378: Chapter 379 Seven days is enough

The door to the headquarters was closed for twenty minutes.

Instructor Su Qing stood in the hallway without leaving, leaning against the wall, her fingers repeatedly stroking the golden token.

The hollows on the ground were unforgettable.

In those areas, the Laws of the world refused to acknowledge that anything had ever existed.

From school sparring to Law wars in restricted areas, she had seen all sorts of scenes by Lin Qi's side.

But tonight, she didn't even have the qualification to be a spectator.

When the Prophet descended, all Law Circuits were overwritten, and the token became scrap metal.

Eighteen Law Creatures, three fourth-turn combatants, plus herself—all that power combined couldn't hold out for even a second.

The entire base's defenses were reduced to zero.

It was that eighteen-year-old youth who carried it all alone.

Footsteps came from the end of the hallway.

Zhang Wei walked over carrying a bowl of noodles with poached eggs.

"Sister Su, haven't rested yet?"

"He's inside recovering his Dao Source."

Instructor Su Qing glanced at the bowl of noodles.

"For him?"

"Yeah, I reckon he won't be coming out tonight."

Zhang Wei lifted the bowl slightly.

"His Dao Source is more than half depleted; he can't go without eating."

Instructor Su Qing didn't respond. Zhang Wei placed the noodles on the small table by the door and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

"By the way, Sister Su, I calculated the amount of Chaos powder needed."

He unfolded the paper, which was covered in numbers.

"The remaining powder is enough to build five Silent Leopards, but if we want to leave some spares for the Boss on his journey, we can only build four."

Instructor Su Qing thought for a moment.

"Build all five. He won't need them on the road."

"What if...?"

"There are no what-ifs."

Instructor Su Qing's tone was flat.

"If he said five, then five it is. D-3's defense must be maxed out; that's the bottom line."

Zhang Wei opened his mouth to speak but then folded the paper and stuffed it back into his pocket.

"Alright, then I'll work through the night."

He was about to leave but stopped and lowered his voice.

"Sister Su, the Boss is going to the Ice Rift Valley alone—four thousand kilometers, plus a two-hundred-meter-thick ice layer defense line..."

"You're worried about him?"

Zhang Wei scratched his head.

"I just feel like his shoulder is injured, his Dao Source is half empty, and with only a day and a half of recovery time, how can that be enough?"

Instructor Su Qing waited a few seconds before speaking.

"Whether it's enough or not isn't for us to decide."

"Then..."

"The seven days the Prophet gave were for Eternal Frost."

Her tone remained level.

"The meaning is clear: in seven days, the Container matures and fully descends, and then no one will need to struggle anymore."

Zhang Wei's expression darkened.

"But it miscalculated one thing."

Instructor Su Qing looked toward the closed door of the headquarters.

"It doesn't know Lin Qi got the map from the crystal; it left too hastily."

Zhang Wei's expression relaxed a bit.

"True. Having a bomb shoved down its throat through the network cable and being so scared it pulled the plug and ran—that was indeed quite pathetic."

The corner of Instructor Su Qing's mouth twitched slightly.

"Get to work."

"You got it."

Zhang Wei ran a few steps, then doubled back and knocked on the door.

The door didn't open.

"Boss, the noodles are at the door. They won't taste good once they're cold."

There was no response from inside, but he didn't mind, clapping his hands as he ran toward the workshop.

The hallway fell silent.

Instructor Su Qing stood at the door for a few more minutes. After confirming the Dao Source fluctuations inside were stable, she turned and left.

Tomorrow's matters had to be arranged in advance.

Inside the headquarters, Lin Qi sat cross-legged at the desk.

The deep purple crystal on the table was enveloped in Dao Source, and fragments of internal information unfolded in his vision.

Most of the data was garbled, but three segments were quite complete.

The first segment was a countdown: six days and twenty-one hours. This number ticked in his mind.

The second segment was a diagram of the energy pipeline layout, covering 60% of the defensive structures from the outer to the middle layers of the Ice Rift Valley.

The pipeline distribution followed a clear pattern; the energy cycle formed a multi-layered nested closed loop, with each layer having an independent supply line.

This structure had a fatal weakness: there were bound to be seams between the layers, and the energy conduction nodes were the weakest points of the system.

Lin Qi marked six nodes in his mind, distributed between eighty to one hundred and fifty meters underground.

By cutting in from any node, he could bypass the outer and middle defenses to reach the core area directly.

The Dao Source he'd save would be enough to fight a hard battle.

The third segment of data was a set of coordinates: fifty meters beneath the core area of the Ice Rift Valley, the precise location of the Container.

He stared at these coordinates for a long time.

Why did the Prophet's transmission acceleration program include the Container's coordinates?

Its operations were on a conceptual level and didn't require physical localization.

So, these coordinates were for Eternal Frost.

Before the Prophet retreated, it ordered Eternal Frost to move the Container, sinking it from the original twenty meters underground to fifty meters.

Lin Qi closed his eyes.

The Container's actual depth was two hundred and fifty meters underground; after cutting in from the pipeline seams, he would still have to drill down another fifty meters.

Eternal Frost would stack all its defensive forces within this distance.

It wouldn't be an easy fight, but it was winnable.

He began to simulate tactics in his mind.

Select the optimal seam node to cut in, take out Eternal Frost, then head down to destroy the Container—the entire process had to be controlled within three hours.

If it exceeded three hours, his Dao Source would be exhausted.

A Physical Body at the Tongshen Realm could fight continuously, but the Dao Source had a limit.

In a day and a half, he could recover to 70%; if he used it sparingly, it would be just enough for three hours of high-intensity output.

Three hours. It was enough.

Lin Qi opened his eyes, put away the crystal, and stood up to walk to the door.

