Chapter 806

Iron Wall Fortress, three levels underground.

Secret Preparation Room.

Ten people stood in the center of the room.

Lin Chong stood at the front of the team.

He wore a full set of specially made dark force-energy armor, its surface patterns inwardly converging.

At his waist hung a sheathless straight blade of strange iron.

The blade was dull, except for an extremely fine blue line at the edge.

Zhao Si stood at his side.

This veteran had switched to lightweight stealth armor.

On his back was a collapsible force-energy crossbow.

His waist was loaded with various tools and explosive grenades.

The remaining eight—

Two Northward Aspiration Army scouts, most skilled at stealth reconnaissance.

Two Night-Unresting Ming Army soldiers, expert in lethal combat and mechanisms.

Two Heavenly Craft Institute artisans, responsible for maintaining equipment and deciphering devices.

Two Force Technique Practitioners, specializing in concealment runes and energy manipulation.

This is the "Piercing Heart" team.

Chen Wen stood before them.

He scanned each person's eyes one by one.

"You already know the mission details."

"But I must emphasize this once more."

"This is not a combat mission; it is infiltration and sabotage."

"You must be like water droplets seeping into sand, like shadows merging into darkness."

"Your weapons are not blades, but timing and precision."

He paused.

"Once exposed, immediately self-destruct all equipment and information carriers."

"Leave no technical traces."

"This is an ironclad rule."

The ten silently nodded.

Zhu Yuanzhang walked out from the side chamber.

He held an ebony tray in his hands.

The tray was covered with a red cloth.

"This is an old custom of my Great Ming army."

"When warriors set out, they drink a bowl of strong liquor."

"Today there is no liquor."

"I substitute this for it."

He lifted the red cloth.

On the tray were ten pigeon-egg-sized strange-metal tokens.

Each token bears the character "Breaking Walls" on one side and the individual's name on the other.

"These tokens are forged from strange metal, mixed with force crystal powder."

"Worn close to the body, they can weakly resist nether-energy erosion."

"If, unfortunately, one falls…"

He paused.

"It will transmit back your final thread of will fluctuation."

"So we may know where you have fought."

Lin Chong stepped forward and first took the token engraved with his own name.

"Thank you, Lord Zhu."

The others then received theirs in turn.

Chen Wen spoke at this moment.

"Before departure, there is one final step."

"I need to establish a deep link with General Lin Chong."

"To provide guidance at critical moments."

Lin Chong stepped forward.

"How to link?"

"Release your mind and accept my force."

Chen Wen reached out and pressed his hand against Lin Chong's forehead.

The rule vision activated.

The cluster of "Life Fire" belonging to Lin Chong appeared in Chen Wen's eyes.

The core was tenacious, the edge sharp, like his blade.

Fine threads of a deep-blue repair program extended.

Gently touching the edge of that flame.

No intrusion.

Merely established an extremely fine passage.

"Did you feel it?" Chen Wen asked.

Lin Chong closed his eyes.

He felt a strange clarity.

He seemed able to faintly sense the pulsation of the distant nether‑energy network.

And there was Chen Wen's calm and vast will.

"I felt it."

"The link is formed."

Chen Wen withdrew his hand.

"But remember, this link consumes greatly and is easily detected."

"Unless it's to confirm coordinates or a life‑or‑death moment, do not actively call me."

"I will attempt a remote guidance once at midnight tomorrow, when the network load is highest."

"Understood."

At this moment, Zhao Lao Nian and Gongsun Sheng pushed in a specially made small cart.

Fixed on the cart was an elongated metal box.

The box body was sealed, its surface engraved with inhibiting patterns.

"This is the Breaking Wall Cone."

Zhao Lao Nian opened the box lid.

The interior was filled with soft cushioning material.

In the center lay a metal rod about two feet long and as thick as a wrist.

The rod was dark silver in color.

Its surface bore spiral patterns.

One end was a sharp tip, the other a complex interface.

"The rod's interior stores three high‑purity potential‑energy crystals."

Gongsun Sheng introduced.

"By stimulating at a specific frequency, it can release a pulse strong enough to interfere with the nether‑energy core matrix."

"The injected coordinates must be precise within three feet."

"After activation, the rod will melt down from overload and cannot be recovered."

"How should we carry it?" Lin Chong asked.

"Disassemble."

Zhao Lao Nian operated.

The rod separated into three sections from the middle.

Each section is one foot long and can be placed separately into specially made isolation backpacks.

"Upon reaching the target area, assemble on site."

