Chapter 51: The New Bastion City
The transport truck bounced along the highway for an entire night.
The thick, armored cabin was filled with the pungent, mixed stench of disinfectant, blood, and mud. The wounded lay scattered against both sides of the cabin walls. Most had their eyes closed in quiet rest, with only occasional, suppressed groans of pain breaking the silence.
Lin Yan leaned against the corner of the cabin. The wound on his shoulder had been properly re-bandaged by the medics. The effects of the medicine slowly spread, numbing the tearing pain in his flesh. However, a dull, heavy ache still lingered deep within his skull, a lingering symptom of the severe Sea of Consciousness trauma. He closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, continuing to use his ancient martial arts inner breath technique in conjunction with Sea of Consciousness meditation, slowly repairing the shattered outer barrier of his Sea of Consciousness. His core remained completely still, with the bottleneck of the second-tier peak still standing firmly before him.
Old Chen sat beside him, his lower leg secured in a splint, his face still pale. He had lost a significant amount of blood during the bloody battle the previous night and had rarely spoken throughout the journey. Su Qing sat diagonally across from him, her forearm suspended in a sling. Her gaze pierced through the seams of the cabin, looking out at the world beyond.
The sky had completely brightened, casting a grayish light over the land.
The truck slowly drove into a massive concrete corridor. Towering walls rose on both sides, exceeding thirty meters in height. The walls were covered with firing ports, surveillance cameras, and thick energy shields, with countless sentries patrolling back and forth. This was the core bastion city behind the western line of the Black Mountain—Panshi City (Solid Rock City).
The vehicle passed through multiple security checkpoints and finally drove into the city's military medical district.
The wounded were carried off the truck one by one and diverted to different treatment zones. Medical staff carried detection instruments, conducting physical and Sea of Consciousness scans on each person.
When it was Lin Yan's turn, the blue light of the instrument swept over his head, and the jumping data on the light screen stabilized. The female military doctor in charge looked at the readings and once again showed a look of surprise. "Severe physical trauma, large-scale damage to the outer layer of the Sea of Consciousness, but the core is intact. Second-tier peak. It is extremely rare for the core to remain undamaged after experiencing such intense psychic bombardment."
"How long until I can return to my unit?" Lin Yan asked.
"At least twenty days of rest for the physical wounds; the Sea of Consciousness damage will take longer," the doctor said, putting away her instrument. "The war zone has approved a convalescent leave for your depleted squad. You can choose to stay in the military sanatorium area or apply for temporary housing within the city. However, you are not allowed to take on frontline missions until your Sea of Consciousness re-examination is passed."
The group left the detection hall and settled into the sanatorium area.
Panshi City was a massive bastion city that humanity had spent twenty-five years of relentless defense to build. The city was divided into military districts, combat-prepared universities, civilian residential areas, and material storage zones. Warriors carrying short blades and emitting faint Sea of Consciousness fluctuations could be seen everywhere on the streets, as well as young students carrying Sea of Consciousness textbooks, commuting to and from training grounds.
After the catastrophe, a city could never truly relax. Warning devices were set up everywhere on street corners and the tops of buildings. At regular intervals, broadcasts would loop to announce the alert level of the rifts.
During the first few days of his recovery, Lin Yan spent most of his time in the meditation room of the sanatorium.
The meditation room was treated for psychic isolation, effectively blocking out scattered mental interference from the outside world, making it highly suitable for Sea of Consciousness repair. While repairing his damaged Sea of Consciousness, he repeatedly recalled the bloody battle at the Black Mountain outpost, constantly reviewing the characteristics of that underground controlling will: it had an upper limit to its computing power; when it concentrated its output on a single point, commands to other areas would experience brief stagnation; its psychic links could be disturbed by minute interference, but the risk of being reverse-locked was extremely high.
He attempted, in the safe environment of the meditation room, to simulate the psychic threads from that day. He released extremely fine psychic threads, carefully attempting to touch the faint, scattered psychic fluctuations of ordinary people in the distance. He practiced repeatedly, gradually mastering the strength required to send out and retract his mental tentacles, and learning how to hide his own psychic signals to avoid being reverse-traced and locked onto by the enemy.
He did not tell Old Chen and Su Qing about this. It was not a lack of trust, but the risk was simply too great. Once the high command of the war zone found out, he would immediately be listed as a special subject of observation, and his every move would be strictly monitored.
On the fifth day of his recovery, Old Chen, leaning on a crutch, and Su Qing came to the meditation room to find him.
"We went to visit Instructor Zhou yesterday," Old Chen said in a low voice as he sat down. "In the severe Sea of Consciousness damage recovery ward. He is conscious, but he can no longer mobilize any Sea of Consciousness power. The doctor said he will never be able to step onto a battlefield again; he can only do clerical work within the city."
Su Qing sighed softly. "The instructor guarded the front lines for so many years, only to end up with this result."
