454: Leave the unknown space, heroic spirits watch over (two in one)

What did they hear?

The super base within the Mingye Clan ruins had actually been destroyed?

???

Cai Fei and the other two looked at each other, stunned by the news.

That was a super base of the Mingye Clan!

And it was inside the ruins!

Lin Yang and Que Tian just, like that, destroyed it?

This... "Leader, you're not messing with us, are you???"

Cai Fei and the other two's eyes widened, completely unable to believe what they had heard.

Lin Yang and Que Tian, just the two of them!

How could they have destroyed the Mingye Clan's super base?!

And come out of the ruins unharmed!

This was simply unbelievable to them!

Seeing the three's shocked expressions, Que Tian spoke first: "Ahem, that base was indeed destroyed, but it had nothing to do with me. It was all the Leader's credit; I was just there to make up the numbers."

"Ah???"

Cai Fei and the other two were even more shocked!

Lin Yang destroyed the Mingye Clan's super base all by himself???

Are you sure this isn't a joke?

Lin Yang glanced at Que Tian, spread his hands, and said:

"Actually, it didn't have much to do with me either; it was destroyed by borrowing the power of that Stone Statue."

He briefly explained the situation at the time to Cai Fei and the other two.

The shock on the three's faces eased slightly, but they were still incredibly surprised:

"That Stone Statue actually wanted to eat you, Leader?"

"Mm." Lin Yang nodded, glanced at the endless darkness outside the porthole, and slowly said: "Let's go back first; who knows when that Stone Statue will catch up again."

"Leader, whether it was with the power of the Stone Statue or whatever, the Mingye Clan's base was destroyed by you. This immense credit and contribution are all yours, Leader."

Cai Fei and the other two added, also feeling happy and excited for Lin Yang.

"When the news gets back, the people at Alliance Headquarters will definitely be startled!"

Lin Yang destroyed the Mingye Clan's super base alone and returned from the ruins unscathed.

This was an unprecedented feat.

Whether it was the former or the latter, it was destined to shake the heavens!

The credit brought by the former goes without saying, while the latter could provide a lot of information about the ruins.

"I wonder what kind of expressions Director Song and the others will have when they receive the news. It should be very exciting, but it's a pity we won't get to see it."

Cai Fei rubbed his hands, chuckling.

As the Vermilion Bird began to warp towards the outer region, the warship became much quieter.

"Leader."

A few days later, Que Tian, taking advantage of Cai Fei and the other two's absence, suddenly whispered to Lin Yang:

"Are you going to talk about the information regarding those Heroic Soul Warriors?"

"What do you mean?" Lin Yang looked at Que Tian.

"Leader, you must also be hesitating whether to say it, right?"

Que Tian smiled:

"When you introduced the situation inside the ruins to Cai Fei and the others earlier, you didn't mention the Heroic Soul Warriors. I suppose you were hesitating whether to reveal it, right?"

Lin Yang glanced at him, nodded and said: "You saw through me. Indeed, I am a bit hesitant. What you told me before about the internal struggles and factions within the Alliance made me a bit indecisive."

The existence of the Heroic Soul Warriors must be very special. If it were revealed, he was somewhat worried that people from the Old Monster Faction would use those Heroic Soul Warriors for something.

And he didn't want those Heroic Soul Warriors, who had been abandoned once and had died for humanity, to become tools for certain people again.

"Leader, I understand your concerns, so I also hope you don't report it publicly."

Que Tian directly stated his thoughts:

"Public reporting, while it can bring a lot of credit and contributions, will definitely disturb those Heroic Soul Warriors again. The people from the Old Monster Faction have no bottom line."

"And those Heroic Soul Warriors, if they can be awakened at will and are immortal beings, the people from the Old Monster Faction will definitely use them."

"So my suggestion is not to report it publicly. At the same time, I will also pretend not to know about this at all. You can just tell Director Song privately."

Lin Yang nodded slightly.

Although those Heroic Soul Warriors were on the planet within the ruins, those few Old Monsters would definitely find a way to enter and exit the ruins.

This was already confirmed when he entered the ruins earlier and saw that the Mingye Clan people could enter and exit the ruins.

Although it was claimed that all who entered the ruins would die, those few powerful Old Monsters must have a way to enter the ruins and come out alive.

"Oh, and Leader, for the mission reward of destroying the Mingye Clan base in the ruins this time, you can take all the credit yourself."

"I'll just say that after entering the ruins, I fainted from the pressure of the Stone Statue, and by the time I woke up, you had already used the power of the Stone Statue to destroy the base. All the credit this time goes to you."

Que Tian added.

"Ah, isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Lin Yang was taken aback.

Although Que Tian indeed didn't exert much effort, he felt it was inappropriate to take all the credit himself.

