Chapter 14: The upgraded fight

Lin Yao was holding the freshly issued work authorization card, or work ID, and when he walked out of the onboarding hall, the computer showed that it was already half past twelve.

From identity verification to entering the energy characteristics of the spiritual body, to visiting his guide counseling room, and finally signing the agreement and getting the certificate, the whole process took more than two hours.

Even the killing in the spiritual sea was tired, and the ice-blue aerial vines rubbed his consciousness from time to time.

He walked down the spiral staircase of the White Tower. The silver-white alloy steps reflected the cold light, stretching his shadow very long.

As soon as he pushed open the glass door of the ground floor hall, the dazzling sunlight made him squint subconsciously, and then he stopped completely.

The pink hover car in the square was still parked. Delinwei was leaning against the car door, fiddling with her laptop. Her profile revealed a sharp and impatient look in the sunlight.

Lin Yao's brows furrowed instantly.

This is so wrong.

Given De Linwei's personality that was eager to draw a line between them and him immediately, let alone waiting for two hours, she would probably disappear without a trace the moment she finished the formalities. How could she still be standing here?

He had just taken two steps forward when Delinwei looked up and saw him. The irritation on her face was almost overflowing: "You finally came out, why are you dawdling?"

She put away her laptop, raised her hand and patted the car door, "Hurry up and get in the car, the family is waiting for a reply."

"You didn't leave?" Lin Yao walked up to her with undisguised doubt in his tone.

"Nonsense." Delinwei rolled her eyes and spoke in a harsh tone.

"No matter what, this matter concerns the reputation of our family. I can't just leave you here alone and let it get out that it looks like our Delin family is bullying others."

As she spoke, she walked towards the hovercraft, and the hair behind her ears was blown up by the wind, revealing the spirit body hidden in her hair.

Lin Yao's gaze suddenly narrowed.

The lily had completely recovered! Its petals had stretched out perfectly, the pink halo around the edges had regained its soft hue, and even the stamens had a vibrant glow. Where was the slightest sign of the shivering fear it had shown before?

His heart sank inexplicably.

He knew better than anyone how overbearing the ferocious aura of Shasha's desire to eat was.

Previously, when they were at the training ground, Shasha had released it on a virtual plant, and it frightened the plant so much that it huddled up into a ball. Normally, it would take at least four or five hours for it to recover.

But only more than two hours have passed, how could it be possible to recover so quickly?

Lin Yao calmly sat in the passenger seat, but the corner of his eye was always glued to the lily behind De Linwei's ear.

Did he take a special recovery potion? Or use some special mental soothing device?

There are indeed such resources in the White Tower. What did Delinwei do during the time he joined the company?

Lin Yao was not stupid enough to really believe that De Linwei would sincerely wait for him for more than two hours.

"What are you looking at?" Delinwei caught his gaze as she started the hovercraft and asked unhappily, "Is there something on my face?"

"Nothing." Lin Yao withdrew his gaze and tapped his knees lightly with his fingertips.

He called up his light brain and pretended to browse information, but in fact he was quickly searching for relevant information on emergency recovery of the spiritual body.

The screen was filled with entries that popped up densely, most of which pointed to expensive Class A energy repair fluids or the special mental relaxation chambers provided inside the White Tower. Delinwei was able to obtain both of these.

But the question was, why did she go to all this trouble? A frightened spirit would usually wait for it to recover on its own. Could it be that Delinwei really loved this little creature so much that she couldn't bear to give it even a little scare?

Even if she was pampered, given Delinwei's personality, it would be better for her to return to the Delin family and receive treatment in a more comfortable and familiar environment rather than in the White Tower.

The hovercraft was moving steadily. Lin Yao turned his head to look out the window, and the doubts in his heart grew bigger and bigger.

He quietly extended his mental power towards Shasha, who immediately rubbed his consciousness with the gilded aerial roots, causing the serrations on the scarlet leaves to tremble slightly.

Apparently, he also noticed that the energy fluctuation of the lily was not right, and it was much stronger than before.

Lin Yao narrowed his eyes. There was definitely something wrong with the rapid recovery of this lily. He had to find a way to figure it out. This matter might have some secret connection with the medicine he wanted to investigate.

Just as Lin Yao was thinking, Delinwei suddenly received a call, and her tone instantly softened:

"Yeah, it's done... Nothing much, it went smoothly... Okay, I'll be right back."

When she hung up the phone, the lily behind her ear swayed slightly, as if echoing her emotions.

Lin Yao looked at the lily that was glowing softly in the sunlight, and his fingertips slowly tightened on the computer screen.

Some answers may be hidden deep inside this seemingly solemn building.

-

When the hover car stopped at the gate of the De Lin family's main courtyard, Lin Yao pushed open the door and got out, then stood on the side of the road, waiting for another hover car to take him back to his residence.