"Assembly takes thirty breaths, during which it must not be disturbed."

"Understood."

Lin Chong signaled two artisan team members to step forward.

"You are responsible for carrying and assembling."

"Yes."

Liu Ji hurried in at this moment.

He held a freshly drawn silk scroll.

"The core area structural diagram is now in hand."

He spread the silk scroll on the table.

"Extracted from the shaman's mouth and combined with our prior analysis."

"Its reliability is seventy percent."

The map marked the detailed layout of the nether‑energy core area.

The energy conversion matrix has nine layers, arranged in concentric circles.

In the northeast quadrant of the seventh layer, there is a point circled in cinnabar.

That is precisely the "loophole" coordinate.

"The entrance is here, the southwest ventilation duct."

Liu Ji pointed at a spot.

"The duct is three feet in diameter; its inner wall bears nether‑energy monitoring patterns, but due to long neglect there are three damaged blind spots."

"Enter from here, passing through the first and second defense zones."

"To reach the matrix's periphery, twelve patrol nodes must be avoided."

"The specific route…"

He explained it in detail.

The team members focused their memory.

After the burning of one incense stick.

"Did you all remember?" Lin Chong asked.

"We remembered." Everyone replied.

"Good."

Lin Chong looked at Chen Wen and Zhu Yuanzhang.

"When do we depart?"

"The third quarter of the zi hour."

Chen Wen said.

"There are still two hours."

"Do a final equipment check and adjust your condition."

"I will be in the Command Tower, monitoring the Nether Energy Network fluctuations."

"When the moment comes, depart immediately."

"Yes."

The squad dispersed, each preparing themselves.

Chen Wen and Zhu Yuanzhang returned to the Command Tower.

On the way, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly spoke.

"Lord Chen, this journey is extremely perilous."

"If we fail……"

"Then we fail." Chen Wen said calmly.

"But we must try."

"To hold out is a slow death."

"Only by taking risks do we have a chance."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

"When I was young, I thought the same."

"So I dared, in commoner's garb, wield a three-foot sword, to contend for the world."

"Looking back now, perhaps it is this very 'daring to act' that made me a 'variable'."

He looked at Chen Wen.

"What do you think?"

Chen Wen fell silent for a moment.

"Perhaps."

"What the master of the Iron Crow Army wants is a world completely controlled, with no surprises."

"And 'daring to act' is precisely the greatest surprise."

"It is a variable that rules cannot calculate."

The two ascended to the top of the Command Tower.

Zhang Cheng was monitoring the light curtain's fluctuations.

"Your Lordship, Lord Zhu."

"The load on the Nether Energy Network has risen to seventy-three percent."

"It is still slowly rising."

"According to the model prediction, at the third quarter of the zi hour it will reach a peak of seventy-eight percent."

"That is the best window for infiltration." Chen Wen said.

"Notify Lin Chong, prepare to depart."

"Yes."

Time passed.

The zi hour.

Lin Chong's squad gathered inside point seven.

Ten people checked their equipment one last time.

The energy concealment sigils activated.

The armor shifted to a dark hue similar to the surroundings.

"Before we depart, one last sentence."

Lin Chong looked at everyone.

"We are the first awl to bore a hole through the prison."

"It might break inside."

"But if the awl breaks, there is still the hammer behind."

"If the hammer breaks, there are still our hands."

"As long as there is still one person who wants to get out……"

"This wall will eventually be toppled."

He paused.

"So, come back alive."

"Continue being the hammer behind."

The team members grinned.

"Understood."

The third quarter of the Rat hour.

The Commander Tower transmitted an order.

The time has come.

The rift is stable.

Depart.

Lin Chong took the lead, stepping into the light curtain rift.

Energy turbulence surged.

Shields flickered.

Ten people passed through one after another.

They stepped onto the western land.

A purplish-black wasteland.

A dim green sky light.

Lin Chong looked back, glancing at the rift that was closing.

Then he turned around.

Follow the planned route, stay silent.

Go.

Ten silhouettes scattered like ghosts.

Merged into the darkness.

Inside the Commander Tower.

Chen Wen, through regulated vision, could barely sense the ten faint 'Flames of Life' of the squad receding.

He closed his eyes.

The deep blue structure slowly turned.

Maintaining that faint link.

Over the next three days.

He will share life and death with those ten flames.

And the front of the Iron Wall Fortress.

The battle horn sounded again.

To cover the cone that had infiltrated the darkness.

The flames in the light must burn more fiercely.

The night is still deep.

But the journey to breach the wall has already taken its first step.