Chapter 484 The Frozen Lake Mission is Complete

　　Jing Shanyan's life came to an end.

　　Gu Shen did not use "Pure Land" to resurrect his soul.

　　Deep within Frozen Lake, raging flames burned, turning everything here to ashes.

　　When the curse of [Child] dissipates, perhaps someone will arrive here... Nothing will remain in the depths of Frozen Lake.

　　Years later, when the Ancient Text Society is exonerated, Gu Shen will erect a monument for old Mr. Jing Shanyan in the high mausoleum section of Nagano Cemetery, reserved for leaders of the Three Schools.

　　……

　　……

　　"Three hours have passed."

　　The surveillance above Frozen Lake never ceased. The main vessel replaced its backup energy source, expanded its protective shield, and slowly submerged, conducting "cleanup operations" at an altitude of about three hundred meters above the lake.

　　"A full three hours... and no word from Gu Shen..."

　　The original plan was three hundred seconds to restore communication.

　　But three hours had passed, and there was not a single message!

　　At first, they were able to patiently hold their breath and wait, but now everyone's hearts had sunk.

　　After the [Child] strike.

　　Frozen Lake was completely silent.

　　Due to the fission of the Sky Sheath, this area, tens of miles around, had become a "supernatural forbidden zone," and superhumans could not enter at all, so no matter how anxious they were, it was useless.

　　"It shouldn't be... Logically speaking, with a sixth-order Source Armor, plus Brother Gu's abilities..."

　　On the shore of Frozen Lake, outside the safety line.

　　Gong Zi paced back and forth, looking anxious.

　　"We can't do anything, are we just going to wait like this?"

　　"Let's wait."

　　Luo Yu was also anxious, but he knew that being anxious was useless, and he comforted her, "With Mr. Gu's abilities, he should be fine. It's probably something happening deep in Frozen Lake... delaying him a bit."

　　"Something happening?"

　　Gong Zi said angrily, "Are you saying that someone could survive after [Child] struck? Wouldn't that only be Jing Shanyan and Zhu Wang? With them around, wouldn't Gu Shen be in even more danger!"

　　"If Zhu Wang and the others were still alive, there wouldn't be silence for three hours."

　　Bai Xiu's voice came at this moment, which calmed Gong Zi down a bit.

　　"Three hours isn't that long. Just wait patiently."

　　Among the crowd, only Bai Xiu remained, his face showing no sign of anxiety.

　　He sat on the ground, waiting patiently, without saying a word, looking like he was meditating, but in reality, his mental power was constantly focused on the [Child] impact point in Frozen Lake.

　　"Uncle Gao... Gu Shen, is he really okay?"

　　Li Qingsui clutched her sleeve. She was the youngest and weakest, unable to help.

　　In fact, even if she were older, it would be useless.

　　Because even someone as strong as Uncle Gao couldn't do anything and could only wait with everyone outside Frozen Lake—

　　"...With our prior preparations, he should be able to leave Frozen Lake."

　　Gao Tian hesitated, thought for a long time, and could only say that.

　　The crowd waited silently like this. The long night was coming to an end, the night sky was thin, and the distant sky was already showing a fish-belly white, but the fog in the distance of Frozen Lake was still thick, and there was still no movement.

　　Under such circumstances, not many people still had hope.

　　"Buzz—"

　　Suddenly, the mist surrounding Frozen Lake transmitted a slight tremor!

　　The vibration in the air was very subtle, but it still could not escape the notice of high-level superhumans with keen minds.

　　Gao Tian, standing with his umbrella, suddenly raised his head and looked towards the direction of the tremor.

　　Bai Xiu opened his eyes.

　　"Boom!"

　　A water column suddenly shot out from the depths of Frozen Lake, and countless slender iron scales swirled around Gu Shen, pushing away all the lake water that had been eroded and contaminated by [Child].

　　"Gu Shen! Gu Shen is out!"

　　Those superhumans waiting around Frozen Lake saw this exciting scene of breaking through the ice at the end of the long night!

　　"This stinky brat, he actually dared to make me wait so long..."

　　The old man in the main vessel, who hadn't closed his eyes all night, breathed a long sigh of relief at this moment.

　　Gu Qilin cursed, "Did he freaking sleep in the lake? It's almost dawn!"

　　Although the old man looked angry, when he saw the face reflected in the screen, holding up his palm and giving himself a victory sign, he couldn't help but smile.

　　……

　　……

　　"System detection, mental stability index, 94%, slight fluctuations, current evaluation: safe. Physical condition, minor injuries, can self-heal, current evaluation: safe."

　　The moment he emerged from Frozen Lake.

　　Gu Shen's spiritual sea reconnected with [Deep Sea].

　　He knew that many people were worried about him.