"What's wrong with it? Anyway, I don't need those credits to strive for any high-level positions. You just take them all. Besides, if I say I destroyed the base with you, I'll inevitably be interrogated, which is too troublesome. It's better to say I was unconscious the whole time, saving some trouble."

Que Tian waved his hand, signaling Lin Yang not to decline further:

"Leader, just consider it helping me out. I don't want to be called in for questioning repeatedly. If I say I was unconscious, it's over and done with."

"Anyway, this isn't a rescue mission this time, and the mission system isn't online. I really did faint, and if I insist I was unconscious the whole time, they can't do anything to me."

"Otherwise, after several rounds of questioning, it's hard to guarantee I won't say the wrong thing. If some detail doesn't match up, there'll be trouble, which isn't conducive to concealing the information about the Heroic Soul Warriors."

He paused, then Que Tian looked at Lin Yang, smiling:

"The pressure of reporting this mission is entirely on you, Leader. But you can also rest assured, even if the people from the Old Monster Faction suspect something, they won't dare to interrogate you too much."

"Putting everything else aside, you are a great hero this time. Even if they suspect you haven't fully disclosed the situation in the ruins, they won't dare to do anything."

Hearing this, Lin Yang pondered for a moment, then nodded and said: "In that case, I will handle the entire report."

He understood Que Tian's meaning.

It concerned intelligence within the ruins and involved the destruction of the Mingye Clan base.

Both matters were significant.

This operation was also a joint effort by various departments of the Human Alliance, so upon returning, a public report and explanation of the mission would be required at the Alliance Headquarters, rather than just reporting to Song Qingfeng individually.

And a public report would naturally involve high-ranking officials from the Old Monster Faction listening to the mission report content.

Once they suspected that the two of them were hiding something, they could easily be asked to report separately.

This was also a normal procedure within the Alliance.

But if they were asked to make separate mission reports, if Que Tian didn't say he was unconscious, and during multiple interrogations, if any detail he mentioned didn't match up with Lin Yang's, it would indeed be a big problem.

Therefore, if Que Tian said he was unconscious the entire time, there would be no problems with details.

But doing so would put all the pressure on him.

As the only informed participant throughout the entire process, how much he reported was entirely up to him, and people from the Old Monster Faction would certainly be suspicious of his report.

But just as Que Tian said.

This time, they had overfulfilled the mission and were meritorious. Even if the people from the Old Monster Faction were unhappy or suspicious, they could not conduct mandatory interrogations.

After all, they were not criminals, so as long as Que Tian insisted he was unconscious the entire time, no one could do anything to him.

And if Lin Yang reported alone, there would always be far fewer linguistic loopholes.

Coupled with his special status, even if the Old Monster Faction was dissatisfied, they still couldn't do anything to him.

"But in that case, you won't get any rewards this time. That's too much of a loss." Lin Yang added.

Only the two of them entered the ruins to investigate and destroy the base.

If Que Tian insisted he was unconscious the entire time, it meant he played no role in the mission, and naturally, he couldn't receive the corresponding generous mission rewards, at most just a small token of appreciation.

Que Tian, however, waved his hand nonchalantly:

"I didn't do much in the mission anyway, so no reward means no reward."

"..." Lin Yang was speechless.

After a moment of silence.

Lin Yang said: "How about this, after the report, I'll see what rewards I can get, and if there's anything useful to you, you can take it from me."

Que Tian had voluntarily given up all credit, contributions, and mission rewards to him alone.

Since he took all the credit and contributions, it was only appropriate to share some of the other material rewards with Que Tian.

"Alright, then I won't be polite with you, Leader." Que Tian also didn't decline.

As their conversation ended, the ship's cabin fell silent again.

Two months passed without any further incidents, and they were already nearing the outer edge of the Unknown Space.

After two consecutive months of warping, they were not far from completely leaving the Unknown Space.

Suddenly—

Lin Yang, who was fusing extraordinary characteristic material, received a notification from the system.

"Congratulations, Host, you have activated a special mission: Heroic Soul Vigil!"

"Heroic Soul Vigil: You have received the full protection of the Heroic Souls of the Ancient Battlefield to escape danger. The heroic spirits live on, and as they once again fall into a deep slumber, the only wish of the Heroic Souls is to see the place they once protected one more time."

"Please, Host, find the Dingnan Star Region at an opportune time to fulfill the final wish of the Heroic Soul Warriors."

"Note: This mission has no time limit. Please, Host, prioritize improving your own strength and patiently await the right moment."

"..."

The sudden mission notification startled Lin Yang: "System, this is..."

"Host, the Heroic Soul Warriors have fallen into a deep slumber again."

The system gave this reply.

