70: A D-level newbie turned the tide? I made that up, and even I believed it!

“Ugh...”

A team member from the Southwest Branch was the first to wake up.

He opened his eyes in a daze, looking at the familiar sky above, unable to react for a moment.

Where... am I?

Memories, like a tide, surged back.

Collapsing space, a bloody battlefield, mutated monsters... and that eye that opened from the crack!

“Ah!”

He sat up abruptly, letting out a scream, his hands instinctively shielding himself.

“Monsters! Where are the monsters?!”

His scream was like a stone thrown into a lake.

“Uh...”

“My head hurts so much...”

“What happened...”

More and more people woke up from their coma.

Like the first person, they were first confused, then horrified after recalling that terrifying scene.

The entire plaza was filled with gasps and pants rising and falling.

They looked around, saw each other, and saw the medics and Dragon Shield Bureau staff.

They were safe.

They... had survived.

This realization allowed many people's tense nerves to relax; some even cried tears of joy.

But then, a common question arose in everyone's mind.

How did they survive?

Where was that Lord-level abyssal monster?

Their gazes began to search among the crowd.

Soon, everyone's eyes, without prior agreement, converged in the same direction.

There, Lin Yuan and Su Wanqing were lying side by side.

Everyone's memory was fixed on the last moment.

That purple lightning that tore through the darkness and charged alone towards the source of despair.

It was him!

He did something!

Captain Qin Zhan looked at everyone's gazes, as if he understood something.

He squatted down, pretending to check, and whispered into Lin Yuan's ear in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“Kid.”

“Stop pretending.”

“Your heartbeat is steadier than mine, and I’m a B-rank.”

“If you don’t get up soon, I’ll have the medical team give you a high-dose adrenaline shot.”

Lin Yuan, lying on the ground, his eyelids twitched slightly.

Damn it.

Miscalculation.

He was so focused on controlling his breathing that he forgot about his heartbeat.

He slowly opened his eyes, a look of confusion and weakness on his face.

“Captain... Captain Qin Zhan?”

He struggled to sit up, but then “powerlessly” fell back down.

“I... I’m still alive? Where’s that monster?”

His acting was perfect.

However, Captain Qin Zhan just looked at him coldly.

“Stop acting.”

“The Tower of Heaven’s energy records have been cleared, and a super-standard thunderstorm center just appeared above the capital, with a golden divine lightning striking the tower’s peak.”

Captain Qin Zhan’s voice, word by word, struck Lin Yuan’s heart like a hammer.

“Now, tell me.”

“What on earth did you do in there?”

Lin Yuan’s heart skipped a beat.

Golden divine lightning?

Did it cause such a big commotion?

His face still wore an innocent expression.

“Golden divine lightning? Wow! Then it must have been an S-rank big shot passing by who came to our rescue! We’re so lucky!”

“A big shot is a big shot, doing good deeds without leaving a name, that level, it’s high!”

As he spoke, he gave a thumbs-up.

Captain Qin Zhan’s face darkened.

This kid’s glibness was improving faster than his actual strength.

“Still pretending?”

Captain Qin Zhan’s voice turned cold.

“It seems you don’t want the rewards for this individual competition.”

Lin Yuan’s expression stiffened.

Captain Qin Zhan continued to raise the stakes.

“I will personally add another reward.”

He stared into Lin Yuan’s eyes.

“Twenty thousand contribution points; if you don’t want them, then forget it.”

Lin Yuan suddenly sat up from the ground, his back no longer sore, his legs no longer aching, and he was full of energy.

He grabbed Captain Qin Zhan’s hand, his face filled with sincerity.

“commander-in-chief!”

“If you ask about this, I’m not sleepy anymore!”

“Actually, it’s like this...”

He cleared his throat and began his “creation.”

He described the entire process, adding embellishments.

Of course, it was an artistically enhanced version.

In his story, the reason he wasn’t stunned by the mental shock was because his Primordial Thunder God Body... ah no, his “special lightning physique,” had a tiny bit of resistance to mental attacks.

Then, after everyone else fell, he, with the great sentiment of “If I don’t go to hell, who will?”, embraced a determination to die.

He condensed all his lifelong power into an immensely powerful Palm Thunder.

He didn’t attack the monster itself, but cleverly attacked the spatial rift.

Who knew, it was just such a coincidence.

His attack triggered a chain explosion of spatial energy.

That Lord-level behemoth was thus swept into the spatial collapse and died in confusion.

And he himself, having exhausted all his energy, gloriously fainted.

The whole story sounded... reasonable.

A D-rank rookie, relying on a little special physique, plus ninety-nine percent luck, and one percent courage, turned the tide.

What an inspiring script!

Lin Yuan was extremely satisfied with his explanation.

He perfectly concealed his [Golden Thunder God] form and also concealed the fact that he had devoured the abyssal origin.

He was still that weak, pitiful, and helpless D-rank newbie.

Deeply hiding his achievements and fame.

Captain Qin Zhan listened, then fell silent.

He looked at Lin Yuan’s face, which was practically screaming “Praise me, give me rewards,” and was speechless for a long time.

Nine and a half out of ten things this kid said were false.

But... he had no evidence.

Moreover, regardless of the process, the outcome was good.

Everyone survived.

A Lord-level abyssal rift was nipped in the bud.

“Alright.”

Captain Qin Zhan stood up and dusted himself off.

He didn’t press further.

Some things didn’t need to be investigated thoroughly.

He turned around, facing all the participants in the plaza who had already woken up.

Just as he was about to announce the results.

Su Wanqing, lying nearby, her eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she did upon waking was not to check her own condition, nor to observe her surroundings.

Instead, she turned her head and stared intently at Lin Yuan, who was “claiming credit” from Captain Qin Zhan.

Su Wanqing’s gaze was very complex.

There was shock, doubt, and a hint of... awe that she herself hadn’t even noticed.

She remembered very clearly.

When everyone else was overwhelmed by that mental storm, unable even to stand.

When she herself, burning her bloodline, could only barely remain conscious.

That man, not only stood.

He also... burst his clothes.

What tore through his combat uniform and erupted from his body was no longer purple lightning arcs.

It was golden lightning, like a god descending!

Although her vision of that final world-destroying strike was blurred due to mental trauma.

But that terrifying energy fluctuation was deeply imprinted in her soul.

That was absolutely not a power that a D-rank, or even a C-rank, could possess!

How many secrets did this man hide?

Lin Yuan felt her gaze, and his heart skipped a beat.

Oh no.

This ice queen seemed to be awake too.

She didn’t see anything she shouldn’t have, did she?

He quickly gave Su Wanqing a “you know what I mean, bro” look, signaling her to cooperate.

Su Wanqing: “...”

She silently turned her head away, deciding to temporarily pretend she hadn’t seen anything.

She gave up trying to understand this man’s thought process.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the plaza had gradually quieted down.

Everyone’s gaze was focused on Captain Qin Zhan.

They were all waiting for an answer.

Captain Qin Zhan cleared his throat, his voice echoing throughout the plaza.

“Silence!”

“Regarding the incident on the thirteenth floor of the Tower of Heaven, headquarters will form a special task force for a thorough investigation.”

“Now, I will announce something.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, this year’s Dragon Shield Bureau National Grand Competition, the individual elimination round, is terminated early.”

A commotion arose in the crowd.

Terminated?

Then who is the champion?

“However!”

Captain Qin Zhan’s voice suddenly rose.

“In this sudden disaster, the champion has already been born!”