The noodles were no longer piping hot. He finished them in a few bites and put the empty bowl back on the table.

He pushed open the door, walked into the courtyard, and looked up at the night sky.

A strange sensation came from the burn on his left shoulder; something beneath the skin was being rejected by his body, and his Protective Aura was automatically repairing those conceptual residues.

A day and a half should be enough.

Lights shone from the distant workshop; Zhang Wei had already started working.

Lin Qi returned to the headquarters, closed the door, and sat down to focus entirely on recovering his Dao Source.

The countdown in his head was ticking.

Six days, twenty hours, forty-seven minutes.

In the underground passage, Shi Gu leaned against the wall, playing with a fragment of a Law Creature's shell.

Ji Mie's liquid membrane was huddled in a corner of the ceiling, silent, while Rift lay at Shi Gu's feet, shivering occasionally.

"Still haven't recovered?"

Shi Gu nudged Rift with the tip of his foot.

Rift whimpered and buried its head under his shoe.

"Alright, I'm scared too."

Shi Gu tossed the fragment aside and slid down to sit on the ground.

"Back when we were in the Church, the High Priest would drone on every day about how great the Prophet is. I actually believed him. Looking at it today, a mere projection paralyzed the entire base."

Ji Mie dripped down from the ceiling and reformed into a human shape.

"And then a young man used an entrenching tool to shove a bomb back into it."

Shi Gu was stunned for a moment, then gave a dry laugh.

"What kind of monster do you think he really is?"

His voice was very low.

"Tongshen Realm? Dao Source? I used to think the High Priest was the ceiling."

"Ku Ye was killed by him in one collision, Cang Yan was formatted by him in twenty minutes, and now even the Prophet's projection was forced back by him."

Ji Mie added a sentence.

Shi Gu looked down at his hands; a Peak fourth-turn was worth less than a doorman here.

"Do you regret it?"

Ji Mie suddenly asked.

"Regret what?"

"Surrendering."

Shi Gu didn't say anything for a few seconds before finally speaking.

"Regret my ass."

He patted Rift's head.

"You saw it too. When the Prophet's projection came, Lin Qi told us to retreat underground while he stayed up there himself."

Ji Mie didn't respond.

"Would any High Priest you've served let you hide in the back while he went up to take the hit himself?"

Ji Mie's liquid outer membrane fluctuated.

No.

The Church's rule was for the lower levels to serve as shields for the upper levels, but Lin Qi did the opposite; he was the strongest, yet he stood at the very front.

Shi Gu leaned his head against the wall.

"He's going to the Ice Rift Valley the day after tomorrow. Alone. Four thousand kilometers."

"Mm."

"Eternal Frost is stronger than both Ku Ye and Cang Yan."

"Worrying is useless. If we go, we'll just be a burden."

Shi Gu opened his mouth but said nothing more, closing his eyes against the wall.

The only sound in the hallway was the low hum of Law Creatures on patrol.

Early the next morning, Lin Qi woke from his meditation.

The Dao Source in his body had recovered by about 30%; at this rate, it would be around 70% when he left tomorrow.

He pushed open the door; the workshop lights were still on.

He walked over and pushed the door open. Zhang Wei had fallen asleep at the workbench, his right hand still gripping a carving knife.

Two completed Silent Leopards were placed opposite him, their shells showing no Law fluctuations, and the frame for a third was already set up.

Two and a half in one night.

Lin Qi walked over, pulled the carving knife out, and set it aside. Zhang Wei looked up, saw it was Lin Qi, and slumped back down.

"Boss... five more minutes..."

"Get up and eat breakfast."

"Not eating..."

Lin Qi slapped the back of his head, and Zhang Wei yelped as he sat bolt upright.

"What was that for, Boss! I was in the middle of a dream! I dreamed I rented out one leopard for a hundred million..."

"You're satisfied with a hundred million?"

"Not satisfied, but I have to build them first."

Zhang Wei rubbed his eyes and pointed at the two leopards.

"Numbers Two and Three are done. Number Four's frame is welded. I'll burn the circuits during the day."

Lin Qi scanned the finished products; the craftsmanship was significantly more refined than the first one.

With Zhang Wei's talent as an Alchemist, he could control the Law Circuit error within the micrometer range.

"What about the rest?"

"Two today, one tomorrow. They'll definitely all be delivered before you leave."

Zhang Wei stretched.

"By the way, Boss, I had an idea. Set the leopard's patrol path to be irregular and random..."

"Already set."

Zhang Wei's mouth hung half-open.

"...When did you set that?"

"During the intervals of my meditation last night. Six random paths rotating every six hours, covering 95% of the core area. The remaining 5% is the headquarters and the workshop, which are guarded by A-01 and A-02."

Zhang Wei closed his mouth.

"Boss, you can do other things while meditating?"

"It's called multi-threaded processing."

Zhang Wei fell silent.

"Alright, go wash your face and call Instructor Su Qing over."

"For what?"

"To have a meeting. I need to explain everything clearly before I leave."

Zhang Wei ran out in response.

Lin Qi sat in the workshop, his gaze falling on the two Silent Leopards.

Dark gray shells, no energy leakage, no Law fluctuations—in front of all detection methods, they were just two stones.

But they would bite.

Five Silent Leopards plus eighteen regular models, along with Shi Gu, Ji Mie, Rift, and Instructor Su Qing.

In the short term, no one would be able to break through this defense line.

Unless the Prophet came again.

But it wouldn't come within seven days; last night's Dao Source bomb had contaminated its projection matrix, and it needed time to clear those low-dimensional deletion codes.

Seven days was what the Prophet left for Eternal Frost, and it was also what it left for him.

Fair.