Darkness. A thick, viscous darkness, smelling of concrete dust and blood, wrapped around Ling Chen like a heavy shroud.

His consciousness sank as if into the cold seabed, but the Soul Jade Physique’s icy will operated at high speed in the absolute silence, like the most precise deep-sea detector, scanning every tremor, every shout, and every scrape of metal against rock from above.

Dig! Dig frantically!

Zhou Zhengyang’s hoarse roar, like a wounded beast, pierced through layers of rubble, filled with despair and reckless madness: “Here! Quick! Here! He’s down there! Dig him out! Even if you have to use your hands, dig him out!”

He had finally climbed to such a high position and certainly didn't want the Commander’s single word to bring him down.

Heavy concrete blocks were torn apart and moved by hydraulic pliers and cutting machines! Rebar was melted by welding torches! Rubble and dust poured down like a waterfall!

Ling Chen’s body was cleverly “protected” within a triangular space formed by several twisted, deformed support beams and a thick floor slab.

He precisely controlled every muscle, every heartbeat, and every breath of his body.

The “bone fracture” in his left arm had been “aggravated” during the previous collapse, simulating the intense pain response of a comminuted fracture. “Internal organ damage” led to internal bleeding, and his blood pressure was suppressed to the brink of death.

His lungs had inhaled a large amount of dust, making his breathing weak and difficult.

The monitoring equipment had long been destroyed, but even without it, his current state, in anyone’s eyes, was that of a severely injured person with one foot already in the grave!

Time slowly passed in the darkness. Every second felt like a century. The digging sounds from above grew closer and closer! The vibrations became more and more intense! Dust fell continuously!

Finally!

Crash—!!!

A huge concrete slab was moved away by a crane! Dazzling searchlight beams pierced the darkness like sharp swords, striking Ling Chen’s face!

He “painfully” furrowed his brows, his eyelids trembled with difficulty, and a faint groan, like an old bellows, escaped his throat.

“Found him! He’s here! He’s alive!” a soldier shouted excitedly!

“Medic! Quick! Stretcher! Oxygen!” Zhou Zhengyang’s voice trembled with the relief and ecstasy of surviving a disaster! He was the first to rush down, disregarding the rubble tearing his uniform and skin, and reached Ling Chen’s side!

When he saw Ling Chen’s face, pale as paper, covered in bloodstains and dust, saw the unnatural twisted angle of his left arm and his (simulated) collapsed chest, and saw his breathing so faint it was almost imperceptible, this iron-blooded soldier’s eyes instantly turned red!

“My official position… is finally safe!”

“Ling Chen! Hold on! Hold on! We’re here!”

Zhou Zhengyang’s voice was choked with emotion. He carefully avoided Ling Chen’s “fractured” left arm and, together with the medics, gently lifted him from the rubble onto a stretcher. An oxygen mask was immediately placed over his face, and a cardiotonic injection was administered intravenously!

Ling Chen “difficultly” opened a slit of his eyes, his gaze unfocused and vacant, as if he could fall back into darkness at any moment.

He looked at Zhou Zhengyang’s face, covered in sweat and blood, etched with anxiety and relief, and his lips moved very faintly, as if he wanted to say something, but only a series of muffled gasps escaped.

“Don’t talk! Don’t talk! Conserve your strength!” Zhou Zhengyang quickly pressed him down, his voice carrying an unquestionable command, yet filled with lingering fear and relief.

“It’s okay! It’s okay! We saved you! You kid… you’re tough!”

The stretcher was quickly carried out of the rubble. The dazzling sunlight made Ling Chen instinctively “squint” his eyes (simulating a physiological reaction). He “weakly” rolled his eyeballs, scanning his surroundings.

The outer wall of the Medical Center had a huge black hole melted through it, the alloy edges twisted and solidified like melted candles.

The entire building looked as if it had been gnawed by a giant beast, riddled with scars. The air was filled with a strong mixed smell of gunpowder, blood, burnt odors, and disinfectant.

Soldiers were clearing the rubble, carrying wounded and dead bodies. In the distance, sporadic gunshots and ghoul roars still came from the direction of the city wall, but they were much weaker than the previous onslaught.

The stretcher was lifted onto an armored medical vehicle. The door closed, and inside, medics quickly performed more detailed examinations and emergency treatments.

“Comminuted fracture of the left arm! Multiple rib fractures, suspected lung lobe puncture! Severe internal bleeding! Extremely weak vital signs! Must operate immediately!” The medic’s voice was grave.

Ling Chen “fainted.” The Soul Jade Physique precisely simulated the physiological state of a dying casualty. His heartbeat was weak, his breathing intermittent, and his blood pressure was so low it was almost undetectable.

But his consciousness, like a hunter lurking in the abyss, coldly observed everything.

Panshi Fortress · Central Command Center

On the huge holographic sandbox, the crimson dots representing the main force of the ghoul horde had retreated tens of kilometers away and were still dispersing and moving further.

