When the air in the buffer zone was completely swallowed, the storm sweeping across the heavens and earth finally collided with the giant wall. In that instant, sparks flew as the strong logic material and the origin matter inside the storm formed a violent repulsive reaction.

This scene was extremely visually shocking… the most solid shield in North Continent encountered the sharpest spear thrust by the [Old World]!

"Fire!"

"Fire!!!"

The fortress's artillery fire was unleashed without reservation at this moment.

All the warriors stationed on the front lines of Gu Fort used their lives to bombard this storm. They were prepared to die in battle. The wind pressure on the giant wall instantly washed the firelight of "Holy Tinder" into darkness.

Currently, the information inside Gu Fort Fortress had not yet been synchronized to the channels of those stationed there.

They held the conviction of certain death, ready to defend the giant wall to the end.

Thousands of cannons roared, turning the long night into day.

"Lin Lin… when will you arrive on the battlefield? We are preparing to retreat from the first defense line of the giant wall and have the second defense line prepare to take over!"

A brief fluctuation appeared in the private link between Zhong Yuan and Lin Lin.

He gritted his teeth, relaying the chaotic scene back.

This storm was too savage. After colliding with the giant wall, it did become very "weak," but the first round of artillery barrage from Gu Fort Fortress didn't directly shatter it… this thing's body stretched for dozens of miles, crossing the entire buffer zone, still constantly drawing supplies from the [Old World].

Now they could only alternate bombardment.

And regrettably, Gu Fort's most powerful firepower had already been used in the initial barrage. No matter how they stubbornly resisted next, they would only become weaker and weaker… without reinforcements, getting into a stalemate was not a good choice.

"No need to retreat."

Lin Lin's voice was very calm. "From this moment on, we will not retreat a single step until we achieve victory."

…

…

On the night of the storm's roar, the Umbrella Defense Line collapsed, and the iron dome of Gu Fort reflected brilliant and dazzling firelight.

Lin Lin had long since donned his origin armor.

But after the [Containment Release], he simply stood silently by the window, gazing north.

One link after another sounded in the communication channel. The Gu Fort Fortress fleet could no longer be considered the main force in this counterattack. Nearly a thousand origin-energy boats arrived in Gu Fort's northern territory. The iron dome's firelight burned because of them. Without even looking, one knew what would happen after these big guys landed on the [Giant Wall].

"What the hell is this?!"

Zhong Yuan, usually so refined, uttered an extremely inelegant and vulgar curse at this moment.

The scene from the front line was transmitted back through the mental link.

The storm, which had already completed its landing on the giant wall, had a great momentum after withstanding the first wave of barrages from Gu Fort and Osmond's airships, and could have invaded the giant wall, but seconds later, it was directly shattered by overwhelming artillery fire.

The entire sky was dark and oppressive.

Followed by bursts of bright and dazzling light and fire!

Those famous generals of the North Continent Fortress, under the orders of the Central City, successively arrived at the front lines.

In addition to Osmond, the eye of the Third Army, there was also Tengu, who guarded the Dragon Bone Fortress, and Wild Dog, stationed in Falling Silver City… it could be said that the color of Gu Fort's iron dome at this moment was all painted by Duke Zhu Xue, Lin Chou.

Zhong Yuan, in a state of shock, murmured, "Lin, you bastard, you moved the entire North Continent border fleet over here!"

Lin Lin looked at the iron dome and sighed softly.

"Yeah… I guess you could say that."

…

…

This battle lasted for several hours…

Because of the storm, the sky over Gu Fort suddenly darkened, as if plunged into eternal night. After the giant boats sailed in, the eternal night was also ignited by firelight. After several hours, the roaring sound of the storm gradually dissipated, and the fiery light at the end of the sky also began to fade.

The Labrador Retriever, wagging its head and tail, came to his side and nudged his leg with its big head.

"Is it over?"

Lin Lin, with a cigarette butt that had long burned out in his mouth, came back to his senses.

He looked back.

Behind him, at the entrance of the study on the second floor, stood a familiar yet unfamiliar figure.

It was only a few hours since they had last met.

Yet it gave Lin Lin a feeling as if he had been separated by a lifetime.

"It's over."

Gu Shen's voice sounded a little tired.

In fact, this was a disguise. Extracting the [Golden Spike Flower Poison] didn't require much mental energy for Gu Shen… but sitting still for several hours and still being full of energy was obviously a loophole. Even if Lin Lin wouldn't ask himself the real reason for this matter, he didn't want to make mistakes in small details, so at this moment, Gu Shen would rather appear a little tired.

In the Labrador Retriever's dream.

Gu Shen completed the "rescue" of the entire quarantine zone of Gu Fort Fortress. In addition… Chu Ling also checked for any remaining mental toxins that might have been left in Gu Fort Fortress.

