the Duolu River… and at the end of the Disaster Realm, the Black Snow Mountain seed to erupt with violent tremors, severing the link of the main control boat, unable to receive any ssages, rendering the “Commander” in such a state akin to being blind.
Unable to see, unable to hear.
“In battle, generals have their positions, kings have their positions… Exploring the Duolu River is the duty of the team leaders, you and I as the Commanders of the restart mission should sit tight in the control boat. Before making a decision, have you thought, if you leave the main control boat, the communication restores, the team leaders return, but the Commander is absent, will the mission suffer a greater setback?”
Osmond looked directly into Lin Lin’s eyes.
“…”
Lin Lin was at a loss for words.
He gritted his teeth, “Sir, can’t you tell that an unexpected change has occurred in this Disaster Realm… Those team leaders might have encountered danger.”
In the distant sky, the sound of Thunder Shock seed to tear the firmant apart.
In such circumstances, being trapped in the main control boat was truly a desperate situation.
“I’ve read your dossier.”
Osmond, with his single eye, gazed at the young man before him and said slowly, “During your ti as a Guardian of Gu Castle, you encountered a total of seven major and minor Storms, and other chaotic primal impacts nineteen tis, in every case, you were among the first to charge forward as a ‘vanguard’, even after becoming the Fortress Guardian, it remained the sa. I’ve carefully reviewed each battle’s specific records, ready to replay the situation at any ti.”
Lin Lin remained silent.
Over the years… the nurous battles he had gone through were too many to recall himself.
This eye of the legion rembered them in his heart.
“As a Fortress Guardian, leading the charge is not wrong. Because behind you is the holand of all humanity, for people like us, the best fate is to die on the giant wall.”
Osmond continued, “But this is not the giant wall, the ‘enemy’ we face is not the storm, it’s not an issue that you can solve by donning the Source Armor, exiting the main control boat, and fighting with a blade… Do you not trust the team leaders chosen by Her Majesty the Empress? Or do you have too much faith in your own ability?”
These words rendered Lin Lin speechless.
He fell into complete silence.
“Sir…”
After a long ti, he reached out and placed his hand on the console, looking at the dark screen. The lights inside the main control boat were warm, but after severing the Deep Sea link, this deathly warm light felt piercingly cold…
Lin Lin’s voice was sowhat hoarse, “I… am unwilling to just stay here doing nothing.”
“Oh, I almost forgot one thing.”
Osmond’s gaze beca a bit gentler as he slowly said, “The only battle which you did not personally join was the recent ‘Storm Counterattack’?”
The greatest calamity in the history of Gu Castle.
Lin Lin had been afflicted with Spiritual Poison and was unable to join the battle personally.
For a general accustod to front-line reunions, this was a significant lack and an indelible regret.
“Hmm…”
For Lin Lin, participating in this restart mission felt more like a negotiation.
Most people here don’t know his true identity.
After returning to Central City, Lin Lin had a brief conversation with his elder brother Zhu Xue… Under the pressure of the family’s will and the situation in the North Continent, he realized that so things he couldn’t choose.
He might have to stay in Central City, reveal his royal family identity, and beco a “key piece” in stabilizing the situation.
This ans he won’t be able to guard Gu Castle.
Once his royal identity is revealed, Lin Lin’s life trajectory becos foreseeable, and he will proceed to Central Continent’s finest academies for further study, engage in a political marriage with Light City, and strive to acquire “great influence” for the Lin Family.
All of this is truly wonderful.
But he simply doesn’t like it.
Hence the conversation on the second floor of the old castle with his sister.
He expressed his most genuine thoughts, but his sister seated on the throne, listened quietly without uttering a single word.
Eventually, he ca here.
Without going through the selection process, Lin Lin directly joined this significant special mission as a “Commander”. His feelings weren’t light, rather they were quite complicated.
Because he didn’t understand his sister’s real intention behind this arrangent.
This might be his last battle.
This mission is crucial to the fate of the North Continent; if it fails, then he has no choice but to stand out for the family, sacrificing parts of his life.
If the mission succeeds, proving his “abilities”, perhaps his sister will “make an exception”.
“Don’t rush.”
Osmond’s voice was still gentle; he patted the young man’s shoulder: “The danger hides within the mist, and we still don’t know who the enemy is. Right now, the only thing we can do is ‘wait’.”
In the chess ga, the best approach to achieve victory is not to advance recklessly.
It’s to wait.
Gather intelligence, clear the fog, steadily plan, and finally… wait for the enemy to make a mistake!
Lin Lin cald down at this mont.
He exhaled a deep breath and apologized: “Sorry… I was impulsive.”
“Young one.”
Osmond smiled unconcernedly, leaned against the table, lit a cigar, and handed it to Lin Lin.
Exchanging glances, they looked at the distant Black Snow Mountain.
“Sizzle!”
Suddenly, a crisp electric arc sound rang out, and at that mont, there was a brief fluctuation in the spirit network!
The two suddenly turned around.
A face was reflected on the main screen.
Osmond bit the cigar, exhaled a mouthful of smoke, his voice sharp: “Fisher, what happened!”
However, the image Fisher transmitted was extrely blurry.
It appeared to be a mountainous terrain with mist covering the peaks, and at the highest point, a high-hanging black [gate]. Countless sharp black shadows surged from the [gate].
The next mont.
The image disappeared.
This link was completely erased.
The older and younger exchanged a glance, seeing the shock and bewildernt in each other’s eyes.
Even though it was just one second… the information was already trendously vast.
Those overwhelming “black shadows” were all extraordinary creatures!
“They erged from the [gate], the [Old World]… does sothing truly still live?”
Osmond’s voice trembled.
There was confusion, concern, but more excitent.
Having guarded the fortress for decades, executing countless missions beyond the fortress, the most he wanted to verify was not only the specific location of the oasis but also whether creatures from the [Old World] existed!
…
…
At the summit of the mountain, the black gate hung high.
The seven Transcendents of the Deep Scale Team stood silently at the mountain peak, staring at the overwhelming black shadows ahead.
Lately, they’ve been trapped by thick fog.
Walking and spinning around yet seemingly still in the sa spot, eventually returning to the [gate].
Then, they witnessed a “scene” they never expected in their lives—
Upon discovering the bones, they had sowhat ntally prepared that perhaps within the Duolu River Disaster Realm, there existed unknown “extraordinary creatures”.
But they never imagined.
There are this many extraordinary creatures…
Hundreds, thousands, and the number continued to rise… These slender, elongated black shadows, ignited like fiery vertical pupils in the black mist, like robust and agile hawks striking the sky, emitting sharp screeches.
The most terrifying thing.
Seen from afar.
“They” seed to have faces resembling humans!
With a blank expression, Fisher watched those “birdn” maneuver in the heights.
He has attempted nurous tis to link with the main control boat, trying to transmit what he saw back to the main boat, but due to signal disruptions, he didn’t know if any of his attempts succeeded.
But fortunately…
As things behind the [gate] kept surging out, the thick fog seed to have dissipated a lot.
He could already roughly see the direction to return.
“Deep Scale Team, prepare to return, head back to ‘main boat’.”
Fisher drew his long sword, speaking word by word: “Everyone rember, the mission goal is only one—”
“Survive.”
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