The defense forces on the outer perimeter of The Boulder were clearing the battlefield, repairing damaged city walls and energy shields. The alert level had dropped from catastrophic to high-risk.

However, the atmosphere within the Command Center was even more somber than during the ghoul horde’s siege.

Qin Weiguo stood with his hands behind his back, facing away from the huge floor-to-ceiling window. Outside the window was a battlefield still thick with smoke and The Boulder still flashing red alert lights.

“Is he… rescued?” Qin Weiguo didn’t turn around, his voice low, betraying no emotion.

“Yes! Commander!” Zhou Zhengyang stood at attention, his voice tinged with excitement, “Severely injured! Dying! But still breathing! Although the Medical Center is destroyed, the operating room has been urgently transferred to underground Security Zone Three! The best surgeons and ability healers are on standby! As long as he has a breath, we can pull him back from the gates of hell!”

“Severely injured… dying…”

Qin Weiguo slowly turned around, his hawk-like gaze, almost tangible, fell on Zhou Zhengyang’s face.

“Zhou Zhengyang, tell me… a C-rank Beast Control ability user buried under rubble, crushed by several tons of concrete, yet still ‘tough enough’ to survive… is his luck… a bit too good?”

The excitement on Zhou Zhengyang’s face instantly froze! A chill ran up his spine! The Commander… was still suspicious?!

“Commander! The situation at the time…” Zhou Zhengyang eagerly tried to explain.

“The ghoul horde’s target was clearly him! Those few Scale-Claw Rats were heading straight for the ward! They almost tore him apart! It was the explosion! The collapse caused by the energy pipeline explosion! That buried him! This was completely an accident! It was luck! And also… our timely rescue!”

“Luck?”

A cold smile played on Qin Weiguo’s lips. He walked to the holographic sandbox, his finger pointing to the location of the Linghui Academy Ruins.

“The main ghoul horde force attacked the west gate! The Giant Lizard precisely melted through the outer wall! The Ghoul Rhinos impacted the underground pipelines, causing an explosion! All of this… just to kill a severely injured, unconscious, worthless C-rank ability user? Zhou Zhengyang, do you think… that’s reasonable?”

Zhou Zhengyang opened his mouth, but was speechless.

Yes… it was too unreasonable! To use such a massive ghoul horde and terrifying beasts just to kill one Ling Chen? The cost… was too great!

“Or…” Qin Weiguo’s voice suddenly turned cold, like an ice pick piercing bone.

“Their target… wasn’t to kill him at all! But to… rescue him! That explosion… that collapse… was it… just to cover up his ‘cicada shedding its shell’ trick?!”

“Impossible!” Zhou Zhengyang blurted out, his voice filled with incredulous horror, “Commander! I saw it with my own eyes! He was buried underneath! When he was dug out… the sight… his left arm was crushed! Seven or eight ribs were broken! His lung was punctured! Internal bleeding! His blood pressure was almost gone! That was definitely not faked! He… he’s just an 18-year-old kid! How could he…”

Have such deep cunning.

“An 18-year-old kid…”

Qin Weiguo repeated those words, a flicker of extremely complex emotion in his sharp gaze. He walked to the control panel and pulled up the real-time surveillance footage of the excavation site.

In the footage: Ling Chen was lifted from the rubble. His face was pale as paper, bloodless. His left arm was twisted at an extremely strange angle, hanging limply by the stretcher.

His chest was slightly sunken, and each weak breath was accompanied by painful spasms of his body.

His face and body were covered in bloodstains and dust, only his slightly opened eyes, unfocused and vacant, filled with the despair of impending death and… a faint, youthful longing for life.

Qin Weiguo stared intently at those eyes. Those eyes… were too clean.

So clean… unlike someone who could survive a ghoul horde, who could survive such a tragic collapse.

But… the despair and pain of impending death, however, were so real… they couldn’t be faked.

He had seen too much death. Seen the desperate eyes of too many severely wounded. Ling Chen’s current state… was exactly the same as those severely wounded, dying soldiers in his memory.

Could it be… that he was truly being overly suspicious? Because of his excessive vigilance towards the Linghui Academy Ruins? Because… after losing his son, he became overly cautious about any anomaly?

He slowly closed his eyes. His son’s young and stubborn face flashed through his mind, along with the last encrypted message she sent before her sacrifice: “Dad, protect Weiwei… don’t let her… follow my path…”

When he opened his eyes again, the sharpness and suspicion in Qin Weiguo’s eyes, like ice and snow… slowly melted a little. In its place was a deep weariness and… a hint of imperceptible… pity?

“Perhaps… you are right.” Qin Weiguo’s voice was much lower, tinged with hoarseness, “He… is just a child after all. A child… struggling to survive in the apocalypse, with a bit of good luck.”

He waved his hand, as if to wave away the heavy cloud of doubt in his heart: “Give him full medical treatment. Use the best medicine. The best doctors. I want him… to live.”

“Yes! Commander!” Zhou Zhengyang saluted with a sigh of relief, excited!

His official position… was saved!