Lin Yan fell silent for a moment. Instructor Zhou had used his four-tier Sea of Consciousness to endure the absolute kill strike, saving everyone at the cost of ending his own battlefield career. This was the fate of the warriors in this world.
"The high command of the war zone has reviewed the battlefield report we submitted," Su Qing continued. "The report detailed the abnormal tactics of the scaled beasts and the brief stutter during their synchronized charge. But the conclusion of their assessment remains the same: it is recognized as the collective psychic ability of high-tier scaled beasts. There is no mention whatsoever of any other intelligent existence underground."
"To be expected," Lin Yan said slowly. "Without direct observational evidence, and exceeding all records from the twenty-five years since the catastrophe, no one is willing to believe that there is another mastermind underground."
Old Chen frowned tightly. "But we experienced it firsthand. The way that will coordinated everything was absolutely not that of a beast."
"We can only continue to gather clues," Lin Yan said. "The time is not yet right."
The three had a brief conversation and agreed to visit the war zone archives in Panshi City during their recovery. They planned to look through the records of rift beast tides from the past few decades to see if there were any other old cases similar to this one, where "scaled beast tactics were highly orderly and attacks experienced computational stagnation."
The days of recovery were peaceful, but undercurrents still surged.
Deep underground, a thousand meters below in the Lizardmen nest.
The priests continuously released faint psychic exploration threads, crossing the rock layers to search for the human who had disturbed their psychic links on the Black Mountain battlefield—Lin Yan.
They did not launch an attack for the time being. Panshi City was heavily defended, and rashly sending scaled beasts to launch a direct assault would be too costly. The Lizardmen priests chose to lie dormant, continuously observing the changes in Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness and recording his cultivation methods, waiting for an appropriate time to set up a targeted hunting trap.
That evening, Lin Yan finished his meditation and walked out of the room to get some fresh air.
In the distance, on the training grounds, a large number of warriors were conducting Sea of Consciousness combat training. Fluctuating psychic waves spread through the air.
Lin Yan raised his eyes to look at the towering bastion walls in the distance. Beyond the walls lay desolate scorched earth, countless rifts, and the alien race lurking underground.
He was still stuck at the second-tier peak.
The foundation accumulated from the Black Mountain bloodbath was already thick enough, but he was still missing that single life-and-death opportunity capable of shaking the core of his Sea of Consciousness to knock open the door to the third tier.
He knew clearly that this peaceful recovery was merely a brief respite. The next crisis was already waiting quietly in the darkness.
End of Chapter.
The thick, armored cabin was filled with the pungent, mixed stench of disinfectant, blood, and mud. The wounded lay scattered against both sides of the cabin walls. Most had their eyes closed in quiet rest, with only occasional, suppressed groans of pain breaking the silence.
Lin Yan leaned against the corner of the cabin. The wound on his shoulder had been properly re-bandaged by the medics. The effects of the medicine slowly spread, numbing the tearing pain in his flesh. However, a dull, heavy ache still lingered deep within his skull, a lingering symptom of the severe Sea of Consciousness trauma. He closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, continuing to use his ancient martial arts inner breath technique in conjunction with Sea of Consciousness meditation, slowly repairing the shattered outer barrier of his Sea of Consciousness. His core remained completely still, with the bottleneck of the second-tier peak still standing firmly before him.
Old Chen sat beside him, his lower leg secured in a splint, his face still pale. He had lost a significant amount of blood during the bloody battle the previous night and had rarely spoken throughout the journey. Su Qing sat diagonally across from him, her forearm suspended in a sling. Her gaze pierced through the seams of the cabin, looking out at the world beyond.
The sky had completely brightened, casting a grayish light over the land.
The truck slowly drove into a massive concrete corridor. Towering walls rose on both sides, exceeding thirty meters in height. The walls were covered with firing ports, surveillance cameras, and thick energy shields, with countless sentries patrolling back and forth. This was the core bastion city behind the western line of the Black Mountain—Panshi City (Solid Rock City).
The vehicle passed through multiple security checkpoints and finally drove into the city's military medical district.
The wounded were carried off the truck one by one and diverted to different treatment zones. Medical staff carried detection instruments, conducting physical and Sea of Consciousness scans on each person.
When it was Lin Yan's turn, the blue light of the instrument swept over his head, and the jumping data on the light screen stabilized. The female military doctor in charge looked at the readings and once again showed a look of surprise. "Severe physical trauma, large-scale damage to the outer layer of the Sea of Consciousness, but the core is intact. Second-tier peak. It is extremely rare for the core to remain undamaged after experiencing such intense psychic bombardment."
"How long until I can return to my unit?" Lin Yan asked.
"At least twenty days of rest for the physical wounds; the Sea of Consciousness damage will take longer," the doctor said, putting away her instrument. "The war zone has approved a convalescent leave for your depleted squad. You can choose to stay in the military sanatorium area or apply for temporary housing within the city. However, you are not allowed to take on frontline missions until your Sea of Consciousness re-examination is passed."