　　So, he connected to the main channel for all the enforcers and said softly, "I'm back."

　　These four words were not only said to the enforcers on the lake.

　　They were also said to the girl in 001 who had been waiting for him.

　　"Congratulations, you have completed the 'Frozen Lake' mission."

　　Chu Ling sent her congratulations as soon as the connection was restored.

　　However, there was no sense of congratulation in her voice, "The maximum time limit for the mission is 400 seconds. You took a total of 3 hours, 18 minutes, and 31 seconds, exceeding the maximum time limit by 3000%. Truly worthy of the Adjudication Office's 'S-level'."

　　"I'm sorry."

　　Gu Shen apologized, "Due to 'force majeure,' I was late."

　　"This isn't just a simple delay..."

　　Obviously, Gu Shen's greatly delayed emergence from the lake caused everyone's worries.

　　And Chu Ling, who refreshed the close-up of Frozen Lake ten thousand times per second, was the most worried.

　　However, Chu Ling did not finish this sentence.

　　She only said half of it before stopping abruptly.

　　After the mental link was restored, the "memories" in Gu Shen's spiritual sea were no longer a secret, so Chu Ling completed the reading of the three hours of memories of Frozen Lake within a second.

　　She fell silent because of this.

　　"...I'm sorry."

　　After a brief silence, Chu Ling spoke again.

　　For her, who spends her days with countless data, there is no amount of information that is so vast that she needs a long time to process it.

　　But this time.

　　Regarding Jing Shanyan, Project Constellation, the array disk, and the activated computing power of the Ancient Text Society...

　　Caused a brief disorder in her program.

　　"I didn't know about these things..."

　　Chu Ling said very softly, "I want to be alone." (T/N: "我想静静" - popular internet slang meaning "I need some time to think.")

　　"Okay."

　　Gu Shen's expression was somewhat complicated. He knew that Chu Ling must have seen the memory of Jing Shanyan in Frozen Lake.

　　……

　　……

　　"You stinky brat!"

　　Dawn broke, and the main vessel landed.

　　On the shore of Frozen Lake, everyone had completed the reunion.

　　Gu Qilin came up and made a gesture to give Gu Shen a heavy slap, but in the end, the slap didn't land.

　　The old man pressed his palm on Gu Shen's shoulder and asked in a deep voice, "Three hours, you dared to make us wait here for three hours! Do you know how I spent these three hours?"

　　"Sorry..."

　　Gu Shen looked at the old man and then at the comrades waiting for him on the shore, and apologized again, "Sorry everyone, I made you worry."

　　He roughly explained what he had experienced at the bottom of Frozen Lake.

　　Of course.

　　The story at the bottom of Frozen Lake had been embellished by Gu Shen.

　　Zhu Wang and Jing Shanyan were both killed by the [Child] strike...

　　Only Han Dang, who had comprehended [Truth], escaped the disaster. His domain caused Gu Shen to lose his true "sense of time." The reason why he made the people outside wait for three hours... was because there was still a battle at the bottom of Frozen Lake.

　　In the end.

　　Gu Shen completed the kill.

　　No one would doubt what he said.

　　Because the destructive strike of [Child] completely destroyed everything at the bottom of Frozen Lake. As for "Project Constellation" and those nutrient capsules... the federal government had already had an answer many years ago.

　　Whether they believed it or not.

　　Jing Shanyan was already dead.

　　After hearing all this, Gu's old man and the others all fell silent.

　　"What a pity."

　　Gu Qilin murmured, "Jing Shanyan... just died like this..."

　　"[Child]'s power is too great."

　　Gu Shen said, "This is not a weapon that ordinary creatures can fight against... I believe this weapon can inflict devastating blows on all superhumans below the God Seat, provided it hits."

　　Yes.

　　Provided it hits.

　　The reason why this "launch" was able to achieve such a stunning effect was because the [Azure King's Authority Realm] coordinates at the bottom of Frozen Lake had long been locked, and the person hiding at the bottom was completely unaware.

　　In fact, if a ground strike were to be carried out, the Sky Sheath weapon might not be able to accurately release the storm on a "moving target."

　　Envoys are very fast.

　　Whether it's movement speed or reaction speed.

　　"So the final 'Constellation Capsules' were also destroyed..." Gu Qilin sighed faintly, "I always felt that Jing Shanyan was hiding a big secret, but unfortunately, there's no chance anymore."

　　"By the way, how is Mu Qingyang's situation?"

　　The old man remembered something very important and suddenly asked, "Haven't they woken up yet?"

　　The reason why the enforcer team was so worried and nervous for these three hours.

　　There was another reason.

　　After Mu Wanqiu and Mu Qingyang's team were sent back by Han Dang... they had been in a state of mental disconnection. The Northern Continent military was responsible for carrying out emergency awakening, but there was still no news.