Lin Yang instantly understood something.

"System, are you saying that those senior Heroic Soul Warriors have been fighting the Stone Statue until today, and their time has come to return to the netherworld again?"

"Yes, Host, you can certainly understand it that way."

Receiving confirmation from the system, Lin Yang's heart was greatly shaken.

He hadn't expected those senior Heroic Soul Warriors to have held off the Stone Statue for so long!

Then, Lin Yang couldn't help but glance out the porthole:

"So that means the Stone Statue might follow again later?"

Of course, it was also possible that the Stone Statue had been eliminated, but that possibility was rather small.

If those Heroic Soul Warriors were not in a state of undead, they would definitely be able to deal with the Stone Statue.

However, the senior Heroic Soul Warriors, in their muddled undead state, were only attacking by instinct, so it was unlikely they could directly eliminate that strange Stone Statue.

And that was indeed the case.

Just as Lin Yang was pondering, the Vermilion Bird warship was affected by an inexplicable force and was forced to exit its warp state.

Then, the giant Stone Statue appeared next to the Vermilion Bird.

However, the Stone Statue that followed again had undergone a drastic change in appearance.

A huge palm was completely pierced through with a large hole.

It was the hand that had been previously pierced by the Silver Armor Heroic Soul Warrior's long spear.

However, at that time, the penetrating wound was not obvious, only the thickness of the long spear.

But now, the entire palm of the huge hand was completely pierced through!

It looked quite astonishing.

And its eyes had also closed again.

There were deep penetrating wounds on its eyelids.

Through these wounds, one could see the Stone Statue's eyeballs.

It looked very frightening.

"This is... that Stone Statue?"

Que Tian, Cai Fei, and the others also walked out of the training room and came to the ship's cabin, looking at the Stone Statue that had caught up again, along with Lin Yang.

Their expressions were all equally shocked.

The Stone Statue before them was vastly different from when they first saw it, with wounds all over its body.

"What did it go through? How did it suddenly become so dilapidated?"

Cai Fei and the other two were greatly surprised.

Que Tian glanced at Lin Yang, saying nothing more.

Lin Yang also didn't offer much explanation, staring at the Stone Statue's closed eyes for a long time. Seeing that the Stone Statue was motionless, he slowly said: "Continue warping."

Although there were penetrating wounds on the Stone Statue's eyelids, allowing its eyeballs to be seen.

The entire eye was in a closed state.

When its eyes were closed, the Stone Statue would not continuously follow.

Instead, it reverted to its initial state when they first encountered it, only appearing periodically and then remaining in place.

This also made Lin Yang secretly sigh in relief.

If the Stone Statue were still in the state it was in after opening its eyes, capable of moving with them at any time like it did in the ruins, and now it had caught up again, then they might not be able to leave the Unknown Space.

Now, it was clear that the senior Heroic Souls had suppressed the Stone Statue again... The Vermilion Bird re-entered warp state.

Although Cai Fei and the other two were puzzled, they didn't ask any more questions.

Lin Yang also didn't proactively explain.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Cai Fei and the others, but when it came to the Heroic Soul Warriors, the fewer people who knew, the better!

For a period of time thereafter, every seven days, the Stone Statue would appear on time, forcing the Vermilion Bird out of its warp state.

However, there were no attacks.

Thus, Lin Yang and the others smoothly reached the edge of the Unknown Space.

And then, completely broke free from the Unknown Space!

"Oh my god, we finally saw the light of day again! We finally left that damned Unknown Space!!!"

The moment they entered the Ten Thousand Universes, Cai Fei cheered.

He then eagerly stepped out of the warship, taking deep breaths of fresh air and enjoying the feeling of sunlight on his face.

Lin Yang also took a few deep breaths, and even though the sun was dazzling, he still looked at the big sun a few more times.

In the Unknown Space, it was pitch black. Now, even dazzling light felt incredibly comforting!

After basking in the sunlight for a while, some of the negative emotions that had arisen from being in the dark and without light for a long time in the Unknown Space were swept away.

"Humans, indeed, need more sun. I stayed in the Unknown Space for so long, I almost got depressed!!!"

Cai Fei greedily breathed the air, enjoyed the sunlight, and constantly expressed his feelings.

"Time to return to the Alliance."

Once Cai Fei and the others had enjoyed themselves enough, Lin Yang reactivated the Vermilion Bird, preparing to return to the Human Alliance.

It was at this moment.

The cold voice of the system's underlying logic suddenly sounded.

"Host, please note, the Nether Night Dirge mission has expired. Rating will now be conducted based on destruction level, and corresponding rewards will be issued."

Lin Yang paused, filled with anticipation.

He wondered what kind of special rewards he would receive this time!