421: Chapter 421 Before Stepping into the Abyss

Qin Zhan didn't explain any further.

Lin Yu didn't need him to explain. The veteran who had lost his legs but was still servicing armor, the volunteers writing 'come back alive' with trembling hands, the child handing a hand-drawn card to a stranger soldier—they didn't form a sentimental picture, but a chain.

A lifeline extending from the factory workshops in the rear to the trenches on the front line.

Every time a link broke, another group of people died on the front line.

The medical area was located in a semi-enclosed chamber on the east side of the runway. As Lin Yu passed by, he saw the situation inside through the open hatch.

Dozens of medical Professionals in white uniforms sat around a long table, their palms hovering over blank scrolls. Faint green healing energy seeped from their fingertips, slowly soaking into the paper. As soon as one was finished, an assistant immediately took it away and replaced it with a new blank scroll.

Simple Healing Scrolls. The most basic consumable on the front line.

The complexions of those medical Professionals were generally an unnatural pale, their lips were dry and cracked, and a few had dried bloodstains hanging beneath their nostrils—typical symptoms of mana exhaustion. But no one stopped their movements.

One young female medic slumped forward after finishing a scroll, her forehead hitting the tabletop. A companion nearby gave her a hand; she waved them off, propped herself up by the edge of the table, and continued with the next one.

Lin Yu withdrew his gaze and continued forward.

At the end of the runway, at the entrance of the tunnel leading to the Abyss Domain, a group of researchers was performing final reinforcements on the tunnel walls. The materials they used were a motley of colors, some glowing dark red, others showing a grayish-green metallic luster.

Lin Yu took an extra look.

The surfaces of those materials bore traces of residual inscriptions and scorched energy circuits—it was alloy recast from melted-down scrapped equipment. Weapons that had exhausted their durability, shattered armor, broken staves—all had been returned to the furnace to become part of the passage beneath their feet.

Beside the tunnel entrance, the red indicator light of a portable interview device was still on. A reporter from the official TV station was interviewing a young soldier about to board a ship.

The reporter wanted to ask more, but the young soldier had already turned and merged into the boarding queue.

Zhong Huai walked to Qin Zhan's side and lowered his voice. His gaze quickly swept across the surrounding legion numbers and regional identifiers, pausing several times, each pause accompanied by a slight frown.

"Third Joint Legion, present. Seventh Mobile Brigade, present. Northern Territory Heavy Armored Division... present."

His voice grew lower and lower.

"What about the South Sea Federation?"

Silence.

"And the two elite regiments from the East Continent Dominion?"

Still silence.

Zhong Huai turned to Qin Zhan, his voice even lower, but every word carried a restrained sharpness.

"At a time like this, there are still people hiding their troops."

Qin Zhan didn't look back.

"Are you surprised?"

Zhong Huai's Adam's apple bobbed. He wasn't surprised. Humans would still scheme even when facing total annihilation; this wasn't news, it was the historical norm. But knowing it was one thing; seeing those vacant unit numbers on the roster still made his chest feel tight with frustration.

"Commander-in-Chief," Zhong Huai's voice dropped another pitch, "the person who triggered the Divine Revelation Mission must be transferred to Fangs headquarters for direct protection."

Qin Zhan looked back this time.

"If we return from a bloody battle only to find the fruits of our labor have been snatched away at the rear—" Zhong Huai didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear enough.

One must always be on guard. Those factions hiding their troops might not hesitate to seize the core resources of the Divine Revelation Mission after the people on the front line had shed their blood.

Qin Zhan was silent for three seconds.

"Who is the trigger person?"

Just as Zhong Huai was about to speak, a calm voice came from behind them.

"It's me."

Lin Yu stood two steps behind them, hands in his pockets.

Zhong Huai turned around. He looked at Lin Yu, and all the worries, calculations, and defenses that had been swirling in his mind throughout the journey vanished the instant those words landed.

The person who triggered the Divine Revelation Mission was this young man he had personally witnessed perform a divine resurrection skill.

There was no need for a transfer. No need for third-party protection.

Because no faction could snatch anything away from Lin Yu's hands.

Zhong Huai nodded, saying nothing more.

Qin Zhan also nodded.

An officer surnamed Gao, wearing major general rank insignia, walked quickly from the direction of the tunnel, clutching a tactical data pad. He walked up to Qin Zhan, stood at attention, and handed over the data pad with both hands.

"Commander-in-Chief Qin, command of the Blue Star Alliance Army in the Abyss Domain war zone is officially transferred."

Qin Zhan took the data pad and pressed his thumb on the screen to confirm.

Officer Gao didn't leave immediately. He hesitated for a second before adding a sentence.

"The distress signal from the Eighth War Zone was cut off three minutes ago."

These words fell into the ears of everyone around.

Three minutes. A distress signal cut off for three minutes meant the communication hub on the front line had been destroyed, or—there was no one left to send a signal.

Every second now was a crossing of the line between life and death.

The lights across the entire underground space went out at the same time.

It wasn't a malfunction; it was an order.

All lighting equipment, runway guidance lights, and work lights in the chambers had their power cut at the same instant. Darkness surged from all directions, swallowing tens of thousands of people.

Then, a light turned on.

At the very end of the runway, the portal leading to the rift at the Earth's core slowly activated. Eerie blue energy spread from the edges of the door frame toward the center, becoming the sole light source in the completely dark underground space.

That blue light illuminated the entire cavity. Tens of thousands of faces were dyed a cold blue, and everyone's shadows stretched in the same direction—away from the portal, away from the front line.

Only their bodies faced that door.

Qin Zhan drew his longsword.

The black blade didn't reflect any of the blue light; instead, it swallowed the surrounding light, forming an even deeper darkness in his hand.

He pointed the tip of the sword toward that eerie blue gateway.

There was no speech. No mobilization. No slogans.

He simply held his sword and walked out.

Zhong Huai followed. Wen Yan followed. Yan Pojun followed.

Lin Yu was the last to step forward.

The blue light of the portal expanded violently the moment he stepped in, swallowing his entire figure.

Behind him, tens of thousands of pairs of combat boots hit the ground simultaneously, taking the first step.

The sound echoed repeatedly in the underground cavity, turning from one sound into a thousand, then from a thousand into ten thousand, finally converging into a dull, continuous, unstoppable roar.

After the blue light of the portal swallowed the silhouettes of the last row of soldiers, the entire underground space fell into complete darkness.

But that roar continued.

From deep underground, it pierced through the rock layers and reached the surface.

A gale smelling of sulfur and blood surged from the crack in the door, pouring into the entire grotto.

Lin Yu's hair was blown back, and the hem of his clothes flapped violently. He squinted his eyes, not because of the wind, but because of what was carried within it—extremely fine, corrosive energy particles were trying to penetrate his skin.

The attribute panel inside his body began to flicker.

His Strength value showed irregular fluctuations at the second decimal place, sometimes rising by 0.3, sometimes sinking by 0.7. Agility, Constitution, Spiritual Power—all were the same.