This was a big project.

If another mental power expert were to come, even a titled figure, it would take at least several days to complete the removal.

But he was Pluto, and the power of the Golden Spike Flower's poison came from the nurture and cultivation of Pluto's fire seed.

"What about over there?"

During these hours, Gu Shen concentrated his mind, immersed in the task of removing the Golden Spike Flower's poison. After he finished all this, he realized that he could no longer hear the roaring sound of the storm.

"Over there…"

Lin Lin paused slightly and said, "Over there it's also over."

"The Umbrella Defense Line was breached… but the storm was annihilated in the final landing."

Lin Lin turned around and returned to the study, pressing the already extinguished cigarette butt into the ashtray. "In this defense battle, North Continent has won."

This was good news, but Gu Shen felt that the expression on this brigadier general's face was a little complicated.

There was the joy of victory.

But also some… indescribable sorrow.

"This is your case file. I've attributed all the doubts on your return journey to [The Door]…" Lin Lin dusted the table and handed the file to Gu Shen. Gu Shen shook his head and didn't take it.

"We just met by chance, there's no need to trust me so much." Lin Lin raised his eyebrows and said lightly, "After all, it's an important file about you, there's no harm in taking a look. You can also check if there's anything that needs to be modified in this file. There's still time to change it now."

Gu Shen hesitated for a moment and slowly took the file.

He took the file not because he didn't trust Lin Lin.

But because Lin Lin's words just now clearly meant to keep a distance… Gu Shen wouldn't believe words like "met by chance." If they really just met by chance, he wouldn't go so far as to fabricate a file. Lin Lin was helping him cover up the return details of the Maze mission, but didn't want him to owe him this favor?

He couldn't see through this Brigadier General Lin's true thoughts yet.

"The file is fine."

Gu Shen looked through it once. Lin Lin wrote it very well. The biggest doubt in the return file was "time." Gu Fort modified the expected arrival time of the Maze mission and then introduced the speculation of [The Door].

If this file was handed in, this team wouldn't arouse more suspicion.

By exposing Hong Zhong's lies, the explorers of this Maze mission were the real heroes!

"But…"

"I can't help you hide the matter of the 'mental toxin'."

Lin Lin said in a deep voice, "When the flames of war at Gu Fort subside, you will need to explain the truth about the mental toxin yourself."

"That's easy." Gu Shen smiled upon hearing this.

Explaining the "Golden Spike Flower Poison" wasn't a difficult matter.

The simplest explanation was that his "Blazing Fire" could restrain mental power.

Blazing Fire was an S-level ability within the transcendent sequence diagram that had not yet been clearly defined. Its upper limit was so high that it was impossible to estimate. It was only reasonable that it could restrain mental toxins.

Failing that.

Gu Shen was still wearing the "Fighting Golden Hoop"... If the North Continent military had to conduct a strong investigation, then he only needed to summon this golden hoop to complete all the explanations!

This was the power of the Fighting God Seat!

Resolving mental toxins… what did that count as?

In a sense, this could also be considered a kind of "borrowing power," but Bai Shu gave him this golden hoop, which actually implicitly allowed Gu Shen to "borrow" it in special situations.

Pluto's identity couldn't be exposed.

But he could borrow the name of "Fighting."

"Wait a minute, you didn't participate in the storm resistance battle on the giant wall?"

Gu Shen frowned. He looked at the young man sitting in the chair, a little puzzled.

Lin Lin was the highest stationed officer in Gu Fort.

He was the youngest brigadier general in the North Continent military, and he had never been absent from any war in Gu Fort in the past decade or so, but on such an important occasion today… he was sitting in the attic study.

"I wasn't feeling well. I mentally linked to the Gu Fort fleet and conducted a brief command… it's just that the support came too quickly, and I wasn't needed for the rest of this war." Lin Lin said lightly, asking, "How's that for a reason?"

"That's not a good reason." Gu Shen replied seriously, "With your mental power, you could resolve this mental toxin. No matter what, it shouldn't have made you unable to participate in the battle…"

He caught sight of the origin armor piled up by the window.

This was because he had prepared to go to the fortress to participate in the battle, and then canceled the idea.

"But the North Continent military has nothing to say." After thinking about it, Gu Shen added.

Since Lin Lin was unwilling to say it.

He wouldn't ask any more questions.

Not asking each other why was the relationship of trust that the two of them had just established.

Lin Lin smiled.

He saw Gu Shen's curiosity, stood up, dusted off the dust on the window sill, and asked, "Brother Gu, would you like to take a look… at what it looks like after the storm on the giant wall has been wiped out?"

Of course, he wanted to.