De Linwei also got out of the car, straightened her skirt, and then walked into the main courtyard without looking around.

Lin Yao caught a glimpse of the corner of De Linwei's clothes and thought to himself: This is their normal way of getting along, a stranger who is a familiar person!

While waiting, Lin Yao met an acquaintance, Uncle Fu, who was carrying a bamboo tool basket and walking slowly towards the garden.

He was wearing a linen shirt that had been washed so much that it looked bleached. His hunched back cast a long shadow in the sunlight, and the pruning shears in the basket occasionally collided with each other, making crisp sounds.

"Xiao Yao is back?" Uncle Fu raised his head, his wrinkles transformed into a smile, his cloudy eyes gleaming with clarity. "Did your trip to the White Pagoda go smoothly today?"

"It went pretty smoothly, Uncle Fu." Lin Yao replied with a smile, his eyes falling on the tools in his basket.

In addition to the commonly used pruning shears and watering can, there is also a small shovel with a silver edge, which looks much more delicate than ordinary gardening tools:

"Are you going to tend the garden?"

"Yes, it rained yesterday, and it's time to prune the flowers and plants." Uncle Fu patted the basket, his smile still gentle. "By the way, I've already delivered your medicine for lunch. It's in the constant temperature box in the yard!"

Lin Yao nodded, said thank you, and watched Uncle Fu walk away slowly.

The old man's steps seemed to be unsteady, but he was very steady on the bluestone slabs. The bamboo basket swayed very little, and it didn't look like it was carrying heavy tools.

Lin Yao pushed open the door of his residence. The thermostat was making a slight humming sound, and a light green indicator light was flickering on the surface of the box, like some kind of silent urging.

He took the bowl of medicine out of the incubator, drank it all, and put the bowl back in.

The moment the empty medicine bowl was put back into the constant temperature box, Lin Yao's fingertips stopped on the door of the box, and he was reluctant to press the close button.

The dark brown medicine stains left a blurry mark on the bottom of the celadon bowl, which looked very much like the indescribable wrinkles at the corners of Uncle Fu's eyes.

The scene of the moving day suddenly popped into his mind. In the absence of absolute evidence, Lin Yao always adhered to the principle of not alerting the enemy.

So when he left that day, he said to Uncle Fu in a relaxed tone, "Uncle Fu, let's move in together. The environment over there is nice!"

Uncle Fu was sitting on a chair at the time, his wrinkles on his face showing a gentle smile, but his words of refusal were firm and resolute:

"No, Xiaoyao, I'm used to living here, so I won't go over!"

No matter how Lin Yao tried to persuade him, he refused. Even when Lin Yao suggested that they move in together, it would be more convenient for Uncle Fu to make medicine for him.

Uncle Fu rejected them all and told Lin Yao not to worry, the medicine would be delivered on time!

Lin Yao was willing to continue drinking the medicine because Shasha needed the substances in the medicine to be converted into energy and become stronger, but Uncle Fu's attitude made Lin Yao uncomfortable.

"Delivered on time..." He looked at the sky and repeated this sentence in a low voice.

The kindness that Uncle Fu showed to the original owner was not fake.

But there is something wrong with this medicine. Lin Yao is now very sure that Uncle Fu knows it. He leans on the incubator, his back against the cold metal, but he cannot dispel the irritation in his heart.

Uncle Fu actually saw that Lin Yao had a purpose in drinking the medicine. After he moved to his new residence, Uncle Fu delivered the medicine to Lin Yao on time, but he never met him face to face again. All the medicines were kept in a constant temperature box in his yard.

With a "click", he finally closed the door, and the indicator light jumped back to light green, locking those surging emotions back into the cold metal shell.

Lin Yao stopped thinking about this love and hurt and walked straight into the house.

-

"'Shadow' is online!"

In the monitoring room of the Red Shadow Legion's recruitment office, Xiao Li's fingertips just touched the communicator, and the word "Shadow" in the upper right corner of the screen turned from gray to a glaring scarlet.

Xiao Li, who had been guarding this account, had his eyes shining. God knows he had been waiting for this person to come online for three or four days.

Before he could even type out a 'Hello!' as a greeting, the figure in the black cloak had already stepped through the portal to the [White Tiger Legion's Polar Positional Warfare].

The moment the white light engulfed the figure, the entrance indicator light of the training area suddenly lit up.

"Lao Zhou! 'Shadow' is coming! Entering the polar frozen battlefield!" Xiao Li's roar made the headphones buzz.

He scrambled to the main control console and called up the live broadcast of the battlefield. "Come and see! This is definitely going to be something special!"

Old Zhou rushed into the monitoring room, his e-cigarette in his mouth and his hand adjusting his belt. "I was just going to squat, and here he comes?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he happened to see the dark brown aerial roots of Shasha crushing the first ice beetle.

