342: Chapter 343 I'll leave the home to you, and I'll take care of cutting my way through three thousand miles.

By the time Lin Qi finished crafting the twelfth Law Creature, the sky was pitch black.

There were no streetlights in the D-3 Region, but the dark gold ground emitted a faint natural fluorescence, making it easy to walk without tripping. Twelve metal humanoids, each one and a half meters tall, stood in a neat row, their smooth, featureless faceplates all turned toward Lin Qi.

They looked like a group of new recruits waiting for inspection.

Though these recruits had no expressions, their posture was upright, and the Law patterns at their joints flickered in the dim light, exuding a mechanical solemnity.

Instructor Su Qing stood nearby, clutching that golden circular token, staring at these twelve metal lumps for quite a while.

“Boss, how complex are the commands they can understand?”

“Simple commands are no problem. Patrolling, intercepting, alerting, and attacking designated targets.” Lin Qi wiped the metal dust from his hands. “Don't expect anything complex. If you tell it to brew tea, it won't understand.”

“I don't need it to brew tea.”

“Then that's enough.”

Lin Qi walked to the front of the line and stopped before A-01, reaching out to knock twice on its chest. There was a dull, metallic thud.

“A-01 through A-12, patrol mode, pairs of two, six groups on rotation, covering the entire D-3 Region. Upon encountering unauthorized intruders, intercept first, then report to Instructor Su Qing. If Instructor Su Qing isn't around, report to Zhang Wei. If Zhang Wei isn't around either—”

He paused.

“The situation where Zhang Wei isn't around basically won't happen, because he can't run fast.”

Zhang Wei's weak voice drifted from a distance: “Brother Qi, can you stop badmouthing me behind my back...”

The voice came from the direction of the toilet.

Zhang Wei had been chugging Spirit Spring water like it was regular water for the past three days, and he finally couldn't take it anymore. Liquids with excessively high essence content were a catastrophe for an ordinary person's stomach; he hadn't left that makeshift simple bathroom since the afternoon.

Instructor Su Qing didn't even turn her head: “As long as he's still alive.”

After Lin Qi activated all twelve Law Creatures, he turned and walked toward the headquarters.

Instructor Su Qing followed behind him.

“Boss, anything else to settle before you leave?”

“A few things.” Lin Qi pushed open the door to the headquarters and walked straight to the desk to sit down. “First, for those three Deacon-level captives, check their Dao Source seals once a day. Don't let them find any loose gaps.”

“Understood.”

“Second, regarding those thirty-seven survivors in the warehouse, you control the interrogation progress. Keep questioning those who can give up information, and don't be in a rush to deal with those who can't—keep them, they might be useful later.”

“Third—”

He picked up the entrenching tool reconstructed from Law Formation Pillars on the desk and weighed it.

“While I'm away, if there are any abnormal Law fluctuations, don't hesitate—directly use the token to activate the maximum defense mode.”

“Even if it's just a tiny abnormality?”

“Even if you just feel like the smell of the air isn't right.”

Instructor Su Qing committed these words to memory. Having spent so much time with Lin Qi, she knew he never exaggerated. If he said 'activate if the smell of the air isn't right,' then she truly would activate it if the air felt off.

“One last thing.” Lin Qi stood up. “Limit Zhang Wei's Spirit Spring intake. At most one cup a day. Any more and his guts will be ruined.”

“He's currently squatting in the toilet.”

“Tell him when he's done.”

Instructor Su Qing nodded without saying more and turned to leave the headquarters.

Lin Qi was left alone in the headquarters.

He sat back in the rocking chair, resting the entrenching tool across his knees.

The abandoned mining area of the Eastern Continent. A straight-line distance of three thousand kilometers.

For him in the Tongshen Realm, this distance was nothing. But the problem wasn't the journey; it was the situation upon arrival.

One High Priest, four inner deacons.

He hadn't encountered a High Priest before and didn't know their depth. But from Ashes' memories, it was clear that a High Priest's status in the Church was far higher than a Deacon's. Deacons were the thugs, while High Priests were the core—the technical personnel who maintained the faith channels.

Technical personnel usually weren't good at fighting.

But technical personnel usually had many bodyguards around them.

The four inner deacons were each several times stronger than the crew from the Eye of the Abyss.

Lin Qi closed his eyes, mentally reviewing the fragmented information about the inner deacons from Ashes' memories.

There wasn't much. As an outer member, Ashes had limited knowledge of the Inner Circle. He only knew a few codenames—'Rift', 'Nirvana', 'Shi Gu', and 'Abyssal Fang'.

Four codenames, four directions of ability, but zero concrete details.

Insufficient intelligence.

But Lin Qi didn't plan on changing his strategy just because of a lack of intel.

When he fought the Throat of Devouring Heaven in his past life, he had even less information. There were no guides or wikis in the game; it all relied on using one's life to test things out. If you died, you started over and kept testing.

