Zhao Lin withdrew his hand, turned to Zhao Dezheng, his face regaining some of its characteristic coldness, and forced a smile:

"Bringing you back is one of the tasks, but not the primary one."

His gaze shifted to the depths of the ravine, and his tone became grave:

"The General urgently mobilized our troops here with the primary task of confirming and safely taking over the mobile 'star rail cannon' inside the Changshengmen stronghold."

"This weapon has been placed on the highest priority control list and is strictly required to be recovered. It must not be allowed to be left out or damaged."

Upon hearing that the other party's objective was the Star Orbit Cannon, Zhao Dezheng immediately grinned, revealing a strange smile.

He pointed to the depths of the abyss, his tone light:

"Oh, so you're here for the orbital cannon..."

"You're too late. I blasted that thing into complete rubble, not even a fragment was left!"

"Fragments?" Zhao Lin frowned slightly, clearly not believing it.

Don't say that Zhao Dezheng's ability isn't the type that causes large-scale, high-burst destruction.

Even so, with Zhao Dezheng's newly recovered body, it's absolutely impossible for him to blast the Star Orbit Cannon, made of high-strength alloy and energy metal, to smithereens.

This is against the rules and is not very feasible.

But Zhao Dezheng doesn't seem to have any reason to exaggerate.

Upon hearing Zhao Dezheng's words, Zhao Lin immediately had a guess in his mind—

I'm afraid this orbital cannon has already been taken away by someone beforehand.

Moreover, anyone who dares to do this must be someone with a very close relationship with Zhao Dezheng, or even someone who has Zhao Dezheng's tacit approval.

Otherwise, this mentally unstable second young master would never have helped cover for him.

Zhao Lin was secretly wondering who this person was.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, Zhao Dezheng suddenly turned his head to look at Li Yu, raised his chin, and his eyes flashed what he thought was a perfectly tacit hint:

"Right, Li Yu?"

"You saw it too, didn't I blast that cannon to smithereens?"

Upon seeing this, Li Yu was utterly speechless.

Zhao Dezheng's clumsy attempt to cover up his guilt was practically a reminder to Zhao Lin beside him that the disappearance of the Star Orbit Cannon was related to him.

Li Yu glanced at it.

Sure enough, Zhao Lin was slightly taken aback at first, then looked as if he had just realized something.

However, Zhao Lin reacted extremely quickly.

When Zhao Dezheng practically wrote on his face that "the Star Trail Cannon has nothing to do with Li Yu," he already understood everything.

Zhao Lin instantly connected all the clues.

Li Yu's appearance here is clearly for the Star Orbit Cannon.

Moreover, it seems that some kind of cooperation has been reached with Zhao Dezheng.

That's why Zhao Dezheng took the initiative to take responsibility for destroying the orbital cannon.

At this moment, Zhao Lin already knew that the stronghold had been breached and the Star Orbit Cannon had gone missing.

However, instead of questioning or doubting Zhao Dezheng, he went along with Zhao Dezheng's words, his face showing just the right amount of "regret" and "admiration":

"So that's how it is."

"It seems that the Second Young Master's strength has recovered rapidly, far exceeding expectations. He was actually able to completely destroy the Star Orbit Cannon with his special ability, even if it was small. This power is truly astonishing."

He even added a special sentence to "bring the whole incident to a satisfactory conclusion":

"So what if the Star Orbit Cannon is destroyed? At least this base really cured the Second Young Master, so it wasn't a complete loss."

Zhao Lin's praise was deliberate because he understood Zhao Dezheng's personality.

So he said some nice things to the other person beforehand, and prepared to persuade them to go back, since that was one of the purposes of his trip.

Zhao Dezheng actually found these awkwardly polite words quite pleasing.

His chin lifted even higher, and he nodded repeatedly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Of course!"

He even started boasting:

"If it weren't for my health issues before, I could have become the General of Zhongzhou."

Zhao Lin almost scoffed upon hearing this. Zhao Dezheng was clearly not young, but compared to General Zhao Deyang, he still carried an air of arrogance and instability.

Zhao Lin quickly changed the subject, his tone becoming serious and concerned:

"Second Young Master, since the Star Orbit Cannon has been destroyed by you, this place will be completely taken over by the military."

"The general's order is that once your safety is confirmed, you must return to Jincheng immediately."

Zhao Lin lowered his voice, speaking with the familiar intimacy typical of family members:

"The body is just recovering and needs more thorough examination and recuperation."

"Don't worry the general."

"go back?"

The smugness on Zhao Dezheng's face vanished instantly, replaced by extreme resistance:

"I'm not going back!"

"I've been lying in that hospital bed in Jincheng long enough! I finally recovered and can run and jump again, and you want me to go back to being a useless, kept-at-home person? Absolutely not!"

"I want to use my own strength to do something that should really be done."

Zhao Dezheng's tone turned serious, clearly indicating that he was about to do something important.

What's more, he has now met a soulmate – Li Yu.

He was determined to work with this hero from the Central Plains, a rare 'kindred spirit,' to create something truly remarkable!

Zhao Dezheng seemed full of confidence, and suddenly pointed at Li Yu, his eyes burning with a fierce light:

"I want to go with Li Yu to wipe out the Changsheng Sect's lair!"

"Bring out all those filthy scoundrels and slaughter them until the world is turned upside down!"

"This is exactly what I, Zhao Dezheng, should be doing!"

"What?!" Zhao Lin exclaimed in surprise.

Even though he had been mentally prepared for Zhao Dezheng's mental state.

Upon hearing this, his expression changed drastically, and he couldn't help but exclaim in shock:

"You're going to the Changshengmen headquarters with Li Yu?!"

This news is absolutely shocking!

What kind of place is the headquarters of the Changsheng Sect... It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a dragon's den and a tiger's lair?

Its depth of concealment, the strength of its defenses, and the number of its experts were so great that even after years of joint investigation by the military and the Thunder Bureau, they were still unable to fully understand it, let alone launch a direct attack!

Zhao Dezheng is practically throwing his life away!

Are you going to drag Li Yu along too?

No, judging from the situation, it seems more like Li Yu originally planned to go, but Zhao De insisted on going with her!

Zhao Lin immediately wanted to speak up to dissuade him, but when he thought of Zhao Dezheng's temperament, he knew that persuasion would be useless, so he shut up.

He immediately turned his head and looked at Li Yu with a questioning gaze.

There was shock, inquiry, and even a barely perceptible plea in his eyes.

Although Li Yu didn't say anything, his expression of complete indifference was enough to confirm it!

This reaction made Zhao Lin even more alarmed.

Zhao Dezheng was crazy enough, and now Li Yu is added to the mix.

This hero is truly a ruthless individual who single-handedly stormed into Zhongzhou and even dared to occupy Kangcheng and establish himself as an independent force!

These two "madmen" suddenly got together and decided to storm the headquarters of the Changsheng Sect...

This is unheard of!

Two people who are so fearless and disregard the consequences have appeared at the same time!

And yet, they just happened to run into each other.

Zhao Lin's heart sank immediately, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.