Those insanely long barbs streaked sparks on the ice, their teeth opening and closing so fast they left afterimages. Zhou Ting was stunned for three seconds before suddenly ordering Xiao Li:

"Send a message to Major General Lu Chen! Tell him that Shadow has started a positional battle in the polar region!"

Xiao Li's fingers flew across the optical computer, and the encrypted information was sent out instantly.

In the lounge of the convalescent area, Ye Heng was leaning against the head of the bed listening to Lu Chen's report.

The bandage on his left shoulder was oozing with faint traces of blood. That was the wound caused by the hive mother's tail stinger during the last Zerg siege. After hearing the prompt tone of the light computer that did not belong to him, the voice of the report that was originally in progress suddenly disappeared.

He raised his eyelids and looked at Lu Chen under the holographic projection.

Lu Chen apologized and then said the content of the message:

"Shadow has entered the polar positional battle. Do you need a synchronized broadcast of the footage for you?"

"Connected to the big screen." Ye Heng's voice was hoarse due to injury. His fingertips pressed lightly on the control panel, and the wall lit up instantly.

When the cold words "White Tiger Legion Polar Positional Warfare" appeared, the silver chain on his wrist suddenly became hot, and a cloud of ink-black mist surged out from the chain buckle.

At the end of the bed, a translucent anaconda was formed, with fine dark green scales faintly visible on its sturdy body. The tip of Mo Yun's tail was still wrapped in a bandage, which was the mark left when he was injured.

"Marshal, your injury..." Lu Chen's holographic projection appeared in the corner. Looking at Ye Heng's body leaning forward slightly, he couldn't help but remind him.

"It's okay." Ye Heng's eyes were locked on the screen.

Ten dark brown aerial vines were breaking through the soil. The scarlet lines on the aerial vines glowed with a scorching light in the extremely cold environment, and the gilded lines flowed on the dark red background like living things:

"Continue with your recruit training report."

Just as Lu Chen reported the passing rate of the combat test, a crisp "click" sound suddenly came from the screen.

The gilded vines clamped onto the ice beetle's joints like a tempered whip. As the spiral lines rotated, dark red energy spread along the roots like magma, burning scorch marks on the ice surface.

Mo Yun suddenly let out a low roar, raised his head sharply, and his bright yellow pupils were fixed on the light and shadow of gilt and dark red intertwined in the picture. The tip of his bandaged tail slapped the bed excitedly, almost pulling the wound on Ye Heng's shoulder.

"The strength of this vine..." Lu Chen paused in his report, looking at the armor on the outer layer of the dark brown aerial root vine, which was shining with a gilded luster and blocked the cold air.

Dark red energy condensed into a protective layer on the inside of the roots, burning the ice spider's acid into blue steam. "It's improved by 20% compared to the last simulation battle, and the energy conversion rate is even..."

"90%." Ye Heng took over the conversation and tapped his knees with his fingertips. The feeling had evolved again. It was an ice-blue light before, but now it burned like a flame on the ice field.

When the five aerial vines penetrated the ice nest insect's hatching bag like gilded spears, dark red energy suddenly exploded, burning spider-web-like cracks on the inner wall of the insect shell.

The black cloud suddenly slid from the end of the bed to the ground, coiled into a circle on the carpet and then quickly unfolded, following the trajectory of the aerial roots on the screen. The dark green body left a faint trace of energy under the light.

"Hiss--" There was obvious excitement in the hiss of the anaconda, and fine dark green light appeared on its translucent scales, imitating the luster of the jagged teeth of the Killing Star.

Ye Heng stretched out his hand and pressed its seven-inch point. He could clearly feel the muscles trembling in his palm. This was the reaction Mo Yun would have when he met an equally matched opponent.

"Lu Chen," Ye Heng suddenly said, his eyes never leaving the screen, "switch the large screen in the new recruits' camp to this scene."

"Yes." Lu Chen's projection disappeared, and the next second, the training screen in the recruit camp suddenly switched. The instructor who was demonstrating combat techniques paused, and the recruits looked at the screen and were immediately shocked.

"Isn't this the polar frozen battlefield of the White Tiger Regiment? It's comparable to the S-level difficulty!" Zhang Yuan, the short recruit from Class 3, rubbed his eyes.

The gray-black cloak on the screen had just avoided the ice beetle's freezing air attack. At the moment when ten dark brown aerial vines broke out of the ground, the energy intertwined with gold and dark red actually melted a magnificent ring of fire on the ice surface.

"Oh my God! Is that vine made of metal?" Wang Meng, a veteran from Class 2, clicked his tongue and watched the moment the gilded vine pierced the beetle. Dark red energy exploded between the insect shells, and fragments flew into the air like fireworks.