By the end, he had etched every attack pattern, every weakness, and every skill interval of the Throat of Devouring Heaven into his Soul.

Now in a different world, the rules were somewhat different, but the underlying logic remained the same—the Throat of Devouring Heaven was still that same Throat of Devouring Heaven, its Origin fragments were still that disgusting black sludge, and its faith channel still required a High Priest to maintain.

Kill the High Priest, and the channel would break. Once the channel broke, the Seed would become a dead thing.

Simple and crude.

Just the way he was best at.

Lin Qi opened his eyes, stood up, and slung the entrenching tool over his back.

As he walked out of the headquarters, he saw Zhang Wei supporting himself against the wall as he walked back from the toilet.

The fat man's face was a bit green, and his walking posture was very cautious, controlling the range of every step for fear that a movement too large would trigger the next round of battle.

“Brother Qi...” Zhang Wei called out feebly.

“You're still alive?”

“Barely...” Zhang Wei leaned against the wall, panting. “I feel like my intestinal tract has been completely purged by the essence. Clean from the inside out. I'm never pooping again.”

“That's an illusion. You'll have to go again tomorrow.”

Zhang Wei's face turned even greener.

“Brother Qi, are you really leaving tonight?”

“Yes.”

Zhang Wei froze for a second, then pulled a small notebook from the side pocket of his exoskeleton armor and handed it to Lin Qi.

“What's this?”

“Uh... it's a ledger of sorts.” Zhang Wei scratched his head. “I've organized all the records of resources coming in and out of the D-3 Region over the last few days. How much construction Materials were consumed, how much Spirit Spring is left, how much Law residue the Law Creatures used, the daily food costs for the captives—it's all in there.”

Lin Qi flipped through a few pages.

The records were very detailed; the handwriting was scrawled, but the data was clear. Every item was marked with a date, quantity, and unit cost.

On the last page, a line of text was written:

“Brother Qi, remember to come back and reimburse me.”

Lin Qi put the book away, tucking it into his pocket.

“Are you writing a suicide note or handing over accounts?”

“Both, I guess.” Zhang Wei grinned. “In case you don't come back, I need Sister Su to know where the money went. In case I'm not around anymore—”

“Where could you possibly go?”

“What if I poop myself to death...”

Lin Qi glanced at him.

“Spirit Spring is limited to one cup a day. Instructor Su Qing will be watching you. Don't sneak any.”

“One cup?? Brother Qi, I'm at least a hero who contributed to the cause of D-3—”

“Heroes get one cup a day. If you sneak any, Instructor Su Qing has the right to confiscate even that one cup.”

Zhang Wei's mouth opened and closed, but he ultimately shut it.

He knew the weight of the words 'Instructor Su Qing has the right to confiscate.' Sister Su never left any room for negotiation when she handled things.

“Fine... one cup it is...”

Lin Qi said no more and turned to walk toward the boundary of the D-3 Region.

Zhang Wei followed for a couple of steps but was held back by his stomach, so he could only stand there and watch him off.

“Brother Qi.”

Lin Qi stopped, but didn't look back.

“Go and come back quickly.”

“Three days.”

“What if you don't come back in three days?”

“Then just wait.”

Zhang Wei wanted to say something, but his stomach began to churn again. He clutched his belly and ran toward the toilet, shouting indistinctly: “Three days, it's a promise—”

His voice vanished into the night.

Lin Qi continued forward.

When he reached the edge of the physical barrier, Instructor Su Qing was standing there.

She had changed into a clean black combat suit, with a dagger tucked behind her waist and her arms crossed over her chest. This posture was a habit from her time as a Shadow Dancer—a standby state where she could draw her blade at any moment.

“Seeing me off?” Lin Qi asked.

“Confirming the boundary status.” Instructor Su Qing's reply was very businesslike.

Lin Qi didn't call her out.

He walked to the barrier and reached out to swipe in the air. A gap appeared in the dark gold light curtain, just wide enough for a person to pass through sideways.

Lin Qi took a step, and half his body was already outside the barrier.

“Su Qing.”

“Here.”

“I'm leaving the home to you.”

Instructor Su Qing tightened her grip on the token.

“Rest assured.”

Lin Qi stepped out of the barrier, and the gap in the light curtain behind him healed automatically.

He glanced toward the east. Three thousand kilometers was just a night's work for him.

The ground beneath his feet vibrated slightly as the Dao Source circulated within his body, and his figure vanished into the night.

Instructor Su Qing stood on the inner side of the barrier, looking in the direction where Lin Qi had disappeared, standing there for a long time.

Until A-03 patrolled past her side, emitting a low 'beep'—the prompt tone for a patrol unit confirming a friendly identity.

Instructor Su Qing withdrew her gaze and turned to walk back to the base.

She still had many things to do.