The group left the detection hall and settled into the sanatorium area.
Panshi City was a massive bastion city that humanity had spent twenty-five years of relentless defense to build. The city was divided into military districts, combat-prepared universities, civilian residential areas, and material storage zones. Warriors carrying short blades and emitting faint Sea of Consciousness fluctuations could be seen everywhere on the streets, as well as young students carrying Sea of Consciousness textbooks, commuting to and from training grounds.
After the catastrophe, a city could never truly relax. Warning devices were set up everywhere on street corners and the tops of buildings. At regular intervals, broadcasts would loop to announce the alert level of the rifts.
During the first few days of his recovery, Lin Yan spent most of his time in the meditation room of the sanatorium.
The meditation room was treated for psychic isolation, effectively blocking out scattered mental interference from the outside world, making it highly suitable for Sea of Consciousness repair. While repairing his damaged Sea of Consciousness, he repeatedly recalled the bloody battle at the Black Mountain outpost, constantly reviewing the characteristics of that underground controlling will: it had an upper limit to its computing power; when it concentrated its output on a single point, commands to other areas would experience brief stagnation; its psychic links could be disturbed by minute interference, but the risk of being reverse-locked was extremely high.
He attempted, in the safe environment of the meditation room, to simulate the psychic threads from that day. He released extremely fine psychic threads, carefully attempting to touch the faint, scattered psychic fluctuations of ordinary people in the distance. He practiced repeatedly, gradually mastering the strength required to send out and retract his mental tentacles, and learning how to hide his own psychic signals to avoid being reverse-traced and locked onto by the enemy.
He did not tell Old Chen and Su Qing about this. It was not a lack of trust, but the risk was simply too great. Once the high command of the war zone found out, he would immediately be listed as a special subject of observation, and his every move would be strictly monitored.
On the fifth day of his recovery, Old Chen, leaning on a crutch, and Su Qing came to the meditation room to find him.
"We went to visit Instructor Zhou yesterday," Old Chen said in a low voice as he sat down. "In the severe Sea of Consciousness damage recovery ward. He is conscious, but he can no longer mobilize any Sea of Consciousness power. The doctor said he will never be able to step onto a battlefield again; he can only do clerical work within the city."
Su Qing sighed softly. "The instructor guarded the front lines for so many years, only to end up with this result."
Lin Yan fell silent for a moment. Instructor Zhou had used his four-tier Sea of Consciousness to endure the absolute kill strike, saving everyone at the cost of ending his own battlefield career. This was the fate of the warriors in this world.
"The high command of the war zone has reviewed the battlefield report we submitted," Su Qing continued. "The report detailed the abnormal tactics of the scaled beasts and the brief stutter during their synchronized charge. But the conclusion of their assessment remains the same: it is recognized as the collective psychic ability of high-tier scaled beasts. There is no mention whatsoever of any other intelligent existence underground."
"To be expected," Lin Yan said slowly. "Without direct observational evidence, and exceeding all records from the twenty-five years since the catastrophe, no one is willing to believe that there is another mastermind underground."
Old Chen frowned tightly. "But we experienced it firsthand. The way that will coordinated everything was absolutely not that of a beast."
"We can only continue to gather clues," Lin Yan said. "The time is not yet right."
The three had a brief conversation and agreed to visit the war zone archives in Panshi City during their recovery. They planned to look through the records of rift beast tides from the past few decades to see if there were any other old cases similar to this one, where "scaled beast tactics were highly orderly and attacks experienced computational stagnation."
The days of recovery were peaceful, but undercurrents still surged.
Deep underground, a thousand meters below in the Lizardmen nest.
The priests continuously released faint psychic exploration threads, crossing the rock layers to search for the human who had disturbed their psychic links on the Black Mountain battlefield—Lin Yan.
They did not launch an attack for the time being. Panshi City was heavily defended, and rashly sending scaled beasts to launch a direct assault would be too costly. The Lizardmen priests chose to lie dormant, continuously observing the changes in Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness and recording his cultivation methods, waiting for an appropriate time to set up a targeted hunting trap.
That evening, Lin Yan finished his meditation and walked out of the room to get some fresh air.
In the distance, on the training grounds, a large number of warriors were conducting Sea of Consciousness combat training. Fluctuating psychic waves spread through the air.
Lin Yan raised his eyes to look at the towering bastion walls in the distance. Beyond the walls lay desolate scorched earth, countless rifts, and the alien race lurking underground.
He was still stuck at the second-tier peak.
The foundation accumulated from the Black Mountain bloodbath was already thick enough, but he was still missing that single life-and-death opportunity capable of shaking the core of his Sea of Consciousness to knock open the door to the third tier.
He knew clearly that this peaceful recovery was merely a brief respite. The next crisis was already waiting quietly in the darkness.
End of Chapter.