Gu Shen was chased very embarrassedly by that storm. Even if he used the power of that demon in the "Ruler of Truth," he still couldn't fight against that kind of disaster on that scale…

On the road to escape, he deeply felt the insignificance of human power.

He certainly wanted to see how powerful the power that humans unleashed after they gathered together was, and what the scene of that terrifying storm withering and falling apart was like after it was shattered.

…

…

Above the iron dome, black clouds were dense.

Never had so many origin-energy boats been suspended above the Gu Fort Fortress.

Everyone raised their heads, trying to engrave this historically significant picture into their minds forever. Each origin-energy boat in the iron dome was like a blooming black flower, and the cannons inlaid on both sides of the ship's belly were still hot, emitting golden origin matter smoke. Some were overloaded and had turned red, requiring subsequent repairs to extinguish this dazzling afterglow.

Gu Shen felt like he was standing in a huge oil painting.

The lines of the giant wall outlined the edge of this oil painting, but even the most skilled painter couldn't paint the shock of thousands of boats gathered on the iron dome, as well as the remaining traces of the storm raging in the distance…

This storm was named [The Lost]. In the vast and boundless [Old World], these tornadoes lost their way, chose to go south, gather, and crash into the giant wall.

The only end for the lost was death.

After the violent suppression of the North Continent military, the [The Lost] storm was fragmented, completely collapsing, but it didn't mean that they were completely annihilated… In the buffer zone of dozens of miles, there were still "tiny" origin-matter wind blades left. Compared with that A-level storm, these origin matter remnants couldn't be considered significant. Even if they crashed into the giant wall, they wouldn't splash a few waves.

But they would roam recklessly in the buffer zone… Until they were completely eliminated, the reconstruction of the [Umbrella Defense Line] couldn't be officially started, so at this moment, the warriors of Gu Fort Fortress were cleaning up the mess.

A young transcendent was wearing a origin matter inspection device, conducting a test on a nearby giant wall watchtower…

"Sizzle!"

A sudden loud noise exploded.

The young transcendent's pupils shrank. The warning sound of the instrument and the sound of the wind blade exploding sounded at the same time. Blood burst out directly from his left arm, and a gust of wind swept through, tearing open the second-order origin armor…

The next moment, a blond man suddenly appeared. He grabbed the young man, who looked like he had just come of age, and suddenly threw him aside. Then he drew his knife and unsheathed it. This extremely sharp storm remnant was shattered with one slash…

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

This slash was fast!

The cleaved wind blade didn't splash around, but was stuck to the blade…

The man who drew the knife was Zhong Yuan, the second captain of the Investigation Corps. He had met him earlier in the fortress, but before they had time to say a few words, they were separated because of the war. Now they were meeting again.

"Be careful, when dealing with 'origin matter remnants', you must be in high spirits." Zhong Yuan reached out his palm, pulled up the young warrior who was still in shock, and said softly, "Find a rescue team first to treat the wound."

After doing all this.

He looked at the location of Gu Shen and Lin Lin, walked over, and simply greeted them, "Lin, you're finally here… This is Gu Shen, right?"

For Gu Shen.

He actually only had some vague memories and wasn't very impressed. He had just experienced several hours of storm resistance, and now his mind was full of scenes of artillery fire, but he was not used to the silence at this moment.

Gu Shen shook hands with Zhong Yuan.

He could feel that the second captain of the Investigation Corps was very strong, as "unfathomable" as Lin Lin. These two should be the group of strong people who were extremely close to being titled.

Most importantly, they were both very young!

Less than thirty, already at the eleventh level of the deep sea… This kind of talent and this kind of strength basically pre-determined their future "title" seats.

Zhong Yuan rubbed his eyebrows, allowing his thoughts to recover from the previous chaos.

He looked at Gu Shen, looked at him for several seconds, and suddenly said seriously, "Thank you… for bringing my team members back from the fortress."

The blond man's expression was very sincere.

But the Blazing Fire swayed.

Gu Shen's intuition vaguely felt a hint of probing… This guy's gratitude was real, but relying on this matter, it was probably not enough to gain Zhong Yuan's trust.

As one of the absolute leaders of the Investigation Corps, Zhong Yuan was very clear about the difficulty of this mission beyond the border… Racing against the Old World storm on an unknown road with no intelligence, and winning!

It was a bit exaggerated to describe it as a "miracle."

"Brother Gu, I'm a little curious…"

Sure enough, after expressing his gratitude, Zhong Yuan spoke, "How did you bring my team members back to the fortress?"

Here it comes.

Gu Shen's face didn't show any waves.

He knew that what should come would always come.

First Zhong Yuan, then the transcendents of the Investigation Corps, and finally the high-level officials of the Central City… This Maze mission, which could be called a miracle, would definitely attract a lot of questioning.

…

…

(There will be another chapter tonight)