Chapter 432: Breaking the Impasse

No abnormalities, no accidents.

Even Mo Ling was peacefully staying by An Jing Tian's side.

In a daze, An Jing Tian even had a moment where he wondered if Yun Lin had deceived him and the others.

The so-called future never happened.

Amidst the cries of misery, they could only desperately rush toward the inner city with the base members.

At the Core Fortress, Lin An indifferently gazed at the structure beneath his feet.

In the psychic perception, everything was normal.

With each passing second, every second that went by meant Gao Tian and the others were about to fall into danger.

Yet up to now, he hasn't found any clue at all.

"Mo Ling.."

"Where exactly is it?"

He muttered to himself.

Lin An suddenly closed his eyes, forcing himself to desperately think through every clue.

Mo Ling. Core Fortress. Spiritual Energy Node.

Everything was difficult to connect.

Under psychic surveillance, the Core Fortress absolutely allowed no one to approach even slightly.

And in the image, the Mo Ling who destroyed the core was now under An Jing Tian's protection.

Even the interior was under Zhuanxu's guard, monitoring every corner.

The completely sealed Core Fortress made it impossible for anyone to enter.

Under intense thought, Lin An nearly pushed his thinking to the limit.

What exactly is the problem.

After repeated contemplation, Lin An's brows gradually furrowed.

Could it be that my own line of reasoning, and even Chu An's, is mistaken?

His theory was that Mo Ling entered the base from outside due to some unknown cause.

And Chu An's idea was similar.

A mutant secretly acted to control Mo Ling.

At present, both possibilities have been ruled out.

If we start from the method of entry...

Conventional means could absolutely not evade my and Zhuanxu's surveillance.

If we reason backwards...

Teleportation? Or a sudden appearance?

Did Mo Ling suddenly teleport to the Spiritual Energy Core at the final moment?

If we take this clue as a starting point, then the most critical question arises.

Why would Mo Ling want to destroy the core?

As of now, Mo Ling shows absolutely no sign of being controlled, nor any abnormal reaction.

In other words...

Is the destruction of the Spiritual Energy Core perhaps not done by Mo Ling?

But when I think of Chu An following the sketch Yun Lin provided...

The person in the image is indeed Mo Ling.

He painstakingly pondered.

Lin An tried to forcefully simulate a possible cause.

If none of the conditions hold, then I'll just forcefully propose one!

Taking a deep breath, Lin An forcibly blocked his hearing and entered high-speed thinking.

The teleportation ability comes from the Ghost Infant.

If his actions were not Mo Ling's own intention.

"Chu An! Where should we retreat to?"

After shooting down the charging First Level Mutant with a backhand shot, Gao Tian turned pale and asked Chu An.

Some soldiers who couldn't retreat in time fired desperately at the last moment, buying time for the others who had withdrawn.

Flesh torn, they died with eyes unclosed.

They could not understand before death.

They could not understand why Lin An had not yet appeared.

Many people's minds somewhat collapsed, shouting loudly, questioning Lord Lin An why he would abandon them.

Clearly everyone believed in him, clearly if he acted he could resolve all of this.

Regarding this, Gao Tian couldn't utter even half a sentence.

Chu An, who kept firing while retreating, sounded as calm as usual:

"Try not to get near Lin An."

"Only enter the Core Fortress if there's truly no other option."

"I can't be sure where the unknown mutant in the corpse tide is."

"Not having acted until now, there's a chance it's the trigger of the incident."

Just as his words fell, a short mutant suddenly lunged from the side, nearly biting off Chu An's head.

Stable gunfire.

A sand worm not far away wailed.

As a demonic beast, though unafraid of viral infection, it was covered in wounds from entangling with mutants.

Surrounded by the corpse tide, it didn't even have the strength to burrow.

Large amounts of blood sprayed from its wounds, attracting hordes of zombies like a cake.

Without a brain, even it instinctively called for its "master".

At the rear of the troop, several Awakened Ones clutching machine guns shouted hoarsely for Lin An's name.

The bullets spraying from the muzzle could not stop the mutants in the slightest.

In the midst of the pursuit battle, the close-quarters survivors were as fragile as infants.

"Lord Lin An! Why! Why haven't you acted yet!"

The voice was full of unwillingness and despair.

As Lin An, who once promised to lead them in resisting the corpse tide.

At this moment, the higher the prestige and reputation previously established, the greater the disappointment now.

As if they had been abandoned.

They had broken their promise.

Almost every one of them believed that with Lin An present, everything could be solved.

Thus everyone fought to the last moment.

No retreat, no fear of battle.

But what they got in return was indeed endless despair.

"Believe in the lord.."

"Believe in him.."

The Awakened Ones responsible for rear-guard cover, trying to explain with a grim smile.

They didn't believe Lin An would be that kind of person.

They didn't believe Lin An would fear the horror of the corpse tide.

"My lord must have a more important mission!"

"Hold on, brothers! Lord Lin An will surely appear!"

The pallid explanation was somewhat feeble.

They could no longer imagine what the ending would be if Lin An truly never appeared.

Gao Tian is very strong.

But he no longer has the strength to fight.

Everyone's stamina has reached its limit.

Now the only hope is Lin An.

Hearing the voices of classmates who were also base members in his ears, Gao Tian gritted his teeth and led the crowd in retreating toward another direction.

The base is neither big nor small.

Within a month of construction, there was actually no other place capable of resisting zombies.

One is the frontline wall, the other is the core fortress.

For now the core fortress cannot be approached; they can only retreat to open terrain.

If we drag this on, too many will really die.

Affected by the emotions, Gao Tian also couldn't help feeling somewhat helpless.

Lin Dui..

We really can't hold on anymore!

The wind rose.

In the darkness, Lin An slowly opened his eyes.

Watching the front line where the ammunition depot had been detonated, the base turned into a sea of fire, a bitter feeling rose in his heart.

But he, who had been still like a statue, suddenly moved.

The bitterness instantly turned into a flash of intense killing intent.

Gazing at the sealed core fortress, Lin An silently summoned Blood Ye.

"Zhuanxu."

"Open the sealed system."

Just moments ago, he suddenly realized that both he and Chu An had fallen into a misunderstanding.

As the alloy gate of the core fortress swiftly opened, his figure flashed and he rushed in at high speed.

Intense killing intent surged.

He and Chu An were both wrong.

The true "enemy" is never outside.

It was indeed Mo Ling who destroyed the spirit energy core.

Just.

There was no so-called teleportation, no so-called mutants, and no unknown means to control Mo Ling's attack.

Everything was merely a second Mo Ling.

The ghost infant kept in the core fortress was the second Mo Ling.

The rain poured down, and the sky changed.

Just like that night in White Poplar Town.

Everything, it should be over!

The sword light shone, penetrating the depths of the dark core.