"The ice beetle's shell is harder than alloy. How did he manage to pierce it with a vine?"

In the lounge of the convalescent area, Ye Heng looked at the kill statistics in the corner of the screen. It only took 47 minutes to go from 1 to 500.

Mo Yun was already rubbing his head against the back of his hand excitedly, and the tip of his bandaged tail drew energy tracks on the ground, demonstrating the rhythm of alternating bursts of gilded and dark red energy during the battle with the killing Qi root vines.

"Interesting." A faint arc appeared at the corner of Ye Heng's mouth.

When Shasha's aerial roots shot up, the gilded and dark red vines formed a giant net in mid-air, cutting off the swarm of insects that were rushing towards it.

Each aerial vine is like a golden whip burning with dark red flames. The energy spots that burst out at the moment of crushing the insect corpses condense into a brief rain of light in the extremely cold air, which is gorgeous and weird.

Mo Yun suddenly let out an ear-shattering roar at the screen, and fine scales appeared in the dark mist. That was a sign that it had entered combat mode, and even with bandages wrapped around it, it could not hide its fighting spirit.

"Marshal, the recruit camp has requested that the battle footage be slowed down for analysis." Lu Chen's communication rang again.

"Approved." Ye Heng's eyes fell on the enlarged image on the screen.

When the last ice spider's shell shattered into stardust under the gilded serrations, decorating the sky, the polar ice field suddenly fell into silence.

The black cloak was lifted by the cold wind, and the exposed shoulder line was stretched into a straight sharp angle.

The ten dark brown vines did not retract, but took root in the ice field like ten solidified lightning bolts, and the gilded spikes at the end of the roots were still dripping with dark blue fluid.

Dark red lines meandered upwards along the roots, creating a light golden mist in the extremely cold air, as if dyeing the bloody smell of the entire ice field into a gorgeous color.

On the thickest vine, the star-shaped serrations were slowly closing, with tiny fragments of insect shells embedded between each tooth mark, reflecting a cold light under the purple-black sky.

The aerial vines swayed slightly, and the gilded spots on the dark brown background suddenly exploded, turning into energy particles like fireflies all over the sky, and when they fell on the ice, they ignited a faint blue flame.

It was the crushed Zerg energy core that was burning, and along the path where the vines took root, ten circular rings of fire were burned in the snow, like some kind of sacred sacrificial pattern.

Mo Yun suddenly straightened his upper body in front of the screen in the sanatorium area, and the light on the dark green scales resonated strangely with the gilded patterns on the screen.

Ye Heng's fingertips rested on Mo Yun's beautiful scales, looking at the solitary figure in the picture:

The hem of his cloak was torn by the wind, making a rustling sound. Ten vines stretched out behind him into a huge fan shape. Dark red energy flowed between the roots, interweaving with the gilded luster to form a flowing armor. Although his posture was clearly full of killing, he exuded an almost solemn dignity.

When the cold words "Battle Settlement" slowly appeared on the big screen in the recruit camp, Zhang Yuan suddenly held his breath.

The vines on the ice field were absorbing the scattered energy particles at a speed visible to the naked eye. The barbs on the dark brown roots began to secrete golden droplets, which instantly solidified into clear crystals when they fell on the ice. Each crystal contained a miniature strangulation track.

That was the energy mark condensed from hundreds of kills by Shasha, forming a dazzling circle with a radius of ten meters in the snow.

"This... Is this a miracle?" Wang Meng's voice trembled.

The gray-black cloak on the screen turned slightly to the side, revealing a taut jawline.

All ten vines suddenly trembled together, and gilded and dark red energies burst out at the same time, exploding into a huge halo under the sky, dyeing the purple-black clouds into a mixture of gold and red, and then stabbed fiercely at the ice surface.

The pierced ice surface began to crack, and the energy flowing out of the cracks climbed up along the vines, condensing into ten rotating energy balls at the top of the roots, like miniature stars hanging on the ice field.

Ye Heng's eyes fell on the final data jumping in the corner of the screen:

[Total Kills: 1729] [Energy Absorption Rate: 95%] [Special Rating: God Slayer]

Xiao Li pressed the screenshot button in the monitoring room.

Lao Zhou muttered to himself: "The divinity of killing..." Looking at the frozen picture on the screen.

The figure, covered with living vines, was standing on an ice field littered with corpses, yet it exuded a heart-pounding beauty, perfectly blending extreme destruction and the brilliance of new life on this ice field baptized by war.

Mo Yun suddenly wrapped his arm around his and put his head close to the computer, as if urging him to do something.

Ye Heng tapped his fingertips lightly on the computer, then gave up. He laughed to himself. How could he find a guide who protected all the information so well?

Ye Heng's eyes fell on the icon of the national training ground, and an idea quietly arose in his mind.