　　"No." Luo Yu shook his head, "Gu Nanfeng and Bai Chen have already gone. There's still no news."

　　……

　　……

　　The group quickly walked towards the Central City garrison base.

　　The fourteen hostages who were abducted by Han Dang this time were placed in the domain of a "spiritual healing sacred object." This was an "S-level" sealed item that the legion commander had brought from the attic.

　　The tundra snow had been scorched into a pit by [Dragon Annihilation].

　　That sealed item was a thin veil. After it was released, it spread out on its own, covering a small circle with a radius of about ten meters. This area was not large, barely enough for fourteen people to lie down. White "waves" surged in the pit.

　　These were all the "spring water" condensed by the veil's mental power.

　　"This is... the Northern Continent spiritual sacred object [Veil Spring]."

　　Gu Shen recognized this sealed item.

　　This was a top-level sealed item for treating mental injuries. Even mental exile could be recalled with a certain probability, provided it was "placed in time"... Mu Wanqiu and the others were sent here as soon as they were rescued.

　　Legion Commander, Gu Nanfeng, and Bai Chen, three Envoys, were responsible for providing Source Strength for [Veil Spring].

　　Continuous use of an S-level sealed item for three hours, probably only Envoys could afford the cost.

　　However.

　　The fourteen people immersed in the Veil Spring did not show any improvement.

　　Gu's old man and Zhu Xue completed the meeting here. The high-level leaders of the two continents were basically gathered in front of the Veil Spring.

　　"You're here."

　　The legion commander and the other two raised their eyes and saw Gu Shen.

　　These three hours were double the torment for them. On the one hand, there was no news from Gu Shen, who had entered the lake to carry out the mission. On the other hand, these fourteen enforcers rescued from Frozen Lake had not recovered for a long time...

　　Mu Qingyang was the new leader recommended by the Mu family.

　　And Mu Wanqiu was the "S-level" that the Investigation Corps had cultivated with countless efforts.

　　The other twelve enforcers were also excellent.

　　These people... were all pillars of the future!

　　Neither Nagano nor Central City wanted to suffer such losses.

　　"Their spirits have most likely been exiled."

　　The legion commander's voice was a little hoarse, and still faintly carried killing intent, "Are all those guys at the bottom of Frozen Lake dead?"

　　In fact, she certainly knew the answer.

　　[Child] crashed down, and Gu Shen came out of the lake.

　　It meant that the tundra mission had completely ended, and those escapees would no longer survive.

　　It was just that Mu Wanqiu's "sleep" made her feel extremely angry.

　　Han Dang "kept" his promise, but only kept half of it. He released these hostages, but stripped their spirits.

　　Spiritual exile... was a very terrifying thing.

　　If they couldn't be rescued even if they were put into [Veil Spring] immediately, then the longer the time, the more hopeless it would be.

　　"Don't worry, those people are already dead."

　　One person slowly stood out from the crowd and said calmly, "But these people can still live."

　　The legion commander, who was full of anger, saw that figure, and his anger dissipated by half.

　　"Are you... serious?"

　　The three Envoys couldn't do it.

　　If the person standing out at this moment was not Gu Shen, then the legion commander would not even take a second glance.

　　"Of course."

　　Gu Shen smiled and came to the [Veil Spring]. He stretched out his hand and sensed Mu Wanqiu's mental state with his fingertips.

　　The surroundings fell silent.

　　Of course, Gu Shen couldn't sense anything unusual.

　　Mu Wanqiu and Mu Qingyang's spiritual seas were empty... because their souls had been exiled to the closed network of the "array box."

　　After a brief "exploration" of dozens of seconds.

　　Gu Shen said, "The three of you have worked hard. Now you can remove [Veil Spring]."

　　"Remove [Veil Spring]? Are you sure?"

　　The legion commander still had worries and some confusion.

　　"We can trust Gu Shen."

　　Gu Nanfeng, who was always a god teammate, stood up very timely, "He once successfully carried out the retrieval of 'spiritual exile' in the capital."

　　The legion commander was surprised.

　　"Can he do this? Is it because of 'Raging Flame'?"

　　"S-level" ability users can often do things that others cannot do at a low level.

　　"Removing [Veil Spring] is not a small matter..."

　　Zhu Xue was still not very relieved, and he transmitted his voice to ask, "Excuse me, who did Gu Shen save from 'spiritual exile' at that time?"

　　"This happened when he was at the second stage."

　　Gu Nanfeng calmly transmitted his voice, "The exile object he successfully rescued at that time... was Lu Nanzhi, the famous Flower Signora of the capital."

　　……

　　……

　　(There is another chapter tonight! Asking for monthly tickets!)

Yuan Tong